Telling tales

Lately the kids have been mega tattletales, and it drives me nuts. We walked past another mom and kid at Target and the kid had spilled Slurpie on his shirt, they said in unison "Mooommmm that boy spilled Slurrrrpie...." Um....okay thanks. Later we pass a kid who is standing up in the cart: "Mooommmmm that girl is standing up in the cart".....on and on and on "Moommmm that baby isn't wearing shoes...." "Mooommmmm that lady is taking a long time to checkout..." over and over and over they told on people all over the damn store. Thank goodness we weren't at Walmart or the Grocery Outlet or they would have had even more things to tattle on, like babies in diapers chugging baby bottles of Mt. Dew. As I loaded them in the car I told them I was done with hearing them tattle on people, and they need to mind their own business, not the business of others. I hear Alden start to tell Ruthie something as I close the back door, and by the time I open mine I hear Ruthie say "Mooommm, Aldens' minding other peopleses businesses still..." Oy.

Home and hole free

Nick finally got home after midnight Thursday night (so Friday morning I guess??). After forking over both an arm and a leg, a tow truck deposited him in front of our house. Yesterday morning he took my car to Firestone in Merced, they patched the tire free of charge and said there is no reason why America's Tire couldn't patch it, and yes I do need new back tires but not urgently and not for the price I was quoted. Yay, finally something positive! The tire was patched quickly and we were able to still make it to the circus in Fresno. I'd been talking to Ruth and Alden about it all week and they had a wonderful time. Ruthie's favorite part was when Gravity the naughty clown was caught by the Ringmaster, and Alden's favorite part was the elephants pooping.

Kicked out of a tow truck?!

Seriously.

So Nick calls a tow truck to take him and the Honda home. Actually, he calls our auto insurance who dispatches the truck, and he makes sure to ask about the mileage limit since he's about 80 miles from home. He's assured there's no charge and no problem taking him that far.

A truck comes within half an hour (impressive). It's a flatbed, and his car is loaded quickly. He gets in the cab and the operator asks for the address. Nick gives him our address and the guy looks at him like he's asking to be taken to Mars. Apparently he's the only truck on duty for his company and can't take Nick home. So, he kicks him out and ditches the car and Nick has to call our insurance company again. The replacement truck isn't there yet, but he was assured that it would take him all the way home. What the hell is going on with our lives that things are this jacked up?

The rotten cherry on this shit sundae is this: my donut tire seems to have a slow leak and I won't be surprised to wake up tomorrow and find it totally flat.

Seriously, do I need to start going to church or something???

I found the perfect living room curtains on clearance at Lowe's, but the Merced store only had one pair. I found another panel at the Turlock store, but I also got a flat tire due to some lovely bolts and nails I picked up in the parking lot. The twins and I spent NINETY FREAKING MINUTES at America's Tire of Turlock, only to be told they cannot patch it because there's another patch too close to the new hole. We drove home very very slowly on the donut. I have to get two new back tires now. America's Tire quoted me $275 for two. So NOT in the budget right now, but I guess it'll have to be.

Nick still isn't home from his car trouble adventures. Oy.

Cute pajamas for moms and kids!

With this economy, people who have been let go from their professions have had to find new and creative ways to support themselves. Check out PJs by Pinkie, read her story, and be inspired!! I love the little girl styles, the capris would be so cute paired with a tank top.

Ready for some good karma to come back to me

Things have been really stressful and hectic here, and quite honestly I'm wondering what I did in a past life that has brought me so much angst.

Nick's car broke down today. He took a half day off from work to do some consulting work (yay for padding the new fridge fund!), but his car overheated and died on his way up to Sacramento. Goodbye new fridge fund, hello repair bill. Ugh. We haven't actually taken it to a shop yet, I'm hoping my some miracle it will start tomorrow morning and run like a dream. Perhaps car fairies will visit tonight and work some magic.

We are also facing an 8% reduction in his pay, that's almost $400 a month. Holy cow, that's gonna hurt. We already live pretty frugally, I'm not sure where else we can cut back. I'm going to look into increasing our deductibles for home/auto insurance, but our rates are already fairly low so I don't think that will do much.

Doing the deep dig

If it itches, scratch it. Right?

I got caught picking my nose today. This isn't very high on my list of embarrassing moments (trust me, there are worse things), but it was pretty dang funny. I was stopped in traffic, so naturally it was time for some nasal maintenance. I finally dislodged the offender and wiped it on a napkin, then I looked around and realized the car next to me was rocking back and forth from the four guys in it LAUGHING THEIR ASSES OFF AT ME. Did I blush? Hide? Cry? Nope. When the light turned I stuck my finger in up to the knuckle and twisted my arm back and forth while they roared with laughter, then I rolled down my window and waved while I got on the freeway and they continued on their way.