the saga continues....

but I won't bore you to tears. I'll just randomly list some of the latest in the refrigerator crisis, which has been upgraded from a "situation", because of the continued warmth and subsequent spoilage of really good food.

The Samsung support guy was very polite, but he left out the little detail of the service not being under warranty. I'm not sure he knew it himself, but somehow that's the memo the service center got.

I called Lowe's corporate customer service, and finally got some help. The nice lady had mercy on me, and is sending a local technician over to look at the refrigerator...on Friday. Now, this call happened on Tuesday, and our refrigerator has been broken since Saturday. But who was I to complain, at least she decided to cover it under a Lowe's warranty.

Today I went to one of the most hated places in the United States of America, the department of motor vehicles. The workers there cannot help the frustration generated by their customers, they don't make the laws and rules. You have to turn in your plates before you cancel your insurance, you have to have insurance before you change a registration from one name to another, you have to have signatures and correct identifications and proof of addresses. You always have to have at least one item you don't have, and then you have to come back another day, take another number, and wait again in the plastic seats.

Mirielle had things to take care of there, so I went along just to spend some time with her. She had to stop at the grocery store, and I had to get more doggy chow, so the dogs don't run out while we're in Florida next week.

I brought home a rotisserie chicken, one of the best inventions of the century, $4.99 for a whole lemon pepper chicken.

That was just a snack though. I made a huge pan of chicken breasts with orange sauce, a pan of rice (sometimes I make my rice in the oven...I just spray the pan with non-stick stuff, or melt butter in it, then add the rice and water, extra butter, a little bit of salt, and today...some lemon juice and freshly ground pepper...cover with foil, and bake while the chicken is baking)
I also made some green beans, and voila, a healthy dinner. Emily and Mirielle came over for a bit.

See, they are looking for a new house, and I love looking at houses, so they nicely let me go with them. This one may possibly be the one, but it isn't perfect.

Other than my two short outings, I stayed home today.

Miss Lydia is here tonight. She's a chatterbox these days! She sings, "Twinkle Twinkle", especially the line, "up above the world..."

Tomorrow morning I have to bring the minivan in for an oil change, and to be checked out to make sure it's okay for 2,500 miles round trip. That's a lot of miles.

Then I'm bringing Jonathan for a haircut. The little girls are spending the night at Margaret's house, as she works from home on Wednesdays, and they are getting together with some other little girls who homeschool, which should be great fun.

Emily is picking the three high school girls up and bringing them on an adventure.

So we are busy doing this and that, not always all together, but I try to keep up with who is doing what and how they are all managing, and to listen to them and help them and encourage them to make good choices, to forgive, to be nice, to stand firm in temptations.

But I will say this: I cannot wait to get to Florida, sunshine on my skin. Here in the northeast, in central New York state, we don't get much sunshine in the winter, and when we do, it's often cold and we are bundled in layers. So I get to craving that feeling, that baking in the sun. And guess what? It's strawberry season in Florida. Guess what Grandma is buying for us? Fresh strawberries. Does life get any better?