what is there to say?

 Car trouble.  The brakes on the truck are really bad, Paul tried to fix them and needs a special tool, couldn't get something off, so he's got an appointment but the mechanic is on vacay, so it'll be a week or so.  My car, ugh.  I got new tires June 29, 2022.  Then in February of this year, two new rear tires and $2000 of work by Mavis Discount Tire, and now the two rear tires are down to the threads again on the insides.  New tires isn't the answer, there are deeper problems.  Did Mavis cause more trouble, or fix what was obvious and overlook something deeper?  These are things I don't understand, and it's frustrating.  We decided to have our mechanic look at it when he gets home, because we trust him...and at least we'll get an idea of what to do next, hopefully he can fix it all for around a hundred dollars.  What?  May as well dream big.

In the mean time, we are borrowing Ben's little Mitsubitshi, it's a nice little car, and I'm very thankful he is letting us use it.  Sonja and Charlotte Claire are working today, and Camille has physical therapy, it's hard to be without a car.  (We can still drive ours short distances, but where we live most things aren't short distances ha).

Yesterday was a glorious day.  We had no plans, and the forecast was for warmth and sunshine.  I did some housecleaning in the morning, cleaned up a giant puddle of dog pee, thank you, old Suri.  (Then in the afternoon, when I left to pick up Ben's car, she got into the garbage, which led to upset tummy, and this morning instead of pee, there was...never mind, if you're drinking your morning coffee...but shh, Paul was up first, thankfully ha!)

Anyway.  We spent some time in the pool, then Grace came over with Grant and Ruth and joined us...the girls had to leave, so I had to get dinner started...I made burgers and onion rings, we still had fresh fruit from Sunday.  

Mariel came over after work to have Paul look at a something on her car, her car is brand new, but she's driving it to New York City to get a flight to Norway, so she wanted to make sure it was all right.  Emily stopped over after work for a swim, and we talked for a while.  She bought some t-shirts for the girls, and we talked and solved the world's problems for a bit.  Then I got to see Ben and Ashley and the kids when I picked up their car.  So, a good day!

This fine day, after PT, I might get to sanding a little table we have on the deck, as I need some practice before tackling some bigger projects.  Wait, I need sand paper first...

We took an impromptu trip to get ice cream last evening, as the girls had mowed the lawn and Paul wanted to bless them back.

No one really wanted their picture taken, so here's this one.  

The Lillies are blooming!

The garden is doing well, we'll have a bumper crop of zucchini with just the four plants.  Why does zucchini thrive ?  The tomatoes are looking good too, then there are different kinds of melons, which never too well here, but we'll try.  

Did anyone else make it through day #1 of Prime Days without buying anything?  I could probably start AND finish my Christmas shopping, but nah.  I do need a food processor, as the motor on my Black&Decker burnt out and it totally stopped working.  "Need".  ha.  I lived most of my life without one, but once I got it, ahh, it was nice.  I do think I'll survive.  (My reasoning:  I can buy a really nice one for not much more than buying a cheap one, so I should just get one...but, do I REALLY need one?  NEED?  I think not.)

I did just get a Costco membership.  Most of the stuff there is too expensive, but their sales are pretty good.  I didn't get the chocolate covered almonds this time though.  The girls chose mozzarella sticks, and some street corn dip. They like the croissants, but a 12 pack is pretty big for us now, I won't eat them...although I'd like to ha.  

Ah well...I have a vacuum cleaner to unclog, and floors to clean.  If you don't vacuum every day with two Labradors in the house, you will drown in dog fur.  I simply don't like it, I like clean floors, but who doesn't?  So yes, I need a Roomba too, NEED, ha.  I also need a new Dyson.  Mine broke a while ago, seriously broke, probably from overuse.  I have a mini one, which works okay for stairs and stuff...and I have this little Walmart vacuum that I got for twenty bucks, it does the hardwood floors so well!  I had to put some duct tape on it, but it suits our purposes.

And, I'll leave you with a not-too-long-ago-, not-too-far-from-here pic:

We went to the beach!  12 of the kids, we drove in the Big Van.  We stayed until sunset.  We had too much fun.  :)