When it rains, it pours

I've had the Jetta for just over 6 years now. I love that car. It's fun to drive and it's "stick and move capability" is awesome. Or at least, was until about a month ago. The clutch started to give out. Initially it was subtle; just a slight revving every once in awhile. Then it grew worse. Soon, I couldn't drive it anymore. In case you didn't know, replacing a clutch on a late model European vehicle isn't exactly what one would call affordable. But anyway, I find a mechanic who does this type of thing on the side and then I find the part. Plan was to drive it down to his place (10-15 miles from our house) on Friday night and he would work on it over the weekend.

Adam drove the Jetta. Something about how he trusts his reflexes more than mine. Whatever, I tuned it out. I followed in his car; a '92 Mazda MX3. We're toodling along. Adam can't accelerate like any car other than a Metro so it's slow going but we're getting there. I'm continuously chanting "You can do it!" a la Rob Schneider. Unfortunately, the old girl couldn't do it. 5 miles out from our destination, we had to pull over and call a tow truck. Sweet. There goes another $70. We wait about an hour and a half and he shows, throws my baby on the bed (that sounds wrong), and off we go. 5 miles. Doh. We drop the Jetta off and happily celebrate that she is there and will be fixed soon!

So we start to toodle home. We make plans for dinner and a movie together; a quiet night at home. And then, the unthinkable happens.

Going 65 or 70 down highway 55, all of a sudden the Mazda FREAKS OUT! It's banging, clanking, throwing itself around, and grinding. So we pull over. Honestly, it sounded and felt like something was caught in the wheel well or some such thing. Adam gets out, looks underneath, doesn't see anything. Gets back in the car, starts her up and she purrs (loudly) like normal. Off we go again. 18.7 seconds later, it starts to freak out again. Pull over and repeat. This time when he starts it back up...well, it just wasn't a noise you'll find in nature.

So as the two of us sit, silently, at the side of highway 55 I'm sure you can imagine some of the thoughts playing in our heads. As well as the sailor-esque cussing that weaves its way through. We call the tow company...AGAIN...and line up a tow. Then comes the interesting predicament of not having a car for the weekend. So I call Mom and Dad. They're at Champps. Surprised? :) (I say that with love). Sure, they'll pick us up. Oh good idea, yes you can borrow the car for the weekend. And so we sit. It's about an hour before Mom, Dad, AND the tow truck show up at the same time. It was like a parade! When the guy gets out of the tow truck...wait for it...YES! It's the same guy that towed the Jetta! Sa-weeeet!

So I get the car from Mom and Dad, profusely thank them for their effort, and wait for the Mazda to get loaded. The tricky part about all of this is that we can't get a hold of the mechanic so now we're going to drop a second vehicle off to him, at his home, without talking to him. Take your manners lessons from me kids!

We get to Bob's (the mechanic) house and he's working on the Jetta...slightly stunned and I'd say not at all happy to see car #2 arrive. We get it off the bed and Bob starts 'er up. The look on that mans' face tells me that it was NOT GOOD. Luckily tow truck guy is a talker, so he's still chatting all of our ears off. Eventually it is determined that the engine is blown on the Mazda. Gone. Ran out of oil and imploded. At least 2k to fix it. We can't afford 2k. We can't afford 2k at all let alone for a car that's worth less than half of that in its current state. Tow truck guy turns to me and tells me he'll give me $200 for it right now. He'll haul it away this very minute.

You know how this ends. Between the $116 tow (yeah, I don't know why it was more than the Jetta either) and the $30 full tank of gas I put in it just hours before, we made $50 on the car last night. Poor Adam. That car was his baby. For as much and as viciously as I hated it, he loved it. And wanted to keep loving it forever.

So we are a one car family now for the foreseeable future. We've done it before and we'll be doing it again.

Hopefully the Jetta is in prime condition when we get her back this weekend.

Exercise? Me?

Whoa. A blog two days in a row. Whatever will you do?

In March, I embarked on this weight loss journey for the zillionth time (yes, that's an official count). I wasn't particularly motivated but my Mom was. Weekly we do the weigh in thing and reward ourselves (with Mom's credit card) when we hit exciting milestones. For the first couple of months I retained my sedentary lifestyle. You see, I had become so accustomed to Chipotle burritos and pizza rolls that the simple change of diet was enough to get the scale moving. After I had exhausted every excuse I could come up with for why I wasn't exercising, I started walking. It was simple, got me outside for the spring, and made my dog happy. And I did pretty well walking for 30 minutes 3-4 times a week. Okay, some weeks it was only once or twice. But hey! It was a start!

And then, about a month ago, dear old Mom struck again. She had stumbled upon a DVD that was a kick you in the pants kind of workout and claimed you could lose "up to 20 lbs in one month!" Hurray! So I went out and bought the damn thing. Lo and behold, Adam decided to do it with me also. So it's been nearly a month of this. The 20 lb claim was...well, you know. A lie. A bold-faced lie. But it just so happens that I've noticed something else. There is now definition in my calves where there once was none. When I flex my arms the muscles may not be visible to the naked eye but there's a little bump of something in there when you squeeze! And this is pretty exciting in and of itself.

Today, for the very first time I worked out twice in one day. I did the aforementioned DVD and this evening, itching to do something, I took the dog for a walk. It was a short one. Nothing to celebrate. In fact, the only reason I didn't go farther/longer was because it was late and dark and neither Zeus nor I had any reflective gear on. In the interest of safety, we headed home.

This is a pretty big accomplishment for a girl who not all that long ago, found carrying baskets of clothes up and downstairs a rather taxing exercise. 35 lbs later, I'd say Mom had a pretty good idea. And now when I shop for dog food and grunt to lift the bag, I'm reminded that I used to carry that around alllll the time.

Yay me!

The incredible sewing experience

With Adam working at the Rennaissance Festival every weekend, it is important that he still get to spend time with Dante on those weekends he is with us. In order to allow for both (at the request of Dante as well, mind you) it was decided that Dante needed a costume. You see, you can't sit in the booth without a costume. Well, in my opinion costumes are extremely expensive out at the festival. Enter the internet pattern. Adam decides that he is going to sew a tunic for Dante. Here are just a few tidbits from the experience that made me laugh SO HARD.

• Upon taking Dante's measurements and utilizing the online form for the pattern, Adam announces that we need 67 yards of fabric. For a tunic. For a 9 year old boy.
• Knowing it will pose a challenge, I thread the machine for him. I mean, the man hasn't used a sewing machine since Home Ec and the pillow-making assignment.
• While I'm threading, Adam is cutting fabric. Not with a round pizza-like cutter (to ensure straight lines) or even along a straight-edge. My husband is using regular scissors with a measuring tape sitting across the table. You don't need me to tell you how those pieces looked when he was finished.
• Shortly into sewing, I hear "It broke" in the most forlorn and mouse-like voice ever. Upon checking it out, I discover the thread came out of the needle and the machine needs to be re-threaded. This is also the point in time that I discover that Adam has forgotten how to sew two pieces of fabric together. Instead of placing one on top of the other, he is sewing them together much like an open book. Proceed to seam ripping and re-do.
• Later, things are quiet and so I decide to just peek in. I see Adam, sitting in front of the sewing machine, and slowly taking it apart. It appears that the thread from the bobbin is no longer outside of the machine and he felt it was probably necessary to take apart the bottom of the machine in order to fix this. 15 minutes later, and the pieces put back together, I'm able to pull the bobbin thread back out. This is where I decide that I will do the sewing.

All in all, the tunic is a piece of crap. No really. It's longer in the front than it is in the back and based on how the pieces were cut and then sewn, that means there's bunching right around Dante's chest. The sleeves are magically long enough (just barely) too.

I'm not sure how long Dante wore it today. They both claim that he did.

If nothing else, I believe my husband has greater appreciation for my quilting efforts.

And I got an ab workout from all of the laughter. :)