Mud, Paint, and Tears (car related)

Hello Friends. I realized that my blog posts are becoming strictly event based, and I'm hoping to change that in the future.  I want to add a little more of my personal thoughts and opinions.  I'll try to keep them from being boring, and I'll still add bunches of cute Theo pictures and stories.  Today might not be the start of the revolution, but soon... hopefully...

Once again, we went car less for about a week when the clutch finally disintegrated.  I was driving when it crapped out, but fortunately it gave up the ghost on our driveway, so there wasn't any stressful stranded situation. 

 This week of car-less-ness was much better than the last, because we could ditch many of our appointments and stay home.  Plus it has been uncharacteristically sunny and beautiful here in Ithaca, so we have spent lots of time walking, playing at parks, and (obviously from the pictures) playing in nature. 

I tried to stop him when I saw what direction he was running, but by the time I reached him, it was too late.  So I figured I'd let him go all out and play in the nasty stagnant-water mud puddle.  I hope he doesn't get yellow fever or something. 

Anyways, we did get out plenty over the weekend, to a BBQ, a service project (which I was in charge of, so I figured I couldn't ditch), my audition to the musical, and of course church. We live in a sort of remote corner of Ithaca, so not many of our friends live nearby.  We hit them all up, though, and we are so grateful for their kindness and willingness to squish our family into their cars.  It was not always comfy, but we always got to our destinations, so a huge thanks to them!!!

Speaking of my audition, it went very well.  I believe 7 people auditioned, and I think we all got invited to the callbacks, which are tomorrow.  Whitney came over today for an incredibly hectic practice session.  I'm glad that we could practice together, despite her little cuties finding all of our musical toys, and Theo absolutely SCREAMING!  I wasn't shocked by Theo, though.  That's what happens when you wake up early, then refuse to nap, then run errands all day with Mommy, then she has the audacity to try and make you sleep when you have friends over.  But we all made it through, and are the better for it.

One of the errands we ran today was to take the car back to the shop.  We got it back on Wednesday, and on Thursday the check engine light came on.  Really?!?!  We had just left Daddy on campus after lunch, and I realized there wasn't enough time to go home, let Theo sleep, put him back in the car, and go to the shop.  So I found a beautiful, quiet, shady spot (above) and let him sleep in the car for a few minutes.  It was quite a lovely break for me.  I got to read my scriptures with only the sound of breeze and crickets in my ears.  It was a great moment to center my chi in the middle of my crazy day.

Fortunately, they had only jostled something in the engine while replacing the clutch, so it was a quick fix and they didn't charge us.  We shall be praying thanks for our car that works, and to keep it that way for a long time to come.

PS: We finally bought paint today, so Monday is the appointed day for the living room makeover. Of course I shall be taking plenty of pictures!

PPS: Theo and I turned in our papers to get passports, which means we are one step closer to visiting Shelley in Argentina!