What I Like: Hooray for non-stock parts!

What I Like somehow didn't get published on Wednesday, so here it is a day late, but still just as great of a business!

I bought a real lemon of a car.  My brother-in-law (who is in car sales and does a fantastic job and will be featured here eventually) tried to talk me out of it but I was dead set on this particular car and although he knew a Ford would serve me better, he also wasn't going to force me to buy something other than what (I thought) I wanted.  So now I've got a lemon.  I bought it (from my brother-in-law) a year old with almost 10,000 miles on it and it is now three years old with about 65,000 miles on it and I've already spent well over $1,500 fixing it.  That's not just the normal maintenance, that's repairs.  Ridiculous.  On the bright side, I've developed a really good relationship with the guys at C&C Tire in Harrison, Ohio.  They've done such a great job, talking me through each thing that has gone wrong and fixing things that even the dealership (not my brother-in-law's dealership where I bought the car, but the one where the original owner bought the car) couldn't find or fix.  The last time I had my car in the owner of the company called me to tell me what was going on, what it was going to cost to fix it and how long I could drive it with what was wrong so I could save up for the repair.  Not only did he give me honest, helpful information, he didn't charge me for taking my car completely apart to figure out what was wrong.  Admittedly, I may get a little bit of special treatment since he knows my dad, but that is definitely what I call good business!

Yesterday I picked my car up after finally taking it in to have those repairs done and it is seriously like driving a new car.  C&C not only fixed the problem, they made my car drive better than it has in the entire time I've had it.  At my request, they used after market parts instead of stock and really did things right.  When I got home from picking up the car, Man looked at the bill and was shocked by the price.  With all that was done, he expected it to be way more, but C&C does great work at a fair price.  C&C, you've got our business for life!

These thoughts are entirely my own and I was in no way persuaded or compensated by C&C Tire.  Not that I would mind if I were.  Hey, C&C, get on that!

Really, it's there a better sight to come home to?

Counting the days to the Aurora Farmer's Fair

Driving home from Schmo's birthday party last night, our oldest and I were playing the alphabet game, where you name a category and come up with something in that category for every letter of the alphabet.  Our category was food, so we did apple, banana, cantaloupe, dragonfruit, eggplant, fennel (and on and on) and it just now occurred to me that we did eggplant and fennel instead of elephant ears and funnel cakes.  Clearly we need festival season to get here quickly!

Hungry, hungry hippos, er, umm, something funnier. I just don't have it today.

Wolfey is about the most impatient animal you've ever met.  When he needs outside he follows me around and whines until I open the door.  When he decides it's time to come inside, he stands at the back door and barks (not constantly, just every couple of seconds like he's rushing you along) until someone lets him in.  When he's hungry he grumbles (he seriously sounds like a grumpy old man) the whole time I'm making his food.  Man frequently tells Wolfey what a jerk he is being when he does these things and while I don't like the name calling, it's pretty much true, so I let it go.  Since we started giving Brady wet food he's started doing the same thing, though he meows instead of grumbles (by the way, we found THE BEST cat food).  Brady's food just has to be dumped into a bowl, but since it's refrigerated we have to let it warm up a bit, so even though his is the first I get out at feeding times, he is the last to be fed and he does NOT like having to wait!

As I was preparing the animals' food they both started in.  Man told Wolfey what a jerk he was being and I told Brady what a pain he was being and all the while Lolly was sitting patiently and the following ensued:

Man: "Good thing at least one of them is patient!"

Me: "There's no need for her to get worked up, she knows she'll eventually get some food."

Man: "Who would have guessed that out of the three, Lolly would ever be the good one?"

Me: "I meant she knows if we don't feed her she'll just go counter surfing!"

Man worked a half day today so he could go pick the girls up after school.  On their way back home we video chatted to say hi and let me know their plan for the evening, since I don't get off work until 8:00 tonight.  Man asked me if I had to do anything after work or if I would be straight home and our little one interrupted him, pointed at the camera and said in her best diva voice, "you better be home for cuddle time!"  I love the technology that allows us to communicate so easily and have those little moments, but even more, I love that the girls want me there and can't wait to get home and have even more special times!

Oh, and I spent the morning putting the finishing touches on several wedding things and now I've got subjects for several more "What I Like" posts.  This may not wait until Wednesday!

What I like: first edition, cat food

I've decided I need to start having a few series on here.  I've already started naked blogging but I don't do it on a regular basis (just whenever I feel the need to overshare or get all sappy) and I'd like to have a series or two that I do on a relatively set schedule.  So here's the first one.  I'm calling it "What I Like" and I plan to do it every Wednesday (because I'm all about the alliteration of "What I Like Wednesday").  My goal is that each week I will give a link to a product or service I have used in the past week and liked.  I am not being paid in any way for my endorsements, these are just companies or products that I really like and would like to share with other people.  I've done this many times before (in fact I went back through old posts to add in some links and there were just too many!) but now there will be an easy way to go back and reference them.

You're welcome.

I know you're thinking that all the products I like are going to be It Works! products (and let's be honest, I do love everything I've tried from that company!) and this would be a great opportunity to shamefully plug my business, but there really are a lot of other awesome things out there and this week, because it's what's on my mind right now with our recent battles to find Brady a cat food he'll actually take from both of us, we're talking food.  Cat food, specifically.  I like our new cat food.  Like, I REALLY like our new cat food.  With Brady being so. freaking. picky. we were really struggling to find something that fit all our criteria.  Basically, it had to be relatively convenient (we're not opposed to making his food like we do with the dogs, but we are opposed to having to grind up whole animals, like was suggested in much of the literature I read), high in protein and calories (he needs to gain some weight), not break the bank, not make him yak and, most importantly, something he would actually eat.  We went through five different cat foods before finally landing on Pet Pride.  Not only does Brady love it, it's cheaper per serving than the leading wet cat food and actually SMELLS LIKE FOOD!  Most wet cat foods smell gross and I wouldn't eat them if you gave me $20, but this one smells like you could toss it in a skillet and serve it for dinner!  You can actually see the bits of chicken, carrots and fresh herbs and Brady absolutely loves it.  Interestingly enough, this is actually a Kroger store brand product.  Who knew?!  The only down side I've found is that it's refrigerated and needs to warm up a bit before the cat can have it, but Brady loves it so much that when you pull the bag out of the fridge he comes running and then harasses you until you give it to him.  Pretty awesome, and this is definitely what I like!

These thoughts are entirely my own and I was in no way persuaded or compensated by Pet Pride or the Kroger company.  Not that I would mind if I were.  Hey, Kroger, get on that!

You'd think 3 weeks would be enough time to recover from having the girls for 3 weeks.

It's not.

And in two short days we'll have them again.  I miss them like crazy and can't wait to have their smiling faces and laughing voices filling the house again, but I also can't believe how these last three weeks flew by so quickly.  I'm still not back to myself after the weeks of our little one waking me in the middle of the night to help her potty, fighting with our oldest over makeup, clothes (did I ever mention that she has the immodesty of a toddler.  10-year-old body hanging out all over the place is NOT okay with me!) and anything else she could challenge me on and Wolfey and our middle child breaking my heart but I'm getting there.  I have high hopes that I will be back to blogging daily here shortly, but in the mean time I'm taking my New You to help me sleep better and my greens for energy and just plugging away!

M.I.A.

Ironically, when we have the girls and I have tons of silly/funny/interesting stories, I'm also too sleep deprived and brain dead to write.  I promise I'll be back to normal soon.

In the mean time, I did want to mention that one month from today, I'll walk down the aisle to my love, my future, the rest of my life.  I am truly a lucky woman.

I truly have the best Man in the entire world

I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in about 2 weeks.  That is in part just my weird body not letting me sleep well, in part due to not sleeping soundly because I'm listening for the girls and in part because the girls actually have needed me during the night.  Last night, Man and I got in to it a bit, only because he's worried about me and I'm bull headed.  He was suggesting different methods for me to get more sleep tonight (taking a sleeping pill, going to bed immediately after dinner and letting him take care of the evening craziness of getting the girls through the bath and the animals fed, etc.) and I was getting mad at him for trying to tell me what to do.  Sounds about right.  After all, I was still pretty grumptastic.  So, long story short, we fell asleep with Man feeling defeated and me more than a little irritated with him.  And then I overslept.  I was supposed to be at work at 9:30 this morning and woke up at 9:50.  And I have a 45 minute drive.  I have no clue how I managed to sleep that late (I never sleep past 8:00) but I woke to the sound of the girls giggling in their room, rolled over to see how early they'd woken up and jumped out of bed.  Man never said a word about him being right about me needing sleep, but jumped out of bed and asked what he could do to help.  He filled my water bottles, packed my lunch and fed the animals.  He ushered the girls out of my way so I could fly through the house like a tornado getting ready.  He kissed me goodbye and saw me out the door without saying a single "I told you so."  And let's be honest, he would have been totally justified in saying that.  Then, on his way to his appointment (to which he was late, by the way, because of helping me get ready), he called just to make sure I had made it to work and was okay.  I've said it before and I'll say it again: I am SO lucky to love such an amazing Man!

It's better to be pissed off than pissed on

Living in a small three bedroom house where one bedroom is used as an office for Man, we have three girls stuffed into one bedroom like sardines.  Okay, it's not quite that bad since it's a big bedroom, but it's still tight quarters with three girls, three beds, three wardrobes, you get the point.  Consequently, bunk beds are a must.  For some reason, our youngest insists on being on the top bunk and although some may question the merits of putting a 6 year old on the top bunk, it's worked out pretty well.  Until this week.  Sunday night, just as Man and I were getting into bed, we heard our youngest giggling.  We thought she was having a dream (she frequently talks in her sleep) and didn't think much of it, but she just kept going, getting louder and louder until we were worried she would wake her sisters.  Finally Man went in to quiet her down and she told him she'd wet the bed.  We're still not sure why she laughed when she woke up in a wet bed but I talked to her the next day and she told me the reason she peed the bed was because she was afraid she wouldn't be able to make it down the ladder from her bed.  We talked about better ways to handle it and agreed that from then on she would call for me if she had to potty during the night and I would help her down from her bed.  It sounded like a great idea until she started calling for me every night.  I haven't slept through the night since Sunday night and last night, for some reason, between the two of us, I was up 3 times during the night for restroom breaks.  Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather go running to get her out of bed than have to change her sheets in the middle of the night, but I could really use a good night's sleep.

I'm one of those people who really needs my sleep.  I can go a couple nights with less sleep, but the longer I go, the grumpier I get.  Today, I'm pretty grumptastic.  I was at the point of saying she couldn't sleep in the top bunk any more when my foster friend had a brilliant idea.  She suggested we get our youngest a touch light to mount at the top of the ladder, so when she wakes up she can hit the light and climb down on her own.  I'm not sure why I didn't think of it on my own, but it's genius.  I plan to pick one up tonight and stick it up there before bed time, and I'm really hoping to get to sleep through the night tonight!

Wolfey just choose or middle child over me. And now my heart is broken.