March 2017

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At noon I got the truck!!! The pockets Johnny had weren’t the right size for the truck, so we still have components that don’t work there. Now the hard part…learning how to use this monster!

After Max finished school we cleaned the truck thoroughly. I’m sad we let the leather on the front seats crack so badly!

I didn’t take a picture of the new stereo system (doh!), but I did get this great shot of the animal food still stuck in the window sills of our truck from Discount Lion Safari!!!

When Ted was available we texted back and forth about the stereo. He told me to call Johnny to fix the USB…apparently Johnny didn’t follow Ted’s directions about which cable we need since I have an android, not an iPhone. I went to his shop around 4 and instead of changing the cable out, he just installed 2 more! Although my phone connects to the stereo by Bluetooth for music, I have to plug it in to display the GPS. I sat in the truck trying to display it after Johnny added the cables. After a few minutes Johnny came out and got in my truck. I told him what I was trying to do and he seemed apologetic, but said that he didn’t think it would work like we thought. He seemed to think we’d have to order another part to ever display GPS. He went inside to his computer to research it a bit and I called Ted. He said he’d specifically picked this stereo for this, and we just had to work it out. It only took about another minute or two before we got it! I ran inside to tell Johnny and he was relieved.

I programmed Walmart into the GPS and off we went. I saw Aldi on the way and stopped there and bought way too many great looking foods. We went to Walmart next to get the things Aldi didn’t have, but on the way there the phone just disconnected from the stereo!!! Ugh!!! I reset it again, but missed a few turns again when it disconnected once more. I can’t wait till Ted comes home and helps me out of this fix!

I wanted to grocery shop since we were already out, and I’d planned on having ice cream for supper the day I got the stereo, so we finally made it into Walmart. I just found a recipe for a Reuben casserole and I need meat and cheese for it. Ugh!!! This Walmart doesn’t have a deli counter!!! Stupid. I’ll have to stop at Von’s on the way home for the corned beef/pastrami.

I found a gas station on the way home since my gas light came on. Gassing up in CA is annoying…I looked for the cheapest place I could find, and didn’t see the note above the pump that they only take debit cards. That took a few minutes and a trip inside. Then the pump didn’t start, so I asked another customer for help…but he had no idea either. I started over and it finally worked, but there’s no lock for the gas pump, and I swear those pumps are tight! They’re much harder to squeeze than pumps in other states.

We finally made it home and I was the best mom ever for having ice cream for supper.

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Johnny told me to drive the truck there at 10. I double checked that he didn’t want me to call first and he said no. Of course when I got there he told me he was the only one there and couldn’t leave the shop…he called his other guy and it would be about an hour before he got there. So why didn’t he call me 15 minutes ago and​ tell me this? Whatever.

I went to Sally Beauty to get some thinning shears for my next haircut attempt. On the way back home just as I’d passed his shop Johnny called to say his guy was there. I made a u-turn and picked Johnny up so he could drive my truck to his shop after dropping Jack and me off at home. Now we’re stranded, but I’m a hermit so it’s no biggie.

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Around 10 Johnny asked me to come to finalize the paperwork to get a new stereo in the truck! While there I walked over to an ATM to withdraw the first payment. After I walked inside the bank, and then out to the drive-thru ATM and got the money, I walked the other way around the bank back to Johnny’s shop and saw the walk-up ATM. Heh. Oh well. I’m so excited about this stereo! And worried. And hopeful/excited!

We finished up school when I got back, and went to the beach again before supper. Before we went to bed we cleaned out all the stuff from the truck so I could drop it off tomorrow morning.

I took another 2 pics of my parallel parking job, but I’ll spare you.

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I cut my hair by myself! I’ve been working up to this for a few days/weeks…psyching myself up, watching a ton of youtube videos. So since I’d prepared so thoroughly and decided that I should wait till Ted was around in case I needed some help, I did it on the spur of the moment just after he’d left for work, and during school time. Heh. It turned out pretty good, though. I tied a rubber band around my dirty, dry hair at the nape of my neck. I made sure it was straight both left to right and front to back, and then hacked away. It took a long time to get it cut through! I tied a bag around my neck with a big opening at the back to catch most of the hair. Classy!

When I was finished it looked good! It was longer than I wanted, and a tiny bit longer on one side, but I was more confident; the next time I cut my hair it’ll be even better.

I made an awesome salad for lunch with avocado, tomatoes and cilantro and we ate that over lettuce.

We went to the beach from 3:30-5:30. By the time we leave here I’ll be a lot more comfortable with parallel parking as well! (And maybe I’ll stop taking pictures of how well I’m doing. Or maybe not.)

On the way back home we saw the zipper truck that sits atop the concrete barrier on the bridge and moves it to change the number of incoming/outgoing lanes! I didn’t even know there were such trucks.

We went to Big Thyme for supper. I’d searched online for a Reuben sandwich, and this one was fine, but I wouldn’t go back. Now I want a really good one! The boys shared a good turkey, bacon, avo sandwich. While it was being made the boys played Mario Cart, and after eating the owner played it against Max. He told me that he wasn’t gonna let Max win everything like I do, he was gonna show him that you don’t always get your way. This made me chuckle since he’d already talked about how polite my boys were and said that his kids would just yell at him and demand what they wanted instead of asking. Yeah, I see how he shows his kids the way the world works.

We went home then and Jack jumped outside on the trampoline while Max showered. Then Max role played with his friend from Christmas Island while Jack got ready for bed.

I talked to Mom this morning and Papa is doing so well now. She said he’d spent the last 5 months in the bed, and it had been 6 months since he’d driven! I’m so grateful he’s getting more independent now.

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5:14am I just woke up hearing creaking on Max’s ladder. I looked down the hall, but it’s dark so I couldn’t see anything. I shone my flashlight and I see Jack’s little head peeping over the rope and Max’s curtain. I made him come down, go potty, get in my bed and he’s yawning as big as his whole head. Hopefully we’ll both go back to sleep now.

Now, 5 minutes later, the dehumidifier beeped about 20 times to let me know it was full! Once would’ve been enough! I got up to empty that, and now hopefully back to sleep!

I’m reading my book and Jack just said Mom, get out of bed you old lazybones!

I made pancakes for the boys’ breakfast. Now we’ve just watched What’s In the Bible for church…I love that show! Looks like we may not get out of our pj’s today!! Success!