recent happenings

My car died last weekend. Christopher jumped it on Sunday and it started working, but it was dead again on Monday. Naturally, we had a playdate and four time-sensitive errands scheduled that day. Instead, Christopher came home over lunch to jump it again and I went to buy a new battery. The GPS brought me to the wrong garage so I had to go to an Auto Zone on the other side of town. I think I could identify four items in the entire store- tires, air fresheners, tictacs, and a pocket knife. The very nice man asked if my Rogue is an S, SL or SV. I had no answer to that question. I told him all I know is that it's a blue Nissan and I like it. I don't know about cars. He followed that question up with "Is it a four-cylinder?" I got the feeling he wasn't listening when I told him I DON'T KNOW ABOUT CARS. I'm part of the reason why there's a stereotype about women not being knowledgeable about cars!

One of our stops after getting the new battery was to drop off our Operation Christmas Child boxes. I've been doing them for over 12 years and now AB gets just as excited about packing them. We've learned how to really maximize every square inch of the box. 

We've always included a card, but this year at the homeschool group we were given OCC sheets to color and put in the box. Look at the care with which Sesame drew our house. Such attention to detail and dedication to including all the loving decor touches I've labored over.

Annabelle's future husband invited her to friendsgiving today. She was the only girl in a group of 9 children and she wasn't sure how to handle it. She kept giving them the side-eye and covering her ears (both of which I wanted to do myself). 

It's not as if she's always a dainty flower at home. She makes plenty of noise and ruckus by herself. She's constantly asking, "Do you want to hear how loud I can yell the word ________? Can I have a snack? Can I watch a show? MAAAAAAMMMMMMAAAAA!!!!!"

Her talking could fuel all the vehicles needed to transport the shoeboxes around the world.