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A NEW CAR!!
Ok, so we didn't win a new car, however we did go and purchase one today.
Several months ago, Doug and I decided that we were outgrowing my Toyota Yaris. Weston's car seat has never really fit where both Doug and I could be comfortable. The passenger seat was always pushed up almost to the dashboard, which is neither safe nor comfortable. Also, we want to have more children and we knew we couldn't fit another car seat in that car much less fitting a Great Dane and a Labrador in the backseat with two children.
We were originally looking at buying a GMC Terrain, but after looking further, we decided to buy a Hyundai Tucson Limited. So far, we love it. One of the biggest benefits is the dual climate control. Doug and I can never agree on the temperature in the car and now we can both choose our own temperature. Also, it has heated seats for winter. We have a back-up camera and remote start. Living in Alabama, it will be a HUGE help to be able to turn the car on before we get in it so that it's cooled off and not so hot, especially for Weston.
The only downside we have found so far is that the storage space is a lot less than in the Yaris. We were able to fit the big stroller, umbrella stroller and groceries in the trunk with no problem. In the Tucson, we can barely fit the big stroller, much less groceries.
Regardless, we really like our new car and can't wait to utilize all of its capabilities.
Today is Hattie's 5th birthday. Here is where I documented how we came about getting her.
Happy Birthday Hattie!!
Nine years ago today, I graduated from high school. I remember the day like it was yesterday.
We graduated on the last day of school for the school district. I felt like as seniors, we weren't getting any advantage over the juniors and underclassmen like previous senior classes had. Every class before us had graduated at least a week before the rest of the county was released for summer vacation.
Since I was on the senior class board, the morning of graduation I had to go to the school and decorate the football stadium (where we graduated). This actually worked to my benefit because those of us that worked in the morning were able to reserve the best seats in the stands for our families.
*Side note to the following graduation day memory- one of my aunts worked for an airline and therefore is able to give "buddy passes" to family members, allowing them the ability to fly for free. The caveat to that is those who fly on the buddy passes fly stand-by, so if the plane is full, since the passenger is not a paying customer, you wait for the next flight.
My aunt who lives in Mississippi was planning on using a buddy pass to get from Mississippi to Atlanta, where my airline aunt and uncle live. Then, my MS aunt and airline uncle were going to fly together to Florida (my airline aunt was already in Florida helping my grandmother). My aunt finally arrived in Atlanta after about 3 delays. When she arrived in Atlanta, my uncle informed her all the flights were booked and they would have to haul to get to Florida in time for graduation, an 8 hour drive away.
Meanwhile, I'm calling the administration building at my high school to find out if I'm even graduating, especially since my aunt and uncle are having to go through all of this harangue just to attend. You see, although I had the intelligence to get good grades, I didn't have the motivation. Therefore, I was concerned that I hadn't passed a class (or two), making me ineligible to graduate.
Turns out I passed all of my classes (probably because the teachers didn't want to see me again, especially my French teacher) and graduated that evening.
Yesterday we went to a Taylor Swift concert in Nashville. However, this was unlike a regular concert in that it was actually her last dress rehearsal before going out on tour. She opened up her rehearsal to benefit the victims of the tornadoes that came through the South last month. All the ticket sales and merchandise sales went directly to those affected by the storms. I think she said towards the end of the show that $750,000 were raise and they hadn't finished tallying yet. How awesome is that?!
The only drawback to the whole evening was that we parked in an enclosed parking garage. When all of the concert-goers returned to their cars and got ready to leave, we realized someone had locked the gates in which to exit. Therefore, everyone had the cars turned on and the exhaust running- inside a closed building. The fumes were horrendous and very few people turned off their cars. It took about 2 hours for someone to come and unlock the gate so we could all leave. It was a very late night.
My brother is HOME!! He was deployed for just about 2 months. He would have been over there until Christmas, but he was injured shortly after arriving. He is alright, but will have to have surgery. I'm just so grateful that he's home and safe. He will not re-deploy with his current enlistment, therefore he'll be safe for a while and hopefully he'll either get out of the military or the war will be over before he would have to re-deploy.
Yesterday was my first official Mother's Day. Doug and Weston got me a picture frame and a Willow Tree figurine. When Weston was born, I had gotten Doug the "New Dad" figurine. We had a relaxing day and then had Mexican food (my favorite) for dinner.
My mom was here with us as well, so we gave her slippers and a gift card to a bookstore.
It was a very nice, enjoyable day.
Since we were just in Atlanta and I haven't been in Atlanta in April since 1990, I was thinking back to that trip.
Twenty-one years ago, my mom's whole side of the family decided to meet in Atlanta for a small reunion. During our trip, everyone decided to go to the Atlanta Zoo. This thrilled my five year old self because I loved animals and there wasn't a good zoo near where we lived.
Early one morning, we all set out for the zoo to enjoy a good day of family, outdoor air and animals. Everything was going well when we stopped at the lion enclosure. My grandmother, who was 57 at the time, seemed out of breath and decided to sit. Someone asked her if she was ok and she responded that she was "just looking at the lions". No one thought much of it at the time and we continued on with our day.
After we all had eaten lunch together, some of the adults wanted to go to the Cyclorama, which at 5, I didn't care about seeing. Therefore we split up- I stayed with my parents and my aunt, my grandmother went with two of my uncles and one of my other aunts. Towards the late afternoon, when we were getting ready to leave and meet the other adults out near the cars, those of us that stayed at the zoo were in the gift shop.
My uncle ran into the gift shop saying that there was something wrong with my grandmother and that we needed to hurry up and come meet up with her. With that, we set down our purchases and we all booked it across the zoo. My mom was pregnant at the time and even she ran.
When we got to the Cyclorama, my mom who was a nurse, quickly determined my grandmother was having a heart attack. We asked an employee for a wheelchair and for a phone to call 911. The employee declined both and time was wasting, so my uncle ran to get a car. Somehow, perhaps through being carried, my grandmother made it to the front of the building where my uncle picked her up and took her to the hospital.
We later found out that earlier in the day, someone else had suffered a heart attack and ended up dying on the way to the hospital since there was no ambulance. Luckily, my grandmother didn't have the same fate and after spending several days in the hospital, she was released to go home.
