Saying Good-bye to Summer

On September 26, 2011September 26, 2011 By AngeliaIn Life is what you make it.25 Comments

Yesterday, Six Flags Hurricane Harbor water park closed it’s doors for the summer. I bet you didn’t even know they stayed open until the last weekend in September. Well, in North Texas they do.

You could say it marks the end of summer here.

I am so proud of my daughter Sydney. This was her first job. She got it all on her own. She filled out the application. She aced the interview. She did it all herself.

She got hired working as ride attendant at the park. She had to go through CPR training before she even started. And this summer? Hottest summer on record in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. I think we cracked over 69 days of being over 100 degrees, but I lost count.

It was still near 100 yesterday – 97 – close enough. But she did it. She worked in the heat, in the sun, and she looked pretty darn cute doing it.

Did I mention I am proud of her?

And look at her tan…holy cow!

Thank goodness she didn’t have to save anyone. No heart attacks, slips, or seizures.

But she was prepared, just in case.

This is the shirt they gave all the employees on the last day. It is soooo appropriate.

Congrats Sydney on your first job!

She actually still has a job now that the water park is closed. They send them all over to Six Flags over Texas (across the street) to work a haunted house.

Her next job? A scary clown (shudder!).

Thank goodness, they do their make-up there (I hope!).

Oh, and by the way…….

We got a NEW car!

No more car pooling.

No more long days at work waiting for a ride; no more swapping.

It’s our first Kia. But I tell ya, so far, this car is SWEET. And most importantly, smaller than the other car we have, which is MUCH easier for me to drive.

2012 Kia Soul

And yes, I may pretend I’m a dancing hamster in it (one of my favorite commercials of all time -PARTY ROCK!).

It has lights around the speakers. They change colors from red to yellow to purple to green and beat with the music. It’s way too cool.

It also has a back-up camera for driver-challenged folks like me.

I am so thrilled with it. We, finally, have TWO cars again. Plus, I love BOTH of the cars and can drive either one.

I will probably drive the Kia Soul the most. My work is farther and it has an Eco System to save gas.

The car buying process only took a few hours. I have to thank the good peeps at Kia Patterson of Arlington. There was only a small hiccup because Jason’s ex still has the house they bought in his name. It doesn’t look so good on your credit when you have two houses and a car. Thankfully, we were able to convince them it wasn’t his in the decree. But still……scary stuff when you have no control over your credit because of someone’s actions, or inaction in this case (it’s been almost four years since the divorce).

So….a very close call on getting another car, but it all worked out in the end. We got a REALLY good deal and I highly recommend this dealership (told you I was a blogger!).

Happy Monday everyone! You know I’m smiling and cruising in my own set of wheels. 🙂

Car Swap

On September 24, 2011September 24, 2011 By AngeliaIn Days and Nights, Life is what you make it.12 Comments

It’s been (almost) five months since the worst car accident I have ever experienced, never mind that I wasn’t even in it.

I’m thankful for the last five months. I am thankful the scars are not as pink. And I am thankful the physical therapies, the tests, and the lawsuits are at their end.

It’s been a long road. A road of patience, and perseverance, but we did it.

We survived the aftermath and the after of the after math.

Since Jason’s precious Jeep was totaled back in April, he has been car-less. He has been in Jeep mourning day after day. The Jeep was/is his dream car. He still gets the Jeep magazine and holds on to it for dear life. But, as hard as it is, not having the Jeep, it has also been a huge blessing. For one, I don’t have to worry about it rolling with all the children inside. For two, one less car payment. You could say blessings both physically and emotionally (for me anyway).

What is not easier is having only ONE car between two adults that work full-time. Not only full-time, but also a good twenty-miles apart, and with a custody arrangement to contend with.

We have managed ……..for FIVE long months.

Some days, I take him to work and pick him up. He is usually at his office from 8:30am-7:00pm. Other days, the days he picks the girls up from daycare, he takes me to work and picks me up. Sometimes, I get a ride home from co-worker. Other days, I wait at the office until 7:30pm when he picks me up after he drops the girls off. On those days, I am at the office from 9:00am-7:30pm.

When Jason takes me to work, he drives over 80 miles in one day, just to drop me off, and pick me up.

In ONE day.

Every weekend plan involves who needs the car and who can do without a car. Usually, we all go, or don’t go.

But we have done it……and I am extremely proud.

I don’t think a lot of families could make the sacrifices we have; to save money, stress, and some environment pollution.

Truth is…there was some talk at my job about sending everyone in the office to work from home. About half did get sent home, the other half (all four of us), still work in the office, and possibly plans have changed about us working from home.

Who knows? Apparently, it’s not something I can bank on.

Having one car and me working from home is not a big deal. But one car and Jason driving 80 miles in one day is.

So after five months, we are going car shopping.

Yes, finally.

It won’t be a dream car, but it will be an enormous relief.

I will be glad to be able to go to/from work without waiting. And planning weekend activities independently (if we need to).

I will miss our morning commutes together. I will also miss our impromptu dates, because of traffic (wink,wink), to eat at our favorite places for dinner.

I will miss ALL those things, but really, I am just glad to have more time at home.

I think it is worth every penny.

So wish us luck as we car shop, and end the swap.

And don’t worry, we have plenty of time for dream cars. I promise honey!

My Hooptie Ride

On May 1, 2010May 1, 2010 By AngeliaIn I did it for love & it didn't kill me, In the lives of children42 Comments

I must admit…I don’t name my cars. I never have. Even when I got a car on my 16th birthday. It was a sweet silver Mercury Cougar 1984. Many called it the silver bullet, but that wasn’t its name, not by me anyway. It was just my car that I dinged wrecked too many times to count.

Since then, I’ve had a red Eagle Talon, a green Neon, a white Plymouth Breeze, and a champagne Nissan Pathfinder (10yrs old). I liked all my cars. I did. I just wasn’t creative enough to name them or anything. Maybe I didn’t want to get too attached. I mean, one day, they would become an old used up trade in never seen from again.

But my car now? Well, I love it. It’s a Black Toyota Matrix, after almost five years it has a name. Hooptie. I loooove my hooptie ride. It’s just the right size. It has seen me through thick and thin and many, many moves. My baby even carried a full size filing cabinet, my dogs, kids, co-workers and family. It gets mistaken for an SUV all the time even though it’s only a Toyota Corolla with a hatchback. It’s amazing how much I can pack in there. It’s even good on gas.

The only problem it had? The hubcaps. I kept losing them. Believe me it’s not pretty. Missing a hubcap is like going without shoes and having ugly feet. I kept replacing them with the original factory ones, but eventually another would fall off and they would get harder and harder to find at a cheap price (unbroken that is). I finally replaced them with metal fitting hubcaps. These were the best I could do picking a style.

It took me a bit to get used to them but it was better than shelling out bucks for rims. It was still my beloved. Then, I noticed my poor (plastic) hubcaps were missing a bolt. A fake bolt at that. The horror!

Now according to urban dictionary – a hooptie is a clunker. I don’t think my ride is a clunker by any means, but definitely the hubcaps were hooptie. I guess that fits in a way, but really it’s a very nice car. Hooptie just became my endearing term for a car that I’ve grown attached to and been through many miles with in the last five years.

As Sydney approaches sixteen (FIVE DAYS), we had to figure out what wheels she would drive. I didn’t want to buy her a “true” hooptie unless that’s what she really wanted and definitely not a new car. NO WAY. She needed a first car that was reliable but not a lot of money. The only thing that made sense was to give her my car (almost paid for) and I would get a new(er) car. Of course she thinks THAT’S totally unfair. I get a new car and she gets a hooptie?

Uh, hello, I’m the MOM here. Now her getting a MOM car and not a teenage car, that I can understand. So I promised her she could pick out new rims and a new stereo. That way my car would be “her” car. During my time off I went to get the tires rotated since the steering wheel vibrated my arms off going 60 on the freeway. Lo and behold the tires were bad. Totally worn out and bald – which is why it shook – and I needed new tires. It seemed a good time for Sydney to pick out rims even though she won’t officially have the car until she returns from Mississippi this summer.

We paged through a large catalog to select the rims and tires. Her choice. Whatever she wanted. I think she did a good job considering she is a girl and neither of us know anything about cars. Now what I forgot was that I would be the driver of a VERY teenage car for the rest of the summer. Oops.

Hey, how would you like to meet my new ride……introducing my pimped out hooptie with new bling to rank it as a G ride. Holla!

Sick, I know (as in crazy, cool). I get a lot of looks and even had someone trying to race me last night. Yeah, I’m poppin’. Look out, here comes the old lady in a Hooptie ride!

Thanks kid, I can’t wait to get my booming stereo. Word out.

The Fine Art of Car Dancing

On March 17, 2010March 18, 2010 By AngeliaIn In the lives of children, Life is what you make it., Love and Light39 Comments

I’ve been car dancing for as long as I can remember. Maybe I got a little more free with my moves when tinted windows became popular. I guess I thought I was semi-hidden until someone I knew saw me and never let me live it down. Eventually, I just didn’t care anymore. I busted my moves, cut my rug, and mashed those potatoes – in the car, in the grocery aisles, on the sidewalks. If the mood struck, I was DANCING.

Of course the fine art of car dancing is no fun alone, so I taught Sydney. And we didn’t just dance there but everywhere. It wasn’t too long ago we were getting down in the doorway of Pappasitos, waiting for Jason to pull the car around. Laughter bubbled over and who knows? Maybe it infected the restaurant patrons and staff. I’m sure it made a good show, or laugh. Or to them we might be The Crazies, as in the movie we recently watched.

Here is the thing, I have two little girls that are going to be my step daughters. The tradition has to be passed. We are a family of car dancers. They will teach their children, and those children theirs. I started training them last summer in the parking lot of Tom Thumb.

Let me tell ya, it didn’t take long. These kids are naturals. Imagine my delight when Lance from Jungle of Life emailed me about a special project to participate in – an International day of car dancing – brought to you by Katie from The Levity Project. If any of you were around for our mall Laugh fest it’s the same Katie, and the same Levity Project.

Our assignment – to jig it up car dancing all day and video 15-30 seconds of it. A-ha! Our mad skills would be recognized. Our greatness recorded. It was like making it to the Olympics after training all summer. Go team car dancing USA. I have to tell you, it was crazy cool. Contenders for a medal? I’ll let you decide.

I have a full length video of our car dancing day that is just not ready for release (unless you want a DVD mailed). What is ready is the official -GLOBAL- video just released today that includes our segment (3:14) that we sent in.

Great job done by ALL participants from all over the WORLD. I was stunned by the movement of this passion and where it ended up. Lance always includes a note that we are ALL CONNECTED, especially when we do a project of this kind. His post is here. Katie’s post is here.

Funny thing is, one of my GOOD friends is in this video from Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. I was so surprised and happy to see her grooving away. I met her a few years ago in person with a group of online ladies in Ohio. We all met on a thirty-something Ediets message board together. Who she knows from the Levity Project? I have no idea. But TRULY, it is a small world and we are ALL connected.

What an honor to be part of this event. I can’t even describe how proud it makes me to know such a life giving group of individuals seeking out ways to touch others with love and laughter.

Get ready to smile, laugh, and don’t forget – DANCE. Please share this video with everyone you know to brighten their day.