My Husband- The Mechanic

We took our van in for inspection and it didn't pass. We are trying to sell it, but won't be able to sell the hunk of metal for more than the junkyard will give us, unless we pass inspection. It will cost us more than the van is worth if we pay to get it fixed. So, my loving husband has decided to do the work himself. He replaced the entire left taillight assembly (which btw has been broken for two years and this is the first year they noticed!! anyways...). He went to Pick-A-Part (a local car yard) and got everything for the taillight and it was done in an afternoon. I was impressed. You should be,too.

Next he has to replace the power steering pump. Not an easy task, but a challenge that B could not turn down. He talked with friends and looked at information on-line. He bought new parts, took off the old power steering pump and put on a new one in less than a week. I was so proud!!


The van failed inspection again. The pulley on the pump was not flush by a fraction of an inch. Had we taken it anywhere else, it would have passed inspection. But my husband, the perfectionist, must do it right!!! So he decided to go back to Pick-A-Part and find a pump and pulley already attached. I dropped him off this morning and fifteen minutes later received a phone call, "You need to come get me. I'm hurt. " By the time, I had driven back to the junkyard, B had called me again. He said that he was fine and he would be done in about an hour. I know my husband well enough to know that he was probably bleeding to death underneath a car, but at the same time he was so stubborn and determined to finish this job that he would not go to the emergency room without a power steering pump in hand! He was able to talk, he'd be fine. Probably could just take a couple of ibuprofen...(just kidding, mom) :)


When I finally picked him up, he was covered in dirt, grease and blood down his face. He had a nice gash oozing blood and thick gunk under his eye. I couldn't even look at him without getting sick to my stomach. But he had the pump with pulley attached!!


After six stitches, here he is. God was certainly with him as he was yanking the bolt toward his face. He has absolutely no damage to his eye. Jake says he looks like Anakan Skywalker. I think scars on a man's face are always hot.

Bored

N and I didn't have much to do today, so we played with our video camera. He's so stinkin cute!!

Kah-Rah-Tay!

J decided that he wanted to learn karate this year, so here he is. He earned his first black stripe today for saying the ATA oath at least two times. He is sooooo proud!



Once again, because of J, we are being thrown into a world that we know nothing about. B tried to get him to do ice skating or swimming, but he has insisted on karate. We thought it would be difficult for him, but he seems to be doing quite well so far.



On another note, just wanted to keep everyone updated on my beautiful flowers. As you might recall, I have been known to kill any living plant that I may (or may not) come into contact with. I have received many compliments on the flowers taht the kids and I planted last spring. I was very proud. You can see their pics in my last post. Then the neighborhood girls decided to make flower soup. Oh well! At least it wasn't my fault this time.




This is the only flower left! :(

Summer is officially over

OK. So my timeline is a little off. When I was looking at pics from the first day of school, I forgot about our last evening of the summer. We got together with the neighborhood kids and all walked to "A Scoop Above", the ice cream shop around the corner.

The boys are either playing karate or having a pokemon battle, not sure which one.

We planted flowers in the spring and look what happened! They actually grew! I didn't kill them! Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the kids did all the work and I haven't touched them.

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for M and J. N was very upset that he didn't start today. So we went on a date. His idea of a date is to rent a movie and then ride up and down the escalator at the mall. He's a cheap date and a lot of fun. I'm sure the people at the food court thought we were crazy! M enjoyed playing outside at her new school and eating spaghetti for lunch (her favorite!). J is enjoying some seniority this year since he is now allowed to play on any part of the playground during recess with no restrictions! Overall, it was a good day for everyone.