Wheeling and Dealing

Before moving to England last summer, we had to sell a lot of our belongings. What that means now is that since I am moving back to the states I am going to have to replace a lot of those items (and more since I had to leave some things behind). I need a new mixer, a vacuum, a toaster, a crock pot, a couch, a bed, a kitchen table, a car, a cell phone, and various other small items. But some need replacing sooner than others.

Like a car.

So today Stan took the day off work, we all piled into the car, and we drove about an hour to Elgin to look at some cars that I had found listed online. Two Toyota Corollas and one Honda Civic. All reasonably priced and comparable in mileage and features.

I ended up with this one...
It's a 2004 Toyota Corolla and I am pretty happy with it. Negotiating with the salesman gave me a stomachache and made me so nervous, but having my entourage for support made it more manageable. Every time the salesman went off to talk to his boss, I conferred with Mom and Stan and got ready for the next round.

It took a while - like four hours - but by the end of it I got a pretty good deal. I talked them down another $1000, got them to fix a wheel bearing and a piece of trim that was coming off, got new tires and a car wash. So there. I did it. Now I just need to get car insurance.

Snow Balls

Sammy and Maggie.
Playing in the snow. Too cute.
But not cute enough to get me to brave the subzero temperatures to get a picture - this one was taken through the window while I stood warm in the family room.

They must have played out there for almost an hour. Sammy got Maggie to do all sorts of tricks. Then she would toss snow balls for Maggie to catch in the air.

Lights Out

Christmas was different this year.
Why? Because we spent a lot of it without electricity.
That's right. I said no electricity.
Here's the story...
(it's long, but worth a read)
On Christmas Eve around 3pm the lights went out. We weren't too terribly concerned...at first. We found things to do around the house, but as dinner time neared we realized that cooking without electricity would be a challenge. Luckily the stove was gas - it just needed to be lit. Kudos to mom for making the entire meal by flashlight. We ate dinner by the light of about ten candles, which was kind of fun actually.

At about 8pm the lights came back on. YAY! We all rushed to turn on lights, check email, watch TV and clean up the kitchen. About 15 minutes later the power failed again. Are you kidding me? When Stan called, he found out that it might be out for the rest of the night. Decisions had to be made. The heat didn't work without electricity so the house was getting colder despite the warm fire in the family room. The food in the fridge and freezer would soon begin to spoil. And how would be cook Christmas day meals without power? What were we going to do?

To add insult to injury, the homes directly across the street still had their power! We sat in our dark house looking longingly at the neighbor's beautifully lit Christmas tree waiting for our lights to come back on.

Without much left to do, we got ready for bed. We packed the food into the garage and even buried some under the snow outside hoping to preserve it. We gathered together extra blankets. We went to bed hoping to wake up to a house with electricity.

No such luck.
We woke up to a still dark, very chilly house.
After a lot of thought, we decided to call Heidi and tell her not to come since we had no heat. Literally, while mom was on the phone with her the power came back on. But we weren't sure it would stay on - especially after last night.

But it did.
And we were grateful. For something we usually take for granted. Electricity.

Return to sender

We're ba-ack!

That's right. After a brief six months in England, the kids and I have returned to the states for good. The decision was made (for a multitude of reasons that I won't bore you with) to move back to Bloomington. We flew to Rockford to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa and will soon be heading to Indiana to spend a week with Aunt Costa and Andrew before making our way to the Ostlunds' house - our temporary home until the summer. The plane rides and airport lines were long and tiring, but it was such a relief to finally be back in the good old USA.