Funny Story for your New Year

Hi, and Happy New Year!

Hope your Christmas was a happy day! We're trying to do as many big things in as short a time as possible, i.e. moving, remodel the kitchen, remodel the bathroom, celebrate the holidays, the microwave dies, the dryer dies...continually try to fit more stuff into a smaller house with less space than before...the list goes on!

So let's add to that: our 1997 Chevy Malibu shows symptoms that it is ALSO on its way out.
OK, we've had it 11 years, for Pete's sake -- it has had a good life! Car symptoms and Internet research tells us that a "big fix" is coming soon, added to a few smaller ones, so...do we put $2500 into fixing an 11 year old car? Or put that money into a used newer vehicle...we could look for one that also has 4-Wheel-Drive for the snow around here...you can see where this is going.

So for the past few days/weeks, we have ALSO been heavily researching Used 4WD Vehicles. It is a good time to buy, since it is the last week of the year, etc., etc. (And maybe you know how ridiculous we are when we research things. The time and energy we usually spend researching may even EXCEED the time we own the item...? It's a little embarrassing.) Anyway, it was a miracle that this happened as fast as it did. Yesterday Frank ends up driving this home:


It's a 2004 Toyota Highlander, with 39,000 miles on it. V6 engine, 4WD, 7 seats possible (an adult's knees are up a little high when they sit in the very back, but, well, you know...) Frank loves that haggling game, so I let him play to his heart's content...after 4 rounds of back-and-forth, he gets it down to a pretty good price, we think.

(If you noticed the "Title" of this post, you might have expected a "Funny Story." There may be one person in this world who thinks that the Whitesells Buying a Used Car constitutes a Funny Story. For the rest of you, don't worry: there's MORE!)

The process of buying a used car from a dealership is more of a painfully long ordeal than any of us could have imagined. Frank is there for HOURS. While he is there, yesterday, waiting on bank approvals and registration and DMV notifications to switch plates and paperwork, a car pulls into the dealership lot.

There are a handful of men in the car, who pile out. Their sobriety level is a little questionable, but they make it clear they are there to buy two cars.

They open the trunk and there is quite a bit of paper cash in the car. They will pay cash for these cars, thank you very much.

THEY go through a similar process that Frank is going through, switching license plates over, and the DMV is notified. Because they pay with paper cash from the car, it is a LITTLE faster than Frank's process, so they finish and leave.

A few minutes later the dealership gets a phone call. When the DMV was notified that these license plates were changing cars, they are the license plates of some men who very recently robbed a bank! The police already know the plates and descriptions of the men they are looking for. The DMV notification also automatically goes to the police, so those license plate numbers alert all kinds of people. After the men leave the car dealership, they stop to fill up with gas, and the police pick them up at the gas station.

Sometimes...the system works. :)

Happy 2009! Love, Kari

First Real New England Snow

Hello!

Well, well--welcome to New England! This weekend was our first "real" storm. David measured 9 inches outside, and we should get another 2 maybe.... Then sunshine, Monday and Tuesday.

The kids are in HEAVEN! I could not have predicted, Saturday, the number of: not just minutes, but HOURS they spent outside, playing in the snow. Teresa builds snow tunnels,




Kara makes snow angels with her buddy Isabel next door, and David has discovered that the neighbors pay pretty well for him to shovel their driveway and porches.

I, on the other hand, am in heaven when I watch it snow from the INSIDE, and I know that I do not have to drive anywhere. I already went to the grocery store this week, and we have enough gas in the cars. I love a storm on a Saturday!

(Frank looks like he's in heaven, too, in this shot, don't you think...)Side Note: I was relieved to see that the city plows these streets VERY well. They came through multiple times during the night, and again 2 or 3 times today.

There's absolutely nothing in the world as good as hot cocoa, after you've been outside playing in the snow.

Oh, and here's a treat for anybody who may be a little weary of the traditional "12 Days of Christmas." This is a creative version; these guys sing a capella--fun!

Have a wonderful Christmas week! Kari

Baking (of sorts) & Basketball Fun

Hello!

A couple of fun things. We went to a neighborhood party last Saturday, with so much food you had to shake your head... :) The fun thing (besides socializing and getting to know neighbors better) was discovering these incredibly easy, tasty treats! Here, I made some yesterday and took a picture for you.

They take 3-5 minutes to make, and I'm not kidding! Recipe:

Pretzel Delights
mini twist pretzels
Hershey Kisses
M&M's

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees.
2. Lay out mini pretzels on a cookie sheet on wax paper.
3. Place Hershey Kiss on pretzel (I actually cut the kisses in half--kind of a pain but we think that's a better amount of chocolate per pretzel...)
4. Put in oven for 2 and 1/2 minutes, give or take a few seconds.
5. Kisses should be soft. so now push an M&M into the kiss.

Viola! Very fun, easy salty/sweet treat. I think I'll get some peanut butter M&M's and try those on top.

The OTHER fun thing was that Frank and I got to go to a Boston Celtics game last night! Yep, champion basketball team from this past spring.
The Celtics beat the Utah Jazz, 100-91. Here's their logo: I guess he represents a "Celtic?"


The funny part is, do you remember Danny Ainge? BYU basketball player, went on to play for the Celtics and actually 3 other pro basketball teams... Now he's the "President of Basketball Operations" for the Celtics--he recruits for them, and handles the sponsor deals, etc. That's about all I know but WHY do I know this? Because he's our Bishop, in our church congregation here.

Last Sunday night, Frank took David to the Bishop's Youth Night: kind of an inspirational/spiritual thought fireside for the youth, at the Ainge's house. On the front door they posted a note: "we have 2 more tickets to tomorrow night's game, if anyone can go..." At the end of the evening Frank asked if they still had the tickets so THAT's how we went! They were really good seats, and we were happy to take them off their hands.

Interesting thing, living here. I lived in California 5 years, and I never saw a celebrity! I come here and I do....OH, another person we saw: Michael Phelps, you remember 14 gold medals in swimming? He was at the game last night.

OK--back to THE LIST! Have a great week-before-Christmas! Love, Kari

Happy Birthday, Grandma!!

Today is my grandma's 98th birthday! Yippee! She's amazing. I couldn't begin to summarize her full, productive life in a paragraph on a blog, but here are a few things I admire about her:

She likes to do new things.
She took her first painting lesson at the age of 75, and painted beautiful landscapes for years.
She likes (and actually completes!) crossword puzzles.
She still exercises regularly.
(My kids would name this favorite:) She has a golf cart!
She takes care of herself.
She remembers all the kids' and adults' birthdays.
She is well-read and knowledgeable.
She appreciates good food and good company!

Here she is, with one of her birthday presents: balloon bouquets.

Happy Birthday, Grandma! We love you!

Doors, Dead Microwaves, Decorations

Hello!

Hmmm...kind of in a "posting slump" at the moment. What to write about this week?

Of course! Doors! We have new doors. And I have a new respect for people who hang doors. Our house was built in 1950. Over time, wood doors and walls and door frames settle, and shift, and move. Many of our doors wouldn't close, or stay closed, or latch...so we ordered all new doors on the main floor, and a new front door.

My Friday was spent with 3 Door Guys. 2 for interior, and 1 to replace the front door. It took 2 guys NINE and a HALF HOURS to change out 12 interior doors...they said our house wins the prize for having the most problems with each door! They had to measure, and shave off, and re-cut and shim the hinges...on EVERY door! He says, "most doors have one problem to work with...every one of yours had multiple problems!" They were here from 8 to 5:30, and they did not take a lunch break.

And the FRONT door guy...taking out the old frame, hanging, cutting, re-building, trimming the threshold, putting in new siding and baseboards...re-hanging the storm door...HE was here EIGHT and a half hours. Yes, for ONE door.

Here are the before/after shots, yes they are "just doors," but I think after they are painted (Eewww, that would be on Frank's and my list of to-do's), they'll really freshen up the place.

Interior doors before/after:






Here's the front door, sorry: the "before" shot is enlarged so many times it's grainy:


These changes may seem silly to some...but to be able to close a door that wouldn't before, or to have it STAY closed, easily, when it wouldn't before, is just heaven!

Frank's "1st" yesterday was hanging our new microwave, because, yes, the ONE thing we weren't going to touch in the kitchen?? It DIED last week! UGH! So here is our new microwave. Add it to the list!

And here, last but not least, is Kara cutting out snowflakes. Thanks to this child, we actually have some Christmas decorations up! (I'm still overwhelmed with boxes and putting things AWAY, for Pete's sake! Truly, the last thing I want to do is take out seasonal stuff that will just need to be taken down and re-packed in a month. I may have even foregone the tree this year, but...well, you know...the kids and Frank did not like that idea.)

Here is Kara, cutting out snowflakes for the front window, in the same room as our stockings. The major accomplishment is that we found most of our Christmas decorations.


Have a wonderful week! Love, Kari

Rhode Island Whirlwind Tour

Well, you gotta love Thanksgiving! (OK--I know, everybody really doesn't love it...but lets put the story of how the Europeans ruthlessly took away the Native Americans' land, into a different blog post, another day...)

What I MEAN is, who can't love being with good people and eating lots of good food? So we take a long weekend and stuff ourselves.

We finally got together with Amelia, Frank's cousin, who lives just an hour away from us in Rhode Island. I remember her 2 kids years ago, being very small, and now they are both very TALL! :) Katherine (senior) and Sean (9th grade) are a lot of fun. Here are some group cousin shots, although I don't really know what relation the "children-of-first-cousins" are.
We were entertained by good company, DDR, and of course their cat.

The next day, we got to explore Rhode Island some, having never been there before. It is the smallest state, with the shortest motto: "Hope." We toured the State House.
Very ornate.




The lobby houses this cannon with a cannonball wedged in.




We also visited the Roger Williams National Memorial. Williams founded Providence, after much persecution and being driven from Massachusetts as an outlaw.
This Christian preacher believed in the separation of church and state, since the government was run at that time by church officials who had little to no tolerance for a lot of things. He wanted a place of religious freedom, where people could practice, or not practice religion, in a manner they felt was right, and not be given grief about it. A very radical position for him to take, 300 years ago.

The park ranger we met was a WEALTH of information, working first as an archaeologist in the area for 10 yrs, then as a park ranger, for the past 15 years or so. He made it all really interesting, too--that was a treat.

Our last stop was the RISD, the Rhode Island School of Design. It's an art school, of sorts, with the design being textiles, architecture, sculpture, glass blowing, and more. My favorite was the glass. This particular artist was fine with people taking pictures of his work, so here is my favorite display:

Now you know a bit about Rhode Island.

The official name, by the way, is a mouthful: "The State of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations." Have a great week!

P.S. Yesterday Frank filled up the car at $1.79 per gallon. Can anybody beat that?

The Tile Guy

Once upon a time, there was a Tile Guy. He was very competent, came in and did his job well, and cleaned up after himself. He tiled the bathroom upstairs, the shower walls and floor, and the kitchen floor. A personable fellow, he was a joy to be around, and left the job without a trace of his being there. The Whitesells were delighted.

(And then I woke up laughing...hard...
or maybe I was crying...it's so hard to tell the difference sometimes...)

I wish so much that I could tell you that story! Oh, please! And maybe I could finish it with "I even recommended him to my friends!" YES!

HA! Instead, I have plodded through torturous weeks, day after day of bracing myself: what is coming next??!?

I will say that he did a good job with the bathroom floor and shower walls. THEN there was the shower floor. Finish that one, and it's covered with haze, I can't tell the colors I have picked out from the grout. I clean it up -- repeatedly -- and see that "Hmmm, when I turn on the water in this shower for 15 seconds, the water pools up in this corner and on this side..."

Days Later, he tears out the shower floor and starts over. The SECOND time around, it actually looks good, nice slant, drains well. I am cleaning it up after he leaves, and hey, wait...he didn't tile the inside portion under the threshold...

Days Later, he comes back to tile that little part, and also do the kitchen floor...he leaves, and wait, why does this row of tiles in the kitchen look so slanted, and why did he do such a good job cutting around this corner and such a terrible job with this identical corner on the other side?

Days Later, he is back to re-do that row and corner in the kitchen. He leaves, and THEN Frank notices the shower upstairs, the new underneath tile he laid by the threshold...he didn't grout it!??! (I'm dying a slow and painful death, here...)

Days Later, he comes back (4 days ago) for that missed grout. He leaves, THEN the carpenter drills into the kitchen floor to put in the refrigerator water line...drills through the grout and the tile CRACKS...why??! Because the Tile Guy left spaces in the cement there, and he didn't do a complete job with that layer, there was a cracked tile needing to be replaced and re-grouted. Sigh.

Well, HERE is your CHANCE! Please, give me some perspective!! I'm asking everybody for a few sentences of your own Contractor Horror Story. I know you have a better story than mine. Let's hear it! I may as well laugh a little from YOUR hindsight story. :)

Love, Kari

Many Different, Varied Places

Hi!

Well, another weekend. Not that you'd know it...we spent the entire day Saturday on little pieces of yes, you guessed it!! But believe it or not, I am not going to write about the above-mentioned topic. I am sick of those.

A good friend of mine commented that I have lived a lot of places. Which place have I liked the best, and why?

This has made me think. I am a little surprised when I list the places I have lived. It SOUNDS like a lot of places, but it doesn't FEEL like that many. I was born in Washington state (2 years--don't remember that one), then Arizona, Missouri, Colorado, Utah, Oklahoma (summers & holidays during college...don't know if that counts), then as a married person Michigan, Colorado, California, Mexico City, and Massachusetts. Here is a photo narrative, and no, I did not take these pictures! Most are ClipArt from Microsoft Word.

I have some great memories of each of these places! Although I don't remember living in WA, I have visited there as an adult. It is very green because of the beautiful rain there.



We were in Arizona until 4th grade for me. I think temperature doesn't affect kids as much as it does adults, because I don't remember complaining about the heat. Instead, I remember exploring the desert and looking for lizards, and also the big saguaro cactus everywhere.








Missouri was pretty humid in the summertime! I remember playing with our dog (a black Peekapoo named Macho) in the fields and along a creek close to our house.
(OK, so this photo is not even CLOSE to what Macho looked like, but I couldn't find a Peekapoo picture that wasn't copyrighted!!!!!)

Then there was Colorado. The mountains there are so beautiful. That is where I learned to ski. Colorado is a GREAT place.

I went to College in Utah--beautiful mountains there, too.

Oklahoma? Nice wheat, I believe...or is Kansas known for wheat? Anyway here is a good wheat photo.
Michigan must be remembered for the University of Michigan.


Then Colorado again...ditto above.

California has very walkable beaches! One of my favorite parts of living close to the ocean is walking in the sand along the water.


Mexico City has so much history, including but not limited to all the pyramid sites. It was grand to be so close to so many cultural gems.

And now, Massachusetts! I have commented on the fall colors in a previous blog. Just breathtaking.
I believe I will paraphrase my mom's or my dad's saying about living in different places. "My favorite place to live is the place I'm living in today."

Enjoy something about your week! Love, Kari