No Car!

Hi All!

Remember how I posted that I was getting a new car? Well . . . apparently not. At least not this week.

Here is the story. We went to the dealership and told the salesman what we wanted. They did a search and found the car we wanted in Oklahoma (we had done an Internet search and found the same car). The dealer said they would get the car for us. They said that they had called the dealer in OK and told them that they wanted to get the car and that the OK dealer said fine.

Then. . . the delays started.

First it was that the OK dealer couldn't decide what they wanted to trade the car we wanted for.

Then it was the the car our dealer was taking to OK had a problem - the check engine light was on and they couldn't find the problem (doesn't that make you feel good about the service department there?).

Next it was that the problem needed a part ordered to fix it.

Then it was that they were putting in the part.

Then. . . . . silence.

Actually, there was a pretty healthy dose of silence intermixed with all of the above. We were only called once during this entire process. The rest of the info came from calls that we initiated! Can you say poor communication????

Hubby and I finally decided that if there was no car by today we would go and get our deposit check back and start over somewhere else.

Well - yesterday Hubby called and was told that they hadn't even arranged for the trade!!!!! WHAT??????

Needless to say, we now have our deposit check back.

What was odd is that no one from the dealership talked to us to try to get us to stay with the deal. No manager or "higher up" talked to us - the salesman just walked out with our check.

Apparently, they didn't want our business. Which, is a shame because we tend to be loyal to dealerships we buy from (in fact we had purchased my 4 Runner from this dealership about 7 years ago or so).

Oh well!

Now the search starts all over. At least we know what kind of car I want!

Today I walked and swam and my neighbor, recently back from Mexico, walked and swam with me. It is HOT here! Thank goodness someone invented the air conditioner!!!

I have a lunch "date" with a teaching friend of mine today and then I think I might peel peaches to make a "Jello" peach pie. That is a peach pie which isn't baked and which uses Jello in the gel on the fruit. It is scrumptious!

Doesn't that sound like a plan??

Oh- Skor apparently wants to go to the pool with me tomorrow!

Trisha

Voice Update: Doing well despite my poor exercise habits this weekend. I didn't read but I did talk a lot and I did do massage.

My Weekend

Hi All!

I hope everyone had a wonderful fourth of July!

We were a little worried here that rain might foil the plans for our fireworks and for our annual 10K/5K run. Luckily, it stopped raining for the morning run and Hubby and I were out front cheering on the runners.

I cheer every year with clapping and encouraging comments. A lot of people think I am weird standing out there alone (or with Hubby but he doesn't clap) but I have had people thank me for the encouragement so . . . I keep doing it!

This year a young girl was running by and said "I think you were my fifth grade teacher!" When I asked who she was . . . sure enough! I taught her in fifth grade at McCoy Elementary! A while later her mom ran by and said the same thing! They live in the next town north/east of us. Small World!

After taking in the race (which was at eight in the morning), I headed out to meet some of my friends from college. We were meeting to wish Stephanie a "Bon Voyage" as she gets ready to leave for college on the East Coast.


We met at the Genghis Grill (a new favorite for me) and had a great time chatting and eating and chatting and . . . chatting!

It was nice to see Stephanie before she heads out. We will all miss her but we know that she will have a super time in college and will have experiences she will never forget!


Have I mentioned peaches lately?

My neighbor has three peach trees and this year each of the trees had a bumper crop of peaches! Of course, she has offered me many. I took a bunch and made two batches of freezer jam (which turned out a little runny but absolutely delicious!). Then . . .

She gave me MORE!

We had peaches sliced and over Angel Food Cake.

Then . . . while my neighbors are on vacation . . . I told them that I would pick the rest of the peaches on the last tree and use them . So . . . I made one more batch of freezer jam and . . .

Ice cream!

Doesn't it look yummy?

And then we added fresh peaches! Yum!

fjgk

It was very good!

ghjk

Car Update: Still no car! Very frustrating! We are giving them today to get the car and if they don't get it . . . we are getting our deposit back and going somewhere else. I mean - the car is only 180 miles away and it has been a WEEK and they still don't have it?!?!?

ghk

Not acceptable!

fgjk

Not to mentions extremely frustrating!

fgjk

Whenever I feel frustration taking over I just take a hint from Skor and do this . . .

sfgh
Trisha

sfgh

Voice Update: Still rockin' and rollin'! I didn't read out loud Saturday because I spent all that time chatting with my friends and yesterday . . . well, Sunday is my day of rest. I have been massaging though and looking forward to a speech session this week!

STILL Waiting!

Hi All!

Guess what!?! I STILL don't have my new car!!!!!! Apparently, the car that this dealer was going to trade to the dealer in Oklahoma (who has my car) had something wrong with it yesterday so they couldn't take it up to trade it for my car. They said that they might start out last night but . . . I won't be holding my breath!

In fact, I am beginning to think that I just dreamed the entire thing and that I really didn't buy a new car. Of course, we only put down a down-payment until the car is "delivered" but . . . is it real or just a dream?

I am wondering!

Do you remember my rash? Well, it is pretty much all gone with the exception of a few red blotchy, itchy spots here and there. However, the entire area which was covered with the rash is VERY dry. I have been moisturizing with some heavy duty stuff and finally resorted to slathering it with Vaseline last night. I think I will head to Wal Mart today to check out some other options . . .

I swam and walked this morning. It was a bit warmer and more humid than yesterday but, it was still a pretty nice day for swimming. It is overcast and there is a nice breeze. The water was nice and cool which made the whole experience rather refreshing. Of course the walk home took care of that refreshed feeling!

In addition to swimming I do push-ups and triceps lifts in the water (much easier than in the "real" gravity world!) and some other arm exercises. I may be delusional but . . . I think my arms are starting to shape up a little. Maybe. I hope. Possibly?

When I was cat sitting for my neighbor I picked a large bowl of peaches. They are soon going to be peeled and sliced and made into either Jam or ice cream - depending on my mood. I may even have enough for both . . . wouldn't that me exciting! If you live in my area, come on over for some jam!

That is pretty much it from my neck of the woods. Nothing too exciting.

What is up with you?

Trisha

Voice Update: Did my reading last night - I am up to Psalm 36. I am noting the words/phrases which are giving me trouble so I can take them to Susan to work on them. Did I tell you all that I only go to speech once a month now? That still amazes me. I have come so far from having absolutely NO voice and having Susan tell me that she though I would have to speak on the inhale for the rest of me life to having a pretty normal sounding voice. Yes, miracles do happen (with a lot of work on my end but still a miracle!!!!!)!!!!

Anticipation . . .

Hi All!

Well, the car isn't here yet . . . so I am still waiting! I don't do too well with waiting so . . . I am pretty antsy!

While I am waiting I will share a couple more Ohio pictures.



First, Hubby, Mom and I on a bench in Coventry, Ohio after eating at Hubby's favorite Chinese restaurant - Hunan Coventry. We try to make a trip to this wonderful place each time we make it back to Ohio.

The neighborhood around the restaurant is an eclectic mix of little shops which are fun to browse in. We stopped at the cat shop - which also has things for dogs - and found new Mylar tassels for Skor's favorite cat toy. We have been looking for these things everywhere with no luck!

I don't know if you can tell but the bench has a big hand making the peace sign - which is why I am making the peace sign.

Isn't this a pretty little red bug? My Aunt Donna (who you can barely see through the windshield) got this car to be her "Summer car." She let me take it for a drive and it was fun zooming around in a little convertible. Unfortunately, it is too hot for convertibles here or I might have considered getting one!

In other news . . .

My swim this morning was wonderful. It was about 75 when I woke up and there was a nice breeze for most of the time I was walking. The water at the pool was nice and cool so it felt good to be doing laps (24). The sky is very overcast which helped keep the sun out of my eyes while I was doing the back strokes!

Yesterday my friend Donna met me for lunch. We went to a new pizza place in town and had a very nice time eating good pizza (even though it was thin crust and I prefer thicker crust) and visiting. She came back to the house and we spent more time talking about all kinds of stuff while the cats tried to decide if they should come out of hiding or not.

Both cats hid when Donna came into the house. Skor high-tailed it into the bedroom and Miss Cleo hid behind the couch. Eventually Skor decided to come out and he sat on the back of the couch behind my head. Miss Cleo hid the entire time.

Then, after Donna left and I finished checking on the kitties next door, my Mary Kay lady stopped by with my latest order. This time the kitties didn't hide and they actually both came within arms length of her to sniff her.

Weird cats!

I got a free CD from the Radio Bible Class (which publishes Our Daily Bread - a devotional booklet I use). Every few months I get an insert in my booklet advertising a free CD. At first I couldn't believe that they were really free but . . . they are. They are pretty nice quality too! My mother also get the devotional booklet from RBC but she NEVER gets the free CD offers. Mom and I keep trying to figure out why.

Yesterday Donna said that I was probably in the system under a different customer profile than my Mother. From something I do (buy on iTunes maybe??), the computer has highlighted me as a person who might buy music from RBC (there are many more CDs available for sale by the company but I never buy them - I just get the free ones) so they send me free CDs to "whet my appetite."

Mom must be under a different profile so she doesn't get the offers. She would LOVE to get them but then again - she ends up getting the CDs because I share them with her anyway!

I hope you are having a wonderful week! It is almost Friday!

Trisha

Voice Update: My voice is still doing really, really well. Yesterday Donna - who has been friends with me before I got SD so she has been with me through this entire process - and I were talking about my SD and how the people at the Colorado meeting didn't believe that I actually had SD and how that made me feel. We also talked about the whole SD support group thing. It was nice to be able to talk to someone who can still hear the traces of SD in my voice and still knows that I do indeed have SD even though I sound really good. She also knows how hard I worked to get my voice to this place and how hard I continue to work. Because of how long we talked and how long I talked to the Mary Kay lady - I didn't end up reading last night but . . . I still got my voice exercise in!

Success!

Hi All!

First of all let me tell you that the peach freezer jam that I made is ABSOLUTELY WONDERFUL! I didn't have any thawed in time to go on my toast but I did have some on a piece of bread last night and it was amazing how good it was! I am impressed with myself even though I just followed the recipe on the packet of pectin I bought at Wal Mart.

For those of you who want the recipe - it is simple. Get a packet of freezer jam pectin from your local store. They have all kinds. I used Ball brand and it specifically said for freezer jam.

Mix 1 1/2 cups of sugar (or artificial sweetener) and the packet of pectin in a large bowl. Then stir in 4 cups of crushed fruit (strawberries or in my case - peaches). Stir for three minutes. Then ladle the stuff into containers (I used Ziplock plastic containers which held about one cup of jam), put the lids on and let set for about 30 minutes. After that, date the tops and pop them in the freezer.

To use the freezer jam you need to allow it to thaw in the refrigerator and store it in the refrigerator as well.

Simple!

That was one success for the day yesterday.

The second success of the day was that Hubby and I bought a new vehicle to replace my SUV. We bought a Toyota Venza which is sort of an SUV/station wagon kind of thing but I am calling it a "smooshed SUV" and avoiding the station wagon label.

The vehicle is actually in Oklahoma and the dealer is sending someone to get it so I may get it today (Which I highly doubt) or tomorrow. Then I will have tons of pictures to show you of my new ride!

YEAH!

That is about it for my news of success!

Trisha

Voice Update: Since I talked to the car dealer forever yesterday, I didn't read but I did do some massage. Still not enough but I am trying to ramp it up!

An Update

Hi All!

Well, I have good news! My rash is going away! Apparently, it was the kind of thing that took a week and two days to go away. I still have no clue what in the world caused the rash (I am positive that Hubby wasn't trying to poison me though!) but it is going away. In fact, this morning, I only have splotches of the rash here and there instead of a total covering of the rash.

I do remember scratching violently during the night last night so all of the itchiness isn't gone but . . . progress! Yeah!

Speaking of progress . . . I made two batches of freezer jam yesterday. It was easy and, I hope the results are good. I plan on testing out the resulting jam in just a couple minutes on some toast.

Hubby brought up an interesting question while I was making the last batch of jam last night. He wondered where the idea for freezer jam ever came from (since he had never heard of such a thing until he met me and my family). That got me wondering too. Just where in the world DID the stuff come from? Obviously it doesn't go back to the time of the pioneers since they didn't have freezers. Personally, I think it was just an easier way to make jam - instead of all of the cooking and canning and all of that good stuff. What do you think?

Have YOU ever heard of freezer jam before?

This morning is the first morning in a long time that I have skipped walking/swimming. I do have a good reason though - it was storming when I was ready to walk. I didn't think that swimming in lightening would be a good idea and since I couldn't swim - I decided to head back to bed. It was nice to get another little nap while listening to the rain pitter-pat on the roof.

The hunt for my new vehicle is still in progress. I have pretty much decided that I want to purchase a Toyota Venza but we are still trying to actually get that from idea to reality. I will keep you updated with my vehicle-hunt progress. Hopefully, when it is all done I will have some pictures to share. AND - hopefully, I won't have to go car shopping in the 90+ degree weather for much longer!

Happy Tuesday!

Trisha

Voice Update: Still holding its own! I did get to my reading last night and finished up the book of Job. Now I am into the Psalms and - based on the length of this book - I will be there for a long, long time! As for the massage, I did some while lotioning my neck and while washing my face. I am sure it wasn't nearly enough but it is a start, right?

The Rash

Hi All!

I have held off doing this so I didn't gross too many people out but . . . I need some help. Before I left for Ohio I had a patch of dry ickiness on the right side of my neck which was bothering me. I get these once in a while and moisturize the heck out of them to no avail. Then I got another problem. . . a rash!

I got this after sitting out on the porch at my in-laws reading. I was primarily in the shade but there was some sun hitting me on the left side so I initially thought this was sun poisoning (the sun and I are NOT friends!) but then . . . it spread!

This is what it looked like on Friday. It isn't the easiest to see but it is little red bumps and it itches like crazy!

fgj

Here are my theories so far:

1) Sun poisoning. Pros: I got it after sitting in the sun. My past sun poisoning episodes always had little red, itchy bumps. The sun and I are not friends. Cons: Only the left side of my neck was in the sun and this has spread to both sides now. It has SPREAD! Sun poisoning doesn't spread (in my experience). Normally, sun poisoning goes away in less than a week and it has been a week and a day so far.

dgh

2) Some mystery rash picked up from the pool. Pros: I swim daily so . . .it is possible. Other people swim and they might have something which gets in the water and then gets on me. Cons: I didn't get the rash until I had been in Ohio for at least five days. I didn't get the rash anywhere else on my body - which you would think I would since my entire body is in the water.

fgh

3) Poison Ivy. Pros: It is itchy and it spreads (maybe from scratching??) Cons: I have never had poison ivy before. The little bumps are fluid filled. I don't think I have been in contact with poison ivy and, if I had been, how would it have gotten smeared on my chest and not my arms or legs?

fgj

4) Hubby is slowly poisoning me. Pros: Can there really be any for this? Cons: pretty much everything!

fj

5) Aliens are testing some new virus on me. Pros and Cons: I am not even bothering with this one!!

fhj

So - what do YOU think? I am under strict orders by Hubby to call the doctor and make an appointment but . . . this morning the left side of my neck seems to be clearing up . . . I am not sure if I should make the appointment or not . . .

hj

Oh - the original dry patch is gone except for one red splotch. That whole area is now covered with the "new" red bumps.

ghk

In other news, my neighbors' peach trees are being very generous with their fruit this year and I am planning on trying to make peach freezer jam - for the first time ever! My Aunt Donna makes WONDERFUL strawberry freezer jam but I have never made that and I have never had freezer jam made from peaches.

fhj

Before attempting this plan I will be heading to Wally World to get supplies. And I might browse around a bit if they are FINALLY done rearranging things.

fhj

Tomorrow I will have to let you know how the jam making turned out. Keep your fingers crossed for a good outcome!

fhj

Trisha

fhj

Voice Update: Doing very well. I talked to Mom and Dad last night instead of reading - mostly because the whole rash thing was depressing me and talking to the parents always helps! I haven't been doing the massage like I should be. I am thinking of putting post-its around the house to remind me.