Where to begin?
I guess in the beginning. druidmage and I headed out to visit my family Dec. 22. Things were crazy while we were there. We left on Dec. 27 to head to druidmage's family. We did stop at Ed's Frame Gallery in Montgomery and we're getting "Eye of the Storm" and "Monarch" (both by Ruth Thompson) framed. All we are going to have to pay is the cost of the glass and the tax. The gift certificate covered the framing of both. Two pictures down, too many to go. It was good getting to see Ed Parraih (? I think that's how it's spelled) again. He's such a nice man with a good heart. You don't find many people like him anymore. He's a true craftsman.
After stopping for about an hour at Ed's we got back on the road. We got in just after noon and relaxed until druidmage's dad got off work. Christmas was at his mom and brother's place Dec. 28 with dinner at Ryan's Steakhouse (Yum!) His mom loved the butterfly pillow (I promise to post pictures later!) Gavin got a tricycle and a bulldozer, both with lots of buttons and noises, and a little learning laptop.
We caught "Eragon" with Nate after taking Gavin to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time. The movie was good. I'm glad I haven't read the book yet, but now I plan on it.
We stayed there until New Year's Day. We were planning on heading up to Fairfax, VA, to visit another old friend we haven't seen in a while. We knew the ride would be rough on Gavin so we decided to stop overnight at druidmage's Mema's in Albany, GA, a half way point between Milton, FL, and Ft. Stewart, GA. We got up early and packed the few things we had unloaded from the car. After breakfast we climbed in the car and began what should have been a three-hour drive home.
Note I said SHOULD. When druidmage cranked his car, and started out the drive way there was a funny sound and the car got a little harder to steer. We had been told we had a leak in the power steering pump so we figured it finally decided to break on us. We kept going, because we were ready to get home and we knew it was something that could be fixed later.
We passed by the Honda dealer in Tifton, GA, an hour later and druidmage made some comment about how he was glad we didn't have to stop there. -_-; About thirty minute later the car starts making sputtering sounds and we had to pull over only a few miles from the next town. Neither of our cells work (stupid SPRINT) so I get out to flag someone down. A trucker going the other way stops and comes over to see if he can help. He kindly lets us use his cell phone so we can call for a tow truck. The truck took an hour and a half to get to us and the takes us back to Tifton. The trucker stayed with us the entire time. His name was Lee - he was our first Guardian Angel. Bless his heart it was so nice of him to have stopped like that. Crazy thing was he next and last stop for the day was at a place behind the Honda dealer in Tifton so he even followed us in to town.
At first we thought we just had a problem with one of the pulleys for the drive belt. The bearings had broken on it and the belt just fell off (with out breaking or tearing up the recently purchased radiator and radiator fan). After the guys at the shop got that fixed they mentioned that the transmission seemed like it was slipping. They got the car up on the lift and it's not just slipping. The transmission needs replacing. Argh! They don't have the parts in stock, but they can get shipped in from Ohio. The car should be fixed by late Friday. You don't want to know the cost - we didn't want to hear it when we did.
We got a rental car to get us and our Christmas presents home. It's a 2006 Chrysler Town & Country. Very nice! Has all the bells and whistles - SIRIUS radio, cd and tape player; stow-and-go seating; automatic sliding doors on both sides, automatic trunk; leather seats; personalized temperatures for driver, passenger and back. The van is parked under the car port and won't be driven again until it's time to go back and pick up druidmage's Honda. We wouldn't have even thought about getting a rental if it weren't for another customer waiting on his car, another Guardian Angel.
So we are home earlier than planned and won't be visiting the friend in Fairfax, VA. I guess it's a good thing (being home early) because it means Gavin can get over his cold at home and not be on the road. It just sucks that we won't get to see our friend.
I didn't intend for this to be as long as it ended up being, I even took some parts out. It's just frustrating to feel like things are going right and getting better and then have something like this happen and set us back again.
After stopping for about an hour at Ed's we got back on the road. We got in just after noon and relaxed until druidmage's dad got off work. Christmas was at his mom and brother's place Dec. 28 with dinner at Ryan's Steakhouse (Yum!) His mom loved the butterfly pillow (I promise to post pictures later!) Gavin got a tricycle and a bulldozer, both with lots of buttons and noises, and a little learning laptop.
We caught "Eragon" with Nate after taking Gavin to Chuck E. Cheese for the first time. The movie was good. I'm glad I haven't read the book yet, but now I plan on it.
We stayed there until New Year's Day. We were planning on heading up to Fairfax, VA, to visit another old friend we haven't seen in a while. We knew the ride would be rough on Gavin so we decided to stop overnight at druidmage's Mema's in Albany, GA, a half way point between Milton, FL, and Ft. Stewart, GA. We got up early and packed the few things we had unloaded from the car. After breakfast we climbed in the car and began what should have been a three-hour drive home.
Note I said SHOULD. When druidmage cranked his car, and started out the drive way there was a funny sound and the car got a little harder to steer. We had been told we had a leak in the power steering pump so we figured it finally decided to break on us. We kept going, because we were ready to get home and we knew it was something that could be fixed later.
We passed by the Honda dealer in Tifton, GA, an hour later and druidmage made some comment about how he was glad we didn't have to stop there. -_-; About thirty minute later the car starts making sputtering sounds and we had to pull over only a few miles from the next town. Neither of our cells work (stupid SPRINT) so I get out to flag someone down. A trucker going the other way stops and comes over to see if he can help. He kindly lets us use his cell phone so we can call for a tow truck. The truck took an hour and a half to get to us and the takes us back to Tifton. The trucker stayed with us the entire time. His name was Lee - he was our first Guardian Angel. Bless his heart it was so nice of him to have stopped like that. Crazy thing was he next and last stop for the day was at a place behind the Honda dealer in Tifton so he even followed us in to town.
At first we thought we just had a problem with one of the pulleys for the drive belt. The bearings had broken on it and the belt just fell off (with out breaking or tearing up the recently purchased radiator and radiator fan). After the guys at the shop got that fixed they mentioned that the transmission seemed like it was slipping. They got the car up on the lift and it's not just slipping. The transmission needs replacing. Argh! They don't have the parts in stock, but they can get shipped in from Ohio. The car should be fixed by late Friday. You don't want to know the cost - we didn't want to hear it when we did.
We got a rental car to get us and our Christmas presents home. It's a 2006 Chrysler Town & Country. Very nice! Has all the bells and whistles - SIRIUS radio, cd and tape player; stow-and-go seating; automatic sliding doors on both sides, automatic trunk; leather seats; personalized temperatures for driver, passenger and back. The van is parked under the car port and won't be driven again until it's time to go back and pick up druidmage's Honda. We wouldn't have even thought about getting a rental if it weren't for another customer waiting on his car, another Guardian Angel.
So we are home earlier than planned and won't be visiting the friend in Fairfax, VA. I guess it's a good thing (being home early) because it means Gavin can get over his cold at home and not be on the road. It just sucks that we won't get to see our friend.
I didn't intend for this to be as long as it ended up being, I even took some parts out. It's just frustrating to feel like things are going right and getting better and then have something like this happen and set us back again.