Opining Online

One of the best parts of my trip was seeing my 3-year-old granddaughter’s reactions to her new baby sister. I wondered if she’d be jealous, would she want to be treated “like a baby” or would she imitate her mother’s behavior with her dolls?

Issie is, I think, the ideal Big Sister. Here she is holding Little Sister:

Awe is the best word to describe most of her reaction. Her first words upon seeing Penny were “She’s so cute!” These were followed soon by “Can I hold her?”

The first time Penny was laid on the playmat on the floor, Issie immediately got a book (about princesses, of course) and read it to her.

Issie also tries to comfort Penny when she’s fussy. This is so sweet to watch… but Big Sister doesn’t go overboard. When her efforts failed one day, she said “Bye bye” and walked away. I guess you would have to have been there to get how funny that was.

Overall, Issie has been much more interested in imitating her mother’s behavior than in wanting to be treated as a baby. She’s shown no signs of feeling that she needs to be a baby to get attention. And… while her imitations of her mother are hilarious, they just won’t get any play on the internet from me! Let’s just say boobs are involved and leave it at that, OK?

It was difficult for me to leave both these babies after having spent over a month with them. There’s nothing so sweet as holding a newborn or having a 3-year-old whisper a secret in your ear.

I am bothered that I have 3 other grandchildren that I’ve not been able to spend as much time with. This will have to change!

My car is 12 years old and now has almost 160,000 miles on it. I’ve owned it for 7 years and 70,000 of those miles. The biggest joy occurs every month when I don’t make a payment on it.

And… over those 7 years, I’ve spent money on a new radiator, new shocks, belt, and hoses. Each one of those things was less than the average monthly payment on a new car, so I am happy.

Yet… when the Service Engine Soon light came on and stayed on just 50 miles short of my destination on this last trip… and the engine was obviously in distress, I figured my happy cheap driving days were over. As I parked the car in an out-of-the-way place in my daughter’s driveway, I decided I would not even think about it again until after her baby was born.

Priorities, ya know?

Of course I thought about it anyway. I googled the symptoms and got results indicating it could be a blown head gasket. Or not. The oil was clear. I checked the value of the car in great condition and tried to decide what would be a reasonable amount to spend on repairs. It was all depressing.

And then there’s the problem of finding a reliable shop for not only the diagnosis, but also the repairs. The only thing I was sure of was that a Cadillac dealership would cost me more than I could afford.

I stopped at a Checker Auto Parts store located between my 3 year old granddaughter’s pre-school and the Taco Bell she always wanted to go to for lunch. I asked the clerk where he would take his car for repairs and he referred me to his boss who sent me to Dr. Dan in Apache Junction, Arizona.

Frankly, had Dr. Dan suggested any repairs under $1000, I would have been content. But Dr. Dan made me very happy. He fixed my car (replaced a coil and fixed a coolant leak) for under $150.  And rotated my tires!

Dr. Dan restored my trust and faith in my fellow man… these were running a little low after my horrible experience with a stinky hotel room rented by a hateful innkeeper and dealing with my Amazon, Facebook, and gmail accounts being hacked. Those are topics for another post or two.

And owning a car that old is probably good for another post or two also. There are some electrical problems that I have to decide whether I want to live with or not… no cruise control, one window that can’t be rolled up from the driver’s door controls, no windshield washer, no moving the passenger seat… all electrical problems that scream $$$ to me to fix. Maybe it’s time to be looking for a newer car.

But… will I find a newer car that is as comfortable, as powerful, and gets 30 mpg highway?

And I’ve got stories to tell. Too many for one post, so I’ll just put up a photo of the reason for the trip to Arizona:

My youngest grandchild, Penelope, was born on April 6 and I think she’s beautiful! That’s a completely unbiased assessment.

Along with more photos of the baby and her big sister, I’ve got stories about my Amazon account being hacked, my car breaking down, a stinky motel room, a horrible hospital stay, rigid unreasonable health insurance rules, my husband’s 27 hour Greyhound bus trip. Let’s just say it was all interesting.