Roll the dice...

What are the odds something else could break for Jeremy and I? Very high apparently!

We just received the bill for the water repairs, which insurance covers aside from the deductible, and thought we were home free. No more major purchases for a year was our plan.......that was until yesterday.

Jeremy called an informed me that his Jeep decided to stop working. Okay, into the shop where they informed us the part was on backorder.......National Backorder and no timeframe available. I addition there is no temporary fix for this since it's the steering column/ignition area. hmmm......we pondered our options for a bit - rent a car and hope the part arrives in 1 week, however realizing it may take 3 months.......not a good option....3 months of a rental car could be ~$2,000 not including the repairs to Jeremy's Jeep which total the value of the vehicle if we fixed them all. Option 2, look at a different vehicle. While standing and trying to decide what we should do, the service man at the shop offered to buy Jeremy's Jeep as is. (we were in shock) After pondering the options we decided to stop by a few places and see what a new/used vehicle costs these days. After looking around we realized you can get some pretty good deals on Jeeps, used/new, now because the economy is not doing well (in case you hadn't noticed). We didn't do anything other than look before heading home.

Now as you can imagine, a new car means more money this year and a part seems like a favorable fix. So we decided to rely on our friend......Ebay.....a reliable source at sometimes and it proved to be last night. The part, which is on National Backorder, appeared and we bought it immediately. Hopefully it will be here in a week so we can get the jeep up and running. We were thrilled. (I should note the disclaimer that we will find out today if the part we ordered is actually the correct part from the repair shop - otherwise we may be the owners of a 2006 Jeep)

After the whirl-wind experience of "to buy or not to buy a vehicle" we were beat. We were thinking that was a close call, not very funny and we should call it a day. Jeremy went to the garage to get something out of our 6 month old extra fridge and came in to announce it died. I looked at him and said, "you've got to be kidding me." The TURKEY and everything else in it.......what are we going to do? My brother Tom and his family are arriving tomorrow (now being today). Perfect timing! You're probably saying, use the warranty.....good idea but we bought this from a warehouse sale.....you get what you pay for I guess. So, today at 2:00 I'm heading to public transportation (yes, in Denver) to ride to Jeremy's office and then we are off to find a quick fix and get everything switched over before Tom arrives tonight.

I'm thinking Jeremy and I will have a glass of wine before they arrive......keep your fingers crossed that we make it through one more month without anything else breaking........2008 has been a learning experience for home ownership.

Incase you forgot everything that has broke or is just expensive in repairs, here they are:
Water pipe pressure non-existent (4 times we had replacements, etc)
Water leaked through the roof to cause damage to foyer, etc.
Double oven broke/replaced
Refridgerator broke
Jeep Dead

It's almost funny.....almost.

Have a great Thanksgiving though. Seriously, even though we have things breaking we're pretty lucky. We both have jobs we love and are doing well. We have great friends and family. We are able to be with people we love during the holidays and aren't in harms way like many service men/women. We have a roof over our head (when it doesn't leak), clothes and food and those are the main necessities. I guess it's pretty hard/ridiculous to complain about the little
things when I passed a homeless man this morning who doen't have a roof over his head or a warm meal. Be thankful for the little things, they add up!

Unexpected & Unwanted Visitor

We had a visitor and there's certain to be more.

Last night Elvis was on hunting duty and keeping a close eye on the kitchen.....which told me we had a visitor. He/She/They are not paying rent and are not on a set meal plan like Elvis, Sadie, Dibs, Jeremy and I. So, they have to go.

To lay down the law, Jeremy set a friendly "trap" with cheese. (I don't know if friendly is the best word) This morning I found one in the "trap." HA! Show's them who's boss.......(however, I'm leaving the remains for Jeremy)

I'm leaving a photo out since you can probably imagine the scene.

Maybe tonight will be lucky as well!

HOUSE UPDATE!

On a side note, we got our new entry installed yesterday and it looks great!

It will be stained on Monday. We're almost done with the rain damage repairs.

Yippie!

To Florida and Back...

I may not know what time zone I'm currently in, but I do know I'm not on vacation anymore.

Jeremy and I took a little break this fall from the rat race and headed to FL to enjoy a bit of wine and relaxation. The vacation plan was simple really, fly to FL, stay with the Kiefer Parents, drink wine, take naps, and read a book. I took two books and can honestly say they have not yet been opened. I also can honestly say I didn't take a nap. It was fun and busy. By the time we returned home I was in need of a nap and Jeremy had acquired a good chest cold.






For some reason 1/2 way through the wine experience I thought it would be "cool" to jump up on these boxes and take a photo. whoever said white kids can't jump obviously didn't know my potential......heck, I didn't even know my jumping potential. Probably not the smartest thing I've done, but it seemed like a good idea at the time



It was a great trip though. We headed to Epcot on Thursday for the Wine and Food Festival. Always a great time! There we ran into Matt, Stacy and the 3 kids, who were also on vacation. We chatted for awhile and then went on the boat ride at Norway (I think - but we had drank a few glasses of wine by then so it could have been somewhere else). We are pleased to say we made it all around the world at Epcot trying all sorts of wine and food. I would be remise if I didn't mention the spilling of wine.....at the 3rd stop....to think we were just getting started! However, dad (who spilled it) recovered nicely, bought another glass and caught right back up. Nice work!













Thursday night we went to the Hoop-de-Doo, a dinner musical event at Disney. We had a great time. I can also say I'm happy we didn't have to cook that night because I've never seen Jeremy eat so many chicken wing, etc. That in itself was amazing.











Friday and Saturday were low-key days. We swam with Mackenzie, Nolan and Kelsey.....correction, I swam with the kids while everyone else watched and laughed when I said it was cold. Jeremy got pushed in by Mackenzie so he got a taste of the temperature. ha ha




Since Matt's family spent 2 nights at the camper with us my parents brought along 2 tents to accommodate all the guest. Well, this green one hasn't been opened in......a really long time....I'm thinking 20+ years and has a great scent....so great, we gave it a day to air out and then closed it back up. No one was willing to stay in that one. Sell it dad - E-bay




Friday the kids prepared for trick-or-treating at Disney. That is the way to go. I've never seen so many decorations in a campground nor have I seen kids reap the benefits of candy. We "cleaned house" trick or treating and even used the golf cart to help us get around a little faster. More bang for the buck, right?



























Saturday we took the little 2-seater boats out on the lake. Jeremy was in one and Mackenzie and I in the other. I joked before saying we'd get drenched, knowing that you can't get wet in these things. I must have jinxed us though because the next thing you know a wave came over and I was sitting in a cold puddle. Then, on the way back to shore it began to rain......and not lightly, it downpoured so we were soaking. That's the last time I joke about staying dry.

We explored downtown Disney and found some fun shops to bum around. of course we found a few things too. Other than that we didn't do awhole lot. Great trip though, we may need to go back next year and see if we still like wine.


I'll toss photos up here. however, I'm not going to write clips for them all. Use your imagination!

What's next to come for us, well more travel.
I head to DC later this week and Jeremy will be leaving soon for CA and then Panama. (Yeah for frequent flier miles.....I hope)