Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Quick update



Ok, so we're having a baby. Another one. While our 1st two charges run us ragged and sleep is still a premium, we'll delve into infant land once more sometime around 11/22 of this year (well, obviously this year, Jen isn't an elephant). We're happy, excited to meet a new human that we created but have a little trepidation mixed in with that happiness. As I've stated before, being a parent is just plain hard. They give us joy, make us laugh and I couldn't imagine life without them, but it's still hard. We've had a hectic year so far: formed a little real estate company, built a commercial office building for Jennie's practice and will close on the purchase of this building next week. Jennie has moved to a spanking, sparkling new building and all the little hiccups are starting to get a little easier to swallow. However, her practice is busy, busy, busy! So we're both a little nervous with the prospect of adding a brand new person into this mix. It always works itself out, so I'm sure it'll be fine. Here's a couple of pics of the fam, while we are still a family of 4.

Van people


Well, it's been literally months and months since I've last posted. Perhaps this isn't for me, but I'm making another attempt to get back on the horse.
We've made the leap into minivanville, purchasing a Toyota Sienna this morning. Baby #3 is on the way (more on that later) and the Subaru just wasn't going to make the cut. The van is nice, pre-owned (06) and the kids seem happy to each have their own seat row. The purchase was interesting; the local dealer lets you put a bid for any car via their website. Most people know I love to embrace technology and felt motivated to give it a try. Plus, the bonus of not having to talk to a car sales rep was too tempting. So I bid $1500 less than asking price, thinking no one would get back to me. 6 hours later, I was notified via email that my offer was "accepted", which immediately left me wanting more. Did I say 18,500? I meant 16,000......At any rate, we then proceeded to make an appointment to test drive. The fun part happened when we discussed the price of our trade-in car, the 02 Suby. For visual fun, picture 2 pounds of crushed goldfish crackers, a rogue dirty diaper, a pile of sand from the beach, along with assorted pieces of toys, junk mail, etc. They came is a little low, but after reading the above, maybe not. We pushed the rep a little bit and he mentioned a small dent on the door. Hmmm?? I don't remember, but is it about the size of my left shoulder? (I tripped while carrying baby Baxter about 3 years ago and turned my body to take the hit and protect Bax, denting the door with my obvious rock-hard body). Most book value companies refer to a "good" condition requiring "some reconditioning". I think they may want to revisit their description after cleaning up our car!