Papa's got a brand new (old) car and the latest look at the garden

Well after a couple of weeks of very frustrating, demoralizing searching, Michael found a new (used) car to replace the one he totaled. His mission was a pretty tough one. He needed to find a reliable, safe set of wheels that didn't cost any more than the insurance company paid him for his old one (not much!) and we were hoping that he could find something that got better mileage than his Mercury Sable.

After many discouraging hours looking at over-priced piles of s.......tuff, being baited and switched, and rudely brushed off by opportunistic used car dealers...hmm is that redundant? We were just at that point when you really begin to think that people suck, when Craigslist came through! We met a very nice man who was selling his older and much loved Honda Civic because he was upgrading to a slightly newer vehicle that his friend was selling him at a good price. Our Honda guy wasn't looking to make a big profit, or rip anyone off. He was completely forthcoming, giving us repair history and even telling us of the next big work that will likely need doing in a year or two. And when we went to sign the papers, he gave us the roof rack and bicycle rack as well as a clean car with a full tank of gas. Our faith in humanity was renewed!

This was all accomplished under the budget that we needed to stay under, and with more than enough money banked for the big repair next year.

Since we also went and met with the adoption agency the other night and found out about the whopping large sum that will need to be found to pay for agency fees, legal fees, medical expenses, etc. , coming in under-budget here was a real big deal. Hoorah!

And I'll leave you with the latest pictures from our burgeoning garden. Hope things are ripening and flourishing around you!

Some stress, some relief and some serious gratitude!

Stress is getting a call from your husband in the middle of the afternoon, telling you he's been in an accident, driven off the road, into a ditch, that he's fine but shaken and to please leave work immediately to rescue him from the side of the road. Low level freak-out in prairie-dog land. I've never shut down the computer, locked everything up, notified the boss and raced for the car so fast!

When I arrived at the scene that Michael had directed me to, I saw a crowd gathered, no husband, and a tow truck straining to haul something out of a deep culvert. Gulp! Luckily, then I saw Michael, leaning against the side of a building, off in a quiet corner, looking rattled and pale.

Relief is seeing for myself that he's relatively unscathed. A troubling back twinge which showed up about an hour after the accident, (soon to be checked out medically) but none of the gruesome possibilities that flooded my brain as they hauled his wrecked car out of the big deep hole. Relief also that the woman who was entirely at fault for the accident did eventually admit her responsibility and was cited with a traffic violation. His poor car even made the front page of the local paper.

Gratitude is looking at this wonderful man who I married ten short months ago, and thanking my lucky stars for every minute of time I have with him safely tucked in our little corner of this big planet. I am truly blessed.