Minivans & Cabers & Moving On

Well, we finally bought a minivan. Glory, Hallelujah! I'm so glad we don't have to shop for minivans anymore. It's tough to get a good minivan for a decent price in Utah.

After searching the entire valley and test driving 15 different minivans, David and I were down to 2 minivans - a white one at Mark Miller Toyota and a beige one at Smith Family Auto. We decided to take the white one to our mechanic, if Mark Miller Toyota would let us. Dealers are so weird about letting you take a car to your mechanic. I don't know why - if you want to take a car to your mechanic, you're probably pretty serious about wanting to buy it aren't you?

So David and Cameron took it to the mechanic - I had to work. The mechanic even checked the van's engine with his computer and said they hadn't tried to erase any codes, so that was good. I didn't know they could do that. The mechanic said it was great and if we didn't buy it, he would. Can't get much better of an endorsement than that, can you? So, we went through with it.

Man, Mark Miller is really tough to talk down on prices. I finally talked them down to $225 below the NADA price. They thought they were giving us a deal (or so they told us), but I knew better. It was a fair price, I was just hoping to get it a little lower. We just happened to buy the van on my birthday - totally unplanned, but we figured if we didn't move soon, someone else would buy the van, then we'd be out looking again - unless the beige van checked out OK with our mechanic. When David and I were almost done buying the van, another sales rep came up to me and said, "You just bought the van, I almost sold to someone else." So I guess we were right.

Two days after we bought our van we loaded everyone up in it and went to the Scottish Festival. They raised the price from $10/person to $15/person and didn't have a group rate anymore. David and I decided if admission goes up to $20/person, we're going to find some other way to entertain our family that weekend.

The Scottish Festival was fun and the weather was perfect - unusual for the Scottish Festival. Becky and Ray and Mom and Dad and David's sisters didn't go this year - in fact, the only family we saw there was Devon and Debra. I think Linda was there, too, but I didn't see her. The bagpipe bands played as energetically as ever and the Highland games were fun to watch. For some reason, only about half the usual vendors were there. It wasn't quite as crowded as usual, either - probably the higher admission prices, I'm guessing.

And I had a headache - probably because I was relieved to have gotten a van, finally? Well, that and I worked 11 hours the day before because we'd just moved to our new office and I had to sort everything out AND call everyone with their appointments. I like jobs with set coming and going times, not, you have to stay there til it's done cuz there's nobody else to do it if you don't.

So, now we've had the van for a week and a half and the driver's arm rest isn't catching like it should and the airbag light keeps flashing. Hopefully this is covered under the 30 day warranty Mark Miller included with the van. It still drives great and I still like the van, but at the same time, it's a little annoying. The good thing, though, in any case is we've still got a great mechanic that will make everything all right. I'm convinced of it. And that's a very good feeling to have.

Now, if I could just figure out the rest of my life...

I finally got all the paperwork filled out for my insurance so I can *hopefully* get my gallbladder out and start feeling better. And start eating fat again. After surgery, I'm going to give myself a couple of months to recuperate, then I think I'm going to go look for a different job. I plan on working full time so I can get benefits and have decent insurance so I won't have to go through this waiting game again if the kids or I should happen to need medical attention. Our insurance covers primary care doctor's visits, dental visits and eye exams, but that's about it. Better than nothing, but not by much if you should happen to need to go to a specialist or a hospital.

My current job is too stressful and has no benefits. I don't think it ever will. Plus, I don't like Medicare's new rules - they've made my used to be OK job almost unbearable. So, here's to greener pastures and less stressful jobs. I'm sure there's a better one out there, and this fall/winter, I'm going to find it!

Did I ever say that Cameron finally got his Eagle? His board of review was a couple of weeks ago and he passed that just fine. What a relief that he finally got his Eagle! He's also graduated from High School and the Institute of Technology at GTI. He did great!

Jarom got to play with the band at Cameron's graduation. Cameron and Jarom also had end of year concerts for band and chorus. It was fun going to those - even though I didn't get to stay for Cameron's concert because I had a class to go to. That was sad. It would have been fine, but they changed the concert night from Wednesday to Tuesday.

After graduation, we went to Millcreek Canyon and had a graduation party for Cameron. David and I made dutch oven chicken, which surprisingly turned out quite well for us not having made it in ages. From my count, 32 people showed up for the party.

Well, I think I'm going back to bed for awhile. G'night!