The Previously Mentioned Trip To "Kana".

Driving to Texarkana we experienced several "fun" adventures....

We typically drive our car to Texarkana for fuel conservation purposes, but on this day we took the truck because my husband must have been in a meeting or unavailable in some sort of fashion when I was texting him from his work parking lot stating that I was there to trade vehicles. So, down the road we went in the gas guzzling machine.

I spoke with my husband right before entering Texarkana's city limits and the conversation went pretty much like this:

Me: "Honey, the truck isn't running quite up to normal standards and I smell a burning-type odor."

Husband: "Your fine, the truck is fine, just drive it, it will be fine." I know this doesn't sound like a very concerned or loving response, but anyone who knows my husband is aware that he has a "tad bit" of sarcasm in his daily life and meant for comedy only. This was not said in a mean way, he just likes me to think that I am a little crazy....sometimes he is able to convince me!

Me: Laughing, and tired of hearing the word, "fine", "Whatever you say, dear. I obviously am wrong and crazy." Did I mention I am a little sarcastic as well?

So, off I went with two children into the big city. On the way in we did encounter a typhoon like wind/rainfall. That is always exciting.
We pulled into PetSmart and I went in and did the whole cat food purchasing thing, came back to the truck and.....started it. But when the truck started, the entire body of the vehicle began to shimmy and shake....thought to myself that this seemed quite odd, strange and NOT FINE! Anyway, I put the truck in reverse and proceeded to back out of the parking spot. About two feet into the reverse, the truck DIED! Tried to restart, no such luck.
In my moment of despair, I thought, well I have to get this huge thing out of the middle of the parking lot. I know! I will have my eighty-five pound thirteen year old push this eight thousand pound truck back into the parking spot! Great idea, right....yeah right. The truck just rolled farther back during the attempt to push it forward. It didn't sound like the most clever decision I have ever made, but I actually did have reasoning. I wasn't about to get out and try to push the truck while David would be in control of the brakes and the steering wheel....especially since the truck was dead and there was not any power steering or braking. Also, parked right in front of us...a brand new BMW. Nope, I had to take my chances and let the boy try and push...haha. Just as David was giving all he had, which wasn't much, a truck of college aged boys came to my rescue and pushed us back in our spot...thank you, Lord!

Next came the call to the husband....

Me: "The truck is not fine!" then I told him what had happened.

Husband: "Hmm, come on, what do you mean it died/won't start?"

Me: ?????

Husband: "Ok, where are you? I'll be there in an hour, get the information for our warranty ready for me when I arrive." keep in mind that we live an hour away and that my hubby isn't just taking his time.

Me: "Okay, I am going to take the kids to get some lunch...see you soon."

The children and I walked over to Chick-A-Fil (a Smith term) and had some lunch and waited for Daddy. When he arrived he checked under the hood, determined that it was the fuel pump (we found out later that his diagnosis was correct....errr), and called the local Ford dealership to come and get it. Of course, the vehicle is so large a normal tow truck could not suffice, we had to have the flat bed come out and take it away. This did wonders for my husband's ego! Him and his big truck.
In conclusion, husband rescued us and took us home, truck was fixed, and all is FINE! Next story: How I caught my kitchen on fire last night. Does the fun ever end?

Texarkana Bound.

The cat is out of food. Of course, we have a cat that will not eat Wal-Mart food so we are forced to drive an hour to fetch the goofball food. The eldest child said to me on Monday that the cat had about 4-5 days of food left....which pleased me because we could just make a trip this weekend. That next day on Tuesday....the cat was poured his last bowl of food. The boy does not have a future in material planning/management....oh well. So we are off....messing up the daily school schedule and everything else that was initially planned for the day.....did you hear that? That was my OCD siren going off!

Carnival Fantasy: A Joke For a Cruise Ship....and My Review!

The hubby and I thought we would have a nice little "alone time" retreat to the Caribbean....on a cruise....it really didn't turn out the way we had expected. I'll fill you in!

The not so great stuff:

• It seemed as though all areas except the dining room were smoke filled, cough, hack, cough.
• Food was MCL/Old Country Buffet quality...sometimes worse.
• Evening shows were not as good as some that I have seen at high school functions.
• The comedian put one of our friends to sleep and never received a laugh from my hubby or myself.
• The continuous movement of the ship, the only time we could not feel movement is when the boat was docked at port.
• Husband rolled off of a stool from the movement, water sloshed out of our glasses at meals, my girlfriend and I almost took several falls with our heels on at elegant night.
• Never able to walk in a straight line on the ship....watching poor elderly people struggle to walk.
• The barf bags set out next to all of the elevators for our convenience....YUK!
• Some of the filled bags set out....BLUH.
• Finding out the captain did not use stabilizers for the purpose of conserving fuel...I think everyone would have chipped in if that was the case.
• Ping pong and mini-golf...only activities available on the ship...Oh, sorry....there was a pool and hot tub as well, but since the rocking of the ship was so intense....they were closed a lot of the time.
• Did I mention the food was lousy? Desserts were pre-made...COME ON!
• Constant motion sickness type feelings.....having to head to bed early almost every night to prevent a toilet hugging event....not that there was anything to do anyway!
• We actually paid for this vacation!

On the more positive side:

• We were able to have friends on the ship which made the experience laughable and not an entire flop....very much a blessing!
• The beds were comfortable as well were the pillows!
• Brand new televisions in the staterooms....is that really on my pro list?
• Didn't pay that much for this cruise.
• Our stateroom attendant was extremely nice and attentive.
• Our dinner staff was amazingly nice and helpful....Joseph would replace our disgusting entrees with the very tasty shrimp cocktail appetizer any time we asked (every night).
• Being able to have as many shrimp cocktails as we could engulf.
• The shrimp cocktail was good!
• Great pizza and caesar salads.
• I never had to "act" on the motion sickness...everything stayed down the entire cruise.
• Didn't get hurt the many times that I fell because of the constant swaying.
• Nobody fell off of the ship!
• Card playing on the Lido deck with our friends.
• Good times in Cozumel and Progreso Mexico.
• Only rained a couple times...rather than the expected rainy weather.
• So happy to see the cruise come to an end!

I don't know if I will ever be brave enough to set sail on another cruise ship, but if I do it will NOT be with Carnival Cruise Line, it WILL be an enormous ship, and it will most definitely NOT set sail from New Orleans!

Just a side note: I stepped foot off of the boat on Thursday, October 22nd and I still feel the movement of the ocean when I walk or move a certain way....it is most assuredly not pleasant.

Game On....and the Repellent Too.

We experienced a brief dry period last night so we were able to play our soccer game.....and we won (still undefeated)! Only downside: the mosquitoes were as active as the children! We took repellent and it was a good thing. The critters were in dive-bombing mode. When we arrived back home, I had a few pesty soccer field stragglers down my shirt! Ewwww....talk about feeling buggy.

Postponed.

Rain, rain go away...the four year old chants as he is all uniformed up for the game and I have just let him know that the game has been cancelled....sigh!

Our last soccer game was cancelled due to the excessive amounts of rain we have had and are still having. We have another game scheduled for tonight. Will we get to play? Probably not...still rainy.

Goings On.

Just a few things happening at the ol' Smith ranch:

• Cruise attire shopping this past weekend....after the funk had left the house for 24 hours.
• David woke up this morning with more funk...crud!
• Sooooo much laundry to do with the constant changing of the germ-ridden sheets.
• Formulating the initial packing list for the cruise.
• Started writing out the typical daily goings on for while we are away.
• Planning some meals for my mother-in-law so she doesn't have to mess with it.
• Lots of rain AGAIN around these parts.
• Shoe organizer for the laundry room broke (really bothering my OCD ....going to Wal-Mart later to see what I can replace it with).
• Braydon has another soccer game tomorrow....always amusing.
• Waiting on some books to get here that I ordered.

That's about it....hopefully everything will get done!

The Funk.

Everyone in the house yesterday (except husband) was sick with something different.

Me: Stomach virus of some sort.

David: Sore throat.

Braydon: Sniffles/red, itchy eyes.

We all feel much better today....thank goodness! I want to get all of the funk out of this house before cruisin' time!