When It Rains It Pours...

So...Saturday night when we went to see our friends in Gardner, KS, our car kind of broke down. The shop that we took it to called me on Monday and told me that we would have to have a new radiator put in. That repair was quite a few big bucks. We drove back to Gardner yesterday to pick our car up. We came back to Lawrence and everything seemed to be just find. I woke up this morning, went to work, came home, things were great. Tom and I decided to go for a bite to eat downtown. We are driving on the main street "Massachusetts, aka Mass" the car starts to run funny. We have an automatic and the gears aren't shifting. Tom and I look at each other and just kind of shake our heads. We get to nearby where we are going. I go to step on the gas and the car doesn't move. I put the car into neutral and kind of coast into a parking spot. I put the car in park, then put it into reverse...nothing. The car stays still. I put the car into drive...nothing. The car stays still. We were both so annoyed we didn't really want to eat anymore. The car was too hot at this point to open the hood right away, so we decided to go in and eat anyway. When we came out we opened the hood and there was fluid that seemed to have exploded under the hood. There was quite a bit of fluid underneath our car as well. RIDICULOUS. We were so mad.
We called the place that had fixed our car and asked if they had touched our transmission when they replaced the radiator. Sure enough they had. We called the same repair shop here in Lawrence and talked to the owner. They sent out a tow truck. We arrived at the shop with our car and the owner said it would be a couple of hours for the repair to be done and he personally drove myself and Tom home. He called us later this afternoon and told us that the car was done and that he would be bringing it to our house. Basically what happened is that the hose that connects between the transmission and the radiator was old. When they undid the hoses while replacing the radiator, the hose cracked. So this place replaced the hose. We were charged for nothing. It surely was a blessing in disguise.
They say that bad things happen in three's. We have either beaten that and set a new record with five, OR we have another bad thing coming. We prefer that we have set a new record.
1)Tom's hand, no insurance.
2)Air conditioner in tenants side of the duplex quit working on a very hot day.
3)Our car broke down in Gardner, KS - Expensive Repair
4)A check that was written TO US bounced
5)Transmission Issue - A wrong made right.
We really hope that we can go on vacation and return relaxed without having to overcome any more big obstacles.
I guess it is all part of life.

Today...Good and Bad

So this morning Tom and I went out to a couple of garage sales. We found these really cool retro chairs that Tom really wanted so that we can set up a little "play" area in the basement for video games. We found some chairs, brand new floor mats and a Thanksgivingish table cloth. It was a great morning.
Our cool "RETRO CHAIRS"
The new happy owner!
We have both been getting up pretty early so today we took a nap for about 2 1/2 hours. That was really nice.
This evening we went to Gardner, KS which is about 30 to 40 minutes away from our house to see our friends Jen and Jason. At one point we looked outside and noticed a bunch of fluid on their driveway from our car. I went out and looked more closely and realized that it had a greenish tint to it. I think the anti-freeze that was in our car ended up all over their driveway. We drove our car to a place in Gardner and dropped it off to be looked at. Unfortunately this all happened at about 6:45pm and the place closed at 6:30. They aren't open on Sunday so our car won't be looked at untill Monday. Jen and Jason were gracious enough to let us borrow their car to get home for the time being, and also to allow me to get to work since our one and only car is in Gardner. I hope that it isn't an expensive fix. They are such great friends.
Other than that, there isn't a whole lot going on here. We are just looking forward to Thursday when we will be leaving on a jet plane.

Tom's Boxing Career is Down For the Count...Think before You Punch.

We were hoping for a reduction to be done on Tom's hand so that we could bypass the surgery option since he doesn't have medical insurance at the moment. We waited to see a doctor at the orthopedic surgeons office and pretty much the first words out of his mouth were, "A reduction isn't going to work on that." Mine and Tom's silent thoughts, "CRAP." He did say that we had two options. We could splint the hand, let it heal for about 20 more days and see where the healing process was or...Tom could have surgery to correct the injury. The doctor said that the pinky which has the broken knuckle is a very forgiving finger. He was pretty sure that the finger would heel (not perfectly) but to the point of being able to be used normally, with a possible slight deformity meaning that the pinky knuckle on his right hand would look slightly different from the pinky knuckle on his left hand. Just out of curiosity we asked how much a surgery would cost. He said, "Well...you have to pay for the room, the anesthesiologist, blah, blah, blah." Basically we would be looking at upwards of about $5,000.00 for the surgery. Tom is willing to wait it out and see what the hand does on its own. Of course we would pay (somehow) to have the surgery done if that is the corrective action that needs to be taken. We do know that if he has to have surgery the break will have to be re-broken. All I have to say is OUCH.
Tom and his casted hand.
Since they knew that we were going on vacation, they had some sample water-proof casting material that they said we could "test" for them. Better yet, since it was a sample, they didn't charge us for that part of the visit. AWESOME!
On a happier note, we had a really good dinner last night. It included Cheese and Roasted Garlic Tortellini with a Pesto with Basil Sauce, Garlic Bread and salmon. It was actually pretty good. And yes to all who are thinking it, Erin ate salmon.
Yummy Dinner!

The Big 3-0!

On July 4th, Tom turned the big 3-0! We stayed the night in Kansas City at a place called Chateau Avalon. We went to Ted's Montana Grill. Tom and I split a Bison Burger. We watched fireworks from the parking lot. We came home on Saturday and I did about 7 or 8 loads of laundry. We went to church on Sunday and surprised several people who weren't expecting Tom to be home. Later that evening we had a surprise party for Tom, but the surprise was on some friends who lived out of town who didn't know that Tom was home. Here are some pictures from that fun evening.

Yummy Snacks included homemade guacamole (thanks for the tips Ditte it turned out great)

Tom and John

Suzy, Jess, Amy and Kevin

Nathan, Jason, Josh and Jen

Tom being sung to

Yummy Chocolate Cake and Cupcakes with Chocolate frosting and sprinkles!

Back Together Again...

After a 10 month separation, Tom and Erin are back together again. Tom came home a little earlier than expected and is extremely happy to be home with his wife and our housemate, Amy (for 21 more days. Tom and I will be in California for 11 of those 21 days.) We are headed out to the Yosemite and Bass Lake area with the Griggs side of the family, and also our friend Squatting Squirrel (aka Twyla).

Tom brought home a swollen right hand. We went to the Watkins Health Center and found out that Tom's right hand pinky knuckle is broken (boxer's fracture). Even better, Tom is between insurances. We get to go and see the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow to find out if a reduction can be performed on his hand, or if he will need to have surgery. We are both hoping for a reduction. It sounds cheaper.


Tom's right hand.

We have an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon tomorrow at 2:15. We will let you know what happens.