Back to Normal

Well, we made it through the week. The final renovations have been done to our house - the only thing left to do is have the carpet tacked back down, and door stops put on the doors so that the kids can't bust their new door knobs into the new drywall.

Here's the new fireplace! I had a brief moment where I thought to myself "self, do you have too many kinds of natural stone in the house? Is this house TOO MUCH?" and then I realized, that was the stupidest though I've ever had, because one can never have too much beautiful stone. It's like having too many fancy jewelryos.

It turns out the Civic is salvageable, but it needs a new timing belt and a few other things that cost more than we're looking to put into it, plus Tim has been looking for a new car for awhile. So today he was able to go and purchase a brand new Honda Accord hybrid touring edition, which he is in love with. It has many bells and whistles and features. We don't quite know what to do with such a fancy ride! Meanwhile, I will be going back to driving his old Honda Fit in Electric Boogaloo Blue. The new Accord is white, which would not be my first (or second) choice, but the good news is that in 10-12 years when Tim wants a new car, Ellie can drive the Accord and hopefully by then I'll be driving the Mini Cooper of my dreams. And color aside, I love that the Fit has a ton of interior space despite being so tiny that you can carry it in your purse.

We had a nice St. Patricks Day. I made Irish soda bread from the ancestral Smith family recipe, and since it was Tuesday, Mimi got to come and have some, and she approved. Then during the evening Ellie and I went to the Laguna Niguel library for their Wilderness Tracker presentation for little kids. It was a hoot. This hippie wilderness lady taught the kids how to identify clues in the wild that would tell them what sort of animals had been by - tracks, feathers, scat. And then she showed them several of the animals. There was a bearded dragon lizard, a ball python, an iguana and a turtle, and then the warm blooded animals included an ENORMOUS Flemish giant rabbit (which Ellie was especially thrilled by) a Fennic fox (which I wanted to steal and love on forever) and most importantly, a possum in a hat. I mean, how do you top that? Ellie had such a great evening and I was so proud of her for being a good listener and a good animal petter.

Bonus Adam in his holiday finery

Gigi and Grizz had a great time in Steamboat and arrived safely home tonight. The kids were a little crazy and tired today (as was I) so Sara and I took them out for Golden Spoon before dinner, which was a huge hit. And thankfully, Grizz will be around for pizza and ice cream tomorrow night! All is as it should be.