The Return of the Dogmobile

I’m happy to say that I slept very well last night. Walter had to leave by about 7:30 to go get new tires put on the Dogmobile, which has now returned to our driveway.

We’re still not sure what we’re going to do with it, but it definitely needed a couple of new tires, which will make it more sellable if that’s what we decide.

Meanwhile, I had a couple of cute dresses to pack:

Hoping they will make it there in plenty of time for the Fourth of July!

After returning from the post office I enjoyed a nice leisurely breakfast before heading up to the north side of town for my hair appointment. I had my ends trimmed and also had a deep conditioning treatment as I’ll be going into a very arid climate.

I had a nice chat with my hair guy and learned a lot about heartworms (his dog has them). You never know what you’ll end up talking about when you get your hair done.

From there I went to Aldi to shop as I’ll be busy tomorrow. It’s been a while since I had any real entertainment in Aldi. Today I witnessed some drama that really made me cringe. There was an Indian lady shopping there a little ahead of me. She had two chubby toddlers sitting in the cart, a girl of maybe two and a four or five-year-old boy. When I first encountered them, they were parked in front of the chocolate display while the boy whined for chocolate and his mother argued with him. “I want you to be better,” she said.

A couple aisles farther on I saw them again. They were stopped in the middle of the aisle and the mother was scolding her son loudly and with obvious frustration. It seems he had opened the very large chocolate bar she’d given in and bought him, and now she demanded that he eat the whole thing at once. “Go ahead,” she said. “Eat, eat, eat! Since you couldn’t wait you have to eat it all right now. I give you one minute. Don’t stop! This is what you wanted! You couldn’t wait! Keep eating! I’m telling you, you have one minute to finish it all!”

The poor boy cried as he tried to keep stuffing chocolate into his mouth. I felt bad for the mother and bad for him. Sugar addiction is real and I hate to see such a young child in its grip. And no doubt thirty years from now his therapist will tell him he’s permanently damaged from the trauma of being humiliated by his mother in Aldi when he was five. *sigh*

While I was out, Walter got the new tires on our box trailer:

This was the one requirement we had from the insurance inspector, so we figured we’d better get it done. And, as it turns out, one of the insurance people is interested in buying the trailer, so that would be awesome.

Also while I was out, the new stove hood arrived. After all the rigmarole of picking it up the last time, Walter opted to have the replacement delivered here since it was a free service. This time he hooked it all up and tested it in his workshop before installing it. It did have something wrong with it, but the fan is okay so he decided we can live with it. He spent some time this afternoon installing it. I have really missed having a vent over my stove and wonder how people manage without them.

My brother Matt called while I was on my exercise bike this afternoon, so I was able to get in my exercise and visit with my brother at the same time. It was so good to talk to him. We talked for an hour and a half! (I was not on the bike for that long!)

By then it was almost time to leave for the restaurant. Tonight was supposed to be our monthly ladies’ night out, but since Robin was the only other one who planned to come, we turned it into a double date and brought our husbands. It was very enjoyable.

When we returned I felt surprisingly energized, so I went to work ironing and rotary cutting and got everything cut out for my next sewing project, plus one to do when I return from Zambia. It has been very satisfying to see piles of fabric turned into useful items these last couple of weeks.

Tomorrow is my birthday outing with Robin, so I don’t know if I’ll have any time to sew, but when I do have time, I’m ready!

Throwback Thursday:

Nineteen years ago my brother Matt drove down from Indiana on his motorbike to visit me so he could get his “iron butt” credentials. Here he is with our five youngest kids and the bike. I love my brother.