Back from the Dells

We are home from Wisconsin, safe and mostly sound. Tim and the kids did two water parks (one indoors on a cool rainy night, and one outside during a hot sunny day), go carting and roller coastering. I spent the weekend mostly relaxing--enjoying my mother-in-law's cooking, window shopping in the little town's downtown, walking our dog, reading my new book.

The leisure time was interrupted by a muffler casing scraping, followed by a trip to Wal Mart to see if they were open for service (they weren't) and then a trip to Home Depot to get tin snips to cut off the dragging part. We went to the Wal-Mart service area on a Saturday night, 15 minutes after closing, and banged on the door until someone came, shaking their heads, saying after we begged for just a moment, that they do not do mufflers.

We made it home with only a few noises. We had stopped for gas and attempted to lift the hood, but it was stuck. I assured Tim that I had had the oil changed just before we left, so everything should be okay. So, not worrying any more, we continued down the highway till we heard a rattling noise. Tim pulled over and checked under the car--everything looked okay. We drove on, hearing a rattling that seemed to be coming from the engine.

"Oh no," I groaned, "and we can't even get under the hood!"

"The hood!" Tim exclaimed. "That's what that sound must be, the hood finally came unlatched."

So, we stopped again, popped up the hood, checked the oil (it was fine), and slammed the hood shut. The noise stopped.

We got home, unpacked the camper--loading the stuff in our van, left the camper at Tim's parents, hurried home to get ready for a graduation party, followed by hosting two students in a traveling music group. We returned to find our canoe missing, a new stain on the carpet downstairs, and the kitchen sink still clogged. The students arrived with their van and trailer, which they parked in our driveway. I managed to get some sheets clean for them, and then they did some wash of their own. They were very nice, and not any trouble--they left this morning at 8:15 am after breakfast.

Oh, the stain was probably caused by our neighbor who brought in our mail and who we invited to use our family room if he liked. Said neighbor also probably borrowed the canoe and returned it to the other side of the house (we still need to move it back). I'm hoping Tim will relent and allow me to call a plumber, or at least Roto Rooter, because he has forbidden me from using the sink or running the dishwasher (not easy with a family of five, teenage friends, and two house guests).

At least the washer and dryer are working. I will now try to count my blessings instead of moaning over my little inconveniences.

Till next time,


Suzi