R.I.P., Camry

For those who have not yet heard, I had a little “incident” the Friday before last, in which I slid into the back of a truck with my car. I am totally fine, and was probably only going 15-20 miles per hour at the time—just fast enough to completely derail the rest of my (and Jason’s) afternoon. The truck I hit was virtually undamaged. I spent the next hour or so chatting with a 16-year-old gas station attendant, and using the store’s phone as my personal office (of all the days to forget my cell!). The 16-year-old gas station attendant was pretty good company, as he regaled me with stories of his “huge/sweet/awesome Chevy truck” and all the tickets he’s gotten for reckless driving. I think he was trying to make me feel better?

Anyways, long story short, the damage was just enough to total my Camry. Being that it’s a 1998 model, the cost of the parts to fix it exceeded the value of the car itself. And so, on Friday afternoon, I said goodbye to my wonderful car. It’s going to the salvage yard in the sky. I’ll miss that car...tear....

On a brighter note, I was able to get a much better deal with the insurance company than originally offered, and we’re pretty satisfied with the outcome. And so, we will be shopping for a new (used) car in the very new future. Woo! We may simply get a newer Camry, or we might branch out. Some other options we’ve thought about are the Toyota Matrix, Pontiac Vibe, Hyundai Sonata, and Honda Accord. Any recommendations?

The Greatest Clock Ever

My birthday was this week, and my very sweet husband got me the ultimate in wake-up experiences: The Peaceful Progression Wake-Up Clock. If you know me very well, you know that I am not a morning person (some might say that’s putting it mildly.) My morning thought process goes something like, “Dangit, it’s time to get up? Maybe I can press snooze one more time… do I really need to shower before work?”


So I’ve always thought it would be nice to have an alarm clock that wakes you up peacefully, slowly, gradually… kind of like when you’re camping. “Light, and the sound of the outdoors…ahhh, I think I’ll get up! What a lovely day! It’s only 5 am? No matter!” This is how I pictured myself waking up with such a clock. Probably with flowers and birds and happy music.


The wonderful, fancy, spaceship-shaped clock that Jason gave me wakes you up gradually over 30 minutes, using light, sound, and aromatherapy. At the end of the 30 minutes, a buzzer goes off. We’ve had three days to try it out so far, and this clock is obviously smarter than we are. I hope for much smoother wake up experiences in the future, but this is how it’s gone so far:


Morning 1: After much debate about whether the “alarm time” meant “actual time we get up” or “time that the 30-minute cycle beings,” we chose wrong, and were awakened at 6:30 instead of 7 am. Jason immediately woke up to our chosen combination of light, “birds chirping,” and “Stress Relief” (scent). I however, didn’t wake up until the buzzer. I stumbled out of bed, reset our trusty old alarm clock (sitting next to the new one) and went back to be for half an hour. Fail.


Morning 2: The clock was set correctly this time, and we both woke up more or less peacefully, and laid in bed listening to our digitized chirping birds, as the smell of Stress Relief wafted through the room. However, we had accidentally set our old alarm clock as well, which has a much more piercing sound. All of our peaceful progressions were ruined by the sound of the old alarm. Fail.


Morning 3: Clock set correctly: check. Old alarm turned off: check. I woke up peacefully to light, sound, and aroma, and merrily hopped out of bed at 7. (Or, stumbled less angrily.) Success! This clock is fabulous, once we got past the learning curve.

Holiday Recap, Part I

Well, I’ve been terrible about updating our blog lately, but that just means that we’ve had a full past few weeks. Now that Christmas and New Year’s are over and done (except for our upcoming Christmas visit to Newtown!) I hope to share some photos and highlights of our holidays.


Christmas was fantastic! We celebrated a record-breaking four times in four days (in four different locations). It was tiring, but fun. Here are the highlights of our Christmases so far:


Christmas Eve: We celebrated at Mom’s house, with Swedish meatballs and our favorite Christmas cookies. The food was delicious, as always. We also played the traditional game of Scrabble…. How I love Scrabble! It's a good thing my sisters are as obsessed with it as I am.


Christmas Day: It was a new experience for Jason and I to wake up in our own house on Christmas morning! We enjoyed cinnamon rolls and coffee, and watched the cat get high on his Christmas catnip. Later, Mom and the girls came over, and we had a relaxing afternoon. We crocheted several hats to send to newborns in developing countries, as part of the Knit One, Save One campaign. It was a cozy afternoon by the fire, and Theresa and Emily spent the night at our place.


Day After Christmas: Jason, Theresa, Emily, and I drove up to celebrate with Dad’s side of the family. We ate lots of food, saw lots of relatives, and sang “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” among other things. We also had a visit from Santa, who is kind enough to visit our family in person every year!


Saturday After Christmas: We spent the day celebrating with Dad and family. Jason and I went snowmobiling, which was a lot of fun… except the part where Jason ran out of gas and spent an hour stranded in the middle of a corn field! He was a little bit scarred from the experience, but made the most of it by singing and attempting to build a snowman.


That’s the latest on us. More to come soon!