Our Purchase.

I use this blog to post information about our little family so that our friends and family can see what we are up to and so that I have a record, almost a journal, of this part of our lives.  We see that Olive changes each time we blink.  One day I will scan through these pages and savor the moments of her infancy and our early years of marriage. 

I've been on a hosting drought lately, but a lot has happened!  I'll try to catch up in bits ... first ...

After many months and huge swings in our established car purchase criteria (big car or small car, new car or used car, pricey car or even pricier car), we bought a car!

We settled on a new VW Golf with 4-doors and a gasoline engine.  (It isn't the Beetle of my dreams or the GTI of Kyle's, but it will definitely meet our needs.)

As far as car buying goes, I am very pleased with the experience.  We learned a lot in the process and I'm writing it down for next time when my memory is soft .

1. Research, research, research.  Online, in print, in person.  Consumer Reports, in-print and online.  Manufacturers' websites, dealers' websites, edmunds.com, kellybluebook.com and truecar.com.  My favorites were Edmunds and Truecar because they clearly spelled out MSRP, invoice and recent average sales prices for cars.  We collected information and then went out to kick a few tires.  (It was difficult to resist a few pushy salespeople, but we managed to extract ourselves without much harm from each research mission.)

2.  Advice.  We narrowed our search to two very similar cars.  But our resources didn't end up knocking either option out.  Then we asked a car expert (talk radio host) here in town.  He gave us great advice.

3.  Price Shop.  When we finally settled on one vehicle, we started soliciting offers.  All in all we conversed/emailed/met with 5 different salespeople (each at a different dealership).  The one recommended by the Car Pro, the one who went along on our test drive, and three from an Edmunds.com 'get a quote'/'find a dealer' inquiry.

4.  Apples to Apples.  We learned along the way that while some people wanted to sell the car at MSRP, many were willing to give us an "Up Front" price somewhat discounted from the MSRP.  We learned that some dealerships add on 'extras' that we didn't need or want (and sometimes charge 'extra' for them) and some dealerships have add-on fees, etc. that impact the bottom line after you have otherwise agreed on the 'price of the car'.  We started asking for 'drive-away' prices, including tax, title and license.  Four salespeople provided us with 'drive-away' prices.

5.  Writing.  Hello, I am a lawyer.  We got each drive-away price in writing.  By email, yes, but in writing.

6.  Pick.  We selected the best price overall (drive-away plus financing) - also the one that was willing to find our preferred color rather than sell us our second choice color that was on the lot - and signed a bunch of papers.

7.  Flexibility.  So, we wanted a white car (ok, I wanted white) but didn't want to pay a premium for it.  We clearly communicated to the dealers that white was our preference, but we were also willing to consider other colors.  (Not black, it is Houston, and the summer is coming!)  We were also flexible with our time - in two ways.  While we did visit one dealership, I conducted most of the negotiating and information gathering by email and brief phone calls.  I didn't want to waste our time or theirs.  Also, we were ready to make our purchase but willing to wait for the right circumstance. 

8.  Friendly and Professional.  After we narrowed our field to the three closest competitors,  I contacted the other two to say thank you, but no thank you.  After we drove away in our new car, I contacted the remaining two salespeople and let them know that we went another way.  In all of our actions, we tried to be friendly but firm, to treat this as a business transaction rather than an emotional purchase and to treat each of the salespeople with respect for the time they gave and the services they provided. 

Maybe our next car purchase will go even more smoothly.  (Not that we are anticipating that purchase any time in the near future!)

I totally know what she's singing ...

Toddler speak is sometimes difficult to decipher.  I recognize that even to a parent's ears it sometimes sounds like gibberish (at best). 

Olive loves music and has recently taken a fancy to 'singing.'  She'll 'sing' along with me to Jesus Loves Me, the Eensy Weensie Spider, and the Wheels on the Bus.  She'll dance or clap along with almost any music.

However, the reigning champion is Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.  When there is not music playing (or when she has tired of NPR news), Olive starts calling,

"Mama! ... Mama! ... Mama! ... Mama!"

"Yes, Olive?"

"Teekle ...."

and then we start singing.  Kyle thought he was off the hook until she realized that he may be more of a sucker for her cute than I am ... "Daddy! ... Daddy!" ... "Teekle ..."
This video is about a week old, and (I SWEAR!) her singing skilz have improved since then ... but if you listen closely, she really is singing.  It still makes me grin from ear to ear.

Egg Hunting. SPP Style.

Our neighborhood, SPP, had its annual Easter egg hunt and visit from the Easter Bunny.

First, our Olive was not a fan of Mr. Bunny. 

"Olive, would you like to visit the Bunny?"

"No."

However, she really enjoyed time in the park collecting eggs and swinging!

"I am ready.  Are you?"

"So, the eggs go in there?"

"Weeeeee!"

For $3 at a church garage sale, we found this firetruck (it has an extending ladder attachment).  It is apparently her new lovey.

So. There are actually tutorials for making bows online!

Some photos.

So. I really want some spring photos of Miss Olive.  Unfortunately, we haven't had an opportunity to get out of town and snap the ubiquitous Texas bluebonnet photos.

There is a small patch in a neighbor's yard.  So. I put Olive in her little red car and the camera around my neck and walked around the corner.  However, Olive was not totally thrilled to be taking photos ... I didn't get a single photo of her smiling with the flowers.  (Maybe we'll get out of town next weekend.  Not sure the flowers will still be around ... let's hope!)

I snapped a few more on our driveway once Olive and I walked home.  Those brown eyes kill me.

The Curtains.

We always intended that the curtains in our new home would not be long for our little world. They are not new, they are not our style, and they are, generally, not great colors for us.  BUT ... they block light and provide privacy.  So, we put up with them.

(Now, we are not the type of people that need new everything.  In fact, many of the objects in our house are not new.  Good condition, however, does help.)

We still have quite a few sets of aged curtains hanging in our home, but last weekend, we tackled two windows: the office/playroom,

(which is now sporting clean, white blinds)

and the dining room (matching curtains, but not the same room).

In the dining room, we decided to keep (for now) the rod on which the original sheers were hanging.  (The bay window curve makes finding an acceptable, alternative cover a bit of a challenge.)  However, quite some time ago (read: before this photo), we replaced the aged, taupe/off-white sheers with some white IKEA sheers from a prior window covering adventure (in St. Louis).  They aren't perfect, but for now, they'll do.



We still have some work to do (uh, fill holes, touch-up paint and eventually replace the windows) to get these windows exactly where we want them. For us, progress is incremental, but it does feel good.

And, I have to admit, there is a part of me that wanted to channel Scarlet O'Hara and do SOMETHING (maybe not sew a fancy outfit to go visit Rhett in prison) with those curtains (in all of their green-pom-pom-ed glory).  I resisted, and they are bagged up for a trip to either Re-Store (a Habitat for Humanity organization) or Goodwill.  As it turns out, I don't have a need for repurposed green pom-poms in my life.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes.

We updated a few things while Russ and Rae were here recently, primarily ceiling fans (5 of them) and door hardware (I dunno, a LOT of them), but a light fixture as well.

The old doorknobs were brass colored and had seen better days.  Also, the keys had been used so many times that they were thin ... and not easily copied.  Our new knobs all look something like this:

They vary in locking mechanisms, which I now understand to mean that our closets are non-locking, our bathrooms have push/toggle locks, and our exterior doors are keyed.  It is a little thing, but the new hardware definitely adds freshness.  (And, now we have more than 2 keys to any given lock!!  And we don't have 16 different keys to the house! Ok, there weren't 16, but there were a lot of different keys.)

And the ceiling fans.  The old ones were not in great shape - two of them wheezed quite a bit before actually moving air - the third was fine, but it was a bit dark and didn't have a light.  Also, Olive's room and the guest room were fan-less.  We bought four plain, white, slightly modern fans:

The only different one was installed in the kitchen, which needed a smaller fan:

Finally, we replaced our breakfast room fixture (faux-stained glass in orange, yellow and red) with this:

It isn't fancy (in fact it is an IKEA special), but it works and it is FAR MORE our style.

Our to-do list is still miles long, but these are definitely nice steps in the right direction!

An interesting talk.

Kyle listens to the TED talks on podcast regularly. This weekend, he shared Sheryl Sandberg's talk with me.

(Follow the link below.  Her talk is less than 15 minutes, and it is not wasted time.)

It has been stumbling through my brain ever since!

Sheryl Sandberg: Why we have too few women leaders Video on TED.com

Glamorous!

Olive loves these little sunglasses, although sometimes they're hard to get back on her face after she shoots you a glamorous look ;)

Firetrucks.

So.  How many firetrucks have been to your house this year?  This week?

Mine?  Only one.

As it turns out ...

when the guy who repairs your clothes washer/plumbing fails to fully re-connect it and in cleaning up the massive amounts of water that are spilling into your laundry room you decide to hang sopping wet towels on the fence outside and then the door with the new self-locking mechanism shuts behind you with the dog and your sleeping baby inside the house

locksmiths (at least in Houston ... and yes plural) when you call them barefoot from a kind neighbors' house will refuse to come open your home because the sleeping baby inside prohibits them from rescuing you and requires you to call 9-1-1 who will then connect you to 'your local fire department' who will ask repeatedly if anyone has been hurt

even when you sheepishly (and with way too much stress, I mean she was sleeping the last time I checked, but leaving the house with her inside and outside of the range of my trusty baby monitor - which was locked inside anyway - is totally not kosher) describe that you are locked out of your home and your baby is locked in (and you do not include that your husband is in another state for work and you haven't exactly distributed the extra keys you just had made to the new locks your husband and father-in-law recently installed on your home)

the operator will send a firetruck with flashing lights (but no sirens, I mean, it was late at night) and four large firemen will jump out and start assessing your home with big flashlights even while you dash out of your neighbors' house to explain the situation before anyone wakes up your (hopefully still sleeping) baby

the kind firefighters will not look annoyed at your silliness but will check to see if any window is inadvertently unlocked (found one!) to avoid breaking a window to gain entry into your home

(one firefighter said, "we really don't want to break down the door ..." ... yeah, me either)

your dog may just think she has gone to heaven with her four new best friends ... and confirm your suspicion that she is NOT in fact a guard dog 

(hello, Zoe, firefighters are our friends, but you could have tried to look menacing or even tried not to wag your tail and jump around as if you just knew they had a ball to throw for you)

and the kind firefighters will even tiptoe while you determine that the baby is indeed still fast asleep and has apparently spent the evening dreaming sweetly without a clue 

they will say goodbye while you apologize profusely for your carelessness and then they will drive off into the night

leaving you to express gratitude to the One above and to clean up the mess in your laundry room

as if the whole locked-out-of-your-house-and-unbelievably-panicked interlude never happened

(April Fool's joke?  Not so much, just Wednesday night.)

Our Friend "mElmo"

We generally spend some portion of Saturday mornings watching Sesame Street with Miss Olive.  She enjoys the puppets and gets especially excited when "mElmo" comes on the screen.

We snapped this photo last Saturday.

Her expression makes me smile.  I think the look says something like "Why are you snapping photos during mElmo?"

Also, we went to a toy store this weekend to pick up a gift for my (second?) cousin Evelyn's first birthday.  (She is my cousin's daughter.  I think that makes her my second cousin. ??  Regardless, fun party.)  While in the store, Olive found the book section and enjoyed 'reading' while I shopped.  There were lots of great books for kids.  The one Olive brought me to read? It had an image of Elmo on the cover. 

"mElmo Mommie?"

Fun times.

Snow Cone Season.

I don't remember snow cone stands in Houston growing up.  More, I remember them as part of trips to the beach or vacations.

However, we have a snow cone stand just outside of our neighborhood.  As the weather heats up, shaved ice and sugary syrup sure sound tasty.

This weekend we shared snow cones with Olive.  We purchased our treats and drove home to enjoy them on our driveway.

I think Olive enjoyed best the cherry flavor I chose.  At very least, it shows up on her face more than Kyle's orange! 

In St. Louis, we took visitors to Ted Drewes.  This stand is no Ted Drewes, but it is super tasty!!  Maybe it will be our new visitor destination.

Springtime.

Lately, we spend a fair amount of our non-working, non-Olive, non-sleeping time doing yard work.

We have two live oaks (and many others on the block) which are dropping leaves and pollen right and left.  They are beautiful, and they're green most of the year.  But oh the leaves!

We have been clearing neglected flower beds and planting new things.  (In the process, both Kyle and I contracted 'contact dermititis.'  I'm still on the hunt for the guilty plant.  I've got my eye on one, but I can't seem to find a matching mugshot!)

I won't post photos of the empty beds (or the baby veg).  But, the transformation from brambled wreck to clean dark soil paid off in sweat and satisfaction.
There are freshly planted gerbera daisies and cute yellow flowers (whose name escapes me) and knock-out roses.  We have geraniums, hydrangea, begonias and bougainvillea in pots around the exterior of house.

We were thrilled to see our azaleas bloom after I hacked them last fall.  And we've been surprised by some bulbs that popped open last week.  Are they lilies? Not sure, but that orange is lovely!

We dedicated one bed to vegetables.  We planted tomato, jalapeno and poblano.  There are also a few pumpkin plants that sprouted from our defunct jack-o-lantern. (Pumpkins must be hearty.  They've returned after two frosts and a 'nuclear option' bed clearing!)  We hope to add some zucchini, green beans and some herbs.  We'll see!

Visitors!!

I'm late in posting photos, but, about a week ago, we had visitors!

Kyle's parents came to see us.  (Well, we're pretty sure they came to see Olive, but ... that's ok.  She's pretty special.)

They arrived on Saturday around noon and hit the ground running.  We did yard work and house work and spent tons of time playing with Olive outside.  It was a lovely weather weekend, and our slide and swings got quite a workout!

Russ, Rae, Kyle and Olive set off for the Children's Museum on Monday.  (Ding.) They have an area set aside for children 36 months and under.  I have heard fabulous things about it.  I am really excited for Olive to explore it.  However, (Ding.) I forgot that museums are generally closed on Mondays.  (Crud.  Should have listened to those bells.)

Instead, they went to Hermann Park (near the museum and made for a quick change of plans), rode the train and enjoyed a play area targeted to younger kids.

I'm not sure who had more fun, Olive or her Grandparents.  But a great time was had by all.

Train riding is serious business.

Having fun at the park with Grandma.

Catch me if you can!

Getting a ride from Grandpa.

New To Us.

Saturday afternoon we went shopping.

Kyle, Olive and I walked in and out of a few antique stores ... I think more technically they were used furniture stores.  What is an antique really?

But questions aside, we were pleasantly surprised to find something wonderful, and today we brought home a new to us table for our breakfast room!

OK.

This was our old table:

This is our new table:

It came with four chairs.

And it has a self-contained leaf.

We love it!

Rodeo Behind the Scenes. Part II.

Instead of trying to park at the Astrodome, we parked at a church near the museums and took the train to the dome.

We were a few minutes early to meet our friends, so we let Olive play on the lawn.

She had a ball.