Pearl

On January 2nd I returned to work from 2 weeks off.  At now almost 3 weeks post surgery I am feeling pretty good.  There is still some pain, but not constant and not too severe.  Overall, going back to work has been good, although things at the office are so busy as we prepare to move our office on January 31 as well as continue to do all our other work on top of that prep.

On the 2nd the boys went to Nana's house to play.  Nana is so unbelievably creative and she helped Riley make an amazing pirate ship.  She also was happy to show me proof that Carter took a nap.

On Wednesday for lunch I met up with Deborah, Kate and Elizabeth at the lunch box for a Princess lunch to celebrate Liz's birthday.  No boys allowed.  She got all dressed up and Kate gave her some money to tip the waitress.  Instead of holding the money in her little purse, Liz was not satisfied until she gave the waitress her tip.....in the middle of our meal.  Adorable! 

I saw another beautiful sunset on my way out of work the other night.  I really hope there are some awesome views when I walk out of my new office starting next month, as these sunsets have been amazing and inspiring.

 Also on Wednesday the boys had a sleepover at Grandmommy & Haha's.  Riley requested that he be wrapped up under the tree as a present.  Guess he's not claustrophobic!

Last week on Thursday and Friday and this week on Monday Riley went to a Camp Fire day camp called Camptivity.  He had a lot of fun exploring outside for fossils, making a paper boat, making ninja stars out of paper and learning how to throw them, searching for the goose who lives on the camp land and shooting bows and arrows.  I am really glad we signed him up for this to help out with the days he is out of school this month and also so he can meet some new friends and to see how he does in a new program.  The director told me yesterday that he is making new friends so I'm happy.

Friday was Chad's birthday and we celebrated over donuts in the morning, where Riley, Carter & I gave Chad his presents (shirts, a watch and a leather wrap) and then we celebrated with Chad's family over dinner at Sushi Axiom.  Grandmommy brought bundtinis from Nothing Bundt cakes and everyone got a candle to blow out.  

On Saturday we had an unbelievably busy day that started with us taking down the Christmas decorations, reorganizing the garage, rearranging the living room furniture, going to a birthday party and finally test driving a car.

First off, here is our newly arranged living room.  We usually move the couches so they are facing each other while we have our Christmas decorations up, but we decided to keep them facing each other and switch around the couches to opposite sides to open up an archway into our fancy dining room that is usually blocked off by the large couch.  So far I really like the new arrangement.

The birthday party was at Pump It Up to celebrate Holden & Stella's birthdays.  Riley and Carter had a blast and the two birthday kids were super cute!

On Saturday morning an offer was made to purchase my Jeep Liberty.  I had been planning to try and sell it in March or April, but when I saw on Facebook that a friend was in the market, I jumped at the opportunity and it turns out he ended up wanting to purchase my Jeep.  Of course, I had been online looking at certified pre-owned Toyota Highlanders and I found one that I wanted to look into.  Chad and I drove to the dealership on Saturday night and test drove the car.  We fell in love with it, so before we left, we put some money down to hold the car for us so we could come back and purchase it on Monday after I had officially sold my Jeep.

   

 I spent Sunday researching the paperwork needed to sell my car and got everything put together.  I also went ahead and lined up financing so I would be all set when we got to the dealership on Monday.  Yesterday was very hectic and stressful as I just wanted both arrangements to go smoothly.  I guess stress causes my body to hurt more as I was in more pain yesterday than I have been in since the surgery and so I was very relieved when both transactions went exactly as planned and I am now the proud owner of a 2011 Toyota Highlander!  Her name is Pearl and she is so beautiful!

Chad kept telling me how impressed he was with me during the entire process.  Not only did I have everything pre-arranged so that the process was super simple, but I even noticed when we walked out that the running boards had been removed from the car.  They will be put back on the car on Saturday.  They also forgot to put the floor mats in, so I'll get those on Saturday also and Chad & I are making a short list of any other things that we have questions about.

When Chad & I went to pick up the boys from Papa, they were so excited to see Mommy's new car.  They climbed all inside and this was Riley's face when he asked to watch a movie in the car on the way home.  Of course I obliged him!

It's been raining all day today, which was not the road conditions I would have hoped for during mine and Pearl's first full day together, but I'm so happy to be driving her!