The Monday before I flew down to Orlando, our family went up to Turkey Run State Park and hiked the entire day on some very rugged trails. I timed our hiking adventure to be approximately five hours, with a lunch break and a few tiny breaks in-between. I figured we hiked at least 4 1/2 hours straight. Seriously don't know how many miles we put on our poor feet, but let’s just say when we were finally back to our destination I was D-O-N-E! I am so very proud to have been able to participate in such a wonderful experience with my family though. My husband and kids couldn't believe how well I held up. Heck, I couldn't believe how well I held up. Here are a few photos from that day:
Upon arriving home from our wonderful day of hiking and pure exhaustion, we discover our mailbox post has been hit by a vehicle and our mailbox post split in two and our mailbox thrown more than 14 feet from the original standing post (my son Kyle just had to measure it), luckily with the mail still inside. Of course, no one bothered to stop and leave an apology or a number where they could be reached to pay for the damage they had done. All I know, is from the tire marks left behind, I'm sure they had quite a bit of damage to their vehicle and all I can say is....I hope it cost you a lot more to fix your bleepty bleepty bleep car, than it did for us to replace and paint our post.
After the mailbox post incident, we discovered our dishwasher was leaking and left water damage to our floor and a little bit of damage on the inside cabinets where the diswasher sat in-between. We went shopping for a new dishwasher and I finally decided on one. Then after purchasing it, I find out it will be more than a week before we can pick it up. I must say, when you have to start handwashing all of your dishes, you truly appreciate that dishwasher like you never did before.
On the bright side, the mailbox post cost less than $25. Wish I could say that about the dishwasher. Ever noticed how it always seems to happen like that though? Once one major applicance goes, they all start to follow? We just replaced our washer and dryer in March. Our refridgerator is over 16 years old and I know it is just a matter of time. I'm hoping it'll last at least a few more years, because we need a little money buffer time now.
Oh, one more thing.....yes, see what happens when I don't have an "it can only happen to me category" for a while, they all seem to come at once. Although, this isn't the "me" category, it does deal with my sweet beautiful daughter. Cassie has a congenital birth defect in which she is missing her permanent top bi-lateral incisor teeth (the ones right next to your two front teeth). To have that happen, especially to my sweet girl is heartbreaking to me, but orthodontics and cosmetic dental surgery has come a long way. Long story short, she is slower than molasses when it comes to losing her baby teeth; therefore, she had to have four top baby teeth pulled to get her ready for her next phase of orthodontic work. So now, she is walking around with four missing teeth, on the top no less, and will get a retainer with four fake teeth exactly ONE day before school starts back up. Because I don't want that retainer to count towards our orthodontic deductible, I have to pay out of pocket for that sucker (really glad we have a health savings account). The orthodontist knows Cassie will be with him FOREVER, so he cut us a break. I suppose having a good long standing relationship with the orthodontist (my son is in braces as well) came in handy on this one.
I'll post pictures of my new dishwasher (got a pretty fancy one) and my daughters beautiful new smile in the next post. In the meantime, have a good few weeks and thanks for reading my rants. God Bless!
