lisaviolet
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jul 9, 2002
Rodeo, it's nice to hear that you're going on a trip. How did the test drive go?
So - today is test drive day. Something kind of fun for a change. I am trading both DH's and my vehicles (2004 and 2006 models) in for something current. With both of the kids expected to begin driving this year, I want a newer car with safety features. I've found a fully loaded Equinox at an amazing price and can have it next week before our trip if I'm happy with it. It has a teen/new driver control feature so I can set speed limits and get reports on which safety features they are using. That was the main thing I wanted but there are a lot of extra features. The only thing I can't get that I would have liked was leather seats and this comes with cloth but that aside everything else is great. I hope it drives nicely.
Originally I wanted the Acadia, but to get it as upgraded as the Equinox it was out of my budget. Plus when I was talking to the kids they were pushing for that one also because it seats seven and they want to haul more kids around. The Equinox seats five and I prefer they NOT have a car loaded with teenagers so that suits me better in the end.
I'm glad you had a good day! Enjoy and believe me Hon, if anything will take your mind off your troubles it's teaching teens to drive. Maybe ask Grandpa to do it - personally, I still twitch when I think about it and our DS has been licensed for 2 years now.
Rodeo, hubby is a realtor. If your house is older, no one expects it to be perfect. If you can get it freshly painted, decluttered and cleaned, that would be great. If it’s in decent condition and priced appropriately, it will sell.
We bought a 50 year old house with olive green shag carpet, avocado green appliances a pink bathroom with a “faux marble” pink and gray swirly
Formica vanity and the UGLIEST kitchen floor known to mankind. It also needed a new roof immediately and had an older furnace. But The house had “good bones” meaning it was well built per the inspector, was in a great neighborhood and was priced appropriately based on what needed to be done.
We bought it 24 years ago. Slowly but surely we’ve redone it.
Thank you for keeping up with my nephew's story, rodeo. I, too, come here to post about him as a kind of therapy, as some of the things I say I cannot say to his parents. That is another tragic loss that happened to a young person very suddenly. Life truly can change in an instant. What makes is really hard is that we mourn every day for a person who is still alive. I hope you keep writing and let us know how you & your children are doing.
And the test drive went great! I had it for the day Tuesday and bought it yesterday!! It's so amazing what all it can do and rides beautifully. Going from a 12 year old van to this is heaven! I'm just getting used to the different shaping. It's bigger and longer in the hood than the van was but not as long at the back. It is a metallic charcoal colour, the van was light grey. It was strange going into the garage for something last night and seeing it sitting there.
I asked DS if a year ago he'd have thought he'd not only be training where he is and with who he has as his coach but also would become friends with the dancer he admires so much. He said he never would have believed it and is loving it!
Don't worry about the bolded - I think it's surprisingly common for boys especially these days to be very apathetic about driving! All through high school my DS was part of a great group of kids; only one of them had a driver's license. His grandpa gave him an ancient Aerostar minivan (cool, eh!) and for years he schlepped the group around like a soccer mom!Oh my, I love my dad - I wouldn't unleash them on him.
Actually, I am kind of looking forward to teaching them - weird huh? Honestly, though DS just seems to have no drive, pardon the pun to get his G1. He stayed in Toronto last night after training to hang out with his coach and another dance mentor/friend. They are 21 and 20 and both were roasting him about not having the permit yet. He didn't seem to care. I'm fine with that - ADHD puts him behind socially, emotionally, maturity-wise so an extra year or two before he gets on the road is great by me. DD on the other hand can't wait for October when she turns 16!
That's what my parents did and over the years. They've gradually added on enough space that four dogs, two teenagers and I will be comfortable moving in there and shouldn't really impact them greatly aside from the work to be done to clear out closets etc first and of course the having teenagers around aspect after. They bought the house in 1963 and have worked on it continually over the decades. DD can't wait to live there, and actually neither can I. Our house feels strange now and we definitely don't want to spend another Christmas here. We'll still be living here then, but will be staying there over Christmas.
I completely understand the difference in what you say here vs IRL. I have actually shown your thread to both of my kids also and we've discussed Dom more than once. I understand, on a much shorter time frame mourning someone who is still alive. The last week with DH was much like that and especially the last three days.
So today was the start of exams. DD is writing her first right now. This should be interesting since both missed the majority of the semester. This afternoon she and I have a meeting with the principal and support staff to determine course of action for next year based on what she is likely to pass. We'll handle DS next week since he stayed with his friends last night. I have to say I am so happy he has dance to keep him occupied and as strange as it will sound with what has happened I'm kind of happy that DH was not terribly involved in that part of his life. Given what I've seen over the past two months and the way he's mourning, I think if DH had been a big part of his dance life, he'd have walked away from it.
Since joining the studio he is at now in December, he has become friends with his coach and his other "dance idol", and when DH was first diagnosed and ever since they have both taken a strong interest in him. The first time they invited him to stay and hang out after classes was the week after DH was diagnosed and it was such a boost to him then.
After his lessons last night I was taking him to get new shoes before his competition next week. His coach had said moving to a higher 1.5" heel would help with his point and arch. They ended up all coming (coach's girlfriend and dance partner also) to "oversee" his fitting. It made me so happy seeing how they all interact. All have said how much DS looks like his idol/mentor, moves like him and how similar in all aspects they are. He has started calling him his little brother. This was the young man who danced to our wedding song at his Celebration. I asked DS if a year ago he'd have thought he'd not only be training where he is and with who he has as his coach but also would become friends with the dancer he admires so much. He said he never would have believed it and is loving it! He's younger and can't go with them to clubs or bars, but that aside they seem to include him as a peer not a kid they're "helping" which makes me so happy for him.
And the test drive went great! I had it for the day Tuesday and bought it yesterday!! It's so amazing what all it can do and rides beautifully. Going from a 12 year old van to this is heaven! I'm just getting used to the different shaping. It's bigger and longer in the hood than the van was but not as long at the back. It is a metallic charcoal colour, the van was light grey. It was strange going into the garage for something last night and seeing it sitting there.
My grandma died at age 90 in 2013. A couple years later I had a dream that she called me. She was still dead but apparently had just then figured out how to call me. We talked for a long time about everything - the new job she didn't know I got, the kids, etc. It was the best dream I ever had and also the saddest. But it still makes me happy to think about it. I hope your dream of DH didn't shake you up too much and you keep dreaming nice things about him.Weird dream last night! I dreamt that DH called me.