Guilty of Blog Neglect

School started for me last Tuesday, Jamie had a birthday party on Saturday, and I've been working out and cleaning house like mad, so the blog has been neglected.  In a nutshell, here's what's happening in our neck of the woods.

• My son became a teenager. And that's all I'm going to say about that.  (Name that movie!)
• Jamie also got 6 As and 5 Bs on his most recent report card.  Good job, kiddo!
• I'm downsizing my household.  No, I didn't kick Jamie out (even if he is a rotten teenager now)....  I'm selling all my old bedroom furniture on Craigslist (double, long dresser; queen bed frame and headboard; lamp with built-in table) and have replaced it with a full-sized bed, memory foam mattress and two tall dressers.  My bedroom is too tiny for a queen-size, the mattress was hurting me, and I stubbed my toe on the end of that stupid bed nearly every day.  I'm single, I don't need a queen-sized bed for just me, so it has got to all go.  I got the new stuff for a steal, so I figure it was a worthy investment to buy new and get what I wanted and needed, instead of making do with this and that.  BTW - this is kind of also part of my resolution to take care of myself for a change. No more mattress that leaves me waking up stiff and sore every morning, no more stubbing my toe on a bed that is too big for my room, etc.
• And I upsized my car.  Teeny tiny car was great on gas mileage... until it stopped being great on gas mileage.  And started having gremlins in the wiring that would cost more to FIND than to fix.  And started having brake issues that no one could figure out WHY they were happening and would be way expensive to diagnose then fix the problem.  So, may I present Dumplin', my new car.  She got her name because she's a big white blob.  She's more expensive than my last car (I'm trying not to dwell on that too much), but she's much safer.  5-star crash safety ratings all the way around from NHTSC, standard front-, side-, and curtain airbags. She also has seating for seven and lots of cargo room.  All the back seats fold flat for hauling cargo.  I've already tested this feature out, and she hauled home all the aforementioned furniture for my bedroom. She also costs me less in car insurance. :-)