Switching gears

Tim has prodded to me do what I've been considering for a while now - changing this blog to be more of a "keep up with Andrea's family" blog. So I will try to be posting weekly updates on the exciting world of "As the Lythgoes Turn"

The past two weeks have been pretty crazy for us. In early December, we had no heat in the van, so I took it in. $450 repair to the heating system.
The very next week, the power steering had a problem. The part we needed had to come from Denver, and with the big storm there, they weren’t sure when it would get here, so they did a temporary patch ($100) that let me drive it for the next week until the part came in and we could do the real repair ($510). On my way to drop it off for the real repair, the “Check engine” light came on. I had them look at it, and it had blown a gasket on some intake valve. ($530) At that point, especially when combined with the brake repair ($375) and the transmission repair ($780) earlier this year - not to mention the two times I had to rent a car for a few days because I was on call for a birth - we decided to scrap the hunk of junk and just get a new van!

So the week after Christmas we spent looking around & shopping, and on Saturday, we bought ourselves a brand spanking new Toyota Sienna! Got a great deal because it is a 2006 that has pretty much no options, and the dealers are trying to get rid of the 06s to make way for the 07s. And in Utah, dealers have to pay property taxes on all cars in their inventory on 1/1 so you can usually get a good deal right before then. It’s a dark grayish blue color, and I love it! It is so much smoother than our old van and clean, too! (But not likely to stay that way for long....) I'll try to remember to take a picture and post it soon. I'd do it now, but the snow is piling up and I need to shovel.

We also spent a ton of time with Kelly, Preston, Nick, Brooklyn, Spencer & Bonnie who were all here from Virginia. And I mean a ton! Like 4-6 hours a day. Sometimes just playing at their house or ours, but sometimes going out to eat & to movies, etc. Saw “Night at the Museum” which was really good!

Oh, and I did a birth on New Year’s Eve! Kind of an unusual situation – the mom is another doula and a friend of mine. She actually was my apprentice a few years back. She had talked to me about hiring me to be her doula, but I have this rule that I don’t do births in Utah County between October & March (I made this rule after a very scary white-knuckle 3 am drive over Point of the Mountain in a snowstorm a few years back!) So she hired another friend of ours who is my current backup. Well, when she went into labor, her regular doula was home with 4 vomiting kids, so they called me anyway! Luckily, it was a beautiful weather day and I had no problems getting to Provo & back. She was having a home birth, and her midwife was not answering her phone, so she ended up with a backup midwife, too! She asked me to take pictures with my nice camera, and I took a couple rolls in black & white. Got some llovely pictures I hope to get permission to use on my web site. Everything went well and she had a beautiful little boy just in time for me to make it up to the inlaws for our New Year’s Eve gathering. We ate junk & played board games until midnight. Boy was I exhausted!

New Year's Day Callie went out to Saratoga Springs to play with her best friend who moved out there (the girl who sang at Callie's baptism) and I stopped by Tim's new place to check it out. I think he found a great place, even if he IS copying me. (I lived in Grant Stake in SLC, then he did. Then he moved to the same stake in California where Darrin & I lived when we were first married. Now he's followed me to Sandy and bought the same couch I have!)

So I am really glad that it is all over (well, my back is about 80% better) and that the kids are back in school, cousins have gone home, van shopping is over, etc. I am hoping to get back into a more normal predictable routine, if such a thing exists. So on to planning the doula conference that I am in charge of next month!