The Flash of a Neon Light

Today has been seriously eventful in my little world. After Pippa’s morning nap, we went out to the car to head to Target, Babies ‘R’ Us, and the post office – only to find that my car didn’t want to start. The battery clearly wasn’t completely dead since the lights all came on along with the radio and the power windows worked fine. It just didn’t even want to attempt to turn over. Not so much as a groan or whimper in the direction of starting. So, knowing what I do about cars, I sort of prepared myself for it being the starter. All the same, I called Progressive Roadside Assistance and asked for a jump. No such luck. The guy who came was really nice though. He was about my age and looked like he’d stepped out of 1997 – ripped jeans, plaid shirt, Doc Martins, heavy earrings, and a battered Slayer hat. He even did some fiddling around that he technically wasn’t supposed to do in his role as "jump start guy" and seconded my opinion that it was the starter. Still, I couldn’t NOT try the simplest solution first. So then I did some digging around, called Sears to make sure they could do it, then called a tow truck and had the car hauled over there. The driver was a little skeptical that they would replace a starter, but I guess I lucked out on that. I know that sometimes Sears doesn’t have the resources to do complicated repairs, but thankfully they did this time. So I worked it out with them that I could authorize the work over the phone since I couldn’t find anyone to watch Pippa. The guy I spoke to on the phone was really nice, checked with me about everything, and when I took Pippa down there in a cab to pick up the car, he greeted me by name before I even got into the garage.

I think what pleased me the most, aside from how quickly the car was fixed, was how positive the whole experience was. Not one of the people I spoke to even questioned me when I said that I thought it was the starter. It’s a nice change of pace from the attitudes I’ve gotten in the past, which centered around the fact that people with breasts and vaginas know nothing about cars or home maintenance or other "manly’ pursuits. Good customer service out here is like a fucking unicorn… guess I saw three unicorns today!

So my car was gone and now it’s back. It was quite the day for Pippa, being dragged in and out of the house and car and seeing lots of new people, flirting with boys and such. Of course, by the end of it she was completely wrecked. She was all whimpery in the cab. She fell asleep a little on the way home, but not enough to satisfy her. Unfortunately, she took a pretty long nap in the early afternoon and if she sleeps anytime after 4, she won’t sleep at night, so she was basically awake from 2:30 until 7:30, when she finally fell mostly asleep. She was still tossing and turning quite a bit, but with her eyes closed this time. She was probably overtired by then, poor little thing.

It doesn’t help that she’s teething. I noticed earlier this week that her two bottom teeth were starting to emerge. The top ridges are above the gum now, but not completely out. It’s messed with her appetite and her desire to eat "real" food – I think because she feels her tongue scrape against her teeth when she’s eating and wants to explore that sensation. It basically means that she spits out almost everything she tries to eat. Still, yay for teeth! And she hasn’t been all that unhappy about it. A little clingier, yes, and a little more prone to fuss and cry if something frustrates her, but I probably wouldn’t have known she was teething for real had I not seen her gums when she happened to be laughing at my hair in her face.

Tomorrow is her 6-month check-up, so unfortunately I won’t be able to do my errands until Saturday. I could probably do them in the afternoon, but I suspect Pippa won’t be all that happy the rest of the day after her shots. It’ll keep. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to do pictures in the morning before she gets cranky from the doctor visit. Then Stefanie can do the really nice 6-month shots while we’re in Connecticut. Alan was whining that he wanted to get "professional" studio portraits done. Aside from the fact that Stefanie IS a professional, her photos are absolutely gorgeous and way better than going to a portrait studio. Seriously, check them out – http://www.facebook.com/Stefanie.Fotography/photos

It’s hard to believe that I’m going to be flying to Connecticut very soon. I’m excited, even if it means staying with my parents at least part of the time. LOL. They would be so much more tolerable if they were still in a populous area. On a dirt road in Vermont they’re almost unbearable. My dad is planning yet another horrible way to make their house even more horrible. I wish he’d stop because it’s just one more thing I’m going to have to either undo myself or pay something else to undo down the road when they can no longer live alone on a dirt road in Vermont. Eventually they’ll have to move somewhere that requires less maintenance and either sell the house or keep it as a winter rental. Either way, it needs a lot of updating to appeal to actual human beings. I much prefer staying in Waterbury.

I’ll get to hang out with Zach, visit the aquarium, stalk Rosso… all my favorite things! LOL. Oh, and actually be able to use the internet because my parents are seriously still on dial-up. No lie. My dad sent me a whiny email this morning about not being able to see my Facebook pictures after the first one or two because of his slow computer and that I should email any pictures that I post on Facebook. At which point I had to remind him yet again that it’s not the computer, it’s the connection. He doesn’t seem to grasp the fact that he can’t watch movies and download things quickly because of the connection, not the computer. And he doesn’t understand that because we have "real internet" I don’t have to be signed on to anything but our network to get online. I’m not on AOL! My email is not sitting there waiting for me. Gah! He also insists that the computer’s so old and that’s why it’s slow, but I guarantee you he never updates the damn thing anyway. And it’s not that old. They haven’t even had it for as long as they’ve lived up there, so it’s maybe six years old at the outside. Not new, but it’s not a complete dinosaur. ::sigh:: See? I’m getting frustrated with them already and I’m not even there. Maybe if Zach has Saturday off I’ll go down then instead of Sunday. Or just go really really early on Sunday morning. ::blargh::

Anyway, it’s late and I’m getting hungry. The last couple days I haven’t really eaten dinner until long after Pippa is asleep. I just haven’t been hungry. But I need to eat at a more reasonable hour. This can’t be good for my weight loss efforts.

~Liz