At the car lot….

buying a car at the car lot. Yep, today Allison made a very grown up purchase and got herself a new car. Well, a used car but it is new to her. She purchased a 2002 Volkswagen Passat from VW of North Attleboro. The photo of Allison with her new car is here. We started the morning intending to go to the Volkswagen dealership to purchase a Jetta. We went over on Friday to look at Jettas and Jettas were all that we had talked about prior to this. But when we got to the dealership we took a Jetta out for a ride, and when we got back our salesman asked us if we had ever considered a Passat. We hadn’t really but hey what the heck, we are here let’s take a look. So we looked at the Passats and found one about $1,000.00 more than the Jetta Allison just test drove. The Passat had 6,000 less miles on it, it was also a 2002, so there was the remainder of the factory warranty plus the 2 year warranty for buying certified used. Then the car also had more room, and a 6 CD changer in the trunk. So we took this car out for a spin on the highway and Allison fell in love with it.

When we got back we asked the salesman to run the numbers with both cars and factor in Allison’s Volvo as a trade. They looked at the car and offered us $300.00 in trade for the car. That was a little disappointing, but as we negotiated we got the them to take that car in trade for $500.00. And when all was said and done the difference in payments for the two cars was $20.00 and for $20.00 we’re going to go with more car, no doubt about it.

So Allison is now a proud owner of a Volkswagen Passat that she will pick up on Monday.

Today we also went to my cousin Jenn and her husband Chris’s house for a housewarming party/potluck BBQ. Many of my aunts and uncles were there. We got to see Uncle Wayne and Aunt Cindy, and Aunt Connie and Uncle Murph and Aunt Chris and Uncle Dave. I picked up Aunt Candy in my Aunt Carol’s VW Beetle. It was a Volkswagen day all around, and I think today I spent more time on Kelly Blvd than I ever have in my entire life. Aunt Corrine and cousins Madison and Haley were there (The two of them are pictured here, they were hamming it up when they found out the camera took video too.), as well as, Grandma and Grandpa. My parents came later. They had been at the hospital to see Great Uncle Richard. Keep the prayers coming but now for his comfort please. Let’s see, oh yeah Cousin Bill and his wife Jen were there as well as cousins Paige and Nick were also there. And Great Aunt Millie and Great Uncle Fred. Grandma and Grandpa went with Mom and Dad to visit Great Uncle Richard after the party.

I have to say that Great Uncle Richard is one of the most generous men I have ever met in my life. A confirmed bachelor his whole life, he always remembered everyone’s birthdays and major holidays and major life milestones. He was always there with a card and a generous gift. Very soft spoken, but never ever missed a trick. It is so unfortunate to see him hospitalized and in so much pain. So please send prayers for his comfort and an ease to his suffering. Thanks.

We picked up a fantastic cake from a pastry shop on Kelly Blvd. This was an oreo cake, the outside looked like cookies and cream ice cream. It had the same color plus chocolate and vanilla icing and oreo cookies sticking out of it, the inside was layered chocolate cake with the oreo frosting on each layer. That cake put Allison and I in a food coma for the past two hours. I think we will now watch Hitch. Aunt Carol lent it to us.

Dinner with Stephen…

.. and Andy and Rondi of course. Stephen is Andy and Rondi’s Golden Doodle. A Golden Doodle is a cross between a Golden Retriever and a Poodle. Stephen is a very cute puppy, he is 10 weeks old and is very smart. He already understand the command to sit. Andy and Rondi are smart folks too because they are working really hard to train Stephen to do a number of things, one thing they are training him to do is ring a bell when he needs to go outside. So each time they take Stephen outside now, they kick little bell by the door and this is to let Stephen associate the sound to going out so then eventually he can alert Andy and Rondi that he needs to go outside.

We had a great meal of chicken on the grill, Thanks for braving the elements Andy, corn on the cob, always a treat with dinner, and a fresh salad with blue cheese crumbles and walnuts. Then for dessert we had brownies a la mode with walnuts and hot fudge.

After dinner we played a couple of board games, first up was Scene It. Allison and I took the win for that game and then we played Catch Phrase. And for two out of three the guys came out the winners. After having out hats handed to us in game one we came back to virtually sweep games two and three.

We had a great time visiting Andy and Rondi and Stephen. Stephen even became Photo-A-Day for yesterday. I took pictures of Stephen and hopped on Andy’s wireless network to upload the photo and get it in by the midnight deadline. It is great having friends who are as techno-friendly as I am.