Sing, Strings & Things Coffee House....

after we got Home from my Dad's 

Birthday Celebration

the High School hosted a

~Coffee House~

Anyone who wanted to join could

sign up and perform for an audience 

of about 60+ who attended,

for a small donation of $2.00 or more if you wanted.

With the proceeds going to our Middle School

to help the Guitar Class with supplies.

Food, beverages, and of course,

Coffee were available for a small fee.

My husband and I weren't going to attend

after the 2 hr ride Home from the B-day celebration,

but, Mallory did and called and told us Dad needed to

come and bring his Banjo....

so we went.  The host, Mr. Rousseau, our M.S. band director

saw us come in with a Banjo and invited my husband to 

come up and jam with him!

They got the crowd going and the banjo music

was a Welcomed addition to the night!

My husband had a blast!

Then little did we know....

Mallory and her friend got up and performed....

This is something Mallory absolutely

LOVES

to do, but hasn't done often in front of a crowd!

Had I known I would have brought my

camcorder and recorded them.  They sang

Torn

by Natalie Imbruglia

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pe8lYz1YhU

They were Awesome!!

Mr. Rousseau

making adjustments to the sound if needed

The girls did a fantastic job....

hope they keep it up and sing at the 

other Coffee House performances that

are sure to come!

It was a fun night!

Thanks for stopping!

The Rest of the Story....

(Dec. 9th)

Well, my husband had his Pow Wow with the powers that be concerning our car.  It went Way better then he thought it was going to Saturday Night as he tossed and turned and lost so much sleep.

The shop owner right off said he would do whatever My husband wanted to take care of the situation.  So when they all got together and talked about it, it turned out positively.

(American grill...wrong one)

Brad pointed out his issues with the engine.  All the "loose" parts....Guys just know these things.  Me...clueless!
The grease stains in the interior.  The wrong front end, which they pointed out was a "Japanese" version and ours was what you see on an American version.  So they took that route, but will change to the Japanese version because it's what we want.

(Japanese grill....correct one)

The best part of it all is our insurance is giving us a lifetime warranty  on the engine parts that my husband has issues with.  So he is now happy!   And it all got ordered today and should take one day to remedy!

Let's sure Hope so!

I wrote the above post on the 13 th.  Then thought, since it is only supposed to be "one day" I will just wait and do one last post about this dang car.  But, today is the 18 th and we just picked it up last night at 5:30 p.m.!

As they were doing the repairs that they should have just done correctly to begin with requested, they realized that the serpentine belt had been damaged during the accident and it need to be replaced.  So the shop owner went ahead and replaced it.  That was the "next day".  When the ins. rep. came to check it out and sign off, he  refused to pay for the serpentine belt because it was on the opposite side of the car that the accident was on. I'm telling you, the things you have to go through to get what should be done, done! So that took another day or so to get it hammered out.  The belt was going to cost us $130.00 if the ins. wouldn't cover it and my husband after all we have been through in this process was danged Not going to pay for it!

(what we wanted)

So in the end, our deductible of $500 was paid for, the $130 for the belt was paid for (by ins. & shop owner....not us!) and we finally after

74

seventy four

DAYS!!!!

Got our car back.....my Husband's Happy (so far),

 I'm Happy (even happier next week when I can go and do)

and I'm sure....

The Shop Owner 

is Happy to have it 

DONE!

Perhaps You all are as well!!

and I don't Blame you!

Here we go AGAIN....

Again, this post is for journaling! You all have felt MY pain with me through this and I Thank You for that!  A girl needs to know that there are people out there that Care.  And I know you all do!

But, my husband lost ALOT of sleep last night, tossing and turning and finally getting up at 4 a.m. over his car.  To have it gone for as long as it was, we expected more then what we got back.  You see, his car was  purchased "used" on his birthday Oct. 7 ,2011.  It had only 30,000 miles on it and the engine was in Like New condition.   Pristine for a car engine!  He loved this car and took really good care of it, until his accident on Dec. 9, 2011.  So to have it gone for 64 days being repaired and to come back in less then pristine condition is....Unacceptable!  We are not demanding, obnoxious people.  We just want what we had and ask nothing more and surely nothing less!  We are very patient although it was EXTREMELY hard for me towards the end  people and allowed them to do the work they needed to do to repair our car so it was safe to drive and looked like it should.  But, what we got in return was a car with the wrong front end, the wrong grill altogether and parts to the engine that look like they came out of a car that had WELL OVER 100,000 miles on it for sure.  A radiator with bent "fins" as my husband called them, a fuse box that the lid won't stay attached, and what's looks to be roof tar or something globbed in areas where it shouldn't be at all.  To say we are upset over this is putting it lightly!

Because of the terrible weather we were having on Friday when the car was "ready" to be picked up, we couldn't go until Sat. Needless to say this shop is NOT open on the weekends so there was no one to speak with at that time. Besides the fact that the car itself was covered with snow and ice and it was below freezing out, my husband didn't take a REALLY good look at it until we had it Home.  So disappointing!  Because now with the condition of the engine parts that they did put in it, we know that there is no way that this car looks or will perform like a car that has only 30,000 miles on it!

It is NOT our fault that they didn't "total" the car, as maybe it should have been.  That point was definitely pointed out to my husband when our insurance rep called and said the car was "ready".  It is Not our fault that they chose to go the "cheap" route and put junkyard parts in our engine and think we would call it "good"!  It is NOT our fault that our insurance company ok'd going the route of over $10,000 + in repairs on our car for the workmanship that they got....WE got in return!

SO....Today, we returned the car to the shop and parked it in front of their front door and locked it.  My husband called every phone number that he knew in association to our car and these problems and left messages.  He has typed up a letter (4-5 to be exact) and plans on having a little "pow wow" as he calls it with our insurance people and the shop owner!  We only ask for it to be in the condition it was in, looking like it DID....like new engine, correct grill, no grease spots in the interior and so on.  We don't think that is too much to ask?
Do you?
So, I do not know how much longer I will be without a car!  I'm hoping they throw in a rental at least this time!

If you want a giggle....

This is my oldest daughter's blog!  She captured this perfectly!
I've got some complete overhauling to do with my stove cleaning to do today as a result of this needless to say.  Thankfully there were only a few on this pan....this is priceless!
http://thepineapple.tumblr.com/post/17122717380/20-minutes-into-super-bowl-and-my-dad-almost

A bit tired of this....

You may remember me posting about my husband being in an accident back on Dec. 9 th on his way to work that morning.  We were told where "the best" place to take it would be.  And assured so by our insurance company!

We were just Thankful that he was okay!

It was supposed to be done in one week!

But that was 50 days ago....fifty days!

Each week, our insurance agent calls....Me, and tells me the progress or lack there of!  At first it was like...okay at least they are hopefully doing a good job and not rushing it.  Things happened during that time that we could have surely used 2 cars for....would have helped us out tremendously.  One being when my MIL was hospitalized...twice within one weeks time.  Another was when she passed.  My husband had to drive a 45 mins home to  pick me up so we could drive down to be with his Dad during all of this.  I could have gone myself....had we had both cars.  

Those calls from the insurance agent have just gotten funny frustrating now.  When I see the number pop up I am not surprised when he tells me....Guess why I'm calling?! He called Weds. around 4 p.m. (it was supposed to be done Monday, he never called that day), it's usually at the end of the day, to tell me that the  place ordered the wrong air conditioner clip and that is the hold up.  Seems they used that a few weeks ago!  How can a place that is so highly recommended "order" the wrong part for a car?  So, says the insurance guy, it's supposed to be done Today....or Monday at the latest!  Then it will be 53 days....right? 

I am the one without the car!  I am the one who has to wait until a daughter has a day off or a few hours to spend taking me to run errands.  This has been a real life inconvenience, not having 2 cars available everyday!

We have a high deductible too....$500.00!  Five Hundred Dollars....and we have been with out our car 50 days.   Maybe we should charge them $10 a day for taking so long to fix our car.  Then if it is done Today....day 50 we'd be even.  Because if I did my math right that would equal $500.00!

Oh yeah, our insurance agent said had we taken it to an @r0%ress(ive approved shop (they failed to say that at the time), it would have had to be done in 12 days!!  Twelve Days!!

Honey let's have Chow Mein....

Okay, time for me to "fess up"....

I cooked this whole meal,

I came up with the recipe,

bought the ingredients,

had it all ready, 

When he Walked In The Door....

NOT....

I did have the

"idea"

but that's about it!

Okay,

so I bought some of the 

ingredients....

And I'm

Woman 

enough to admit it!

So here we go

and it was Delicious too!

This is what he did!

(I didn't get prep pic's sorry)

 ~Stir frying the Vegetables~

 ~marinated stir fried Chicken~

w/ a bit of sugar on it....

 ~give it a Toss~

 ~a bit of a Stir~

 ~let it Rest~

 ~add the Chicken~

 ~a bit of a Stir~

 ~and a Toss~

 ~let it Rest~

 ~add the Bean Sprouts~

 ~the Noodles~

 ~Soy Sauce to taste~

~Rice Wine Vinegar~

 ~give it a Toss~

 ~another Stir~

and Serve....

~He likes his with Hot Sauce~

SRIRACHA HOT SAUCE

(preferably)

~Me....Not So Much~

~Oh Yeah....the Noodles We Used~

and Now....

Brad's Recipe

2 carrots julienned

2 stalks of celery cut on bias

6 white mushrooms chunk ed

half of a green pepper cut large chunks

half of a bok choy cabbage sliced thin (if large)

1 can drained and rinsed bamboo shoots

half of a red onion

2 garlic cloves

bean sprouts to taste (I used half a bag)

3 Tbsp sugar

1/4 cup or so of dark soy 

1 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

1-2 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Slice chicken thin marinate in sesame oil and rice wine vinegar for at least 1 hr.  Stir fry chicken in hot wok/pan then set aside.  Boil noodles for 3 minutes, rinse in cold water and let drain.  Stir fry all vegetables starting with carrots and onion then add all other vegetables and add meat.  Lastly, add sprouts and noodles to vegetables and heat, add soy, sugar and vinegar and thicken with cornstarch and water. Serve immediately and add soy and green onions to taste.

Enjoy!

San Jose....

Costa Rica!

that is....

where my hubby is

right now....

with my camera.

Hope he takes some Great pictures for me to share!

Miss you! 

Honey you should take my car....

and I'll go get you new tires today!

Maybe...

No I'll just take my car he said!

You may not be able to tell

from this picture,

but to left you see a road that is the end of

a hill, which then goes straight across

and down with trees

and electrical poles

and other stuff....

like the van in front of him that

also couldn't stop,

coming down that hill!

And the lady in the suv after him,

that steered clear of them,

and then was on her way.

He's just fine....

alittle sore from tensing up

ready for the impact.

Car wouldn't even start up.

But, they say it should

be ready by the end of next week.

And the guy in the van...

drove away with a bent muffler pipe.

coulda, woulda, shoulda....

left me his the car!

At least he'll be

Home tonight!