Temperatures....what a contrast between two weeks ago and last week! It was so lovely that we turned off the AC for a couple of days! Oh, Missouri, your weather is so strange....
Our HUGE news of the week regards our Kia Soul. As has been previously noted in this blog, it has been a problem child since the day we bought it.....excessive oil consumption leading to a ruined catalytic converter and a very expensive repair that we had to pay for, in spite of TWO power train warranties (one we purchased and one from the dealership). All throughout the ordeal, we documented everything: writing to corporate Kia and keeping accurate logs of all oil-related matters. We always asked for the same service representative, Alex, for institutional memory purposes and he has been great. We had just taken it in for a routine oil change in mid-August and, aside from using more oil than normal, all was fine. Then, last Sunday, the "check engine" light came on and it was not solid but blinking (meaning a more urgent notification). The car had no acceleration because it had been put into "limp mode", which is a real thing! It prevents the driver from pushing the engine too much and possibly doing permanent damage. So, we parked it until our appointment with Suntrup Kia on Thursday morning. Alex reported a bad knock sensor (which we had replaced earlier this year) and then he said the best words of all - Kia is going to replace the engine at their cost! Finally going to honor the warranty! Hallelujah! Now, we have no idea when we will get Stella back. We got the news Friday afternoon of a three-day weekend. And, we will get a loaner vehicle but that won't happen until next week. Hooray for good old Leo, the Element! And, hooray for all of this happening AFTER the horrible heat wave since Leo is not air-conditioned.
Monday evening I went to a neighborhood beautification meeting where we met with the landscaping company that we hired to make a long-term master plan for Holly Hills. We got to toodle around in golf carts all around the streets of Holly Hills. With the mild temperatures, it was so fun. I rode my bike down to the gazebo at Woerner School where the meeting began and then back home and that was an added bonus.
Tuesday was temple day and we made two stops: one before to the zoo gift shop for an enamel pin for Larkin's birthday coupon (she will get a trip to the zoo like Quinn and Lucy got), and one after to Bath and Bodyworks to take advantage of coupons. The day was pretty much shot after that. I did attend a Relief Society social that evening and brought Emily Hughes, Sherri Willms and Sam Carpintero with me.
Wednesday morning was time to take Linus back to Open Door for a follow-up on his surgery, to have blood drawn to check his thyroid levels, to pick up more dry dog food, and to ask questions like "can I give him a bath?" and "take a look at this new lump on his back leg". Well, they couldn't check his thyroid levels because he had just taken his morning pill but, not to fret, that lump on the back leg needs to come off and they will draw his blood when I bring him back down - hopefully next week - for more surgery! His current surgical wound is healing nicely but he still has to wear a cone and yes, he CAN have a bath (good thing because he was really getting stinky). As I was driving to and from Open Door (30 minutes each way), I brainstormed on how to keep Linus from licking his wound and that afternoon, I created a closed sleeve to wear on his left paw with a tie around his shoulder. Nope - Linus used his right paw to hold down the tip of the sleeve while he pulled his leg out. Then, Steve and I went to a thrift store and bought two size 4 long sleeve t-shirts.
Nope - Linus would lick the sleeve so that it got really wet which defeated the purpose of keeping the wound dry. Finally, last night, I thought about wrapping the left arm of the t-shirt in duct tape and, ta-da - I think that is the solution. Also a new dog cone collar I bought on Amazon that is not so huge as the loaner from Open Door.
Thursday morning, I had a meeting with the two other string teachers for Mehlville School District as well as the Fine Arts Coordinator and the before/after school activities coordinator. It was very nice to meet everyone and the meeting was great. I won't start actually teaching until October, though. September is the month to visit the schools and do the string instrument demonstration followed by passing out flyers telling of the parent information meeting.
Friday morning was full of cello lessons and I took Sam to Walmart in the afternoon. We started watching the PBS documentary by Ken Burns on the Corps of Discovery - Lewis and Clark expedition.
After our temple baptistry shift Saturday morning, we got to have a visit from Melanie. She came over after her temple visit to hang out in the afternoon and have dinner before she left to return to Columbia. She had been up since 2:00 (she worked at 4:00) so she did not go with us to the Southerlands in the evening to celebrate Larkin's 7th birthday (which was actually on Wednesday, the 30th). Steven and Tamara came in to town so they were there. Aside from the squirrel who was dropping black walnut debris on me from the tree that I was sitting under, and the mosquitoes that were eating up several of the folks, it was a fun time to sit and visit. We had to be outdoors because Lucy had tested Covid positive on Thursday (and Noah, who tested negative, had the same symptoms). Steven and Tamara came bearing gifts from their trip to South America - I got a cute little alpaca for my bookshelf - and other assorted gifts (big packs of Pokeman cards for Lucy, Quinn and Larkin, guitar picks and a cool t-shirt for Noah, a set of lip glosses for Lucy, a Lego micro-brick red panda for Quinn, an adorable backpack for Larkin, Argentine soccer team scarves for Joe, a cute bird glass hanging for Emily, chocolate candy for Steve)
I will close with pictures of the yard. Steve and I mowed Friday evening (he did the front, I did the back).
Your elephant ears are HUGE! I love them!
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