May - a bad month for the mini-van

May has been a tough month to be my car. Apparently I am a demanding owner! So demanding in fact that my car has rebelled several times in the span of 31 days. I have been a licensed driver for more years than I care to admit and in all these years I have NEVER had this much trouble in a single calendar month. Way way back with my first car (1981 Red Mustang) there were several months when it just didn't work, but that was directly tied with a single problem. Let me bring you up to speed.

Incident #1: May 1st - flat tire. I have had the tire plugged 3 times now. Why haven't I just bought a new one yet? That is a good question - I don't know!
Incident #2: May 11th - 6.5 hr drive to Orlando, husband agrees that we should have gotten the tires aligned before starting trip per my suggestion. Driving on smooth I10 feels like driving on cobblestone street. Up side is a killer workout for your arms.

Incident #3: May 15th - tires rotated, balanced and aligned before 6.5 hr trip back to Niceville. WOW what a difference.

Incident #4: May 17th - When driving straight, steering wheel not even. First just a few degrees off to the right and then the left.

Incident #5: May 21st - Steering wheel about 90 degrees off then a "pop" and suddenly the ability to turn is gone! Car towed to Dealership. Loose bolt on power steering rack is the culprit.

Incident #6: May 25th - Driving over the Mid-Bay bridge windshield gets hit by something and cracks - TWICE! Of course the windshield replacement guy breaks the replacement windshield in my driveway. He is coming back tomorrow to try again.

A bright spot in the month was the girls had their dance recital. They did a wonderful job! We have video but it hasn't been transferred off the camcorder as of yet so count your lucky stars for that! I do have some great still shots for your viewing pleasure:

There were two acts to the recital and of course the girls danced in Act 2! I am sure there was some wisdom in scheduling that, but I failed to see it. At one point Jim looked over at me with a pained look on his face and I leaned over to him and said - even more reason why we need to get these girls in some sort of sport ASAP!! I am sure I will eat my words at some point, but I would much rather sit on a ball field for 3 hours then in the auditorium! 3 HOURS for a 7 minute dance. Heavy sigh. Could have been worse - we could have had Ben with us. I was lucky enough to find a sitter for him. I can't imagine having to hold him in my lap for just the 7 minutes of dance time much less the other 2 hours and 53 minutes. Dance is over for the summer. I am pushing hard for the fall to be a sport season. Hello soccer, gymnastics, swimming anything but dance!! I need a break.

We also finished up swimming lessons for the spring last week. All three really enjoyed their pool time. Here they are getting their participation medals. They were so proud! Lilly and Lucy are little fish - especially Lilly. Ben is getting the hang of it, but he likes to play games with me and not float on his back. He will do it for the teachers and his father, but not me. Thanks Ben!

On a lighter note (?), one of my neighbors came by while we were at the dance recital to complain that our cat Daisy was basically staking out his backyard and using it as a bird buffet. While I feel for the guy and for the birds, tell me what else I can do. Daisy has no front claws and she has a bell, a metal tag and a daisy charm on her collar. Whatever birds she is catching I am thinking don't necessarily need to be reproducing. Darwin was on to something with his whole natural selection idea. If anyone has any suggestions, I am all ears!!