Do Not Pass GO

I was so excited yesterday when we finally got a call from the air conditioner repairman and he said we were next on the list.  He had been working something like 16-hour days since Saturday when summer decided to hit here in Virginia.  We now have closed all of the windows (my sinuses are thankful for that) and have cold air flowing through the house veins once again.

Next item, we had to take my car into the shop Monday for some work on the breaks, tire rotation, oil change, and the little engine check light that lit up on Saturday.  It kind of freaked me out when I checked the car’s manual for what to do when that light comes on, and it said something like, “The car’s battery is discharging.  Go directly to your dealership to have it looked at.”  In other words, Do not pass GO.  Do not collect $200…  Well, I had a car-load of groceries and I didn’t think I needed to be taking them to the dealership.  So, after I got home, I turned the car off thinking that maybe it could be jump-started from my husband’s car or get a tow if that didn’t work.  I let it sit for the weekend in fear that I would get stranded at one of the kids’ games that are usually a 30-minute drive from home.  It started right up Monday morning, and I took it in to the mechanic.  He found that some oxygen sensor for the gas line was broken and replaced it.  Is that all?  $300 later, I was halfway home yesterday afternoon and that dang light came back on.  Back to the mechanic this morning…

Orange! Blue!

After our marathon drive Saturday, the 10 of us quickly donned our costumes to trip through a maze of scary scarecrows, aliens, and people hiding in unobvious places with the other 100 invitees.  My family quickly dissipated; a couple of them were used on the path to do the scaring, and the others found someone else to walk the path with.  So I cautiously stumbled through with a cousin-in-law and her family, and we giggled most of the way.  Most of the time I was scanning the barely lit path for the “monsters”  who were trying (successfully) to scare most of us.  I have to say, those that live on the farm (who we are joining next summer when we move here) did an AWESOME job of creating the spooky path. 

Sunday, we recovered from our 12-hour drive and wandered around the farm, feeding cows and checking out the different fields.  Some of us played cards and caught up with family members we don’t see very often.  Our friends’ youngest daughter and my niece (daughter of www.ouisaforpresident.blogspot.com) became BFF’s at first sight; both will turn 7 in January.  Even though neither spoke a shared language, they just knew how to communicate and played for hours together.

American/Swedish BFFs

 Monday, we decided to show our guests something that you can’t see many other places than in Florida.  We took them to Alligator Farm to educate them on the differences between alligators and crocodiles.  We got to see all 20-something species of crocodilians.  The kids even got to hold a baby alligator and a boa constrictor for a few minutes.  Then we took them to St. Augustine to show them the oldest continuously settled city in the US.  We walked on the beach and played in the water for a little while, then saw the fort from the outside (we got there at closing time), and walked along a beautiful street and window-shopped.  On the way back home, we stopped at Sonny’s BBQ to eat some good American food for dinner.

Tuesday, we hung out in front of the tv watching the election results.  It was interesting to talk about the differences between the US and Swedish governments . 

Today, as I write, I am watching my youngest play Monopoly (his favorite game) with our friends’ oldest.  My son picked a Chance card which says he must pay everyone $50, but he only has $20.  He is 4 spaces from GO and says he’ll pay her when he gets his $200, but she isn’t buying it.  She wants a property.  I tell him he should give her his best puppy dog eyes, and maybe she will give in.  He tries and she laughs.  All is good until he takes his next turn.  He is such a wheeler deeler.  I keep hearing, “I’ll give you this for that.”  Yes, No, YES, NO!  I need to move.

But now the game must end, as we are off to Gainesville to buy Florida Gator t-shirts at the mall.  Yes, we convinced them that orange and blue are the best colors, and they are very proud to go back to Sweden wearing them!