Living right or lucky?  Blind Luck or Blessing?

It involves a TV so who really knows.  Either way…here’s the story…

Yesterday Serra turned on the TV and the picture popped and went blank.  This is the plasma we bought when we moved to Vegas 3 years ago.  It was quite costly and we fully expected to get more wear out of it.  Brian made some calls and we paid someone to come out and give us an estimate on fixing it.  They were coming in at $400 – $500 just to replace the fuse or circuit or whatever it was that was bad.  Apparently, the brand we bought has this specific problem.  So do we spend the money to fix it only to have the same issue a few years down the road or have another problem with it that will cost the same to fix?  It was cheaper than replacing it but that was an awful lot of money to throw at a TV when we have other priorities right now. 

We bought it at Costco so Brian decided to go down and talk to costumer service just to see what they said.  As he pulled into the parking spot he noticed a womans purse in a cart.  He looked inside for a number and found credit cards, concert tickets, a costo card (and enough cash to fix our TV I might add).  But is there really any temptation in taking the money?  Not for Brian.  He turned it in and through the costo card the store was able to contact her immediately.  Brian found out that the lady was in tears over it…so glad it was Brian that found it and not some dirt head.  Anyway…he told the costumer service guy that he felt silly even asking about the TV because it had been 3 years and it’s not like we didn’t use it or anything…we use it a lot.  Costco has a 90 day return policy on electronics that went into effect January 2007.  We purchased it in 2006 when the return policy was anything at anytime for any reason.  So because we purchased it then we were grandfathered in to that policy.  Well, the best part about it is…Plasma TV’s are nearly 1/2 the price now.  We get to replace the TV and will have enough left over for about 3-4 months of grocery money.  My head is spinning at this good fortune. 

So…do we feel badly or like we are taking advantage…NO!  When you spend as much as we spent it should last longer.  The CS guy told Brian they took one back recently that was 10 years old…I think that’s pushing it a bit, but it was their policy. 

Rosie has started calling a stuffed cat Mr. Pennybone…is that the name of Goofy’s cat?  I took the kids to the free movie’s at the theater this morning and it was a packed house.  Serra came home and told Brian that the movie was stuffed. 

     The kids have been really into animals and sharks, especially lately.  We wanted to take them to the Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay as it has a great display of all sorts of ocean and marine creatures but the tickets were pretty pricey.  Brian kept his eyes open and got a great deal on Craigslist for the whole family.  We went this afternoon.  Rosie kept yelling SHARK! SHARK! every time she saw one which was every few seconds…and for those of you that know Rosie, you know that that volume is exceptional.  They loved the giant octopus and the sting rays were a huge hit with Serra especially.  Wes even banged on the glass and got excited.  Rosie has been busy drawing sharks and shark teeth since we arrived home.

Wes and Serra checking out the sting rays.

Best we could get with Brian’s phone since I forgot my camera…cute Rose loved the sharks and the octopus…

We have been keeping busy although many of my days lately get taken up by naps.  I am getting to the end of this pregnancy and it’s taking its toll on this old body.  We had a growth scan on Monday the 15th and as per standard Anderson baby, this one is destined to be sizable.  She is estimated to be between 6 and 7 lbs already…normally a baby is around 4 lbs at this stage.  The ultrasound also showed an extreme amount of hair on this little girls head. (also standard for our critters) Serra is currently on track break and she spends a lot of time running little errands for me and chasing Weston around.  I don’t know what I would do without her.  Rosie is a help about 30% of the time but can’t be counted on quite as much…she is only 3 after all.  We spend a few days a week at our neighbors pool.  It’s sooo nice to be weightless for a few minutes now and then. 

The weather has been amazing this month.  We barely cracked 90 this last week.  It has been in the low 80′s for the whole month and we have really enjoyed being able to spend more time outside without melting.  It is unheard of weather for Vegas in June.  So much for global warming…once again. 

We had to kick out our renters this last month as the lady’s 17 year old felon son robbed the neighbor.  She didn’t list him on the lease probably because he has a previous record of grand larceny and she wanted to avoid questions.  We felt badly for her because she is terminally ill, and is working her tail off trying to pay bills and provide for her kids, but in the end she broke contract by having someone living there that wasn’t on the lease.  The kid is in jail as far as we know…we think he got tried as an adult and will be put away for a while.  Anyway…we have been stressing about that property and what we need to do now.  We have been able to get another renter in there as of this weekend so we didn’t lose too much time.  It made our decision on what to do with the property a little easier to make.  More about that later if it goes well. 

Wes said his first official words about 2 weeks ago.  Shoes and foot…he said them about a minute apart while I was taking his sunday shoes off.  He will still say them every now and then and start grinning.  He has versions of other words as well…done, boo, dad…of course to the untrained ear they all sound like…ba and da…but I know the difference.  He had his first bought with the stomach flu last week.  5 days of barfing and watery diapers.  It was a challenge to keep him hydrated and I think he lost a little weight since he ate almost nothing.  He received a blessing about 3 days in and was remarkably better within 24 hours.  He was still a mostly happy little guy through it all but he slept more during the day and wanted me to hold him a lot.  No one else came down with it (with the exception of his 2 little girl cousins) so we have been grateful to let that all pass into history. 

The kids continue to keep me laughing everyday and I try to write down the best ones so here are some of the good ones. 

Serraisms:

Serra: Does having a baby hurt?  Mom:  Yes.  Serra:  Like the horns in my poop? (Horns is the word she uses for thorns…although I don’t know which is funnier if either were true) 

Serra still uses the work “stunk” for “skunk”.

Rosieisms:

Rosie:  Serra’s a-puter(computer) is all bro-keen!  Serra:  It’s not broken, I just shut it down.  Rosie:  I want you to shut it up!

Rosie after stubbing her toe:  I got an owie on my toe.  I got blood.  But I’m OK, I not give up.

Rosie uses the word “polka-nuts” for “polka-dots”.

I love my kids.

…before haircut

crazy hair day @ school

yeah…that was fun to brush out