Angela Law

animal lover, gardener, knitter, and gourmet cook
 
trips

rehoboth beach, delaware

We took a vacation this past week (left on Sunday and came home Thursday) and went to Rehoboth Beach. The weather was crappy, but like Jake said, “Going to the beach is fun even when it is cold.” Truer words have never been spoken. I like the beach, but don’t like swimming in the ocean (or pools for that matter) and Brian doesn’t even like the beach, so I guess the weather is irrelevant when we go there. Jake had a blast playing in the ankle-deep water (that’s about the deepest you could go without having to worry about hypothermia). It was calling for rain all week, but it held off until Wednesday, thankfully.

This was our first time to Rehoboth. We stayed at a place called the Brighton Suites Hotel. It was pretty nice. I really like staying in suites. Having an extra room (and an extra TV) is ideal whenever you have a rugrat running around.

I think we’re all caught up on our sleep (two naps a day definitely helps that cause). I don’t understand how I go to bed early and get up early when I’m on vacation, yet there’s no way I can do that when I have to go to work. Maybe it’s because there isn’t anything to do in the hotel late at night but sleep.

Besides the weather, the other bummer was that Brian lost his keys in the Atlantic Ocean. That really sucks, but I guess things could always be worse–at least I had my set of keys with us.

They have a bunch of shopping outlets down here. I’m not normally a shopper (that is, I don’t physically like going shopping, but I do like to buy stuff on the internet), but I thought it would be fun to check them out. We bought a bunch of school clothes for Jacob and some other odds and ends, so it worked out pretty well.

We also went to a local brewpub and eatery, Dogfish Head twice (it was that good). They not only make beer there (which was pretty darned good according to Brian), but spirits as well. I had some of their vodka and it was so good that I couldn’t finish my second drink because I spilled it all over the table. Highly recommended.

Anyway, that’s our vacation for this year. Now it’s time to start planning for next year…

Hopefully, you can view the pictures here.

books

the thomas berryman number

This was the third installment in my James Patterson marathon. The book was another early effort from Patterson. It took me forever to read this one. Normally I read his books in about 5 days. This one was more like 5 weeks. It’s the first of his books to not hold my interest. I found myself only reading it when I took Jake to karate. Finally, before our vacation (which I will be writing about soon), I had to sit down and finish the story so I could take something more interesting to read on our trip.

The storyline sounds interesting enough–it was a story about a guy who was a contract killer and was hired to kill a black Senator from the south. It took place in the 60s/70s. It kind of reminded me of a combination of the assassinations of Martin Luther King, Jr. and JFK. It was told from the perspective of an investigative journalist who was writing a story about the assassination (definitely not Patterson’s usual “formula”). That all sounds good, but it was a real chore to read it. Just not my kind of story, I guess.

auto, friends

party time

This afternoon, Judy invited us to a party at her place. It was the first cookout of the year. We had a great time and boy am I stuffed! That’s what eating for two hours straight will get you, I guess. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to stay long because we have some things to attend to this evening, but I was glad we could make it.

On the way home, I wanted to stop at the Toyota garage and look at the Corollas. Why is it that they put the cool cars next to the boring ones? Look, there’s nothing wrong with a Corolla, but it’s not exactly the most exciting car in the world. I happen to be a person who is into cars. Your standard sedan just doesn’t do it for me. I know I should be happy that I can afford to buy a new car even if it is boring, but I’m not. Enter: Scion. Toyota has a new brand of cars out called Scion. They had some sporty little models parked right by the Corollas (much to my chagrin). However, a quick perusal of the invoice showed that they are in my price range. I suppose a two-door sports coupe doesn’t exactly fill the “family car” roll very well. But damnit, I should get to buy a car I like. I don’t know anything about these Scions, so I guess I have some research to do and then possibly a decision to make before next weekend.

Sports car vs. sedan. Maybe I’m having my mid-life crisis early.

auto

burning the midnight oil

Well, not exactly, but my car’s engine is burning oil. That is why it keeps running low. It’s a problem too expensive to fix, so it looks like I have even more incentive to buy a new car. I secured a car loan yesterday (thank goodness for Capital One Auto Finance–with a resource like that I can’t believe anyone goes to a bank for a loan anymore). So, I should have my check by the end of the week and then we can go car shopping. I hope to acquire a new car next weekend.

Yeah, I’m still getting a Toyota Corolla. Just because I actually have to buy a new car now doesn’t mean I have any more money for the deed. I’d like to go to the Toyota dealership and check out their Corolla selection this afternoon after they close. According to their online inventory, they only have one manual transmission in a color I don’t like (of course). But, I think I might have to go with that because I really don’t want an automatic. I guess that will give me bargaining power. I suppose I could have them bring in a car from another dealership, but I don’t know if I want to go through the hassle particularly since my car is on its way out (there goes my trade-in value).

auto

that’s it

I’ve had it with my car. As you might recall I recently had trouble with my car. Given that, I thought it might be a good idea to check my oil today. When I put the dipstick in and removed it, no oil was showing. This was cause for alarm. So, I drove it over to the garage (they are thankfully close to the house) and they took a quick look at it. They didn’t see any leaks (like last time), but it was 2 quarts low on oil. They said the engine might be burning it. I’m pretty sure that’s not a good problem to have. Anyway, the garage was getting ready to close for the day so my car has to go there tomorrow. ka-ching!

I made an executive decision this afternoon and I’ve decided to get a new car. Financially speaking, I could probably find a better time to do this, but there’s no reason that I should be driving around in a car that could break down any minute. It wouldn’t be so bad if Brian worked in town–he’s not exactly close by if anything bad happens. I’m leaning towards getting a Toyota Corolla because they’re fairly inexpensive and I’ve had pretty good luck with Toyotas so far (at least ones that were under seven years old). I don’t particularly want a Corolla (I was planning on getting another RAV4 for my next vehicle), but it does seem to fit the current bill:

1. the price is right
2. great gas mileage (guess what Brian’s going to be driving to work?)
3. any problems with it for the next three years will be paid for by Toyota
4. that “new car smell”

I decided today that I’d much rather be driving around in a new car even if it’s not exactly what I want versus my current car which might break down at any given moment.

Today’s stress level=HIGH