In control

Is there one clear person who is in control in your marriage or do you have a nice 50/50 split? I think I've figured out who is in control in our marriage and I have to say I'm not too sure that is a good thing to realize.

We drive a Toyota Sienna mini-van (with which we are completely happy with) and it's starting to age. We've had it for a little over 5 years and we've racked up around 87,000 miles in that time (oh the joy of living far away from family.) It is setting a new record of "longest car we've ever owned" with each new mile on the odometer. The darn thing just won't break and go to van heaven. But, Toyota released a new, redesigned Sienna so of course we are nosy curious to find out what is different than ours. So, one day after work J did just that; he stopped at the Toyota dealership to check out the new vans.

So the salesman calls last week, I didn't answer the phone and let the answering machine get it. When J got home from work I told him about the message and he basically told me that he was just being nosy curious and didn't give the guy any indications of buying.

Mr. Salesman called back today and I decided to pick up.

Mr. Salesman: Hi, is J.... there?

Me: No

Mr. Salesman: Oh, this is Mr. 'bug the crap out of you' Salesman just calling about the 2011 Sienna he came to look at.

Me: Yes, he stopped in after work one day just to check it out; we are not looking to purchase at this time.

Mr. Salesman: So he didn't like it?

Me: That isn't what I said. I told you we just wanted to see what was different from our van right now and we will not be purchasing.

More questions, more of me telling him we don't want to buy right now.

Mr. Salesman: Can you have him call me?

Me: (Mr. Salesman just said the wrong thing; this is where I figure out that I might have a control issue) No, I will not tell him.

Mr. Salesman: What?

Me: The last time you called I told him and his words to me were "I was just checking it out" so no, I won't tell him to call you; we will not be purchasing a new van.

He promptly hung up and I'm sure called J's work number as fast as he could.

A bit of advice for other Mr. Salesmen; don't assume the man makes all the financial decisions in the family. You may just encounter a head-strong woman who will plant her feet securely in the sand just because you asked "will you have him call me."

Maybe I need some control therapy.

Random thoughts

Jet lag sucks. Just as I thought I slept all night and made it through the day without getting tired I was wide awake at 1am last night. At 3 am I rolled over and my husband was wide awake as well. He said "man, they were right; this sucks!"

He went to work at 3:30 am since he was awake with hopes that he could catch up.


I've worn the same clothes 4 days in row but I did wash them. I think they might wear out soon.
No, I didn't wear the same underwear all 4 days and yes, I did shower. I think.

My van is covered in so much salt that it is starting to look (and feel) like I've started a crystal growing experiment. Maybe I should wash it soon or maybe I can secretly hope the rust will magically appear and make all the body panels fall off then I can really have a good reason to get a newer van.

I have always known having two boys four years apart that there would be a period of time where they both will eat everything that doesn't move and our grocery bill will rival the national debt but now I think Claire might have them beat. I feed this girl every couple of hours- like a lot of food and then she's hungry again in a very short time. Where is she putting it? We've gone through a big bunch of bananas in only 2 days.

The souvenirs from China are still spread all over the dining room table. I have grand plans of separating them into bags of who they go to but just haven't gotten there yet.
Our suitcases are still spread all over our room. I did get Claire's put away soon after we got home but ours? Not so much.

Claire is still sleeping on the elevated twin air mattress next to the bottom bunk which Emily sleeps in. I think we might try and move her into the other bunk tomorrow night. She slept in our room the first two nights and then wanted to be in their room. She goes to bed extremely well.

My stomach is having a hard time adjusting back to American food. I assumed the opposite would happen and thought for sure I'd be really messed up while in China but it's been reversed. Maybe this is a kick in the pants to eat healthier all the time instead of being lazy and only eating healthy when I feel like it.
With that sentence I just got an email from Weight Watchers; I think they have my computer bugged.

Wordless Wednesday

er, Wacky Wednesday.

Emily and Matthew had wacky Wednesday today for spirit week and I was able to snap a picture of Jacob with Claire's tiara on just before he took it off.

I didn't realize the picture of Emily and Matthew was blurry at the time but it's the only one I took and their outfits simply can't be missed so I used it anyway.