Mama needs a new set of tires

So this weekend we are going to Reno for my son's baseball tournament.  My tires are almost completely shot so I knew it would be a good idea for me to probably replace them prior to making the drive to Reno.  Especially for safety purposes.  I called around yesterday to price compare and America's Tire Company was by far the cheapest I found for the best tire.  I asked if it would be a problem for me to bring my car in by 8am and come back to pick it up, they said that would not be a problem.

This morning I drive my car to the shop, get there by 7:45am and wait for them to open at 8.  My friend had taken time out of her day to pick me up and take me to work (Love Her!!).  I saw a ton of people in the store when I got there so I decide to walk over and try to open the door.  The door does not open.  About 10 men turn around and are now laughing at me.  Oops!

Finally, around 7:55am they walk over to my car and do a quick assessment of my current tires.  We walk inside the building to get all the paperwork started.  The gentleman was very friendly, gave me a complete breakdown of the cost and assured me off all the perks they have to offer.  He took my contact information down and said that since I was so early I would be in and out in about 45 minutes.  My friend told me rather then go to work we could hit up ol' Starbucks while we waited.

We order our Cafe Americano's and decide to sit and chat for a while.  We look at our phones, it is now 9am, an hour past the time that I dropped off my car and I have yet to receive a phone call letting me know that my car has been completed.  We decide to drive back over and find out what is going on.  To my dismay my car is in the exact same place from when I dropped it off.  I am greeted at the door by one of the gentlemen from this morning.  I ask him why my tires had not been started yet.  He tells me they thought I had said that my car can be completed whenever. ?????????.  (When did I say that?)  He then proceeds to tell me that it can be completed in 15 minutes.  (Why didn't you do that in the first place?).  So I go back and sit in my friends car and we continue our morning conversation.  I was pleased that they stuck to their word and completed my tires in the 15 minutes.

Now I have new shiny tires, and although I had to utilize 2.5 hours of vacation time this morning, it was well worth it.  I was able to sit and talk with my girlfriend all morning and still got brand new tires!!!  Overall, the gentlemen were very friendly and I would still recommend their services despite the wait I had.  I will chalk it up to lack of communication, which most guys are guilty of.

Reno here we come!!!

Gone fishin!

Small striped bass

So every once in a while Luciano's work will get together and do an outing as a thank you for their continued dedication and good work.  This year they took the guys on a fishing trip.

He had to wake up at 3:00am to meet up with the guys and drive down to the bay area (did not envy him, nor did I get anymore sleep after he left, dammit). 

Leopard Shark

Once on the boat Luciano caught the first fish of the day, the striped bass.

After sitting at work for a while I receive a text showing me yet another fish that he has caught which was the leopard shark.  I was very impressed with this catch.

We had taken the kids fishing a few weeks back and he was excited to catch a little feeder fish so I know the leopard shark was a big deal!  Another couple hours had passed and I receive another text showing me yet another shark that he caught.  He was having a great fishing day!!  At the end of the trip he had caught the three fish pictured here which accounted for almost half of the fish the guys caught that day in total.  Just another thing to add to the long list of things my husband is competitive at, LOL.

This past weekend we had some friends over for dinner, and the husband had cut up the shark and did a fish fry.  Me being one of the pickiest people alive was extremely hesitant on trying the shark nuggets.  I did it and I have to say they were pretty amazing!  Shark nuggets...ooo ha ha!

7 Gill

And were off...School year 2012/2013

Alana and Alex, First day of school, August 16th, 2012

We have officially started the 2012/2013 school year.  Both Alex and Alana seem pretty excited about starting back at school.  

Alex started a new school this year.  We had never felt that he or Alana were really challenged at their old school so we finally were given the opportunity to get him in to the new one and we took it.

He was scheduled to be in a 4th grade class, then I receive a call from the principle a day later letting me know that Alex was going to be moved into a 3rd/4th grade combo class.  No red flags were drawn up at that time, however he continued to inform me of what the other changes were.  He stated that Alex would go to recess with all the 1st, 2nd and 3rd graders.  Err...pump the breaks my good friend.  So you are telling me that my son who is new to this school, only knows a few kids in 4th grade (none of which are in his combo class) and you are going to now put him in a class with kids younger than him and have him interact throughout the entire day with kids a year younger than him?  I asked how they came to choose which children were going to be moved.  He stated at first that they hand selected the children that show they can work independently.  That is fine, but I fail to see how he could establish this knowledge of my son after only having him for a few hours the day before.  Then he continued to state that because our enrollment date was one of the last they allowed in the school they used that date to choose who was going to be moved.  Two completely different methods of choosing.  Alex is a very good independent worker so he could have almost sold me on that, but the last to enroll rubbed me the wrong way.  I told him we enrolled back in November of 2011 so I failed to see how we were the last to enroll.  He stated that that is not the date he had in front of him.  Me being the person I am went with the punches and didn't really fight it too much, but my inner-mother like-diva wanted to pull him through the phone demanding exact dates and answers.  

After all of this, which after reading it seems pretty trivial, I asked Alex what he thought about it and he tells me that he is fine with whatever.  Ugh, I wish I had that nonchalant attitude too.  He has been doing great and loves his new teacher.  We will see what this year has in store for us at this new school.

Alana on the other hand started the 7th grade at the same school she was at for 6th.  She absolutely loves her teachers.  Her only issue she had with her schedule is that she did not have lunch with any of her friends.  They all have 1st lunch and she has 2nd.  I told her this gave her ample time to go to study hall during lunch and get her school work done, that didn't go over too well with her.  Needless to say, I can officially say that after 2 weeks of school she has straight A's and she is working her butt off to continue it.

We are so proud of our little demons.  They have a full sports schedules and continue to get their homework completed while being successful at their sport.  Gotta love my kiddies!