The Fintons

Very Interesting

A Family is a Family is a Family

Tags: Life

Fixing the Neon and the Trailblazer

So, when we last left off I was trying to get the transmission to shift. Well, having talked to a mechanic it’s been determined that the transmission is shot, most likely from being towed while in gear! Just our luck! I would say that’s a very reasonable explanation especially since the shift cable is broken so either, it was towed in gear and then the shift cable was broken trying to get it into gear, or the shift cable was broken and it was assumed that it was in neutral even though it wasn’t.

If you’ve been paying attention, that leaves us with two dead cars each with a blown transmission!

This whole vehicle situation is really wearing on Patti and I because every step we take ends up being a step backwards. Not only are we down to one vehicle (which leaves Patti or I home with Erik and no vehicle if there was an emergency), but we’re piling the miles onto the only car we do have (that we still owe money on)!

So, we’re really at a loss as to how to proceed. We have a transmission for the truck (taking up all of Patti’s trunk), but no one to put it in yet (or the money to do so). And even if we pull that off, we’re still stuck with this gas guzzling POS truck that bites us in the ass every 3 to 6 months with something major!

Hopefully we can get the truck running and still buy groceries and hopefully we can trade in the truck at the next opportunity for a more reliable vehicle that gets better gas mileage. I also think I’m going to keep working on the Neon, possibly try and rebuild the tranny myself. I don’t ever want us to be in a situation like this again!

Tags: Cars, Life, Stress

I hate cars!

Owning a car is ridiculously expensive! Worse, they all cost the same really. You can buy a reliable vehicle that is maintenance free and doens’t give you any grief, but you’re going to end up paying $500 or more a month for a loan and then a ton for insurance. On the other hand, you can get yourself something cheaper, but then you’re probably going to be forking out cash to keep the freakin thing running! Either way, you’re screwed!

Tags: Life, Rambling

Erik and the ladybug

Erik found a lady bug and I guess he felt inclined to pick it up and show it to me.

The funny thing is that a few days ago he was scared to touch some plant roots but yet he’ll carefully pick up bugs off the floor?

Somehow along the way it ended up dead.  At that point he kept telling Drake “Shhhh…  Ladybug sleeping”  I can’t wait for him to bring Patti a spider (He already knows bees sting so I don’t think we need to worry about that)

Tags: Life

Matching Christmas P.J.’s

Okay, so I really want these P.J.’s.

But, if I get them, it’s around $170. Now I think these are pretty much down right adorable, but, I just can’t see spending this much on P.J.’s for one morning. *sigh* I wish I could blindly spend money and not care.

Tags: Life, Rambling

Yea yea I’m a parent

Not that this is something you generally post about, or would be interested in, or well any of that, but we think Erik is *mostly* potty trained.  Okay, I know this isn’t general blog reading material but damn it we have worked hard.  It’s been so slow going and we tried everything in the book.  Finally, he now has shed the diapers during the day with a few accidents in between.  Nothing like filling the land fill with 10 diapers a day, though.

So, go to Erik.  And to us.

Oh, and if you’re wondering what finally worked….well….it was getting his own bathroom.

Tags: Erik Milestones, Life

Chris’s Wedding

So I have spent a large majority of my time lately working on Chris’s wedding. It is only a month and a week away. I can’t believe it’s here already. And my dress hasn’t come in yet! AH!!

Well I got all of the invitations done (if you haven’t gotten yours yet it’s coming, all the way from NY, that’s why it’s taking so long). I also ordered the tuxes for the little ones (Erik, Sonny, and Gavin). Chris and my mom did the flowers, tables, all of the little girls dresses, hair appointments, nail appointments….I probably could go on but I can’t remember… Ha. I’m glad it’s coming along so nicely. I’m trying to find Chris a photographer though. She was just going to have some friends use my camera to take photos, but I would really like to have someone else do it. We’ve put a lot of effort into this day, and it’s going to be special, so I want pictures, darn it!

I for some reason have this really weird pain in my right thumb. Like it hurts to write. I have no f****** idea why. So my life!

School has been alright. Nutrition still sucks, writing is still the same, and philosophy is almost too easy. I registered for summer though. I’m taking three classes instead of two. Figured what the hell, why not right? Not like I have something else better to do.

Brandon and I are going to a Syracuse Crunch game this coming friday. We got free tickets through UC. Good times, good times. Hopefully we can go to the last binghamton senators game since Brandon’s company has tickets. We’re really getting into hockey. How strange.

SO…..it appears I can’t drink alcohol. Every time I do, I vomit. Not like oh Patti had to much to drink look at her how stupid she is because she’s ralphing…. It’s, Patti had three sips of wine and the next day vomits all day long. I drank on New Years, got sick (that time I probably did have a ‘lil too much). I drank when we were in FL after my dad passed away when we were out to dinner with my best friend Lauren. I had two glasses of red wine. I vomited all night long and the entire next day (was running a fever too). I drank a half a glass of wine on our anniversary. Again, same story. Then about a week ago I was having a really rough day and decided to have a Mike’s. Well I had one, and the next day, was vomiting all day. Brandon’s dad had come to take Erik so we could go out for the day too. We ended up laying in bed the entire day because I felt so sick. Just lovely. Doesn’t look like I’ll be drinking again anytime soon. Guess it’s good I was never really a drinker anyway…. Heh…

Tags: Family, Life, Love, Sickly

SU!

I’m excited. I have appointment at SU on Monday to talk to one of the advisors about their part time programs. Yay. Okay it’s a stupid thing to be excited about, as me the girl who has been avoiding grad school like the plague, but I know I can’t avoid it forever. I need to take the plunge. Syracuse has a perfect program for my hopefully future career, so I’m excited. The people that I talked to up there were really nice. Good changes are going to happen in our lives. I can feel it. We just have to remain positive, right? The secret. Haha. That’s a bunch of crap but hey it feels better to be positive and happy anyway, so we can pretend. That’s my motto in life. Just smile and nod and pretend everything is okay and happy when it really isn’t.

Other than that nothing much exciting has happened since, yesterday. My cousin and I have been emailing back and forth. Noah who was born a preemie now weighs a little over 6 pounds, so that’s very exciting. My cousin of course made a crack about her nursing skills. She is too funny.
I have an appointment with my other other Dr. down in Tunkhannock on Thursday. So. Not. Fun. Hopefully he will have some good news. I can use some good news.

Tags: Family, Life, School, Sickly

I don’t really know

Life has still been unexciting. Brandon went with me last tuesday down to my dr.’s appointment in Wilke-Barre for my ovarian vein syndrome crap. The Dr.’s there were pretty bewildered that my previous Dr. would say sorry so sad there isn’t anything that can be done. They also told me that on my test results from my last Dr. that it showed my kidney was swollen. I guess in the land of kidneys, swollen isn’t the state to be. So I got to have an ultra sound done. I called today to see if there were any results, but I guess Thursday is operation day (should I sent flowers or a card in congrats? *rolls eyes*) so he was not in. His secretary left a message for him to call me back though, so hopefully he will.

On a funny note, we thought our dishwasher had broken. When I would turn it on it wouldn’t fill with water. It would just heat up. Brandon tore the whole thing apart, tested the voltage, checked for clogs, nothing. So he fought with GE over it since we were one day (literally) out of our warranty. They said sure fine we’ll fix it. Well the guy gets out here, and it turns out the nob was turned upside down. So when I turned it to what I thought was on, it was really the dry cycle. Oops. Erik likes to pull the knob off. Guess I didn’t put it back on right the last time. Hey c’mon it’s funny! Well me washing an entire full of kitchen dishes by hand wasn’t so funny, but I guess that’s what I get for not paying enough attention to what I’m doing.

So no progression on the halloween costume front. I’ve had a couple suggestions, booger for one from my lovely Uncle Joey. I’m sure in the years coming if Erik saw those pictures he would disown us. My friend Jen suggested we make him a Yankee player. I like the idea, but am having a hard time finding him any pants. I would like to get him a bat to go with the outfit, but he would hit people (not on purpose, he doesn’t understand that it hurts). I still don’t know if he’s quite old enough to be taken out. I have a feeling Brandon will end up eating all of the candy or whatever it is he gets. Lovely!

So 15 days and counting till I return to work. That is if they don’t take out both of my kidneys or something. One can only wish.

I love this picture btw. Drake is using Logan as a pillow. They are too funny.

Tags: Holidays, Life, Nothing at all

Max

My cat passed away on Friday. I had him for almost 9 years. He just passed away unexpectedly. He was fine before we went to bed, and when Brandon got up, he wasn’t. Every time I took him to the dr.’s they said he was in great condition. He was always healthy. Never had any problems (besides stress, he used to pull his hair out).
Well anyway, the day he passed away I laid in bed and cried most of the day. He is the only thing that has been constant for me in my life for the past 8 years. Literally. He has moved everywhere with me. Has gone through 4 relationships, the good and the bad. Lived with my parents, my sisters, my nephews when I did. Lived in 2 different states. I moved him I think like 8 times. I never could go anywhere and leave him for too long. When I moved into my first apartment in Cortland, I wasn’t allowed to have cats so my parents said they were just going to keep him. I couldn’t bare it and went and got him a week later. I kept him in the apartment even though I wasn’t allowed. He was my Max. God I miss him. So much. I feel so bad, I didn’t get to spend much time with him. For the past 20 months my life has been Erik. Max used to sleep with me and always be with me before Erik came around. Then when Erik arrived he was just kind of there. I took advantage of that, and now I miss him more than I can say. He’s been the only thing, person, anything that has been there for me constantly the past 8 years. Everyone else has come and gone in my life, including my family. There is a spot in my heart he will always have. I can’t get another cat. No one will ever replace him. I wish he was still here.

Tags: Life, Sad