Taekwondo Kid

Milo's first Taekwondo tournament was Saturday. He was a bit overwhelmed but he did really well. He got 1st place in his pattern test! He had just belt tested so it was a new pattern that he hadn't gotten much time to practice but he nailed it. He was disappointed in the break test but, again, a new one he hadn't done before - run and side kick. He broke it on that one but didn't on the straight down kick but he wasn't alone.

We stayed for almost all of it but left just before the sparring competition. Frank and I both had been on the bleachers too long and it was leave then or be permanently stuck to that bench. We chose to go and enjoy the pictures and videos that Mike and Ang would share with us.

In other news, we got the car!! I'm still kind of in shock. I love it and am getting used to the bells and whistles and it has a lot of both. It's our first BRAND NEW car!

So two good things and one terrible - my work partner suffered a stroke Saturday morning. I got the call from a mutual friend that they had airlifted him to Fargo and that it didn't look good. It was on my mind all day but I had the tournament to keep my mind on better things. Sunday morning I got the call that he had improved significantly overnight. He could talk again but his speech is still slurred. He hasn't been up walking yet. I called him Sunday afternoon and he called me this morning. He was sure they would let him go home today - he was pretty miffed.

I'm hoping and praying for continued improvement...

Decisions, Decisions

We've been discussing updating my "daily driver" lately. We've had it for going on 9 years and we have been discussing options.

This car has been dependable and has most everything I want except - bluetooth. In my profession I have a phone in my ear most of the day including when I drive. It would be nice to have the hands free, control from the steering wheel option. Ok, and it's not all wheel drive either. Most of the time that's not a biggie but there have been times where 4 wheel drive would have come in handy. Like just last week.

I was shocked at how many miles people put on their cars! Most of the ones we have looked at have well over what my 13 year old car does. I have a hard time paying the kind of money they are asking for a vehicle with more miles than the one I have now. I'm not a jet setter, I drive to and fro and occasionally go on a road trip but in the 9 years we've had this Saturn I have only put on about 65,000 miles. Either everyone is commuting or they just drive more than I do - A LOT MORE.

Then there was the discussion of buying new. That would be a first for us. And I found one I really like...

It has all the bells and whistles to be sure. It's snazzy and all but we've paid less for houses! We entertained the notion of leasing also. 

In the end we still don't know. We're getting wishy washy in our old age I guess. We decided that we don't HAVE to decide. We will go look, do a test drive or two, and probably buy someone's, hopefully well taken care of, used car.