Yow-zah

I did not realize how long it had been since my last post. I am striving to do better at this blogging thing. 1) to keep my family in the loop and 2) I miss writing and research and a blog allows me to do both. My biggest thing with blogging is that I feel like I have to have a certain forte to write about, but the more I think about it, the less drawn I am to narrowing myself to one certain topic. I could write about women's studies issues. I could write on and on about the juvenile justice system. I could have an entire book on various topics about youth and their needs. But what is the point of having a blog, if not to use it for slightly narcissistic tirades?

Good, I am glad that is covered. This week we have been on vacation in Florida. A much needed vacation even if someone spent 3 out of the 7 days on the phone or on the computer to the office fixing problems. He's that good unfortunately. We have learned a lot about long distance travel by car, as well remembering some basic stuff that the day to day rush of life has caused us to forget. For starters, when going from bitterly cold to paradise, adjust your tire pressure!!

We had what we have started calling a "Maggie-Fail" moment, or rather just a total "FAIL" moment when I looked at our tires last night and noticed a bulge on the sidewall of the front driver side tire. Normally, no big deal; get a replacement tire and be on your way. Except for the fact we own a hybrid, and not just any hybrid, a Honda hybrid. We love our Insight. We love that we only had to put gas in it 3 times on the entire vacation and have put almost 1300 miles on it. If we'd taken my car, we would have filled up 6 times and it costs more to fill my car up than his car.

But I digress. The Insight, because of it's hybrid nature requires a super special tire, ok not super special, but hard to find to keep it performing optimally. So after spending the last day of our vacation calling everywhere in a 50 mile radius, Honda Dealers, Tire Superstores, etc, and after having several "Well we can get the tire here by noon tomorrow." We are sitting at a fabulous Honda dealership right now getting this super special tire, err hard-to-find, tire put on the car. Although, the free coffee and free wireless well makes up for the three hours of lounging by the pool, I mean vacation, that I am having to miss.

So the moral of the story folks, check your tire pressure because something as simple as going over a speed bump at your super fancy resort can cause your tire to become unsafe.

I have more interesting stories from the road, including my 2 hour bookstore adventure, but the car is done so that my have to wait for another time.

This is not normally where I will ask for well wishes, but because of my struggle to have a baby, this hits very close to home for me. My college friend, Melissa, was 22 weeks pregnant when she delivered her sweet Hadley on Monday. Hadley has gone to be with her Nonnie in heaven and my heart aches for Melissa and her family. It was just over a month ago that Nonnie (Melissa's mother in law, Tammie) passed away after a relatively short battle with cancer. Please keep her and her family in your thoughts and prayers this week as they begin to deal with this new challenge. Melissa has all the Faith in the world and is truly an inspiration to me for her strength through the challenges she faces.