Martinez Family Back In Alabama

Well, I got up at the crack of dawn, was on the road before 6am and drove 4 and a half hours to test drive a bug.  I just realized as i was typing that how ridiculous it sounds.  I got to the house and the car was just as described.  We gave it the once over and took it out for a spin.  This car drives, shifts, and even stops great. We talked a bit about the cars' history.  The original owners manual has all of the dealers stamps for servicing up to over 100,000 miles and from there the guy who owned it just wrote the information on the back cover to keep track of it.  The last entry in the book reads 165,000 miles in 1998.  The odometer now reads 75,653, so I am assuming that since this car was in storage for a number of years that it has 170k original miles on it.  All of the electrical stuff works on it, including the dome light and horn.  I have never driven a bug where those two things worked.  I am now the 4th owner of this little car and will give it a good home.  The first thing that Matthew asked was "where is the back door handle?"  I guess he's never ridden in a two-door before.  We strapped the kids in the back seat and took them for a ride up and down the block.  They loved it, we were instantly taken back to our early bug days and the nostalgia was palpable.  We are looking forward to some more new memories with this new bug and can't wait to personalize it and make it our own. 

Tomorrow morning I will set out bright and early on my quest to find the one.  The journey has been one of trials, tears, joy, elation, disappointment, and excitement; everything you would expect from this type of search.  The bug I will be looking out sounds great and the guy who I talked to sounds like he has really taken good care of it.  It is not a flashy color, nor does it have any distinguishable features.  It is simply utilitarian and will serve its purpose.  Suzanne says it's kind of boring, but I will do my best to make it mine and create a unique essence to the car if I decide that it is the one.  I will keep you posted.

We are on a hunt.  The search has begun.  We are scouring the south to find just the right one.  What are we looking for, you ask?  We decided that it is time to take a step into our past and bring a Volkswagen bug back into our lives.  We have been searching the ads to find just the right one and yesterday we took our first step.  We drove to a little town called Quincy, FL.  It took us about 2 hours to get there.  We loaded up the kids in the car, got the [strike]kid appeasers[/strike] DVD players out and we were off.  On the way there we made not that the kids were riding in there plush car seats, watching movies and eating popcorn and a myriad of other snacks. They sure have it good.  Anyway, to the car.  We arrived and found the car nestled back in the woods.  It started, drove and stopped nicely, but it had some body work that was done in the past that left it as a mix of bondo and paint.  Altogether it would turn out to be more of a project than I cared to take on so we passed and went home.  We got home late, but had a great time.  So the search continues and we look forward to the adventure.

We have had Grandma and Grandpa here this past week and have thoroughly enjoyed having them around.  Grandpa is one who usually needs some sort of projects to keep him sane.  He patched I hole in our wall in the garage, he also helped me to replace a door that was destroyed a few weeks back. (That is another story altogether)  The kids have enjoyed having the grandparents around as well.  Every morning they wake them up and have fun playing on the blow-up bed.  They have learned that Grandpa is the softy of the group and if they want something done they need to go ask him.  He is beginning to wise up and being a little more discerning now.  I think it's just part of being a grandparent to spoil your grandkids a bit.  We'll begin the retraining next week.

Last night was worship team practice for Sunday morning.  I had been practicing and was a little sore from playing so much.  I got there early to set up and when practice started things were going along nicely.  Apparently I was a bit uncomfortable and was showing it on my face because the band manager came up to me and asked me if I would like a chair.  I said yes and got to sit down the rest of rehearsal.  I guess it was a bit more of a strain than I thought to play.  Hopefully by Sunday I will be able to play without grimacing.

Recovery is coming along quite nicely.  I am able to move my arm more and more each day.  Yesterday I was actually able to play the guitar for about 10 minutes.  After that I was pretty sore, but it was totally worth it.  I need to build up some more strength since I'm playing guitar in church on Sunday.  I'm sure it will go fine.  I will keep you posted. 

Also, today is Matthew's first day of preschool.  We sent him off in typical proud parent fashion.  I can't believe he's old enough to go to school 5 days a week.  I think this will take some getting used to.  I also hope he makes a lot of new friends, learns something, but most of all has fun while doing it.

Well it has been 3 months since I've updated this page.  I figure its time.  After graduating I began taking classes to work towards my graduate degree.  I am now attending Eastern Kentucky University and pursuing a MS in Safety, Security, and Emergency Management.  The program is completely online and I have finished 1 out of 12 classes.  The classes are given in abbreviated terms (6-8weeks) and you are only allowed to take one class at a time.  This is probably a good thing since the classes are shorter and the workload is pretty intense.  I managed to pull off an "A" in my first class (I would have been happy with a "C").  I now have a couple of weeks until my next class begins and am trying to prepare in advance for the curriculum since I found myself behind everyone else in my last class.  I hope I am better prepared the next time around.

Yesterday I also had my second shoulder surgery.  I had a biceps tenodisis done.  This surgery was a lot less invasive than my last one.  After one day I have limited use of my arm.  The doc says I shouldn't lift anything heavier than a coffee cup and I am happy to oblige him.  I have spent the last 24 hours in an anesthetic haze and am starting to come back out of it.  My wife is doing a great job taking care of me and making sure that I move my arm and don't stiffen up.  The kids have been a bit of a challenge today, but hey, what are kids for, right?  I will keep you all posted on my status more frequently since typing is one of the few things I can do.