Downs

• Motoko’s , the Rav4, starter died yesterday while I was at the grocery store. It started fine when I left Vitamin Cottage but when I tried to leave King Soopers, it just clicked instead of even trying. A random couple who know a lot about cars first tried coercing the starter into working again but when that failed, they help me push start it (one of the few times I have been grateful to have a standard transmission). I drove back to our garage and kept the car on while I informed Jaeger of the situation. We decided he’d drive it to the top of a hill, turn it off, and try to start it again with the key. If that failed, being on the top of a hill he could start it without any other assistance. I stayed home to watch Calvin and load the frozen food into the freezer. Jaeger called to inform me that the starter was still not working without a running start. We decided to drive it into Boulder to our mechanic immediately to avoid any problems getting enough momentum to start it in the morning. While Jaeger drove home (he had the car seat so couldn’t just take off for Boulder), I frantically packed supper for Calvin. We headed off to Boulder and dropped off the car. I swapped the car seat while Jaeger attempted to feed Calvin who was too distracted by all the interesting stuff around him. We ate supper at Jaeger’s new favorite phở chay place and then headed back to Longmont to put Calvin to bed an hour late.

Ups

• Obviously one up is that when Motoko was dead in the parking lot, a random couple came and helped get her started again. Jaeger was home and King Soopers is actually easy walking distance of home but it still would have been much more inconvenient.
• I survived Saturday. I had church stuff today which is always more stressful these days since I have to find a babysitter to take care of Calvin.

Calvin Moment

• Calvin has always loved trees. When he was three months old we went out to Washington and he adored being strolled in his stroller under trees. He’d turn his little face up to look at them in awe. I’m not sure if it was their massive size or the color or something else. In any case, he still likes trees. While we were at the park Friday, he was looking at a tree that had some low hanging branches. So, I lifted him up and then pulled a branch down to tickle his face. He laughed hysterically every time I did it.

Simplification

• On Sunday, I packed three boxes to go to the thrift store. I think I’ve finally purged most of my duplicate/unnecessary kitchen equipment. There were a couple of things I decided not to give away yet such as my pasta maker. At the moment, I don’t have time to use it but maybe in another decade I’ll have enough time to try elaborate meals again.