November 2010 Updates

On November 21st (Sunday) it started to snow but it didn't stick until the next day.  We got about 3 inches plus that Monday morning and it was so beautiful.  I stayed home from work all morning thinking it would be better and that I should at least attempt to make it into work since I had all afternoon clients booked.  We looked at the traffic cams and the freeways looked pretty clear so I decided to go into work.  BIG MISTAKE!  I was done with clients by 5pm downtown and left at that time but didn't get home until 2:15 am!!!  Traffic was slowly moving at 5pm.  Black ice was on I-5 and slipped on it a couple of times.  There was a warning of high winds and more snow that evening.  Traffic completely stopped when I was at exit 158 (Boeing Access Rd.).  All lanes were completely stopped and sat there until about 6 hours later I decided to turn around heading North on South I-5 on the shoulder to exit off so I could pee off to the side of the road.  Topher was really great in shifting my mood from pure frustration to being grateful that I have gas and heat in the car and most importantly not being caught up in the accident.  Around 1:30 am I finally attempted to hit the roads off the exit and took Interurban to grady way.  I drove slowly and finally made it home at 2:10am.  The first thing I did was charged my phone, then called Topher to let him know that I made it home safely, and then warmed up some food.  I was starving!
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At about midnight on November 24th (Wednesday), I emailed "Zion" regarding his craiglist ad he posted for a 1998 ES 300 for $4999 that just recently went down to $4500.  He responded at about 6am and in a nut shell said, "How does $3500 sound?"  I replied immediately to see when I can view the car and said that Friday morning would be the best time to view the car.  That day was his only day to do it since he was leaving out of town Friday morning.  I was fully booked Wednesday because I didn't work Tuesday and moved all clients to Wednesday before Thanksgiving.  As soon as Topher got home Wednesday morning, I immediately asked if he could check the car out and take care of the transaction, knowing that he was deprived of sleep.  He was lacking sleep because he stayed up when it snowed and we took care of some things at Lowe's for the house on Tuesday.  On average he was getting 4 hours of sleep.  Then he when I asked him to take care of this, "Zion" wasn't available until between 1-5pm which meant that Topher would've had to stay up even longer to take care of this.  Manny was kind enough to take Topher but had to leave shortly because he was hosting a pre-Thanksgiving party at his house.  TOpher basically risked his life to go with 3 strangers whom were black driving around town to finish the sale.  The DMV's near by were closed and they ended up driving up NOrth to Wendels on Aurora Ave.  He also went to the bank to cash the check and according to TOpher, he felt the guys were acting a bit weird and shady.  Manny felt the engine was really clean and based on that and me wanting this car as well as Topher wanting the tan color choice for me, he decided to accept the $3500 sale price and go through with it all under sleep deprivation.  
 
There aren't any major problems to the car and just some minor details that we can easily fix.  The windshield recently cracked because the guy poured hot water on it during our freezing temps.  I felt it was a really good deal considering others were trying to sell that same model for the same price but either for a lower year or same year.  All in all, very happy to finally have a car and especially a 4 door!!!  I still haven't driven the car yet....lol!  We recently used my "new" car to go Christmas shopping on Friday and it was great!  LOVE it and what a journey Topher endured to get it!!!
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On November 25th, we both cooked and hosted our first Thanksgiving late lunch or early dinner!  In addition to me and Topher, guests consisted of my immediate family and Cat.  Robert and Cat brought red mashed potatoes.  Topher marinated the 12lb turkey and injected it with his concoction.  I made stuffing as a side dish using partially Betty Crocker's recipe and added water chestnuts to it.  Also roasted baby red potatoes and also had to look up the recipe for that!  Dinner was great and most importantly delicious.  My dad even liked the Turkey and cleaned one of the legs real good.  My parents bought a little bit of Chinese bakery because they completely almost ran out of stuff!
 
When we finished the meal, RObert carved up the turkey so it would make it easier to eat later.  As he carved it up, he found a bag of gizzards and the turkeys neck!  It was so funny because we didn't know that we had to take it out.  Now that we know, we will do better!!!