Our little scholar

Less than one hour after our son arrived home from his last day of kindergarten, he was working on problems in his math workbook.

Another fun first

Our son ran his first race, the 1K Congdon Cougar Chase, this morning.

On the walk to our car afterward, I asked him what he liked best about the race. I expected it to be running with his kindergarten buddies, or chasing the school's Cougar mascot, or getting a race t-shirt.

"I liked that you could walk and run," he said. "Because I needed to walk when I got tired, then I could run again."

Automobile milestone

My vehicle and I are at a critical juncture.

I realized this as I sat waiting Thursday afternoon in Hermantown Transmission and Exhaust for repairs on my muffler/exhaust system.

I took my 1999 Honda CRV to the dealership Tuesday afternoon, expecting they would change my oil, give it a routine 21-point inspection and fix my muffler, which had become noisy over the weekend and was hanging awkwardly by one clip.

Their inspection revealed I needed a new tie-rod in a very bad way, I had acquired an oil leak of unknown origin, and some belts needed to be replaced. Oh, and the muffler work would require a $1,500 replacement of the entire exhaust.

I felt as if I had gone to the doctor for a sore throat and come away with a diagnosis of something that requires expensive surgery. Time for a second opinion.

After having the dealer fix my tie-rod and oil leak, I found my way over to Hermantown Transmission and Exhaust for an estimate. The owner put my car up, took a look and came back with a couple of repairs they could do on the spot -- for $170.

What a relief! My husband and I had spent the morning getting estimates on a new or near new car, as well as trade-in values for our two aging vehicles.

Leaving the exhaust shop, I pocketed the owner's business card. He mentioned that he knows a number of good service professionals who could help me with other repairs should I need them.

I've been very happy with the performance of my CRV and with the service the dealership has provided. But the older my car gets, we're not going to be able to afford to repair it to dealer specifications.

I thought about my previous mechanics -- Woody at Downtown Service, who worked on my 1976 Cadillac Sedan Deville, and Rick at Hermantown Service, who worked on my 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix. I liked both men and trusted the advice they gave me and the work they did.

Maybe this milestone won't be so bad after all.

Mother's Day riddles

A dog, a moon, a ball and a forest -- those were the clues my 6-year-old son gave when trying to have me guess what my Mother's Day surprise involved. And two suns, he added later.

The actual surprise was this painting my husband commissioned of my German shepherd Reba, now deceased, and some of her favorite things.


The suns were a part of my breakfast in bed of Twin Sun Toast, another recipe from my son's Star Wars Cookbook. Like all the other dishes (Oola-la French Toast, Han-Burgers and Galaxy Grilled Cheese) we have made from this book, it tasted great. Although, he and his Dad made quite a mess of the frying pan.

At the big top

Spring break diversions

While the first half of spring break was absorbed by preparing for and participating in first and second night Passover meals, we still had time to complete Vincent Van Gogh's Starry Night.

Actually I started the puzzle, which my son bought his dad for Chanukah, about a month ago. I pieced together the edges one stormy weekend, thinking it would be a good family diversion. But neither my son nor husband showed much interest in working on it -- until I brought it to the stage in this picture.

We carefully spread a tablecloth over it when we had guests over for dinner. I'd work on it from time to time, sometimes adding a couple pieces before rushing off to work or other activities.

As I post this, 10 pieces remain to be fitted. I'm hoping my 6-year-old son will finish it while I attend a meeting tonight.

Spring break diversions

We had a couple of long-time friends over this evening to play Risk -- Lord of the Rings version. It was awesome, especially since this Risk neophyte ended up conquering more than half of Middle Earth and won her first game.