We had quite a busy weekend. Saturday we spent running all over the place looking at cars and on errands. Sunday we took another trip to the Ren Faire.

Rob's car is all fixed up. It needed a new battery and had to have the after market alarm removed. He's got a 2005 Toyota Camry with around 43,000 miles on it. It's still a great car and in great shape, but after one Wisconsin winter we both agree that he needs something with four wheel drive and stability and traction control. It just felt unsafe to him to be driving that in the winter. He was lucky enough to not get into any ditches or accidents, but neither of us want to push our luck again come next winter. I fully understand why he wants a new car and support him in the decision.

As the car person of the family, I did a lot of research into various cars that had everything he wanted on them. We narrowed the search down to the Honda CR-V, the Subaru Forester, and the Toyota Rav4. If you own either the Forester or the Rav4, please leave a comment with how you like your car and if you would get the same car again when it comes time for a new one.

So, on Saturday we first headed to our local Subaru dealer. Rob test drove the Forester with the turbo engine. It made the fact that it was a 4 cyl bearable. He liked the way it drove and how it handled, but didn't like the gas pedal. He said it was very narrow and his leg kept bumping into something while driving. Still, overall he liked it and it's still in the running.

We then went to the Honda dealer. Ewwwww. The interior of the CR-V was horrible. With the plastic made to look like wood inside of there, it looked like a nightmare out of the 1970's. Rob also didn't like how it drove. The thing looked and drove like a brick. We're no longer considering the CR-V.

From there we got a few errands done. We went to The Fresh Market to pick up some breakfast cookies for Gabriel and some pasta and sauce for us. Rob then made a run into the Boston Store to get some face lotion. We then made a quick stop at home for the potty and to change Gabriel's diaper and headed out once more.

It was still fairly early, so we decided to check out the Toyota dealer as well. It started raining, so Rob got to see how the Rav4 handled in the rain on his test drive. I loved the interior. It was much more roomy and comfortable than any of the other cars, in fact, I was surprised at how roomy it was for a compact SUV. It also gets very good gas milage. However, on the down side it doesn't have a built in garage opener. Meh.

Right now, it's between the Subaru Forester and the Toyota Rav4. They both seem to be great cars and I think no matter what Rob decides, that it will be a good decision.

When we were done at Toyota we headed to the grocery store for our weekly shop and then grabbed some take out at a local Chinese restaurant for dinner.

Sunday we made our third trip this season to the Ren Faire. It was fairly nice outside temperature wise, but once again the sun got to me.

We wandered around and had a lot of fun. Both Rob and I picked up some horns (his are silver with black swirls on them and mine are red) and I got a Woodbaby "bosom buddy". It's a little red cat that gets stuffed in my cleavage. It's also a puppet so I can control its head movements. I love it and Gabriel seemed to like it when I moved it's head around. Oh, we also got foam short swords and got Gabriel a foam dagger.

We ate Faire food (Gabriel LOVES the mac n cheese bites and I LOVE the mushrooms), wandered, and sometimes sat and people watched. Gabriel once again ran over to the spider fairy. He's head over heels in love with her and she didn't seem to mind having him around. She even seemed to remember him from last time. If we can find a cool one, I think he might need to be a spider for this Halloween. He also went through the maze again and got more loot.

We headed out around 1pm. While the weather stayed nice (high 70's to low 80's), I was cooking. I just can't handle the sun and today I have a sun poisoning rash all over (I'm not burned though thanks to plenty of SPF 50 sunscreen). I have a few mosquito bites, but nothing like last year. Seems that those Bug Bam bracelets work. Neither Rob nor Gabriel have a single bite.

On the way home we grabbed some lunch at White Castle and then made a stop at Mars Cheese Castle and got some summer sausage and cheese to have for dinner.

When we got home, I showered and took a small nap. Later on, we ate our cheese and summer sausage and watched Big Brother.

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Your Mind is 50% Cluttered

Your mind is starting to get cluttered, and as a result, it's a little harder for you to keep focused. Try to let go of your pettiest worries and concerns. The worrying is worse than the actual problems!

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