Wine and Cheese :)

I'll start of with the wine. Pat is doing his week long reintegration still. I can't believe it was only 6 days ago that he arrived home. In some ways it feels like he's been home a while, but we still have lots of catching up to do. Anyways, because of the reintegration, Pat is only working half days (if that). It's really nice to have him around for the afternoons. Yesterday we were having a lazy day doing stuff around the house. Pat was out cleaning the car, and I was inside playing with Ryan. I was in some pj pants and a sweatshirt. The door bell rang, and there was a man standing there. I could tell he wasn't from UPS/FedEx so I quickly sent the dogs out back and got to the door. I was holding Ryan when we went out to talk to the man. He said he lived a couple streets back and saw the welcome home banner on our garage for Pat. He told me he wanted to say thank you and welcome home. He then handed me a bottle of wine and said that he hopes we enjoy it. I was in awe of his generosity, and that is by far the nicest thing that has happened to us in this neighborhood. I thanked him very much and told him how kind that was. Unfortunately I didn't catch his name or address, so I cannot send a proper thank you note which I feel terrible about. So Pat and I have decided that since we can't thank the nice family that gave us the wine, we'll pass on the same kindness when we next get the opportunity. I just wanted to share this story because I think that was such a wonderful gesture of those stranger-friends.

Now on to my cheese. Today Pat and I bought me a new car. We are both really excited about it. We got a brand new 2009 Honda Pilot 4WD EX in Nimbus Gray Metallic.  It seats 8 and will be perfect for our family including all our dogs. We were able to get a great deal, and we traded in my little car. Pat is especially proud because with all the money I was able to save during this deployment, we only financed a bit over 25% of the MSRP price. We'll probably be able to pay the car off by this time next year. He keeps saying how amazing it was that I was able to save all that money, and also how I raised Ryan by myself for all that time he was gone. I have to selfishly admit that it is nice to hear the praise, especially after having no one around to appreciate me for so long.

Here is a photo from the internet of our new car. We'll be picking up ours tomorrow, although we may have to bring it back in a few days to get the side steps installed. Also, I just wanted to say that USAA is great, and I highly recommend them.