Update on the New Dodge Journey

Well, the Journey did a fine job getting me and my girls to Indiana. It only took us 11 hours! Anyway, for those of you who might be curious about how the "let's refuel america" deal that Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep has been offering works, I will tell you. Simply put, it has worked just fine for me. I was only one of two people from the dealership I'm leasing from to take the offer, and so far it has been great. The literature they give you when you sign up for it says that it takes 4-6 weeks for you to get your activiated $2.99 per gallon of gasoline card, but for me, it took about a week. I used the card for the first time when we were taking off on our eleven hour roadtrip. The card couldn't be easier to use. I just swipe the card, type in my PIN number and then off I go--Fill 'er up! We get charged only $2.99 per gallon (up to 600 gallons per year) no matter what the price is at the pump. Even if we happen to get rid of the car before the three year deal is up, we keep the card and use it. It is quite simple and will probably be a savings of at least $1200 when it is all said and done, and that means that foregoing the $1000 rebate gives us a bigger savings. If you would like to learn more about the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge "let's refuel America" campaign, you can go to www.letsrefuelamerica.com Oh, and in case you are wondering, the Journey got an average of 20.8 mpg on our trip, and that was with a rooftop cargo carrier on top, so it did quite a bit better on gas than my old Chevy Suburban would have done.

Charm City Cakes Question

Sometimes I watch the cable show "Ace of Cakes." It is sort of a time filler show for me, but it is usually interesting and will hold my attention for a half hour or so. The other evening, I was watching the show and all of a sudden I got sort of grossed out because one of the cake artists there was working on a fondant decoration and she shoved the headband she was wearing back up on her head, and then went right back to working, with her bare hands I might add, with the fondant---that people might eat! The more I watched the show, the more grossed out I became. None of the workers uses any kind of sanitary measures when they are working on the cakes. They work on the cakes with their bare hands, and none wears a hair net or is ever shown washing their hands. I think the cakes are beautiful, and interesting and fun, but I just don't think I could ever bring myself to eat one, and not because of the elaborate decorations and shapes. I would be afraid I would be munching on some stray piece of hair, or eating something that an unsanitary hand has touched. Yuck! I wonder if Charm City Cakes ever gets visits from the Baltimore Health Department? If not, maybe they should!

Impact2818 Camp

Three of the girls are at camp this week. We have travelled nearly 600 miles to get them there. Last year was the first year they went to camp. It is the same camp I went to when I was a child. When we lived in Fort Wayne, the camps were relatively close--less than an hour to get there. This year is a totally different story, but making the extra effort to send the girls back to the camp they loved was really important. The memories of the camp experience will probably stick with them their whole lives. The camps happen to be United Methodist camps, so they also have a religious element to them, which is a bonus in my book. My girls need all the God they can get! The camps are run with precision and the directors and counselors have every element down to a science, so I am confident that the girls are safe and having a good, yet supervised, time. Sending your kid away by themselves for a week seems like a difficult thing, but this particular camp makes that week away seem easy. If you would like to learn more about the impact2818 camps, you can visit them at www.impact2818.com.

Road Trip!

Tomorrow is the big day! All four girls and I are taking a road trip back home to Indiana. It seems strange, but I am more excited about going there than I was about going to Disney World last week. It has been almost a year since we moved and I am still very homesick, as are all the rest of my family. I think only the dog is happy here, and really, she is just happy anywhere we are. There are only 397 days left until we can make a clean break from here, and I just can't wait. My husband said something the other night as we were getting ready for bed. It was sort of funny, but sad at the same time, and I was feeling the same way. He said, "You know how when you are on a vacation, and you are getting toward the end of it and you are sort of looking forward to getting back home? Well, I was thinking that, and then I remembered what home we were going back to, and I wasn't so ready to go back." When we were boarding the airplane heading from Orlando to Dulles, I had forgotten that we weren't going home, home, we were going to the Virginia home, and I too, was feeling a little let down. I think this summer and the next school year will go fast as they all seem to do, and in no time, we will be looking toward finding a new home, back home and that will be one of the happiest days in my life!