Car...

Andy has a friend from Ai International that had a 2004 Monte Carlo he no longer wanted. He had moved to Boston and found out he didn't need it there. He didn't want to pay for upkeep, tabs, insurance because he wasn't using it. On a visit here over Christmas, he got together with Andy and told him if he came out to Boston, Andy could have the car, it just needed tabs, and a new battery. That was all easy enough and happened without a hitch.
Andy found cheap tickets for his girlfriend Lauren and himself. They were going to stay with the friend a couple nights, drive to New York and stay with her grandparents and see some sights, drive to Chicago and see some sights then drive home to Minnesota.
During the day they were going to be driving home from Chicago, it had been raining/freezing/raining all day and evening. I text him that the roads here were nasty and to be careful. I didn't hear back from him. I text him again later on, and still no reply. I went into my worried mother mode and sent a text to Lauren. He replied back then, that he didn't feel his phone vibrate and they were fine.
About 9:15 that night, he called to say they were stopping at A&W and that the car got great gas mileage, was real quiet, ran great, but had some wetness on the passenger side. He figured he would take up the carpet, take care of the problem, clean the carpet and it would be fine. I told him once again that the roads here were nasty. He said the roads they had been on were fine, but that he would be careful.
I was on my computer later on, when all of a sudden I got that sick feeling in my stomach...the one when you know something is going to happen. I though to myself..Don't even go there!
A little after 11:00 Andy calls again...this in itself is strange, because he doesn't call very often...to say they just rolled the car. Now he has a habit of saying things with a real straight face, and I couldn't tell if he was kidding or not, so I said, "What?" Then he calmly said it again, "We rolled the car." I asked if they were ok, and he said they were. He had been sleeping in the back seat, not belted in, and Lauren had been driving. He woke up when he heard her scream. She hit a patch of black ice, started to skid and slammed on the brakes. This was the wrong thing to do, but she panicked, and by then it was too late. Because of the speed they were going, 65 mph, and braking while skidding, they flipped over, hit the roof of the car, and landed back on the tires.
The driver's window was gone, the driver's side of the windshield was spiderwebbed, quite badly, the roof was caved in, the driver's door was dented and the whole front was kind of crooked? Fortunately, the frame wasn't bent, the tires didn't blow, and the car ran fine. The police stopped to make sure they weren't hurt and said they would come back after they made a drop off at the jail. In the meantime, a guy in a Hummer stopped and pulled them out of the ditch. They made a stop to get plastic to cover the window, and that's when he called me. It turned out they were FINE. Andy didn't have a scratch on him and Lauren just had a scratch on her arm, along with tons of glass in her hair. They were very shaken up, but thankful to be alive. They both have convertibles and if they had been driving either of those cars and flipped, we would probably be making funeral plans.
Andy and his Dad took the car to the insurance adjuster the next day and as they were driving up, the guy in the building thought to himself, Oh boy, that's going to be totaled. I guess the Blue Book on the car is only about $4400.00 or so in perfect condition. It will probably cost more to fix it, but we're keeping out fingers crossed.
Andy it quite bummed, he was looking forward to having a decent car. His brother, Ethan could fix it, but it would take him a while, and he would need some equipment that we would have to buy, so we'll just have to wait until the verdict comes back from the insurance company.
I guess this just confirms the fact that Nothing in life is FREE, there is always a CATCH.
I'm actually not sure who I feel more sorry for, Lauren, for being the one who was driving at the time, or Andy, for trying to get some sleep and not being in control. It's always easier to accept the ruin of something if you do it yourself, then you only have yourself to blame. But in the end, the car is just a thing.
So much more could have happened. 65 mph, skidding on black ice, flipping over, and walking away without a scratch...their gardian angels were certainly paying attention, and I thank God for that.

Victor...

Victor is the newest addition to our crazy family. My only grandbaby for now.

He and Kira stayed with us over Christmas because of the nasty storm we had. He got along great with Oliver. Little Bit would be Okay with him given a little more time, and I'm sure he would have gotten used to Annie too. He is a very nice cat, sort of like the little kid who befriends everyone.

Chef Andy...

Finally, I have pictures of Andy at work.

The first week was a little sparse, because we had a snow storm the evening before. We ended up with about 50 people. He made a scrumptious Beef Rib with Garlic Mashed Potatos and a Sauce, Ceasar Salad with Garlic Toast Bites, Seasoned Carrots, and I contributed Chocolate Mousse and Punch.

The second week he made Chicken Cordon Blue, Potatos Gratin and a Mushroom/Garlic Cream Sauce, Asparagus and I contributed Chocolate Dipped Shortbread and Punch.