Merry Christmas!

I hope everyone had a great Christmas (all 2 of you that read this :) ) I sure did! I have also become addicted to Wii and now I want one! Even though a 5 yr old and 7 yr old kicked my butt most of the time. :)

We had some crazy weather here in North Texas this past week. It started out in the beginning of the week in the 20's during the day and then by the day after Xmas it was 82 out. Crazy TX weather!

Funny Emails

I am sure everyone has been getting these emails. I find it odd that I have become so popular with these foreign prince and princess' that want to share their money with me...hee hee hee. :) Here is one of my favorites. I love the grammar in the email too.

Princess, Amirah Ahmed.
25/301 Wilson RD
Dappaya west
Ouagadougou
Burkina Faso.
P O Box, 8761
Private / Highly Confidential,
Subject Matter:/ Invitation Of Help

My Dear friend,
I presume this letter will come to you as a surprise, but as things unfold,we will know each other better, I apologize for sending you this sensitive information via e-mail instead of a Certified mail/Post-mail. This is due to the urgency and importance of the information.

This project is based on Trust, confidentiality and sincerity of purpose in order to have an acceptable meeting of the minds. I am writing this letter in confidence believing that if it is the wish of God for you to help me and my family, God almighty will bless and reward you abundantly and you would never regret this.

I am a female Student from University of Burkina Faso, Ouagadougou , I am 20 yrs old. I'd like any person who can be caring, loving and home oriented. I will love to have a long-term relationship with you and to know more about you. I would like to build up a solid foundation with you in time coming if you can be able to help me in this transaction.

Well, my father died earlier six months ago and left I and my junior brother behind. He was a king, which our town citizens titled him over sixteen years before his death. I was a princess to him and I am the only person who can take care of his wealth now because my junior brother is still young and my mother is not literate enough to know my entire father's wealth. He left the sum of USD$15.600.000.00 dollars (Fifteen Million, six Hundred Thousand US Dollars) in a security company.

This money was annually paid into my late fathers account from Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) and chevron Oil Company operating in our locality for the compensation of youth and community development in our jurisdiction. I don't know how and what I will do to invest this money somewhere in abroad so that my father's kindred will not take over what belongs to my father and our family, which they were planning to do without my present because I am a female as stated by our culture in the town.

Now, I urgently need your humble assistance to move this money from the security company to your bank account and I strongly believe that by the grace of God, you will help me invest this money wisely. I am ready to pay 30% of the total amount to you if you help us in this transaction and another 10% interest of annual income to you for handling this transaction for us, which you will strongly have absolute control over.

If you can handle this project sincerely, and also willing to assist me in lifting this fund, kindly reach me. Please, note that this transaction is 100% risk free and I hope to commence the transaction as quick as possible, I will send you my picture as soon as I hear from you, And i also understand fully that you will not betray this trust, I sincerely apologise for this inconvenience.I know as a person you most be asking a question why do i choose you, well you are right if you ask, the almighty angels of God vesited me and even revield your email address to me like a dreams. Please take note based on this, I will demand for the following requirement:1) Could you be able to introduce me to a profitable business venture that would not require much technical expertise in your country where part of this fund will be invested?

SECURITY:
All modalities to effect the payment and subsequent transfer of this money have been carefully worked out, So this transaction is risk free, though you are required to treat this business with strictest confidenciality.

At the receipt of your email confirming your willingness to assist me, I will require from you copy of standard document of self identification as a trust instrument in order to build a trust bridge between us and assure me of the safety of the money when transferred into your bank account, which is required in this business hierarchy.

Please, all these requirements are urgently needed as it will enable me to establish a stronger business relationship with you hence I will like you to be the general overseer of the investment there after.

Please dont bother to reply if you are not interested,Yours Sincerely, Princess, Amirah Ahmed. Pls. contact me with this address, amirah_ahmed03@yahoo.fr

My 50% Off Tree

I finally finished putting up my tree. I call it my 50% off tree because all the decorations (ornaments, beads, skirt) and the tree itself were all bought at 50% off. :)

Crazy Weather

In the past 24 hrs we have gone from 60/70 degree weather to a tornado watch (complete with my first experience of the sirens going off at 11:15pm) to a wicked thunderstorm w/downpour to a morning of lots of wind starting at around 60 degrees and ends the day with low 30 degree temperature with a wind chill in the low 20s and to top it off a little sleet/freezing rain.

I guess its true what they say about Texas weather, if you dont like it wait a little while, it will change. :)

I Still Hate Time Warner!

So my cable has been out all week, and a tech was scheduled to come out tomorrow morning to find out what happened...or so I was told.

This morning I had a Dr's appt (Everything is fine, I had a physical a couple weeks ago and this was a follow up to go over my test results) at 930am so I was still getting ready at about 830am when the phone rang. It was the Time Warner Tech saying he would be here in about 15-20 min, surprised I tell him thats great but I was expecting him tomorrow morning. So I just blurt out nevermind I will take what I can get, please come now. Heck, when I went in for my physical I was left waiting for nearly 1 1/2hrs so they can wait on me for a change. :) Ironically I had on my to do list today to call Time Warner to confirm my appt with them for tomorrow morning since their track record with me is not good at all. They either dont show up or are always late and with the wrong equipment. :)

So in the mean time I take Gizmo out to do his business and turn on the TV so the guy can see clearly that I have no cable. About 15 min later, the cable pops on. So I run outside and find the guy and ask "Are you the Time Warner guy?" Which he replies yes, so I tell him the cable just popped on. So then he tells me what the problem was....apparently someone was out on Mon and when they went to put the cover back on their cable box thingy outside, they knocked my cable wire off. Easy fix but still upsets me that this could have all been resolved so easily without me having to be home waiting for a tech and could have been fixed within the first day!

I will post over the weekend about my Dr visit. :)

GRRRRRR!!!!

So yesterday I get home from work and find that I have absolutely no cable. I have phone and internet service but absolutely no cable.

As many of you know, I am a TV junkie and cannot survive without TV. I sleep with the TV on for crying out loud. :) I first checked all the connections and made sure the wireless modem was working properly and all checked out ok. Then I checked my bill to make sure I paid it on time and of course I did. So then I called Time Warner (the company I loathe and am only a customer because I have no other options). They said everything on their end looked good and agreed that I was in good standing with them. So the only option I have left is to wait for a tech to come out. Seeing as how I have a job now and do not have any time off accrued, I cant take off during the week to wait for someone to not show up on time. So now I have to wait until SATURDAY.

I will go crazy! I am missing all my favorite shows...Greys, the Office, Biggest Loser, Lipstick Jungle...ahhhhhhhhhhh what will I do?

PS: Last night I slept with a DVD that played on a loop. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know its been awhile since I posted. The job is still going well.

For Thanksgiving we went over to my aunt and uncles house. It was fun. We wanted to play Wii but unforuntately the Cowboy game over-ruled. So instead we played a game called LCR (Left, Center, Right) and I was on a winning streak. :) I still want to play Wii. I havent had a chance to play it yet. I was thinking of getting one but want to try it out first.

Here are some pics from the day. Unfortunately we are not looking at the right camera in them. You know how it is with the paparazzi...everyone yelling for you to look over here, etc. :)

Apparently Michele and I just got too tired keeping up with the paparazzi that we started to fall asleep :)

1st Week

I just finished my first week at my new job at Frito Lay. And so far I really, really like it. I already feel right at home there. My manager says I am doing an excellent job. It sounds like I may have a really good chance of filling the position permanently. She has mentioned a few times that they still have to interview internal canidates but she has also mentioned at the same time that I have a pretty good chance too. So I am crossing my fingers.

The campus is beautiful. There is a huge pond that you can see out the window of the cafeteria and you can even go sit out and eat outside by the pond. The building is kind of laid out like a triangle and on the interior of the 'triangle' is a really pretty sanctuary looking area there are all kinds of rock formations and part of the pond comes thru underneath part of the building. Oh and there is a little waterfall. I am attaching a picture of this area so hopefully you can get the idea. The pond would be on the opposite side of where this picture is taken.

My feet are still getting used to wearing heels or 'dress up' shoes all day but they are adjusting. :) So all in all its been a great week.

November Already?

Its hard to believe its Nov. already. Boy time flies. The bonus is that tonight we turn the clocks back and I get an extra hour of sleep. Yippee!!! I love this time of year. Besides the extra hour, I also enjoy the leaves changing colors (so pretty), the cool crisp air, getting to have the windows open. I think Fall and Spring our my favorite seasons because they are similar weather-wise.

Its About Time...

Finally, I got a job! I contacted a temp agency a couple weeks ago and last week they sent me on an interview with Frito Lay and today they called to say they wanted to offer me the job. I just needed to go in and fill out some paper work which included info for a background check. After that I had to go for drug testing. Apparently things have changed and you no longer need to pee in a cup. They take a lock of your hair and it was a lot. It was about 1/2 to 1 inch in width and a few inches long. Crazy I tell ya! So once the background check and drug test results come back they will determine my start date.

So the position is a Project Coordinator and is temp to perm. It is for 5 mos and most likely will go permenant. In my interview I found out that most of the people that are in the dept came on board the same way thru the same temp agency and they are all perm now. As Project Coordinator I will be working in an area that is responsible for the 100 calorie packs and munchies. Both of which are my favorite snacks. Oh and they just aquired Stacy's Pita Chips. Which on Fri after my interview I stopped at Wal-Mart and what do you think they were giving out as samples....Stacy Pita Chips. I took that as a very good sign since I was just talking about these chips in my interview. And as a bonus Pepsico owns Frito Lay and I am a diet pepsi girl. :)

So good things are happening. The money is less than what I was making, but I am ok with that since this is really the opportunity I was looking for...a great company, a big company, a new industry to learn, and its in a great location. Only about 10 min from my house. Cant beat that!

Sprinkles Cupcakes

So I have become a fan of the Sprinkles cupcakes and yesterday had a chance to try the peanut butter chip. It was so yummy. My all time favorite is still the red velvet. Oh so good...

So far I have had...
Black and White
Strawberry
Red Velvet
Peanut Butter Chip

Boredom Has Set In

I never would have thought it would be this hard to get a job especially in this area where there are so many headquarters in the area. I have applied for over 90 jobs on my own along with 3 temp agencies. I actually had an appointment with one of the temp agencies on Mon this week and I took a few evaluations so I am really hoping my days of unemployment are numbered.

I am getting extremely bored especially since I am also starting to become concerned about money since I have no idea how much longer this will last. So I have become a lot more conservative in regards to how much money I have been spending. So I have been trying to stay away from the stores, movies, etc in order to keep myself from spending money. :)

The one silver lining this week was that I didnt have to care or at least pretend to care about Boss' Day this past week!

Funny Story

Here is a funny story...




Cambodian couple saw house in half in divorce

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia - A couple in rural Cambodia has terminated their 18-year marriage with a divorce settlement that entailed sawing in two the wooden house they once shared, villagers said Friday. The husband, 42-year-old Moeun Sarim, has taken away with him all the bits and pieces of his half a house, said his 35-year-old wife, Vat Navy.

"Very strange, but this is what my husband wanted," she said by phone from a village about 62 miles east of Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh. She said they ended their marriage last month.

"He brought his relatives and used saws to cut the house in half," she said, adding that she now owns the other half that is still standing. The house is made from wood with a tile roof and propped up on wooden pillars, a typical style for a Cambodian country home.

Poor Gizmo

My poor pup has an infection in one of his paws. Poor little guy. You would never know it though. The only reason I was concerned was because he was always licking this same paw and it was getting to be more often. When I went to look at it more closely it just looked like maybe he had a fire ant bite or a little cut, but he let me touch it without any problems so I didnt think it was too bad since he didnt yelp or anything when I touched it. So as the licking got worse, I decided to take him to the vet and it turns out the little guy has an infection. So he is taking an antibiotic pill, an anti-itch pill, and I have to put drops on the actual infected area. The pills are no issue at all since I wrap them in cheese and anyone that knows Gizmo, knows he LOVES cheese. He does not like it though when I put the drops on his paw and he often has a little fit when I do it. He runs around and rubs his face all over the floor. Its a little funny to watch.

Facebook and Other Modern Conviences (I cant spell it; youre lucky I can say it)

Sometimes I think I am addicted to Facebook :)

Its crazy to think that back in high school we didnt have the internet or cell phones or Facebook. And now look at us 20 years later (I think I just dated myself). It makes me think, if we had cell phones, the internet with sites like Facebook, would we have stayed in better touch? Often times lately I think we would have. Now that we do have these things I have become grateful for them.

Back when we were in high school, adults were always telling us to cherish or enjoy that time because when you get older you will miss it. And now 20 years later, I do see how true that really is. I remember those carefree times and how we were in such a rush to grow up and get our own cars, make our own money and live on our own, etc.

Anyway, I jumped on the Facebook train a little late because I wasnt really sure about it. I had a mySpace page and didnt use it much so why would Facebook be any different? I was amazed at how many people I have been able to reconnect with from high school thru Facebook. Some folks I havent been in touch with since high school or our 10 year reunion. (We didnt have a 15 or 20 year reunion but now I am feeling like I am kinda having one on Facebook.) Thinking back 20 years ago I would have never thought I would be here blogging about this. :) In all honesty I thought I would be married with kids and be a stay at home mom. I am none of these, although I am working on it. :) Its not to say that I am not happy with where I am today or how I got here its just not at all what I had pictured back in my high school days. Crazy how things work out.

The Amazing Race

I am sitting here watching The Amazing Race and am 'amazed' that some of these people have made it this far.

Case in point...

We start off with the idiot that gets hit in the head by the taxi driver as he is shutting the trunk of the taxi. To top it off he then lashes out to his partner that 'cant she see he is bleeding?!?!?' (in reality it is not visable at all) he then proceeds to order her to apply pressure to his wound to stop the bleeding and also orders her to 'blow on it'. What a frigging cry baby.

The divorcees that think they need to find a 'container' when in reality that was part of the other detour (the one they chose not to do).

Then back to the cry baby with the head wound...the clue says to get a taxi at the top of the hill. Mind you there is a marker on said hill towards the direction they should be going...you guessed it, they go in the opposite direction. Mind you, they were in 1st place but slipped down to 9th due to this error.

Remember the divorcees, yeah well the detour specifically says dont let your taxi leave; and yep they let the taxi go.

Genius I tell you....and miraculously neither team was eliminated.

Canton Virgin No More

Since moving to Dallas earlier this year, I had been hearing about this mystical place called 'First Monday' in Canton, TX.

Today I made my first trip to Canton and am no longer a 'Canton Virgin'. For those of you that are from the Frederick, MD area this is very similar to Colorfest that is held every October in Thurmont. The best part about 'First Monday' is that it is held every month. So its like Colorfest the first weekend of every month. How cool is that???

So those of you that still arent familiar with either of these, the best way to describe it would be that it is a huge craft fair and/or flea market. I really enjoyed it and look forward to going back. I didnt buy anything but did tons of window shopping and have lots of ideas for when I finally buy a house. With still being unemployed and living in an apartment there really wasnt any 'need' for me to purchase anything this trip.

My only complaint was the heat. :)

Must See TV...from Thurs

One of my favorite nights for TV.

The Office didnt disappoint. Watching the Office actually makes me miss working. :) So many fun parts. I think Amy Ryan as the new HR person is awesome. What cracks me up is how much she witnesses that is just so inappropriate and it makes you wonder what she has to be thinking. And then her crush on Michael is the icing on the cake. Another funny part worth mentioning is when Michael started carrying around the laptop with Pam on the webcam. Too funny.

Grey's Anatomy was so so so so so good. I figured Alex acting like a human being wouldnt last for too long. :) What was up with that icicle that never melts...for as long as it took to decide what to do about it that thing had to be almost melted. The new guy seems ok, but he is no McDreamy or McSteamy. :)

ER was heartwrenching. It was so sad to see one of the docs go like that. It is their last season and I am excited to see how the series ends. I hear Dr Carter and Dr Greene will be making appearances. Too bad hunky George wont be back.

I missed the last hour of Survivor because my TiVo didnt record it. So I was super bummed. I read online what happened but am going to try watching it online. I have to agree with the first girl that was voted out, she was last picked by the stupid team. She was the first female up that hill and performed well so why on earth would they eliminate her so early. Now the older lady I kinda understand and she really should have been first since she was the last one up the hill and will basically not offer up any strength to the team. She rubbed people the wrong way as well as the girl that was voted off first. Just really didnt make a lot of sense. I see that tribe going down fast kinda like the one a few seasons ago that went all the way down to 1 person before they had to merge.

Thats all I got for now. I am off to watch the new Sun night shows...Amazing Race and Desperate Housewives.

Must See TV...From Wed

Three nights of Dancing With the Stars...I was a little surprised that Ted McGinley was eliminated so soon. I think there were a couple people that were not as good. Besides for 50 yrs old, he was still easy on the eyes. ;)

Lipstick Jungle...love it, love it, love it. I am not even sure why I like this show so much. I was shocked with last nights episode. I didnt expect the stuff that happened with Nico's husband. I mean I assumed he was having an affair with that student from last season but had no idea about the other stuff that happened.

I am sooooooo excited about tonight's shows. Anyone that knows me knows what a huge Office and Grey's fan I am and they are both on the same night. And to top it off Survivor starts tonight too. Good thing I have multiple TiVos!

PS: I finally checked out Sprinkles cupcakes yesterday and they were fabulous. YUM-MO!

Must See TV....From Tues

From Tues....

I am still loving Dancing With the Stars. I really like Lance Bass and Brooke Burke the best. Although Clores Leachman isnt that great of a dancer, she is very entertaining, so I think she will stay a lot longer just on that and not so much for the dancing.

90210 was a little flat and predictable this week, but I did hear that they were picked up for the full season so we shall see. I would really like to see Tori Spelling and Brian Austin Green come back...oh and Jason Preistly would be good too. Unfortunately Luke Perry has already said he will not be appearing on the show. Bummer.

I missed the beginning of the Biggest Loser, not sure why it didnt record. I started it as soon as I caught it but missed like 20 min. I did find that it is re-airing on another channel over the weekend so I am going to wait and watch that one.

Must See TV

So, the new shows have started. Last night I watched Dancing With The Stars (DWTS), How I Met Your Mother and Worst Week.

Two thumbs up for DWTS and HIMYM.

• On DWTS my favorites are Lance Bass and Brooke Burke. Chlores Leachman was hysterical and Warren Sapp was surprisingly better than anticipated. I am pretty sure Jeff Ross will be going first or at least one of the first. Kinda sucks for his partner.

Worst Week was one of the new shows. I didnt get it. I dont understand how they can make this a weekly show. I honestly thought it was an episode version of Meet the Parents/Fockers. I dont think this one will last long.

Coming up tonight, more DWTS, The Biggest Loser (which started last week), and the 'new' 90210 (which also started earlier this month). I am still feeling out 90210, I am not totally hooked but am intrigued. Especially when it was revealed who the 'baby daddy' is for Kelly's son.

Bored

I am really starting to get bored. I really need to find a job. I have applied for over 70 jobs and nothing yet. I had a call last week about a possible interview for this week, but they have not gotten back to me. I even sent a follow up email letting them know I was still interested.

It would be different if I was super rich and didnt have to work. That would be completely different because then I could get any old job even a part time job for fun. I could go on shopping sprees. All the fun I could have....well back to reality.

Bored, bored, bored, bored, bored....

Trip Back Home

Last Thurs I flew back home to MD for a quick visit. I had no idea that Ike would change my plans. 'Ike' being hurricane Ike.

I got to visit with family and friends and it had been almost a year since I had been back. I was supposed to come back Sunday, but since I was flying on Continental and one of their main hubs is in Houston, I was notified that my flight had been cancelled on Sat afternoon.

Once I found out my flight was cancelled on Sunday I made plans to see my grandparents that I didnt originally think I would get a chance to see on my short trip. The sweet part about it was that Granny had called on Sat at my parents to make sure that Michele and I were ok with the hurricane hitting TX, so we decided to drive down Sun afternoon and surprise them with proof that I was ok. :) We were sure they would be home since the Redskins were playing and of course we were right!

When my flight was cancelled, Continental had rebooked my flight for first thing Mon morning. First thing being 540AM. There was no way I was going to make that flight. #1 I didnt want my dad to have drive me that early, let alone, I didnt want to get up that early either. #2 Houston airport was just reopening on Monday, I didnt want to chance that my flight being one of the first into it would be cancelled and I would be stuck in an airport all day. So I had to call and reschedule my flight for a better time. I was able to rebook for 320pm Mon afternoon which would get me back to Dallas around 830pm which worked out perfectly.

Unfortunately as I was getting ready, packing and checking email Mon morning, I checked on my flight and found out that it was already showing up as delayed by 1 hr 40 min and it was only 10am; 5 1/2 hrs prior to departure. Figuring I had an hour layover in Houston, I was worried that with the delay I would miss my connection. I started looking at what my other flight options were. There was only one later flight to Dallas from Houston. I was trying to figure out if I should call and get my connection switched rather than wait until later and have it be totally booked. Within the next 10 min the flight was cancelled. So I immediately switched both my flights to the next available ones which were also the last ones that would get me to Dallas on Monday. I really didnt want to get stranded in the Houston airport. I would have rather stayed in MD another day. :)

So I guess the third time was a charm as I made it home safely. It was heartbreaking to hear some of the stories of some of those traveling that were from Houston. Many people lost their homes. One flight attendant I was talking to in the Houston airport showed my pictures of her parents beachhouse completely underwater and their other house had a huge tree that fell thru most of the house. I was very surprised at how well most of these people were taking it. Most talked about rebuilding their homes bigger and better. It really put things in perspective and made me appreciate what I have. :)

PS here is a cute picture I took of my friend Chrissy's little girl Molly. The night before I came, she wrote on her dry erase board about me, so I just had to take a picture of it. It was so sweet and so worth my trip, flight cancellations and all. :)

(In case you cant read it all, it says: Aunt Amy!!! :-) Cool I love her She is the best We love her)

Bizarre News

Here is another bizarre and funny story I came across...

Wheelchair Robber Rolls In and Rips Off Condoms

DALLAS - A wheelchair getaway at a 7-Eleven has police looking for an unusual robbery suspect. Authorities said Friday that a man in a wheelchair entered a Dallas convenience store this week, rolled straight toward the cash register and began hitting it with a baseball bat.

But he didn't grab any cash. The suspect instead stole 10 boxes of condoms and an energy drink before making his getaway Wednesday afternoon, Dallas police Cpl. Kevin Janse said. Janse said the culprit may have been homeless and probably intoxicated at the time.

Something Funny

I just read this article and thought it was too funny not to share...

A 78 year-old woman checking in at Sweden's main airport has probably just had her worst airport experience ever. The woman was preparing to fly from Stockholm's Arlanda airport to Germany on Tuesday.

But, unfortunately, she misunderstood some instructions while checking in and placed herself on the unmanned baggage belt, instead of her luggage! Grandma was then whisked away down a baggage chute!!!!

She ended up at the baggage handling centre. Luckily staff members were on hand to help her get up. And, on a very good note, she suffered NO serious injuries and was even able to catch her flight to Germany.

Go for Broke

Well it appears I have broken my heel bone. Last year I broke my right one and now I have broken the left one. Apparently fat girls shouldnt exercise. :) Well at least now I know what I did last year and now I know what not to do any more! :)

It kinda sucks though, you try to exercise to lose weight but then when you do exercise you end up hurting your self cuz your too fat! Something needs to change there. Oh well, I will hobble around with my new stylish black boot for 3 weeks until I go back to the Dr. I am thinking I may need to add a little bling to my boring black boot.

Unemployment Update

I forgot to mention in my previous post that despite being on vacation last week, I was still able to continue my job search. Unfortunately still no bites but I did apply for 6 jobs last week. Oh yeah and yesterday was my official one month mark of being unemployed. bummer!

Back From the Beach

Last week Gizmo and I went on vacation with my aunt and her family. We went to Destin, FL the same place we had our family reunion last year. This year we were in a different house that allowed dogs so my aunt was able to bring her 2 pups and I got to bring Gizmo. We took 2 cars since it would be a very tight squeeze with 6 people and 3 dogs in one car. My cousin Michael also came down for a few days so it was great to see him too. The only bad thing was that it rained 3 out of 6 days. What a bummer. So our first day Sunday was nice and we got to go to the beach. Unfortunately Mon, Tue, and Wed the weather didnt want to cooperate and it rained off and on. Finally on Thurs and Fri the clouds cleared up and we were able to hit the beach for the last 2 days. The water was a little rough and not very clear on those 2 days due to the storms. Despite the weather and long drive, it was still great to get away and Gizmo got to go on his first real vacation. :)

Unemployment - Day 1

Its a little surreal to be unemployed. It will probably really sink in when that first payday hits and no paycheck. :( I did check in with a couple friends from my old work. Apparently not much has changed there and I am secretly glad I am not working there anymore.

I have vowed to keep busy though and will not sit around and watch TV all day. I am also restricted from sitting around in my PJs all day. I must shower and get dressed before noon. :)

Today I went to the clubhouse gym and worked out for 30 min. I also did a load of wash and cleaned up the living room and vacuumed my apartment. Oh and I went to Target to pick up some RXs and a few other things. I should probably make myself get out of the house every day too. :)

Summer TV

So I was sitting here watching Big Brother as I update my blog. (I started this last night and then my internet explorere decided to crash) I am definately thinking this cast is better than last seasons, but am not convinced yet that they have turned the show back around from previous seasons. :) Stay tuned. Oh and so far my least favorites are Renny (the older chick that is loud and obnoxious) and April (the girl having everyone touch her boobs the first night, ewwww!).

I was very disappointed in the Bachelorette ending. DeAnna went on and on and on about how Brad hurt her and led her on (I know that the whole point of the show means someone will get hurt) but she kept acting like it wasnt. Anyway, very disappointing and I was pulling for Jason.

I am a big fan of Flipping Out. There was a big surprise in last nights episode that I totally didnt see coming. I feel so bad for Jenni his assistant. Unfortunately last nights episode wasnt as funny but still a bit shocking.

Well that is all I have for now.

How do you like me now???

I finally found a nice change for my blog background courtesy of thecutestblogontheblock.com. Now it feels more fun!

Blog Makeover

I think my blog needs a makeover. Anyone with ideas, please let me know. I not all that excited about the templates that are out there. :(

Catching Up

Long time no post...last week I went back to San Antonio for work and took Gizmo with me. We stayed with a good friend of mine I used to work with and her hubby. They have a beautiful house and we felt very much at home there. Gizmo got to go hang out with his old buds from playcare they were so glad to see him again. I think he was very excited to be back for a visit.

This past weekend I went to get a pedicure boy did I need one. Unfortunately the chick cut me and I didnt realize it until the next morning. It still wasnt better by Wed so I went in to see the Dr.; plus I havent been feeling well and thought I may have a sinus infection and sure enough I did have a sinus infeciton and my big toe was infected from the pedicure incident. So I got some antibiotics for both plus a tetnus shot and an anti-inflamatory shot for the sinuses. Little did I know I was in for a such a painful week. :)

We are off to San Antonio for one last trip for work. We are leaving Sun and should be coming back Thurs or Fri. I am hoping Thurs because that means I may have a job interview on Fri. I had someone contact me this morning about a possible job opportunity in the North Dallas area. Woo Hoo! It sounds like a good opportunity and something I am interested in. So I am keeping my fingers crossed.

Thats about it for now. The pup is waiting to go to bed. :)

Update

Hi again...so far things have been going well. Gizmo switched playcares. I dont think he was loving the zen den as much and I wasnt feelin it there either so now we are trying out Bo's Bunkhouse and so far so good. He seems to like it a lot better and so do I.

Tomorrow we are leaving for a trip back to San Antonio for work. Gizmo will get to go visit all his buds at the Palms. I called to let them know he was coming and they are excited to see him.

I am still searching for a new job. Its been a somewhat longer process than I had hoped. Its been about 6 wks now and no bites. I have posted for 4 internal jobs and about 6 or 7 externally.

In some ways I am kinda looking forward to not working for a while, but in others I am scared to death of not having a paycheck or insurance. I do feel like I am burned out and need a break but its scary not knowing if I will find a new job soon. I am sure it will all work and everything does happen for a reason.

Blog again soon!

First Days in Our New Surroundings

Gizmo went for his first day at his new play care today. Can you just picture him with his little backpack going off to play for the day? LOL. Anyway, they said he did really well and he seemed very happy to see me when I came to pick him up and he did is usual 'talking' when I picked him up and asked him about his day. :)

Poor pup, I pick him up last week on his last day of playcare and drive 5 hrs to Dallas and then the next day move him to our new apartment which he starts to get used to and 2 days later I have to leave to go back to San Antonio to close on the old house. Then I pick him up from Aunt Bonnie's and spend the next day at home with him (since I am working from home now) and then the next day I drop him off at playcare. I felt so bad when I saw the look on his face as I was leaving, it was like wait a minute you are leaving me in a strange place again so soon?!?!? What a trooper!!!

As for me, I am actually enjoying the opportunity to work from home. I wish I could do it permanently. I find that I am way more productive. Probably since there are really no distractions like people just dropping by your cube or getting caught up on the latest gossip. I do kinda miss the social aspects. So I guess there are pros and cons to the whole work from home thing. It definately saves on gas which I am excited about.

Its Official

I finally sold my house. I have now moved to Plano which is outside of Dallas. I found an apartment 2 weeks ago and I moved into it last Thurs/Fri. Closing was today. So I flew back to San Antonio on Sun and back to Dallas this afternoon. It went by so smoothly. I was done in less than 10 min. So I was able to get an earlier flight back to Dallas which I arrived 90 min before I was originally supposed to take off from San Antonio. Now comes the fun of unpacking, in some ways its almost like opening christmas presents. Finding things you forgot you had. :)

I am going to work virtually for the same company (Accenture) for the next month while I look for something new within the company and they hire a replacement for me. I have posted for 3 jobs internally but if I dont hear anything by next week I will have to start looking outside of Accenture.

Stay tuned!

Finally...

Finally I sold my house! I guess its true the third time is a charm. :) We close on June 3rd.

I also made the decision to move to Dallas. With everything that happened with the new house I was supposed to move into when I sold this house, I decided it was a sign that I should move to Dallas now rather than in a few years. There have been other signs along the way as well and as I firmly believe that everything happens for a reason; the time seems to be right.

More to come.

Difficult Decisions

This week I had to make a difficult decision to cancel my contract on my new house. The Sales Manager was putting the pressure on now that the house is pretty much done. I could sell my house quicker if I lower the price a bit but if I did that, I couldnt afford the down-payment on my new house. So after much thought and review of my options I decided to cancel my contract now while I could still get my earnest money back. Unfortunately that is only 1/3 of the money that I put into the new house.

I could have continued with an addendum to the contract where they would be able to put the house on the market and I would have right of first refusal. This is where I would have 3 days to either walk away or buy the new house without the contingency on selling my house.

The Sales Manager had already been rude to both of my agents when I first switched over to them. Which is unfortunate since they could have worked very well together not just with me but with other opportunities.

Anyway he was pretty rude with me when he called me to tell me about putting the house up and at one point laughed at me when I asked a question. I told him I didnt appreciate it and that it is unprofessional of him to do that. He also was totally denying that he had told me I would have until July to sell my house. Unfortunately I didnt have that in writing as I thought I did. So I after I drive by the house I saw that the sold sign was gone and that an 'available' sign was now up in the yard. So the next day I called and spoke to his boss and filled him in on everything and after discussing with him and my agents I decided it was best to cancel the contract.

So now I am pondering my next steps on what to do when my house does sell. We thought about lowering the price, but after reviewing the comps in the area; it really is priced right so I will hold off a little longer. There are some different options I am considering for what I will do when my house does sell. I will share those at a later time. :)

As we all know everything happens for a reason!

OMG! Why I dont like cats...

So the day before I was supposed to leave for my cruise. I was in the garage looking thru boxes for a few things and out from behind some boxes runs a cat. Apparently a cat has been hiding in my garage for some time now. My guess is that it had been there for about 4-6 weeks. I am thinking it got in when my agents 'staged' my house and stored stuff in my garage; which had been about 6 weeks prior. About 4 weeks before I had found poop in my garage and assumed it was Gizmo's but wasnt quite sure when he would have done it. Now thinking back I am pretty sure it was this cats. I immediately went over to my neighbors because they had been missing a cat for a few weeks now. Turned out not to be theirs but they have since sorta adopted it. We had a heck of a time getting it out of my garage. It was very scrawny and scared. I have no idea how it survived for that long in my garage.

I will post about my cruise soon. I still have to download pics.

Bummed

I am still bummed from last weekends news on the offer on my house...I was supposed to have a showing yesterday (Fri) from 2-4pm so I came home from work early to get Gizmo and we went to visit a friend of mine. She and her family just moved into one of the communities off the main road to my house. While I was there the showing service called to say that they rescheduled for 3-4pm and it was already 3pm. So basically I had wasted an hour. So I came home after 4pm but it didnt look like anyone had been by. Then at 530pm they called again to tell me that they had cancelled. Bummer!

UGH!

Just when you think you can breath a sigh of relief...

My agent called with bad news today. The people that had the offer on my house had to back out. They are also pulling their house off the market. Apparently there was some sort of medical emergency that was pretty bad which is all he knew.

So I am basically back to square one.

House Selling the Sequel

Four weeks, five showings, and 2 offers later....

Yes I said 2 offers, meaning I got my 2nd offer on my house. Yippee. Of course these things happen when you least expect it. This past Monday as I was leaving for work I contemplated, 'did I really need to put my bathroom items away under the cabinet? do I really need to clean up my dirty dishes from breakfast' Seeing how it was cold and rainy out and no one ever comes to see a house during the week. I decided why bother and off to work I went. Wrong answer!

So late morning I got a message that someone was coming to see my house in the afternoon. I later found out (since my neighbor across the street was home) that they came and stayed for over an hour...AND came back a little later and stayed a long time. Sooooooo by Tues morning there was feedback from their agent on the showing database indicating they would be submitting an offer tomorrow morning. So of course I am on pins and needles all day Tues trying to figure out if that meant the offer was coming Tues or Wed. Turned out it was Wed. :)

So by Wed I am very hopeful at this point...only to be let down by the offer. They offered $10K less and also had a contingency to sell their house. UGH!!! So of course this not good for me. We countered at $151K and no contingency. Well apparently their agent didnt want to go back to her clients with that and was talking to my agent about it. My agent called me late Thurs afternoon and had a new plan that is totally win-win for me. Counter-offer for full asking price ($154,900) and keep the contingency. Worst scenario, I continue to show my house, I can potentially get another offer and when that happens we have to go back to my first offer and they have 2 days to decide if they want to drop the contingency or let my house go to the new offer. So basically I loose 2 days while they decide. :) So of course I am all for this option.

So later that night I am standing out front with a couple other neighbors and notice that some people are looking at the house a couple doors down that is my exact same model even the same brick but the front is a different elevation. I jokingly say I wonder if that is the people that came to see my house on Monday. The next thing I know the agent starts walking towards us and asks if any of us are the homeowner of my house, so of course I say its mine and she introduces herself and asks if her clients can take another look at my house and of course my house is not as neat and cleaned up as it could be but I say yes and they went in and stayed for at least 20 min. I also wasnt sure if they had received my counter offer yet that I just signed off on a couple hours before so I didnt mention it.

I didnt want to get my hopes up since it wouldnt make sense to me that they would want to pay full price when there was another house down the street that is the exact same house. (apparently there are a few upgrades I have that the other house doesnt; as well as it is sitting empty. The house is also listed $100 more at $155K) Oh and the worst part was that when they were back in my house on Thurs night, the punks next door were practicing for their band with the drums playing full force. I thought for sure this would be a deal killer.

Anyway, as this blog gets longer and longer by the minute (word). My agent called yesterday and they accepted my counter offer the only thing they changed was that they wanted my appliances (washer, dryer, and fridge). Totally fine with me since I am getting full price and will have a little bit of money due to that. So Yippee, I am very excited and am hoping they can sell their house soon. They just put it on the market this week, but it is a lot less than mine and has a good chance of selling pretty quick. Oh and they seem to think they can sell by April 30th. What a great date! Oh and one more freaky thing. My agent has a client coming to town next week and is looking for something in the same area and price range as the folks wanting to buy my house. How crazy would that be if that all works out???

PS: My agent had an open house last Sat and only 1 person showed up and they said she barely spoke english...so I guess the Open House was a bust.

I will post more about the new house.

Deal or No Deal?

Answer: No Deal

Last Sunday I had another showing and on Monday that person made an offer. Unfortunately the offer was 10K less than my asking price with a closing/settlement date of 3/10. 3/10 being 2 weeks. So of course I counter-offered. Then they countered again and I had to talk to my loan officer and sales manager for the new house to see if their offer was do-able. So by Wed we were really looking at less than 2 weeks and my loan officer suggested we try for 3/14 since we were less than 2 weeks by then.

So I was able to make one last counter offer (which basically met them in the middle of their original offer) including the date change. We also asked for proof of funds as well as $1000 in earnest money. They originally only had $500 in their offer for earnest money. Their agent is very 'old school' and doesnt believe in the internet so he faxes everything. He also wasnt filling out the paper work correctly.

So by Thurs afternoon, I still hadnt heard anything and was going to call my agent and tell him to pull the offer. I was tired of playing games and needed to know if I was moving in 2 weeks or not since I had a lot of planning to do in order to make that happen.

At any rate my agent called me before I had the chance to call him and said that they responded back (by fax of course) saying they are tired of playing our games and were taking their money elsewhere. So I am totally fine with that; I was tired of dealing with them anyway. Plus I didnt have that warm fuzzy feeling about it.

I am sure the right offer will come and it is supposed to be nice this weekend. Plus we are planning an open house for next weekend. Wish me luck!

House Selling

Wow what a difference a new agent makes! Today I had 2 showings on my house and I have to give credit to my new agent. He created the new MLS (Multiple Listing Service) yesterday and added the one picture of the front of my house with the new price to get it out there and already I had 2 showings. This was an issue that I had with my old agent, she added to the MLS but no pictures were showing. She had taken several pictures but they were not showing up. Unfortunately I was the one that found this at the begining of Feb. It was pretty upsetting to find this out after having it on the market for 6 weeks and to top it off, I had to find it.

My new agent Tommy, also came by today to take new pictures of the outside of the house since it was such a nice day out. He also helped me move the boxes I have packed already to the garage. Tomorrow (Mon) he and his partner are coming back to stage the house.

Here is his website if you want to check him out:
http://www.tommycirtaus.com/

Stay tuned!

Weight Watchers - Week 5

Well it looks like I am back on track....I lost .8 lbs this past week. Not too bad with eating lunch out this week so I could catch up with my work buds. I also havent been able to exercise, like walking as much as I would like to.

New Agent(s)

So as you read in my previous post I 'fired' my real estate agent. She was not working out. Anyway, I was able to switch to another agent in the same Remax office. He works with a partner and when I met with both of them yesterday. They took the time to explain key items about selling a house, price, location, etc. We ended up lowering the price by $4000. So it will now be listed at $154,900. They will also be coming back to 'stage' my house (on Mon or Tues) which is great because I was having a hard time moving things on my own even though my previous agent said I didnt need to change/move anything. They are also planning an open house and placing 'take one' flyers on the sign out front. So needless to say these guys impressed me already.

On an embarrassing note, Gizmo liked them so much he tried to hump their legs. I was so embarrassed.

You're Fired!

Well not any of you, but I did have to fire my realtor this morning. She was just not working out. I think she thought that posting my listing and sticking a sign in my yard and my house would sell itself. Not in this market and now that I recall, she didnt even put the sign in my yard, she brought it over and wanted to wait until she posted it before putting it in the ground and then she forgot! I had to get my neighbor to do it since I was out of town. I guess that should have been my first clue.

Oh well. I am meeting with my new realtor tomorrow afternoon and hopefully we can get this house sold, cuz my new one is looking soooooooo good. I cannot wait to move into it. It is sooooo beautiful. I went by today to look and there are only a few more things to do. Carpet, appliances, sod and thats about it. I am sure there are some little things I havent thought about but those were the biggies. Again I will post pics of the new house soon too. Its late I am going to bed!

Oweee

So it turns out that I had an allergic reaction to adhesive. I ended up going back to the Dr on Monday to make sure by incisions were ok. 2 of the 3 didnt look too good (one still looked like a hole, yikes). However around each of he incisions I had broken out in a rash and blisters. Anyway, the Dr said despite the allergic reaction the incisions appear to be healing 'nicely'. He said they could re-try a butterfly stitch on the one that still looked like a hole but since the skin all around it was still inflamed due to the allergic reaction we could leave it alone and it will be fine. So we shall see. I am afraid I will have bigger scars this time around. I will post some pics soon. Actually I plan to post pictures I have been taking this weekend. I have some new ones of the new house to post as well.

Knee Update

I got my stitches out yesterday and will start physicall therapy next week. Unfortunately last night and this morning I noticed 2 out of 3 of my incisions seemed to open back up. The little strips they put over the incinsions after the stitches were removed seemed to come loose. So today I played nurse and went and bought those butterfly strips and tried to stay off it most of the day. So far it seems to have done the trick. I will post some new pictures soon.

Weight Watchers - Week 4

Hello...well I started back to Weight Watchers today after a brief 2 week break due to my knee surgery. Unfortunately with being homebound for 2 weeks coupled with the arrival of Girl Scout cookies this week, I gained a pound. Well I guess it could be worse.

Knee Surgery

Hi...for those of you that didnt know, I had knee surgery yesterday (Thurs). I am at home recoperating. I have had a lot of people checking on me. I have a great group of people that I work with. They have been calling to check in and make sure I have everything I need. They are an awesome bunch. I also have my neighbors across the street helping me out as well. Donovan comes over and plays with Gizmo and takes him for walks for me.

So my surgery went well. There was no torn miniscus (sp?) but there was some damage from arthritis that he cleaned up. I am pretty sore today and it is hard to get comfortable, especially when I sleep since I sleep on my side and cant really do that with my knee bandaged up and I have to keep it elevated too. I am attaching some pics. The one with the scribbles is where my dr and I had to initial to show that we agree the surgery was to happen on my right knee. :) I thought that was pretty funny. Then the blue bandage is the ice pack I wrap around the bandage.

Weight Watchers - Week 3

This week when I weighed in I lost 1 lbs. Which is ok, because this one little pound also allowed me to hit a mini milestone...I am now out of the 220's :) This also brings my total weight loss to date at 6.4 lbs.

I will most likely miss a weigh in this week since I am having knee surgery on Thurs and I wont be able to drive or be very mobile so hopefully I will be able to weigh in the following Sat.

Happy Birthday Gizmo!

Gizmo turns 1 today! It seems like yesterday that I picked him up. (that was actually in late march) time goes by so fast! Anyway, he is spending the day at play care with the 'big' dogs and is also getting groomed again. His hair is growing so quickly lately. I will post a picture once he gets home.

Weight Watchers - Week 2

So as one of my New Year's resolutions like every other year has been to loose weight. I joined Weight Watchers on Jan 10th. I am hoping that by using Weight Watchers along with posting on my blog it will help me achieve my goal this time. I have found in the past that I need to go to the WW meetings every week to weigh in. I find this helps to make me accountable. WW also has a new online tool that makes it easier to track points, activies, recipes, etc. I am also thinking that posting on my blog will also make me more accountable so without further ado...I decided to try a Sat morning meeting this week and it was pretty crowded. I think I am going to keep going on Sat. So this week when I weighed in I was happy to find out that I lost 5.4 lbs. So I also got my 5 lbs sticker in the meeting today too. Horay for me!

Happy New Year!

Hi

My name is Amy and this is my first blog. I decided to do this as one of my new year resolutions. My sister and her hubby have a blog and I enjoy keeping up with them by reading their blog. This way I can also keep everyone up to date on new things going on in my life.

Come back often...I will try to update at least once a week. :)