VICTORY! :)

This morning was VERY productive for me (and for once, I'm not being sarcastic!). I got through all my e-mails this morning and focused in on the remaining 80+ pages left I had of that terrible transcript. I finished around 10:45 finally!!! The depo summary was about 10 pages long (better than the 400+ the actual transcript was) but still. I spent 10 hours and 15 minutes on that thing in the past 3 days!!!! But it's over, it's over, it's over, and my attorney was grateful even though he then proceeded to tell me to just stick the summary in with the transcripts because they had moved the depo that was supposed to be Monday that he needed it for until a future date. At least I didn't stay too late last night or take it home with me!

I also got all of my filing done. Our file clerk went on maternity leave the last week in September and apparently now only comes in one day a week to do docketing stuff and works from home. So for the past five months, we are each responsible for our individual filing. With me being out last week on Thursday and Friday (I usually try to file once a week on Fridays because most of my intensive files are in the office here with me and I just file that stuff away as it comes in), I didn't get it done last week or this, so I was grateful to get that stack of papers out of my alpha sorter and in the actual files. So that is done now too!

Then I went to a wonderful lunch with Jes - yum sushi! - and now I'm back at my desk trying to figure out what to do with myself since I don't have that massive transcript or pile of filing on my desk!!!! Yippee! We have a meeting at 1:30 today for our department that I have a feeling is going to be bad news, but at least I know that I've been doing my work, keeping good hours, etc. so I should be just sitting there listening most of the time. I have a feeling though that a few others will be up against some frustration on the part of our boss. Guess we'll have to see!

Hope you all have a wonderful afternoon & great weekend if I don't blog before! :)

But It's So Far Away!

Okay, people, I promise not to be gross, but I have to discuss a topic that has lately been an issue for me: going to the bathroom at work. Now you are probably not wanting to read the rest of this blog, but I promise it is not graphic or disgusting in any way.

Here is the issue: they are doing construction of the rest of our office floor because we are expanding our office to encompass the entire floor. This construction has been going on for a month now already and has about two more months more to go. And the thing is that the bathroom for the women (which I am one) is all the way on the opposite side of the office. Now previously from our office, we could go out one door to our right, down a short hallway, and tada we were there. Since that is the area under construction, we now have to go in a U shape around the ENTIRE OFFICE to get to the bathroom and the other side, crawl through construction drapes as I like to call them, and step through dust and dirt to get into the bathroom. Or in the alternative, we could go out into the hallway through the lobby and wait for an elevator, go up one floor, get off the elevator, down the hall, use the bathroom, come back to wait for the elevator to go back down one floor, and then get back to our office. Either way IT IS A PAIN!!!!

Because of this, I have a tendency now to just be lazy when I need to pee. I am not willing to wander halfway across the earth just to use the bathroom, so I tell myself I can hold it. On Monday, I held it ALL DAY LONG because I kept procrastinating.....so by the time I sat in traffic and got home, I had to pee so bad I nearly bowled my animals and husband over trying to get to the bathroom. That is ridiculous! And it's not like I don't drink anything all day. I usually have a cup of coffee/cocoa, 2 sodas, and a few glasses of water in a day......that's a lot of liquid to be holding in all day.

Needless to say, I figured I would blog about this trauma in my life because it is random and silly and that is what this blog is for. Plus I'm majorily procrastinating on reading/summarizing this deposition that I've been working on since yesterday - 250 pages down, 150 more to go! Ugh - and it's not even anything interesting!!!! :) On that note, I'm going to go use the bathroom because it will waste some more time and at least I won't have to kill my family to get to the bathroom when I get home!

Don't Quit Your Day Job!

At the request of my probably one and only adoring reader, Jes, I have decided to blog a bit this afternoon. I really should be working on these ginormous (yes it's a word in my language even though it's not a real word) deposition transcripts that I have to read & summarize (BORING!!!), but I worked on it for over an hour this morning and will get back to it after this blog again. Just need to be done by Friday because there is another one coming up on Monday, and my attorney needs the summaries before I leave on Friday to prep for the deposition he has to take on Monday. Fun stuff!

Anyways, last weekend, I decided to set up one of Austin's friends with a blogging buddy, Heather. They went out to dinner, and we all met up for bowling which turned into Dave & Buster's because they were out of shoes and it was a 45-60 minute wait to bowl (there were lanes open people, all we needed were stupid shoes - and yes we tried the sock method but they said no go!). I think everyone had a great evening (we should all do it again sometime on a separate note!), and that was that. I think Heather & Joey had a lot of fun and got along really well, but it's difficult to do the long distance thing and since he is dragging his butt on coming back from Lubbock (not really, just waiting for a transfer for his job), I guess it is not going to work out for now! ;( Needless to say, I better not quit my day job in hopes of becoming a matchmaker because those are the types of details I probably should have thought about before, but overall it was not a loss in the slightest since at least a good time was had by all.

Speaking of my day job, I don't want to say a lot since I'm lately very paranoid about blogging anything work-related, but I do want everyone to keep their fingers crossed & thoughts/prayers on their minds because I'm making a major push to figure out what it is I'm going to be when I grow up! ;) We'll see how that goes, but I am sure going to try my hardest at least......although I must say, it is quite difficult trying to manage getting a new job when you are already working because if you are lucky enough to get an interview, there are only so many "doctor appointments" that you can go to!

Enough about that, I have now satisfied my required blog for the day. Looking forward to NOT going to dance class tonight. I have decided to be a lazy bum for the rest of this week (I deserve it - last week was tough!). But starting this weekend and next week, I am going to clean, unpack gifts (yes we still have more that we need to find a place to put so we can use them), and even try to exercise!!! :) I wonder if there is any good TV on Wednesday nights? At least I can watch the taped 24 episodes we still need to watch as well as read some of my book which I started on the plane to Philadelphia. Fun stuff!

Out with the Old, In with the New!

As Jes commented and others of you may have noticed, I have removed my Valentine's Day version of me and replaced it with a working world me. The reason for this is because a) there wasn't anything in particular that I wanted to use as a theme, b) I thought they were cute clothes and would wear them if they were real, and c) I want to focus on my career at this time in my life so it's good motivation! :)

It's time for me to shake some things up in my life and make a new start. I am quitting my dance class that I've been doing for 2 years now in hopes of regaining control over my apartment as well as exploring other interests. And I'm anxious about finding a job that interests me, whatever that might be! So here's to getting the old out and the new in!

A Dilemma

Right now, I'm really torn about something so I figured I would blog about it and get some opinions and advice. I have been taking a dance class at a local community college for the past two years now. This is my 5th semester taking there, and up until this semester, I have really enjoyed it. Most of the people that are in it are taking it as continuing education so they are my age or older even, and I am probably toward the upper half in terms of ability in the class which always helps.

It used to be something that I really looked forward to, something that I really enjoyed. But these days, I feel like I'm constantly having to force myself to go and even when I go, I don't have a good time. The people that I used to talk with and hang out with at class have all left, and the remaining people are nice but very cliquey and I'm not into that. We aren't doing any new dances this semester, she isn't letting us do student choreography like we did last spring, and overall it just sucks. I am already unhappy with my job situation, but force myself to do that every day - I just wonder if I am making a mistake forcing myself to do something I don't want to do in my private life too. I just don't know what to do.

I feel like a loser just quitting like this. But I also feel like I'm missing out on things by being locked into going twice a week to class when I don't really enjoy it that much. I don't have the time I would like to get things done around the house during the week so that I don't have a ton to do on the weekends. I don't have the time to read a good book or watch a movie I might want to see or even just spend time with my husband. I would love to be able to see my friends more often or do something random like head to Starbucks for a chat with some friends or go to the library and pick out some good books or just other things that I enjoy. Maybe I should just give it up until next fall when there is a more concrete schedule to things to get ready for the fall performances. Or maybe it's time to move on to something else.....maybe I could take classes at Powerhouse or one of those type of places just here and there as I want to and not feel like I HAVE to go every time. I just don't know what to do exactly.

So here I am opening it up to you all to see what you think. Please feel free to give any ideas, advice, thoughts, etc. about what you think. Maybe someone will volunteer to try out another class with me? Or something like Curves or something fun where I could see a friend and workout?! ;) I don't know, let me know what you think!

I'm Out of Here!

See you on Friday morning when I'll probably half asleep and exhausted. I thought about not coming in on Friday because one of my co-workers said to ask about bereavement leave. And then I found out that they do have bereavement leave but it has to be your mother, father, sister, brother, child, or spouse, so grandparents don't count. They only give one day for that which I think is NOT enough but whatever. Too bad I couldnt' have that day not count and then I could take Friday off too as a personal day. Oh well, see you on Friday! I'm off to brave the freezing Pennsylvania weather! :)

Nothing Like a Good Penguin Swatting to Brighten Your Day!

I am amused! :)

http://n.ethz.ch/student/mkos/pinguin.swf

Focus on the Positives

Yesterday was a wonderful and yet trying day for me. I hope that I am emotionally ready for what Thursday will bring. I think I will be okay, and more than anything I want to be strong for my father and what he is going through. But for now, I am going to focus on the positive things that I am so blessed with.

Last night, I was stuck in traffic for awhile on the way home due to a huge wreck on one of the major highways I take to get home. When I finally got home, Austin had all the lights off and had taken dozens of tealights and put them all up our staircase and around the dinner table and had spelled out I (heart) U in candles. It looked great. He also surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers at home too including the periwinkle hydrangea that I love so much! He put dinner on the table a few minutes after I walked in, and we had a great meal. My parents sent us a box full of Valentine's Day goodies, and we both got some cute clothes and I got a cute purse, and a few other fun surprises! Even some dog cookies for Maddie which she loves! :)

Other good things: tonight I am going to go buy my new laptop. Since we will have time to pay it off without interest, we are going to go ahead and do it so we can get the good deal. Plus, my parents & grandmother will probably give me money for my birthday which is coming up, and I can just put all that towards paying for the computer. So that's exciting - it's been very frustrating not having access to my own computer when I get home! And I really hope that Austin's friend is able to pull off all my documents and e-mail directory and such because I am lost without it! I don't know any of my frequent flier numbers or e-mail addresses or anything! So even though I won't get to spend much time messing with it before I leave tomorrow, at least I will have a new computer waiting for me when I get back that I can play with this weekend.

At least we have a lot of fun activities planned for this weekend to distract me! Our friend, Joey, is coming in town Friday afternoon and spending the weekend hanging out. Saturday night, we are going to have dinner with Jes & Roger and spend some time with them, and then I think we are going to try our luck at disco bowling! ;) Too bad I can't really bowl really well but it's still fun! Sunday night, we will probably have some people over for dinner and to hang out and hopefully Brad will set up my computer for the Internet and whatnot for me!

I guess that's about all I can think of for now. Trying to get myself organized tonight after I get home with my new computer because I will have to leave directly from work tomorrow afternoon to get to the airport. At least maybe I can get some sleep or get some reading done on the 3 hour flight! Guess we'll have to see - right now I'm stuck in a middle seat which will REALLY suck for a flight that long, but hopefully when I get there tomorrow, I can switch around. I hope my cold doesn't make it too miserable for my flight! Hope you all have a good day! :)

Update

Okay, so here's the update. I have gotten the most beautiful flowers from my loving husband - he really outdid himself this year, and I am so blessed to have him in my life! These flowers make me happy! ;)

Anyways, after talking to my parents again, they said I didn't have to go, but I really think I probably should and plus I want to be there to support my dad especially. So I will be leaving work at 3 pm on Wednesday to head to the airport, flying straight to Philadelphia, and getting in at 9:30 pm their time. Then the service will be on Thursday. Then I will get leave early Friday morning at like 6:07 am their time and head back home on a direct flight that gets in here at 8:45 am. Just in time to get me here at a decent time to work and since I'm working an extra hour today and an exta hour tomorrow, as long as I stay until a decent time on Friday too, I will have made up all my time except for the one day that I am taking off - Thursday! So it all works out, I still get to go, and I still get to be back in town for the stuff I had planned for the weekend and also don't have to take off much time for work.

So that's my update......Have a great rest of the day! :)

Sad News

I'm really glad that I wrote that first post early this morning because I really am SO excited. However, about 15 minutes or so after I posted, I got a phone call from my mom at home. I could just tell in the tone of her voice that something was wrong. It was that phone call that you hate to hear because you just never know what exactly is going to happen. But for some reason, it's like I already knew.....my grandfather passed away this morning. He was already in the hospital, but when I talked to my dad yesterday, he had said he seemed to be doing better. But I had this horrible feeling all last week and this weekend, that this might be it.

The strangest thing is that I guess I've kind of already come to a good place with this situation. After seeing my grandfather in October at our wedding, he looked so horrible, so thin, and was reduced to a man that I never thought he would be. It made me sad each time I looked at him then, and I am so glad that he was able to make that last trip to see me get married. When I was home at Christmas, he called one night before we left, and he kept repeating over and over to me that he loved me and he wanted me to tell my parents that he loved them too. I guess I knew then that something was going to happen soon. Just didn't know exactly when. When I found out last Thursday that my grandfather was in the hospital, I guess I just realized that this might be it. It's sad but I was never as close to my grandfather as I was to either of my grandmothers. My grandmother, his wife, died almost 2 years ago at the end of March. When she died, my parents told me that I didn't have to go to the funeral service if I didn't want to (it is in Pennsylvania where they are all from). But I knew that I just HAD to go or I wouldn't forgive myself. And obviously, my grandmother that was in the hospital earlier this year and that lives with my parents is my closest grandparent of all - she is like a second mother to me.

But in this situation, I just don't know what to do. I just don't know if I want to put myself through the pain and difficulty of a service like that when I already feel at peace with his passing. Of course if my father wants me to go for support (it was his father that died), I will go in a heartbeat. But if I had the choice, I just don't know that I would go. I am waiting to hear back from my parents to hear when the service is going to be and to make a decision from there. So I guess there is a possibility that I may be going to Pennsylvania this week for a few days. But we'll see - I would much rather go visit my family in a happier situation. I just don't know what to do at this point, but first I will see what my dad has to say.

So not to damper anyone's Valentine's Day because I actually am still in a good mood and dealing with it well, but I thought I would let you all know of my sad news. Make sure that you don't take for granted your time with your loved ones, and make sure they know that you care because you just really never know when something may happen. :)

California Dreamin'

I don't know what I did to deserve such a wonderful and loving husband. But Austin is just a total sweetheart, and I thank God this and every day for bringing him into my life. We decided to celebrate Valentine's Day this weekend because neither of us are very good at keeping secrets from each other, especially when it comes to presents. Austin first got me a beautiful bracelet from James Avery. It's a cuff bracelet, very modern looking, silver with swirls cut into the bracelet out of the silver. It's so pretty - I love it!

And then came the best surprise of all - in a huge card he found, he wrote out his other big surprise for me - we are going on a trip to Southern California for our 6 month wedding anniversary weekend. I am so excited! I am going to get to see LA, hopefully see my friend that lives there, see the Hollywood sign, and the Chinese Theater with the stars out front, and the beauty of Southern California. I can't wait!! Austin set everything up from the plane tickets, to the rental car, to a beautiful hotel - he even convinced the reservations guy to give us an awesome deal - our hotel is beautiful - go to http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/LAXMN and click on photo tour to see more! I am SO excited!

Let's see what else happened this weekend: I got sick but not too bad at least. Just a cold.....I knew it was inevitable with everyone else so sick, but I tried my hardest to fight it off! We watched "The Notebook" on Saturday morning, and it was TERRIFIC. Even Austin liked it although he said it scared him to get old! ;) And we went to see "Hitch" Saturday evening, and that was a super cute movie too. Yesterday, we set up all our new chairs which was really exciting. Oh and my laptop completely died - no hope of being fixed, so I'm on the search for a new computer. We found a really good deal at Best Buy on a laptop, so we'll probably end up doing that this week, and hopefully my parents and grandmother will chip in to get it for me for my birthday so Austin & I don't have to take that on too. Gotta do what you gotta do though I guess!

This morning, I didn't feel like getting out of bed because I was sleepy and not feeling so well, but I was so happy when I walked into the bathroom and found a cute card & fun little stuffed animal dog from Austin & my cat & dog. Heehee! Here's to good Valentine's Days that are unexpected! :)

Killing Time.....

Since I'm waiting for an etrans to arrive in my inbox for a depo I need to pull some info out of, I figured I would write a little blog. :) I really don't have too much to say but wanted to blog about something since I've been kind of quiet this week.

Let's see. This weekend, we plan on relaxing most of the time because Austin is sick, and I'm trying not to get sick! So tonight we're going to stay in and watch our Netflix movies. Tomorrow night we are going to go see the new Will Smith movie, "Hitch," because it looks funny & cute. I'm very excited to watch my DVD of "The Notebook," and I just figured out today that Nicholas Sparks wrote a follow-up book to that called "The Wedding" which I just HAVE to read. So I will either download it from ereader next week or so, or head to Half-Price Books or B&N to grab a copy. Of course if I do the latter thing, then it will add to the other 3 books I now have in waiting (I vow to finish the current book I'm reading at home though), and I finished my ereader book that I was reading here the other day so I'm thinking I might have to download. :)

I love giving gifts. The flowers I sent my parents & grandmother for V-Day should be arriving at their house any minute now (I wanted to send them early because my parents both work and would be able to enjoy them more over the weekend if I sent them early). And hopefully Austin's one present will arrive today so I can give it to him this weekend (we are mostly celebrating early because neither of us want to wait) and then I have another surprise for him that will arrive on Monday. I can't wait to put together our chairs from IKEA this weekend and get them all set up.

I have been debating whether or not to switch us over to Cingular (we're on AT&T right now but they got bought out so to get a new phone you have to switch over officially) because the phone that Austin has NEVER works. I think I have settled on an awesome flip/camera phone for him because he likes all those fancy things and it's on SALE which rocks plus I can get a free phone for me almost exactly like the one that I already have so that works. They are supposed to call me back in a few minutes to finalize everything! So we'll have phones to look forward to arriving next week too! Yay! :)

Other than that, I'm ready to GET OUT OF HERE! The time ticks so slowly even though I've managed to find things to do occasionally. Well, guess that's all for now - they should be calling about the cell phones soon! Have a great weekend!!!!

I LOVE DELIVERIES!

I'm sitting here enjoying my new CD which I have copied onto my work computer so as to be able to listen to whenever and that way I can put the real CD in my car! :) Wish I could crack open the book because there isn't much going on (surprise, surprise!), but I will try to resist.

Also got a phone call from Austin's mom saying that 5 boxes arrived today from FedEx from IKEA. Yay chairs! Now, we were supposed to get 6 chairs which makes me a little concerned that one is missing but sometimes they just get behind the others so I'm going to wait until tomorrow and if I still don't have it, then I'll call & figure out what is going on. I'm so glad they came! Can't wait to set them up this weekend! Yippee! :)

Blogging Block

How boring am I? I haven't blogged since Sunday afternoon, and I still don't really have anything interesting to talk about. I must be getting old!

Let's see - this week so far all I've wanted to do is go back to sleep because although I have been sleeping through the night, I seem to have weird dreams, and I never feel like I can get enough rest. I have been told that I'm not sophisticated or confidant enough (long story, don't even want to go there!). I'm waiting for my new CD & book to arrive today. As well as my new chairs to arrive from IKEA hopefully this weekend. At least my wedding dress arrived back safely from the cleaning/preserving place yesterday so that's one step in the right direction!

What else? Trying to figure out all kinds of fun things to get for Austin for Valentine's Day although he already got a putter & golf bag as part of his present early. I have a few tricks up my sleeve, but nothing like he is plotting.....I hate that! I love surprises, but I want to get him good gifts too so that's tricky. At least I have 2 more months to figure out a 6 month anniversary present & his birthday presents. Yikes, time flies!

Dance class has been going well although I'm kind of bored because we are doing the same dance we did last fall again. And it's frustrating because she doesn't quite remember it 100% and is teaching it differently so my body is protesting doing it the new way since it's used to performing it the old. Plus, a bunch of the people that I was friendly with aren't there any more or are out for the semester having babies or other random things so I get annoyed with some of the new people and their attitudes. The beginning of the semester always sucks because of the new people - they either have super attitudes or they suck and quit. Some of them turn out to be cool, but you can always tell the ones that are going to be problematic. Guess we'll have to see how it goes - I don't know if I'll do it after this semester or not.....I love to dance but maybe I should do something less often so I can come and go as I please and do other fun things too. We'll have to see......

Other than that, can't think of anything good to report. I'm excited because we are getting "The Notebook" from Netflix today so I will definitely be watching that with a box of kleenex this weekend in honor of V-day on Monday. Since I will have to be at miserable work on that day. At least I have a cute shirt to wear that I picked up a few weeks ago, and I don't have to go to dance class that night so that helps.

Okay, well, I guess that is enough of my rambling on and on......hopefully I will be in a less sleepy mood next time I write! At least the week is halfway over! :)

I Love Weekends Like This.....

.....just wish they could be longer! ;) I have to say this has been one of the better weekends we've had in awhile. Not because of any one particular thing but just a generally good weekend. I will explain briefly.

Friday:
We met up with Sara & her boyfriend and Austin's cousin and his wife at Duke's Roadhouse in Addison. It was a pretty good time. I did learn one thing though: I don't miss the bar scene at all. After sitting there for about an hour and a half visiting and eating, I was tired of the smoke that was encompassing the place. It was making my eyes sting and my nose clogged and I was ready to go! I also witnessed a bunch of drunk people dancing around, flashing my husband, and just in general making idiots of themselves. Guess I'm getting old because all that just seems so goofy to me and those people were older than I am!

Saturday:
Ran some errands and did the grocery shopping. Spent the morning and part of the afternoon CLEANING LIKE CRAZY. It was actually good though - put on some good tunes and went to work and I felt SO accomplished! It wasn't that our place was super dirty or anything, but just needed to tidy up and do the weekly cleaning and I took it a step further by cleaning everything just a little extra bit. Austin helped me when he got back from mowing the shop lawn, and we were so proud of our apartment! We celebrated by watching "Ray" which I had on DVD from Netflix (love it!) and that was a GREAT movie. I highly recommend this movie to anyone, but be prepared because it is sad. It is crazy to think how horrible African American people were treated back then and the struggles he went through being blind and being involved in the music industry. We met up with some friends for dinner last night and then came back to our apartment and played Texas Hold 'Em for a little while and then a fun and crazy game called Zobmondo. It was a What Would You Rather Do sort of thing with some pretty raunchy and funny things to think about and discuss. We had a great time, the boys played some video games as it got later, and I crashed on the couch after reading my book for a little while. We laughed and had some fun and that was great!

Sunday:
This morning we decided to sleep in a bit and have a big breakfast because Austin's brother stayed the night last night at our place. We then met up in Grapevine with his family because they were going to hit some golf balls on the driving range, but of course the weather wouldn't cooperate. So that was out of the picture. We stopped by Sam's and grabbed a few last things we needed, came home and watched the ER & Oprah (Desperate Housewives special) that I had TiVo'd last week, and watched the movie, The Forgotten. I wouldn't recommend the movie, I really wasn't very impressed. I like scary movies and psychological thrillers, but this one wasn't scary and turned out to involve something goofy that just made the whole movie pretty stupid. Oh well! Now, we are watching the Super Bowl (actually I'm mostly just watching the commercials!) with some friends. Go Philly! They are actually winning right now which is cool because I was born in Philadelphia and also always root for the underdog so they are my choice for the vening. I guess we'll see how the rest of the game goes. Haven't seen any outstanding commercials yet - the whole Abe Lincoln fry is weird but good advertising because I actually went to the website to check it out and found out they are auctioning off that prop on yahoo actions to raise money for the Ronald McDonald house charities and it's already at like $115,000+ with 6 more days to go. Pretty cool I guess :) Anyways, enough about silly commercials! Got to enjoy what's left of my weekend!

A Sense of Accomplishment

This morning was a pretty good one for me. I was a little worried at first, but everything turned out okay. It all started last night when Austin was cooking dinner and suddenly our brand-new fancy George Foreman grill just turned off. Like display went out, heat stopped heating, out.....we tried plugging in different plugs because we thought a fuse blew or burned out or something. And to no avail. So we've had the thing not even two weeks now and only used it once or two times before and it's already dead. Grrr.....but this morning I called the company that makes it, explained the situation, and got some results. I was given a customer # and fax# and as soon as I fax them a copy of the receipt (which is of course at home so it will have to wait until Monday), they will send us a pre-paid shipping label to send it back to them and when they get the defective one back, they will ship us a brand new one. Yay! :) So hopefully we'll get a good one this time!

Then, last night I heard this cool girl singing on "The OC." Her name is Rachael Yamagata. She is kind of like a Norah Jones, Sarah McLachlan, Fiona Apple combination. It is the perfect music for me to listen to at work, and after visiting her website, www.rachealyamagata.com, I was hooked. Since I had been wanting to read "Redeeming Love" after being highly recommended to it by both Jes & Nicolle, I remembered I had a gift card to Barnes & Noble that could be used online. So I got the CD & the book I wanted with free 3 day shipping and all I had to pay was the tax of $2.45. Yippee! :) Everything should be here on Wednesday so I can't wait!

Then, I found out that my wedding dress that I had sent to be cleaned was on its way back and will be here on Tuesday. Can't wait to see it because it was a lot dirtier than I realized until I went to pack it up to ship to them to be cleaned. For those newlyweds out there, I highly recommend the service of WedClean (www.wedclean.com).

And for a Valentine's Day present, Austin's parents got us tickets to Maroon 5 which I had to get online this morning to get in the pre-sale. We got great seats and it's at Nokia Live on a Saturday night in March so we couldn't be happier. Plus the Donnas are opening, and I've heard good things about them so it should be fun!

Needless to say this morning was productive, and I have a lot of great things coming up in the next week and month to look forward to! :) YAY!

I Love IKEA!

Okay, so I have been wanting these new dining room chairs for our apartment since the end of last year sometime. The ones that I currently have were chewed up by our dog when she was a puppy and have lost their cushioning so they are uncomfortable and are starting to come apart. I am not happy about that! Anyways, as our big Christmas present, my parents told Austin & me that they would buy us 6 new chairs of the ones I wanted because they are a reasonable price and would look great. Of course, the chairs that I picked out were from IKEA. And of course, there is no IKEA near here, and the one they are opening doesn't open until July or August of this year which is 6 months away, and I don't want to wait any longer and besides I'm sure it will be swamped the first several MONTHS that it is open. But I digress.

The point of the matter is that the nearest IKEA is in Houston. It is almost 4 hours drive from here, so we had been putting it off but finally decided we had two weekends in February where we could possibly go so we should figure out a plan. We looked at driving all in one day but that is a good 10 hour trip with driving, shopping, stopping, and coming home. And that sucks! We considered driving down and spending the night, picking the stuff up on Sunday morning and driving back. But then we have to spend about 100 bucks for a hotel room and then there is the dilemma about what to do with the dog because that costs another 25+ per night if we have to board her. So that is a bad situation too.

We can't order it online. We can't order it by phone. But luckily, Austin convinced one of the people that worked at the IKEA in Houston to ship our chairs to us and for a reasonable price which is less than or at least the same as it would cost us for gas to get back and forth. Yippee! I faxed back the info this afternoon so maybe we'll even have them by next weekend. How exciting. All that to say, I love IKEA and can't wait for the new one to open and for my new chairs to arrive. :)

Fighting Off Boredom

As you all know, I have a common occurrence of boredom at my job.....so today at lunch, I discovered a good solution (albeit temporary). I always complain that I wish I had my book at work because I love to read but don't always have the time for it at home, and I seem to have ample time while at work. So today I decided to download an Ebook. I got a discount as a first-time user and the book I chose was only around $4. So I now have it on my computer to read at my leisure. I've read 149 pages so far today, and it's quite good. I can make notes, highlight, and put a bookmark in where I stop. It's a pretty cool thing actually. The book I chose is called "P.S. I Love You." It is really very good so far. It is about a woman who loses her husband at age 30 to a brain tumor. She is struggling with how to go on without him until one day her mom tells her a package came in the mail to her that is marked "The List." She and her husband had always joked that he would be lost without her so if something ever happened to him, he would have to provide her with a list to help her manage through. Apparently, he had figured out how to do it and she gets 10 little envelopes with instructions for each month. It's a really cool story. You should check it out. :) http://www.ereader.com/product/detail/16190 So that's my tip of the day to fight boredom! Hope you all have a good evening and let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! :)