Sunday, January 23, 2011

JETS --> (J)ust (E)nded (T)heir (S)eason







PITTSBURGH'S GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL.... HERE WE GO.....

YAAAAAAAAY! So excited right now!! :-)

All in all, today's been a great day. Aside from the Steelers becoming AFC Champs and heading for the Superbowl, Russ and I had our first "date night" in a looooooong time. Well, it was more like "date afternoon." My mother-in-law came over to watch the kids and we went down to the Highlands and did some shopping, then had dinner at Olive Garden. Shopping, yummy portobello ravioli and two glasses of Moscato made me one happy girl...LOL! ;-)

Well, I think I'm off to bed. Time to crawl under my warm blankets and get some sleep... this single-digit weather has got to GO! Wishing I was in Cancun right now....

Thursday, January 20, 2011

*&%# ^**%$%!!!!!!!!!!!

Today was just one of those days when you wish you could have a do-over. Ugh...

Went to Sam's Club today with my cousin. We were loading our stuff up into the back of the Yukon and noticed this lady in a big Escalade stopped behind us. There was a guy collecting carts, so we figured she was just waiting for him to go by. All the sudden she beeped at us, because she wanted to pull in beside me, and my cousin's cart was partially in that spot. She then proceeds to attempt to pull into the spot and HITS. MY. BUMPER. Not just a tap, but hit it hard enough to where the vehicle went forward a bit. Bren and I were just standing there in awe, wondering if the dumbass really did just hit my car.

So she took a minute to get out of the car, then comes around the car staring straight at me. It was an older lady, and at first I thought she was about to say something like, "Oh, I'm so sorry" and be all apologetic. She almost kept walking and I said, "Uh... you do realize you just hit my bumper." She got all upset and said, " I did NOT. I did NO SUCH THING." I think steam started coming out my ears at that point. I said, "Yes, you DID hit my bumper. We both stood here and saw you do it." She STILL adamantly denied it. She got all pissy with me and said, "I did not. I didn't feel a thing."

I mean seriously.... the lady hit my bumper, then had to back out of the spot so she could pull back in. What did she think made her have to back up?!?! Newsflash-- it was my bumper!!

I showed her the scratches (not just scuffs) on the bumper, and she goes, "That's nothing. That will buff right out." (Ok lady, do you do bodywork now and know these things?!) THEN-- (and this pissed me off---) she looked at the scratches and said, "Those could have been there already." I said, "No, they weren't. This is a BRAND NEW vehicle, and unlike you, I'd know if I hit something." I told her I'm not just going to confront someone about something they didn't do! She made it seem like I was standing in the parking lot and just decided to pick a random person and say they hit my car...that's how she came across.

I said, "How about we go look at YOUR bumper, and I can guarantee there are probably scratches on it too." She got a little more upset and said, "Yes, let's do that then." I showed her plain as day where the marks were on her front bumper and the lady tried to tell me it was DIRT. I wiped what dirt WAS there off, and low and behold.... the marks were still there. She still tried to deny it. Finally when she realized her dumbass routine wasn't gonna work anymore she said, "Well what do you want to DO about it?"

UGH! Well for starters lady, how about some insurance information??

Yeah... dealing with the PA police department wasn't on my to-do list today. The lady admitted to the police that she hit me, but then said, "I still don't think I did it though." I've been driving for what-- 15 years?? And this is the first time anything like this has happened to me. Tomorrow I get to deal with her insurance company, who will get to pay for a new bumper on my vehicle I've only had for 4 months.

Yay me.

The cherry on top of the cupcake today though-- having to come home and tell my husband all about it and listen to him blow a gasket! Fun stuff!

Tomorrow better be a great day!

Sunday, January 9, 2011

So easily sidetracked... :-)

So one of my main goals this new year has been to declutter my life.... in many aspects. One being to LITERALLY declutter my house. My husband jokingly calls me a packrat and says we should be on an episode of Hoarders. While yes, I keep some things that I "might use one day," I am NO WHERE near Hoarders material...lol! I told him, "Have you SEEN the show Hoarders??" and he said, "Well, no...." I said, "Watch it, THEN you just DARE tell me we should be on that show." Let him watch one episode of that show and he'll think our house is immaculate-- two kids, three dogs and all. lol

My problem is that when I start going through things (drawers,closets, etc) I come across all the things I've put away that really do mean so much to me....old pictures, old letters, etc... then I just sit there going through it all, thinking back to all the good memories! And of course, I get hardly anything accomplished.

Like tonight. I discovered some old cd's and of course had to play them. Right now I'm listening to an O.A.R. (...Of A Revolution) cd from 2003... "In Between Now and Then." (Appropriately titled for this post!!) Brings back SO many memories!! Russ and I had just started "exclusively" dating early that year, and he had gotten this CD right around the beginning of our relationship. All O.A.R's music reminds me of various times in our relationship. The cd I'm listening to right now was played OVER and OVER during our first trip together-- a road trip we took to Buffalo, NY and Niagara Falls, NY/Canada. Russ played the hell out of this cd-- LOUDLY, may I add.. Good times!! Those were the days--- carefree and impulsive days,where we could take off on a whim and think nothing of it. We didn't have kids, pets...no one to be responsible for but ourselves. Now, impulsive is a distant memory. Impulsive for us when it comes to an overnight (or a trip for more than a few days) is planning at least a month in advance so we can find the appropriate babysitters, make reservations for the dogs at the kennel, etc... lol. Kinda hard to be impulsive anymore! Sometimes I find myself missing those days, but I would never give up what I have now!! Listening to all these songs just makes me smile,and think how far we've come in 8 years :-)

Next up-- a mix cd I made for my best friends while we were in college in Toledo, Ohio. Ohhhhhhhh my... now those are some crazy, hilarious, "what was I THINKING?" memories!!!!

Hmm...yeah, not much decluttering going on around here....lol. I'm having much more fun relaxing and reminiscing....with some short periods of facebooking tossed in there.

Monday, January 3, 2011

Boo hoo.

Feeling kinda blah today. I started getting a sinus cold about a week before Christmas, and was FINALLY feeling better and had my normal-sounding voice back for about 3 or 4 days.....and now, I'M SICK AGAIN. Back-to-back sinus colds?? Seriously?! Not funny, sinuses. Not funny at all.

Anyway... another reason I'm in a mood tonight...

My husband and I were discussing the idea of buying a bigger house, because now that we have two kids we just need some extra space. We casually looked around on realtor.com and some other home websites, and came across a few homes we liked. We drove by them, and they just weren't what they appeared to be in the pics, so we didn't call our real estate agent to look at any of them. So yesterday afternoon, I showed my husband a house up for sale about 10 minutes away from where we live now... bigger than our house by about 1000 square feet, and it sits on 15 acres. Lots of privacy, which we'd both like. I actually used to work with the owner of the house, which was a plus because I knew the house was probably immaculate inside!! To my surprise, my husband LOVED it, and called our realtor about going to see it. That was yesterday around 5pm-ish. Russ said he was really interested in the house and would put an offer on it the same day we looked at it if he could. (He hasn't felt that way about a house since the one we put offers on a few years ago!)

Our agent called us back this morning, after Russ and I were excitedly talking about the prospect that we might ACTUALLY BE MOVING (YAY!!).... and our bubble was instantly burst. There's already an offer on the house, the people are preapproved for financing, and there's probably no chance of that falling through.

Sniffle sniffle.

So upsetting. We've both been pretty bummed about it today. The realtor mentioned one other house close to that one, and it was on 10 acres...we figured we might as well look at it. He called the listing agent to set up a showing, then called us back.... and--- burst bubble #2. Contract on that house too. Actually, a bidding war between 2 parties.

Needless to say we're back at square one again... at least we don't HAVE to move. We'd just LIKE to move. Russ told me, "Well, I guess this just means there's something better out there waiting for us." That, or it's God's way of teaching me to be patient...lol. Maybe one of these years (cause really, we've been looking on and off at houses for about 4 years now!) we'll find the right one. Just have to wait and see.

So that's it for now. Just bummed out, but what can you do, right? It's just not our time to move yet, I guess. Like I always tell myself-- "Everything happens for a reason."

Now, I'm off to take some more Nyquil and get some sleep.

Saturday, January 1, 2011

1/1/11!!!!!

Happy New Year!!!

Just sitting here thinking of past New Years Eve's.... and MY HOW THINGS CHANGE!!! 10years ago I was super excited that I'd be turning 21....couldn't wait to *legally* drink... was all about going out and having fun. And now-- we got invited to a party tonight, but didn't go since the kiddos are still both getting over their colds. But I realized-- I was perfectly content staying at home tonight with my family. I told Russ, "You know, I don't even feel like going anywhere...let's just stay home this year." Part of me thought, "Did that just come out of my mouth?!"lol But seriously, I really just wanted to stay home and cuddle with my babies and furbabies. (And ok, my husband too.) ;-) I thought for a brief moment that I'd crack open a bottle of wine, but as much as Russ wanted me to (for reasons I won't write in here...LOL) I ended up sitting on the couch with a cup of hot tea. LOL!

When it got to be midnight and the ball dropped in Times Square, Russ jokingly kissed all the dogs first, THEN got to me....lol. And not even 5 minutes after midnight, he turned the channel to the show "How It's Made" and it was something about onions. I looked at Russ and said, "Really? Are you serious?!" LOL...

In the end, all that matters is being with my family, no matter what we're doing.... I don't need to be at a New Year's Eve party, and I sure as heck don't want to ring in the New Year totally inebriated and then bring in 2011 with a hangover...lol. I feel so blessed and so thankful for everyone I have in my life. Two beautiful kids, 3crazy ornery dogs, and a wonderful husband who would do anything for his family.

2010 was full of ups and downs, but was mostly positive. Our family grew by two-- we got our new puppy Ruby (who fortunately is finally starting to settle down a bit) and had our gorgeous baby boy William, who is the best baby boy I could have ever asked for. I finally feel like our family is complete, and can honestly say---- I LOVE my life.

Here's hoping 2011 brings much love, good health and happiness. I can't wait to see what exciting things are in store for our family. I just have a feeling this is gonna be a GREAT year!!!

Well, I'm off to bed now. Nighty night! Happy 1/1/11!