I Fought the Law & the Law Won (Bobby Fuller)

I hate it when I'm trying to scam someone/something & they stop my scam mid-way through. I got a call a couple weeks ago saying I had entered some drawing & while I didn't win the "grand prize" - a bbq, I did win a free trip to one of 4 places - Orlando, Jamaica, Cancun or Las Vegas plus dinner at some restaurant. Sweet... Sorta. All I had to do was listen to some 90 minute spiel about this new "travel agency". Nothing to sign up for. Nothing to buy. Just to "think of" this travel agency next time I wanted to do some travel. Okay, I can do that. I've sat through a Trendwest presentation before & I suspected it was a timeshare-type deal I was going to have to listen to.

He'll deny it, but I swear Jeff said he would sit through this thing with me. We bailed on the presentation I had signed us up for because Jeff wasn't happy about having to do it & I would rather have spent time with my husband, not in a hostile mood. We went to dinner instead & had a great time.

A day or two later, the people called me & asked what had happened & would we be willing to reschedule. Sure, I'll reschedule & I'll go alone this time. Only, I won't tell them that I'm going alone because they're expecting Jeff to be there.

So, I show up without Jeff & the receptionist gal tells me we're going to have to reschedule for when the both of us could make it. I then tell her point blank that if that's the case, I'm not interested in what she has to sell me & I walk away. We'll see if they call back to "reschedule" once more. I suspect not, but if they do, someone will be getting an earful from me.

Is it wrong to scam? Sure. Do I feel bad about trying to scam this company? Of course. Am I angry they wasted my time? You better believe I am. She turned me away, claiming the need to reschedule, without knowing my situation. She was quick to pass the judgement & for that, I would not go back. Incidentally, I did sit through a TrendWest presentation several years ago, alone, because my significant other wasn't available at the last minute.

Today, I am thankful for:

1. The law

2. Law enforcers

3. Law abiders

4. Boston Legal

5. Leftovers

Whoomp! There it is (Tag Team)

It's about time that I get another update on my blog. I was going to use Staind, It's Been Awhile for my blog title, but I've already used that once before. And, it's my goal to not duplicate my song titles. So, Whoomp, there it is...

I've started to listen more & more to 92.5 (Moving) and less & less of 101.5 (STAR). I don't think my tastes in music has entirely changed, but I'm liking that I can hear Neneh Cherry's Buffalo Stance, Usher's Caught Up, Christina Aguilera's Aint No Other Man & Tag Team's Whoomp, all while getting ready for work in the morning. They're fun songs with an upbeat beat that makes me wanna shake my moneymaker. How am I supposed to booty-pop to Anna Nalick's Breathe, Hinder's Lips of an Angel or Sister Hazel's Mandolin Moon? It's just not happenin'.

Kat, Joanna & I have booked our trip to Las Vegas for April 8-11th. I think we got a pretty kick-ass deal: we're staying 3 nights & paying only $280 each & that includes air & hotel (at the Excalibur). It's not the best hotel on the strip, but honestly, how much time do you actually spend in your room? I wanted to try out a hotel I haven't stayed at before. It was a toss up between the Excalibur & Luxor. Excalibur won because it was slightly cheaper. I'm saving all my money for shows.

Originally, we talked about going to Las Vegas because Joanna wants to see the Cirque Du Soleil show Ka. I wanted to go because I wanted to see Celine Dion before she ends her concerts there (she's not going to perform beyond this year, I hear). As it turns out, she's on vacation for the 2 weeks around the time we're there. So instead, I'm going to watch another from my list: Elton John. I'm actually really excited to see Elton John. I'm weird, I know...

So, either I'm SOL on the Celine Dion show or I'm just gonna have to go back before the year is over. I suspect SOL is the more likely option.

Well, I've made it one year in my department at work. It's so crazy how fast the time goes by! What's really cool is that my boss actually has my review done on time. She's fairly notorious for being late with those things. What's even more cool is that I will be getting an increase. I was pretty worried because there is one area of my job that I have not been doing. At all. Not because I don't want to do it (okay, maybe a little), but I just don't "get" it. And, because I don't get it, I just don't want to do it. BUT, all that is changing. I'm starting to see all the pieces of the puzzle & it's becoming clearer & clearer to me what it is I'm supposed to be doing. I hope my raise is more than a piddly nickel.

And by the way, my old boss still sucks. Funny thing is we do these surveys on each other & without revealing my sources, I hear she tied for the lowest rating. But, I guess the joke's on us because she's not paid like the rest of the staff who gets rated, but rather like the senior managers (who aren't rated at all). She gets a payout regardless of how little the staff likes her.

I bought a Fix It & Forget It - Lightly cookbook. It's light meals for the crock pot. So far, I've tried 3 recipes. The first two were decent (I thought. Jeff didn't like them until day 2), but the one I made yesterday was nasty boring. It's supposed to be a sweet & sour chicken over potatoes, but it was SO very bland. Blech! Ick! Grody!

Last Saturday, Kat & I went to Aimee's Tastefully Simple party. The lady she used was MUCH much better than the lady I used. It seems to be a successful party for her. So much so that she may start selling it herself. If you haven't heard of or tried Tastefully Simple, next time I have a party, you should definitely come. The foods are SO tasty & VERY easy to make. The dips really only take sour cream, mayonnaise or cream cheese. And, if you're watching your figures, you can use the non/low fat options. Oh, and the beer bread is divine!!

A couple Friday's ago, I went up to Joel's place & played the wii. I'm trying to convince Jeff that we need to have one of these. Though I didn't play a super huge ton amount, I had a blast. That game is fun.

My cousin Deborah's daughter, Julia, was in the hospital last week with RSV. Fortunately, she's out of the hospital now & doing well. Seems like it would be scary to have a child with RSV. They had spent several days in the hospital with her. She was hooked up to a few monitors & stayed under an oxygen tent. Abe, her dad, has some videos & pictures on his blog, too.

I'm happy to announce that one of my favorite shows has started up again. American Idol is just starting with their in-city auditions. Next week, they should start my favorite part of the show: when they go to Hollywood & start kicking people off.

My Stampin Up business is doing really well right now. I've had 2 camps in the last 3 weeks or so & 3 more coming up over the next month. Yay! One gal I work with asked me to do a camp for her and her friends who are "experienced" stampers. They want more "advanced" techniques. I thought this was going to be challenging for me, but I don't think it will be afterall. My biggest "challenge" (if you can even call it a challenge) is hoping they like my projects enough to want to continue having me do camps for them. With the help of the SplitCoastStamper gals, I don't think it will be a problem.

At Aimee's Tastefully Simple party, Shayna (the consultant) said that when her neighborhood does their annual yard sale, she gets her friends who are also DSAs for various companies & invites them to set up tables in her home with their products. She invited me to participate with my Stampin' Up stuff when they do this. I'm super excited about this opportunity.

Lastly, the Superbowl is this weekend. We had invited folks to our place to watch, but David & Katt has decided they want to throw a party instead. We weren't going to throw a "party", but rather just watch the game, the commercials, eat some nummy grub & drink a drink or two. So, we're going down to P-town to watch & enjoy our FrankenFriends.

Okay, see what happens when I don't blog for awhile? My blog is super long.

Today, I am thankful for:
1. My fabulous hubby who washed my car & changed my wipers without being asked
2. Mariners Collector Train Night 30th Anniversary Car
3. Being able to sell stuff using retired stamp sets
4. SBC Cocoa Trio
5. Employment

The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades (Timbuk 3)

In the past, I've had a few cases where I just *knew* something was up. A premonition, perhaps? A hunch, perchance? Maybe I've got a little psychic capabilities within me. Here's the 3 that come to mind when I think of these things:




1. I was dating a guy who took me to a bbq where I met a bunch of his friends for the first time. When he introduced me to one of his female friends, with absolutely no reason to think this, I thought, "I wonder how far along she is..." Shortly after, a bunch of girls were standing around her, shrieking their congratulations to her as she just announced she was pregnant. Oooh, weird!




2. Remember that old movie Parenthood? I loved that movie when I was younger. Okay, I admit it, I still get a chuckle out of it (when your sliding into home and your pants are filled with foam.. diarrhea.. diarrhea..). Anyways, one day out of the blue, I was just wondering to myself, "I wonder whatever happened to Ivyann Schwan..." She's the one who played the little girl, Patty. A few days later, I went to a Mariner's baseball game & she sang the National Anthem. Oooh, creepy!









3. I used to work in a building where the employee bathrooms were in plain view of my cubicle & one day, the branch manager walked into the bathroom & it just popped into my head, "Janet's pregnant." I didn't know Janet on a personal level so I couldn't exactly come out and accuse her of being pregnant. But when she did make her announcement, I felt like I had already known. Oooh, strange!


So, what does this have to do with anything? Well, today was kinda another one of those days. Tonight, Jeff & I were driving towards Federal Way when out of the blue, I asked him, "If I knew we were going to be rear ended, would you want me to tell you?" The reason I asked was if you "know" you're going to be in an accident, you tend to tense up & it can hurt worse than getting his without knowing/without tensing up. Lo & behold, we were driving to Azteca when boom, we were rear ended. Oooh, freaky!

Thankfully, everyone was okay (as far as I can tell thus far). We were at a stop light where I stopped, then pulled forward a little bit more to turn right & almost went, but there was a car coming & so I actually stopped again. That's when the little Acura hit us. He had gone under my car a little bit & I could only tell this when we got out of the cars & looked at whatever damage was done. My car was fine. His, however, was not. His hood was smashed up a little bit, one of his headlights was broken & there was black all over the front end of his hood, from my spare tire that hangs below the trunkal area of my Xterra. I wish I had my camera with me.

He said we had two options - exchange info or not exchange info. Since he didn't have insurance (bad driver!!), he'd prefer if we didn't, but understood if we did want to go that route. He knew it was his fault & since the damage was to his car only that he'd have to pay for whatever to fix it. Since there wasn't any damage to my car, I didn't see any reason to involve the authorities or our insurance companies.



Today, I am thankful for:


1. 10 free Ateca dinners, courtesy Speedy Auto Glass
2. $5.99 movies from Best Buy
3. 40 free Blockbuster flicks
4. 1 Jesus shoe & shell necklace found in borrowed suitcases
5. 7 grams of fiber in my air-popped popcorn