Saturday, December 30, 2006

HOUSE!

So it's not 100% yet (the seller still needs to sign the paper and send it back), but it looks like I've found my new house! We've gone through several days of offers and counter-offers before settling on a nice price for me. I'm so excited and so happy! I'll give more details as soon as I can - I should hear tomorrow as to the finalization of everything. Once that happens, we go into the 14 days of loans, appraisals and inspections! If all is well with that stuff, I'll be handed the keys at 5:00pm on Friday, January 26th! This is such a dream come true for me - I've worked so long and hard for this! It's totally scary and exciting all at once! I'm exhausted but excited! With those few contradictions said, I'm off to bed. Good night to all!

Monday, December 25, 2006

Merry Christmas!

MERRY CHRISTMAS everyone! I hope you all had a wonderful holiday! Mine was great - I got some wonderful gifts (yeah for MAC makeup and the whole "Friends" collection!) and spent time with my family. We sang midnight mass last night, which was beautiful and Kati's home, which is always a blast. I took the rest of the week off, so I plan to do a lot of sleeping (time to catch up from the past few crazy weeks) and some more house hunting. Most of all, I plan to relax and spend time with Mom, Dad and Kati! Thanks to everyone who called, texted or emailed today!

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Weekend Wrapup

Another crazy week here! Thursday night I dyed my hair dark again - only this time I did it on my own and finally got it dark enough. I'm pretty sure that my hair dresser refused to do it that dark because he was scared. I love it. Now I have to face him the next time I go in for a hair cut. That's always the awkward part. But hey, I'm saving my money right now, so the hair and nails had to go. It's a good thing, really. I would much rather have a house!

I spent all of Saturday morning in the yard raking leaves. I woke up with this brilliant idea that I was going to earn my keep and get it done so my dad wouldn't have it. It didn't look like a lot of leaves... boy, was I wrong! Three hours, one entire "green" garbage can and four gigantic Hefty bags later, I was done. Cody and I were so pooped we had to take a 2 hour nap. Seriously, my little shoulders are sore today - who would have thought that raking would be so much exercise? And who would have thought that three little trees could drop so many leaves!?

Today was spent researching puppies. I've been looking just for kicks - I definitely want two when I get the house for protection (and company), so I thought I would be proactive and research the best breed for me. The first that came to mind was the Siberian Husky. It's one of the most beautiful dogs in the world, however, the following was on EVERY website I found:

THESE DOGS WILL RUN AWAY IF LEFT OFF A LEASH, EVEN IF YOU THINK THEY'RE TRAINED".

Um, yeah, not what I would like to deal with. Not to mention the fact that they like to jump and can jump as high as 8 feet. I definitely don't want a dog that could hurdle me.

Next up on my list was the German Shepherd. They're friendly, easily trained and fiercely loyal. They also have a double undercoat that they shed at least twice a year. Now, I am officially not allergic to dogs (thank you allergy tests) but I don't know that I want to deal with that kind of fur. I've seen the fur fly, so to speak, with Cody and it's a mess.

After German Shepherds was the lovable Labrador Retriever. Things got interesting here. They come in three colors (ok, four, but I'm not paying for the rare silver one) - chocolate, yellow and black. They are great watchdogs, very loyal, easily trained, although a little more independent and stubborn than their cousins the Golden Retriever. Basically, it's me in dog form. I want two. Now. A boy and a girl, one yellow, one chocolate.

Now that that's settled, I just need to get a house...

Wednesday, December 13, 2006

The Rape of Big Red Part Deux

Yes, I know it's been a long time. I've been busy. Sorry. Before I get to all that, I'm sad to report that yet again, some dumb punk decided to smash my car window. Only this time, they didn't get anything because there's nothing left in my car for them to take! HAHA! Take that stupid vandals! I'm considering leaving a little steno notebook in my glove box that says "Please sign my guest book". That said, it was fairly easy to fix - the nice glass guys came right out to my house! Fortunately, I have great insurance with a really low deductible, so it didn't hit the pocketbook too hard.

Here's my lovely car window at 11:30pm on Sunday night:

On to happier things. Well, sort of. A week or so before the big performances, I got sick. Go figure. I had gone since February without feeling so much as slightly sick to drop dead sinus infection. I tried to talk and think my way out of it, but, alas, I was definitely sick. I even stayed home from work! I managed to get it all pulled together for production week and the shows went off without a hitch. I was so excited that Adam, Eva and Oma could all make it along with almost my entire church choir! I'm so touched that everyone took time out of their Saturday night to listen to a little music! The shows were awesome - honestly, the Christmas show is one of my favorites. I love the audience sing along because it's so amazing to hear and entire theatre singing back to you!

I did manage to make it back to the pool today. I'm contemplating masters swimming, although I'm not sure if I'm ready for the time commitment. I just like the idea of having coaches (makes working out so much easier) and potentially being able to do some races (it's been forever, and I won't necessarily go back into full blown competitive mode, but maybe just one every now and then). I definitely need to get back into shape, and that might be the way to go. I'll probably wait until after I get the house to get that all worked out.

Finally, to my dear friend, the anonymous commenter (freedom of speech is great, isn't it?). Please know I meant no harm in my last post. Having lived in San Diego for 7 years, I made friends with many Latino people (according to the 2000 US Census, those of the Hispanic/Latino race actually do outnumber other races in San Diego and other cities close to the boarder). And you do tend to find the best authentic Mexican food in our great state (try finding it in Georgia... I'm not kidding). That said, I'm quite sorry if I offended you - in no way were my statements meant to be taken as anything other than a lighthearted joke.

Good night!

Friday, December 1, 2006

Signs You Live In California

I am a "CALIFORNIAN." That means...

- I live next door to Mexicans

- Our chicks are WAYYYY hotter than yours

- I say "like" and "dude" and "totally" and "peace out" and "chill" and "tight" and I say them often

- I know what real cheese & avocados taste like

- I don't get snow days off because there's only snow in Mammoth, Tahoe, Shasta, and Big Bear

- I know 65 mph really means 100

- The drinking age is 21 but everyone starts at 14 (legally 18 if you live close enough to the border)

- My governor can kick your governors ass

- I can go out at midnight

- I judge people based on what area code they live in

- I might get looked at funny by locals when I'm on vacation in their state, but when they find out I'm from California I turn into a Greek GOD

- We don't stop at stop signs... we do a "California roll"
No cop no stop baby!

- I can get fresh and REAL Mexican food 24 hours a day!!!!!

-We're the Golden State. Not the Cheese State. Not the Garden State.....GOLDEN!!!

- We have In-N-Out!!!! (Arizona and Vegas are lucky we share that with them)

- IF we wear shoes, they are always sandals

- All the TV shows you "other" states watch get filmed here

- All the best athletes come from here

-We have Stanford, Cal, UCLA, and USC all in one state

- We have the most representation in the House of Representatives!!!!!!!, which means MY opinion means more than yours, which means I'm better than you