Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Update's

I have really fallen down on the posting lately! I have been relaxing throughout the holiday weekend and then crazy busy with work and school since. Posting has not really been of that much importance!

My wonderful husband and I spent a good amount of time over the holiday weekend getting some deep cleaning done in the spare room. We tossed 3 bags of trash and took 2 bags to Goodwill. We also boxed up leftover wedding stuff, school stuff, wedding gifts, and other misc. stuff and took it to my mom's attic for storage. Now we can actually use the spare room, Smug-Hub has a place to try flies and Will can actually sleep in the bed when he spends the night!

We have also made the picture choices for the wedding album and sent them to the photographers. We spent some time playing with the budgets to try to account for everything. Then we decided that on paper, we can afford a certain dollar amount in house payment, it is time that we see if we really can. We currently pay $525 in rent and think we can afford $1,100 in a mortgage payment. We are going to take the $1,100 and pay the $525 in rent and put the remaining $575 into savings. This way we not only save money, we get used to coming up with this much larger payment each month. We have decided to wait until January to start this, and let us get Christmas out of the way.

I called each of my credit card companies and asked them to reduce the APR on my accounts - all but one of them did!

My mother has decided that I am going to have twins! She has talked about almost nothing else since she returned from FL this afternoon. She s even making 2 cross-stitch thingy's - just in case! The other thing she has decided, is that I need to start trying to get pregnant right now, like tonight! She keeps pointing out my age and how upset I would be if I never could have children. I know that she is not meaning to scare me or pressure me, but I feel scared and pressured anyway. Oh well!

So that pretty much updates things!!

Friday, November 23, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Smug-Hub and I spent a really wonderful Thanksgiving with my Dad and Step Mother. My brother actually showed up for a little while too!!

I started out the morning about 7am, by making a chocolate cheesecake recipe. The recipe called for a chocolate wafer cookie crust, but in the interest of time, I just used a pre-made Oreo cookie crust. The only issue with this was that the recipe made enough filling for 2 of those size crusts, so I had to make a mad dash back to the store for another crust! So I made 3 chocolate cheesecakes, pumpkin pie, cranberry salad, baked macaroni and cheese, and sweet potatoes. I was able to make everything one at a time since I got up so early, so all that needed to be done at Dad and Smug-StepMom's was to warm the sweet potatoes and bake the mac and cheese.

We left the house about 12:30 and upon our arrival, my husband kept dad (who is still mostly flat on his back) occupied, while Smug-StepMom and I got all the food on the table. My brother showed up, but was very sullen and silent throughout the meal. Then Smug-StepMom asked Smug-Hub and my brother to help her pull her Christmas boxes down from the attic. While they were pulling all 50 (yes, 50!!) boxes down, my brother came across the old drum set that my Step-brother had received about 10 Christmas's ago. Smug-StepMom told him that he could have it and his whole personality changed! He became animated and laughed and was part of the conversation - for about 30 minutes until he left to take his new drum set home ant set it up!

We stayed until about 9:30pm or so before loading up the leftovers and heading home! It was a really great day!!

Monday, November 19, 2007

Thanksgiving Woes

My dad has hurt his back. He has a pinched nerve and has been in constant pain since Tuesday of last week, 6 full days and counting. He had an MRI over the weekend and got the results today. He was given some harder/better drugs and is scheduled for surgery on the 30th. I have been very worried about him and have spoken with him or seen him every day.

We have all been planning to go to Richmond for Thanksgiving. The entire family always gets together for Thanksgiving and if you have been reading past posts, you know how much I have been looking forward to going! My dad will not be able to make it, he can't spend 3 minutes in one static position, let alone 3 hours in the car. My husband offered that we would also stay in town and celebrate the holiday with my dad and his wife.

Dad is waffling on this offer. While he does not want to be alone, lonely and without celebration on Thanksgiving, he knows that he is going to be sleeping and moving from the couch to the bed every 15 minutes to help change his position for maximum relief. He knows that he would not be good company. So we have decided to see if the drugs help him any by tomorrow, if he is still feeling really badly, we will go to Richmond and then have a Thanksgiving dinner with him after his surgery. If he is feeling slightly better, we will stay here and celebrate with him.

I am torn on all this. I don't want my dad to be alone (with only his wife) for the holiday that, for our family, is all about family. But, I have been looking forward to this trip for MONTHS! This will be the first Thanksgiving since I have been married and I will be able to see family that was not able to make it to the wedding. I look forward to seeing how big all the babies have gotten and catching up on the lives of my aunts, uncles, and cousins. I want to her all the gossip that I have missed out on.

I know that if we go, I will spend the whole time feeling guilty that dad is not only in extreme pain, but has no family to spend the holiday with. If we don't go, I will feel resentful and spend the whole time thinking about what the rest of the family must be doing. What I really want is for the drugs to help dad so much that he is able to make the trip. If that can't happen, I want dad to "force" me to go on the trip. How selfish is that? I want what I want and I want my poor, in pain dad to help me feel less bad about my selfishness. I feel like a really horrible person right now.

As I type this, I think that I have decided that I am not going to Richmond for this holiday. I would not have a good time, knowing that dad is alone. This way, I can do some major cooking and have a more intimate gathering, just the 4 of us. The food really is the real reason for the day right? There is another Thanksgiving next year and I did just see most of the family at the wedding. It will be fine - I am still a horrible, selfish person though! Doing the right thing, does not always erase something evil.

Sunday, November 18, 2007

House Obsessed

I have become completely obsessed with buying a house. We met with the realtor yesterday morning and he gave us MLS print outs for about 27 houses that meet our basic criteria and price range. After we left there, I took Smug-Hub to meet the guys to do some fishing and went to Wal-Mart and then home and did my homework for school on Monday.

I then went through all the house listings and printed out directions for each of them and organized them by zip code, then I organized each zip code into a logical driving order. This way we can take one zip code and drive in a logical pattern to check out each house in that section. A bit OCD, I know, but I am who I am!

After all this, I picked Smug-Hub up and we had enough day light left to check out about 3 houses in one area. We liked 2 of them and took the third off the list. That one said that it had a fenced backyard, what they have is about 8 feet of fenced dog run! The house butts right up against the mountain - no real back yard to speak of!

We then went to my Dad's house, he has hurt his back and has been in bed for the last 4 days. He had an MRI that morning and will get the results on Monday to see if he needs surgery. We wanted to visit and give him a change of pace. We stayed there for about an hour. My step-mother said that our visit was the most chipper and upright he had been all week. She said that he has been really quiet and whiny and the visit really cheered him up.

When we got home, I played on the house buying website and updated the notes on our tracked listings. Smug-Hub slept! We went to bed about 11pm and I woke up this morning and have been watching the GoScoutHomes channel for the last hour and a half! I can't stop talking, thinking, watching, etc.. when it comes to houses!!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Writer's Strike.

I don't really know much about the writer's strike that is going on now, except that it has to do, in part, with getting fair compensation for the Internet playing of shows and fair compensation for future technological advances. I really wish that they could get it all worked out, because I really like all my shows and I don't want to give them up!

I am not sure if I personally am seeing the effects of the strike yet, but it does seem strange to me that shows are going on a week or 2 break from fresh episodes right in the middle of the November Sweeps. I know that most of the daily/weekly shows like Jay Leno and Saturday Night Live are already running reruns (read: off the air!) What does this mean for soaps and for the regular scripted shows?

YES, OK, I admit it!! I watch General Hospital! Give me a break, it is my little guilty pleasure and I have been watching it since I was very little, these people have been my friends and part of my life for a really long time. As dumb as it sounds, I care about what happens to them! I don't want the strike to affect them and put their "lives" on hold! What is going to happen?

Several of the weekly shows, like Desperate Housewives, Bionic Woman, and others are going on a two week break from new shows. Is this in an effort to draw out the shows that they already have shot or written? Is it going to get worse?

I really hate that I love my TV so much, but I do - I want to keep watching my shows, like I always have!

TV People: get out there and fix this!!!! NOW!!!

Friday, November 16, 2007

Friday!

I like Friday's! I get paid for one thing, and each paycheck that I receive I pay off or down some credit cards, I make sure that we have a place to live, food and gas for the car - you know the normal life stuff. I normally eat out for lunch on Friday's, most of the time with Sassy, but today with Smug-Sister. She was not feeling well, but it was still nice to see her!

I also got my car back from the shop this afternoon - they did nothing! I am serious! The CD player was messing up and they have ordered another one, but it is not in yet. The power loss issue they were unable to replicate, so they checked and reset all the computer/sensor codes and are hoping for the best. I am just glad to have my own car back! That huge truck was costing me a fortune in gas - $70 in 3 days!!

Today was also cool, because Smug-Hub and I got pre-approved for a home loan and we set up an appointment with a realtor for tomorrow morning! We think that we can afford about $150,000, but would like to keep it closer to $135,000. I don't want to hike our housing payment by so much that we pass out when we receive the first bill!! I also want us to be able to pay more on the principal each month too, so having a smaller payment gives us that option!

Smug-Hub's mom said that she would give us about $3000 to help with a down payment, and the mortgage lady suggested that we negotiate with the seller of whatever house we want to pay the $3000 needed for closing costs. Then, we would only need to come up with about $900 on our own to make up the rest of the down payment needed.

She also told us about this rebate thing that GMAC is offering, where if you used an approved realtor, they will give you $3 back for each $1000 that you borrow. After closing we will get a check for roughly $400 (this, of course, depends on what we end up paying)! They also assign you a consultant to help answer any and all questions that you have throughout the house hunting, bidding, buying and moving!

This is all making me way happy and excited! I have spent most of the evening looking at what is for sale in all the areas of town that we want to live in. There are 17 houses that I think we want to look at! That is a lot!!

Anyway, I love Friday's!!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Favorite Things!

I really could not think of anything to bitch about today, so I thought that I would try to be positive for a change!

I love cold weather, I love being warm under a blanket while it is cold all around. The tip of my nose is cold, but the rest of me is warm and toasty.

I love waking up without the alarm, like on a Saturday. I turn on the TV and watch something on HGTV or the Food Network and get hungry. I listen to my husband snore and stay warm and toasty. I know that he will wake up soon and we will cuddle and talk before getting up and heading out to get some breakfast!

I love coming home from work and curling up on the couch to watch something funny on TV with my husband close to me. We make some dinner together and just spend time with each other.

I love eating! I love fresh hot bread. Hot, sweet coffee with steam rising off it. Pasta with cheese melted all over it. I love thick, dark chocolate, creamy and slightly bitter. Those nachos that you can get at the movies, all salty and cheesy. Notice that I have not mentioned much that is healthy :)

I love my family! I called Smug-Sister today to let her know that our Mother had made it safely to her family's in Florida, and my nephew answered. He is 4, so he kept asking who it was and when he finally figured out that it was me, he could not understand why I was walking in the wind (which was causing noise on the phone line). It was actually funny and made me so thankful to have him in my life!

I love comedy. Stand up is my favorite, I normally fall asleep to Comedy Central at night. I tape and watch certain people over and over! I quote funny lines at inopportune times.

I love thinking about and planning for buying a house! I think about almost nothing else. I watch the news to find out about the changes in the housing market. I play with the amortization chart, changing interest rates and purchase prices. I look at our finances and play with possible house payments. I can't wait to get moving - literally!!

There are more things that I love, but I think this is enough for today!

Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Busted!

I don't really have much to write about today. My car started messing up again today, doing the same crap it did the weekend of the wedding. Losing power and only being able to go about 20 miles per hour. I called the Saturn dealership and they tried to put me off, saying that they only had one technician working today, and that I would have to wait. I told them that the car was under warranty and I had already given up a day waiting for them to fix this same problem. He said that if I wanted to bring it out, he would rent me a car, that I could use until they got time to look at/fix my car.

They put me into a Ford F-150! It is freakin HUGE! I am not normally intimidated by large cars/trucks, but I have a hard time getting into and out of this one! It has like no turning radius, so it is really hard to park! When my husband found out what rental I had, he lost all train of thought, apparently, girls in big trucks are hot! He was babbling on about big trucks, and tank tops and sunglasses, etc... Dude, it's cold and dark out, what are you talking about??

I got busted big time too. After I went though all the car stuff and I was heading back to work, I was so hungry that I started feeling really shaky and all low blood sugar and stuff. I knew that I had veggie soup at home, but it was going to take me 30 minutes to get there and I really needed to get back to work. Then I saw it! Krispy Kreme and the "hot" sign was just glowing at me!! I stopped and got 2 original glazed and ate them on the way back to work.

After I had been back at the office for a while, my husband calls me up. "Did you go to Krispy Kreme?" "Um... yeah..." from me. "I can't believe you! You did not bring any for me??"

Someone we work with had seen me pull into KK and asked Smug-Hub when we had gotten a blue truck - I was so totally busted! Now I am going to have to go home, put on a tank top, some sunglasses, and pick up donuts before I can pick him up from work!!!

Monday, November 12, 2007

Tagged by Sassy...

A. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.

B. Each player list 6 facts/habits/secrets about themselves.

C. At the end of the post, the player then tags people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

My 6 things:

1) My dream job for the first 12 years of my life was that of a rock star. I did not care that I could not sing, nor play any instruments and I certainly was not interested in learning - I just wanted to be a rock star.

2) The only other thing that I have ever wanted to do with my life was be a mother. I struggled through elementary and high school and I put off college until I was in my mid twenties. I just did not have any other career aspirations. As much as I enjoy my job now and am proud of what I have accomplished - I still only want to be a stay at home mother.

3) It will probably never happen. The cost of living comfortably to way too high for one income of normal proportions to handle. I will have to bring in some money each month by teaching, consulting, or working part time.

4) I am lazy! I have tired to tell people this before and no one believes me. I may do a lot of things and keep a lot of balls in the air, but I hate it and I really want to spend more time on the couch, watching TV and eating junk food. I really want to do more than I do - like get the spare room cleaned out/packed up, I really want to go to the gym - but my laziness overrides those wants.

5) I hate shopping for clothes. I hate when I have to face the fact that I need something new, because finding something that fits the needed function, fits my body, is comfortable, and is affordable is extremely rare. I have this odd body type, my bust, waist, and hips are not that off each other, tops that fit around me, are too big in the boob area, jeans and pants that are higher waisted fall into 2 categories, if it fits in the butt and legs, I can't get it buttoned or zipped. If it fits comfortably in the waist, it is huge in the butt and legs. It is killing me that the only 2 pairs of jeans that fit, are getting worn in the butt area and I am going to have to start the search all over again soon :(

6) I really don't like too many people. I am very much a loner and I need time by myself. I have a few very close friends and even them I can't spend every day with. I love my husband and I miss him when he is away, but I also love having that time alone to be totally alone and able to do whatever I want and only what I want.

I am going to tag evilsciencechick, Virginia Belle, and Charming but single - mostly since they are the only blogs that I read everyday that Sassy did not already tag!

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Weekend Wrap Up!!

I really wanted to go the bank on Saturday and start the pre-approval paperwork on the house buying, but I was holding the morning open in case I was needed by someone, and Smug-Hub made plans to go fishing, but we were both hoping to be finished before noon and then be able to get to the bank before they closed. It did not happen! I did homework and he fished until about 4pm. No bank this weekend - but we are both not making any other plans next Saturday!!

Last night we watched movies and talked and ate junk food and laughed and tickled and talked some more! It was really nice and relaxing and fun just to hang with my baby!! We ended up watching a movie and some stand up until about 2am! So we slept in this morning! Big Time!

I got up about 10 and Smug-Hub about noon. The only other thing that I wanted to do this weekend was go to some open houses, which normally run from about 1-4pm. Because we slept in so late, we had to wait an hour for a table at Cracker Barrel and by the time we left there it was 3:15pm. I had not been able to find a listing of open houses online, but we had seen several signs. It was so late that we really did not have time to stop at any. The Cowboy's game started at 4, so we rushed through Wal-Mart and got home about 2 minutes before the kick off.

I am not feeling like it is anyone's fault, but I only wanted to 2 things this weekend and I did not get to do either of them :(

I have a couple of loads of laundry working and made two days worth of dinners, since I will be in class tomorrow night and unable to cook. The kitchen is cleaned up, the sheets on the bed are changed, there are fresh towels in the bathroom. I still need to straighten up the living room, but other than that... All my homework is done too! It was actually a really nice weekend!

Have I mentioned how much I am looking forward to Thanksgiving?? I can't wait!!

Saturday, November 10, 2007

I Love Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is for sure my favorite holiday of the whole year! I normally go up to Richmond to spend the day with my dad's side of the family. This has been a tradition since I was a very little girl, Thanksgiving with Dad's family and Christmas with either Mom's family in Florida or as a family ourselves at home. Sometimes Mom's family would come to our place for Christmas too.

My Mother's family is smaller and while they are just as close it is a more serious and formal king of gathering. The TV is normally off and dinner is served at the table with fine china and cloth napkins - which is fine when the entire family can fit at a table for 8!

The Richmond family is very large and very loud and very loving! They are friendly and welcoming to everyone and fiercely loyal to their own. Dinner is on paper plates and everyone eats all day long! We have issues such as a few criminals, many smokers and several marriages each and several teen pregnancy's, but we also have more love and dedication and closeness than most of the other families that I have experienced over the years. We have shared each other's deepest grief and greatest joy and there is so much love that it can be overwhelming!

Thanksgiving to me is about family and food! That's it! Simple and complex at the same time! I love eating, as my waistline will testify to, and I love being in the company of so many generations of family. My me-me and pa-pa will be there, all my aunts and uncles, all my cousins and the children of my cousins and sister. There will be husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, a few friends of various family members, and even an ex or two may show up - all will be welcomed with a plate of food!

I am in charge of Cranberry Salad this year. We have always had the canned cranberries until a few years ago, when I brought my secret recipe - it was gone in about 10 minutes and it has been requested in larger and larger quantities every year since! I am also going to bring a dessert, but I have not decided on which one yet. I think I made the coconut cake last year (or Smug-Sister did) so I would like to do something different, but not something that would have issues making the trip! We both have Friday off work, so we are planning on driving up on Thursday morning and back home on Friday afternoon. This will give us plenty of time with the family, and still plenty of time at home to relax and get all the normal weekend stuff done!

I love Thanksgiving and I am looking so forward to it!!

Friday, November 9, 2007

The Down Side of Christmas

Well, it is official! I was in Barnes and Noble on November first and heard the first Christmas song of the season playing on their overhead system. Wednesday (November 7) I saw the first Christmas commercial on TV. That was the beginning, the first sign of a crack in a foundation. Now the flood has broken loose and Christmas has attacked in full force! People have already put up lights in their yards and on their houses, the stores are full of decorations and sales.

I normally love Christmas, but in recent years it has just bombarded me and assaulted me at every turn for so many months before the actual holiday, that I end up dreading it! This year, my family is drawing names and most of my gifts will be given from the pool of Wedding pictures anyway, so the gift giving thing will not be too stressful. I love the food aspect of the holiday, I love the cooking and the eating and the being with family. I love the midnight mass on Christmas Eve, the candles and decorations, the music, etc.

I guess the only thing that I dislike about Christmas is the commercialism - all the attacks of Christmas everywhere you turn. It starts too early, sometimes even before Halloween!! I know that everyone talks about the "True Meaning of Christmas" which is fine, but no one seems to do it. I am Catholic, but still not an overly religious and I don't care if you associate Christmas with the birth of Jesus or not - the true meaning of Christmas to me is about love and family and taking time to be with your loved ones. I love this concept - but being bombarded with what you have to buy drives me nuts!!

Thursday, November 8, 2007

Dream House

Warning!!! Very Boring Post Ahead!!!

My dream house would have all of the following:

Be on a tree lined street in the suburbs, like Wisteria Lane, full of friendly neighbors, sidewalks where children ride bikes, etc.
Be within walking distance of a nice park
Be 5 minutes from work
A flat yard and driveway - for easy mowing, and winter parking
Built brand new, so we have some control over paint colors and cabinets, also we should have a longer time before things start to go bad and have to be replaced
A garage
4 Bedrooms, including 1 large master suite with a bathroom
1 other full bathroom and at least 1 other half bathroom
A formal dining room
Laundry room on the main living level
A chef's kitchen, complete with large counter tops, stainless steel appliances (including a dishwasher), plenty of cabinets, and a pantry with shelving.
A large family room with built in bookshelves
A partially finished basement
A screened porch
A large fenced yard, with plenty of room of a tree house and a garden
No gas heat
Central air
A fireplace

What I will settle for:

Enough space (this could be 3 bedrooms and a full basement, or 5 bedrooms and no basement, or 3 bedrooms and a storage building, etc - you get the idea)
Central air
On a street without yellow lines
In a nice area of town
Large Kitchen
Less than 20 minutes from work
Under $120,000

You see? I am dreaming of a lot - but I don't really NEED much to make me happy!!
I just want to make sure that whatever we buy is big enough for us now plus a baby or two!

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Stupid People

My company used to have (in the olden days) something called "bucks", which were a paper coupon that was given to a sales associate who met their sales goals and could be used the same as cash for merchandise. They began over the years to become a substitute for pay for some contractors, summer help or special event help (ie: given to non-employees instead of any real pay). This was a fine system and everyone liked it. The only problem was with the IRS. There was no tax being paid for this "income" - it was not trackable and easy to forge. No one in the company had any real idea of how much of this "money" was being spent.

Enter the Associate Rewards Card!! This would be a credit type card, that would be given to each associate at hiring and then the store manager could assign funds to the card for a myriad of reasons. We would be able to track how much incentive money a store was spending, it could be budgeted, associates would be taxed on this "income" - all issues would be over!!!

Not quite! Apparently, there are people who have been hired as both store managers and as district managers who are just plain stupid! Why, you say?? Allow me to explain!!

When I received the reward cards from the manufacturer and I assigned one card to each individual store associate. This took several days has we have about 500+ associates total working for our various retail stores. I then created a package for each store which included their cards, a list of who was assigned to each card, a letter stating the purpose of the new program and the procedure each manager was to follow, a packet of instructions as to how to fund the cards, check balances, etc. all from their registers. I then e-mailed the letter, instructions, and assignment lists to each manager. This way each store manager would have both an electronic "heads up" copy, plus hard copies of everything along with their cards. This whole process took me about 10 days to complete, from the day the cards were delivered to the day I shipped them out to the stores.

During the time it took me to get these cards shipped out, a few associates had left the company and a few more had been hired. I each case, I allowed the store manager to take a card currently assigned to a recently terminated associate and give it to a new hire. I would then delete the terminated associate off my spreadsheet and assign that card number to the new associate - both sides matched!

Each week, HR sends me a list of every store associate who was terminated and who was hired that previous week. I then delete terminated associates and assign cards to the new hires. I put a Post-it note on each card with the new hires name on it and send it to the store manager with that weeks payroll checks.

The initial roll out was in JULY!

Today, the payroll manager comes into my office and has a couple of cards that have money attached, but she can't find who the cards are assigned to. I don't have the cards on my list, so they must be fore terminated associates - this would be fine, except money was added to one of the cards this week, it can't be for a terminated person, if they are still getting money assigned to the card.

We e-mailed the store manager for that store asking about everything. Her response????

"Gosh is there a way to differentiate who is what card, I just gave them out depending who was here and what card I grabbed. If certain ones went to certain people I guess I might hae messed that up. That one went to XXXX.
Sorry if I messed up."


WHAT??? WHAT???? WHAT????

It is not even possible that she missed EVERY SINGLE PIECE of information that I sent to her! There were e-mails to the store managers on this project from the district managers and above! EVERYONE KNEW WHAT WAS GOING ON!!!!

I spoke with the person who developed the program and helped me put together all the instructions and procedures - she was cussing like I have never heard. Her main complaint is that now we have to go back to EACH store to check and make sure that the store managers are capable of reading and that no one else handed out cards to the wrong people. I have to call this particular store manager and get her to get with each of her associates to make sure that the cards they each have match my list. People have been being taxed based on the money assigned to their card!!! People may have been getting taxed on money they did not earn!!

Oh lordy - I have to call this manager now, please grant me the calm I need to get to the bottom of this without taking her head off!! I am PMS'ing after all - it could happen!!

Monday, November 5, 2007

I Am Such A whiner :(

I have this ongoing issue with my sweet and loving husband! He constantly falls asleep on the couch at night, coming to bed at all hours of the night/morning. First problem with this is that I keep waking up when he is not there and should be, (funny, when he is out of town, I never wake up wondering where he is...) secondly, if he comes to bed by about 1am, I don't normally even notice, I don't wake up or anything, but if it is after that when he wakes up cold and with a neck cramp and comes to bed, he wakes me up. I think that my body is coming out of its deepest sleep by then, I usually hear him coming up the stairs or in the bathroom and then he often bashes a toe while on the way to actual bed. I am fully awake at this point and usually have to pee. By the time we are both back in bed, he falls asleep very fast and within about 45 seconds is snoring LOUDLY! I have trouble getting back to sleep, and normally lay there in a half sleep until the alarm goes off. Then I have the worst time dragging myself out of bed and into the shower.

This morning we were supposed to go to the gym, we set the alarm for 4:45am, this would allow is 15 minutes to get clothes on and such, and be at the gym about 5:15-5:30, workout for an hour, shower and be at work about 7:30-7:45. Smug-Hub came to bed at 3:15am, he went to the bathroom first and the light woke me up. He then proceeded to wrap his extremely cold feet and legs all over me - I had to pee... I lay there half asleep until 4:45, he asked if we could workout on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday this week. I agreed, and then lay there unable to go back to sleep until the normal alarm went off at 6:00.

I am already fighting with major PMS this week, but I am really pissed! Not only was my sleep messed up, the whole week got off on the wrong foot. Now, I totally realize that I could have gone on to the gym without him, but I was soooo tired!! This morning, my eyes hurt and feel dry, and I feel achy all over - this is the normal reaction that I have to a lack of sleep. If the deprivation is enough, I will feel sick to my stomach also (not so far today yet).

The icing on this you ask?? I start my first MBA class tonight, with a teacher that I have had before. The class is from 6-10pm tonight!! While most teachers attempt to end class about 9pm or so, this teacher will keep the class going until the very end and then some! He is never done until 10 or 10:15pm! By the time that I get out of class, pick up Smug-Hub and get home it will be after 11. THEN he wants us to go to the gym? Get up at 4:45am?? I am not feeling the love people!!

I have asked him in the past that if he falls asleep on the couch and when he wakes up, ready to come to bed, if it is after 1am - just stay on the couch. Let me sleep! This would only solve half the issue as I wake up all night anyway looking for him, but it would help some. He keeps forgetting that and coming to bed!

What should I do here? Talk to him again? That really has not worked, as is evidenced by his continuing behavior. Yell? Write him a letter explaining all my feelings? Divorce? OK, not divorce, but I am really tired and feel like crying. Tonight is going to suck ass, and there is nothing I can do about it. Tomorrow is going to suck ass, if I go to the gym, I will be even more tired all day. If I don't go to the gym, I will feel guilty all week that I let another week go buy without trying to get rid of this weight that I have put back on. Lose, Lose for me - My OCD side is whining that the whole week has been messed up!

Sunday, November 4, 2007

PMS??

Why is it that I am never clumsy accept for the week before my period? I hardly ever bend my fingernail back. I hardly ever dump the trash all over the yard when I attempt to put it into the outside trash can. I never have trouble making the bed, dropping the sheets, tucking the bed skirt into the mattress. I never never fall down the stairs. I never scrap both sets of knuckles in the door jams while carrying the laundry basket. I never cut myself while shaving my legs. I never drop food on the floor while cooking..... except..... for every month during the week before my period.

I also have the longest fuse on my temper, except during this week when I am irritated at everything! I mean everything!! I can't stand people driving in front of me, or behind me. I get so mad at the major lack of customer service EVERYWHERE! I see red when Smug-Hub leaves his shoes on the living rooms floor - he does this everyday, only during this week does it really bother me.

On the up side - I did clean out two boxes of junk in the spare room. I have changed the linens, and am working on the laundry. I have completed all of the homework that I needed to do (although it took many more hours than I was thinking it would). I planned menus and did the food shopping. I made pumpkin bread and Smug-Hub is currently in the kitchen getting his pork in the oven to go with the vegetarian meal that I am going to make. Overall, it has been a very productive weekend, even if I have been causing myself bodily harm due to all my clumsiness.

In the morning, we are heading to the gym - all part of the "we are now adults" life plan!

Saturday, November 3, 2007

Perfect Weekend!

Last night I forgot to turn on the heat. It is that time of year when you may or may not even need heat, so I have been turning it on only right before we go to bed and then turning it off in the morning. Last night, it got really cold! So we cuddled up close and used body heat to keep warm, (well, that, and a couple more blankets!) It never occurred to either of us to go downstairs and turn on the heat!

This morning we laid in bed for a couple of hours after waking, just watching TV and staying under the warm covers. It was really nice, not to have to jump up and get moving, or keep hitting the alarm or anything. Just relaxing and cuddling and talking! How nice!

My husband took a shower and then made us breakfast while I was in the shower. We ate and watched Blazing Saddles and laughed! He is going to take Smug-Sister's boyfriend golfing this afternoon and I am going to tackle a few things in the spare room and get my homework done!

After we finish our respective tasks this afternoon we are going to use an Olive Garden gift certificate for a nice dinner together and maybe make a Wal-Mart run for some essentials.

Tomorrow, we are planning on going to church and then doing the normal laundry, grocery shopping, house cleaning thing! I really love the relaxing weekend - no drama, or appointments, or busyness!

Friday, November 2, 2007

Clutter Clean Up

Virginia Belle has inspired me! She was talking about all the pack rat tendencies that she has and while I was reading it, I was thinking about all the unnecessary stuff that I have in my apartment. I don't like clutter and I don't like waste. I want to clean up my act and start acting like a grown up! I have also been listening to Suze Orman's book called Women and Money and I am totally inspired by her too. I am listening to it on CD, but I think that I am going to buy it as it is full of charts and websites and tips and tricks to becoming financially secure.

I want to be financially secure! I want to have a nice, comfortable retirement, I want to live comfortably now and feel safe! I want to buy a freaking house!!!!!!!!

I am on the path! She has created a 5 month plan for getting yourself positioned to be doing the best you possibly can with your money. First, on the list it to get organized. She says that having bills and receipts and statements all over the place leads us to feeling powerless and helpless. She also says that if you are disorganized and/or feeling helpless to stop blaming yourself (or others) for your situation and start doing something about it!! She talks about taking 5 minutes with the mail each day to look over your statements/bills and put them in a folder/envelope/box whatever that is just for them. Then toss any and all trash accumulated from the mail. You only need the statement and the envelope to mail back the payment. I am going to apply this to all the areas of my life that seem to collect clutter. I am going to get rid of the magazines that I have/have not read that are older than 3 months. I am going to shred/trash everything in the spare room that I don't need anymore. I am going to create folders for tax information, rental information, house buying information, etc.

I am going to clean out my closet of all the clothes that I have not worn in 6 months, I am going to remove all the shoes that I have not worn in 6 months and take everything to the goodwill, I may not have money to give to help those less fortunate, but I have clothes that are going to waste in my closet.

I am going to go through all the old school work and file what I need to keep and trash what I don't. I am going to list all my old textbooks for sale on Marketplace or eBay. I am going to pack up all the wedding memories, one box of bigger stuff and another for the cards, papers, certificates, notes, etc. once we get moved into the new house, I can unpack those and turn them into a scrapbook.

I am even going to tackle the kitchen and box up anything that we are not using much of - this will make the cooking that we are doing easier and keep our stuff nice until we have a kitchen worthy of it!

I think that this is going to take some time, but I think that I can devote 1 day a month to tackle one room at a time. This way it will not be too overwhelming!

We are going to go to the bank to do the pre-qualifying in month of November, so that we can start house hunting! I hope that all the timing works out so that we don't have to extend our lease any, or pay anything to get out of it early!

My dream house would be of new construction, that will not be finished until about the time we are ready to move. All new appliances! Fresh warren ties! Some home builders will let you pick different stuff, like colors, cabinets, flooring options, stuff like that! That would be totally cool.

I would love to have a fenced back yard, a finished basement, a fireplace, and a garage. I am not naive enough to think that any of these will be possible with our first house. The only real major stuff is: 2-3 bedrooms, at least 1 full and 1 half bath, central air. I think that we would settle for something with 2 bedrooms if there was a good sized basement, or without a basement we would need at least 3 if not 4 bedrooms, and a storage shed or garage. I would really like to find something without gas heat since the prices are so outrageous. We would like to be fairly close to work, and Smug-Hub would like to have some land with the house. All these things are negotiable! We just need to see what we can get for what money and so on! I am sure that we will find just what we need for just what we can afford!! I have faith!!

Yesterday's Post - Work and Stuff

I got this all done yesterday and then forgot to hit the "publish post" button - I think it is the blond in me! Anyway, here it is again, or first, or whatever... also, an update - I did not spend my lunch break yesterday as I had planned, so it falls to today's lunch break... :(

I have been putting in a ton of hours the last couple of weeks, we are finishing up one fiscal year and starting a new one, we are gearing up for the peak selling season (Christmas), having board meetings and auditors coming in and all kinds of employee programs, and planning the Holiday party!

This has turned into a ton of extra hours and late evenings. My husband is also busy as he is deep into the spring pre-selling for his accounts. We have hardly seen each other and nothing has gotten done either around the apartment or had time to go to the bank to work on the house buying project.

I am also starting the MBA program on Monday and I have not been able to force myself to do the reading that I need to do before the first class. I need to get a copy of the Wall Street Journal so I can cut out an article on something HR related - it has to be the physical news paper, not something online, as the teacher wants us to be reading the whole WSJ each day. HOW IS THAT FUCKING POSSIBLE????? I don't have time to read the new Janet Evanovich book for fun, how am I supposed to read an entire news paper everyday?? Maybe it will be really interesting and I will totally retract this post later! I have to spend my lunch break today finding a copy and, of course, we don't have any kind of book store on this side of town, so I have to drive a good 20 minutes to even have a chance of finding a copy.

On a positive note, I did attend a seminar on mortgages given by the local library last night and I learned a ton of stuff about credit and credit scores and how the process works and everything! Well, I am sure it is not everything, but at least I feel a lot more ready to take on the process than I did before!

Also, yesterday was Halloween and I went by Smug-Sister's house to check out my nephew - see these pictures as he is too cute for words!!

See you all tomorrow!!