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Archive for December, 2011

One tired mama tonight....

January 1st, 2012 at 05:59 am

Spent the day cleaning and organizing. Started off in the master closet....needed it bad! Got through about 1/2 of it and then had to take dd2 somewhere. Had to hurry as the Frontier guy was coming anytime between 8 and 5 to hook up the FIOS for internet and I figured if I left, he would call to say he was coming! He showed up about 1:00 and was here for about 1 1/2 hrs.....spent the time downstairs organizing and putting away all of the Christmas decorations that had taken up residence on the dining room table for the past week. Then dd1 and I attacked the tree....got all of the oranments off and packed away...put it all in the garage for dh to put on the shelves out there.Also got the tree taken down and packed away. Dusted and vacuumed and now the downstairs is back to normal.

DH is stuck working ALL weekend....9 days in a row....his company was having what they call a shut down and his supervisor decided his department/shop could come in and work on projects ect...needless to say....he is NOT happy...he is trying to get Monday off though so we will see. The money will be nice but he would rather have the time off.

We took off for an early dinner (with a coupon of course) and came home....I sat down for a while to watch tv and could barely get up when I was done. I have a feeling I am going to be very sore tomorrow morning.

No plans tonight since DH has to work tomorrow. DD1 is home...she was invited to a party but decided not to go....bunch of old high school friends and she figured there would just be a bunch of drunk people there. The friend that invited her just got his own place so she was pretty sure it was going to be wild. She is bummed she can't spend the evening with her boyfriend....he just lives too far from here. He lives much closer to the college they go to so from here it is about a 2 hour drive to his place. (He only lives about 1/2 hr from their college). DD2 is spending the night at her bff's. They are ringing in the New Year at another friends house and her boyfriend is there too. Won't see her until sometime tomorrow.

Going to spend Sunday finishing up the rest of the house....want to start the New Year off with a clean and organized house!

Hoping to post goals tomorrow....Happy New Year!

Does anyone know how

December 28th, 2011 at 04:07 pm

to get rid of those spammy comments on one's blog? Any help would be appreciated!

Christmas

December 28th, 2011 at 03:00 am

was wonderful and blessed. Hubby spoiled me as usual even though I asked him not to. He got me a small diamond necklace, $25 to B&N, perfume, new lunch tote, and a pedometer to replace the one I leftin a bathroom stall at Universal Studios in July of 2009 Smile

Received a fun foodie gift basket from brother and SIL, a new SnowBaby and some knitting things from my mom and dad....I don't know how to knit but I will be learning (I expressed an interest), and cute reusable tote that my mom made (cc free....you would be impressed) with coffee cups on the front and coffee beans lining the inside. MIL gave gift cards to Kohl's, and SIL (on dh's side(who had my name) gave me a card with a promise for lunch and a mani/pedi....that should be fun! My sister decided last year not to exchange with my brother and me....she doesn't like SIL and doesn't want to buy for her and therefore thought their feelings would be hurt if she exchanged with me. My girls gave me some Tree Hut body scrub and lotion....coconut lime....to get me in the mood for the Carribean! My grandma gives everyone a $100 every year for Christmas and their birthdays.

We headed out to Fred Meyers, Kohl's and Target yesterday...found a few tops at Kohl's and bought a couple of organizing things from Freds...other that than, not much spending.

Had last Thurs and Friday off from work (pto time) and also Monday (holiday) and today (pto time)....spent some time taking down the decorations, organzing, cleaning house, and doing some cooking for freezer meals (another post).

Not really ready to head back to work but it is a short week and next week will be too.

Looking forward to posting some goals for 2012!

Uh oh! Miscounted

December 24th, 2011 at 08:23 pm

I realized this morning (after all of the shopping and wrapping these past few weeks), that I was one gift short for DD2.....we always make sure that the girls have an equal amount of gifts....both number and dollar wise. For some reason, I was thinking about it this morning and quickly did a "count". I am glad I did...would hate to have had any hurt feelings. Stopped by and got a gift card for her which she will enjoy (both the girls got 2 gift cards) plus the wrapped gifts they have under the tree. Stockings are usually most of the same things but in a different color or shape ect.

DH and I headed out and braved Costco....ugh....he had to bribe me with a coffee from Tully's. I didn't need to worry.....it wasn't as packed as it usually is. We were in and out pretty quickly. For some reason, shopping at Costco really stresses me out....any time of the year. My office pays for my membership so it is nice to have it. We usually try to get there when the doors open. We were going to go on Friday but by the time DISH left, it was about 1:30 and I thought by the time we get down there, it would be crazy so I am glad we went today. Now I don't have to go back for about 6 weeks. Smile The line for gas however, was pretty long.....$3.23 for regular unleaded. Not bad!

Bye bye Comcast!

December 22nd, 2011 at 08:31 pm

You will not be missed.....at all!

About a year and a half ago, we switched to a bundle through Comcast....good price for a year on cable, phone and internet. Almost from the beginning we had problems with them. There was a promotion for a visa gift card for signing up. Everytime we would call we would get a different reason/answer about why we didn't qualify even though THEY sent us the promotion. Finally after about 2 months they finally agreed to give us a credit on the bill equal to the visa card which was $150.

Throughout the time we have had them, the menu guide and drv menu constantly go down or are not accessible. We also find the remote control difficult to use (confusing) and also I don't like how their dvr's work.

Fast forward a year and a half later....I've been bugging DH to call for a while since our contract was only for a year and the bill has shot up quite a bit. He called today to see if they would offer us a better deal. First rep offered $10 off the bill per month and acted like she was doing us a huge favor. Second rep said there were no promotions going on. Third rep told DH we had a 2 year contract. Fourth rep said we were not locked into a contract.

That was enough for DH to get on the phone and call DISH. We had DISH previously and NEVER had a problem. They were more than happy to have us back...so happy they are coming tomorrow and gave us a great rate for a year and several free channels ect. (still have the satelite up) DH also called Frontier to find out about internet. They are coming on the 31st. So after that is connected, I will be calling Comcast and cancelling everything!

We made the decision to drop our land line....kind of scary but definately going to save some money there along with a reduced bill for cable and internet.

Looking forward to starting the New Year with a little less out of our pockets each month Smile

Another bonus!

December 17th, 2011 at 05:15 am

The doc who gave us $300 visa gift cards last year gave us a gift card today for $325 to Amazon! Pretty cool! I don't shop much online so I am going to have to hop on there and take a look around.

DH has bought some stuff from there and just loves it.

I have absolutely no idea what I want, or really need for that matter, so for now, I am just going to browse and think on it until I find something I really want.

What a blessing!

Got that bonus!

December 15th, 2011 at 09:26 pm

And....it was $200 more than expected. Amount? $1400. Yipee!

Plans for it? Put it into savings for now. It will be used to pay off the rest of our anniversary cruise coming up in April.

We actually ended up receiving it early. The doc's usually give it to us at the Christmas party but it arrived in the mail yesterday. We have direct deposit but they prefer to give an actual check for the bonus. Payroll company messed up and sent them to everyone's house instead of delivering them to the office. Our office manager was freaking out and calling everyone to check their mail boxes...she didn't want them to sit in case people don't check their mail every day.

Glad it arrived safe and sound.....it is already in the bank! Smile

Hoping....

December 11th, 2011 at 11:08 pm

For my usual Christmas bonus at work. I have been very lucky to receive a bonus every year at my work. Last 2 years has been $1200.00 and I am hoping it will at least be that this year. Of course I am happy to receive anything at all! This bonus is from the 2 doc's that own the clinic. They are such a pleasure to work for and really, really great people.

Also hoping for a bonus from one of the other doc's...she has been very generous the past few years and has given all of the employee's a $300.00 visa gift card. That of course, is very helpful and useful for just about anything.

Not sure what to expect, if anything from our newest doc who started in January. She is such a sweetie and a pleasure to work with. Her schedule is busy but not crazy so it is hard to say if she will do anything.

Not expecting anything from the last doc. She has had financial issues and drama ever since she started. It would be nice to at least receive a card saying thanks for all we do. That is just her and we are used to it. It was surprising a few weeks ago when she decided to buy all of the employee's a coffee drink from the corner cafe....a total surprise! But those are usually the best kind of surprises aren't they? Those totally unexpected ones Smile

Not sure about DH, but I doubt his company will do any kind of a bonus. He considers his PPA payout a bonus. Let me explain.....every employee at his work receives 80 hours of paid personal absence (sick time) which is seperate from vacation. If you don't use your 80 hours by the end of December, they pay it back to you. It's like receiving an extra paycheck. Most guys he works with use their time. DH prefers the money....the only kicker? You have to have ALL of your 80 hours....can't even use 1 day so you hope you don't get sick!

All in all.....hoping for about $1500 but we will see...again....I feel blessed to receive anything at all, especially in these economic times.