Crusin Along...

I've been so jealous of some of my extended family. They go on numerous cruises all over the place through out the year. I've always wanted to go so I can see other countries and eat all the great food. I know Yes-Yes would LOVE all the fun activities and would be blown away from the set up period. He would probably never want to leave! LOL!

DH has been wanting to go back to the Dominican Republic for YEARS and talks about it all the time. He was born there and was old enough to remember the plane ride over here when he moved. He would like to go back and see where he grew up but thinks it would be too heart breaking and says we should stay in the resort areas with their white sand beaches and luxury.

I would LOVE to go on any one of the Caribbean cruises that Carnival offers but I think we'd probably choose one around there first. My grandparents went on a great cruise when I was little and went to the Bahamas and Nassau among other places. They had so much fun that I swore I would go on one when I was able to and now that we have kids this would be an ideal vacation with something for everyone to do!

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Tomorrow is my granny's 82nd birthday. Wow, could you imagine living that long?! She used to tell me stories about how when she was little they didn't have toys and they were even luckier still to get some form of doll. It's no wonder that she ended up working at a toy store and spoiled the heck out of me.

The sad part is that she isn't doing well now and one of my uncle's thinks it's only a matter of time before she passes. The good part of her decline is that she's lost a lot of the ability to hold (or remember to) a grudge which she did...and often. The main thing that she had held onto in the last couple of years is the sale of her decaying house. She had been there for DECADES and had a very strong emotional bond with it. We were forced to move her out since there was no money to fix the multitude of things wrong with it and she never forgot that, until now. She was taken by the old house for the first time in over 2 years and although it has been totally renovated, painted, and landscaped she didn't seem to recognize it at all. This was a really sad thing for me to hear since I grew up there. It is such a bittersweet thing that I'm not sure I fully dealt with the feelings of it.

It's really been one of the most awful things I've ever had to go through as I watch my grandma decline and lose capability of just about everything she's ever been able to do. I was really hoping that we had more time with her if only in a mental state but we have lost that too. I pray that we have enough special times with her that I can show to No-No but given that she's only 2 there aren't as many as one would like.

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Home is Where...

One of my friends has been trying to sell her house for a long time and can't. It's super cheap compared to here but the house isn't all that great and the lot wasn't really developed. Her location doesn't supply many jobs at all and the commute would really stink but I have to say that since things aren't going really well here it has crossed my mind more than a few times. I'm sure that we could probably take down the house and even get a pretty cool manufactured home if we wanted to. I'm sure we could build something nice too but keeping costs down would be our key to survival until we found jobs out there. Well, it's a very far fetched idea anyway so I guess I'm just "talking out loud" but it's good to know that the option is there in case something majorly awful happens to us. *knock on wood!*

Carolina on My Mind...

I've always wanted to go to the east coast. I went once but I was really young, don't remember much, and it was to Boston. The closest I've gotten to the Outer Banks is when I went to Tennessee and I was really young then too so that doesn't really help the memory much.

All the places that I've been were really pretty random. I think I'd have to say that the best place was New Orleans and the worst was Tantara, MO. I've been all over the place but nothing was really all THAT exciting because we were there for something other than sight seeing. One of the best trips ever was to Hawaii with my dad. He took us all over the place doing all the tourist type things. Funny how I remember most of that trip and not many others.

Have You Heard of the World Fishing Network?

Neither did I. DH's life revolves around fishing so I figured now that we have cable I should try and get him this channel. This has to be one of the hardest channels to get out here. I found the website which says that it is offered by Dish Network, yay. Okay, so I go to the Dish Network site...as it turns out this is such a specialized channel (my luck) that you have to have an HD programming package and ADD another package to that which includes this channel! Are you kidding?! That would bring our bill to almost $100 per month! What a rip off, and needless to say we will not be watching that World Fishing Network any time soon.

Now I know why we never ordered a TV service. They're such pains that they create packages full of channels that you don't want to get you to buy the packages that cost 3x more that contain what you do want. If you don't take this option and add the channels individually, you end up paying close to the higher amount anyway so you might as well get the more expensive one to begin with. WTH?! I think they'd probably do better business if they would just set a number of channels that you can choose per package instead of all this craziness. Man it's stupid!

Turning Down a (sort of) Good Thing

I got a call a few days ago from an old boss. I knew exactly what it was...a call back to work. I haven't really worked outside the home in almost 2 years so the idea made me a little nervous. I started to get excited, not because I was asked back but because I thought about my employee discount! LOL! Believe it or not that was a major thing to consider when I made my decision. I determined that it would turn out more like a trade rather than a gain but I was still going to go. That is until I heard that the time period was INCREDIBLY short. So short that there's no point in going all the way down there. I think it was somewhere around 3 days. I'm not going to go into detail but no matter if I worked on commission or as a cashier (using our trusty Symbol LS2208 aka: scanner gun), it would barely pay the gas in the long run. So tomorrow I have to call and sadly decline...I really did start to get happy about saving money I knew I might spend on No-No. Oh well...

When Things Happen...

Okay, many of us know that this isn't the exact saying that one usually hears but I'm trying to keep things civilized here. LOL

Yep, this has been my month for sure. Every single thing that could get in my way has and of late, by around 2pm everyday I can expect that the worst is on its way. I'm not sure why but seriously, everyday by 2-2:30pm is when I know that the biggest bad thing of the day is coming or just happened. I ended up having a breakdown and couldn't function properly if at all today. Life got the best of me and my frustration and feeling of control loss took over.

One of my friends just said the other day "it's hard to be optimistic when there's a cloud that follows you every where you go". That's been me. No matter what I changed mentally or however optimistic I am, things go to you know what. Hopefully the worst is over and I can start off again relatively new. Otherwise I'm going to end up on a massive hunt for the best wrinkle creams and end up trying each one on a different part of my face in comparison. That would sure make things interesting huh? LOL!

California Cuts

The budget here is such a mess every time the year ends and it goes on for almost the duration of the time in between. I'm always disgusted to hear about all of the cuts to education and health that it makes me wonder why we even have these people in office. Of course we use public schools and health care at the moment so this has a big impact on what happens to us and the kids. Needless to say taht we need to at least get off the health care and get something else soon. They have cut back so many things that it makes me nervous to need to go to a doctor at all.

I've been pouring over some of the cheap insurance websites because at this point there can't be any plan worse than what we've got now. There are some promising ones that I have found but right now money is still an issue so it makes it hard to switch. Hopefully really soon we'll be able to get the care that we need and not have to worry about some $10,000 bill coming in the mail that we end up having to fight over or something like that.

Did I Really Want to Know?

In June of 1997 my dad was murdered in Thailand. I was a young teen at the time and didn't handle it very well, some of which still sits with me now. Back then I didn't have internet access since it was still pretty young too and it wasn't until years later that I was able to start trying to find out what happened. I had heard that the guys that plotted and executed his death had been caught but I was never really sure what happened to them until recently.

Last week I had the urge to put out the effort into finding out what really happened to him and those people. There are so many suspicious deaths in that country that it's almost the norm which is pretty sick. I read through one of their local papers and found numerous articles on the trial (thank God for that at least) of the five or so people and was pretty disappointed in what I saw. I knew that corruption was just as big a part of everything and many time the trial was postponed because witnesses didn't show up and you could only assume that they were paid off, threatened, or killed themselves. As it turned out, in 2004 all charges were dropped and the men got off. That's just typical.

This was all a hard thing for me to swallow even after all these years and though I had suspected this was the outcome. I know that the reason it had taken me this long to find out is because I knew that I would have a difficult time with it and didn't want to go back to such an ugly place in my life. Luckily it has been so long that I am able to put it out of my mind because it has past and that's the end of it. Still though, no matter what he did or why he was killed, my dad deserves some sort of justice...doesn't he?

Losin It

I have a friend that is edging towards becoming morbidly obese. She's starting to get really scared (but she's also VERY lazy) and swears she's going to do something about it really soon. She doesn't want to have to go through surgery and wants to know that she's done it herself. I'm not sure how that can happen without moving as much as she needs to but she needs to start with getting her energy level up. I know that I have a really hard time with my energy level and if it wasn't for a jump start when I wake up, I would be mush all day long. My friend has been reading about different diet pills and found a few good ones including a phenphedrine review that sounded really good. Before she does anything with pills (and waste tons of money) I really want to make sure she gets herself to the doctor to be sure that whatever she chooses to do is safe for her. Hopefully she can finally stick with something and get healthy again.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink...

We are in dire need of a new kitchen sink but aren't sure exactly what to look at. We have this funny corner angled placed sink and as much as we'd like to remodel the kitchen, we only can start with the sink.

One thing I've always liked is the type of sink Martha Stewart tends to have. I think it's one of those types of zero radius sinks but I really don't know a whole lot about those. It's a fantastically deep one basin sink (like the one above but her's are normally stone). I love anything like that since we have this divided thing with a side that's raised and is way too shallow. The slope is funny and it's not wide enough so when we drain food into a colander, the colander goes sliding into the drain and we're lucky if nothing ends up down there. It's a really big pain...and waste of money if we aren't careful.

Nordstrom Anniversary Sale

It's that time of year again...Nordstrom's sale season. Just like last year I won't be working and it's rather bittersweet. I really miss getting my discount. LOL

It has been that each year they have strayed away from basic necessity and gone more towards picking trendy items that aren't all that permanent in your closet. This year seems that they've gone back slightly and have incorporated things that are more basic. Sadly for me there is lots of leather going on sale this time around. I've always wanted a basic black leather jacket but haven't found the right one at the right time. The shoe selection could be a little better though.

The one thing that I always pick up are socks. We love Nordstrom socks and since there are a bunch of us that wear kids socks it's mandatory to grab a ton of them. If you don't know the sale starts on Friday July 17th and goes until August 2nd. Here's a link to the preview catalog of what will be on sale as well. Happy shopping!

Design Ideas(?)

Since we have gotten cable, I've been glued to all the shows on decorating and room makeovers. I guess it's pretty obvious why. LOL I've been wanting to redo our bedroom for the longest time but have frozen because I'm not sure I know what it is I'm doing. I can't figure out what colors to paint and what to do with the crummy furniture we have. Ironically, the one thing that really bugs me is the TV. It's huge and we can't hide it so it jut stands out and takes up way too much room. I've never seen a cabinet that I've loved and have thought about a tv mount but I think this TV might be too big and heavy for our sad plaster walls. Deep down I know that I won't be able to tackle this one until we can afford a sleek new TV but it still eats at me all the same. Ideally I'd like to get the TV off of the furniture altogether and put it on the wall so I have room for other things. That would be fantastic! *sigh* And the wait continues...lol

WOW...

I saw this picture the other day and was pretty sad for the girl that doesn't fit in...literally. I've never been that heavy but do know what it feels like to look nothing like all the other girls you know or hang out with.

I used to do everything from look for the best diet pills to try to make myself taller (like that would help). Of course it wasn't until I was older when I realized that 1. Duh, I'd never be them and 2. I accepted (to the best of my ability) that I am okay with who I am and how I look.

I think every girl ends up going through a period where they are cosmetically comparing themselves to every one and everything no matter how much you try to avoid it. It is a really sad thing for people to have to go through but it's all part of being self conscious and ultimately self accepting.

Loud 'n Clear

Have you seen the commercials for this thing? It is designed to look just like any regular bluetooth earpiece but it's really a hearing enhancer. There are so many different things that I don't like about this product and marketing I don't even know where to begin. Not only is it deceiving to the naked eye, this company actually states in their commercials that you can listen in on people's conversations! How outrageous is that?!

I remember when these things first came out for TVs and my grandpa was given one as a gift. They were SO bulky and retarded that he rarely ever used it. I think they've taken this WAY too far now though. The ads were so shocking to me that you almost feel like complaining to some kind of government agency. LOL People went so up in arms about the government "spying" on citizens but no one seems to have problems with "spy gear" going main stream? Something is wrong with this picture.

Vegas Lights

I've been dying to go to Las Vegas for years. As close as I am, I've never gone which is kind of embarrassing when I say that to my friends that have been there from across the country. Having kids early kind of set me back...including the money factor of late.

I've heard a lot about the Sahara hotel and all the neat shopping and things that they have there. It's incredible how many parts of the world are replicated there, I'd never have to travel internationally! Well, you know. LOL There's even a roller coaster in there...boy would Yes-Yes love that. Maybe when the kids are older we'll take the trip over. I'd really hate to leave them at home.

I Want Purple Hair!

I have been wanting to do something fun with my hair for years but since I was working in an area that wouldn't really work with it I had to forget about it for a while. Now that I's been home for a while it will be a lot more easy.

So since it was that time to dye my hair anyway, I went out and got myself some purple dye and off we went. I dyed the base, bleached in some highlights and streaks, put on my disposable gloves, and in went the purple...or so I thought. It didn't come out at all purple and I was SO disappointed! I now have a bunch of redish streaks through out. I'm being told it's not all that bad at all but it's not what I wanted. I had a feeling that I wasn't spending the time I needed to wait for each step but I didn't have the time anyway so I kinda figured it wouldn't come out...but man is this far from it. Oh well, next month we can try all over again because I'm so not wasting the money that I spent.

Food Network Challenge

I caught one of these shows the other day and I think I must have been laughing harder than ever. If you don't know, four pastry chefs will compete in a challenge using specific guidelines to come up with some of the most creative cakes ever. This one was too funny because they had to do a wedding cake and not only that, the client was their assistant. They had to try to convince the bride to be on what would be the best design, along with incorporating what she wanted, and direct her to assist them having no experience at all. It was really interesting since these girls had a concrete idea of what they wanted and the dynamics were set according to what the chef did not want in a client.

One girl really made things interesting because she had gained weight and was fasting so she had no energy to do anything physical. Her cake came out ridiculously ugly because she wouldn't let the chef talk her into anything other than what she wanted and they ultimately ran out of time because there were too many elements. A very bad idea on the chef's part. This girl should have just taken something like Liporexall and gone totally onto salads and fruit instead of not eating much at all. I think that was really dumb because her body could have ended up doing the exact opposite than what she was trying to achieve and stored instead of released.

The Birthday Burrito

Sounds funny huh? LOL! That's what we decided to do yesterday instead of DH getting a cake. I was going to make him a quickie one but he wasn't feeling cake so that was a plus for me. ;o) Instead he wanted something spicy and we forked out for our favorite burritos. YUM! As if that wasn't enough, I made a huge batch of Spanish rice and we were in heaven.

I'm feeling like cake tonight though so maybe I'll finish up my work soon and throw something in the oven. There's nothing like a good cake and ice cream for dessert!

Total Breakout!

Oh wow, I've been under SO much stress lately that my skin went completely whacky! I'm not sure what I could change because I do get enough sleep, am eating pretty well, and drink plenty of water. I know it has to be the stress which really sucks. The worst part is that this last time around, my acne treatments ended up bleaching my sheets! I've never had that happen before so now I'm starting to re-evaluate the type of treatment that I use. What really sucks is that our sheets aren't even 6 months old. :o(

Eco-Shopping

Okay, we all know I hate shopping online because of shipping costs, so when there is free shipping offered that's about the only time I do it. I thought this thing I read was really interesting though and have a difference of opinion about it now.

I always wondered if people were to shop online more gas would be saved and less emissions would be produced. According to this Green Study, the finding is that that would be true. Less vehicles would be used therefore reducing emissions by around 35%. That's pretty incredible!

The only problem that I have is that I'm a visual shopper and if the pictures aren't really detailed, I'm less inclined to buy something. Clothing is probably the one thing that I will not buy online unless it is for the kids but otherwise I think I might be a little less hesitant to click that purchase button.

Happy Fourth of July!

I'm SO excited about going out tonight. No-No hasn't seen a really big display of fireworks yet so we can't wait to see how well she likes or dislikes the bright colors and loud noises. In just a few hours we'll be headed to San Francisco to the wharf to try to grab our usual spot on the top level of a parking garage. It's a really awesome place to watch them. Actually, we haven't been there in about 3 years because the last time we went was when I was pregnant.

I hope everyone has fun tonight, don't drink too much and be careful out there!

Summer Slump

It's already been such a long summer and we still have at least another month to go. We've cleaned out a ton of our stuff in an effort to clean up our acts but I'm not sure that it really worked. Since it looks like more than too much still left.

Yes-Yes is totally addicted to his XBox and it's driving me crazy trying to keep him off. I was nice about it for the first week or two because it's new but he's gotten out of control. He's been having trouble with it and we've already had to return one, hopefully this is it.

My aunt is here from Germany and for the first two weeks she was here nonstop. We've already gotten in a fight and I can't stand to be around her. Thank goodness she's not coming back here for at least a few more days.

Yup, life is super stressful...too bad I'm not 13 anymore and can sit around playing video games because vegging out sounds really good right about now.