Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Rachael Ray


I just wanted to post a little something about my new favorite talk show that I faithfully watch everyday on ABC @ 10 am. It is one of the best shows to watch offering "practical" advice on home improvement, organization, cooking (of course), relationship/family issues - plus she has some of the best guests on her show!!

I recently did a search on google (with her name) and came across a blog dedicated to the fact that "Rachael Ray sucks" I was baffled. Why would someone waste so much of their time bashing someone else who doesn't even affect them on a personal level. What did Rachael Ray ever do to them? They make fun of her body, the things she says, how she talks out of the side of her mouth like a stroke victim - come on people - get a life. So the girl got famous and is now getting a paycheck bigger than you can imagine. Jealousy is a bad thing.

I don't know why I am so mad about this, but I feel like Rachael Ray is like the "girl-next-door" no, not the goody-goody girl next door, but the one who did get in trouble (a little) had a lot of friends and sometimes could be a little shy. The thing I like about her is that she is so practical - not fussy-fussy like some of these other celebs.

Bottom line here is that there are a lot of people out there that sadly get their amusement from slamming people who haven't even done anything wrong yet and that's just not right!

Monday, January 29, 2007

Progress










Well we are making progress with our home renovation! The paneling was been torn down and the one wall leading from the dining into the kitchen has been knocked down. Thankfully John's dad was able to come by and help out! Here are a few pics.


I will post more - these were just ones that John had snapped himself, I tried to leave the house Saturday and Sunday while he was working (I didn't want to get in the "way"!)

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Home Improvement 101



Most of you remember about a year ago when we took on our "bathroom project" and if you don't, just go back into the blog archives and you can read all about it.
When John bought our house I was more than ecstatic because he was finally leaving the nest at the ripe young age of 28. I tried to keep quiet that our house was really a "fixer-upper" even though John didn't think so much that it was (I guess everyone has their own definition of that!)Well, at least it wasn't as bad as the
"Money Pit"
Anyways, the house was being rented out by a family who was too poor to pay for heat so they sealed up all of the windows and ran kerosene heaters (yes and with a small child in the house). This left some nice soot all over the walls. The carpeting was also almost black. The basement (apparently it is considered finished, I would disagree with that)was gross, along with the kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms.
Thanks to my great mother-in-law and all of her fine scrubbing we at least felt that after cleaning, painting, sanding and installing new carpet we felt at least a little sanitary!

So, the big project last year was the bathroom, this year it is the kitchen.


We are going to re-route our basement entrance, knock out one of the walls leading from the dining room to the kitchen and make our back door into french doors leading out to the patio. I have to say that I am very excited! It will be so nice to have everything opened up and be able to move aroubd better in the new kitchen!

So, we are scheduled to start this Saturday, I will definitely keep you all posted!


Sunday, January 21, 2007

My selfish post


















Since my husband doesn't blog too much anymore these days I have to post that today (well, yesterday because it is midnight now) is my 27th birthday!

I actually had a great "birthday weekend" so far. Unfortunately I didn't take any pics.

Friday night me, my mom and John went down to AC and came home this afternoon. Davey, Annie and the boys came down and John's parents came over and we all went out to dinner at Romano's Macaroni Grill (yummo! - Yes, Rachael Ray)
Thanks guys for making my 27th so special!!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Info-Mercials


Since I am being pested again to blog, I am going to blog about the misfortune that my husband encountered two nights ago (in which I tried to rectify)
Since my ass is now the same size as the huge purse that I just bought (purchased to make my ass look smaller) I had decided after watching this infomercial that I needed to do something about it.
John being the empathetic man that he is offered to purchase these DVD's for me as long as I promised to actually use them.
This is the last time I will ever purchase something off of TV.
As you can see from the above link it is only supposed to cost you about $52.85
Low and behold I hear John yelling the other night "what did you join and why is my credit card being charged all of these miscellaneous fees?"
I feel terrible and take charge in rectifying the situation. Here, the infomercial company signed us up unknowingly to like 6 magazine companies that were charging us, a fitness to fun membership and oh, by the way, the $52.50 total cost was now supposedly only the first installment, here they sent me a workout ball and a Kathy Smith DVD (which I didn't ask for) and charged John's card an additional $33. So, our credit card number was handed out and we were pat=ying for products we didn't even order.
So, here is my conversation with the customer service rep (who hardly speaks clear English)

Me: Stating my problem
Rep: Oh, I'm sorry but that's how much it costs
Me: Why did you give my credit card # out to another company w/out my permission?
Rep: You will have to call that magazine company for that
Me: Can I speak to a manager?
Rep: My manager is on another call, can you please hold
Me: Holding for about 15 minutes, I hang up and call back

Same converstaion all over again (another rep who doesn't speak good English)
I finally get on the phone with a man who claims to be a manager (who doesn't speak good English either)

He tells me that I did order all of these things (which I didn't) and tells me that he is going to go back and listen to the conversation that I had with the operator when I first ordered the products.

I tell him that is impossible, because it was an automated system and it said "push 1 if you would like to order this, and push 2 if you don't" (there was no live operator). They wouldn't even let us send all of the products back because it was one day after the 30 day money back guarantee!

Basically John took over from there and I still don't know if the problem has been rectified. I just felt horrible that John was angry because he was being charged all of these fees and there was nothing we could do about it.



Lesson to be learned from this:

DO NOT BUY ANYTHING FROM OFF OF THE TV IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT!
(even if you think your butt is huge and you've found the "miracle cure!)

Friday, January 05, 2007

R.I.P. Bella the Beta


Unfortunately our pet fish Bella died tonight. She (actually a he, but we called "her" Bella - don't ask) was a great fish and brought calmness and relaxation to my stressful days that I had at Cardinal Health. She will be greatly missed by everyone. I actually got her in July (or August) of 2005. Erin was with me that day and we went to Wal-Mart to buy it. I needed something as a sort of stress relief because I was going through such a tough time with everything with my dad. Much thanks goes out to everyone in HR at Cardinal for putting up with it (and feeding it occasionally)!

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Anger Management


I received this forward from my father-in-law, so I thought I would share it with everyone! (Thanks for the idea EM!)

Anger Management...

When you occasionally have a really bad day, and you just need to take it out on someone, don't take it out on someone you know, take it out on someone you don't know.

I was sitting at my desk when I remembered a phone call I'd forgotten to make. I found the number and dialed it. A man answered, saying "Hello."

I politely said, "This is Chris. Could I please speak with Robyn Carter?"

Suddenly a manic voice yelled out in my ear "Get the right f**in' number!" and the phone was slammed down on me.

I couldn't believe that anyone could be so rude. When I tracked down Robyn's correct number to call her, I found that I had accidentally transposed the last two digits.

After hanging up with her, I decided to call the 'wrong' number again.

When the same guy answer ed the phone, I yelled "You're an a**hole!" and hung up. I wrote his number down with the word 'a**hole' next to it, and put it in my desk drawer.

Every couple of weeks, when I was paying bills or had a really bad day, I'd call him up and yell, "You're an a**hole!"

It always cheered me up.

When Caller ID was introduced, I thought my therapeutic "a**hole calling" would have to stop.

So, I called his number and said, "Hi, this is John Smith from Verizon. I'm calling to see if you're familiar with our Caller ID Program?"

He yelled "NO!" and slammed down the phone.

I quickly called him back and said, "That's because you're an a**hole!"

One day I was at the store, getting ready to pull into a parking spot. Some guy in a black BMW cut me off and pulled into the spot I had patiently waited for. I hit the horn and yelled that I'd been waiting for that spot, but the idiot ignored me. I noticed a "For Sale" sign in his back window which included his phone number, so I wrote down the number.

A couple of days later, right after calling the first a**hole (I had his number on speed dial) I thought that I'd better call the BMW a**hole, too.

I said, "Is this the man with the black BMW for sale?"

"Yes, it is," he said.

"Can you tell me where I can see it?" I asked.

"Yes, I live at 34 Mowbray Blvd., in Vaucluse. It's a yellow house, and the car's parked right out in front."

"What's your name?" I asked.

"My name is Don Hansen," he said.

"When's a good time to catch yo u, Don?"

"I'm home every evening after five."

"Listen, Don, can I tell you something?"

"Yes?"

"Don, you're an a**hole!" Then I hung up, and added his number to my speed dial, too.

Now, when I had a problem, I had two a**holes to call. Then I came up with an idea! I called A**hole #1.

"Hello?"

"You're an a**hole!" (But I didn't hang up.)

"Are you still there?" he asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Stop calling me!" He screamed.

"Make me," I said.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"My name is Don Hansen."

"Yeah? Where do you live?"

"I live at 34 Mowbray Blvd., Vaucluse, a yellow house, with my black Beamer parked in front."

He said, "I'm coming over right now, Don! And you had better start saying your prayers!"

I said, "Yeah, like I'm really scared, a**hole!" and hung up.

Then I called A**hole #2.

"Hello?" he said.

"Hello, a**hole," I said.

He yelled, "If I ever find out who you are..."

"You'll what?" I said.

"I'll kick your ass!" He exclaimed.

I answered, "Well, a**hole, here's your chance! I'm coming over right now!"

Then I hung up and immediately called the police, saying that I lived at 34 Mowbray Blvd., Vaucluse, and that I was on my way over there to kill my gay lover. Then I called Channel 9 News about the gang war going down in Mowbray Blvd., Vaucluse.

I quickly got into my car and headed over to Mowbray. I got there just in time to watch two assholes beating the crap out of each other in front of six cop cars, an overhead police helicopter and a news crew.

NOW I feel much better. Anger management really works!

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

A degree, Finally!


Well, I am really not one to brag about my accomplishments, but I have to tell the world that I have finally obtained a degree! I just received my Associate's degree in Behavioral Health/Human Services with a certificate in Addiction Studies from CCP. All of my friends and family know that I have been working on this darn thing for the past five years! Now on to my Bachelor's - thanks to Erin who turned me on to Bellevue University I should be able to accomplish that in 15 months, they don't let you mess around! I can't wait!! I will be starting in February (loan money willing!)