I figured that since all I really wrote about this week was bad stuff (even though other people thought the posts were hysterical) I would write something that doesn't really pertain to anything. The only problem is I can't think of anything to say. Give me a minute, something will come to mind. Nope... not yet.... gimme another minute.
Okay, so I got something. Blenders. Do people even use these things anymore today? I own one, and I can count on my hands the # of times I have used it. They are a pain in the butt. You MUST add liquid, otherwise you aren't blending a damn thing, just burning up the motor. Then, when you do want to blend something liquid, like ice cream, you usually don't have it in the house so you have to go out to the store to buy the ingredients. So why have the blender, since on the way out to the store, you could just go and buy the stupid shake you wanna make. Plus, its probably cheaper just to go to McDonald's and buy the thing.
I'm currently "visiting" my mom. This means that I am staying with her for a little while until I finish school and get a job, which hopefully will happen by April. Its now January. Anyways, I noticed that my mom has a blender. I have to say that she has used the blender, but to save time, buys premade shakes. So you see, there really isn't a reason to own a blender. They just take up room on the counter. This being said, I still own mine, and probably won't ger rid of it anytime soon. I know, what can you say?
Have a good night all.. I am tuckered out and ready to go and get under the covers, because my mom's house is ALWAYS freezing. Why? Beats me, it just one of those facts.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Renovations begin...bathroom #1
I have always wanted to renovate a house. I think that I would be awesome at flipping houses, because I love to do the work and I do good quality work. I don't belive in doing a half ass job, because it will just cost more money in the long run, more time and more frustration. I have finally convinced my mom into letting me renovate the bathrooms. I have decided to start with the one directly at the top of the stairs. It was the one my sister and I used growing up. I figured that if I started with this one I could take my time and learn along the way. I didn't want to do mom's first because I know that she wouldn't like waiting 3 weeks for it to be done. Not that I plan on it taking that long. However, now that I have started, its going to take me longer to do this thing than I thought.
I go and get wallpaper remover. I am a pro at removing wallpaper. My cousin Keri conned me into doing her house, and it was the ugliest and oldest wallpaper I had seen. I figured that if I can remove 60yr old wallpaper, this would be a breeze. Well, as usual, I was wrong. I started by taking everything off the walls, mirror included. That mirror is heavy by the way. Then I put the wallpaper remover on the walls. It was the concentrate stuff, and didn't work very well. So I just pulled off what was already peeling from being on the walls for the last 25yrs. It was cool. A lot of it came right off with no problem. I left the remaining for the next day when I would get new wallpaper remover. So I go and get the gel stuff, it works the best and paint it on. I start to peel the paper off. It comes off in the smallest pieces, if it comes off. I put on another coat, then another coat, then another but to NO avail. At this point the walls are soaked and still have this ugly wallpaper on them. It finally starts to come off, but you guessed it, it peeled right down to the drywall. So now I have brown patches everywhere that I will have to spackle. Turns out that the idiots that built this house did a crappy job. Instead of priming the drywall and then putting the glue on for the wallpaper, they just stuck on the glue and then the wallpaper. To top it off, they also put tape around the corners of the ceiling, so when I went to put off the caulking the popcorn decided to come off as well. I had planned on removing the popcorn ceiling, but wanted to wait until after the wallpaper was off. ITs now Tuesday, that's right. I have spent 2.5 days peeling wallpaper off the wall, and there is still glue all over the place. The bathroom looks horrible and I am ready to take a hammer to the damn walls. I go to Lowe's to look at replacing the drywall. Its pretty cheap and they have a type specifically for bathrooms, mold and moist resistant. So now I want to replace the drywall. The guy said its easy but time consuming. No more time consuming then peeling paper I tell him. So now the bathroom still looks like crap. I plan on taking the popcorn off the ceiling first and then removing the drywall. I want to contain as much of the mess as possible. I will add pictures of the bathroom in its current state and will also add pictures of my outfit, as I need to have a mask and goggles. This should be interesting. Will let you know what happens later. God PLEASE help me with this. I have a feeling its going to be bad before it gets better.
Well I got the supplies I needed. But I only got one roll of plastic tarp. This was me trying to save money. As usual, me saving money meant spending more of my time. So after I used all the plastic tarp in about 1 minute, I decide not to go back to Lowe's but to get creative instead. So I go and get the back plastic trash bags and cut them up and then tape them to the walls. This is to prevent the popcorn and the water from getting into the molding around the floor. It also helps to contain the mess. Now I will still have to go back to Lowe's tomorrow and buy more tarp because I plan on attaching it to one wall to the middle of the ceiling to hopefully catch all the popcorn as it falls off the ceiling. The last thing I want to do is clean popcorn up for a week, because with my great luck it will take that long. So tomorrow morning I plan on wetting the ceiling and starting on the popcorn. Wish me luck. I'm sure it will go badly, but you never know,
I might just get lucky.
I go and get wallpaper remover. I am a pro at removing wallpaper. My cousin Keri conned me into doing her house, and it was the ugliest and oldest wallpaper I had seen. I figured that if I can remove 60yr old wallpaper, this would be a breeze. Well, as usual, I was wrong. I started by taking everything off the walls, mirror included. That mirror is heavy by the way. Then I put the wallpaper remover on the walls. It was the concentrate stuff, and didn't work very well. So I just pulled off what was already peeling from being on the walls for the last 25yrs. It was cool. A lot of it came right off with no problem. I left the remaining for the next day when I would get new wallpaper remover. So I go and get the gel stuff, it works the best and paint it on. I start to peel the paper off. It comes off in the smallest pieces, if it comes off. I put on another coat, then another coat, then another but to NO avail. At this point the walls are soaked and still have this ugly wallpaper on them. It finally starts to come off, but you guessed it, it peeled right down to the drywall. So now I have brown patches everywhere that I will have to spackle. Turns out that the idiots that built this house did a crappy job. Instead of priming the drywall and then putting the glue on for the wallpaper, they just stuck on the glue and then the wallpaper. To top it off, they also put tape around the corners of the ceiling, so when I went to put off the caulking the popcorn decided to come off as well. I had planned on removing the popcorn ceiling, but wanted to wait until after the wallpaper was off. ITs now Tuesday, that's right. I have spent 2.5 days peeling wallpaper off the wall, and there is still glue all over the place. The bathroom looks horrible and I am ready to take a hammer to the damn walls. I go to Lowe's to look at replacing the drywall. Its pretty cheap and they have a type specifically for bathrooms, mold and moist resistant. So now I want to replace the drywall. The guy said its easy but time consuming. No more time consuming then peeling paper I tell him. So now the bathroom still looks like crap. I plan on taking the popcorn off the ceiling first and then removing the drywall. I want to contain as much of the mess as possible. I will add pictures of the bathroom in its current state and will also add pictures of my outfit, as I need to have a mask and goggles. This should be interesting. Will let you know what happens later. God PLEASE help me with this. I have a feeling its going to be bad before it gets better.
Well I got the supplies I needed. But I only got one roll of plastic tarp. This was me trying to save money. As usual, me saving money meant spending more of my time. So after I used all the plastic tarp in about 1 minute, I decide not to go back to Lowe's but to get creative instead. So I go and get the back plastic trash bags and cut them up and then tape them to the walls. This is to prevent the popcorn and the water from getting into the molding around the floor. It also helps to contain the mess. Now I will still have to go back to Lowe's tomorrow and buy more tarp because I plan on attaching it to one wall to the middle of the ceiling to hopefully catch all the popcorn as it falls off the ceiling. The last thing I want to do is clean popcorn up for a week, because with my great luck it will take that long. So tomorrow morning I plan on wetting the ceiling and starting on the popcorn. Wish me luck. I'm sure it will go badly, but you never know,
I might just get lucky.
Unloading the UHAUL
Its Friday, and I decide that I really need to start unloading the UHUAL. Its the last thing that I wanna do, but it must be done. I figure I will do it before mom starts nagging me about it. I have to give her credit though, mom has been really good with me. She hasn't yelled about my mess, nagged me about anything, and wasn't offended by my bad moods. She's just given me my space and left me alone until I was ready to talk. I think she has finally learned how to deal with me, which isn't an easy task I may add. There are only a few people that know how to deal with me when I am having a hard time, which seems like its pretty often, lol. But its true. Anyways, so I go to move the UHAUL into the driveway. As I'm backing in, I notice something attached to the tire. Once I park it, I notice that the thing attached to the tire is a balloon the size of a child's head protruding from the tire. Great, this is all I need. It looks as though it will bust at any moment. Only me, only me. So I start unloading the truck. I have most of it done within 30 minutes. Mike's estimate of a few hours was wrong, but that's no surprise. The only things left in the truck are the mattress and bedroom furniture. I leave it for later. Audra calls later that day and says what time do you want me to come down. She offered to help me move the truck. I told her that if she was gonna come, then come on Friday. She shows up that evening with the kids and we decide that we will unload it in the morning. Off to bed for me, it had been a rough copule of days.
Saturday morning Audra helps me to offload everything left on the truck. 10 minutes later we are done. Now she wants to rearrange all my crap in the garage, because you know that I did not have any type of organization when I put it in there. Me plan something? Yeah right. We decide to bring the truck back to UHAUL before anything else. Once the guy came to change the tire we brought it back. Then Audra say, do you mind if I go to the consignment shop and look for some clothes. Well, we all know this isn't my thing, but I don't mind. She came all the way down here to help me out, so the least I could do was to go with her to the store. 2 hours later we finally leave the store, lol. Audra had tried on about everything they owned and when she went to pay for it couldn't find her card, so we left empty handed. You know that I found the card about 30seconds later, but she said she'd return later to buy them. Fine with me.
The rest of the weekend was noneventful. It was just mom, me, Audra, Taylor, and Kurtie. It was really nice having them all here, and I think that they really had a good time. We didn't really do anything, just hung around and relaxed. I think that everyone needed that. It was really nice seeing the kids too, since the last time I saw them Taylor was 7 and Kurtie was 2 and a holy terror! But boys are like that at that age. They have really grown up and matured. Taylor is very quiet, but sweet. Kurtie was such a well behaved 8 year old, I was really impressed. Audra has done a great job raising her kids, they will both be very successful and happy when they grow up. As I was saying, it was just a real chill weekend. I even washed mom's car and my car (the GiGi). Now mom can see out her windows when she drives.
Sunday I took Kurtie to FunFunFun. We had a great time. I think I had as much fun as he did. We used over 200 tokens and 2 hours later were ready to go. It was nice doing things like that again. Its also nice to see kids having a good time. I love it when children are happy and you were the source of that happiness. Its pretty cool. Audra and the kids left that afternoon and it was just mom and I. I decided to start doing the renovations on the bathroom that night just to get started. I will have to give you the details in another post though.
Saturday morning Audra helps me to offload everything left on the truck. 10 minutes later we are done. Now she wants to rearrange all my crap in the garage, because you know that I did not have any type of organization when I put it in there. Me plan something? Yeah right. We decide to bring the truck back to UHAUL before anything else. Once the guy came to change the tire we brought it back. Then Audra say, do you mind if I go to the consignment shop and look for some clothes. Well, we all know this isn't my thing, but I don't mind. She came all the way down here to help me out, so the least I could do was to go with her to the store. 2 hours later we finally leave the store, lol. Audra had tried on about everything they owned and when she went to pay for it couldn't find her card, so we left empty handed. You know that I found the card about 30seconds later, but she said she'd return later to buy them. Fine with me.
The rest of the weekend was noneventful. It was just mom, me, Audra, Taylor, and Kurtie. It was really nice having them all here, and I think that they really had a good time. We didn't really do anything, just hung around and relaxed. I think that everyone needed that. It was really nice seeing the kids too, since the last time I saw them Taylor was 7 and Kurtie was 2 and a holy terror! But boys are like that at that age. They have really grown up and matured. Taylor is very quiet, but sweet. Kurtie was such a well behaved 8 year old, I was really impressed. Audra has done a great job raising her kids, they will both be very successful and happy when they grow up. As I was saying, it was just a real chill weekend. I even washed mom's car and my car (the GiGi). Now mom can see out her windows when she drives.
Sunday I took Kurtie to FunFunFun. We had a great time. I think I had as much fun as he did. We used over 200 tokens and 2 hours later were ready to go. It was nice doing things like that again. Its also nice to see kids having a good time. I love it when children are happy and you were the source of that happiness. Its pretty cool. Audra and the kids left that afternoon and it was just mom and I. I decided to start doing the renovations on the bathroom that night just to get started. I will have to give you the details in another post though.
The Saga Continues... Will it ever end?
It's now Thursday. The UHAUL is sitting in front of the house still loaded, thanks Mike. I'm in no hurry to offload it, since I have the truck for 5 days. So I decide to go out and look for cars. I go to Toyota and find a Highlander that I really like. I go to see how much it would cost and all of that, and they do a credit check. Now, I am known for my frugality and cheapness. Which means that I have great credit, which I am very proud of. I almost think that this defines the type of person that I am. I may not have crap right now, but I have good credit! So what a surprise when they check my score and its a 610!!! What the hell is going on! Well, the VA had put 2 deliquencies on my report. Well I am freaking out and leave immediately. I call the VA to find out what is going on. Long story short, when you are a reservist and you are not drilling, you do not rate the reserve GI bill. So, the year that I had dropped to the IRR disqualified me fore benefits that year. Which means that I get to pay back $8500!! That's right, it is EIGHT THOUSAND AND FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS!!!!!! I'm freaking out at this point, but was proud of myself, I only cried for a minute, mainly out of frustration and my damn luck. So now I have to talk to them about removing this off my credit report. They make me fax in my lease to prove that I had moved, since they kept mailing the letters to my old address in Greenville. So, I go to mom's work to fax it off. All is good. I get back in the truck, it's daddy's truck (I hate this stupid truck) and go home. I'm at the light to turn left. I look up, it's green. I am the third car in line thank God, because the first car goes when the light turns green, and this white car nails him. I mean it was bad, I was like oh crap. Well I was gonna call 911 but there was no need. All of a sudden I hear sirens. There are 5 count them 5 undercover police cars that swarm the vehicle that was hit. Before I know what's going on everyhone in that car is in handcuffs! It was crazy. And the crazier part is that only 1 cop went over to see if the other vehicle was okay, which you could tell the guy was hurt. I'm telling you, that's all I needed that day, was to get nailed. It would have topped my day off, but luckily God didn't want to give me more than I could handle. He did however have another surprise for me though. So I'm on the way home and there is no gas in the car, and I mean no gas. Not a surprise though, as when I got in the GiGi the day before there wasn't any gas in that one either! So I go to Hess because Mama gave me a $50 gas card for Christmas, and I am broke, so I figure I will use this. I fill the truck up, it takes 16 gallons because its so empty. Then, all of a sudden I hear what sounds like pouring water, only it doesn't smell like water. That's because it wasn't water. Nope, it was gas pouring out from un der the truck. GREAT! This is all I need right now. So, I go inside and feeling like an idiot tell the cashier that there is gas all over the ground, and that I will call a tow truck to move my truck. I call mom, and she's like "did you over fill it?" What in the world woman? I have been driving for 10 years, so I think that I know how to put gas in a vehicle. No I didn't overfill it I tell her. So she gives me the number to the tow trucking company, second time in 2 days may I add, and tells me to call Greg, our mechanic. Luckily his work was only a 1 minute walk away. I go over there and tell him and he comes over. God Bless this man. He is the best mechanic in the world. He's laughing, starts up the truck and moves it. Then he asks me if daddy ever filled up the truck, or only put $15 of gas in at a time. I dunno I say. So he says its okay to drive it, and that there is probably a hole in the tank, and that he will fix it. But could I first just drive it and use some of the gas up, because changing a full gas tank wouldn't be fun. No problem. I take it home. Mom calls and says lets go to dinner. I know you need a break. Yeah I need a break alright. I should have ran away to a deserted island. All I wanted to do was just leave and leave all my problems behind. So we go to dinner and I explain the VA situation to mom. She's like, don't worry, you are going to come out of this with them owing you money. Always the optimist my mom. Sorry mom, but that isn't how my life works. I get to pay back ALL the money, oh joy. So then she offers to pay my deby, saying that she and dad haven't really paid for my college, and this is the least they could do. No way. I have the money, and dad is in Iraq to save money for him and mom, not to pay my debts. I was grateful for the offer, but could never accecpt it. I chose to pay for my college, I chose the hard road, and I am grateful for it. It made me who I am today. And it allows me to say I did on my own. I am proud of this. I know my parents feel a little guilty that they paid for my sister's tuition and couldn't for mine, but I don't feel bad about it at all. As I said, things have worked out for me. If I didn't have to apy for college then the events that took place in my life might not have happened. Things happen for a reason mom. "I took the road less traveled, and that has made all the difference." Robert Frost - Road Less Traveled My FAVORITE poem.
We get home and all I want to do is to get away from everything, so I do what I do best in these situations, sleep my problems away. I was so upset I didn't even want to talk to my dad when he called. So mom had to explain the VA situation to him. I just didn't want to talk about my problems anymore, I had had enough. I was just tired of explaining things, as I had been doing this for 3 days now, ever since I moved back to NC.
Well, that day finally ended, maybe tomorrow would be better. I doubt it though.
We get home and all I want to do is to get away from everything, so I do what I do best in these situations, sleep my problems away. I was so upset I didn't even want to talk to my dad when he called. So mom had to explain the VA situation to him. I just didn't want to talk about my problems anymore, I had had enough. I was just tired of explaining things, as I had been doing this for 3 days now, ever since I moved back to NC.
Well, that day finally ended, maybe tomorrow would be better. I doubt it though.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Moving Day 2, the Saga continues
Tuesday: The final packing and first day and driving
I get up at 7am and take a shower. I go to wake up Mike and he's not ready to get up, but I make him anyways. We pack the remaining items in the house and make a few trips to the dumpster. Luckily, the apartment complex has several grocery carts that people use to bring items to their apartments, so I used one to take out the trash. I start putting things in my truck, the S-10, since the UHAUL is about full. I will call my truck Betty, as this is her name, to prevent any confusion between the UHAUL and the S-10. I named her years ago, and she is affectionately called Betty. Anyways, we are now down to the last few items. The bistro set and the grill. The bistro table never made it to the truck, as there wasn't room, and it was already had a huge chunck of it broken off from the move down to New Orleans. We go to put the grill on Betty, and Mike wants to stand it up and tie it down that way. I am arguing with him telling him that its not a good idea, since we have to drive 17 hours, and I don't think it will make it. I finally agree with Mike to do it his way. You should have seen us trying to life this thing up in the bed of Betty. I almost dropped it a few times, and I think I came close to throwing Mike's back out. But we finally got it up there. We do a final check of the apartment, and I vacuum and get rid of all the trash. Its now 10:30.
We are getting ready to load Betty on the Tow dolly, but Mike doesn't know what he's doing, so I say lets go to UHAUL and have them do it since they are professionals. He thinks I'm an idiot, but I don't care, I don't want anything to happen to my truck. This is Bety we are talking about, and she has been good to me and I love her. So we get to UHAUL and I ask them to help me load this thing, since I have no clue as to what I am doing. I ask if there is anything I need to do to the truck, like disconnect the drive-shaft. Oh no the kid says, its good to go. So they hook it up to the trailer, and we a all set.
We go to my old job so I can say goodbye to all my friends. I will miss them dearly as they are great people and they are the reason why I decided to stay in New Orleans for so long. James wanted to take us out to lunch, and since it was already late, I said why not. Well, Mike wasn't too happy, but I didn't care. This was going to be the last time I saw them for a long time.
We went to get Po-Boys. Yet another great New Orleans' food staple. We had Roast Beef Po-Boys, James' favorite. When we finally got back and got on the road it was 1230.
We decided to take the Causeway instead of going through the city. The Causeway is the longest bridge in America that doesn't have any land for 23 miles. James is very proud of this, and tells us to go this way. So, I take the first shift of driving, and we are off. I was a little nervous at first, especially with towing Betty, as it makes it harder to turn and stuff. Everything is going well and we are doing good. We stop after 2 hours just to walk around, as Mike wants to stop a lot to break up the monotony of the trip. I usually don't do this, but whatever. So I go to check on Betty, and notice that the straps holding the tires to the tow dolly are completley undone. The only thing that was keeping her on the tow dolly were the chains that are there just in case this happens. This made me a little nervous, but we fixed it and off we went.
The trip was uneventful after this. Just a lot of driving. We were making great time, and I thought we could get past Atlanta by 10pm and drive straight through. The only problem. Well, there were 2 problems. 1) Snow. Fayetteville got 6 inches of snow. Go figure right. It never snows, but when I want to move home, we get 6 inches. So the roads are icy and this might be a problem when we get close. 2) Mike. We get right outside of Atlanta and he wants to stop for the night. He's tired and says that if we drive through the night it will mess up his sleep pattern, and he wants to work on Thursday and doesn't want to be all messed up. I'm pissed, but whatever. Fine I say. So I get past Atalnta and we stop. Its 1130 eastern time. The room cost me $80 after taxes. Mike wanted to get up at 5am and leave my 5:30am. So that means I paid $80 for only 6 hours!!! Well, we get on the road and Mike drives. Then we stop after a few hours and I drive. Then we stop again and he takes over. Its 10:30am All of a sudden I hear Mike say "oh shit!" and then he pulls over on the side of I-95. We are 85 miles from Fayetteville in Florence SC. I'm asking him what is going on. Betty is smoking he says. So we both jump out of the UHAUL and run to see what is going on. Sure enough, there is smoke and oil pouring from Betty. I pop the hood, and since Mike is a wimp, open it up to see what is going on. There is oil everywhere on the left side of the engine, and its pouring from under the truck. I'm freaking out! So I call mom to get the # for the tow truck. Since there is no way we can tow it anymore, since we have no clue what is wrong. Its going to be an hour wait the lady says. No problem. Well, Mike didn't want to wait, and he wants to leave the truck attached to the tow dolly on the side of the road. Hell no! I say. I tell him I am not leaving my Betty here on the highway, especially since we don't even know what's wrong with her. I also tell him that its not like we have anywhere we need to go. But Mike was in a hurry because he wanted to be home at a decent hour so he could relax before going to work the next day. What a jerk! I was so mad at him. Here I am paying for everything for him since he was supposed to be here to help me out. The whole purpose of him going to New Olreans was to help me move back to NC. He knew it would take some time to do all of this, but now he's in a big hurry to get back to Raleigh. He wasn't even scheduled to work on Thursday, but just wanted to go in and make some extra money.
Anyways, the tow truck driver gets there and looks at Betty and says "you blew the transmission. That is transmission fliud all over the place. You should have towed it from the rear, since its rear wheel drive. Since you towed it from the front, the back tires were turning, and that meant that your transmission was still running. That was going to happen eventually, I'm surprised it lasted this long." So, he tells me I will need a new transmission, about $2,000. He asks what do I want to do with it. Its gonna cost $60 a day to keep it in the yard at the tow truck company. Or he could tow it back to Fayetteville at $3 a mile. Or, he would buy it from me since it was already gone. $800 he would give me. I told him to keep it for now, I will sell it to him, but let me take care of the insurance first and talk to UHAUL. He was really nice, and said he would keep it at his house and it would be safe and free. Remember, my grill is still attached to the back of this thing. There's no room for it in the UHAUL, so it stays with Betty for now.
So, now we have to drop off the tow dolly since we can only drive 45mph with it empty. Mike tells me to find a UHAUL so we can drop it off. I call them and they tell me that its gonna be extra since its not the dropoff location specified on the contract. I'm so mad at this point I tell her whatever, and we go to drop it off. The manager was awesom e and took the dolly for free, he was glad to have it, he needed some he said. He gave me great advice on how to deal with UHAUL since they killed Betty. Once we dropped off the trailor, we were on our way back to Fayetteville. In the meantime I am on the phonw with UHAUL telling them the situation. The manager in LA told me that he was really sorry and that he would do everything he could to fix this problem. Then I call the insurance company and put in a claim. Oh how I love dealing with those idiots.
So we are still on our way back to Fayetteville and I am ready to just offload the UHAUL and chill for a bit. However, Mike didn't want to help me offload the truck, he said it would take hours and he just wanted to go home to Raleigh. So, I had to switch vehicles and drive 2 hours to Raleigh to drop him off, and then 2 hours back. By the time I got home it was 6:30pm! I was exhausted. What a horrible day. I think that my friendship with Mike is over. I mean with friends like this, who in the hell needs enemies. Sometimes I wonder.
Thank God we made it home safe and nothing really bad happened. At least Betty is replacable, I am not!
It was great to see mom again and to be home in NC again. Even though my day was horrible, it was nice to relax with mom and just chill.
More on what happened with UHAUL and the VA to come.......
I get up at 7am and take a shower. I go to wake up Mike and he's not ready to get up, but I make him anyways. We pack the remaining items in the house and make a few trips to the dumpster. Luckily, the apartment complex has several grocery carts that people use to bring items to their apartments, so I used one to take out the trash. I start putting things in my truck, the S-10, since the UHAUL is about full. I will call my truck Betty, as this is her name, to prevent any confusion between the UHAUL and the S-10. I named her years ago, and she is affectionately called Betty. Anyways, we are now down to the last few items. The bistro set and the grill. The bistro table never made it to the truck, as there wasn't room, and it was already had a huge chunck of it broken off from the move down to New Orleans. We go to put the grill on Betty, and Mike wants to stand it up and tie it down that way. I am arguing with him telling him that its not a good idea, since we have to drive 17 hours, and I don't think it will make it. I finally agree with Mike to do it his way. You should have seen us trying to life this thing up in the bed of Betty. I almost dropped it a few times, and I think I came close to throwing Mike's back out. But we finally got it up there. We do a final check of the apartment, and I vacuum and get rid of all the trash. Its now 10:30.
We are getting ready to load Betty on the Tow dolly, but Mike doesn't know what he's doing, so I say lets go to UHAUL and have them do it since they are professionals. He thinks I'm an idiot, but I don't care, I don't want anything to happen to my truck. This is Bety we are talking about, and she has been good to me and I love her. So we get to UHAUL and I ask them to help me load this thing, since I have no clue as to what I am doing. I ask if there is anything I need to do to the truck, like disconnect the drive-shaft. Oh no the kid says, its good to go. So they hook it up to the trailer, and we a all set.
We go to my old job so I can say goodbye to all my friends. I will miss them dearly as they are great people and they are the reason why I decided to stay in New Orleans for so long. James wanted to take us out to lunch, and since it was already late, I said why not. Well, Mike wasn't too happy, but I didn't care. This was going to be the last time I saw them for a long time.
We went to get Po-Boys. Yet another great New Orleans' food staple. We had Roast Beef Po-Boys, James' favorite. When we finally got back and got on the road it was 1230.
We decided to take the Causeway instead of going through the city. The Causeway is the longest bridge in America that doesn't have any land for 23 miles. James is very proud of this, and tells us to go this way. So, I take the first shift of driving, and we are off. I was a little nervous at first, especially with towing Betty, as it makes it harder to turn and stuff. Everything is going well and we are doing good. We stop after 2 hours just to walk around, as Mike wants to stop a lot to break up the monotony of the trip. I usually don't do this, but whatever. So I go to check on Betty, and notice that the straps holding the tires to the tow dolly are completley undone. The only thing that was keeping her on the tow dolly were the chains that are there just in case this happens. This made me a little nervous, but we fixed it and off we went.
The trip was uneventful after this. Just a lot of driving. We were making great time, and I thought we could get past Atlanta by 10pm and drive straight through. The only problem. Well, there were 2 problems. 1) Snow. Fayetteville got 6 inches of snow. Go figure right. It never snows, but when I want to move home, we get 6 inches. So the roads are icy and this might be a problem when we get close. 2) Mike. We get right outside of Atlanta and he wants to stop for the night. He's tired and says that if we drive through the night it will mess up his sleep pattern, and he wants to work on Thursday and doesn't want to be all messed up. I'm pissed, but whatever. Fine I say. So I get past Atalnta and we stop. Its 1130 eastern time. The room cost me $80 after taxes. Mike wanted to get up at 5am and leave my 5:30am. So that means I paid $80 for only 6 hours!!! Well, we get on the road and Mike drives. Then we stop after a few hours and I drive. Then we stop again and he takes over. Its 10:30am All of a sudden I hear Mike say "oh shit!" and then he pulls over on the side of I-95. We are 85 miles from Fayetteville in Florence SC. I'm asking him what is going on. Betty is smoking he says. So we both jump out of the UHAUL and run to see what is going on. Sure enough, there is smoke and oil pouring from Betty. I pop the hood, and since Mike is a wimp, open it up to see what is going on. There is oil everywhere on the left side of the engine, and its pouring from under the truck. I'm freaking out! So I call mom to get the # for the tow truck. Since there is no way we can tow it anymore, since we have no clue what is wrong. Its going to be an hour wait the lady says. No problem. Well, Mike didn't want to wait, and he wants to leave the truck attached to the tow dolly on the side of the road. Hell no! I say. I tell him I am not leaving my Betty here on the highway, especially since we don't even know what's wrong with her. I also tell him that its not like we have anywhere we need to go. But Mike was in a hurry because he wanted to be home at a decent hour so he could relax before going to work the next day. What a jerk! I was so mad at him. Here I am paying for everything for him since he was supposed to be here to help me out. The whole purpose of him going to New Olreans was to help me move back to NC. He knew it would take some time to do all of this, but now he's in a big hurry to get back to Raleigh. He wasn't even scheduled to work on Thursday, but just wanted to go in and make some extra money.
Anyways, the tow truck driver gets there and looks at Betty and says "you blew the transmission. That is transmission fliud all over the place. You should have towed it from the rear, since its rear wheel drive. Since you towed it from the front, the back tires were turning, and that meant that your transmission was still running. That was going to happen eventually, I'm surprised it lasted this long." So, he tells me I will need a new transmission, about $2,000. He asks what do I want to do with it. Its gonna cost $60 a day to keep it in the yard at the tow truck company. Or he could tow it back to Fayetteville at $3 a mile. Or, he would buy it from me since it was already gone. $800 he would give me. I told him to keep it for now, I will sell it to him, but let me take care of the insurance first and talk to UHAUL. He was really nice, and said he would keep it at his house and it would be safe and free. Remember, my grill is still attached to the back of this thing. There's no room for it in the UHAUL, so it stays with Betty for now.
So, now we have to drop off the tow dolly since we can only drive 45mph with it empty. Mike tells me to find a UHAUL so we can drop it off. I call them and they tell me that its gonna be extra since its not the dropoff location specified on the contract. I'm so mad at this point I tell her whatever, and we go to drop it off. The manager was awesom e and took the dolly for free, he was glad to have it, he needed some he said. He gave me great advice on how to deal with UHAUL since they killed Betty. Once we dropped off the trailor, we were on our way back to Fayetteville. In the meantime I am on the phonw with UHAUL telling them the situation. The manager in LA told me that he was really sorry and that he would do everything he could to fix this problem. Then I call the insurance company and put in a claim. Oh how I love dealing with those idiots.
So we are still on our way back to Fayetteville and I am ready to just offload the UHAUL and chill for a bit. However, Mike didn't want to help me offload the truck, he said it would take hours and he just wanted to go home to Raleigh. So, I had to switch vehicles and drive 2 hours to Raleigh to drop him off, and then 2 hours back. By the time I got home it was 6:30pm! I was exhausted. What a horrible day. I think that my friendship with Mike is over. I mean with friends like this, who in the hell needs enemies. Sometimes I wonder.
Thank God we made it home safe and nothing really bad happened. At least Betty is replacable, I am not!
It was great to see mom again and to be home in NC again. Even though my day was horrible, it was nice to relax with mom and just chill.
More on what happened with UHAUL and the VA to come.......
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Moving Day 1 The fun begins
So, this is to tell you how the move went. And from this move I now have my "classic story" as my sister says. I tell ya, only me and my luck. I wonder sometimes if God just looks at my life and wants a laugh, so he allows stuff like this to happen. However, I know He has a plan, and that something good will come of this, I'd love to know what, if you have any ideas let me know.
Here goes:
Day 1 moving. Jan 19th Big Mike arrives - 2 hours late let me metion
So, Mike was supposed to help me move, and I bought his plane ticket to fly down and help me. I figured that it was cheap, so why not. He was supposed to arrive at 1230, but since he knows everything, he decided that arriving to the airport 2 hours early was stupid, "you don't need to get there that early in Raleigh" he says. Well, he's an idiot, and missed his flight. Thus he didn't get in till 1430.
I was done for the night. I didn't want to do anything else, as I was completely stressed out. So, Mike and I went out for dinner. Acme Oysters was my last good dinner meal in New Orleans. It was only a block from the house, but surprisingly I had only been there 2ce before. I thought we would get some good New Olreans food before I moved away.
I had jumbalaya and charbroiled oysters. It was great. New Orelans is known for their oysters. Charbroiled Oysters are great. Theyt are cooked in their shell on the grill in a butter sauce. If you never had them you need to try them if you ever visit New Orleans. They are great.
Anyways, after dinner we had to go to KMART to buy some straps for my S-10 that we were going to be pulling. Since the truck was so small, we were going to put the grill in the back of the truck and strap it down. We wanted to get everything we needed that night for the next day, so we could get an early start back home to NC.
By the time we got home it was 8:30. So we just sat there and talked for a little bit, since my tvs were packed up. I was sad about no tv. Then we went to sleep. Luckily Mike had pulled my comforter from a box when he was trying to make room, so I had a blanket to sleep with. I didn't think about keeping things out for the night, so there were literally nothing to sleep with. I had to go to KMART and buy Mike a blanket, since all the others were packed. I went to bed around 9:30 and had to sleep on the floor of my bedroom. Mike slept in the living room on the Lazy Boy chair that I still had. I decided not to take my couch, Lazy Boy or entertainment center, and Karla said she would take care of them for me. So Mike had something to sleep on that night. About 11pm I woke up to the loudest snoring of my life! The door was closed to my room, and I could still hear him snoring! So, I did get some sleep, but I was woken several times due to his snoring.
Well, that was day 1. I will break this story up into days, as it is a long story and was VERY eventful.
Here goes:
Day 1 moving. Jan 19th Big Mike arrives - 2 hours late let me metion
So, Mike was supposed to help me move, and I bought his plane ticket to fly down and help me. I figured that it was cheap, so why not. He was supposed to arrive at 1230, but since he knows everything, he decided that arriving to the airport 2 hours early was stupid, "you don't need to get there that early in Raleigh" he says. Well, he's an idiot, and missed his flight. Thus he didn't get in till 1430.
The plan was for him to get there at 1230 and then go to Lowe's to hire some Mexicans to help us load the truck. You see, ever since Katrina there have been Mexicans waiting outside of Lowe's looking for work. YOu just go to the parking lot and hire them to do whatever you need. They can lay tile, hang drywall, you name it. Also, they are probably the hardest working people that I have ever met. They will do anything and not complain. They also work for next to nothing. My neighbor hired them to move him in after I mentioned this to him, and they only charged him $12 an hour and were done within an hour. So I thought this would be a great asset in my move.
I was supposed to pick up the UHAUL at 1030 that morning, but since I had to get a trailor to pull the truck, my S-10, I told them I would wait till Mike got there to help me take it back to the apartment. So, we get there, and this thing is TINY. I mean, small. It was only a 10 footer, since Mike said, "that's plenty" Well, HE WAS WRONG!!!!
By the time we got the truck and got back to the apartment, it was already 3:30pm. We went to Lowe's immediately to hire some Mexicans, but they had all left for the day. So you know what that meant, yup, we had to do it ourselves. I was not a happy camper, and I let Mike know this, as it was his fault for missing his flight!
We got the truck to the house and Mike saw the boxes and stuff. Well, he realized that it was going to be a tight fit. I went to go watch tv for a little bit to relax. All of a sudden, I see Mike taking clothes that I had already packed and stuffing them into my dresser drawers! I said "Mike, what are you doing?" He says, I need to make room and get rid of some of the big boxes you have. Don't worry, it'll be okay." I asked again for the fifth time by this point "do I need to go and get a bigger truck?" "Oh no" he says "it'll be plenty." So, I am angry at this point because I know its going to be a pain in the butt to pack this truck. This was about 5pm.
I was done for the night. I didn't want to do anything else, as I was completely stressed out. So, Mike and I went out for dinner. Acme Oysters was my last good dinner meal in New Orleans. It was only a block from the house, but surprisingly I had only been there 2ce before. I thought we would get some good New Olreans food before I moved away.
I had jumbalaya and charbroiled oysters. It was great. New Orelans is known for their oysters. Charbroiled Oysters are great. Theyt are cooked in their shell on the grill in a butter sauce. If you never had them you need to try them if you ever visit New Orleans. They are great.
Anyways, after dinner we had to go to KMART to buy some straps for my S-10 that we were going to be pulling. Since the truck was so small, we were going to put the grill in the back of the truck and strap it down. We wanted to get everything we needed that night for the next day, so we could get an early start back home to NC.
By the time we got home it was 8:30. So we just sat there and talked for a little bit, since my tvs were packed up. I was sad about no tv. Then we went to sleep. Luckily Mike had pulled my comforter from a box when he was trying to make room, so I had a blanket to sleep with. I didn't think about keeping things out for the night, so there were literally nothing to sleep with. I had to go to KMART and buy Mike a blanket, since all the others were packed. I went to bed around 9:30 and had to sleep on the floor of my bedroom. Mike slept in the living room on the Lazy Boy chair that I still had. I decided not to take my couch, Lazy Boy or entertainment center, and Karla said she would take care of them for me. So Mike had something to sleep on that night. About 11pm I woke up to the loudest snoring of my life! The door was closed to my room, and I could still hear him snoring! So, I did get some sleep, but I was woken several times due to his snoring.
Well, that was day 1. I will break this story up into days, as it is a long story and was VERY eventful.
Monday, January 19, 2009
MOVING DAY
Today is moving day. Well, kinda at least. I get the UHAUL today and will have it packed today. Mike flies in at 1430. It was supposed to be 1230 but his flight left early and he missed his connection. Its kind of a blessing, because that gives me more time to finish packing. Also, I know that spending 2 whole days with him 15 of which will be in a UHAUL truck, will be very interesting. While I love Mike, he's my best friend, we can only be together for so long before we argue. We both have very strong personalities, and at times we can clash. But, I am very grateful that he is coming to help me drive, since it will be a long trip and we will be towing the truck.
First disaster. I was looking at my school schedule and noticed that I needed to read my book. Guess where the book is? You guessed it, I packed the damn thing!! I can't believe it. Now I have to go and find what box it is in and retrieve it. Oh what fun. Plus, I haven't yet gotten rid of my Lazy Boy, the Loveseat, or the entertainment system. That will be interesting as well.
Packing the truck. Since I live in New Orleans this shouldn't be a problem. See, all you have to do is go to Lowe's and hire some Mexicans. They have been there ever since Katrina. They stand outside waiting for people to hire them for the day. They are really hard workers, and its pretty cheap labor, only $12 an hour. Can't beat that! You know that I am really cheap, or as my mom says frugal, either way, I like my money. So I think that this is a good deal.
I am really excited to leave. I wish that I could leave today, but Mike wants to wait till tomorrow afternoon. I don't think this is a good idea. I would like to leave tonight and get there tomorrow afternoon. Its going to be about a 15 hour drive, so I would like to leave at night and get most of the driving done. You know when a decision is made you just want to put it in action? Well, that's how I feel. I just wanna get home and get back into a routine.
I will write more in a day or so and let you know how the move went. Wish us luck!
First disaster. I was looking at my school schedule and noticed that I needed to read my book. Guess where the book is? You guessed it, I packed the damn thing!! I can't believe it. Now I have to go and find what box it is in and retrieve it. Oh what fun. Plus, I haven't yet gotten rid of my Lazy Boy, the Loveseat, or the entertainment system. That will be interesting as well.
Packing the truck. Since I live in New Orleans this shouldn't be a problem. See, all you have to do is go to Lowe's and hire some Mexicans. They have been there ever since Katrina. They stand outside waiting for people to hire them for the day. They are really hard workers, and its pretty cheap labor, only $12 an hour. Can't beat that! You know that I am really cheap, or as my mom says frugal, either way, I like my money. So I think that this is a good deal.
I am really excited to leave. I wish that I could leave today, but Mike wants to wait till tomorrow afternoon. I don't think this is a good idea. I would like to leave tonight and get there tomorrow afternoon. Its going to be about a 15 hour drive, so I would like to leave at night and get most of the driving done. You know when a decision is made you just want to put it in action? Well, that's how I feel. I just wanna get home and get back into a routine.
I will write more in a day or so and let you know how the move went. Wish us luck!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Once a Marine ALWAYS a Marine
So the title, Once a Marine Always a Marine. Its something that I will have to live by. Today was my last day working and probably the last day that I will ever wear the Marine uniform. While I have been looking forward to getting out and moving back home to NC, it is a little sad. The last six months have been hard, but I have learned a lot. The Marines that I have worked with, while I might not have always liked them all, have been there for me when I needed them. Its like a family. Even though you don't always get along, everyone has each other's back. I will miss being called a Sergeant. I will miss the shop talk and the craziness that goes along with the Marines. I will also miss the wonderful pay, holidays, and 96s that we got every time there was a holiday. But its time to move on. Its time to start my life and step back out into the real world, where there isn't always that job security, or those instant friends that you make because they are in the same situation as you. Its time to face reality and stare fear in the face. I have a lot going for me. I have an education, savings, friends, family, and a really good head on my shoulders (most of the time). Its great having so many options, but it seems as though having so many options means that I have a really hard time making up my mind. To clear my mind a little I thought that I would write some of these options out. Put them on paper my mom and dad and even sister always says.
Option #1
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, get a job in Raleigh, buy a house, a car, and hopefully meet someone and get married and have a family
Option #2
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, get a job w the VA in Fayetteville for 2 years, buy a car, then move somewhere else and settle down. Where I do not know.
Option #3
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, take Chemistry and Genetics, apply to PA school, get accepted, go to PA school, and figure out life from there
Option #4
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, get a job at the VA in DC, buy a car, and maybe a house (This is a very scray option)
Option #5
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, apply for a job anywhere in the country, move there and buy a house
So do you see my delimma? I have TOO MANY OPTIONS!! I want to try them all. I think the reason why I hop around from thing to thing is one fear, but two because I never want to say "what if" What if I would have went to PA school. What is I moved to Raleigh. What if I could have gotten a great job in Europe. I want a good career, but I also don't want to miss out on finding that partner in life, that guy that makes me happy, and I don't want to miss out on having a family. I worry that I will never have those things, and I think that is why I am putting everything I have into making my career the best it can be, because it may be all I have.
I joke with my sister saying that I will be the rich aunt, but you know I think I will be the rich, single, childless aunt, and that scares me. I am not feeling sorry for myself, because I have a lot to offer someone, and I think that I may just find that someone. I am just putting my fears and concerns on paper. Most people don't understand me, and they don't understand the reasons why I do the things I do. And you know what? they don't have to. I have finally figured it out. I am okay with me for the first time ever. I am happy with me. I just hope that I will have everything I want. But if I don't get it, then it will be okay. I will just be the best me.
Semper Fidelis
OORAAHH!
Option #1
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, get a job in Raleigh, buy a house, a car, and hopefully meet someone and get married and have a family
Option #2
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, get a job w the VA in Fayetteville for 2 years, buy a car, then move somewhere else and settle down. Where I do not know.
Option #3
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, take Chemistry and Genetics, apply to PA school, get accepted, go to PA school, and figure out life from there
Option #4
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, get a job at the VA in DC, buy a car, and maybe a house (This is a very scray option)
Option #5
Move back to NC, do my internship at the VA, apply for a job anywhere in the country, move there and buy a house
So do you see my delimma? I have TOO MANY OPTIONS!! I want to try them all. I think the reason why I hop around from thing to thing is one fear, but two because I never want to say "what if" What if I would have went to PA school. What is I moved to Raleigh. What if I could have gotten a great job in Europe. I want a good career, but I also don't want to miss out on finding that partner in life, that guy that makes me happy, and I don't want to miss out on having a family. I worry that I will never have those things, and I think that is why I am putting everything I have into making my career the best it can be, because it may be all I have.
I joke with my sister saying that I will be the rich aunt, but you know I think I will be the rich, single, childless aunt, and that scares me. I am not feeling sorry for myself, because I have a lot to offer someone, and I think that I may just find that someone. I am just putting my fears and concerns on paper. Most people don't understand me, and they don't understand the reasons why I do the things I do. And you know what? they don't have to. I have finally figured it out. I am okay with me for the first time ever. I am happy with me. I just hope that I will have everything I want. But if I don't get it, then it will be okay. I will just be the best me.
Semper Fidelis
OORAAHH!
My Classic Story
Okay. So my sister has a blog too and she said that I should write my classic story as she did. So here it is, and of couse its associated with cooking.
My grandparents came to visit me when I was living in NC. Whenever they come I have to make sure that I have all the proper food and stuff. They like orange juice, Cracker Barrel cheese, crackers, coffee (I always have this), half n half, etc. So I make sure that I put on a little production to impress them whenever they come. This time i decided that I would make a roasted chicken. I have done this before, and knew it would be easy and good.
So I prepare the chicken, add all the spices to it, and stick it in the over. About an hour or so later we take it out. I go to cut it and immediately I hit bone. Now remember, this is a 6 pound chicken, so when I cut into it I'm thinking "where the hell is all the meat?" So I continue to cut into this damn thing and still keep hitting bone! By this time my grandfather, Papa to the grandkids, decides that he is going to take over. I let him and he starts hitting bone immediately. So here we are, my grandfather, grandmother, and I are all standing around this damn thing wondering what the hell is going on. Then my grandfather say, you dope, you cooked it upside down! Sure enough he flipped it over and there was all the meat. I felt like a complete idiot, and of course my sister thought it was hysterical when I called to tell her what happened. There is a postive thing that came out of this though, which is when you cook the bird upside down, it becomes more tender because you are cooking it in all the juices, so it doesn't get dry. Lesson learned. Now I always check when I cook any type of bird.
Here is a story that I think is completely hysterical:
It was around 6pm and we were having our normal dinner, pasta and ragu. My dad was famous for saying, lets have pasta tonight, like we didn't already have it the previous 3 nights. I swear, we must have eaten pasta 4 times a week, its amazing we weren't fat little kids. So anyways, the cheese ravioli was done and my sister and I were getting our plates. I made mine and went to go sit at the table. I guess I dropped a ravioli on the floor on the way to the table. My sister starts to walk to the table with her plate, slips on the ravioli and she goes flying along with her plate of ravioli and sauce. It lands all over her brand new Biology book, which she screamed cost her $130!! She was a sophmore in high school at the time. The book was brand new, and now its covered with spaghetti sauce. All I could do was laugh. It was hysterical. Just writing this story I am doubled over with laughter. So funny.
Another great story I won't soon forget. It had to be over 10 years ago. My mom was vacuuming the kitchen floor and I was in the kitchen with her. Well, she had left a cabinet door open. At the exact time that I went to close it to prevent her from hitting her head, she wacks her head right against it. It was hysterical!! You could see her whole body move to one side like she was knocked out!!! She didn't get knocked out but it looked like it. I laughed so hard, and this only pissed her off more. I tried to appologize, but couldn't stop laughing. She got mad and told me to leave. I laughed the entire time it took me to walk upstairs. This was HYSTERICAL!!! I still can't tell the story without laughing my ass off. Sorry mom, but that was a classic.
As you can tell, whenever people get hurt I have to laugh. It pisses them off, but I can't help it. Its so funny to me.
Well, these are my stories.
My grandparents came to visit me when I was living in NC. Whenever they come I have to make sure that I have all the proper food and stuff. They like orange juice, Cracker Barrel cheese, crackers, coffee (I always have this), half n half, etc. So I make sure that I put on a little production to impress them whenever they come. This time i decided that I would make a roasted chicken. I have done this before, and knew it would be easy and good.
So I prepare the chicken, add all the spices to it, and stick it in the over. About an hour or so later we take it out. I go to cut it and immediately I hit bone. Now remember, this is a 6 pound chicken, so when I cut into it I'm thinking "where the hell is all the meat?" So I continue to cut into this damn thing and still keep hitting bone! By this time my grandfather, Papa to the grandkids, decides that he is going to take over. I let him and he starts hitting bone immediately. So here we are, my grandfather, grandmother, and I are all standing around this damn thing wondering what the hell is going on. Then my grandfather say, you dope, you cooked it upside down! Sure enough he flipped it over and there was all the meat. I felt like a complete idiot, and of course my sister thought it was hysterical when I called to tell her what happened. There is a postive thing that came out of this though, which is when you cook the bird upside down, it becomes more tender because you are cooking it in all the juices, so it doesn't get dry. Lesson learned. Now I always check when I cook any type of bird.
Here is a story that I think is completely hysterical:
It was around 6pm and we were having our normal dinner, pasta and ragu. My dad was famous for saying, lets have pasta tonight, like we didn't already have it the previous 3 nights. I swear, we must have eaten pasta 4 times a week, its amazing we weren't fat little kids. So anyways, the cheese ravioli was done and my sister and I were getting our plates. I made mine and went to go sit at the table. I guess I dropped a ravioli on the floor on the way to the table. My sister starts to walk to the table with her plate, slips on the ravioli and she goes flying along with her plate of ravioli and sauce. It lands all over her brand new Biology book, which she screamed cost her $130!! She was a sophmore in high school at the time. The book was brand new, and now its covered with spaghetti sauce. All I could do was laugh. It was hysterical. Just writing this story I am doubled over with laughter. So funny.
Another great story I won't soon forget. It had to be over 10 years ago. My mom was vacuuming the kitchen floor and I was in the kitchen with her. Well, she had left a cabinet door open. At the exact time that I went to close it to prevent her from hitting her head, she wacks her head right against it. It was hysterical!! You could see her whole body move to one side like she was knocked out!!! She didn't get knocked out but it looked like it. I laughed so hard, and this only pissed her off more. I tried to appologize, but couldn't stop laughing. She got mad and told me to leave. I laughed the entire time it took me to walk upstairs. This was HYSTERICAL!!! I still can't tell the story without laughing my ass off. Sorry mom, but that was a classic.
As you can tell, whenever people get hurt I have to laugh. It pisses them off, but I can't help it. Its so funny to me.
Well, these are my stories.
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Diet
So I am REALLY going to start my diet today. I have to. I got on the scale and I am 176 pounds!! Can you say fat ass. And what is even worse is that I was 162 only 2 months ago. So, I figure that I will keep a daily food journal of everything I eat. I will also mention what I did for my workout that day. I have to do something, as my dad and sister and I are all in a competition to see who loses the most weight. I don't care if I win, but I do want to look good, especially if they lose weight. I don't want to be the only person that hasn't lost weight.
Sunday 11 Jan 09
Breakfast 6:10 am
1 pkg instant grits
3 egg whites
1 lg glass water
1 mug coffee w LF creamer (I can't give up my creamer)
Snack 10:00 am
1 pkg oatmeal
1 bottle water
Lunch 12:00 pm
Lean Cusine - Chicken and fried rice bowl (really good by the way, and only 280 calories 6g fat)
1 bottle water
I will post more later as I eat more later in the day.
Sunday 11 Jan 09
Breakfast 6:10 am
1 pkg instant grits
3 egg whites
1 lg glass water
1 mug coffee w LF creamer (I can't give up my creamer)
Snack 10:00 am
1 pkg oatmeal
1 bottle water
Lunch 12:00 pm
Lean Cusine - Chicken and fried rice bowl (really good by the way, and only 280 calories 6g fat)
1 bottle water
I will post more later as I eat more later in the day.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Starbucks
You would guess that since the economy is so crappy right now, people would watch their spending. Thus, people would not spend $4.00 on a cup of coffee. I felt the same way until I discovered the wonderful world of Lattes!!!!
Starbucks has the best Lattes. My favorite is the Iced Caramel Latte in the summer and the Chai Latte in the winter. The Chai Latte is tea, but its so creamy and rich, I love that damn thing. I even went as far as to look up the calories and fat to see how bad it is for me. Its not that bad. The medium size has 235 calories and 4g of fat, which isn't bad if you only have 1 or 2 a week as a treat. You can also get it fat free, which cuts down on the fat and calories.
I hate having to spend $4 on just one cup, but those things are so well worth it. If you have a Starbucks in town, you need to go and get one NOW!! I had one this morning and they are GREAT!!! Of course, the regular one tastes much better than the fat free one, but I had the fat free one since I am watching my calories.
I have become a fat ass and need to lose at least 25 pounds, which I am currently working on.
Will write more later
Starbucks has the best Lattes. My favorite is the Iced Caramel Latte in the summer and the Chai Latte in the winter. The Chai Latte is tea, but its so creamy and rich, I love that damn thing. I even went as far as to look up the calories and fat to see how bad it is for me. Its not that bad. The medium size has 235 calories and 4g of fat, which isn't bad if you only have 1 or 2 a week as a treat. You can also get it fat free, which cuts down on the fat and calories.
I hate having to spend $4 on just one cup, but those things are so well worth it. If you have a Starbucks in town, you need to go and get one NOW!! I had one this morning and they are GREAT!!! Of course, the regular one tastes much better than the fat free one, but I had the fat free one since I am watching my calories.
I have become a fat ass and need to lose at least 25 pounds, which I am currently working on.
Will write more later
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
KING CAKE TIME!!!!!
For those of you who don't know, I live in New Orleans. Well, for at least another 2 weeks until I move back to NC. Anyways, when I moved here I discovered that New Olreans has many foods that they are very proud of. One of these being the King Cake, and of course its my favorite. I love this thing. So, its not exactly a cake. Its more of a pastry, like a cinnamon roll. It can have different types of filling, such as strawberry, chocolate, cherry, etc. or it can just be plain. I like the plain type myself. It has a glaze/frosting on top that has Mardi Gras color sprinkles on it. This is the best thing ever. Just picture a relaly good, soft, cinnamon roll. Its soooo good I just can't explain.
Anyways, King Cakes start coming out in January, before Mardi Gras. They make them only at this time, and they make them at Christmas as well. So the tradition is that 1 person brings the cake to work and everyone gets a piece. But there is a plastic baby that is hidden inside the cake. Whoever gets this baby must buy the next King Cake the following week, and this continues until Mardi Gras is over. I love these things, have I mentioned that already?
If you don't live in New Olreans but you still want a King Cake, you guessed it, you can mail order them and they can same day ship it. Its worth the money trust me. You just need to make sure that you buy it from a good place. The best place to buy a King Cake from is in Metairie. Its called Randazzo's. People will go and wait in line for over 2 hours to get these things. They are so fresh and soft, not hard like you get in the grocery stores. As I mentioned, Randazzo's is the best, but you can pretty much buy them anywhere that sells food in New Olreans or the surrounding area.
I will buy one and take a picture so you can see what they really look like.
Anyways, King Cakes start coming out in January, before Mardi Gras. They make them only at this time, and they make them at Christmas as well. So the tradition is that 1 person brings the cake to work and everyone gets a piece. But there is a plastic baby that is hidden inside the cake. Whoever gets this baby must buy the next King Cake the following week, and this continues until Mardi Gras is over. I love these things, have I mentioned that already?
If you don't live in New Olreans but you still want a King Cake, you guessed it, you can mail order them and they can same day ship it. Its worth the money trust me. You just need to make sure that you buy it from a good place. The best place to buy a King Cake from is in Metairie. Its called Randazzo's. People will go and wait in line for over 2 hours to get these things. They are so fresh and soft, not hard like you get in the grocery stores. As I mentioned, Randazzo's is the best, but you can pretty much buy them anywhere that sells food in New Olreans or the surrounding area.
I will buy one and take a picture so you can see what they really look like.
Thursday, January 1, 2009
New Years Eve 2008
This is me cheesin for the camera. Taken in front of Robin's house
This one is okay. But it does show the dress rather well
My pretty shoes. I love these shoes, and they were only $10!!!
Look at my hair!! I loved it. I think I will do it like this for my wedding. Very pretty
This is my favorite picture. I think it is the most flattering. I loved that dress.
My good friend Robin and I in the back yard
Todd and I in the back yard
A close up of me and Todd.
I took this and think it came out rather well. I like it
This is a picture of the dress. Its okay, but it shows the detail of the dress well
This one is okay. But it does show the dress rather well
My pretty shoes. I love these shoes, and they were only $10!!!
Look at my hair!! I loved it. I think I will do it like this for my wedding. Very pretty
This is my favorite picture. I think it is the most flattering. I loved that dress.
My good friend Robin and I in the back yard
Todd and I in the back yard
A close up of me and Todd.
I took this and think it came out rather well. I like it
This is a picture of the dress. Its okay, but it shows the detail of the dress well
New Year's Eve was great. I was invitied by my old boss James to go to a New Year's Eve ball for the Sugar Bowl. The Sugar Bowl is a huge annual event here in New Orleans. For those of you who have no clue what the Sugar Bowl is, it is like the Super Bowl but for college teams instead of pro teams. I did find out who is playing last night, since I had no clue. It is Alabama and Utah, neither of whom I am the least bit interested in. Anyways, back to the ball. So, of course this event was black tie and cocktail dresses, so I had to go out and get a dress since I own so few, only 1 actually. I bought the cutest black dress that cost a fortune $158 to be exact. Then I even went and bought a camera to take pictures, because my mom was insistent that I take pictures since I never dress up. I even went as far as to get my hair done. It turned out great I think. It had a 50s feel to it, and since I think women looked absolutely beautiful in that era, I loved it. Once I was all girly looking, I went over to Robin's house to show her the dress and borrow a clutch since I don't own one, and I took pictures over there. I think they came out rather well. Judge for yourself.
I went to the ball with Karla, and she looked very pretty too. Oh, I forgot to mention that the ball was at the Hilton. It was in the Grand Ballroom. They did a beautiful job decorating the place, and you have got to see the invitations, they are so cute. We had the best seat in the house, right up next to the stage, since we were sitting with James. He always gets really good seats because he is on the committee. They had a buffet and it was good. I had duck and spare ribs, which tasted good. They also had rice, potatoes, green beans, and some other stuff. There was also a sushi bar, which I declined, but it did look good. And of course there were raw oysters, this is New Orleans people. It was open bar all night, so I had a few glasses of wine, but kept to just that, as I didn't want to embarrass myself or anyone else, and I really didn't want a hangover the next day. I can only imagine the bar tab for the entire event last night, it had to be crazy expensive. But hey, when you are dealing with big wig people, you go all out right.
So, I had a really good time and even danced, thanks to James. I was exausted and feeling good due to the wine, so we left at 11:30pm and went home. I was really cool with that. I was nervous all day trying to get ready for the event, and I only slept for 3 hours the night before because I was so excited, so I was definately okay with leaving early.
Okay, so I talked long enough. Here are the pictures that everyone has been bugging me about. Hope you like them. They were taken with my NEW camera. It was expensive too, $450 after the service plan, bag, and memory chip. Enjoy and Happy New Year to you all. Hope its a great one for you.
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