ALL TOGETHER NOW...FINALLY!!!

Yes, he's coming back. If you're a fan of the Packers (or sports at all, really) you've heard the details. "I don't know if I'll come back. I haven't made my decision. I don't want another losing season. What are they gonna do, cut me?" It was very irritating, as a Packer fan, to have to listen to all that. In the beginning, I think most fans wanted him to come back. At this point, we are just happy he's made a decision. It's taken so freakin' long, I think it wouldn't have been so bad if he'd retired. Yes, the Packers "need" him. But for the love of God, if we (as fans) had to endure much more "build my team, THEN i'll make a decision", we would have preferred he just walk away from the team and the NFL for good. That being said, I feel ok proclaiming:
THANK GOD BRETT FAVRE IS COMING BACK TO THE GREEN BAY PACKERS FOR ONE MORE SEASON!!!

Gertie's Thirty!

Please stop by Gerties Place and wish her a very happy birthday! She is THIRTY today! Woo Hoo! And she partied this weekend like she's still 19! Oh, I mean 21! :o)

Here's a picture of me with Gertie and Babe in our younger days!

Dear

Guy at the Gas Station at 6:15am
If you don't have time to actually FILL your cappucino cup (rather than pulling it away while it's still running and have it spill) OR to wait for any change you might be getting at the register, maybe you should rethink your plans. Get there a bit earlier or skip the gas station today.

Guy Who Was Put On This Earth To Bring Other People Down
I am VERY happy with the amount of money I'm getting from the insurance company. You can see it in my face...I'm practically bouncing down the steps. Please don't say "I got that much. You should have gotten a lot more!" Because you know what? That doesn't do anything for my mood. Thankfully, I was happy enough that I went about my day without thinking too much about what you said. I'm still QUITE thrilled with the money I'm getting.

That's really all I've got today. I have the house to myself (well, me and the cats) so who KNOWS what'll go on this weekend! I am going to see Phil Vassar in Chicago w/Gertie on Saturday. Other than that? It could get kinda crazy! Or....more likely...I'll spend a lot of time sleeping and cleaning. But it COULD get crazy!

Happy Weekend!

Props to the insurance man!

The check is in for the hail damage claim, and it's a good-un. The check will be forwarded to the lien holder and the money will be put towards the principal still owed on my car. Which means...I now only owe $2000 on my car. That's a significant drop! In a few short months (about 6) I will not have a car payment anymore! And I have NEVER EVER not had a car payment. Well, not since I bought my first car at 18 anyway. After that, I figure I'll use the extra money to get the car fixed. I am SO excited!!!

Idiot!

Monday night I had a conversation with the insurance guy about coming to check out my car and estimate the hail damage. I had plans Tuesday around 1 (my weekly hydrating facial, of course), so I asked if he could come after 2pm. He said no, that he does his inspections in the morning and spends the afternoon at the office. It's understandable, with all the claims from the storm, he's a busy guy. He said "I can check out the car if you just tell me where it will be. You don't have to be there." Ok, cool. I told him to come in the morning, that it would be in my driveway, but I'd be sleeping.
At 11:20am he called. I was sleeping ( I had explained the 3rd shift thing the night before). He said he couldn't make it til about 1:30. Ok, that's fine. I'll go early to my facial and make sure I'm back by 1:30. When I got my car home, I decided to walk to the library, because it was nice out and I knew I didn't need to be home when he was there. I returned home around 2:10pm. I was a little surprised when he pulled up in front of my house at 2:30. Wasn't my initial wish that he show up after 2pm?

Here's something I posted on my myspace account. Yes, I've become addicted to myspace, but I'm hanging on to blogger as well!

The Coward's Meme
1) List 10 things you want to say to people but you know you never will
2) don't say who they are
3) disable comments (i probably won't...)

1. I wish I could help you. I try, but I don't think it works. I don't think I really know how. I'm worried about you. I know you'll be ok. That doesn't stop the worry.

2. I am sorry. God, am I sorry. I just wish you would let me tell you that.

3. I miss you something fierce. They say it's better that way.

4. I have nothing to say, so stop trying to get to me. I just don't want to anymore.

5. STOP IT. It's not her fault. It's no ones fault. Figure out how to work through it, because it's
driving me (and everyone else) CRAZY.

6. I'm SO SUPER glad that we worked it out. Or just let time pass and work itself out. Because I can't imagine life without you.

7. I don't know where to go now. I really am trying, and the effort I'm putting forth is true and from my heart. Please believe me.

8. Why do you have to be so uninspiring and deflating to ones ego? You're not all-that. We could do better without you.

9. I hope it's better than it seems from the outside.

10. There's nothing better than you.

Cheers!

Before last week, I had only seen this soda-pop (I call it pop, some call it soda, so I figured I'd use both) on Food Network. On Thursday (the same day as the hail incident) I came to work and there was some here. Well I figured that if it's still here by Monday (which it is) I would try it. So I did. And I kinda like it. Sort of Dr Pepper-ish, but smoother. It's pretty good. So in case you were wondering about Cheerwine, there you go! My personal opinion. Which should count for a lot!

Speaking of the hail incident, I called the insurance company today. They had questions to ask, and that's to be understood. But when the woman called and one of her questions was "Was there alcohol involved in the accident?" Did you not hear me? It was a HAIL STORM. Drunk or sober, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to avoid it. Unless, of course, I was drunk. Maybe Zak was on to something when he saw my car and asked if I had recently taken a trip through the local mini-golf place. Hmm.

Hope you had a good weekend. Friday we saw Scary Movie 4. Very funny! Saturday I worked early and then had a stamp camp hosted by Gertie and her friend. Of COURSE I had to order more stamps! We also got the garage cleaned out (mostly) of the leftover wood flooring and boxes and junk. Sunday was Easter, of course. I made my "signature" breakfast lasagna for dave's family. When I mentioned not bringing it next year (I've brought it to 3 easters now), his brother said "That's fine. But we'll miss you." So, I guess I'll be bringing it next year. We then went to my parents house for our 2nd easter. It is pretty stressful at my parents' house when everyone is over. It seems like my sister-in-law and I come together when things get tense. So that was really nice. Everything was good, though. Food was good, we ate too much, and went home to chill out. I'm looking forward to next weekend...PHIL VASSAR in Chicago. Me & Gertie! WOot!!!

Funny Pic

My sister-in-law sent me this pictures, with the caption: Where was this store when I needed it???

NYC, Here we come!

We booked our trip to NYC yesterday, then had New York strip steaks for dinner!

It's going to be SO awesome. We're spending our anniversary out there. Initially we wanted to save some money and stay at a lower priced hotel for most of the trip, then spend our anniversary night at a fancier place. We did that on our honeymoon...spent the last night in a cool place, while we'd spent the first few nights at a Days Inn. But, the way it worked out, we're only spending $50 more to stay at the fancy hotel the entire time. The Grand Hyatt New York is awaiting our company!


Dave's never been to NY; I've been twice. The last time was in '97 and it wasn't as fun as it should have been. This time is gonna rock though. We both can't wait. Now we just have to live off cereal and bologna sandwiches until we go so we can afford it!

Dear Mr. Weather Man

I AM SORRY. I DID NOT MEAN TO DOUBT YOUR ABILITY TO PREDICT THE WEATHER. I SWEAR, NEXT TIME I WILL NOT MOCK YOU FOR NOT SENDING US RAIN. PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE DO NOT MAKE ME EXPERIENCE WHAT I JUST WENT THROUGH EVER AGAIN. CRUISING ALONG AT 60mph WITH REALLY COOL LIGHTNING. NOTHING ELSE. NO THUNDER, NO RAIN. JUST LIGHTNING. THEN BAM. LITERALLY, BAM. SERIOUSLY. GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL? WHILE I AM DRIVING? WAS IT REALLY NECESSARY TO TEACH ME SUCH A LESSON? THAT WAS SCARY!
Seriously folks, it was the weirdest weather I've ever seen.

Found!

I regularly read Post Secret and recently saw a link to Found Magazine, so I checked it out. Way cool! People send in things they find in books, on the street, on their car, wherever. Some of the notes are hilarious. I'm just waiting to find a picture of my family somewhere.
Here's one of the funniest notes I saw while browsing through the items posted on their website

Don't hide your feelings

She's so obviously annoyed with me! I'm glad she's not afraid to show it.

I wonder how many times the weather people are going to "predict" rain before it actually happens. It was supposed to be cloudy and rainy today. It's 71 and not a cloud in sight. LOVE IT!

Happy hump day!

Blast From The Past

Do you ever get a "blast from the past" and wish they would have stayed in the past?

I was friends with this girl, Heather, a long time ago. For whatever reason, we stopped being friends. Well, a couple times in the past 12 years (if i remember correctly, it was around 1995 and 2000), a former roommate of hers that I also knew, called me looking for her. She owed him money (like $1000) and he needed help finding her. Both times, I helped him out. Or I tried. I called her mom's house, said "This is Kari. I'm looking for Heather. Oh, I can't have her number? Well, can you tell her to call me?" And she did. Both times. I really had no reason whatsoever to talk to her except to help this guy out. But she took the bait. Believe me, she was hesitant. But I guess I seemed innocent and trustworthy enough.

Last week, at work, I get a phone call. "I need help with a song. I don't know the name, but I want to hear it!" So I figured it out and played it, all along thinking it must be her. Low and behold, tonight, she calls again. "You're Kari ___ aren't you?" and I said "Used to be" and she said "This is Heather ___." She was nice enough about it, so I took the bait this time. I said "What's going on?" She said "You didn't have to do that to me, you know. I was looking for him, too." I just told her I wasn't going to talk about that at work. Yeah, I know what I did wasn't nice. But guess what? YOU DESERVED IT. And I'd do it again.

Seriously Folks

Our bathroom is DONE!!! We couldn't have done it without a lot of help from Dave's brother-in-law Denny, who did all the tiling. And Gertie's husband. He ripped out the tub, installed the new one, and put together every piece of plumbing in there. I had no idea the time it would take to do all this. We are SO thankful. With all the pizza casseroles in the world, we'll never be able to repay him! So, without further adieu:

The old:




The new

Our vanity and sink

The faucet worth EVERY headache!

The finished product:


Remember, everything in this bathroom was replaced except the actual walls. New tub, toilet, sink, floors, tub surround, mirror, and fan. Oh, we kept the light fixture. That's it! I am SO happy to be able to shower in my own home again!!!

Oh, and most importantly, it meets Blu's approval:

Dear...

Guy In The Big Truck Pulling Out Of The Mobil Station
I see that you are a LOT bigger than me. You should see that my car is YELLOW. So unless I blended in with the sun at about 8:15 this morning, there is no way in HELL that you could have possibly not seen me coming. You are very lucky that I was aware that you DIDN'T see me, or we would probably be stuck together right now, still sitting outside that Mobil station, with my front end sitting in the bed of your truck, waiting for the police to give you a ticket. Luckily I was paying attention and was able to stop. Next time, look BOTH ways before pulling out of a parking lot. Or maybe next time you just shouldn't drive.

Welcome, Benjamin!

This is Benjamin Mathew. He was born on March 28th to Dave's niece and her boyfriend.

Pizza, anyone?

What do you like on your pizza pie? pineapple and anchovies, or just cheese for you? maybe you have a favorite brand or crust preference. have you had NY and Chicago style pizza? Which one is REALLY better? i'm curious! help me out!

As If

As if I needed anything else to waste time on. I tried SO hard NOT to follow along and get a myspace account. Then Gertie comes along and says that she found people I graduated high school with. Well, if you know myspace at all, you know that to see pics and profiles, you must become a member. Dammit. I'm too nosy not to look, so now I have a myspace account. I don't plan to do much with it, blogger takes up enough of my time. But you never know.

Today was a good day. First of all, I was able to sleep til 1pm. First time in quite a while, and that was VERY nice. I went for my facial at Merle Norman after that. Hard to believe I've been going there once a week for almost a year. It's a nice little luxury, and it's free. I love it! Then I did dishes and cooked dinner. When Dave got home we ate dinner, cleaned up the tile in the bathroom, moved the vanity and such in, and got it READY for hookup. Gertie and her husband are coming over Friday, and THEN....get this....WE WILL HAVE A BATHROOM! And we won't have to shower at the health club anymore...which is what we did after that. Then we watched "Teachers". Have you seen this show? The guy that playes "Calvin"....OMG! That's Kenny/Bubba from The Cosby Show! I almost screamed when I figured it out! For those of you that don't know who THAT Is, he was also "The Token Black Guy" in Not Another Teen Movie.

Then I left for work, and here I am. I've got menu's to plan...peeps coming for dinner friday and lunch sunday. then next weekend is easter, and i have to make my breakfast lasagna for that. it's gonna be a busy rest of my week!

Sir Charles is IN!

He was the reason I watched basketball as a teen. I became a huge Phoenix Suns fan. Well, huge for a teenage girl anyway. I don't know when it started, but I do know I got a Suns sweatshirt for my 16th birthday. I was very excited when he was part of the Olympic Dream Team and McDonald's had him on their super size cups and fries. Even though he was long gone by the time I went to Phoenix to visit a friend, it was still VERY cool to see where the Suns played. Those were the days of "Thunder" Dan Majerle, Danny Ainge, "KJ" Kevin Johnson and many more. I loved his attitude. And I still love watching him as a commentator today. So it was cool to find out Sir Charles, aka Round Mound of Rebound, is being inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame. Go Charles!

For Reals?

Our bathroom is tiled and grouted, AND our faucet is IN! I will be picking it up on Monday. We're hoping for J to be able to come over sometime next week to hook us up. And then? I can take a BATH. And shower at my own house! And I'll be able to move my bathroom stuff into the bathroom, rather than my bedroom. In a few more weeks, we'll have our kitchen table, and our first MAJOR project will be complete. I am SO excited!

Friday was quite a day. I picked up my nieces at about noon (and showered at my sister-in-laws house) and we went shopping. We had projects to do! We made some molding clay easter decorations that didn't turn out great. We played Sorry. Then we had spaghetti for dinner. Then we made t-shirts for their mom and dad. I took a picture of them and printed it on transfer paper and ironed it onto the shirts, then they painted all sorts of stuff on the shirts. they had fun with that. It was getting late so we (me and the girls) hopped into my bed and started watching Napoleon Dynamite. They both fell asleep, so we got them to bed and I was up all night. So when they got up this morning at 7:45, I thought I'd die. I tried making french toast (which I know how to do) but it didn't turn out well, so we just had eggs, sausage and hash browns. Dave played Trouble with the girls (what a fitting name) and I was SO excited when their mom showed up around noon. Man, that was exhausting. We want kids, but not 2 of them ages 4 and 8!