Heater Saga

So, we finally got the work on our old GE heater done. I guess it wasn't work on it so much as just replacing it completely. Well, it did get replaced, and so our basement is warm. Unfortunately, our upstairs is still cold.

I'll be brief in my ranting. I did yell at the company at least one more time before anything got done. They came at 8:30 one night to replace it. They got it half done and then Sam and I went out of town. They were scheduled to come back monday and do it...apparently scheduled appointments mean nothing. Oh wait, I knew that. They DID call us tuesday night to see if they could come by...it was at 11:30 pm. Like we would want them coming at that time of night to work on it. Genius pantses!

And they actually came wednesday afternoon to finish the job. Yes, Sam missed more work. But it's done. Now if we could only get the Lennox fixed. We did call the warranty to have another company come to check the Lennox. they almost sent CDM over again!!! Seriously?!? Hopefully we'll have better luck with this other company. Such fun!

So, I went to a high school to interpret for a meeting. When I walk in the lady in charge says, "What grade is your student in?"

Heater Issues

For those of you that don't know, we've been having major issues with our heaters and even bigger issues trying to get them fixed. Thanks to our home warranty it's relatively cheap for us to get them fixed, it's just a matter of dealing with possibly the worst company ever.

After not showing up for TWO appointments we had set to get it fixed today (this is after a lot of crap we've had to deal with...paperwork not being sent in, inaccurate diagnoses, etc.), I decided it was time for me to step in (up til now, Sam got to deal with them). Sam had taken the day off work to be here for them to come. They told us it would be an all day project. An hour and a half after they were supposed to be here, Sam called them to see what was going on. They fired a technician and so they weren't able to come at the scheduled time. Did they bother to call and let us know that they wouldn't make it? Oh no! Even thought they said they knew they wouldn't make it at 9 this morning. So the rescheduled for the afternoon and Sam went to work. When I got home from work (7:30 pm), they still hadn't come...or called. So, I decided to give them a call.

I can be pretty mean when I feel like it's necessary. Today was a long day. I was tired, grumpy, and hungry. Poor, poor lady who answered the phone when I called to complain....

Warm Weather

Today was such a nice day! Yay! I got to go for my first outside run...and I made it a long one. It was so nice to actually go somewhere on my run instead of trying to keep my balance on the treadmill at the gym as I watch whatever movie they happen to be playing at the time. And they do not always pick running-friendly movies. Ever tried running to "Bedtime Stories?"

I don't know if you have ever run in a "cardiocinema," but it is not the easiest thing. They make it all dark and have a movie playing on a big screen. It took me a while to get used to running in that type of a setting. It makes me totally off balance. I think it might be caused by the glaring red lights on the treadmill contrasting with the darkness of the room. At first it made me sick to try to run in there with the red lights in my peripheral vision. Eventually I got used to it, but there were plenty of times that I almost fell down due to a loss of balance...so fun!

Just glad it's actually warm enough to run outside again...at least for now.

Easter Candy

This is a shout out to my mom. A few weeks ago, at Sunday dinner, we were talking about holiday candy. I mentioned how I am disappointed with the candy industry. I hate that the holiday candy selection is mostly regular candy in holiday wrappers. It seems like when I was a kid we could get different kinds of candy during the holiday season. Not just snickers in pastel wrappers or pastel colored m&ms.

Ever since that conversation my mom has been buying my unique-type of Easter candy that she has found at the stores. As a result, I left Sunday dinner tonight with glorious bag of candy. My mom must really love me!!! Thanks mom!

Blast from the Past

This post is dedicated to my brother, John....

So, the other day I was remembering an event from my childhood. When John and I were younger we were watching some Disney movie. It may have been Aladdin...I'm not sure. Whatever movie it was, it had a preview for Disney's newest feature film, The Lion King.

During the sneak peak of this, soon-to-be-released movie, they showed typical things. You know, artists drawing the lions, beginning stages of making the movie, etc. One of the lines during the preview was, "Disney's 32nd animated feature film, The Lion King."

John, who was pretty big into wild cats at the time said, "I don't care if that movie is only 30 seconds long, I want to see it!"

I laughed right out loud and told him how he had misunderstood what it said. Good times!

Hearts to John!

Whose Mom are You??

So, I didn't think that I looked older than my actual age, but some events this week have made me re-think that estimation of myself.

The Junior High School I work at was having a book fair this week. I decided to go check it out and see if there was anything I needed to get. I sometimes feel like I should support my place of employment. I went to the book fair and I found this awesome cook book. It was "Quick and Easy Chicken recipes from Scratch." I decided I would buy it. As I was paying for the book the cashier, a PTA volunteer, told me about the raffle they had if you bought a book. Then she says, "You can just put your student's name on this ticket and it'll go in the drawing."

Really?!? I look like the mom of a junior high student? That would mean I had a child at age 15. I told her that I don't have a student at the school and that in fact I work there. She was like, "Oh, well we have a separate for faculty and staff that you can enter."

The very next day, I was taking a little break during second period. You know, just getting a drink, going to the bathroom, walking around a little. As I start walking down one of the main hallways this man turns to me and says, "Whose mom are you again? You look so familiar, I just can't place your face with your student."

Seriously??? I said, "I don't have a student here. I work here. If I did have a student I would've been 15 when I had the child...so nope, just an employee. Thanks though."

So...what can we conclude from this? Either I look about 32 or I look like the type of person that would get pregnant at 15. Thanks for making my week, Ms. PTA volunteer and Mr. Choir Teacher.

Six Questions

Josh emailed me these questions so I thought I would post my answers on my blog...

A) Four places that I go to over and over:
Work, work (yes two different jobs), Michael's, and the gym.

B) Four people who e-mail me:
The RS, Border's (but I just unsubscribe from that), I guess that's about it.

C) Four of my favorite places to eat:
The Pie, Great China, home, Mom's house

D) Four places you would love to be:
San Diego, Las Vegas, Washington DC, Colorado

E) Four people I'm almost sure will respond:
I'm not emailing this, so it doesn't really apply...but Sandy might post it too. She usually loves these things. And maybe MaryAnn.

F) Four of your favorite TV shows:
The Office, The Biggest Loser...that's about all I watch as far as TV goes.

Ding Dong the Witch is Dead

Well, i know it's unheard of for me to blog twice in a week, but here I am once again. Surprisingly I am writing my first Biggest Loser blog of the season...shocking how long it's taken.

So, for those of you who've been watching it, you may know that the least liked contestant this year is Tracey. And she finally got voted off this week. I was surprised, I didn't think they would ever do it. She was for sure a big game player, from the start of the season. I thought she would've been voted off long ago. she lost a lot of popularity early on. After she chose the black and blue teams, I swore I would never watch again. (The show has to be rigged, btw.) But, I did watch the next episode, then I missed one, and then I watched this week's.

The things that drove me crazy about Tracey, were her creepy eyes and her mannerisms. I hated when she would stick her nose in the air and shake her hair back. And she just has really creepy eyes. She did look quite thin when they showed her 'now' pictures. She seems to have lost a lot of weight. My biggest fear is that she'll come back in the next couple of weeks when they bring a contestant back on.

And, how is Daniel still here with all of his low numbers??? With losses (or not) like that, I would have thought he'd be long gone.

Mr. Beaver and Lucy

So, I have a bit of free time on my hands...I know, I can't believe it either. So, I thought, "Now will be a great time to post those fabulous Halloween pictures and blog about the sweet party."

First, I have to thank John and Megan for putting the party together. It was so fun. I love the idea of an adult trunk-or-treat. That's right, folks, we had an adult trunk-or-treat. You should be super jealous. I think we should continue the tradition as long as we continue to be childless...what else will we do for Halloween???

Earlier in the month, Sam and I were trying to think of cool Halloween costumes. I said, "I know! I want to be the White Witch from the Chronicles of Narnia." Sam replied,, "I'll be a potato beaver!" It was the funniest idea and I knew John would love it, so I sacrificed my great idea to make his costume. I didn't think I could make two in time for Halloween. I know, how noble of me, right?!? (For those of you wondering what in the world a potato beaver is, I'll explain quickly. It's the beavers from the old school Chronicles of Narnia...fabulous show. Thank you, BBC. If you don't have time to watch the whole movie, my brother does a pretty superb highlight reel.)

So, the moment you've all been waiting for (pictures):





This is Scott as the drunk Mexican, and Mary Ann as Brigitta...you should've seen her little introduction.



Friends Of mine, Josh and Amber...I think their costumes are obvious.



John and Megan as Mulder and Scully....Great costumes! Especially with the musical entrance.



And two more of my friends, Michael and Nora...again, a pretty obvious costume. If only they'd gone as Bob and Jillian like I suggested.



Sam did win three awards for his costume, 'Best Costume,' 'Most Original Costume,' and second place for 'Scariest Costume.' Good times!

Oh, and I won 'Funniest Costume.' I guess the pickings were pretty slim!

Oh yeah! In case you want to do a side-by-side, check out these pictures from the show:

Lucy, in all her beauty.



And, the original "Mr. Beaver."

Back to school...or...work

So, this yeah I've been assigned to interpret at a junior high. Today was the first day back. It was just the 7th grade today. The halls were crowded and I had to keep reminding myself that it was only going to get worse. Apparently the 7th grade class at this school makes up almost half the student body...unreal.

7th graders are so sweet and innocent...for now. They go to their classes on time and when the teacher is a little late getting in, usually for taking some extra time in the hall to direct the little lost kids to their class, they just sit there quietly. It is so different from high school and probably even the older ages in the junior high. It was a fun day. I can't believe how old some of the kids look and then there are the others that don't look old enough to be there.

All in all, I really enjoyed my first day back to work, minus the pain the I get in my arms. Guess that's what I get for not interpreting during the summer. It's worth it though. I love my vacations!

Sorry,Mary Ann. I was going to include a disclaimer, but I didn't. I do feel bad, and I hope that you don't hate me. But, really, you had to know that was coming, right?!?

And yes, it's the last movie that they are making into 2 parts. Where, apparently, Harry is going to become a genius with the wisdom of an 75 year old wizard who has spent a long time studying the life of Tom Riddle. He's going to magically know that Riddle is attached to Hogwarts and would want to use items from the founders of the school to turn into horcruxes. AND he's going to know all about Voldemort's pet snake and everything else that Dumbledore told him in book 6 that was crucial to the destruction of said wizard. Can't wait to see how they pull that off! Should be interesting.

Harry Potter #6

So, earlier this week I went to the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I must say I was quite disappointed in the movie, but not in the crowd. As always, the movie seemed to leave out all the important parts. I really don't know how they can merge into the story of book 7 with what they included in the movie.

But alas, the midnight crowd...which is what I went for was delightful. There were some great screams for the upcoming Twilight movie, especially for Jacob. And I loved the lady two rows back who was absolutely sobbing at Dumbledore's death. I mean you had to know that was coming,right? You read the book, I'm sure. Why else would you be attending the midnight showing? Yes, the crowd did not let me down.

I will say that the part I hated the most was the scene with Harry and Ginny in the room of requirement. If you've seen the movie, you'll know why. Wow! That was an awful line. So bad! I think I'll have to read the books again to remember why I like the story so much. The movie...just does not cut it.

Wedding Pictures