It's All About Memory ...

You know what song has been floating around in my head all day? "Memories" -- the version that Barbra Streisand sang ... it's driving me nuts.

Anyway, I think it got stuck in there because I spent most of the afternoon trying to upgrade the memory on my hard drive. When you're self-employed, you have to stay up to date with the latest software versions and hardware...I've been a little lax in that department since the beginning of the year and my handy-dandy laptop was beginning to suffer. So, off to the store I go to purchase what I needed ... only they didn't have it. Next store no dice, either...but at Store #3 I lucked out. Now that the installation is over I can't believe how much faster my computer is running. Who says you need an all new version? Just upgrade the old one! :)

I think I need a new hand-set...

or maybe a new set of ears ... or maybe cell phone amplifiers??? Why? Because when we get into a crowd of people, I can't hear anything from my cell phone at all. A group of us hit an amusement part over the weekend and had a ball but at one point we separated to do a few individual things. We all had cells so we decided to call to meet up for dinner. The problem? I couldn't hear anyone when they called. I know the phone connected because it ticked off the seconds but other than a few "mdashdfudsiahdfdsa" type sounds, I have no idea what was going on. It was so bad at one point that I said, "I can't hear anything! If you can hear me, I'm at X-Location ... meet me here in 10 minutes." Obviously they got the message because everyone converged on me and my stupid, soundless cell phone about 10 minutes later. And they all laughed like crazy because I'm the only non-hearing one of the bunch!

...and The Touring Begins...

I'm pretty sure you guys are tired of listening to me whine about the condo and our on-going house building/buying issues. Well, skim over this post because ... you guessed it. The saga continues. We contacted the builder we wanted to go with several months ago and were given a tentative date for completion (based on us actually buying land and entering into the contract with them). We hemed and we hawed and we decided to go with older construction because we could get more house for our money in the long run. So, we've been looking for flippin' ever and weren't finding anything. Last weekend, we decided to look at new construction from the builder we were interested in the beginning.

Oh.

My.

God.

I'm so glad we didn't go with that builder! The rooms were all good sized and the house seemed sound but he cut so many corners it wasn't funny. Most of the flubs I saw were indoor lighting related - for example, he put recessed lighting in the kitchen. Normally not a big deal but this recessed lighting was also *above* the cupboards which means - no light in the kitchen. No light. Seriously! We toured the house at 1 pm and I couldn't find the door once we were in the room because it was so dark in there. Yuk! So, we're back to square one ... but we won't be building with that builder any time soon!

Stop Already!

So we just go back from a road trip and unfortunately our Sirius stopped working so we were forced to listen to local radio. I can't believe the number of pharmaceutical ads we had to listen to between songs and (a few) really, really, really bad DJs. I have to say I was never more excited to get home than I was when we were still 100 miles away but I knew of 2 (count 'em!) stations I could listen to without hearing 500 ads for Fenterdren or some other diet pill. URGH! I know people want to believe that a pill can make them skinny ... but read my lips people: Nothing Beats Exercise and Eating Less!

And Speaking of Diet Ads...

I've been seeing a lot of ads for fat burners lately. I'm not sure exactly how they work but don't the ads sound great? Lose weight without trying because the pill boosts your metabolism ... Hmmm... sounds like a plan to me, as long as you're following doctor's orders and still eating healthfully. Sometimes we all need a little bit of help but that doesn't give us the excuse to ignore the basic rules of nutrition!

All Those Diet Ads...

You know what really annoys me? All of the random diet ads that hit my email on a daily basis. I'm of the opinion that diet and exercise are the best ways to get your perfect body. Still, sometimes we need just a little help. In that case, I advise my friends to yak at their doctor to see what he or she recommends...and once that recommendation is in, search for the best prices. If you're looking for cheap Phentermine, check out this website ... but check with your doctor first.

URGH! Money Gives Me A Headache...

I love spending it but doing the balances, transferring between accounts (for saving and investing, etc.) ... it gives me a headache. Which is why I'm glad the hubster does most of this stuff. I'm an completely in the know about where our money is and how much we have, I just don't like doing the match associated with it. A couple of months ago, the hubster found this balance transfer site that makes his jobs much simpler. What used to take an hour or so each week is now taking about 30 minutes. Cool!

The Home Gym...

is shaping up quite nicely and so am I, thank you very much. We bought a treadmill as our big Christmas present, to go along with that we've inherited a BowFlex that was used all of three times before the owner got bored with it. I also have a Yoga and Pilates DVD and the TurboJam DVDs (I'm lurrrving TurboJam -- big calorie burn in a short amount of time). Now the final piece is coming in to place -- my cousin is upgrading her ellipticals so we are taking her old machine so she has room for a new one. Why an elliptical and a treadmill? Because the winters here are looong ... and varying the workouts keeps the muscles fresh and working hard.

Hey, I Have to Write...

As a freelancer, I go through a lot of ink pens. Even though the bulk of my writing and research is done online, I still have notebooks filled with information, reporters notebooks I take to interviews ... you get the picture. Every conference I go to, I pick up as many of the sample pens as I can and I still have to make the runs to Kroger in the middle of the night because my last pen has died. I like gel ink the best, but ballpoint works well, too.

Is there any office item you find indispensable in your work life?

We're the Hosts - Not the Parents!

Last week, some friends of ours asked if we could help them with a huge project - Sweet Sixteen birthday party for their daughter.. They were looking for a great location and hoping for somewhere near the beach but hadn't had any luck so far. We have a lot of beaches around here but there aren't a lot of public use areas, which makes it hard to have a big gathering. So, I tagged along with my friend as we toured the last few places...and none of them were going to work. I had a brilliant idea - our beach! Near the hubter's parent's home is a great beach with a small public use area that not many people know about. I asked, it was available and perfect for what they wanted. Now all that is left is the final go through with the Quinceanera invitations and we're ready to party!

The Wedding Gig...

I forgot to mention to you all, but last week I was the hostess for another wedding at our church. As y'all know, June is Wedding Month and the church was packed on Saturdays and even Friday nights for months. Luckily, I was only hostessing the one event - don't think I could have handled more than that one bride!! - but I'm really glad I did it. The couple were so in love and cute, everything went off without a hitch and I got to quiz the bride on the great bridesmaid gifts she bought for her attendants. She found great pashmina shawls for the girls, which would be perfect for my mom and sister-in-law this Christmas. She gave me the website and the price is right, too! Great idea!!