taking money from strangers....

So this morning Emily and I were at Wal Mart getting the last of our shopping done for the weekend, and we had something weird and unexpected happen. We were standing in by the bananas when this older couple said hello to Emily. I prompted her to respond and she gave a wave along with her quiet hi. As I turned to tell them to have a great day, they told me to bring that "little beauty" over so they could see her up close. So I did. As we walked closer I realized that the wife was holding a dollar bill in her hand. I said that they didn't have to do that and they wouldn't take no for an answer. So I let Emily reach out and take the money, and when she did she said thank you. They explained that they were tickled to have her say hello to them earlier and that they wanted to do something special for her. Then they went into the story of how they have one son, 2 grandchildren and 4 great-grandchildren who love 685 miles away, and that they felt the need to spoil a little...so they did. Emily held on to that dollar with all of her might until she decided to put it in her pocket. She even offered to pay for the groceries...

UUUGGGGHHHHH!!

So I woke up this morning earlier than normal because a little girl decided to jump....literally jump into my bed. Then I realized that it was HUMID!! We have been praying for rain around here, but man I tell ya, it would be nice to actually get some! Normally the humidity only rises when it is raining or about to rain.....otherwise, it is so low that sometimes Emily's hair stands on end....pretty funny to see but all of the shocking is not so nice.

We called 8 or so companies to give us an estimate on installing central air in the house, and haven't heard anything for sure.....and I am getting a little impatient! I was told that if I could make it through July I would be able to stand the heat once August hit...yeah right. I have been talking to people who have lived here their whole lives and they say that August is the hottest month here. So with highs already in the 90's I am NOT wanting to "stand the heat" of August!

Sears was one of the companies that we called for an estimate. It turns out that they apparently don't care so much about customer service. I have made two phone calls to set up the appointment and received a planning packet in the mail. On the day of the appointment we waited about 45 minutes after the appointment to call and find out where our rep was. We found out that the rep had supposedly called out phone number only to talk to a Joseph Warren who had never heard of me (duh) and was not aware of any appointment. So they decided that the appointment was bogus and called the whole thing off. Can you believe it? We didn't get any sort of call back from the home office to double check our number (which is what I would think should have happened since they were coming from over 3 hours away). All we got was a bunch of we are so sorry, and you must have given us the wrong number, and well the tech. talked to a Joseph Warren at your number, and after telling them that we were not going to reschedule with them, the last thing the operator said to me was "we'll call you in a couple days to reschedule". After this issue, I am not likely to trust Sears for any sort of installation...tools maybe, but not installation. I mean come on, they have been around for many, many years, and I thought that they were worried about customer service....guess not.

We only have just over a week before family starts to arrive and we still have a TON of work to do. The patio is coming along, SLOWLY. But other than that, we still have to replace the base boards in the living room and hall, get the beds set up for everyone, and make sure that there is enough food for 12 people. Plus all of the extra goodies for Emily's party.

Man I tell ya, sometimes I feel that I have too much going on at one time, and that I'll never get all of the things done that I want to get done before time runs out. (here's the important thing to remember) AT LEAST I HAVE LIFE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT!

8 Years

Today marks the celebration of our 8 year anniversary. Can you believe it......8 YEARS!! I seems like such a short time ago that we were exchanging our vows.......

Now the more that I think about it a lot has happened in that short time! We have moved 7 times, lived in 4 countries (Texas counts for it's own country...lol), gone through 4 pets and currently on numbers 5 and 6, traveled countless miles to visit family and friends, had one amazing child, eaten some pretty strange things, lived in 9 homes and finally have one to call our own, owned 8 vehicles, we have gained more weight that either of us wish to tell, our "stuff" has grown from a car load to well over 7,000 pounds........this is pretty fun, but I better move on.

All of these things have happened because two people met, became friends, fell in love, and got married.....pretty amazing stuff!

Long time!

So it seems like forever since I last posted....guess maybe it has been a while. I did paint the living room blue....it turned out well! Now our focus is on the back yard. We are putting in a patio and let me tell you, it's hard work. The ground here seems to be made of mostly clay with a little sand mixed in about a foot down. Digging is the hardest part. I hate digging! In the past couple days we have put in a small retaining wall and started to put the steps in. Our next course of action is to level the ground and lay the sand and stones. We only have a couple things left to do, but I know it will take a couple weeks to finish. I promise to post pics of our work once we have finished! We are also working in the house. We decided to take the carpet up in the bedrooms and hall upstairs. We knew there were hardwood floors underneath, so we took a chance. We now realize that we have a lot of tedious work ahead of us. The previous owners decided to paint the walls without laying some sort of protective sheet down. There are paint splatters EVERYWHERE!!! I have no idea what they were thinking. But we are going to clean them up and make them shine! Now if we could only get central air......