Get me out of here!

I must say that I'm loving the great weather we've had lately. We've been doing everything we can do to take advantage of the sun and heat!

However, I know it's not going to last forever and I should come up with a plan to get so sun the middle of the winter.

That's why I'm eyeing Orlando vacations. Not only do they have great fun for the whole family....but also perfect weather!

Just keeps going up...

I can't believe the cost of car insurance these days. It's really gotten out of control. In fact, ours keeps increasing each year and there's going to come a point where we can't afford to keep our cars on the road with the cost of insurance, the car itself, and GAS!

Heck, with life insurance, health insurance, car insurance we're spending around 25% of Margot's income!

Must have...

3 strollers.

Now I know this sounds excessive to the person without kids but we have learned that over time you must get the accessory that gets the job done!

We have the:

Travel stroller - Maclaren Volo
Carseat stroller for baby - Peg Perego Aria
Double stroller - Phil and Ted's with double

Each one has it's purpose ... of course at one point we were thinking of getting another stroller. Yikes. Maybe that would put us over our stroller consumption limit!

I'm still looking for the ...

best diet pills available.

When Shawna was dieting she did Xenical and Phenteramine. However, they had awful side effects.

I feel like I need a little bit of a boost and something that will help me suppress my appetite.

Of course, I could just do the logical thing and eat less and move more. I've talked about getting a gym membership for ages and just can't bring myself to pay the outrageous membership costs.

It's got to get better...

Lately, we've had a hard time trying to find the perfect credit card. We go back and forth constantly depending on what deals we can find.

Our favorite is 0 balance transfer. That allows us to put money in the bank in an interest bearing account and then collect some income from that while we pay nothing on our debt.

Of course, at some point it would be nice to have no debt....

A girl can dream, right?

So fat.

Well we're back from vacation and I didn't do too bad with the weight gain. However, I started out chunky and so a few pounds here and there has not been a good thing.

I think I might look into a elliptical to get the unwanted pounds off.

At one point I was thinking that I might get a membership to the gym but everytime I've done that I ended up going a few times and the membership goes to waste.

Having a home gym would give me no excuses to get my butt in gear!

Dead.

To say the least our laptop computer is not working. The other day I was able to get it to start up and access to the desktop but I still haven't been able to get it online.

I'm starting to think that I need to get some laptop memory and have more diagnostics run.

My other option is to buy a new laptop and not install Windows Vista!

Are you secure?

With us going out of town lately we've been really careful about making sure our house is secure. Our friend, Cheri, had an alarm system installed and I must admit that there's a greater peace of mind knowing that your house is protected and that you could be notified if an intruder tries to break in.

I have no idea where I'd start looking for security systems but I've heard that ademco has a good product and easy to use.

More fun on the PDA!

I love using my PDA for geocaching. However, sometimes the battery doesn't work and I'm starting to think that I need to get another one.

When Shawna was the Executive Director for an assisted living residence she constantly got calls in the middle of the night with resident issues. Typically, it was that a resident fell, broke their hip and was going to the emergency room.

However, there were times when the nurse, myself, and doctor would be contacted and all of them were trying to figure out a medical solution for a specific situation. Many times she had to look online for the medications that were being given to see if they had any side effects.

Unfortunately, if she was out and about didn’t have access to the information and had to ask one of the aides to look up the information in the PDR.

I’ve just found out about medical reference software that allows you to view medical information online. You can actually use your PDA to get up-to-date information.

Medication information on the go — life is getting easier!

This announcement was paid for by Epocrates.

Zits!

I was shocked that when Shawna was pregnant she didn't have one pimple. The day she had the baby she had a huge zit on her nose.

Years ago she actually tried acne treatment that the doctor prescribed and it was a fortune. Plus, insurance didn't cover it.

If she ever chooses to do acne meds --- more than likely I think that we'll look at a natural approach.

I've got to do something!

Shawna's dropped almost 30 pounds since the birth of Emmy. I swear I've probably put that 30 pounds on!

Maybe I should think about doing diet pills. They worked great for Shawna when she had a lot of weight to lose and really helped jumpstart her system.

Not to mention, she was able to keep the weight off!

Who would have thought...

that even with window blinds that Shawna would be flashing the neighbors.

The other day she got out of the shower and walked into Grammy's room to put on her clothes.

This was the one hot day of the year and I had the windows, curtains, and blinds pulled open.

Well...just so happens that the neighbors got a show and Shawna didn't even realize until she was completely dressed.

Oops!

Now we have to find a good babysitter!

We talked about going to the Virgin Islands in February with the boys. We'd meet up there and we even talked about Caribbean villa rentals!

Of course, we should probably start looking for a babysitting situation because it'd be nice to leave the kids with someone while the adults went into town or out for a nice meal!

A true vacation...

So long, farewell...

We miss Alex and Dominic. Every time we get together we realize what great friends we are and that we're so glad they're part of our lives and the lives of our kids.

The visit was absolutely perfect with the exception of them not staying long enough!

However, we're glad to hear that Alex has a new job and we're sure he's going to be great at it!

I was shocked to hear that Los Angeles jobs were hard to come by! You'd think that being in a big city would allow you to have any job you want.

However, I'm guessing with the economy the way that it is...people are desperate to be employed.

You don't bring me flowers...

anymore!

That's alright because I'd prefer a gift basket any day of the week!

Just the other day Shawna's mom asked if we wanted money, flowers, or a gift basket delivered when the baby comes.

After thinking about it for a few seconds we instantly answered gift basket! Of course, we want ours filled with tons of chocolate and nice champagne!

The thought of spending money on flowers is nice and all...but at the end of the day you don't have anything and with a gift basket at least you've been able to gain a few pounds, right?

Fatty McFatt.

I'm not sure I've mentioned it...but I'm on the pregnancy diet with Shawna.

This pregnancy has been dangerous and if you look at me sometimes you'd think that I might be the one carrying our second child!

I think when this baby gets here either I'm going to have to find a way to nurse or else I'm going to have to get on the treadmills and work off some of this unwanted weight!

Of course, I have heard the stories from friends and family about how their babies don't sleep and they end up missing numerous meals and losing tons of weight...hmm...I guess that doesn't sound soooooo bad?

Know of a good dealer?

I'm talking about a coin dealer of course!

One thing that never loses it’s value is silver and other precious metals! Even when our stocks are floundering you can always look to silver, gold, and precious metals to maintain their value.

Monex Deposit Company offers silver, gold, and other precious metals for delivery or they will make arrangements to have your metals stored privately and securely at a bank or depository.

I didn’t realize this but Monex Deposit Company (MDC) is an industry leader. They sell gold in two forms: coin or ingot. The world demand now exceeds the supply demand for gold - which makes it a pretty smart investment.

Especially with the economy doing so poorly and people losing all of their investments with the stock market!

I wish it would stop!

I swear when it rains - it pours!

Both of the faucets in our bathroom have been leaking for a month.

I called PricePfister to get the parts and they sent every part but the one that I actually needed!

I was able to get the sink faucet to stop leaking but then one of the washers around the neck broke. So I need to order that part too!

I'm still working on the shower faucet and figure that when I place the call I can get them to send all of the parts at once.

Thank God this is all under warranty and the people there are friendly and provide really good customer service!

*drip*drip*

One faucet at a time...

I've got to keep telling myself that I can only do so much these days! I have a to-do list from here to the floor and my motivation to get things done is pretty limited!

A few years ago we looked at kitchen faucets and decided on a name brand faucet that didn't cost us an arm and a leg.

It's done a great job but now I'm realizing that I should do some caulking around the base of the faucet because I think water is actually draining down and into our cabinents.

Always something new.

So my dad is back at home after being in the hospital, nursing home, hospital, and nursing home.

I'm glad that he's back at home and in a few weeks he thinks he's going to be back at work.

Of course, I know that he's going to jump into it too quickly. His plan is to do botox and non-surgical procedures first. One option might be for him to buy wrinkle cream and market it to his patients!

If he were to find some good products and sell them then he could do pretty good without having to perform surgery!