First appointment.

Hubby and I decided to join a gym. Don't laugh, I'm serious. Anybody that knows me like at ALL would know that I am not exactly the gym-going kind of gal. A mall-going kind of gal is more like it...LOL. But we have been saying since forever that we both need to get more exercise, get ourselves into better shape, lose a few pounds...etc. Somehow that never really seems to happen. There are always various reasons why watching tv, or napping, or playing around on the computer is more important at that particular moment. So....we are hoping this will motivate us.....??

We went on Tuesday to tour this place. We didn't spend weeks of checking out different places, although God knows there are enough of them around here. This place is the closest. It also seems to be the biggest facility. Closest made it the winner. If I have to drive across town in heavy traffic, you can forget it. But anyway, this place has a nice big pool, basketball and racquet ball courts, tanning beds, room after room of equipment, tons of classes free with membership (I am kind of interested in the yoga and pilates), and the one part that I really really REALLY liked. There is a big theater room with bikes, treadmills and stairsteppers facing a huge wall-sized screen. And they play movies while you work out. Apparently there is a different movie every day and it plays pretty much all day long. The thing I liked about it was this: It was nice and dark in there. Nobody can watch me sweat. And if I get tired, I could always sprawl out on the floor and eat buttered popcorn while I watch my movie....HAHA! Actually, I didn't really see any popcorn available, but I didn't see anything that would prevent me from sprawling if I wanted to.

Our first appointment with our personal trainer is tomorrow. At 10am. I saw that this place opens at the unGodly hour of 5am, but no thank you. Thats not going to happen. Although, I drive by this place on my way to work everyday and at 8:15 the parking lot looks pretty full.
It occurs to me that our personal trainer has his/her work cut out for him/her. I need somebody who will drive to our house and force me to work out whenever I start to feel like procrastinating (which would be like every day). I really hope we get someone who is good at motivation. Also, I HATE to sweat, so...? We shall see.
Actually, I am kind of looking forward to it. I wonder if they let you eat popcorn in the yoga classes?

Frustration

Wikipedia defines frustration:

"Frustration is an emotion that occurs in situations where one is blocked from reaching a personal goal. The more important the goal, the greater the frustration. It is comparable to anger and disappointment."

My source of frustration is the brick wall I keep running into while attempting to find a new bedroom set. We are once again shopping for bedroom furniture. We were going through this same process last summer, but ended up only buying a new mattress set. My husband talked me into waiting on the furniture until our son got married so we might actually have a new home for our old set. Well, that time has come. And yesterday we set out to find what we wanted.

Set #1 was beautiful. I fell in love with it. Hubby was not as thrilled, but deemed it "OK". This was a simple cottage-style set. He prefers heavy ornate pieces that have presence. Its the Leo side of his personality coming out, I'm sure. Anyway, we set out to get a definite price quote on all of the pieces, thinking that it was going to run somewhere in the neighborhood of between $5,000 to 6,000. In reality, to get all of the pieces that I wanted, including the armoir, the quote was closer to $8,000. Can you say OUCH! Even I, loving that set as much as I did, was a little put off by sticker shock.

And so we set out to check other sets in other places. We found set after set that we liked. Every single time there would be one crucial piece that couldn't be had. I want a total set. With ALL of the pieces. I don't want to mix and match and hope for the best. I've been living with a mixed up batch of stuff for way too long. Is it too much to ask that a bedroom set collection have all of the pieces readily available?

But in our search, one thing became painfully clear....$7,000 to 8,000 was not all that out of line for a full set of quality furniture. So after we ran out of places to shop, my husband said that if I really wanted the simple cottage set, to just go ahead and get it. He was sick of shopping, sick of looking at furniture. He didn't care what it looked like, or what it cost as long as he didn't have to deal with it. I had my keys in my hand, and was heading out the door before those words even finished leaving his lips. I had to hurry just in case he changed his mind.

And so I went back to the original store. And I got the run around. For 2 solid hours, they made calls, looked up information online, called one employee after another trying to figure out prices, availability...etc. This was AFTER we were assured that everything on the showroom floor was definitely, unquestionably available. They were offering a deal on a credit line of 43 months, no interest. That seemed like a good thing to us, especially since the set was quite a bit more expensive than we anticipated. I filled out the credit application. I got a credit limit online of $5400. Ok, well....the set was $8,000. So they had me go back through the long process, this time applying for a joint account, adding my husband's information. The result: $5400. I was ready to scream. We have an excellent credit rating. We paid off our mortage a year ago. We check our credit regularly with the bank.......WTF is going on here?

So, I was instructed to call the credit company that finances this particular store. I was put on hold for almost half an hour. The answer I got? $5400 was the amount they approve for EVERYBODY!!! To have that limit raised, they would have to do a more indepth credit check, and that would take more time. Also? They were ready to close and wouldn't be able to do this until tomorrow. To say that I was pissed off is putting it mildly. Then, as the saleswoman was telling me it was no big deal, THEY could call and deal with the credit company the next morning (then why in hell didn't THEY deal with it in the first place instead of making me sit there on hold for half an hour???), she also casually mentioned that , "Oh, and by the way, the bed and the armoir are on backorder for at least 8 weeks." I was so angry that I think I momentarily went blind. I had just wasted over 2 hours of my life dealing with crap. Crap that could have been avoided if they had just told me upfront that parts of this set were NOT readily available. Crap that could have been avoided if any one of the sales staff were educated in the credit application process. Bastards!!! I let them know in no uncertain terms that I didn't want that set badly enough to deal with anymore of their hassle, and I walked out.

Edited to add: Ok, things are looking up. Apparently the owner of this store heard about the hassle that I went through yesterday. The store called this morning with profuse apologies and restitution if I still wanted the set. Our credit was approved with a balance enough to buy this set several times over (as it should have been to start with). Also? They gave us 48 months with no interest. They waived their stupid delivery fee. And somehow, some way, the bed and the armoir that I was going to have to wait 2 + months for? Well, those pieces can be delivered in 2-3 weeks. I don't think that was terribly unreasonable. So, I have a new bedroom set on the way. And I might....just maybe....attempt to do business with this company again. On a trial basis. If I get the hassle that I had the first time around though, I will write them off my shopping list forever.

Here's part of the set. Its called Cottage View. My favorite part? The top 2 smaller drawers of the dresser have velvet lined jewelry organizers. Yay!!!!!! Also, I think this set will fit in perfectly with my casual lake house/cottage. Eventually. You know...for when we retire and buy a house at the lake....hahaha.

And this next pic is just one of the sets that my husband really liked. See the difference in styles? And this is just one of the many reasons that it has taken us 26 years to pick out a bedroom set. Hopefully, this one will last us until we die, because I really do NOT want to go through all of this again!

And...we're home

We're back home again. Did you miss us? We spent the past few days in Danville with Dad and Barb. And we had a really nice holiday. Friday was a big cook out at the country club. Saturday was spent shopping with Barb in all of Danville's hot spots. We hit the Gingerbread House, Fox Glove, and Rippe's, just to name a few. I think I bought something at every single place that we went. The Gingerbread House has a HUGE selection of Yankee Candles. You know I am addicted to those. I found a new scent called "Greek Fig and Black Currant". Hubby swears it smells like grape kool-aid. It does have a sort of grapey scent, but its much nicer than grape kool-aid. Seriously!

We made our way downtown around dark to see the fireworks. There was a nice cool breeze, and not terribly humid. Thats always good news. Somehow we lucked up with the perfect parking spot just about 2 minutes before the show began. We had an excellent view. I think that maybe the crowd was expecting the fireworks show to be coming from a different direction than they actually were. Everybody seemed to be really focused to our left. We were, too, staring up at the sky in the general location that everybody else was looking. But then they ended up going off right in front of us. How convenient. It worked out to our advantage in so far as we were able to get out of town really quickly afterwards before the traffic got all snarled up, too. Yay! It was an excellent end to our 4th of July celebration.

Saturday night we had yet another cookout at the house. Barb whipped up some babyback ribs on the grill, corn on the cob, fresh squash...and of course a loaf of her homemade bread. It was really good. I think I ate waaaayyy too much this weekend. Oh and don't let me forget to mention that we also made Mojitos with fresh mint from her garden. Last night, I had at least 3 glasses of wine and a couple of Mojito's. And for me, a relative lightweight when it comes to alcohol, that was one heck of a LOT. Monday begins a serious health kick for me and hubby. Healthier food, exercise...you know...all of those things that aren't as much fun as junk food and partying. Haha. Oh well, it has to be done. The holiday is over and the business of real life must begin......

ETA: Apparently, the dogs behaved for Stephen. They were all alive and well when we got home, and they were much more relaxed. Not nearly as traumatized as they are when we go away and leave them outside for the dog sitter to come and feed them. Stephen came back and forth to the house enough that they could stay in, in the cool house, and go out for bathroom breaks periodically. The dog sitter only comes twice a day to feed them, and that makes leaving them inside virtually impossible. I honestly think they barely noticed we were gone this time around. Oh, and Barb.....the dogs all say a HUGE THANK YOU for the bag of rib bones that you sent for them. They were in heaven with that little bag of treasures. hahahahaha

Happy 4th of July!!!

Have a safe and happy holiday everybody!! We are heading out of town for a couple of days, but will be back by the first of next week. Stephen and Hannia have graciously agreed to take care of the dogs while we are gone. I hope that goes well, because we are hoping to employ their services again this fall for an extended 2 weeks vacation. Maybe the dogs will behave...?

Sweet Dreams....Or Not....?

I have been having these reoccurring dreams lately. Not the same dream, but the same theme over and over again. I am late for something, or have forgotten something really important. Like a couple of nights ago I dreamed I was at the beach having a really good time. I was having so much fun that I apparently lost track of time. I was thinking that it was Wednesday, and I still had the rest of the week to lounge on the beach. Only it turned out to be Wednesday of the NEXT week, and I was still vacationing oblivious to the fact that I should have been back to work 3 days ago. I was horrified. How do you explain that one to management??? I KNOW that most vacation rental agreements would make accidentally overstaying virtually impossible, but still....it was unsettling.

And last night, I was back in high school again. And I knew I had to take a really important exam. An exam that would determine if I could graduate or have to repeat my whole senior year again. But then a whole string of random things kept happening to keep me from getting to school...I couldn't find my car keys. I got lost while driving. I finally got there only to remember that the exam was being held in a completely different location......How frustrating!!!

Anyway, I just wonder what dreams like these mean. I'm not really having any kind of stress in my life right now. In fact, things are calmer than usual. No problems at work, no problems at home. Finances are stable. Everyone is healthy and happy. Whats the deal? Could it be that my mind invents stress when none is currently available during waking hours? LOL! It does make for some unrestful sleep. Oh, I sleep. Insomnia is not really in my vocabulary. If there is anything that I do particularly well its sleep. I'm an exceptionally talented sleeper. But lately I seem to be waking up tired. Its hard to feel rested when you spend all night struggling against unfortunate circumstances. Oh well, maybe tonight will be sweet dreams.

I made flan!!!!

Yesterday, I made flan for the very first time. And it was GOOD...much to my surprise and delight. Surprised only because not every thing that I try turns out right the first time. Or the second, or the third...etc. Some things NEVER turn out just right for me. But flan is obviously my friend. I had it for the first time ever back in March. On Easter, I think. And I thought it was the best thing ever. So rich and creamy! And it wasn't all that hard to make either which was nice. Of course, I will have to restrain myself from making too often because....well....I'm sure it has at least a gazillion calories per serving, and I don't think it would come out all that well if you attempted to lower the fat or sugar in it. I think this is the 'real deal' kind of dessert that you can only indulge in every once in a great while.

Also? We are in a drought down here in the southeast. It hasn't rained around these parts since I can't remember when. Our lawn, which is HUGE, is almost completely dead right now. We won't water it, because that would be such a waste when supply is low. We haven't needed to cut grass in a couple of weeks now, and somehow.....somehow that part of the equation has been kind of nice. We usually spend every spare moment trying to battle the lawn during the summer. This year not so much. Its ugly out there but at least our lawnmowers are catching a break.

Anyway, Monday is over and done with (yay!). And its a short week with the holiday on Friday, so thats good news, too. Maybe the short week will stop my husband from being so grumpy. He woke up with all kinds of complaints this morning. Apparently, I was sleeping way too far on HIS side of the bed. Its a king-sized bed, and he swears he only had a scant 6 inches of space last night. I have NO idea what he is talking about. I was perfectly comfortable and I slept like a baby...haha. And then he got into the shower and discovered that I used HIS razor to shave my legs. Um, well, I did it because he had the newest, sharpest blade. Apparently, I am encroaching all OVER his personal space these days. All I can say is that he better stop his complaining or I won't share the flan with him! LOL.

Strange...

I worked this weekend (Saturday) on my day off because a long-time friend/co-worker told us all at work on Thursday that her husband was having to have heart surgery on Friday morning to clear some blockages. Yikes! That sounded really scary, and she was supposed to work on Saturday, so I had no problem covering for her. I mean, I would HOPE that somebody would have the decency to cover for me if a member of my family was having some serious surgery.
She was supposed to call me and let me know how things went on Friday. So I waited and waited and finally got concerned and sent her a text message to see what was going on. The text reply said that they did some tests and sent him home....? Very weird since she had been all dramatic about the impending surgery the day before.

Another friend/co-worker had been suspicious from the beginning, so she called the hospital. No record of said Drama Queen's husband having been there at ALL. Not for tests, not for surgery...nothing. So she called several other hospitals in neighboring counties just to check and be sure. Nothing. Nada. So, I mistakenly thought that well....thats good news. Everything must be ok, and most likely she would call me and tell me that it was not necessary to cover for her on Saturday. WRONG!!! She never called.

Then, she sent a text on Saturday morning to the same woman who had called the hospitals, saying that they just had to call 911 for her husband. !!??!! She didn't realize that this woman was sitting at her mother's house which is just a few doors down from Drama Queen's house AND that the mother is addicted to her police scanner that lets her know everything that goes on up there in that small town. No record AT ALL of a 911 ambulance call, and....no ambulance in evidence at said residence. Does this sound suspicious at all? Is she lying just to get time off?

I can't say that I am really pissed off about it, IF she was making up this kind of a sad tall tale just to take some time off. But what I am is sad. We have been friends for 10-12 years. If she wanted the weekend off, I would have gladly worked for her if she had just asked me. I well remember the days when I was low enough on the senority totem pole to have to work most weekends, and now...I don't mind stepping up and helping someone out if they have plans. No lies or drama necessary.

I don't know. I suppose that its possible that there really was some emergency going on and we just misunderstood...? I'm leaning in that direction because honestly? I do NOT like thinking the worst of people. She is supposed to be back at work tomorrow, and I am not sure what to say to her. I guess it would look weird if I didn't at least ask how her husband is doing. I'm just not sure if I can believe anything that she says. Very strange.......