Glued

This has been my life for the past three weeks. If I haven't called you back or responded to your email - this is why. Plus, a few other weird things are going on for Zac and I, but more on that later. I plan to surface sometime Thursday PM - after the client meeting, so I'll talk to you then. : )

Ode to Sharpie

What is it about having 12 different colors of Sharpie pens that makes me happy? Maybe it's the fact that I can use a different pen every day. Purple sweater day = purple pen day. Red necklace day = red pen day. Awesome. Maybe it's because my notes look like artwork with all the different colors.  Maybe it's because if I lose one, I've got 11 more. (note: I lost my hot pink one - favorite Sharpie color - frustrates me every day I wear pink.) 

I think my Sharpies might have been the only thing that helped me get through this week of work. Seriously: this week was HARD! I wanted to have a nervous breakdown (aka cry like a baby) every single day. I've never viewed advertising or marketing as hard before. Challenging, yes.  But truly difficult, not really. Normally, I wake up in the morning looking forward to my day at work - to the challenge of solving problems and coordinating the chaos.  If it weren't for my lime green Sharpie, who knows what may have happened. 

So, the point: 

1. Hopefully this past week will turn out to be one of those: "you're better, smarter and more mature for having dealt with it" experiences. 

2. Multi-colored ultra-fine point Sharpies rock. 

Miscellaneous

1. Got the Jetta back yesterday ... finally. I swear, those Clarke VW people were trying to torture me taking twice as long as they estimated for the repair.

2. Still bidding on the Elm St. house. We're trying to be patient - upping our bid a little bit every day hoping to wear down the HUD people! : )

3. Seriously ... is winter over yet? I'm starting to get a serious case of the winter blues! All I want to do is hibernate ... sleep, eat, work, sleep, eat, work...

4. Tax time. Zac and I have everything we need to do our taxes this year. (pain) We're hoping for a nice chunk of change from the fed gov so we've got our fingers crossed!

Ugg boots

So, after trying on a billion pairs of winter boots, in the attempt to find something that is ...

1. Warm

2. Comfortable

3. Winter-weather-proof

4. Fit my big feet...

I finally broke down and purchased a pair of Ugg boots. 

I'm almost embarrassed to say how much I paid for them, but after dealing what I deal with to find shoes, it was totally worth it.  You see, about a month ago, on the Friday before the Christmas weekend, the owner of hfa walked around handing out $100 bills.  Sweet, I thought. I'll buy those pair of Steve Madden ugg-ish boots I've had my eyes on (on the Internet) for about a hundred dollars. I know some of you are thinking, "dang, $100 bucks for boots", but finding anyone who makes my size is a challenge in and of itself. So I bought the Steve Madden boots and waited for over THREE weeks for them to arrive. (Turns out they had to MAKE my size 12s, because nowhere in the country were they in stock!) So over three weeks later I finally get the boots to be totally disappointed. They were $100 made-in-China CRAP! 

So after all that, I shipped those cheap-smelling, totally not worth $100 boots back to where they came from (CHINA!) and ordered the real thing. Uggs. Of course, I paid more than what I would ever want to pay for boots, but I did get them the very next day. Side note: Zappos.com is awesome! Free overnight shipping both ways and no tax. Perfect for those like myself, who can't bear to wait for ground shipping! : )

Uggs truly are the most comfortable and warm boots I have ever put on my feet. Oprah was right ... they are a favorite thing.  I'm a believer. 

And, Zac wore them to take out the trash today. He thinks they are comf too. 

California Girl

Little sister, Laura is in California for desert training for the next month. Her platoon has 40 soldiers and of that 8 are women. Girl power! While she is gone, Blair will have use of the car and will be doing some job hunting. They finally got their belongings the Saturday after Christmas so she had a little time to get the duplex settled. Blair will be on his own for the month and hopefully will have the puppy better trained by the time she returns.

Laura knows that her platoon will be going to Afghanistan sometime between March and June so she will miss Sarah's wedding in July. Looks like I'll have to hold down the hot sister title for this one.

The pookster is happy doing what she loves (shootting stuff, crawling around on the ground, patrol, whatev), so please continue to keep her in your prayers.

Zac's band show

Zac has a band show this weekend - here's the info:

Chasing Chariots Live at the Edgewood Community Center
Friday, January 18, 2008
6:30 p.m.
Admission: $8

Hey Sandy & Chasing Chariots
featuring McKoy and 40s
with Wild Boy of Averyon

6852 Market Ave North
Canton, OH 44721

http://edgewoodcommunitycenter.com/18

The search continues...

Today we looked at some more houses with Uncle Wendell aka our realtor. We looked at lot of nasty ones, but found one that we're really interested in. It's on Elm Street in Stow. Elm runs N&S between 59 and Graham road.  I wish I could write all about it, but it might take me forever, plus I'm trying not to get too excited.  Thanks to all who have been praying for us during this process. We're trying to be very patient ... which of course ... is the hardest thing ever!!!  

Crunched

On Monday my new car got crunched. Literally. My friend accidentally backed into the parked Jetta. No hard feelings, but now we've got to jump though the hoops of calling the insurance peeps, getting estimates, and getting it un-dented. Even though this isn't a real accident, and truly isn't a big deal, why does this remind me of how truly dangerous it is to drive on the road. Seriously...ever had that creepy thought run through your head, "If I accidentally swerved to the left, that big semi would squash me like a bug." Scary. Good thing our great God is watching out for us. 

Pre-approved!

Today Zac and I met with the mortgage guy and got pre-approved for a house! We've got our eye on a cute fixer-r-upper in Stow. Next step is to have all the utilities turned back on, so we can make sure everything works. Thanks to everyone that has been praying for us...please continue...now we have to make an offer! 

Sunrise

This morning on my way to work I saw an amazing sunrise. The Eastern sky was the most beautiful color or orangy-pink. Every time I see this type of sunrise, I wonder how I could create that color in paint. I have never seen anything like it in a man-made form. Maybe God won't let us figure it out. Maybe that's why it feels so special to see it in the sky. Good thinkin' big G.

And then ... to see the sun highlight the downtown Akron skyline as I pulled into the parking lot at work... made me happy to be alive. Sorry I didn't take a picture!

BFFs

BFFs. You know what they are - best friends foreva'.  I am super-lucky. I've got ones that have know me, seriously ... forever. They knew me back when I had braces and dressed like a tomboy. (yeah, yeah, I still do sometimes.)  They stuck by me through those weird high school years. We separated when we went to different colleges, and haven't done the best job of keeping in touch since then, but no matter WHAT, every time we get together, its like old times. We still know each other - inside and out.  The topics of conversations might be a little different now: work or babies vs. volleyball practice or homework.  

My other kind of BFFs: the wonderful, inspiring women who helped me though the transitional life of college. We don't see each other as much as we should (shame on us), but at least we can blame that to living in different states. 

And then there's the new BFFs. The ones that you really enjoy hanging out with and get attached to over a period of time before even realizing that they're reaching BFF-ism.  And when you realize it ... that's a cool revelation.  

BFFs are a blessing: old & new. My other new years resolution is to make sure my BFFs know just how much I love and appreciate them. 

 The oldest of the old BFFs: Kassie & Kate (Jenn couldn't make it)