- HAPPY 19TH BIRTHDAY MANDY! - Thursday, June 29, 2006

posted by VRA @ 7:51 AM [[ 0 comments ]]

- Shower Experience - Wednesday, June 28, 2006 So this morning I wake up, get the boys' clothes around and get in the shower. It's taking me longer than usual because my leg hair was 11 inches long, so I decided I would tackle that problem this morning so I could actually swim in that big resin pond in my back yard. Anyway, I get in the shower, do my thing, wash my hair, just get to the point I'm going to rinse it out and out of NOWHERE a big ass Palmetto bug (for those of you from the north these things are HUGE, black and crunch with wings. They're the nastiest things I've ever seen!!) flies down, lands on the bottom of my bathtub and jets toward me at mach 5. Well, this was not a pretty sight as I'm half soapy, trying to jump out of my shower, all the while shrieking! So then I try to open the bathroom door with soapy, wet hands, which doesn't work at all. Chris finally comes to the door, of course the kids are following him, and asks what the problem is. I proceed to show him the "problem" and he rolls his eyes and says, "that's what you were screaming about"? UGGGH...he OBVIOUSLY does not realize the full affect. So, I get back in the shower and all I can think about are the "what if's". What if it would have jumped on my head while I was washing, what if it would have jumped on my face when I washed my face....ugh, I think I need a VERY STRONG liquid breakfast this morning!

posted by VRA @ 6:31 AM [[ 3 comments ]]

- Chris & I at the Southernmost Point - Tuesday, June 27, 2006

posted by VRA @ 7:34 AM [[ 0 comments ]]

- Things that annoy me... - Friday, June 09, 2006 Uh-oh, this list could get long! Actually I can only think of one thing right now, but that will soon change. Ok, maybe 2. 1. When you dial 411 on your cell phone and it rings FOREVER before someone picks up. 2. When people talk extra loud on their cell phone thinking they actually have to scream for the person on the other end to hear them. (Hey, long transmission, ya know?) 3. 4. 5.

posted by VRA @ 12:14 PM [[ 0 comments ]]

- Have you ever noticed? - Have you ever noticed that I start almost everything out with..."So, I was..."? Even my real-life conversations I start out with "So". Actually, as I read through some of my posts, ok, well most of my posts, I type just like I talk. I didn't notice it until the other day my friend Mystiloo said she was cracking up after reading one of my myspace blogs because she could just hear me saying what I typed. So, (ha ha) is it a bad thing that I type like I talk?

posted by VRA @ 12:11 PM [[ 1 comments ]]

- Update on pool stuff - So you know now that we had our yard leveled Wednesday--the guy said he would 'try' to have the pool installed Friday or Saturday but most likely it won't happen. He was supposed to tell us either way what was going to happen Wednesday night or Thursday morning, so I could make an alternate arrangement if needed. My alternate arrangement wasn't making me very happy- it was a different pool intstaller that was going to charge me $875 to put the pool up, but at this point it would have worked out much better than leaving 10 boxes of pool in my backyard. So Wednesday night at 8:30 I call the installer to see if anything has changed with the date. No answer. I leave him a message asking him to please call me so we're not left in limbo. I talk to the other installer who tells me he can be out Saturday to install the pool if we want, just to let him know either way Thursday evening. Fine. I go to bed and wake up at 12:30am (yes, just after midnight, you read that correctly) to the phone ringing. Chris asks if I'm on call and I tell him no, though that doesn't matter because I can still get called if we get something "major". He goes to get the phone which has went to voicemail by the time he finds it and sees on the caller ID that it's the POOL INSTALLER! Yep---for whatever reason my wonderful pool installer that has avoided me all day has decided to call at midnight. Now, I hear Chris say it's the pool installer, but it doesn't quite click. I look at the clock, see it's 12:30 and now I'm confused, thinking the power went out and it's actually like 6 or 7 in the morning, because why would my pool installer call at midnight? We wait a few minutes to see if he left a message, nope, no message. Now I'm REALLY, REALLY pissed off and go back to sleep. I wake up at 6:30 Thursday morning and call him. No answer. I don't leave a message (oh--background, this is his cell phone number. The owner of the pool company decided it would just be easier if we call his cell number instead of them, ya know, not their problem, right!?!?!). I call again at 7:30, on my way into the office. This time I can tell he's on the other line because the ring makes a call-waiting type "beep" after each ring. I leave a message telling him that I hope there wasn't an emergency in which he needed us at midnight last night when he called, as I didn't notice a voicemail. I asked him again to call me on my work cell, office line or personal cell once he got the message. I wait. And wait. And wait some more. Still waiting. Nothing. Now it's 5:05pm. I've called about 4 more times throughout the day. No answer. Finally I decide to call the pool company, who has already thoroughly pissed me off. I talk to the owner to find out if he has talked to the installer. Yes- he has. In fact, Edwin (the installer) was at their shop all morning installing a DISPLAY pool. Ok, fine, I hang up. WAIT A MINUTE....did he just say Edwin was at their shop all morning setting up a DISPLAY pool? UGGGH. Now, I'm fixin' to go postal. He's probably very lucky that 1. I was in a Sheriff's Office shirt, 2. I was driving an agency vehicle, 3. I was in Inverness, 15 miles away from the pool shop and 4. The pool shop closed at 5 because otherwise he probably would have had to call the Po-Po on me for a very disgruntled customer. Later that night we go to dinner with Melissa and Rob. I decided after dinner I was going to call the other guy and have him come out to install. I'm sick of the game and at this point I'm not happy about it, but willing to swallow the fact that I have to pay $875 for my pool to be installed. We both try calling Edwin again. I leave a message telling him I'm still waiting for his callback that was supposed to be Wednesday night or Thursday morning, though not at midnight. Chris calls, he leaves a mesage. We drive home. I see we have a message on our home phone from the installation company telling us they will be out tomorrow morning (Friday) to install the pool and they need directions. I call him, give him directions and ask what time he will be there. He says between 7:30 and 8:30am. Well, it's currently 8:50 am and he's not there yet. I give good directions too, damnit. After all, I did work in 911 giving directions all the time. UGGH...can you tell I'm a little aggrivated? SO, at this point I HIGHLY RECCOMEND NOT BUYING A POOL FROM FAMILY POOL, SPA & BILLIARDS. UGGGGG.

posted by VRA @ 6:51 AM [[ 2 comments ]]

- Pool Stress - Wednesday, June 07, 2006 So we're putting in a new pool. This was a spur of the moment decision, because originally I was going to buy an English Bulldog. But--once I got the price of the Bully and her airline ticket to us I nearly went into cardiac arrest, so we chose the pool instead--for only about 2 grand more than the dog (yes, English Bulldogs are THAT expensive). We decided on an above ground pool, mainly for the simple fact that we're not going to stay in our house forever and we were not willing to drop 25 grand into it knowing that we may not get that much more out of the house when we sell it. Anyway, the pool we purchased is a 15ft by 30ft oval pool, made of resin, with a lifetime warranty. It's pretty big, so it will probably take up most of my yard and half of my neighbor's. (Just kidding) And, if we do decide to sell we can take the pool with us and the warranty will carry over. Or- if we chose to sink the pool into the ground to make it an "inground" pool, the warranty will still be good. So, I'm pretty excited about it, other than this one little, itsy, bitsy detail. Installation. We purchased the pool last Tuesday, May 30th. We were supposed to have it installed late that week or sometime this week. By the time the installer called us back, last Friday, the installation was pushed into this week. The installer told us to make sure we have the pool and sand ready Monday. Monday comes around, the only thing we hear from the installer is he will be out Wednesday to level the property. He shows up this morning at 7, levels it and tells us it will be 1-4 days before his crew is back out to install. But--most likely it wouldn't be until next Tuesday or Wednesday. Lemme just tell ya, I'm NOT at all amused because we are leaving for our vacation in the Keys next week. So, basically during the first week we have it we will have to make sure our chemical levels are all accurate because it will be unattended for the week while we are gone, which makes me incredibly nervous. We're going to have someone watching the cats, but these people can't care for our pool. I'm half considering hiring someone for the week to make sure everything stays on track. I will try to post pictures once everything is set up.

posted by VRA @ 7:33 AM [[ 0 comments ]]

- Shopping Misadventure - Tuesday, June 06, 2006 I haven't blogged in a little while so before I get the wrath forom some of you for being a slacker I'll post some more useless information. First- I think I have a serious problem. It's about time I admitted this to myself, since in the past I would just laugh about it. I have a wicked OC streak. (No, not OC, the TV show- Obsessive Compulsive). << See, like right there, I felt compelled to type that as not to confuse my reader. Anyway, I went shopping Friday afternoon, after I got out of work. I had to stay somewhat local because I was on-call, so I just went to Ocala. I specifically went there for 2 things. 1- A new comforter for my bed and 2- to return a pair of pants that I bought that somehow became "too big" in the past week (yay!). Below is a breakdown of my day, because, again, I have OCD and can't do things the easy way. 1. Arrive at the Ocala mall. Dodge lightning bolts going into the store, but thankfully no rain. 2. Walk through Macys, past American Eagle to get to Bath & Body works. There was a new scented lotion there that I wanted to check out "in person" to see if I like it. Buy 3 completely different sets (only because they were on sale). 3. Go into Aeropostale to take back pants. See a different pair, wrong size. Look at everything else, don't see anything I need or want. Refund pants. 4. Walk back in opposite direction to Belk, where I should have parked in the first place. Look at comforters. Phone rings, answer it. Talk on phone and get distracted, heading towards the shoe department. Hang up phone because I can't try on shoes and talk on the phone (priorities). Walk back to the comforters, find King size. Hmmm, I really like the sage/pink one but the linen one is very cute too. Will husband like pink comforter? Do I care? Hmmm. Take pink comforter back to shelf. Find linen one, only to realize I don't like the embroidery along the bottom. Too girlie. Go back to the pink/sage one. Phone rings again. Try to talk on the phone, carry comforter that weighs 59 pounds, through Belk. Get incredibly frustrated because I can't talk (to the same person as before) and shop, hang up phone. Go to register and pay for comforter. Carry 59 pound comforter to other end of the mall where I parked. Put comforter in car and carry on. 5. Go to Ross. Look for sheets for kids' room. Get annoyed because nothing is any order. Walk from Ross to Bed, Bath & Beyond, because I might find a comforter I like more. Accidentally walk into Famous Footwear instead of Bed, Bath & Beyond. See some espidrille shoes I really like at Famous Footwear. Try them on- they feel worse than 3" stilettos. Leave Famous Footwear and go into B, B & B. Remember I want to find a new shower curtain for the main bathroom. Look at placemats, candles, margarita glasses, sheets, comforters (eeek, Belk was cheaper), cutting boards, stainless grill utensils, patio utensils, basically everything BUT shower curtains. Prepare to leave when I realize I forgot to look at shower curtains. Find a shower curtain I like, but don't buy it because I might find another one I like more. 6. Walk back to the car, again dodging lightning, chosing to drive to TJ Maxx instead of walk in case it starts raining. 7. Find some cute shirts at TJ Maxx which reminds me I should go to American Eagle (you know, the store at that mall that I just left, the same mall that I walked around 3 times and MUST have passed American Eagle 3 times). Put the shirts back because I will find one at American Eagle. Look for sheets for boys. Find some, can't decide between solid and print, pick solid. 8. Toss around stopping at Coldstone Creamery (which, btw, I will own a version of someday- LOVE marble slab ice cream), decide not to because it's raining. 9. Drive back to the mall, it's not raining there yet, but I'm not sure why since it's only 1/2 mile away. Park at Macy's. Look for camo tank top. Find a couple, but wait until I go to American Eagle. 10. Go to American Eagle, find the PERFECT shirt. LOVE IT, LOVE IT. Try it on, perfect fit. Now, here's where the OCD really kicks in. Try on a Large. Go back to the stack of shirts, find another Large because I couldn't possibly buy the shrit I just tried on. Find the only other Large they have. See the same shirt in a different color. Decide I want that as well, though I don't like it as much as the first one. Look for one for my stepdaughters. Don't see any that I think they would like. Buy the shirts. 11. Go back to Macy's to look at comforters one more time. Don't find one. Look for swimsuits for the boys, though I just bought 2 new ones from The Children's Place. Find a couple of cute ones...have saleswoman follow me all over the store. I get pissed and go to another register to pay, in the Jr's department. Completely forget about the camo tank top I wanted. Wait in line for ever, it seemed like, until I got frustrated and walked back to the little boy's section. Now, I get THOROUGHLY annoyed because the saleswoman is nowhere to be found--she must have gotten lost following me out of the kid's department. Wait for salesperson. Keep waiting. Put swim trunks back and become EVEN MORE annoyed because I just wasted an hour. 12. Go back to the exit and find the next thing to a hurricane type downpour outside. UGGGH. I hate shopping.

posted by VRA @ 11:38 AM [[ 2 comments ]]

- Please keep my friend Tom in your thoughts & prayers - Thursday, June 01, 2006 Park could see more security Thursday, June 01, 2006 By Scott Hagenshagen@citpat.com -- 768-4929 The mob beating of a sheriff's deputy could lead police to plan increased patrols at future fireworks shows at Sparks Foundation County Park. Both the county and city intend to examine law-enforcement staffing levels for fireworks shows and other events in the park because of the incident that sent a deputy to the hospital Saturday night. "It's important to have visible, adequate staff there," Jackson County Sheriff Dan Heyns said. "It's prevention." The sheriff's office deployed 10 deputies for the fireworks show; eight city officers were present. The beating occurred when Deputy Thomas Schuette, 28, lurked into a crowd of about 2,000 people hanging out on Brown Street inside the park for the Weekend in the Park fireworks. People were fighting in the crowd, and there were reports of women and children being shoved. Once inside the crowd, a few young men started beating Schuette and stripped him of his baton, handcuffs and chemical irritant. An attempt to remove his pistol was unsuccessful. Schuette suffered spinal and shoulder injuries, as well as abrasions and bruises to his head and face. Additional officers and deputies arrived and the crowd dispersed. Schuette was treated at Foote Hospital and released Sunday morning. He returned to work Tuesday. A $1,000 reward is being offered for any information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the attackers. Officials said attendance at the fireworks show, estimated in the thousands, was among the highest ever on a Memorial Day weekend because of the summer-like weather. It rivaled crowds from July 4 fireworks shows. Earlier in the evening, a staffing problem at the city prevented a full compliment of eight officers from attending the event until later that night. Police officials said it likely did not lead to the assault on the deputy. "We rectified the situation as the fireworks were ending," Jackson Police Deputy Chief Matt Heins said. News of the beating stunned some community members, though many said it wouldn't deter them from attending the Fourth of July fireworks show. "It's sad. I think they sincerely need to look into more security at future events," said Claire Schulcz, who brought her two daughters, aged 8 and 2, to the Memorial Day show. "No matter where you go these days, there's going to be someone doing something stupid." For some, the attack of a member of law enforcement put society in perspective. "It makes me angry that people don't have respect for anybody anymore. And instead of talking about it, they act and react and everything is physical," said Doug Babcock, who lives on West Avenue. "It's sad. To be honest with you, we're trying to sell our house and get out of here." Kim Conant, director of entertainment at the Cascades, declined to comment. Jackson County Parks Director James Guerriero was not available for comment. The sheriff's office is currently reconfiguring its mounted division -- absent from the fireworks show last weekend -- and could deploy it for the Fourth of July show, Capt. Kevin Stellingworth said. "Usually at the fireworks, 99 percent of the people are there to have a good time, to enjoy the show," Heyns said. "The key is having enough personnel there to handle it."

posted by VRA @ 5:39 PM [[ 1 comments ]]