I just came back from the Sprint Store tonight without a way to call anyone. My phone is too old to get back onto the Sprint Network.
If you have no clue what I'm talking about, you might want to try to read or briefly scan the super long post after this.
I guess I'll figure something out.
DAY 2: No Cell... I'm going through some serious withdrawal.
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Count Your Blessings
Tuesday night my cell phone decided to die on me. This was an extra stress to me because (1) Doug is gone and I'm stuck at home alone and (2) we do not have a land line, so I really had NO way to contact the outside world. Not even to dial 911 if I needed to. It was freaking me out.
Yesterday after school, I drove over to the Sprint Store in Dulles Town Center to see if they could fix my phone. The guy really tried, but couldn't fix it. I started looking at the phones in the store and the absolute cheapest phone in the store without rebate was like $200. I wasn't going to spend that much on a phone that I didn't actually like.
I was losing it emotionally at this point, so I went outside the store to calm myself down. I sat at a table next to wall and tried desperately to get my phone to work. The phone finally got a signal and I IMMEDIATELY called Doug to update him on my situation. The phone lost the signal about 30 seconds into the conversation. I started balling. I am really not a cryer unless I'm watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on TV. I can't remember the last time that I actually cried.
I sat there trying to look as invisible as possible so no one would notice me and pull it back together long enough to make it out to my car. The second I stepped into the parking lot, I lost it again, but luckily I got a close spot and was in the car in no time. I cried the whole 45 minutes trip home, not really because my phone was broken, but that it would be atleast ANOTHER day and night before I would get to talk to Doug. When I got home, I got online and was fortunately able to IM Doug through Gmail.
He gave me tons of solutions (like most guys do) and listened (if you can listen on messenger) to my complaining. I really just wanted to complain... not hear solutions! :P Anyways, he mentioned that I try to find an old phone I had sitting around the house until I could buy a cheaper one off Ebay. The only problem was that I did know where the phone was.
I just about broke down at this point. I had been praying through this whole ordeal... "Please let my phone be fixable." and then it changed to "Please let me find an inexpensive phone.", then to "Please let me just find my old phone!"
As I stood there wanting to give up, a picture appeared in my mind where the phone was. (in quite a random location actually) I immediately checked and the phone was right where I had pictured it. There was no powercord with it, so I tried random cords in the house to see if one would fit and work (probably not the smartest idea).
We happened to have lots of random cords in the house because my husband collects junk with cords. See past posting Divert Your Eyes! Check out the picture on that posting. He has ALOT of techno junk.
This is where my SECOND miracle comes in. I picked one big box that looked like it had lots of cords and reached down inside to grab one. The FIRST cord that I pulled out happened to be the charger cord for my phone! NO WAY! There were like 20 cords in just that box and probably 5 more boxes in the house just like it.
Sorry to bore you with this long post. I decided I needed to write this one down because we are quick to remember our problems and not so quick to remember our blessings. Well, me atleast.
Yesterday after school, I drove over to the Sprint Store in Dulles Town Center to see if they could fix my phone. The guy really tried, but couldn't fix it. I started looking at the phones in the store and the absolute cheapest phone in the store without rebate was like $200. I wasn't going to spend that much on a phone that I didn't actually like.
I was losing it emotionally at this point, so I went outside the store to calm myself down. I sat at a table next to wall and tried desperately to get my phone to work. The phone finally got a signal and I IMMEDIATELY called Doug to update him on my situation. The phone lost the signal about 30 seconds into the conversation. I started balling. I am really not a cryer unless I'm watching Extreme Makeover: Home Edition on TV. I can't remember the last time that I actually cried.
I sat there trying to look as invisible as possible so no one would notice me and pull it back together long enough to make it out to my car. The second I stepped into the parking lot, I lost it again, but luckily I got a close spot and was in the car in no time. I cried the whole 45 minutes trip home, not really because my phone was broken, but that it would be atleast ANOTHER day and night before I would get to talk to Doug. When I got home, I got online and was fortunately able to IM Doug through Gmail.
He gave me tons of solutions (like most guys do) and listened (if you can listen on messenger) to my complaining. I really just wanted to complain... not hear solutions! :P Anyways, he mentioned that I try to find an old phone I had sitting around the house until I could buy a cheaper one off Ebay. The only problem was that I did know where the phone was.
The Next Day:
This morning before leaving for work I figured that I would go look for the phone and if I found it quickly, I would activate it on my way home from work. I checked in the basement and quickly found the cell phone box. I opened it up real quick before I was heading out the door, just to check, and there was NO PHONE and NO POWERCORD in it...I just about broke down at this point. I had been praying through this whole ordeal... "Please let my phone be fixable." and then it changed to "Please let me find an inexpensive phone.", then to "Please let me just find my old phone!"
As I stood there wanting to give up, a picture appeared in my mind where the phone was. (in quite a random location actually) I immediately checked and the phone was right where I had pictured it. There was no powercord with it, so I tried random cords in the house to see if one would fit and work (probably not the smartest idea).
We happened to have lots of random cords in the house because my husband collects junk with cords. See past posting Divert Your Eyes! Check out the picture on that posting. He has ALOT of techno junk.
This is where my SECOND miracle comes in. I picked one big box that looked like it had lots of cords and reached down inside to grab one. The FIRST cord that I pulled out happened to be the charger cord for my phone! NO WAY! There were like 20 cords in just that box and probably 5 more boxes in the house just like it.
Sorry to bore you with this long post. I decided I needed to write this one down because we are quick to remember our problems and not so quick to remember our blessings. Well, me atleast.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Nothing New
... except a lawnmower! I know, not too exciting.
Don't really have anything new going on. Doug and I are currently trying to keep what little lawn we have from dying. I seem to remember that grass grew TOO much when I was growing up and we didn't even have sprinklers. Now we have to worry about watering our lawn, fertilizing it, and all that stuff. I don't live in Utah. I live in beautiful, green Virginia. The grass should grow on its own, but it doesn't.
We went to Home Depot on Saturday to get a lawnmower. Our $50 craigslist purchase works, but unfortunately I can't start it and Doug is not home to be able to mow the lawn like he always has. While we were at the store, we were having quite the time even taking the thing off the shelf and loading it into our cart. Some friendly shoppers offered to help, but we basically had it by then.
We didn't even think until we were bringing it out to the car that it might not fit... While we were trying to pick it up to put it in the trunk, another friendly fellow shopper offered to help us out. My comment, "Wow, there are a lot of nice people at Home Depot today!" Doug's comment, "I need to work out more. People must think I'm too scrawny!"
Luckily, it fit! With a few Ninja kicks to the box to get in it the rest of the way, we were on our way.
Don't really have anything new going on. Doug and I are currently trying to keep what little lawn we have from dying. I seem to remember that grass grew TOO much when I was growing up and we didn't even have sprinklers. Now we have to worry about watering our lawn, fertilizing it, and all that stuff. I don't live in Utah. I live in beautiful, green Virginia. The grass should grow on its own, but it doesn't.
We went to Home Depot on Saturday to get a lawnmower. Our $50 craigslist purchase works, but unfortunately I can't start it and Doug is not home to be able to mow the lawn like he always has. While we were at the store, we were having quite the time even taking the thing off the shelf and loading it into our cart. Some friendly shoppers offered to help, but we basically had it by then.
We didn't even think until we were bringing it out to the car that it might not fit... While we were trying to pick it up to put it in the trunk, another friendly fellow shopper offered to help us out. My comment, "Wow, there are a lot of nice people at Home Depot today!" Doug's comment, "I need to work out more. People must think I'm too scrawny!"
Luckily, it fit! With a few Ninja kicks to the box to get in it the rest of the way, we were on our way.
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
Sound Sleepers
At Doug's previous job, they had a day where they bought out Six Flags America for employees and their families. It was pretty nice because we could ride everything free with NO lines. This was our second time going and we brought Chris, Shelly, and Johnny. We all had a good time even though it was rainy day for most of the day.
I shot this movie back in September, but I thought I'd share it anyways. This was in the car on the way home from the day at Six Flags. Let's just say that in my family we have some sound sleepers.
Side Story: I remember when I was about 8 years old, they added an addition onto the chapel we attended and I fell asleep during the super long dedicatory prayer. I woke to up to find that the boys in the pew behind my family had torn up a program and placed the small pieces in my mouth as I slept. I woke up spitting out paper.
I shot this movie back in September, but I thought I'd share it anyways. This was in the car on the way home from the day at Six Flags. Let's just say that in my family we have some sound sleepers.
Side Story: I remember when I was about 8 years old, they added an addition onto the chapel we attended and I fell asleep during the super long dedicatory prayer. I woke to up to find that the boys in the pew behind my family had torn up a program and placed the small pieces in my mouth as I slept. I woke up spitting out paper.
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
Speach!
I am sad to say that I found this at the entrance to the elementary school where I work... I immediately reported it to the principal!
It is s-p-e-e-c-h, not speach!
Monday, April 20, 2009
We Planted a Garden!
We were at my parents house on Saturday just hanging out and getting our weekly dose of Lost, Fringe, The Office, and House... in that order. We don't have cable, satellite, or even bunny ears at our place so we go over to my folks place to watch our favorite shows on weekends.
It was a BEAUTIFUL day, so we went outside to go on a walk. The kids were all doing their outdoor chores and one of Shelly's chores was to weed the garden plot in the backyard. My family hasn't actually had a garden in that plot for probably 12+ years, but they're hopeful every year. They just never get around to it. I decided on a whim that Doug and I would plant something, so we ran over to Home Depot real quick and picked up some seeds and starter plants. In our garden this year, we will (hopefully) have pumpkins, lettuce, carrots, corn, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, summer squash, and cantaloupe. I'm really excited about the cantaloupe! My family never had it in their garden and for some reason I had this idea in the back of my head that it was a fruit that was grown in more exotic locations. We're still looking for strawberry starters, (A MUST!) but they didn't have any that we could find at Home Depot.
Both mine and Doug's families had gardens when we were growing up, but my family stopped when I was 10 or so. I'm not exactly sure why, but I'm guessing they just got too busy with so many kids and we hated to eat vegetables anyway so it seemed like a lost cause...
I was quite impressed with Doug's knowledge of gardening. I had always had in my mind that it would be so hard to start a garden, but it really wasn't that difficult. Chris, Shelly, and Johnny (my three younger siblings still at home) just sat and watched us in amazement. Johnny, the little entrepreneur, decided that when the garden starts to grow we could sell the vegetables for money! :)
I know that the hard part (weeding and watering) is still ahead of us, but I'm just glad we actually got something started. Starting tends to be the major setback with my family. My dad made the announcement after we had put in all of the plants. "Now we are REAL Mormons again! We have a garden!"
Here are some photos of our planting adventure:
Hopefully the pictures in a few months will have slightly more green in them because our plants will be growing!
It was a BEAUTIFUL day, so we went outside to go on a walk. The kids were all doing their outdoor chores and one of Shelly's chores was to weed the garden plot in the backyard. My family hasn't actually had a garden in that plot for probably 12+ years, but they're hopeful every year. They just never get around to it. I decided on a whim that Doug and I would plant something, so we ran over to Home Depot real quick and picked up some seeds and starter plants. In our garden this year, we will (hopefully) have pumpkins, lettuce, carrots, corn, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, summer squash, and cantaloupe. I'm really excited about the cantaloupe! My family never had it in their garden and for some reason I had this idea in the back of my head that it was a fruit that was grown in more exotic locations. We're still looking for strawberry starters, (A MUST!) but they didn't have any that we could find at Home Depot.
Both mine and Doug's families had gardens when we were growing up, but my family stopped when I was 10 or so. I'm not exactly sure why, but I'm guessing they just got too busy with so many kids and we hated to eat vegetables anyway so it seemed like a lost cause...
I was quite impressed with Doug's knowledge of gardening. I had always had in my mind that it would be so hard to start a garden, but it really wasn't that difficult. Chris, Shelly, and Johnny (my three younger siblings still at home) just sat and watched us in amazement. Johnny, the little entrepreneur, decided that when the garden starts to grow we could sell the vegetables for money! :)
I know that the hard part (weeding and watering) is still ahead of us, but I'm just glad we actually got something started. Starting tends to be the major setback with my family. My dad made the announcement after we had put in all of the plants. "Now we are REAL Mormons again! We have a garden!"
Here are some photos of our planting adventure:
Hopefully the pictures in a few months will have slightly more green in them because our plants will be growing!
Monday, April 13, 2009
Easter Festivities!
For Easter this year, Doug and I were at my parents' house. My sister and her kids came early for their Spring Break next week. My three nieces are so much fun and my little nephew is adorable. (Except for when he spit up all over the front of my Easter dress during church...) On Saturday we decorated eggs, but we opted to watch the most recent episode of Lost instead of an Easter egg hunt. (It was just the two of us anyways!)
Sunday morning, we did Easter baskets. Doug LOVES Cadbury Cream Eggs so I have been collecting them every time I go to the store. I filled Doug's Easter basket with 52 eggs, one for every week of the year! I filled the eggs with his favorites: York Peppermint Patties, Sixlets, and Mounds. I always have so much fun doing Easter baskets! My Easter basket was filled with my favorites as well: Reese's, Ramen, and Sixlets!
We went to my parents' ward instead of our own since we had to have an early dinner. My family never does ANYTHING early, but Doug unexpectedly found out Friday that he will be starting his training three weeks early. He will now be starting today (Monday) instead.
We left my parents' house right after dinner and came home to finish his packing. I know that he only living three hours away, but it's still going to be hard living separately. I tried to be strong when he was going. I only cried a little and I only called him about three times during his drive there. He is there safe, he is unpacked, and he says the place is really nice except that it is missing a wife. :(
 |
| My nephew David |
 |
| So many colors! |
 |
| Some of my Easter eggs! |
 |
| One of Doug's Easter Eggs! |
Sunday morning, we did Easter baskets. Doug LOVES Cadbury Cream Eggs so I have been collecting them every time I go to the store. I filled Doug's Easter basket with 52 eggs, one for every week of the year! I filled the eggs with his favorites: York Peppermint Patties, Sixlets, and Mounds. I always have so much fun doing Easter baskets! My Easter basket was filled with my favorites as well: Reese's, Ramen, and Sixlets!
 |
| Our Easter baskets! |
 |
| Doug's Easter Basket |
 |
| My Easter Basket |
We went to my parents' ward instead of our own since we had to have an early dinner. My family never does ANYTHING early, but Doug unexpectedly found out Friday that he will be starting his training three weeks early. He will now be starting today (Monday) instead.
We left my parents' house right after dinner and came home to finish his packing. I know that he only living three hours away, but it's still going to be hard living separately. I tried to be strong when he was going. I only cried a little and I only called him about three times during his drive there. He is there safe, he is unpacked, and he says the place is really nice except that it is missing a wife. :(
Friday, April 10, 2009
Sunbathing Kittens
I took these pictures of the kittens yesterday when I caught them sunbathing and decided to do a little sunbathing myself as well! I think I was a cat in another life... They didn't like me encroaching on their space.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Recent Picture of Doug and I
I was looking through my computer trying to find a good picture of Doug and I together that has been taken in the last few months. I couldn't find any and this is why...
 |
| My last attempt... |
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Google Maps Traffic Amazingness
Yesterday, the first day of my Spring Break, I cleaned all day after the drywall inspection so now the house is sparkling. Today, I decided would be my "lazy day" so after making some yummy french toast, I sat in bed all morning reading books that I took from my classroom before break. I have now read 5 out of the 10 or so books that I brought home. I love to read when I get the chance!
Doug called during his super long commute today because he was stuck in really bad traffic. Usually traffic is pretty non-existent on his route which is the only thing that makes the hour plus commute bearable. Traffic on I-70 West was at a stand still to the point where he had been in the same place for 20 minutes and decided to turn off his car. We have not purchased a GPS system (yet) so he called in frustration for some help. I figured I would make my book reading, spring breaking, teacher butt useful and get online to check Google maps for an alternate route.
While on there, I discovered a neat Google Maps traffic feature. It showed right where the accident was so I was able to route Doug back onto the road after the accident.
Here is a screen shot of the amazingness that is Google maps traffic:
Doug called during his super long commute today because he was stuck in really bad traffic. Usually traffic is pretty non-existent on his route which is the only thing that makes the hour plus commute bearable. Traffic on I-70 West was at a stand still to the point where he had been in the same place for 20 minutes and decided to turn off his car. We have not purchased a GPS system (yet) so he called in frustration for some help. I figured I would make my book reading, spring breaking, teacher butt useful and get online to check Google maps for an alternate route.
While on there, I discovered a neat Google Maps traffic feature. It showed right where the accident was so I was able to route Doug back onto the road after the accident.
Here is a screen shot of the amazingness that is Google maps traffic:
 |
| Google never ceases to amaze me! |
Monday, April 6, 2009
Small Print
Today was the official start of my Spring Break. The first thing on my Spring Break Agenda was our drywall inspection. When we bought the house back in October of 2007, we were told about all of the "features" of building a Ryan Home. The great warranty on the house was one huge sell point for us in particular.
The house has now been completed for a year, so we scheduled our drywall inspection. We were told upon purchase that they would fix the nail pops and then sand and paint those areas. Early this morning, the outside contractor comes to the house and the first thing he shows me is a bright orange form saying that we are ONLY getting the nail pops fixed and that they will NOT being painting or sanding. Umm no, we were told otherwise.
So he gave me a number to call and started working. I talked to several Ryan people and it turns out that the cut off for them including sanding and painting was October 2007. Well we bought in October of 2007 so this shouldn't be an issue, right? Apparently we bought 26 days too late and the salesperson must have not known about the new policy... They asked for the name of our salesperson. It turns out that just about every person involved in the sale of our home has been "let go." Ryan has had to lay off 53% of its employees.
Yeah I know that the economy sucks. I'm looking at possibly having to sell this house right now because of location concerns. I know it is a hard time to try to sell a house, but it's not okay to cut corners and do a half job. The contractor finished up everything that he was paid to do and apologized for the situation. He gave us his card and said that if we wanted the job completed it would be $200. So this is what my house looks like now...
Big white spots on your walls are a sell point, right?
The house has now been completed for a year, so we scheduled our drywall inspection. We were told upon purchase that they would fix the nail pops and then sand and paint those areas. Early this morning, the outside contractor comes to the house and the first thing he shows me is a bright orange form saying that we are ONLY getting the nail pops fixed and that they will NOT being painting or sanding. Umm no, we were told otherwise.
So he gave me a number to call and started working. I talked to several Ryan people and it turns out that the cut off for them including sanding and painting was October 2007. Well we bought in October of 2007 so this shouldn't be an issue, right? Apparently we bought 26 days too late and the salesperson must have not known about the new policy... They asked for the name of our salesperson. It turns out that just about every person involved in the sale of our home has been "let go." Ryan has had to lay off 53% of its employees.
Yeah I know that the economy sucks. I'm looking at possibly having to sell this house right now because of location concerns. I know it is a hard time to try to sell a house, but it's not okay to cut corners and do a half job. The contractor finished up everything that he was paid to do and apologized for the situation. He gave us his card and said that if we wanted the job completed it would be $200. So this is what my house looks like now...
Friday, April 3, 2009
Bob the Beta
It was late and we were sitting at home watching TV the other night when we heard the doorbell ring. (Our doorbell never rings...) Doug went to go answer it cautiously. It was our 6 year old next door neighbor Gustavo. His family is going on vacation to Puerto Rico over Spring Break and he wanted to know if we could take care of his fish. Doug agreed and Gustavo ran back to his house.
His older sister came back a few minutes later carrying a tank and Gustavo had the food. We were given feeding instructions, but no name... so he is Bob the Beta to us. We took pictures and took careful note of the coloring of the fish because you know how fish are... If we are successful in this, who knows what will be next, parenthood?
Bob the Beta
Bob's Home
His older sister came back a few minutes later carrying a tank and Gustavo had the food. We were given feeding instructions, but no name... so he is Bob the Beta to us. We took pictures and took careful note of the coloring of the fish because you know how fish are... If we are successful in this, who knows what will be next, parenthood?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)