Friday Bullets – 4th Edition

• This morning alone I had 8 spam comments for cialis & viagra – thank you so much for the information Mr., Ms., or Mrs. Spammer but I’m a WOMAN & not at all interested in those particular drugs.
• The husband was waiting at DMV to pick up his new license plates (and this is a post in itself for another day) and overheard a lady talking to her daughter – whose name just happened to be Desiree.
• Excited about my friend’s birthday party that is tomorrow night. We got my niece to watch the gremlins so we can go sans children to the party.  Drunkfest!
• I’m so tired of people complaining about our FREE, yes I said FREE, videos. Without ever having bought anything from us. They’re just complaining about the FREE video. You can go SUCKIT!
• SOMEONE brought donuts into the office today & before I had to control myself so as not to eat any of the donuts I found that another employee had eaten my favorite kind! Yes!! And I did thank him ever so much for eating it before I could get my paws on it.
• Filing paperwork is at the bottom of my list of favorite things to do. EVER.
• And I have a month & a half worth of papers to file. Oh, here let me show you!

Granted this stack (or my current papers to file) isn’t nearly as bad as the stack below (or my SIX months worth of papers to file) that I put off for oh, SIX months.

• Thankfully the antibiotics are doing their thang. I finally feel human again.
• I decided to wear earrings in the second holes on my ear lobe today after not wearing earrings there for 5+ years.
• I don’t know why I stopped wearing them but for some reason I felt like wearing them today.
• Actually had to go to Honey bunny’s room and steal borrow some small stud type earrings cause I have none anymore.
• Have officially begun the punch list of required records for our CPA for 2008. BLECH!

Well, that’s enough for now,

Ciao

Think You are Multitasking? HA! Fool! Think Again : NPR

I KNEW It! I knew that I had to be fooling myself with this “multi-tasking” thing. What’s really happened is I’ve just given myself ADD. The only way I think multi-tasking works is in this scenario:
Stop doing dishes to go to laundry room to start load of laundry. Then go back to kitchen to finish dishes. And in this scenario it’s not technically “multi-tasking” its more like I started one thing and then stopped to start another thing then went back to finish the thing I started before.

Anywhoozlebee, check out this interesting article. And stop fooling yourself with this “multi-tasking” idea.

Think You’re Multitasking? Think Again : NPR

Operation NICE – Such a NICE idea

Everyday I get an email from Daily Candy. Check it out cause it is always down with the latest, greatest, bestest information. Today they sent out the email to include a link to Operation Nice which I’ve linked below. We should all be nicer to each other and here’s a great site to remind us! With helpful tips included!

Operation NICE

Manic Monday #16 – Night

For the last few months our little Pumpkin has been telling us that she should be sleeping at night in a big girl bed not her old crib.  We’ve been putting it off because we’ve been busy and I wasn’t ready to move her into a regular bed.  And when I say “regular bed” what I’m really saying is one that she can get out of by herself.  We finally acquiesced now that schools out.  We decorated her room, rearranged furniture and added her name to the bed with stickers!  She helped!  

Well since out sweet, adorable little  Pumpkin is “sleeping” in her big girl bed, night time has become a battle.  I do my best to get her ready for bed just as before (jammies, brush teeth, three potty trips, 1,000 books, a cup of warm milk) but now that she can get out of the bed, walk out of her room, and find us, nights are more challenging.

So, I put her back in bed tell her that it’s night now, time to go to sleep.  I quietly leave her room, close the door ~remembering to leave it slightly ajar!~, and then go about my other nightly routines.  The very first night she “slept” in the bed she got up 12,000 times, the second night she “slept” in the bed she got up 2 times, I thought that was a vast improvement, then on the third night she got up 500 times, small regression.

Anyway, its been a whole week since she began “sleeping” in her big girl bed and our nights haven’t been the same.  Oh, all is well if I wait until 9pm at night to put her to bed, she about falls right to sleep from exhaustion.  On top of the fact that she still gets up between 5:30-6:00am.  This in turn causes her to be a giant crabby pants the next day!  Needless to say this isn’t really a workable solution.  I’m just glad that it’s summer time.  At least we aren’t having to rush our mornings as much.

I’m hopeful that it will only be a few more nights before she gets accustomed to the new bed. 

Thanks for listening (or reading, if you must be technical),

Ciao     

More Quotes on which to reflect

Without much ado… on to the quotes: 

Life is a great big canvas; throw all the paint on it you can.
- Danny Kaye US actor & singer (1913 – 1987)

Conquer thyself, till thou has done this, thou art but a slave; for it is almost as well to be subjected to another’s appetite as to thine own.
- Sir Richard Francis Burton British explorer & orientalist (1821 – 1890)

Wisdom doesn’t automatically come with old age. Nothing does – except wrinkles. It’s true, some wines improve with age. But only if the grapes were good in the first place.
- Abigail Van Buren, 1978 US advice columnist (1918 – )

When you make a mistake, there are only three things you should ever do about it: admit it, learn from it, and don’t repeat it.
- Paul “Bear” Bryant, I Ain’t Never Been Nothing but a Winner

The gods too are fond of a joke.
- Aristotle

Ask yourself: Have you been kind today? Make kindness your daily modus operandi and change your world.
- Annie Lennox

Better by far you should forget and smile than you should remember and be sad.
- Christina Rossetti English poet (1830 – 1894)

Excess on occasion is exhilarating. It prevents moderation from acquiring the deadening effect of a habit.
- W. Somerset Maugham

I have found the best way to give advice to your children is to find out what they want and then advise them to do it.
- Harry S Truman

Leave well – even ‘pretty well’ – alone: that is what I learn as I get old. 
- Edward Fitzgerald English poet & translator (1809 – 1883)

Life is a long lesson in humility.
- James M. Barrie

Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.
-Steve Jobs US computer engineer & industrialist (1955 – )

We live in an age when unnecessary things are our only necessities.
- Oscar Wilde Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 – 1900)

But penance need not be paid in suffering…It can be paid in forward motion. Correcting the mistake is a positive move, a nurturing move.
- Barbara Hall, A Summons to New Orleans, 2000

Our lives improve only when we take chances – and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.
- Walter Anderson

Complaining is good for you as long as you’re not complaining to the person you’re complaining about.
- Lynn Johnston, For Better or For Worse 11-06-03 Canadian cartoonist (1947 – )

When you think of the long and gloomy history of man, you will find more hideous crimes have been committed in the name of obedience than have ever been committed in the name of rebellion.
- CP Snow

It is wise to apply the oil of refined politeness to the mechanisms of friendship.
- Colette, The Pure and the Impure, 1932 French novelist (1873 – 1954)

Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
- Franklin D. Roosevelt, Pan American Day address, April 15, 1939 32nd president of US (1882 – 1945)

The ability to delude yourself may be an important survival tool.
- Jane Wagner

Never regret. If it’s good, it’s wonderful. If it’s bad, it’s experience.
- Victoria Holt

Do not believe that he who seeks to comfort you lives untroubled among the simple and quiet words that sometimes do you good. His life has much difficulty… Were it otherwise he would never have been able to find those words.
- Rainer Maria Rilke German lyric poet (1875 – 1926)

Ask yourself whether you are happy and you cease to be so.
- John Stuart Mill

Nothing has a stronger influence psychologically on their environment and especially on their children than the unlived life of the parent.
- Carl Jung Swiss psychologist (1875 – 1961)

If you want your life to be more rewarding, you have to change the way you think.
- Oprah Winfrey, O Magazine US actress & television talk show host (1954 – )

And now we bring you

More on the saga of our house for sale.  It is now month number 9.  Hey perhaps this will be like pregnancy but instead of giving birth to a child, we will sell our house!!  God willing.  We managed to survive Christmas and New Year with the house ready for any Tom, Dick, or Harry to come tramping through.  I somehow kept the house looking like a show piece despite the massive amounts of wrapping paper, ribbons, tie wraps, plastic packaging, and loads of new toys.  The day after Christmas our house looked like it had vomited colored bows, torn bits of paper, and random utensils and plates from the 1,000 piece Tea set my evil  wonderful sister got Pumpkin for a gift.  Ordinarily, it would have taken me weeks to get that mess cleaned up.  This year, I didn’t have weeks, I had a ~as in ONE~ day to get it back to Open House status. 

Believe it or not, there was actually a call from a realtor who wanted to show the house the day after Christmas.  I suppose we could have said no.  But we are trying to sell the house.  So we got it ready for them…  Yeah… they didn’t show up.  Big *f-in* surprise.  Gggrrrr.   

I have just finally agreed with the Husband to stop obsessively cleaning the house on the “possibility” that someone might be coming by to view the house.  Yes, it’s been 9 months and I am so incredibly tired of the constant cleaning.  So we decided that we would bring the lockbox in the house & make all agents call to schedule an appointment before they just show up with their clients.  One agent actually called & said, “we’re outside your house, can you come up and let us in?”  Hmmm, let me think about that…. “No”.  For goodness sake, make an appointment and give us a little tiny bit of notice.  That way the house looks presentable for you, not as if a twister had just blown through.  So no, a minute notice is not enough, but perhaps a days notice??!!  Or at the very least a half an hour notice?

Basically, moving the lock box inside frees me up tremendously.  It means that I don’t have to flip out over every toy Pumpkin drags out of her room to play with in the morning, cause I DON’T HAVE TO CLEAN IT UP BEFORE I leave the house!!  I don’t have to make three beds before I leave the house!  I don’t have to wash every dish before I leave the house!!  You have no idea what a relief it is.  Plus, I’m not constantly yelling at the children not to make a mess.  This is better for my mommy self-image, my mental health, and the gremlins mental health.  And you know, when you really think about, what I consider a mess, to them is just being creative children at play having fun. 

So we came to the conclussion, after reviewing data on the market and discussing the absolute least amount we could accept ~and still have money left for a downpayment on a new house~ that we should reduce the sale price.  This is the second time that we are dropping the price.  Believe me when I say that it makes me want to be sick when I think about how much money we are potentially leaving with this house.  I don’t want to go into the details since I don’t feel up for vomitting right now… suffice it to say that we will barely have enough left to make a minimum downpayment on another house.  And the housing prices here are still ridiculously high even on a simple single family home.  I try not to think about this overly much since it’s fairly depressing.  It is what it is.  I just need to learn to deal with the reality of the situation as it is now.  However, on the upside, once we reduced the price we had about 150 views per day of the virtual tour which was up by almost 100 pre-reduction.  More traffic viewing the house means more chances of the house selling.

********************

So, yesterday we had two agents bring their clients over to see the house.  One agent was bringing the second half of a couple to view.  This could be promising.  If the wife saw the house first and now wants her husband to see the house, then we might have a potential offer.  However, if it was the husband that saw the house first and now wants his wife to see it, then it probably won’t go anywhere.  Reason being, the wife almost always makes the decision about which house they will live in… think about it, you know this is true.  The husband may set the price limit but the wife will ultimately decide which house will be most comfortable for her family.  The other agent has never been out to the house before so his clients are really a long shot.  I sent all the info to our agent last night for him to follow-up.  We shall see if anything comes of this.  I try not to get my hopes up since it has been so long already without any offers.  I’m just going with the flow, what will be will be, and all those other corny expressions.

Enough for now,

Ciao 

2007: A year in review

Thanks, to my cousin (AGAIN) for a stolen idea.  It should be painfully obvious that I don’t have a single original idea in my head.  Not to mention the Thank you cards I should be writing, the laundry I should be folding, the dishes I should be washing instead of copying this pointless survey.  Details, minor details. 

1. What did you do in 2007 that you’re proudest of? 
Learned that I was stronger than I thought I was and not physically stronger but emotionally and mentally stronger.  And I learned that I am capable of getting more done in less time than I ever before thought possible. 

2. Did you keep your New Year’s resolutions and will you make any for 2008? 
I didn’t make New Year’s resolutions for 2007 &  I won’t for 2008 either.  The way I look at it is that we have a chance every day to make a new start.  If we are so lucky to get another day!

3. Did anyone close to you give birth? 
The husband’s cousin’s wife had a baby girl last January.

4. Did anyone close to you die? 
No, thank the Lord.

5. What countries did you visit in 2007? 
Didn’t travel outside of the country.  Just went to Las Vegas three times.  But I’m hopeful that we can make a trip to China in 2008!

6. What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? 
World peace.  In addition, I’d like unlimited amounts of cash and more time to do the myriad of items on my To Do list.

7. What dates from 2007 will remain etched in your memory and why? 
No specific dates, just periods of time that were hugely stressful.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year? 
Sadly, nothing, unless you count survival.  We survived another year.

9. What was your biggest failure? 
Failing to maintain my temper with the gremlins (aka our children).

10. Did you suffer injury or illness? 
Not really.  In fact, I finally got the problem with my back resolved after almost 2 yrs!

11. What was the best thing you bought? 
I love all my things, so I can’t pick just one thing.  I got some fantastic new shoes, some SMALLER!! jeans, and SMALLER!! shirts.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration? 
Celebrate someone’s behavior?  I’d rather celebrate someone’s accomplishments.

13. Whose behavior appalled and depressed you? 
Britney Spears.  I am so incredibly sad for her.  Although she brings most of it on herself. 

14. Where did most of your money go? 
The house payment.

15. What did you get really really really excited about? 
Our trips to Las Vegas.  And Christmas.

16. What song will always remind you of 2007? 
Umbrella… ella… ella… eh… eh… eh
 
7. Compared to this time last year, are you: 
(a) Happier or sadder? Maybe just slightly happier
(b) Thinner or fatter? Definitely thinner 
(c) Richer or poorer? Unfortunately, poorer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of? 
Played with the gremlins, read, relaxed, taken a few more trips (and not the drug induced kind).

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Work, cleaning

20. How did you spend Christmas? 
Nursing sick children.  Although, on Christmas day they were both pretty much healthy.  So we opened lots and lots and lots of presents!

21. Did you fall in love in 2007? 
Not with anyone new.  Unless you count Gerard Butler but he’s a celebrity and I don’t think that counts.  But my love is true and unwavering!  I’ll even over look the smoking habit! 

22. What was your favorite TV program? 
How I Met Your Mother & Rules of Engagement – it’s a toss up.  Both shows were equally hilarious to me.

23. Do you hate anyone now who you didn’t hate last year? 
No, I don’t have time for that nonsense. 

24. What was the best book you read? 
This is impossible for me to answer.  I read so many books, I can’t pick just one that I liked above all others.  That and I have forgotten half of them.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery? 
I guess I’d have to say Go by Train.  Jazzy, electronica kinda music.  In fact, you are possibly listening to it right now if your speakers are on…

26. What was your favorite movie of this year?
Again, it’s impossible.  I liked so many movies, I can’t decide.  National Treasure 2, Transformers, Bourne Ultimatum.
  
27. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you? 
Went to a hockey game with my Dad & the husband.  Turned 37, yuck!

28. What one thing would have made 2007 more satisfying? 
If we had sold the house.  Or won billions in the lottery.

29. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? 
Jeans, T-shirts, Blazers.  Pretty much the same as always.  Maybe with funkier shirts and SMALLER!! jeans.

30. What kept you sane?
Hope, faith, prayers
 
31. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most? 
See question #21.  Gerard Butler.  YUMMMMMMMYYYYY!!! 32. What political issue stirred you the most?
Don’t know if you’d call it an issue so much as a continuous event.  President Bush.  His stupidity and the ridiculousness of the war. 

33. Who do you miss? 
My best girlfriends who live too far away. 

34. Who was the best new person you met? 
You know, I didn’t meet anyone new.  Sad state of affairs when you don’t meet any new people in a whole year.  I’ve just been so busy keeping the business afloat, taking care of children, and cleaning the bloody house.  Oh, yeah, and doing load after endless load of laundry.

35. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year?
Wow, that’s gonna take the better part of a day.  I just don’t have that kind of time or mental energy.

Bone weary tired

I almost hate to ask if it’s possible to be any more tired than I am right now.  And it’s not just the ‘I haven’t been sleeping well the last couple of days’ kind of tired.  It’s more like ‘I haven’t slept well in 8 yrs (due to the two gremlins we affectionately call children never sleeping at normal intervals) and now I’m worry about not getting the house sold, the business being slow, the husband having a breakdown from stress, Pumpkin having screaming crying fits for no apparent reason, and Honey bunny whining about *whatever* topic of the day’ kind of tired.  The feeling of being so tired that you ache ALL THE WAY DOWN to your bones.  I feel like I could sleep non-stop for a week and then maybe, just maybe, possibly I might feel as if I’ve gotten enough sleep.

Add to the above: sneezing, stuffy nose, sinus headache and I’m in GREAT shape!  Lets go get a flu shot!  *Brilliant!*  I scheduled the girls & I to get flu shots today not knowing in advance ~cause I’m not psychic & I don’t have any friends that are part of the psychic network~ that I would be getting s__… (no, no, I won’t say it, I’m not going to say it, then maybe it won’t happen).

The two black eyes ~and before you ask, no it’s not cause the husband & I have been boxing~ that I have from stress and/or lack of adequate sleep levels, which are now part of my every day look, help in my overall appearance of “health”.  Thankfully I don’t have matched luggage to go with the black circles perpetually stationed under my eyes… hey, we’ve go to remember to be thankful!  That was my effort for the day.  I’m thankful that I don’t have bags on bags hanging from my undereyes.  Hold on… here. comes. a. sneeeezzze.  These are the times that make me happy to be alive.

Blah! 

You know what, I’ll get *plenty* of sleep when I’m DEAD.  Why waste all that precious time now?!  I’ve got things to do!

Enough for now (I gotta go blow my nose anyway),

Ciao

Grrrrrrr

We got a call from a realtor at 10:00am that they wanted to show the house to their client sometime between 11-1:00pm.  Yay!  This is actually the 5th client that has wanted to see the house in less than two weeks.  Believe me when I say that I am thrilled by this development.  So I left work, rushed up to the house, and set about making sure it was in show condition.  As in, all the lights were on, all the toys were put away, no dishes laying around, clean the deck of the 10 BILLION acorns and leaves (this is in no way an exaggeration ~ the oak tree must be in the neighborhood of 100 yrs old because it produces the HUGEST acorns), etc. 
(Writer’s note: Since beginning this post I have come to learn that we are not the only one’s with the acorn problem. You can read more about it here if you are curious. Fascinating stuff, riveting some might say.)

I had put all the lights on and was in the middle of clearing the deck when the husband calls to tell me that the realtor cancelled for today and they want to come tomorrow instead!  AAAAAAHHHHH!  Excuse me??!  No you may not come tomorrow, you are coming over now like you said.  I’m not doing all this work for nothing!!!  I had the deck about 75% cleaned by that point.  Geez!  All right, lets go back through the whole house to turn of all the lights.

Back to the office I go…. once I get settled in GUESS what happens.  GUESS, go ahead, GUESS.  I bet you can figure it out… someone else called to say they’d like to look at the house today, between 2:30-3:30pm.  Well, at least on the bright side, all the cleanup I did on the deck didn’t go to waste.

******

Ok, I stated this post on Tues. and now it’s Thurs.  The people that were scheduled to come through between 2:30-3:30pm may or may not have actually come over.  They didn’t leave a card so we have no real way of knowing.  I think that is incredibly rude.  Is it just me?  LEAVE A DAMN CARD!  Or call and tell us that you aren’t coming over!!!  We left lights on all over the house so that it shows well and they didn’t have the courtesy to show-up.  We aren’t PG&E!  Grrrrrrr.  On top of this, the original people that were scheduled for Wed. between 11-1:00pm called at 3:00pm to tell us that they weren’t coming after all but could they reschedule for Thurs. between 12-2pm?  WTF????  Are you kidding me right now?  Why not, we have nothing better to do than leave all the lights on ALL DAY long.

*****

Ok, so now it’s Fri. and this is the longest it has taken me to write one simple post!!  All right, where was I?  Oh, yes, the people that rescheduled for Thurs. 12-2pm didn’t actually show up sometime between 2:30-4:30pm.  I know this because I stopped by the house after 2:00pm to turn off all the lights.  You know, figuring that the people would have already come by at their scheduled time, but NOOOOO, they hadn’t been there yet ~no card.  Decided to leave the lights on just in case they were running late.  Sure enough when we got home at 5:00pm, there was a card there from the realtor. 

We notified our agent so he could follow up.  But get this, the agent that showed our house represents PRO ATHLETES!  And she showed the house to a PRO-FOOTBALLER!!  How cool is that???!  Unfortunately, though it’s highly unlikely that he will make us an offer that we want, apparently this guy likes to low-ball people.  Which, in our situation, just won’t do.  But he did say that our house was on the top of his list so far….

OMG!!! We just received word from our agent that someone wants to present an offer on the house tomorrow night!!!!! 

 *****

Continuing on with the longest post in history….  Here is some new ridiculousness to add to the story… it’s now Sat. night and at about 1:00pm this afternoon we got a call from our agent saying that he spoke with the other people’s agent.  Apparently there was a falling out between the two.  The client & agent wrote up the offer without indicating an offer price.  So the agent said, if you want me to present the offer tonight, then you need to tell me what your offer price is.  And this is in no way a joke, the client says I want to offer $X million.  I’ll just tell you that it was $700,000.00 LESS than what we are asking.  The agent says, I am not going to present that offer to the sellers.  (Hey, someone with a brain.)  Cause, frankly, if they had tried to present that to us, we would have laughed in their faces. 

We owe more to the bank than what the offer was, we certainly couldn’t accept the offer.  In addition, this house & property is WORTH WAY MORE THAN THAT!  Grrrrrr. The house itself is 4,000sq ft.  On 5 acres of land.  4 bdrms, 4 & 1/2 baths, plus an office.  It is gated.  It is private.  It has views of the valley that are unparalled.  The garage alone is over 1,000sq ft.  So COME ON lady, what can you be thinking???!!  Not too mention, we’ve got to have some money left over to buy a new house. 

Well, the client didn’t like the agent telling her that she wouldn’t present that LOW of an offer so she told her that she would find another agent. 

We’re a little sad.  Not about that dumb lady & her agent.  But about the fact that we don’t have an offer on the house.  We were really hoping this would be it!  Alas, it was not to be.

I think that is enough for now (I’ll be sure to bore you with more details as they arrive),

Ciao 

P.S. YAY, I finally did it!  I finished the longest post in history!

We’re moving, again (part 5)

Well, well, well, here we are in OCTOBER!!  October 3rd to be exact.  It has been months since we put our house on the market.  Sadly, not a single offer to date.  I guess it is to be expected.  What with the mortgage industry in the shambles, people forclosing on their homes so frequently now it’s like going through tissue in allergy season.  Plus, there are more houses on the market than people able to qualify for them.  Not to mention the fact that we are in a higher end home; therefore less people looking in that price range.

It is definitely not an ideal time to be attempting to sell one’s house.  We have already reduced the price of the house by $100k.  We really don’t want to reduce it again.  If we have to drop the price again we will be running into a situation where we may not have enough money left over to buy another home!  WTF?! For almost the entire time the husband & I have been together we have owned the home we lived in.  We never rented an apt or condo or anything else.  We have always owned.

So, now it is almost Halloween and Thanksgiving and then Christmas.  I love decorating for each of those times and I don’t know whether I should or not.  On the one hand, we should be able to decorate and enjoy the season but on the other hand I don’t want the house to look cluttered or crappy when prospective buyers come tour the house.  Then I think, well, we are still living here, so F**K them.  We are real people with young children who deserve to have the of fun of putting up pumpkins or scary skeletons or spooky ghosts.  But then I think I want the house to look immaculate and not distract buyers with all that stuff.  AAAAAHHHH!! What to do… what to do?!

On a brighter note, we have had three different people tour the house within the last week.  That is more in one week than in the last month!  I’m not wanting to get my hopes up but am still hopeful that someone is interested in buying the house.  Soon.

Enough for now,

Ciao