Wednesday, February 27, 2008

38 Weeks

This past weekend we headed up to Ukiah to visit Rebekkah and her family one last time before Lil’ S’more makes his/hers debut. It was a total mellow weekend, but we make time to get pampered.
Here is Sydney getting her first pedicure:

The end results:

We also spent sometime playing dress up in Syd’s room:



The dudes were also working on the back room while we were playing. We decided to go check the progress. Here is a funny video of John teasing Syd:

I also researched funny onesie sayings and made some iron on transfers for the baby.

In addition to the onesies, I was also able to finish the baby blanket for Lil’ S’more and the mini version for Sydney’s new baby doll.

Here are the finished products:

A detail of the photo squares: (I wanted to include photos that would somewhat chronicle the 9 months before the baby was born).

The image on the left is what I put on the back of the big blanket, and the image on the right is what I put on the back of Syd's blanket:

I was pretty happy with how the printable fabric turned out. I didn’t rinse it after I printed it, so I’m hoping if it ever gets washed the ink won’t run or fade. When Rebekkah opened the big blanket she got excited, which got Syd excited and she started asking if it was for her, so I had to quickly remind her that the smaller blanket was for her. Let me tell you that that kid is getting smarter! She was happy to inform me that her blanket did not have gray on it, or photos. What a stinker! I’m definitely going to have be more on my game when giving this kid stuff!

UPDATE
So I recevied the following email from Rebekkah today with the following photos...(I'm telling ya that kid is getting too smart!).

So, I think Sydney LOVES the new gear you provided. I could barely get the onesies out of the crib before she jumped in to COVER up with "My Blanket from AMBER!!!" I told her that this big one is for the baby in my belly and that the other one with her picture on it is for her baby NEWY. She said, NO MAMA!! Amber made this for me, see....my picture is on here 2 times!! I was cracking up. Here she is playing peek-a-boo with HER blanket!!

Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Yay or Ney?

Advantage of a huge purse = carries all your crap
Disadvantage of a huge purse = accidentally hitting a switch on a soda machine and having it poor all over the purse and down the side of your leg.

Advantage of having a husband who iron your shirts = self explanatory
Disadvantage of having a husband who irons your shirts = not knowing that he buttons two buttons on the shirts when he hangs them up so when you try to put it on you can’t and then get deodorant on it.

Advantage of having nice neighbors = knowing Jeffery Domer isn’t next door.
Disadvantage of having nice neighbors = feeling bad when they make you tailgate them through the hood.

Advantage of having a husband who gets your car washed = another self explanatory
Disadvantage of having a husband who gets your car washed = freaking out that the windows have been left down in the car because the windows are so clean you can’t ‘see’ them.

Monday, February 25, 2008

Google Reader Rocks

I must admit…I put ‘Oprah?’ as the title to my last post just to see if I’d get any more hits on my blog. I know it’s quite pathetic. Since I added the new counter on the blog I can now find out what words people search for when they find my blog. It is really quiet interesting.

Remember when I received 150+ hits on my blog a few days in a row, and I had no idea why? Well after receiving quite a few hits for ‘mini horse security’ I decided to pull out my Sherlock Holmes hat to see what I could find. Guess what? The day before I received all of those hits was the day I had posted this entry w/ the word ‘Slash’ in the title. So this whole time I thought my blog had made it to the big time, it was all these hard-core rockers searching for Slash! Talk about a blow to my ego!

So I tried ‘Oprah’...that should be a pretty common Googled word right? Wrongo bongo. Not one person has stumbled upon my blog due to that title! What a bust!! I definitely need to work on my creative title skills.

The most popular search has been for “mini horse security.” I couldn’t believe that my site is the first link listed?? That is crazy! Looks like Rob needs to buy that domain name ASAP.

A few other searches that have brought up my blog have been:

college is awesome
free supercutie stephanie
cheerleader "boy dressed"
greeter at best buy
saw neighbor nude

Unfortunately there haven’t been that many interesting/scandalass searches. Maybe I should start writing about more juicer topics, and see how many people out there search for ‘naked office photos.'

Switching gears...

I also just learned about Google Reader from another blog that I stalk. Do you use it? If not, and you read a lot of blogs, then YOU MUST START USING IT! It is really great and will save you all sorts of time…or give you more time to read blogs (as John puts it). Here is the concept…you enter all of the blogs that you read in the program, and then it notifies you when the blogs have been updated! It’s that simple! It totally cuts out all the time that you would normally spend checking each blog. However if you do enjoy doing that, then you could also use it as a way to keep track of all the blogs you read. I’m sure you’ve all stumbled upon a blog before and then couldn’t find it again, right? Now you can just enter it in your reader and never have to worry about finding it again!

I do think you need to have a gmail account to use the reader. If you don’t have an account I know you must want one because it’s what all the cool people use, (not to mention it has as great chat). If that is the case, then it’s the perfect time to sign up for one! Once you sign up...have your friends sign up, and then you can share blog/news entries with each other.

At least take the time to check it out and learn about it. I really do love it…and of course I want you as my reader friend!

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

Oprah?

A week in-between posts?? Eek!! What has happened you may ask? Well nothing tragic which is good, and although I would have liked to have been home these past days eating bon-bons and catching up on all of my DVRed Oprahs, that was not the case.

This past long weekend John and I ventured to Colorado to visit some friends and to check out the vibe of the state. We got home at 11pm last night = no blog for you! (Read it in the tone of the Soup Nazi).

I’m even pressed for time as I type this as I have to finish my latest sewing project by Thursday night as I will be seeing the recipient of the gift on Friday. Nothing like cutting it close!

So I truly hope there will be a Colorado post in your near future, but it all depends on how fast I can sew tonight. Maybe I will channel Christian (a la Project Runway) and sew like the wind. (I couldn't find any vids with him sewing like the wind, but I hope you will enjoy these tid bits).

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

URAQT

I have always loved Valentine’s Day…even as a little kid when I thought that boys were ‘gross’ and I would never kiss a boy. But if they put any candy in their Valentines I’d at least tolerate them. I think as a kid it was also more special because it occurred in my birthday month. Maybe I thought it was just an extension of celebration for myself? Who knows…I think I was a weird kid. I mean I did want to change my name to Valentine Ground Hog Scott. Probably shared a little too much with ya with that one.

Anyway…my love for V-day is probably due to the candy conversation hearts. I LOVE THEM.

I even bought wedding candy hearts as favors for our wedding:

Even when I got older and liked boys I’d still love Valentine’s Day weather I had a boyfriend or not. I never saw the day as solely being for couples. I’m sure it helped that my parents would celebrate it with us (the kids) as well. It seemed that everyone is generally in a happier spirit on that day…until I got into high school. There I remember being in one class with these trolls who were all bitter at the girls receiving flowers. I couldn’t believe it! Ok, I kind of could, but eat a candy heart and chill out! I bet those ladies are bitter old hags now…and will still be pissed off tomorrow.

So in honor of one of my favorite ‘Hallmark’ holidays I have filled out this short questionnaire. I saw this on a few other blogs and thought it was cute.

"I Do"

How long have you been together? 14.5 years…married for almost 4.5 years.

How old is he? Still 30! What a punk…although I know he is enjoying being married to an ‘older’ woman. He’s got about a month left though.

Who eats more? John…only because his stomach is bigger. I’m sure I’d eat just as much if I could

Who said I love you first? I’m thinking he did…but I really can’t remember!

Who is taller? John...but barely. He tries to say how much taller he is than I am…and granted he did probably gain an inch on me after his stint at going to the chiropractor…but he’s not that much taller.

Who sings better? Let me tell you that we are both AWFUL singers. John learned how to play ‘Brown Eyed Girl’ on his guitar the other night, so we were having a sing along. I almost recorded us but I think after us making all of the neighborhood dogs howl, it probably wouldn’t be a good idea to subject anyone else to that.

Who is smarter? John. I know, I know, but I can't let him know that I really am smarter! I don't want to intimidate the poor dude!

Who does the laundry? Me (something that I don't mind for some unknown reason)

Who does the dishes? Me...but John has been helping out more. We used to have dishes week where we’d take turns, but that kind of fizzed out.

Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? If you're looking from the foot of the bed, me...I've got to be closer to the bathroom. Even though I often run into the wall or our armoire.

Who pays the bills? John…I don’t want to know the reality of how much money I spend! I leave that to the man to stress about.

Who mows the lawn? John (he loves it for some unknown reason)

Who cooks dinner? We both do…but John does it more often…wait! Does ordering take out count? If so then it’s definitely 50/50!

Who drives when you are together? John…he totally loves my passenger seat driving too.

Who is more stubborn? Me? Maybe.

Who kissed who first? I can’t remember! We were too drunk! Just kidding parents!

Who asked who out? He asked me out. He asked me if I wanted to come over and watch Cheers sometime. I know…total smooth talker. He knew how to get straight to my heart.

Who proposed? John (almost spoiled by my parents though…I’m sorry, but I’ll never let you live it down.)

Who is more sensitive? Me...but it is close…we always seem to tear up at the same time. Damn you Amazing Race!

Who has more friends? Me? This is kind of a harsh question…but if you count all of my myspace friends then I TOTALLY have more.

Who has more siblings? John. He’s got the two older sisters and I just have the one.

Who wears the pants in the family? John would love me to say that he wears the pants, but he’s too busy painting my toenails to give his input.

Monday, February 11, 2008

Money Tips

John found the article below a few weeks ago and told me to memorize it like it was the bible. I told him that wasn’t going to happen, but I would read it and try to remember the most important parts. Lucky for me the ‘Money saving tips’ were at the end of the article…and no I didn’t skip the main parts, which I expect you not to do as well.

I know all of us want more money in the sense that we want someone to give us more money. Not in the sense that we have to alter our lifestyles to have more money. Due to the lack of leprechauns located in the US we should all take that as a sign and start to get serious about our money…that is if you care to be wealthy down the road.

I thought the article below was very interesting and I really enjoyed the last section about ways to save money. I enjoyed it so much that I’ve already started! Last week I bought two things off of eBay and saved a total of $70! I found exactly what I wanted BRAND new! One was a gift, so I can’t mention it on this site, but the other was a new Mac mighty mouse. It normally sells for $50, but I got I for $30 (including shipping). For those Mac users out there you should totally look into getting one. It has a right click feature and a scroll button!! (The eBayer I bought it from also has a few more available, so if you need any info, just let me know).

So now I am doing my best in trying to remember to look on eBay if I need a specific item. (I am currently in the process of buying the printable fabric off of there as well!) I know this article may seem long, but I’m sure there is at least one thing in there that you could benefit from! Enjoy!

Characteristics of millionaires
According to a fascinating book I highly recommend, The Millionaire Next Door (published in 1996, so the statistics are dated, but the conclusions are not), here are some characteristics of millionaires that might surprise you:

"More than 80% are ordinary people who have accumulated their wealth in one generation. They did it slowly, steadily, without signing a multimillion-dollar contract with the Yankees ..."

Fewer than 20% inherited more than 10% of their wealth, and more than half never received a penny of inheritance.

They "wear inexpensive suits and drive American-made cars. Only a minority ... drive the current-model-year automobile."

About half have lived in their current home for 20 years or more.

80% are college grads, and 38% have advanced degrees (which reminds me of the bumper sticker: "If you think education is expensive, try ignorance"). 20% are retired.

Of those still working, about two-thirds are self-employed -- mostly entrepreneurs, but also self-employed professionals, such as doctors and accountants.

On average, they invest nearly 20% of their household realized income each year. OK, so most millionaires aren't rock stars or scions of wealthy families, but surely they have high incomes, right? Think again. Their median annual income was a mere $131,000. So how did they become millionaires? The answer is so simple it sounds trite: "They live well below their means."

In short, the book explains most millionaires are "FRUGAL, FRUGAL, FRUGAL ... Being frugal is the cornerstone of wealth-building ... The affluent tend to answer "yes" to three questions: 1) Were your parents very frugal? 2) Are you frugal? 3) Is your spouse more frugal than you are?"

Yet we've become more a nation of consumption than of frugality. Freely available credit has made it easy for Americans to take on debt to live above their means.

Consider: Consumer credit -- which includes most types of debt other than mortgage loans -- stands at nearly $2.5 trillion, versus $800 billion in the early 1990s and just $350 billion in the early 1980s. Debt service as a percentage of disposable income was around 11% in the mid-1990s, but has now risen to more than 14%, despite (or perhaps because of) the fact that interest rates have plunged to multidecade lows. This means the average American family is spending one-seventh of its disposable income simply paying the cost of its debts. It shouldn't be surprising, then, that the net national savings rate has remained below 1% since 2005, and has turned negative during some months. These unsustainable trends have alarming implications for the U.S. economy, as consumer spending accounts for roughly two-thirds of the nation's economic activity, as well as for the retirement prospects of most Americans. Are you wealthy?

The Millionaire Next Door has a simple test to calculate what your net worth should be right now:

"Multiply your age times your realized pre-tax annual household income from all sources except inheritances. Divide by 10. This, less any inherited wealth, is what your net worth should be." So, if you're 40 years old and earn $95,000 in salary and $5,000 from investments pre-tax, then your net worth should be $400,000 (40 times 100,000 divided by 10). If this test shows you're an "under accumulator of wealth," then you might want to think hard about making some changes.

Money-saving tips
Assuming that your boss would take a dim view of a demand to immediately increase your salary, and given that job-hopping in this economic climate is unlikely to lead to higher pay, the key lever for increasing your savings is to cut expenses. There are two ways to do this: Consume less or pay less for what you consume.

Let me share a few tips on paying less. (This is by no means a comprehensive list; there are countless websites and books dedicated to money-saving ideas.):

If your mortgage is more than a couple of years old, look into refinancing to take advantage of mortgage rates that remain near all-time lows. (For more on this, see the Fool's 60-Second Guide to Optimizing Your Mortgage.)

Pay off high-interest debt such as credit cards, or at least shift the balance to teaser rates on new cards until you can do so. Buy generic rather than branded products. I'll admit that I have my brand loyalties, but in general, why pay for big advertising budgets and fat profit margins? To save 20%, 40%, or even 60%, I'm willing to give a generic product a try -- and more often than not, I find that I'm pleasantly surprised.

Buy on eBay. No, I'm not your stereotypical eBay junkie, buying and selling trinkets and collectibles; nor do I have the patience for auctions. Instead, I buy a range of products, almost always new (or at least factory refurbished) and at fixed prices. I've purchased lots of things there, including a printer, toner cartridges, a kids' game, a Sony PlayStation (not for me, unfortunately!), a video camera, and an inflatable air mattress. I always shop around and estimate I save 20%, on average, by buying on eBay. There's some risk of unscrupulous sellers, but if you buy only from highly rated sellers, you should be OK. I've never had a problem.

Shop at Costco. I agree with Berkshire Hathaway vice chairman and Costco board member Charlie Munger, who once said, "Costco is God's gift to consumers." It has lower gross margins than competitors like Wal-Mart and Home Depot, minimizing markups, and it can generally buy for less by carrying only a limited number of products.

If you travel quite a bit, the Web offers amazing bargains. I stopped using a travel agent years ago and instead use Orbitz, Expedia, and Travelocity regularly. But my favorite travel site is Hotwire, which is like priceline, but without the annoying auction process. For example, I once took a trip to Las Vegas and needed a hotel on short notice. Hotwire offered me a room at a five-star hotel on the Strip for $99/night, but -- here's the catch -- I didn't know which one. But for $99, I didn't care! (The Venetian was over the top, by the way.)

Conclusion
The key to accumulating wealth is to consistently spend less than you earn over time. How obvious and simple in concept -- yet difficult in practice!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Told you!

Do you remember this entry where I discussed how AWFUL Javier Bardem’s hair cut was in the movie No Country For Old Men? I’m sure you do…I mean that hair do can really scar a person.

Anyway I came across this very interesting article online the other day and thought I’d share it with you.

Spanish actor Javier Bardem suffered from “full-blown depression” after having his hair styled into a bizarre 1970s-style bowl-cut to play a sadistic killer in Oscar-nominated movie No Country For Old Men.

Bardem, who is a favorite to win the Best Supporting Actor prize at the upcoming Academy Awards for his performance in the Coen Brothers film, was so ashamed of his new look, he avoided venturing out in public.

His co-star Josh Brolin says, “He was depressed during the process… He felt like he wouldn’t have sex for three months. Full-blown depression. I mean, bad. (He) didn’t like the way he looked. He’d stay home for hours on end. He wouldn’t go out.”

Bardem admits he was surprised by how his unusual look affected him psychologically.

He says, “You see yourself, you see the haircut. You don’t realize that it’s affecting you in a very delicate way, through your own psyche. What happened to me was that after a couple of weeks, I was a little bit - a little bit - strange to myself. There was something that was not familiar. It was like, ‘What am I doing here?’”

SEE!!!!! I was right! Granted I didn’t think it would cause mental issues for the poor dude…that is kind of harsh. He better win that Oscar though! That was a huge sacrifice!! His sacrifice totally out weighed Tom Hank's (losing all that weight for Cast Away.) I mean not being able to leave your home due to your fro is pretty serious. I take it he doesn’t own any hats? Or maybe Hollywood is making him more vain. I mean look how handsome he normally looks?

He’s almost unrecognizable with his normal hair. I think he should grow it back if he wins the gold. I mean he could risk losing major rolls if casting directors don’t recognize him! Or maybe he should start having the hair style produced as wigs!! That way he would only have to look like that on auditions, and if he really wanted to scare the crap out of some hotel workers. John could totally go as him for Halloween too! What an awesome costume! Don’t worry…I’ll totally post the link for the wigs once I find them online.

Thursday, February 7, 2008

A Day to be Remembered

STOP THE PRESSES!! Pigs have flown and hell has frozen over because on Tuesday…February 5th…my husband…John C. Grundman ordered a vegetable on his deli sandwich!!! Can you believe it? I almost rolled over and died when he showed me. I know most of you are about to click off this page for what you think is ‘lameness,’ but for those of you who know my husband, know how groundbreaking this was.

John has always been a very plain eater, and even more plain when it comes to deli sandwiches. Only meat and cheese… that is it...no condiments. It is true that I am too a plain eater, but I have at least expanded to lettuce AND tomatoes on my deli sandwiches (since Sept. 2003.)

What caused the day that resulted in hell getting a ski resort? Well I will tell you…it was the Giant Grinder of SLO...that simple. That first day that we went there when John A) actually took a bite of my sando w/ lettuce, and then B) said he ‘liked ‘ it was just the beginning. Even though it was two days ago I am still in shock.

After my last post about The Grinder it inspired me try and find out more information about my favorite deli in Fortuna. Come to find out my good friend Sarah told me her mom used to work there!! Talk about a great resource! Sarah totally hooked me up and had me chat with her mom through gmail. I could not believe my luck…that all I was finally going to have my deli memories verified!

The chat was a total success and she verified all of my memories told me more interesting tid bits!

- Name of deli: Down to Earth (kind of hippyish)
- The owner: Frank, left to play drums for a band that went to Vegas
- The inside has high dark wood paneled booths (my memory confirmed)
- Tentative business dates 1975-1980 (which mean I was 3-4 years old!)
- Sandwiches were served in red plastic baskets (my memory confirmed)
- There was fridge where you could pick out your own drinks (my memory confirmed)

I cannot tell you how great it was to hear that my memories were legit! You know I could have dreamed them up or something…I mean with my love of deli sandos you never know what might happen. I’d love to see a photo of the place, just to really bring back the memory, however I doubt Fortuna has a historian. Plus, would they really have records of an old hippie deli?

I returned to The Grinder today and took Jen with me…so she could experience a little bit of sandwich heaven. It wasn’t as busy as it was the last time I was there, which surprised me…but I was glad to see there was a steady stream of customers. I know I’ve said this before…but you should really go try one for yourself. I mean if it will cause John to start eating veggies on his sandwiches…imagine what it could do for you!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Storm? What Storm?

This past weekend was tons of fun. John let me know where we were going when we got north of Paso, because we then changed routes and started heading East. He thought I would have guessed where we were headed, but there was no way! I still thought we were going to Vegas, Tahoe, or Napa! The only clues he gave me were that the location was max 6 hours away…and then the day before we left he told me we would be heading North.

I was so excited when I found out it was Yosemite. Neither of us had been there and we had both talked about how we wanted to go there. We actually stayed south of Yosemite Valley in Fish Camp, and we made it there in less than 3.5 hours! We stayed at Teyana Lodge and it was really nice.

I had no idea what to expect but it was an all inclusive lodge. You really didn’t need to leave for anything. They had tons of actives for families too…snow shoeing, horse drawn sleigh ride, sledding, ice-skating, and a pool. I was really impressed.

When we pulled up there were TONS of cars! I couldn’t believe how packed it was. Once we got into the lobby we noticed the following sign:

So then the amount of cars made a bit more sense.

When we got there we had a few hours to kill before bed so we headed to the bar…where else would we go? I had one of the best drinks I’ve ever had… a Lava Flow! It was so tasty and sweet.

The next morning I finally got to see where we were staying in the day light and it was so beautiful! I just love the snow and it makes everything so much prettier.

We decided to start the day with some room service…why not? I was officially too old to make it downstairs to the restaurant. Did you know 31 is the official age for that? I guess that is one benefit to getting older…getting more people to wait on you.

After we ate, we headed on to our snowshoeing adventure. The trail we were going to go on was actually the same road as the horse sleigh ride. There was also a guided snow shoeing tour starting at the same time, and let me tell you I was SO glad we opted to go by ourselves. It was a HUGE group with a huge variety of athleticism…hence one lady who totally got left in the dust. She was barely moving. She was moving so slow I actually thought she was standing still. As we got a little closer she had turned around and decided that snowshoeing was not her thing.

The guided tour went on a ‘nature trail’ that was just a small loop off the main road. Once they veered off on the trail it became so quiet and peaceful. The only times we ever got interrupted was when the sleigh ride would come by. We did get one video of it…well mainly the little doggie that lead the pack. He would bark to let all know that they were coming through. He was super cute!

Here is John showing me his mad snow shoeing skills. If a bear were to appear, I’d have no fears that he could out run him.

Here is a vid of me trying to walk down a hill. Ok…so it’s a total mini hill, but it was WAY steeper in person! John says I was walking like a penguin because of my baby steps…however my muscle right near my hip was starting to really hurt when I’d lift up my leg…so that is half of my excuse. The other half is that I really did not want to fall while the camera was rolling!

Once we turned around we decided to take the ‘nature trail’ that the guided tour took. By the time we made the loop and back to the main road we were pretty wiped out. I think we were gone for about 2.5 hours.

Once we got back to the lodge we cruised around the premise to check out the ice-skating rink and the sledding area. Here we encountered ‘The Blade.’ Named for his awesome sled and his death defying sledding skills. After his first few impressive runs, (one where he went 3 feet and then ran into the side fence), I decided to whip out the camera to capture his next run. (Yes that is John chanting in the beginning).

After lunch and a few more lava flows we headed back up to our room to relax before dinner. We wanted to drive into Yosemite for dinner, but there was a big storm coming in that night and the lodge staff told us it could take us 1.5 hours to get into town. Uhh…no thanks. I was not in the mood to spend 3 hours in the car that night. We decided to head south instead as the valet guys said we shouldn’t need chains.

On our way back from dinner it was definitely snowing harder and the road was getting more and more snow on it. We almost made it back, but we started to slide at one point so we pulled over to put the chains on. Man! That was an unpleasant experience and I wasn’t even the one getting my hands dirty! Due to the extra time that took we were unable to go ice skating when we got back. That was ok though since we headed to the bar so I could get a few more lava flows. I couldn’t help it! Who knows when I’d get one again? Plus we were on a mini vaca…cut me some slack! Here was my final lava flow, and my birthday dessert. It was a chocolate chip cookie pizza....or a chocolate chip sundae.

We found out from our waiter that we were able to take our last round of drinks up to our room if we wanted, so we did. However as we walked through the lobby we kept getting all these evil eyes from all the Christan ladies!

When we got back to our room we checked on the snow storm. Some of the valet cars were parked beneath our room and the snow was getting higher and higher. Here’s a vid John took. You may need to watch this twice to appriciate my interfearance of this video and to hear my director skills.

The next morning we woke up to a fresh 2 feet of snow on the ground. I don’t think I have ever seen so much snow after one night in my life!! I saw these two valet guys working on one car for an hour to get it out of the snow and put chains on it. It did not look good…but then I saw a couple locate their car and then proceed to drive their car out of the snow. The woman started brushing the snow off of the windshield with her hand, which wasn’t that successful. What does the husband do? He gets out of his car and takes a photo with his phone!!

The lady then wised up and grabbed an umbrella out of her car. Still not that good, but it would do. I had to take the flowing video of the scene...please note that I am not drunk in this video as I know my comentary implies it.

I decided to call the front desk and ask if a bellboy could bring up a luggage cart. She tells me that it will be a 3-hour wait along with a three-hour wait to have a valet get our car out of the snow. Ummm 3 hours?? I don’t think so! I told john that I thought we’d have to dig out our car. I don’t think he really believed we could do it, but I had confidence after watching that other couple.

We head down to get our keys and the guy told us what lot the car was in and said good luck. But before we left I knew we were going to need something to scrape off the snow on the car, (and I knew we did not have a long umbrella). I told John to grab a snow shoe for the each of us in hope that we could use those as shovels. (All the lodge's shovels were already being used).

We headed into the parking lot and John reminded me that the rearview mirrors were blue. That was the only part of the cars that were visible. I actually spotted the car pretty quick, but didn’t think it was it, because it looked HUGE with all the snow on it. So the digging began. As you can see John is thrilled!

We actually un-dug the car and packed the car in about 40 minutes! We totally impressed ourselves. I was almost ready to offer my services to other guests for $50 a car, but realized I needed to get back to watch the game.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Brrrrrrrrrr!

John did a great job in surprising me with a weekend trip for my birthday. We had a great time, but I am very tired...hence no legit entry for tonight. This new year of 31 has definitely not given me more energy! What the heck? Here is one for photo for you: