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Oh my goodness.....I think I may totally freak out. We had a small problem with our DVR. It was making funny noises so I figured a quick call to DirecTV and we would be up and running in no time. Not so much. It's DEAD!!! Along with ALL. OUR. RECORDINGS!!!! What?!?!?!?! There's no master backup...no collection of everything saved in some secret warehouse somewhere....nothing. I'm so sad...:`( sniff, sniff. What is the use of enjoying modern technology if one day it just goes kablooey. No more movies saved, Smallville is gone, so much for watching "Men of a Certain Age" from the beginning. I can't list all the shows/movies we had saved. Luckily, we had put a few of the the items we knew we would want to always keep(Dan
It doesn't matter that they sent us a new one. At no charge other than shipping & handling. It's an empty shell that cannot replace the close personal relationship we had with our DVR. The many hours of Bones & House. Watching NCIS & NCIS LA with Dan. Snuggling all together to watch Smallville. Now we have to start from scratch.
And so it begins....
Friday, December 18, 2009
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
Hello, You Are Caller #9
Dontcha just love, love, LOVE radio stations this time of year! They are running contests constantly. Your truly was a lucky winner today! How I managed to be the right caller is a mystery but the right caller I was. I am now the proud (soon to be)owner of a $50 Wal-mart gift card. The only draw back...I have to go to the radio station to pick it up. Why is that a draw back you ask? The radio station I listen to is based out of Baltimore and more than an hour away from us. Oh well, even with gas money I am still coming out ahead. I am certain I can come up with a few errands that need to be run while I am over there anyhow. I can definitely think of which store the rest of our Christmas shopping will be completed in!!! Thanks be to God! He is definitely looking out for us!
Friday, December 11, 2009
Christmas Card Debacle
Ok I am just going to have to stop apologizing for not posting as often as I should. Consider this a blanket apology for a really long time.
So I got online with Walmart to order my Christmas cards. I used to order them from Sears but they are just toooooo expensive. I can get over 60 from Walmart for less than the first set of 20 from Sears. Last year, I purchased the rights to my Sears photos so I was able to take one of those pictures and use it at Walmart for our card. This year it was just not feasible to spend that much. I debated the idea of using one of their pictures anyway. I put a card together and checked it out but decided against it...yk since it was *illegal* and all. Even though I knew they wouldn't check or even care. Instead, I made the kids put on "Christmasy" pj's and pose under the tree (that wasn't quite decorated but I threw some ornaments on the bottom to make it look good). About 20 pictures later, I finally had one I liked and I put a much cuter Christmas card together. I ordered 60 of them, paid and was ready to pick them up the next day. Or so I thought....
When I went to pick them up I found ONE card with the kids in their pajama's...so cute.
and SIXTY cards that I didn't want.
Now, I'm not saying that I don't like the red card, I just *REALLY* like the blue one. Oh well, win some, lose some. I think I might just have to print out some copies of the pj picture to send along with the card.
So I got online with Walmart to order my Christmas cards. I used to order them from Sears but they are just toooooo expensive. I can get over 60 from Walmart for less than the first set of 20 from Sears. Last year, I purchased the rights to my Sears photos so I was able to take one of those pictures and use it at Walmart for our card. This year it was just not feasible to spend that much. I debated the idea of using one of their pictures anyway. I put a card together and checked it out but decided against it...yk since it was *illegal* and all. Even though I knew they wouldn't check or even care. Instead, I made the kids put on "Christmasy" pj's and pose under the tree (that wasn't quite decorated but I threw some ornaments on the bottom to make it look good). About 20 pictures later, I finally had one I liked and I put a much cuter Christmas card together. I ordered 60 of them, paid and was ready to pick them up the next day. Or so I thought....
When I went to pick them up I found ONE card with the kids in their pajama's...so cute.
and SIXTY cards that I didn't want.
Now, I'm not saying that I don't like the red card, I just *REALLY* like the blue one. Oh well, win some, lose some. I think I might just have to print out some copies of the pj picture to send along with the card.
Thursday, December 3, 2009
It's Christmas Picture Time
One of the things I like most about getting ready for Christmas is our annual trip to Sears portrait studio. While it may not seem like I enjoy it to my children because I am spending so much time being very cranky about what they are wearing and how their hair looks, the end results are sooooo worth it.
This year's trip was a bit more...frustrating that other years but it was partly my fault. We usually have our pictures taken in late October or early November. This year I was a bit lax in getting an appointment and we just had them taken the day before Thanksgiving. Well as you can expect, the studio was a mad house. They had double booked each slot and we ended up waiting for about 45 minutes before we even got to go into the room and then another 15 minutes before she was actually ready for us. Not the best way to start out but at least I didn't have a fussy baby like some of the other people waiting. I was determined to be in and out as quickly as possible and even with a change of clothing for everyone, we were finished in 20 minutes. I think it might have been a record for us but maybe it helped that I came well prepared with poses from previous years that I liked.
Then the fun part....it will be about an hour before you can look at your pictures...say what?? Not too thrilled at this point but we still needed to take care of a few things in the area so not a huge deal. We don't get to the mall too often since it's 45 minutes away from our house. A trip to Claire's to get some birthday items for a friend of Teresa's (and a few stocking stuffers I managed to get past them :-}) and a stop in the food court and it was back to the portrait studio. But wait...who's that standing over there??? Why it's my awesome husband checking in to see how things were going. He was driving by the mall on his way home from work and realized we were still there. He actually volunteered to take the kids home while I finished up. What a guy!!! We trooped out to the van, gathered their things up, got the DVD out of the player to put into his vehicle and I sent them on their merry way.
Meanwhile, I got to go and sit and look at all the poses in peace. No kids saying "how much longer" & "aren't you finished yet". And because it was so busy, I got all the time I needed to look through the poses and decide how many sheets and all that jazz without the salesperson breathing down my neck. Heaven, I'm in heaven.
Then the best part happened. When I was finished, the woman who was helping me (who happened to be the manager) was busy with someone else so she asked one of the photographers to put my order together. I let him know what I wanted and made sure to mention that because I am a smile saver member I get buy one get one sheets Monday - Thursday (which is why we had to go on a Wednesday). He muddled and fumbled and managed to put the order through(wrong of course). Unfortunately for him, he must have pushed the wrong button somewhere because the printer started up and began printing out my pictures. Now I am not throwing away perfectly good money just to have my pictures printed on the spot. I can totally wait for them to come back in 10 days from the printers, especially since they cost more and I can just look at them online when I get home. So the manager came over and told him to scat. She fixed my order (he hadn't figured out how to add in the free ones) and processed it and went over to the cash register to ring it up. So she said to me "Since you have had to wait so long and have been so patient, I am going to give you all the pictures that printed out. I hate to throw them away, even though that is what we are supposed to do." WooHoo!!! Can you say FREE PICTURES!!! Really good ones too. Apparently there is an advantage to getting them there because they are really durable. You can spill anything on them (except alcohol or Purell) and it will wipe right off. No fingerprints either.
So now I have some of my Christmas pictures already and then still more whenever I get around to the mall again to pick them up. TOO COOL!!!! I don't suppose anyone is actually interested in seeing them...?? Well, since it's my blog, you have to anyhow. ;-P
I still haven't decided which one I like the best but I'm leaning towards the first one. I don't have a very good scanner so they are actually much better in person than they look here.
This year's trip was a bit more...frustrating that other years but it was partly my fault. We usually have our pictures taken in late October or early November. This year I was a bit lax in getting an appointment and we just had them taken the day before Thanksgiving. Well as you can expect, the studio was a mad house. They had double booked each slot and we ended up waiting for about 45 minutes before we even got to go into the room and then another 15 minutes before she was actually ready for us. Not the best way to start out but at least I didn't have a fussy baby like some of the other people waiting. I was determined to be in and out as quickly as possible and even with a change of clothing for everyone, we were finished in 20 minutes. I think it might have been a record for us but maybe it helped that I came well prepared with poses from previous years that I liked.
Then the fun part....it will be about an hour before you can look at your pictures...say what?? Not too thrilled at this point but we still needed to take care of a few things in the area so not a huge deal. We don't get to the mall too often since it's 45 minutes away from our house. A trip to Claire's to get some birthday items for a friend of Teresa's (and a few stocking stuffers I managed to get past them :-}) and a stop in the food court and it was back to the portrait studio. But wait...who's that standing over there??? Why it's my awesome husband checking in to see how things were going. He was driving by the mall on his way home from work and realized we were still there. He actually volunteered to take the kids home while I finished up. What a guy!!! We trooped out to the van, gathered their things up, got the DVD out of the player to put into his vehicle and I sent them on their merry way.
Meanwhile, I got to go and sit and look at all the poses in peace. No kids saying "how much longer" & "aren't you finished yet". And because it was so busy, I got all the time I needed to look through the poses and decide how many sheets and all that jazz without the salesperson breathing down my neck. Heaven, I'm in heaven.
Then the best part happened. When I was finished, the woman who was helping me (who happened to be the manager) was busy with someone else so she asked one of the photographers to put my order together. I let him know what I wanted and made sure to mention that because I am a smile saver member I get buy one get one sheets Monday - Thursday (which is why we had to go on a Wednesday). He muddled and fumbled and managed to put the order through(wrong of course). Unfortunately for him, he must have pushed the wrong button somewhere because the printer started up and began printing out my pictures. Now I am not throwing away perfectly good money just to have my pictures printed on the spot. I can totally wait for them to come back in 10 days from the printers, especially since they cost more and I can just look at them online when I get home. So the manager came over and told him to scat. She fixed my order (he hadn't figured out how to add in the free ones) and processed it and went over to the cash register to ring it up. So she said to me "Since you have had to wait so long and have been so patient, I am going to give you all the pictures that printed out. I hate to throw them away, even though that is what we are supposed to do." WooHoo!!! Can you say FREE PICTURES!!! Really good ones too. Apparently there is an advantage to getting them there because they are really durable. You can spill anything on them (except alcohol or Purell) and it will wipe right off. No fingerprints either.
So now I have some of my Christmas pictures already and then still more whenever I get around to the mall again to pick them up. TOO COOL!!!! I don't suppose anyone is actually interested in seeing them...?? Well, since it's my blog, you have to anyhow. ;-P
I still haven't decided which one I like the best but I'm leaning towards the first one. I don't have a very good scanner so they are actually much better in person than they look here.
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
Blogstyle Iron Chef November
Guess who won the Iron Chef challenge for the month of November?!?!? Me that's who silly!! I am super excited. I practically never win stuff.
I have to send out a thank you to my Aunt Kathy who passed the awesome Cheesy Hash brown recipe on to me. Thanks Kathy!! What a gal!
Look at this...I'm actually posting 3 days in a row. Haven't done that is ages. Well I suppose you shouldn't get used to it since the holidays are upon us and everything is getting ready to be very hectic. Oh well...I'll do my best.
Thanks so much to everyone who voted for my recipe!!
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Prayers Needed
We are finding ourselves in need of some big prayers this holiday season. My husband's work is having layoffs (again) next week and there is a good chance he will be up on the chopping block. Please pray that he makes it through this round or (even better) finds a different job (much closer) that he has been actively searching for for months. Although he is not thrilled with his place of work (yk, since it's more than two hours from here) at least it is a job. A job that we desperately need since *I* can still not find anything in this rinkydink town that will fit into the hours I am available. I know there are many out there that have fallen victim to this stinky economy and are much worse off than we are but I am praying very hard that we at least make it through Christmas before the hammer falls. (not sure why that would be better but it certainly couldn't be worse!)
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