Another chapter in the Many Hairstyles of Lora...

As long as I can remember people have commented on the fact that I always seems to have a different hairstyle. And I guess it's true. It's not intentional, it just happens. I get a haircut...usually going in for a trim and I come out with a different style.

Well, just thought I would share the latest so you all can keep up. ;-)

Not the greatest pic, but you get the idea

Even more reason not to trust the postal service...

I've never had that much faith in the postal service and lately what little faith I did have is fading at a rapid rate.

Since we moved, we've been getting mail for who I can only assume are the previous tenants. I'm not sure why some of their mail isn't getting forwarded, but a few pieces are regularly appearing in our mailbox.

I can understand that things get overlooked. So when we get a piece of mail, I write, "No longer at this address" on the envelope (right next to the address), take it to work and drop it in the mail bin.

So the other day, we check the mail and what do you think is in our mail box? Two of the pieces of mail we previously received that still say (in my writing), "No longer at this address."

So, I took a different color pen and wrote this: "Please DO NOT put this piece of mail back in the mail box for 714 10th St. NE. They DO NOT live here anymore."

Let's see if I get the same mail back. If so, I have no idea what to do. One of these pieces is some guy's credit card bill. I think he's going to want that.

But what to do? I'm trying, but for some reason, the good old U.S. Postal Service just doesn't seem to be able to read my nice notes.

I'll let you know if I see this mail again...for some pieces it could be the third time.

Ugh!

If you're looking for it, you'll find it...

Someone once said this to me during a conversation about finding "stuff" in your food at restaurants.

In yesterday's case, I wasn't actually looking for it, but I did find it. But only after I chewed on it for quite a while did I realize that what I was chewing on was not, in fact, food.

As I took this blob out of my mouth, I realized that I had been chewing on paper. It was one of those colored pieces of paper that wraps around the napkin and silverware and holds it together.

In this case it was green. And I probably didn't notice it because I was eating a taco salad so it kind of blended right in. It does kind of gross me out because I wonder if it was a new one or one that had come off of someone's napkin, had been on their table and then somehow ended up in my food. Which means that it was in someone's hand, on a dirty table, etc.

I can't spend too much time thinking about it because I'll probably make myself ill, so I'll stop here. I don't think this incident will stop me from eating at this restaurant (one of my fav Mexican places) but not sure I'll be getting a taco salad again.

I'm a walking commercial...

When we moved into the city I was expecting our car insurance rates to go up but I wasn't prepared for how much they would increase.

We've been with Nationwide for more than 15 years and it never even crossed my mind to look into switching to another insurance company. But when our monthly car insurance payment increased by more than $100 per month, I decided it was time to do a little research.

After reviewing quotes from more than a few companies, I finally decided to switch to Geico. I made the plunge Thursday evening (it was incredible easy) and then called my Nationwide agent on Friday morning to cancel. He didn't ask any questions or try to find out if there was anything he could do to retain my business...he simply told me to fax him something in writing...which I did right away.

So what does this all boil down to in dollars? A savings of more than $700 in six months. Yikes! I paid the 6 month Geico premium outright, which ended up being about 2 1/2 months of what I would have paid Nationwide.

This just goes to show you that you should always check around to see if there's a less expensive way of doing things. Just because you've been with a certain company for a long time doesn't necessarily mean you should stay with them.

Lesson learned.

I rock...but not really...

Yesterday Patricia came over. And after a yummy lunch at La Loma, we came back to the house to play...Guitar Hero. I've never played before and since Patricia has it, she offered to bring it over.

Can I just say how stinkin' fun it was? It's not often that you enjoy something that you stink at...but this is one of those things. It was a riot.

Patricia and I stood in front of my TV, both with guitars, bopping along to song after song. What fun. Now don't get me wrong...it's hard. And I didn't even attempt to leave the easy mode, especially after I was warned that the next level had 4 notes and chords. Yikes. I could barely manage to deal with the 3 notes in the easy level.

I think my highest was 75 notes in a row which doesn't sound bad to me considering it was my first time.

So now the campaign begins to get a PS2 so I can play whenever I want to. The funny thing is that it's usually Chris campaigning for a new game system, not me.

Thanks Patricia for a fun afternoon! ;-)

"That is pathetic," she said...

When asked about our fourth of July, I replied, "You'll probably think it's pathetic and you'll laugh."

Preparing for what I knew the reaction was going to be, I started sharing about our holiday. Here's a recount.

Our great friends, Danny and Rachel, came into town on Tuesday night. We were so excited to see them! We played some cards Tuesday night and headed for bed with grand hopes for the following day.

After breakfast and a few card games, we decided to get ready and scope out the scene down on the Mall. The plan was to scope out a spot that some of our small groupers were going to hold for whoever wanted to hang for the fireworks, walk home, grill out and then head back down to the mall.

As plans have a way of doing, it didn't quite pan out the way we had hoped. We didn't realize how far of a walk it was from our house to the Washington Monument...turns out it's around 3 or so miles one way. So after making it all the way back to our house (6+ miles later) we all decided that there was no way we were doing that walk twice in one day.

The consensus? Grill out, eat, play cards and watch the fireworks on TV. I'll pause a moment so you can get the laughing out of your system. All done? Okay.

It actually worked out well. We all had to work on Thursday and Danny and Rachel knew that if they waited until after the fireworks, they'd be stuck in traffic forever and would be exhausted the next day. This way they were able to leave about 9:30 (before the fireworks were over) and get a good jump on the traffic.

You might say pathetic...I choose to say smart. To each his own.

Pleasantly surprised...

A group of us went out for a quick bite to eat and to see a movie after last night's service. We had planned to see Ratatouille, but when we got there it was sold out. So, as a group, we decided to see Evan Almighty.

I wanted to see the movie but wasn't sure what to expect. But I was pleasantly surprised. A movie with a great message...God speaks to us and if we do what He asks us to do, He takes care of everything.

Especially with everything that's been going with us over the last few months, we of course already know this...because we've been living it. But it never hurts to be reminded even in the midst of going through it yourself.

I love movies with a great takeaway and this movie certainly had that. It was really well done and I'm so glad we saw it.

I highly recommend it.