A season of frustration...

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be learning, but lately it seems like I'm encountering a plethora of frustrating experiences.

1. We discovered when we moved in that there's something wrong with the electrical work in certain parts of the house. The result is that I cannot blow dry my hair for more than 2 1/2 minutes without blowing the circuit (really...if I try 3 full minutes I blow the circuit).

We've called the property management company numerous times and I still haven't heard back from them.

2. We switched our car insurance to Geico 2 months ago and ended up saving around $700. Anyway, I cancelled our policy with Nationwide and have never heard another word from them.

Friday we got a notice from a collection agency stating that we owed Nationwide $143 and if we didn't pay immediately our credit record would be affected. Needless to say I was furious.

We aren't the type to not pay our bills...the problem is, how can you pay a bill that you've never received. We never actually received a bill from Nationwide...this is the first communication we've received about this $143.

So I called Nationwide to tell them how displeased I was with the situation and called the agency today to express my frustration to them and also to let them know that we'd be sending along the money as soon as Nationwide verified the validity of the bill.

In addition to the lovely notice in the mail, we've received phone calls yesterday and today.

3. On my way to work this morning, I got almost all the way to 395 and then got stuck a light for 3 or 4 cycles because people turning from the cross street kept blocking the intersection so when our light turned green there was no where for us to go.

Can I just say how incredibly rude that is? And these rude people cause all sorts of traffic questions because they think they're more important than the rest of us who are trying to be courteous drivers.

Ugh...how irritating.

It's the little things in life...

Some weeks ago I finally fell to the peer pressure and created a Facebook page. Since then I've been having fun with all the various applications, one of which is Scrabulous...basically a way to play scrabble with your friends through Facebook.

So now you have the background of the story. The problem was that my firewall was preventing the scrabble board from displaying, so every time I sat down to make a move, I'd have to disable my firewall and then enable it again when I was done.

Today, with a little online research, I was able to figure out the setting to turn off in my firewall so now the board displays right away! Woohoo!

Like I said...it's the little things.

Another amazing book...

A few weeks ago I blogged about an amazing book.

Today, I finished another book that is equally worth reading...The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. It's a memoir of her life.

I was amazed by her life's stories...both the trials and successes of her life...it really makes you appreciate the positive things in your own life.

I highly recommend it.

Got the tickets...

So today began in high stress mode. I needed 6 tickets for the concert but didn't realize that Ticketmaster only let you get up to 4 at a time. So, I had to buy 4 first and then go back in and buy 2 more.

The good news is that I got all 6 tickets. The bad news is that the seats aren't all together. Ugh.

Can't believe we're going to see The Police in concert. I'm so excited I can't stand it. Woohoo!

Important appointment at 10 a.m. tomorrow...

I have an extremely important appointment tomorrow at 10 a.m. So important that I put it on my Outlook calendar, although I had to make it a private appointment so all my coworkers (who look at my calendar) don't see the very important appointment.

I know you are thinking, "What could it possibly be?"

Well...I'll share. Tickets go on sale tomorrow (you guess it, at 10 a.m.) for the DC tour stop of the The Police. Just found out earlier this week that they added 5 or 6 more stops to their tour because of high demand.

So, I'll be online tomorrow at work (door closed and phone on do not disturb) trying to secure tickets for the concert. It's turned into quite an extravaganza...will be trying for 6 tickets. Me, Chris, Laurie (friend and coworker), Norida (friend and coworker) and my friend Rachel and her husband.

I'm so siked! I can't even stand it. Let's all say a brief prayer that I'll get through and get the tickets!

A moment of silence, please...

Cowboys baby...

Despite my love for both football and the Cowboys, I just couldn't stay awake to finish watching the Cowboys game.

However, the first thing I did this morning when I got up was to jump online and check out the Cowboys Web site to see the final outcome...a Cowboys win with a final score of 45-35.

So far they're undefeated! Woohoo!

Are you ready for some...

FOOTBALL?

Yes, I am. It's football season and I couldn't be happier. Sunday afternoons on the couch watching football...one of my favorite things to do.

Now all we need is the cool, crisp autumn weather and all would be well in the world...at least in my little part of the world. ;-)

Go Cowboys!

There's a first time for everything...

Today, as part of our missions trip, we drove down to the Richmond Raceway to hand out free bottles of water in the parking lot. This weekend is one of Richmond's two NASCAR races of the year.

Chris and I have never been NASCAR fans, even after living in the Richmond area for six years, but I have to say that we had a blast today.

It was hot and we were tired at the end but it was so much fun to chat with people as we walked through the parking lot and handed out bottles of water. There are so many different people who love it...and as my friend Misty said, "It's not just a sport, it's a way of life." And from what I saw today, I would have to say that I agree.

I don't think I'll ever be the type to sit down and watch a race on TV, but I would definitely be open to going to a race...not really to see the race itself, but more to hang out with the people.

People get the parking areas early in the day, pull out grills, tents, chairs, games and drinks and sit around waiting for the start of the race. We made fast friends with the people who parked right behind our car and as we waited for the other members of the team to get back to the car, we sat and chatted with them.

What an experience.

A hectic weekend ahead...

We headed down to Richmond this morning for a 4 day missions trip to help a new church get ready to launch. We are helping with some community events this weekend and trying to get the word out in the community about the church.

Today we walked through several neighborhoods and put door hangers on front doors advertising a "screen on the green" tomorrow night. It was hot and we did a lot of sweating so be glad that there's no smell-o-blog technology. ;-)

We checked into the hotel a little after 8 p.m. and I was quite anxious to get a shower. Now that that goal has been accomplished, I'm looking forward to getting some sleep...we have an incredibly long day tomorrow so hopefully we'll get plenty of rest tonight. Tomorrow's activities include a cookout on the campus of Randolph Macon and a screen on the green (we're seeing "Over the Hedge") tomorrow night with a lot of set up and tear down for both events.

Anyway, headed to bed. Good night all.

Turning over a new leaf...again...

I seem to have figured out a pattern. I slack on my blog, make a resolution to get back in the groove, keep it up for a couple of days and then the slacking begins again.

Well, I'm at the resolution phase again. So let's hope it sticks.

This time there's 2 more slivers of motivation...I've listed my blog address on my facebook page. Not sure how many of my friends (now 24...woohoo!) will take the leap from facebook to my blog, but just in case, I don't want it to appear out of date.

The second is that my dear friend, Patricia, has finally made the big leap...she's moving across the entire country to Los Angeles, CA. I'm so excited for her as she takes this big step, but I can honestly say that I miss her already. So, in the hopes that my blog will keep her updated on what's going on with me (and her's for me) I'll make another attempt! ;-)

In addition, the fact that I've neglected my blog, means that I've missed out on sharing the latest happenings and you've missed out on reading about them. You're bummed, I'm sure.

So stay tuned...