Disney is on...and maybe add .....?

With all the talk about the government shutting down next Friday because the kids in Washington can't play nice and decide on a new budget, got us worrying about our income tax refund check.  It was due to be back next Saturday.  Kinda scary.  We started preparing for it by getting all our ducks in rows...

Imagine my surprise when I saw that it was already in the bank!

It made us start thinking in earnest about how we were spending it.  We have a couple of bills that needed to be paid for (some dating back 6 years to before the accident...when I actually made lots of money!)  And after they were paid there wasn't going to be a lot left over.

In the mail yesterday, one of the bills had a settlement letter.  You know, one of those that say you owe us this amount, but if you pay us this amount within 30 days we will call it even.  That new amount is less than half the original amount!  Doesn't take a rocket scientist to decide what we were going to do!

So, after Monday...our basement remodel will officially be paid for!  It only took us 7 years!

But, that left a lot more money for us to 'play' with.  After much discussion...I am getting the deck around the pool (wooooo hoooo!), hubby is going to pay the room and meal portion of the Disney trip (another big woooo hoooo!) and.....we are going to try and squeeze in a short 3 or 4 day trip to the beach!

I may be getting THREE vacations this year!  One to Disney; one to the beach; and one sitting around my own pool!  Can a girl get any luckier than that!!!!!

Nini

Been a long time...

Wow...it has been almost a month since I posted here.  I guess that is a good indication as to how sick I really was.  I had the flu, followed by a sinus infection.  Unfortunately, as the sinus infection seems to be getting better, it wants to settle in my chest....and we all know that means a bout of either bronchitis or pneumonia.  Neither of which I want...so I am planning on ignoring it and maybe it will go away!!  LOL!!

The weather was beautiful yesterday, so we took a trip a couple hours east to Augusta.  Did a bit of shopping at the PX at Ft Gordon, and had a nice and noisy drive home.  (Mr D had a pack of gummy worms before we left Augusta...hyper city!)

The topic of conversation on both drives was Disney in September.  It appears that it is a GO! I will make the down payment the first of March and hope for free dining.

Of course, Miss B will not be wearing any dresses, so I only get to make some t shirts for this trip.  I have been informed, also by Miss B, that she does not want to match with us.  We'll have to see what that actually means.  LOL

It is so nice to have a trip to plan for!

Now if we can just make a decision about home schooling ...

Phones!

Well, I was all ready to come into this century with a new fangled web enhanced phone.  I had actually narrowed it down to a choice between the I Phone and one of the new Android phones.  I have spent the last week or so researching the phones and plans to see what would work best for my budget and wants.

Last night, I got to play with one of the Droid phones and decided I love it.  Since I hadn't been able to actually hold one of the I Phones it was great to feel how it .. felt in my hands.

So, I come home and try to just upgrade my current phone with T Mobile and get the phone of my dreams.  Wait a minute.  It is going to be HOW MUCH to upgrade?  I can get the phone as a new customer for only 80.00; but if I upgrade I have to pay full price of...499.99??

Seriously?  I have been a customer of T mobile for over 6 years!  Even with problems I have remained loyal, when my phone stopped working after only 6 months, I remained loyal...even though they told me the phone wasn't under warranty! When they charged me twice for the same phone (and took me over 4 months to get it straightened out) I remained loyal.

So for my loyalty...they charge me over 4 times what a new customer would be charged!  It is making the I Phone look better and better.

And, for that whole number portability thing...it only applies if you change companies.  If you stay with the same company, you can't keep your number if you just start a whole new account!  GRRRRR!

OK...I still have 3 weeks before my contract is up...and I can wait until then to make the decision...but seriously!



Nini

It is clean! And there is a FLOOR!

Miss B is somewhat of a hoarder.  We have had a real time of it getting her to keep a fire code violation free bedroom.  I came up with a new plan and some strategies from Mr D's therapist.

For Christmas, we were going to redo her room.  She got to chooses the colors, fabrics, everything except the furniture (which is barely a year old and she chose that)

For the past 2 weeks we have been painting her room.  I used to paint a room that size in less than a day, but I have discovered my neck is not as happy painting as it used to be.  I have been working around the junk and the stuff and well, the garbage as I went from wall to wall to paint.

Yesterday, we bit the bullet, finished up the painting (except for some touch ups that will happen today after church services), and started tackling her room.  An hour later, her room was semi-clean.  The only left was her closet.  So, we made a deal...if she got her closet finished before dinner was ready, I would fix them hot chocolate to drink...

I'm not sure how hot chocolate was such a big motivator, but it was.  It took her less than 45 minutes to find her closet floor, and to get it VACUUMED!!  A total of 4 garbage bags came out.

She is now allowed one plastic bin to keep all her treasures in.  Nothing more.  If it doesn't fit in her treasure box, then it goes out.  If she wants to keep more, then something in there has to go out.  We have been working up to the treasure box for the past month, and she really seems to have taken to the idea.    I am really surprised at how well it has worked!

Now, in February I will have the floor guy come in and put down her new hardwood floors. I already have the bedspread and shams, and have the pattern to make her some really cool pillows.  We are going looking at fabric for curtains today or tomorrow.

I think it is really coming together.

And most importantly, she is super uber proud of herself for doing it.

Nini

School...or the lack thereof!

Just got a call that services were cancelled for tonight.  Seems the back roads are still pretty treacherous and slick.  So we were discussing the possibility that school will also be cancelled for tomorrow.

Which brings up the possibility that we won't get back to school until next week.  Monday is a holiday, so we could conceivably not go back until next Tuesday.

The last day the kids were in school was December 17...for only a half day.  It may be January 18 before they get back!  A whole MONTH out for Christmas break!  If that had happened when I was a kid I would have thought I had died and gone to heaven!

The snow is only pretty for so long.  Playing in the ice and cold is only fun for so long.  Staying in the house with a crabby Mom can only be an adventure for so long.  I believe it is time to say "So long" to the 'vacation' and "Glad to see you " to the new school year!

Please!


Nini

Bring on the milk and bread!

Officially, the totals of ice are up and snow is down.  Not sure if that is good or bad, but we are starting to plan for it.  After church services today, we will make a short shopping trip to get some much needed items like ...well, milk and bread!

For generations, people here in the south stock up for disasters by purchasing milk and bread.  I have always done my part by getting a new loaf of bread and a gallon of milk, but have never quite understood the 'why'.  I mean, what can you really do with milk and bread?  It isn't going to get your electricity back on any sooner, it won't keep you warmer, it won't even  make a good meal!

But, somehow, it makes us all think we are prepared for what weather might come our way.  Hurricane, Blizzard, Tornadoes, or even Floods.  It doesn't matter what gets thrown our way, we can survive if only we have milk and bread.

I am seriously thinking this may have been our problem during the civil war.  We stocked up on milk and bread when Sherman started knocking on our back door instead of bullets.

Nini

Snow?

I chose to live in the Atlanta area for a reason.  A big part of that was the weather.  Sure, winter gets cold, but it only lasts a few weeks at best, and we get snow ....maybe once a year.

This year I was pleasantly surprised to have a White Christmas.  According to the record books, it is the first one in over 150 years.

But when ...for the second time in two weeks that dreaded "S" word is in the forecast...that is a bit too much!

The weather forecast is changing every few minutes.  The latest one has us getting between a tenth of an inch to a quarter of an inch of ice...followed by SIX inches of SNOW between Sunday night and Monday night.  Seriously?  We had 58 degrees today.

I am seriously hoping that this is just an exaggeration on the part of the weather people.  I really NEED the roads to be clear on Tuesday morning!  The kids are supposed to be going back to school on that morning!  I need my break!

While I ponder that, I'll go gather up all the supplies needed for an extended period without power.  And...of course, for us in Atlanta, that includes milk and bread!