My New Laptop

Ok, here is the story of how I acquired my new laptop. Actually I already have a Dell Laptop that my husband bought as a Valentine's Day gift. At Christmastime, our friend, M asked for help buying a gift for his wife T. Well, M doesn't have a good track record for buying gifts for T so my husband suggested a new laptop. T has an old laptop that she used for pharmacy school but she dropped it and even though Dell fixed it, the computer is not what it used to be. So M is excited, yeah, she needs one. The thing is that my husband orders it, pays for it and has it shipped to our house so T won't find out. I receive the computer Dec. 22nd just in time and to be nice I wrapped it too. Everything seems to going right and I'm excited to find out her reaction.

Christmas Day: I called at 10 am and speak with M. Has she opened it yet? No, she hasn't wrapped his gifts yet so she hasn't opened any of hers. What's the deal with that? Ok, the reasons keep coming as to why she hasn't opened it...they went to his dad's house and came back too late or she went to work. WTF?? Finally I talk to her and ask her point blank if she opened the gift. This time she says yes then silence...I ask, well how do you like it? It's not what I expected. And that was it! All I could do was make some small talk and get off the phone. The next day I had H call M to find out the details. It turns out that T was fuming mad and said she didn't want it! I was SHOCKED! After a bit, I became furious at her ...what kind of response is that to have to a Christmas gift from your husband? The reason she gave is that M didn't give a gift from his heart...she wanted something romantic! For crying out loud....how can you hate a new computer?? To make a long story short, she decided to return it....but H intervened since it is a super cool computer and ended up giving it to me and H took my previous laptop. What a sweetie! When M brought the computer...it wasn't even unwrapped! Only a corner was lifted up where it was taped...what a biatch!! So every chance I get, my new laptop is out where T can see it when they come over. She even has the gall to admire it, the widescreen etc...while I want to scream at her...Yeah, you stupid cow...that's what you could have had!!! Needless to say, I REFUSE to help with any future gift ideas!! That reminds me of the time when I tried to book a helicopter tour of Los Angeles for M to celebrate their anniversary but that it another dramatic story....will I ever learn???

Yard Sale Time

We have been living in our current house for 6 years and there are STILL boxes we have not unpacked! My sister-in-law Lupe is having a yard sale to benefit her son's drum corp so today we went through some boxes and closets to donate items. Before we moved into our house we lived in a 2 bedroom apartment for 3 years then bought a 5 bedroom house so I guess we only unpacked the stuff we needed. Those organizational type people say that you should throw out clothes you haven't worn in a year because you won't miss it. I agree up to a point.

So when we were going though one big box, at the top I saw clothes and swim suits I will never wear again and almost said just give that whole thing away. But no, Hector dug down past all the useless clothing and found a Super NES system (which I loved playing) and a PS1. He also found a video that I made with my best friend Kathy. We took my wedding photos, videotaped them and set music to it. There was also footage of when she and I went to Las Vegas, acting goofy at the Warner Bros. store (no longer exists) and the Hard Rock casino. Ahh, good times! So back to the story, I set aside all the other stuff in the box for the yard sale, found the super NES cartridge I knew of in our house and we plugged it in. It took a couple of tries to get the thing working but it is one of my husband's favorite games...The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past. He's still playing it now 7 hours after I found it this afternoon. More good times (for Hector)...I just watched. Now we can afford to have our own Gamecubes so we don't have to wait for the other to finish!

Another project we did is help my oldest son with a school project. Tyler is only in kindergarten but this week he is the Star of the Week in his class. There are 10 cards that he needs to complete like, My Favorite Food is ______ and then he can draw a picture or use photos, whatever he wants. It took some time because I procrastinated for a week and left it to the last minute. Just when you think you're done with homework, your children bring it home for you to help them! Arrgh.

Flashback

I just got a call from my mom saying she has been in a car accident. My mom is fine but shaken up and scared. A truck had made a left turn in front of them, hitting an ambulance which then hit my mom's car. A hit and run accident. Some minor damage to the car but the main thing is that my mom is okay. Even the littlest accident can send the body into adrenaline mode.
I had a flashback to my car accident which happened in 1993. My car was a new, red Mitsubishi Eclipse that I had for a month. I was going to work and just entered the freeway. The lane was backed up due to the next exit so I pulled up to the last car and stopped. I am waiting for the cars to move then BAM! I was rear-ended and my first thought was,"Great, now I am going to be late for work." But the car just kept going forward and in slow motion. The hood of my crumpled up and I hit a car in front of me then another. I realized that I was still going forward past cars then over the shoulder and suddenly down an embankment. Dust, dirt and gravel filled the car and finally the car came to a stop near the bottom of the embankment. I closed my eyes when all the grit flew into the car to protect my eyes (I wear contact lenses). I remember smelling gasoline and began to yell for help. After that, everything was a blur. Firemen, police and ambulance arrived. I still kept my eyes closed because I didn't want to add having to tear out my contacts in pain so they kept asking every few minutes if I was awake. I'm not sure how much time passed but the firemen had to use the jaws of life to cut the top of the car off. I was told that an 18 wheeler tanker full of milk had plowed into the back of my car and propelled me a few hundred feet down the freeway with my car stuck in front hitting a few cars along the way before sliding down a 100 ft. embankment off the side of the freeway. Everyone told me I was very lucky to be alive. My injuries was a fractured pelvis, multiple bruises and cuts. I had to stay in the hospital for 10 days followed with 2 months of physical therapy. It was a really difficult time but it all worked out. I got a new car (my Eclipse was totalled) and eventually got a settlement from the 18 wheeler's insurance.
I try to remember that life is short and live my life to the fullest!

The Beginning

Today I decided that I waste enough time on my computer along with countless others on this planet so I'm taking the plunge into blogging. Not that I expect this blog to change the world but I admit it is fun to read and express ideas.
It's Friday and my husband has the day off. I had planned to take him shopping for snowboard boots (early Valentine's day present) but that kind of thing you can't just surprise the person with a pair. The thought and gesture is there but I have to take him to see which boots he likes which ruins the element of surprise. Thankfully, he doesn't mind that part. We've been married for 9 years now and we take separate mini-vacations every year. For the last 3 years, he takes off with a couple of guy friends and they go snowboarding for 5 days at Lake Tahoe. For my time off, I usually go to Las Vegas for a 3 days and one year I took a week long cruise to Alaska. It is a nice break and it makes me appreciate him more while he is gone. We have 2 sons, ages 3 and 6 so I notice the help he provides. What can I say? It works for us..
But back to my plans for today...a friend called this morning at 8am while I was getting the kids ready for school. He has awful back pain from a chronic recurrence of kidney stones so he needs help. My husband is helping drive his friend to the doctor so our shopping will have to wait until later. I was hoping that we could get the shopping done before my oldest son gets out of school. Oh well, maybe later.
I need to give my friend Kathy J. a big birthday greeting! She turns the B-I-G 40 today! Ahhh, where does the time go? We met in the 2nd grade and became best friends. Over time, we haven't stayed as close but she remains one of my cherished friends. Happy Birthday Kathy!!