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Diet & House Updates

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DIET

The diet hit a few snags…the biggest of which is my TOTAL frustration with some of the exercises. Of course, the video demonstration makes it look SOOOO simple, but there are one or two I just cannot do. I have enough trouble trying to breathe correctly while I do them, and one is purely breathing which makes no sense to me.

The second snag is that the food is just soooo bland!! Tom can continue to eat anything (repeatedly) and I am just not cut out for either totally bland or the same meals (egg whites, chicken, rice, fruit) meal after meal after meal, day after day after day.

The third and final snag is that today we sort of fell off the wagon. We innocently decided to “splurge” on sushi for lunch—technically something we can eat (rice and fish), but the splurge came with the salad (lettuce okay, ginger dressing not so much—I forgot to ask for it on the side) and the miso soup. And we ate more than we should have. But still not TOTALLY awful. (And everything was soooooooooooooooooo good!) We decided that if we did that once a week, we could suffer through the rest of the week. (Tom, bless his heart, is trying to make this as easy as possible for me, because he knows I am about THISCLOSE to quitting and going back to low-carb.) So we went home and he took a nap and I watched some TV and we got a phone call about 4:30 saying “Where are you? We thought you were coming!” CRAP! We had the dates wrong—we were missing our friends’ BBQ at their new house (not friends from the neighborhood—friends from back in Virginia when Tom was as OCS). So it was off to Hampstead—a 50-minute drive—where we entered to find chocolate brownies, cheeseburgers, fried mushrooms, cheese and crackers, hot dogs, corn on the cob…basically nothing LEGAL to eat! So we picked at a few things and were in heaven at the TASTES…but ate too much (compared to what we normally eat) and just about got sick.

NEW HOUSE

We close this Friday. We close on our current house Wednesday, so that’s when we (meaning Tom) will start moving boxes into the new garage…so we can hopefully have everything done by Saturday. What am I saying, Hoping? We have to have everything moved out by Saturday at 3pm because that’s when the carpet cleaners come!

We continue to pack. The garage is full of boxes and the guest room is about full. We have packed so much but there’s still so much stuff left! Most of it is big-ticket items like dressers and beds and desks. I can’t fathom us getting it all done, but Tom seems to think we can do it. Of course, it’s supposed to be 98 this week, plus humidity, so it will probably feel like 115. Lovely.

Our first excellent dinner!

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So the food has been ENTIRELY too bland, even with the hopeful addition of Nu-Salt (blech – no salt taste at all). So tonight we tried a recipe from the plan…chili. And man, was it AMAZING, at least compared to what we’ve been eating. Tomatoes (no salt added) for veggies, pinto beans for carbs, and ground turkey for protein. Add some spices, garlic, and onion, and I have a new meal I think I could literally eat every day!!

Mmmmmmmm. Chocolate cake!

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So yesterday afternoon, someone was walking around eating a piece of grilled chicken that everyone thought was chocolate cake (trust me, it really did look like chocolate cake from a distance). After that moment, I was CRAVING chocolate cake. Of course I wasn’t going to buy one or make one, but I kept thinking about it. Fast forward to today when I find out someone has a birthday today…and…they requested chocolate cake!! Oh my, was it deeeeelicious!!

It’s really happening!!

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We got the appraisal on our house Monday and unfortunately, it was $2,000 short. This was a HUGE disappointment, since we couldn’t really afford to lower our selling price any—we need every penny in order to pay off my car, which is a contingency of our new loan. We had thought it might come in low—by $500 or $1,000 at the most—so being two grand off really put us in a funk. The problem with the appraisal coming in low is that the sale is a VA loan, and the VA will only loan what the house appraises for!

We discussed our options, but none of them were able to get us in the new house without borrowing money. The good news is we had offers from both my mom and dad to loan us the difference, but I had never borrowed ANY money from either of them up until now, and I didn’t want to start (well, I borrowed an apartment deposit from dad once, but I paid it back within a month). I didn’t sleep much that night, wondering what we were going to do and running through various scenarios. What we kept ending up with was that we didn’t want to give up the sale because (obviously) we still really wanted our new house…and…we also sorta had half the house already packed in boxes! Ironically, had we not just decided to take our honeymoon (and already paid for half of it, with the other half due this month), we could have afforded the difference.

So we went to the selling agent asking if there was ANY way the buyers might pay an extra $1,000 and we’d drop the price $1,000. Since their loan wouldn’t cover it, their extra $1,000 would be out-of-pocket…something probably not easy for a young couple. We also felt guilty even asking since they are already paying ALL the closing costs…and we didn’t want to scare them off and lose the sale. Well, we were lucky…they REALLY wanted the house and eagerly accepted our offer. So, it’s a go. We close on this house on August 10 and will hopefully close on our new house August 12 (we can’t close the same day since we have to wait to get our money, then take it to the bank to pay off the car). We are borrowing the difference from my mom and David (thanks again!). We should be able to store stuff in the garage of the new house before closing, and Tom is certain we can be fully moved in by Saturday morning (13th), so we should officially be in our new house at 108 Birdie Court on Saturday, August 13. ONE MONTH FROM NOW. HOLY SHIT—it’s really happening. 🙂

Stupid kittens…or are they?

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So I said to Tom last night, “When we move into the new house, we should lock the cats out of our room so we can sleep better.” I mean, I love nothing better than seeing a cat curled up on our bed, but at night…well, they walk on you and wake you up (those little kitty feet, although small, can really hurt), they start crying and nudging you at 6:30am (weekday or not), and they often fight and/or play with each other at the most inopportune times. And the previous night, I had been rudely awakened by a kitten actually jumping on the bed and landing square on my back—not how you really want to be woken up. So I wanted to try locking them out at the new house—figuring a new place, a new routine. Well, Tom suggested we just try it right then. So we did. (Well, we left Fuzzy in because he was under the bed and he’s usually good for the whole night.) I didn’t have high hopes, because we’d tried it before a few times and they always (ALWAYS) end up crying in the middle of the night. It wakes me up but Tom generally sleeps through it, so he thinks it was successful… But I was game to give it another try.

As always, the first few hours went fine…and then in the middle of the night, you start to hear the whining. And the crying. And then you hear the door handle jiggling (seriously) so you know someone is up on their hind feet trying to get in. AND THEN (and this is the most hilarious of all), you hear them actually running headlong into (INTO!) the door. By this time, Tom and I are both (yes, BOTH!) awake and laughing at our stupid cats trying to get into our room by butting their heads into the door. It’s 2am. So we try to ignore it (very hard for me) and then we hear the ultimate in can’t-sleep-through-it noise: Fuzzy getting ready to puke. If you’ve heard it, it’s UNMISTAKABLE. And then we hear him actually hack something up. Well, now we’ve GOT to get up to find it and clean it so we don’t step in it (having forgotten about it by morning). Well, this means we have to open our door and now, yep, the kittens rush in and Fuzzy rushes out. The kittens curled up on the bed, totally content, and fell right asleep. Tom and I laid awake for probably an hour. After finally falling asleep, Charlie—right on schedule at 6:30am—starts crying and nudging me. ARGH! About that time, Tom got up and chased the cats out so I could sleep in peace awhile longer.

Like I said…new house, new routine. We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

Clearance center, my ass!

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So we were out gallivanting and decided to look at some headboards—mostly for ideas (since headboards are outrageously expensive) but also just in case we saw anything in a decent price range. All furniture places have clearance sections/rooms/areas so we always go there—you never know what you will find. So we went to a new furnture store we’d never been to, looked around, and got REALLY excited because there was a gorgeous headboard set that we loved—but of course it had no price on it. So we had to actually hunt down an employee (exasperating, since at our usual furniture store, there’s always someone within sight that offers help or you can go to for help). We told him we were interested in a piece in the clearance room but it wasn’t priced—and guess what he told us? “Oh, it might be a new piece. That’s where we unload freight.” I looked at him like he had three heads: “So you’re telling me you unpack ALL your NEW items in a room specifically marked CLEARANCE? That’s not very customer-friendly.” He said they didn’t have anywhere else to do it. Of course, the headboard we had noticed was indeed a new piece. We asked him to point out what items were indeed clearance, and there were about four couches in the 14×60 room. Clearance room, my ass. We will never step foot in that store again.

We have an offer!

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Two couples came to look at the house this evening, and we could tell the one couple was absolutely hooked when the girl asked “Would you leave the shower curtain in the master bath? I love the lilacs!” So we weren’t terribly surprised when we got a call from our agent saying they were making an offer and the paperwork would be done in the morning. The best part? It was for the full asking price PLUS all closing costs! (The “no closing costs” had been one of our contingencies—the market is just so hot [especially in our price range] that sellers can pretty much ask for whatever they want.)

Now we just have to hope the house appraises for our full asking price…it’s going to be close, if not VERY close.

We’re officially for sale!

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Our house is officially for sale! (Of course, there’s a long and convoluted story behind it, but suffice it to say the house is the cleanest and most organized it’s ever been!) The good news is that no one expects it to last until the weekend, and no one would be surprised if it sold today. The bad news is that the house we put an offer on is still taking backup offers (again, long story) so there’s a chance (although extremely small) that we could lose it.

Okay, so you want the long and convoluted version? Here goes. Let me try a list—it may help simplify things:

  • One of our best friends (and previous neighbor), Roger, is an up and coming real estate agent.
  • It’s been known since Day 1 that if/when we sell our house, he will be the agent.
  • I now happen to work for one of the top agents in the city.
  • We planned on doing a FSBO (we thought we had a buyer) so Roger would get a 2% fee and we’d save some money.
  • I had to break it to my boss that I was listing and buying with another agent. It was awkward and she was surprised but overall it went okay.
  • The FSBO fell through and, due to a contract contingency for our new house, we had to have our house sold or listed by Monday.
  • Roger couldn’t go down to 4%, which we needed in order to make what we wanted to make on the sale of our house.
  • I had to go crawling back to my boss to suck up and ask if she would sell our house. (I actually cheated and took the wuss way out by having Roger call her!) 😳
  • She agreed with no hesitation (phew!).

Oh, the trials and tribulations of real estate! 🙂

A Change of Plans: A Blog Exclusive

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We aren’t announcing this via email blast to the whole family yet, because all plans aren’t final. However, if you are one of the loyal readers of this blog, you will find out ahead of everyone else. See, there are benefits of reading my blog!

Long story short, we are going to be in Jacksonville another 2-3 years—and are in the process of selling our house and buying a new (larger) house. Wow, we know. It was a big shock to us, as well, since the last anyone knew, we were planning on coming home to Michigan within the next year or so.

Why did we perform a 180? Well, Tom had a talk with the head of the Business Technology Division and a prior colonel at 2MARDIV. He had no problem with Tom extending for one year here at base, but he thought it would be in Tom’s best interest to go for augmentation. Augmentation is a two-year commitment that changes his status from a reserve officer to an active duty officer and permits him to continue on in the Marine Corps if he decides he wants to go back into the Marines (I warned him that he might not like working in the real world!). If he were to decline his augmentation, he would be burning a more secure bridge than he expected.

When Tom told me about this we discussed it for a while and decided that a two-year commitment here at base would not kill either of us (although we really want to come home, we want to make sure we are in the best financial position to do so). Staying another few years will also allow Tom to go further in his masters work. Also, Tom has to figure out his schedule for getting his degree—there is only one class he can take this fall semester…so depending on the rest of the semesters he may need the entire three years to finish!

Another factor in our decision to stay is that Tom’s company commander said that he wouldn’t send him anywhere and that his company has too many officers that haven’t gone overseas yet. Of course, this isn’t a 100% guarantee (nothing is in the Corps), but we’re comfortable with it.

We also discussed our finances. Since I work for a real estate agent, we have been tracking the amounts that the houses in our area have been going for. The way we look at it, right now is probably the best time to get the best chunk of money out of our house. We could still get a little more if we waited another 2-3 years, but if we were to roll our money into a larger home in a more prestigous area, in 2-3 years we will be able to leave with a more substantial profit. We are just trying to leave Jacksonville with the most money possible and if we were to stay in the house we are at now, it wouldn’t be as advantageous as a new, larger home. As a positive, we’re fairly certain the new house will appraise for more than we’re paying, so we will actually start off ahead of the game. (Our neighbors, who moved into the same subdivision four or so months ago, have already had their house appraise for about 10k more than they paid). Of course, buying this new home is all depending on the sale and appraisal of our current house—and if we can’t get what we want (either sale- or appraisal-wise), then we can wait. The goal is to pay off the car (which payment will actually rollover into our new mortgage) and make a comfortable, yet dedicated, investment.

Ultimately, it’s a huge step we’re both excited AND scared about. The prospect of a new, larger house is exhilarating…but the prospect of doubling our mortgage is frightening (even though it all logically figures out). We figure everything happens for a reason, so if it was meant to be, it will be.

WISH US LUCK!

I hate spammers!

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Last week, I started receiving loads of spam that appears to come from me. It’s horrible! I get about 10-15 a day, and they all have viruses and worms and nasty things attached, and they’re all addressed from hudson2001.com—either from admin@ or webmaster@ or administration@ or support@. And they’re all addressed to various names, from john to pedro to frank to sandra to kevin. And I can’t block them since they appear to come from my own address. My domain host was going to try and block the incoming ISP but it apparently hasn’t done any good. I HATE SPAMMERS.

Procrastination is expensive!

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Owning a car sucks—at least today, LOL. Our check engine light came on a few days ago so it went in for service today. We were expecting it to be the oxygen sensor (what it was the last time the light came on—a mere $35 issue). Well, it was that, BUT there was another issue which they needed to do an in-depth diagnosis to determine…at a charge of $70. Well, you can’t NOT do it… So the next call was to tell me they found what it was—the air flow ratio sensor, which can be replaced at a cost of…$380!! If we don’t get it fixed…it will eventually kill the catalytic converter. Lovely. Then, I had also had them do an oil change…so they noticed that ALL our fluids (and especially the transmission fluid) need flushing. Add $460 to the bill. Egads. I wasn’t prepared to deal with all this today, so we’re not having it done today…but we need to do it soon. Of course, had we kept up with out 30,000 or 35,000 mile scheduled maintenance plan, we probably would have already had some of this stuff done. So, our procrastination is now going to take a big-assed bite out of our savings… He said the air flow ratio sensor might be covered under an extended warranty—which I thought we bought, but they couldn’t find any record of it…so I put in a call to Spartan Toyota in Lansing and they looked it up and said we bought the 6-year 100,000 mile warranty (phew!)…so now I just hope the air sensor is covered by it!!! Hoo boy.

Online poker sucks!

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I’ve been playing a little online poker but I really don’t like it because people bid stupid (not like you’re supposed to, according to the rules) and I can’t play with that. Why? I’m still learning, and it’s so much harder to learn when people don’t play according to the rules. Of course, I just had a horrible experience on a hand…

I was last to bet.

Pre-flop (before any cards are shown, so you’re just bidding on the strength of your two cards)—Everyone checked, I raised 200, then everyone called. O-kay. In a real game, it’s unlikely everyone would check then the same people would all call.

Flop (the first three community cards are turned over)—Check, check, a guy bets 600, then everyone calls (including the checkers). O-kay. Again, in a real game, it’s unlikely everyone would check then the same people would all call 600.

Turn (the next community card is turned over)—Check, check, a guy bets 10 – 10! So after having just bet 600, he drops to 10. What the hell kind of bidding is that? Everyone calls his measly 10 and I raise 200. Then everyone calls my 200. WHAT? So no one has a hand good enough to raise themselves (the past three rounds) but again they will call my 200?

River (the last of the community cards)—Check, check, check, checks all around of course, so I go all-in for almost 1300 with 2-pair and…guess what? Everyone calls! ARGH!! THIS ISN’T HOW YOU PLAY POKER!!!

I ended up losing to 3-kind, which I don’t care, but I CANNOT PLAY WITH PEOPLE WHO BID LIKE THAT! IT MAKES ME NUTS!

Forgotten Wallets and Locked Cars

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So it’s 8:09am and I’m waiting for Tom to come home…to unlock my car. Hoo boy. He finally got the garage cleaned out yesterday so I can park in it again—-so as I’ve been doing since I’ve started parking in the garage, I left my keys in it. So I just went out to leave for work and—-surprise!—-the car is locked. What? Huh? Why on earth is it locked? It had to be Tom… The funny thing is that I already talked to him once this morning, about 20 minutes ago, when he called to tell me he forgot his wallet and would I bring it in with me! Ironically, this same thing happened about a month ago—-and before that, we’d never locked our keys in the car (at least since we’ve been in NC). Tom swore up and down that he didn’t do it—-that he even UNlocked it this morning. Unfortunately, it’s locked, so he did it! Oh well. So he’s on his way home now and I’ll be a little late for work. And to top it off, I feel like crap. I started feeling icky yesterday, slept nicely last night courtesy of Nyquil, and feel like I could still be in bed sleeping nicely. Sore throat, stuffy/runny nose, clogged head. Fun, fun, fun!

Stupidity, Instead of…

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So I was just in the kitchen frying some sausage to have for ready for breakfasts this week.

Instead of the cake pan or jelly roll pan that I typically use to drain the sausage, I decided to use one of my new white porcelain platters because it was more convenient to retrieve.

Instead of putting the platter on the counter like I typically do, I put it on the stovetop.

Instead of just having green beans with our salmon for dinner, I decided to make instant miso soup.

Instead of making it in a soup pan like I normally do, I decided instead to use the tea pot to heat the water.

A minute or so later, I hear a loud and distinct POP and in that instant I was totally baffled…until I looked at the stovetop and my brand new, never-been-used, platter was in pieces!

^#(@$!!*%#$”!@*%#$

I had (as I’ve done too many times to count) turned on the wrong damn burner. Generally, about 95% of the time I cook on the stove, I use the front burners. The remaining 5% is split between having to use the front burner and using two burners at a time. Needless to say I really hate electric stoves. I love my smooth top, but I love the INSTANT GRATIFICATION of flames. Of course, Tom had come running when he heard me swearing, and he was trying to get the pieces picked up. And instead of waiting for the pieces to cool, he grabbed one that was still hot and burned his fingers.

^#(@$!!*%#$”!@*%#$

I was so mad at myself because, as I’ve said, this is not the first time I’ve done this. But typically there’s nothing on the burner. So, there was $10 down the toilet…ugh! But, the platter was apparently a fairly decent conductor of heat because the paper towels that had been sitting on it were brown. Anyway, I guess I was only meant to have one platter, because I bought two to have a set. Good thing they’re at Target so I could get another…if I dare.

Our $1800 weekend!

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We were tired of seeing all the pallets and crap gathering in our backyard, so we decided to have a bonfire, come hell or high winds (the past week had been totally calm, except—of course—for the night we wanted to have the fire). We had the hose at the ready and only had to use it once when a small bit of ash started a little piece of our lawn on fire (and by little, I mean about a foot section). Oh, and Tom had to chase down some escaping ash as it floated serenely away towards our neighbor’s house…but overall, it was fairly uneventful (thankfully). We visited, had a few drinks, and enjoyed s’mores. It was also the first time the guys all had their new shirts at the same time (Tom and Tom bought themselves one, plus one for Roger, when we were in Myrtle Beach):

The Three Amigos

We also found out that our old neighbors were having a garage sale at their new house. What a perfect time to put Tom’s car down there, I said! (We had planned on taking it down there to sit, since it’s on the main road, but just hadn’t gotten around to it yet.) So we printed the Kelly Blue Book info and went to drive it over (after the bonfire) and…the car was dead. Crap. I had started it a few times while Tom was gone, but it must have sat too long. Tom’s theory was that somehow the “alarm” button had been hit and the alarm went off (silently, since the horn doesn’t actually work) for who knows how long. Since we couldn’t do anything about it right then, we continued on to our neighbors for a dip in the hot tub (the first time, since they’ve moved). Tom assured me that sometime in our life, we would own a hot tub. YIPPEE!

In the morning, Tom jumped the car (and amazingly, the horn started working again!), drove it over, stuck a price on the windshield, and waited. We sat over there visiting for about an hour, and while we were there, there were a few people VERY interested in it. But, as luck would have it, the battery was really dead. The jump didn’t hold so we knew we’d have to buy a battery. We left to run some errands (get a battery!), go grocery shopping for our visitors this week, and do some house things. When we got home, we got a call from our neighbor with the phone number of a guy who was EXTREMELY interested in it. So Tom went back to put the battery in and meet with the guy. Excellent news—after only about one minute into the test drive, he said he absolutely wanted it and would give us the money Monday! WOO HOO!! That night, it was back to Roger and Ursula’s for dinner and games…which was fun, as usual! I had a little too much to drink (damn Tom for surprising me with tequila and margarita mix!) and I was home and in bed by 11:30.

Today was our monthly Walmart run. We’d heard (from online sources) that they’re slowly phasing out a lot of the low-carb products, so we wanted to stock up on some soup that we really like. They already don’t have the Russell Stover (?) Low-Carb Chocolate Fudge Sauce that we love…and they stopped carrying the low-carb Doritos last year. We also wanted to hit the mall (I had to return something) and we were surprised to see that the mall didn’t open until…are you ready?? 1PM! Are you kidding me? We knew it probably opened late, but we figured it was noon, so we weren’t too concerned when we got there at 11:50. We wandered through Sears then at 12:10 asked what the deal was… 1pm. What a crock. Needless to say we didn’t wait. That’s just asinine. Why bother even opening? Ugh. The rest of the day was spent napping and cleaning the house. And Tom just walked in to tell me we were invited over to use the hot tub tonight since we didn’t make it in last night… Cool.

New dresser & armoire!

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I’m so excited! We’re getting a new dresser and armoire! Of course, the stuff I like runs about $5,000 total (damn Martha Stewart prices), so Tom found some other plans we both like and he’s going to build them with my dad when they come down at the end of the month! I can’t wait! Of course, this means we now have a Lowe’s bill again (we JUST finished paying off the last one this month!). But, we love Lowe’s since we always use their 12-months free financing!

Weekend at Myrtle Beach

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Our old neighbors and good friends, Tom and Karen, invited us for a weekend at Myrtle Beach. As it would be my first time there (I’d only driven through on my way home from Hilton Head last summer) I had no idea what to expect. Conversely, Tom was really looking forward to going to an old bar he went to 12 years ago during Spring Break.

We had a great time! On the way down, we stopped in Wilmington to eat at Carrabas, one of my favorite Italian places. Once we got there, we decided to hit Tom’s old bar, Mother Fletcher’s. It was WAAAY on the other side of town, so it was quite a hike—but that’s what he really wanted to do. All the way there, he kept saying “Wow, this is new. Wow, look at that. This wasn’t here before. This area has really grown.” And we just kept reminding him it was TWELVE years ago he was here! So we finally get to the bar, and…IT WAS CLOSED DOWN! Oh, did we have a good laugh over that. Well, poor Tom didn’t, but we certainly did! (I googled it when I got home, and I could find no reason for the closure.) So it was off to Broadway at the Beach to hit a bar. We ended up at Crocodile Rocks, a dueling piano bar…where we had to pay a $7 cover because we weren’t locals (argh!)…and it was soooooo crowded we could never even see the pianos! Of course, the boys decided they wanted to drink, so we spent way more money that night than we anticipated! After that, it was time for sleep so we headed back to the hotel!

The next morning, it was a bit chilly and overcast (probably 60-65) so that was somewhat disappointing—it had been 75-80 the past week at home! We decided to check out the outlet mall nearby…which led to almost an entire day of outlet-mall-shopping! We hit two separate malls, Tom got some new clothes (all on sale, of course!), and I got a few things. I really wanted to hit the QVC Outlet just to see what they had, but by the time we were driving by, we were on a mission for lunch.

Lunch was at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville at Broadway at the Beach. The food was good, although I always have a hard time paying $10 for a burger. But the margaritas were yummilicious…so yummilicious, in fact, that I had two (and just like that, I blew all my low-carb plans). And the Volcano Nachos were really quite good. And so was the Crab and Corn Chowder… After lunch, we walked around the entire Broadway at the Beach—a bunch of shops and restaurants and bars around a lake (click here to see the property map if you didn’t check it out above). We all made some small purchases and just had a fun time gallivanting. But, soon we were exhausted so we headed back to the hotel so we could all take a nap. We thought, how pathetic we are…exhausted at 6pm and wanting to sleep! All we did all day was shop and eat! So we agreed to lay down for 20 minutes. Three hours later, we finally all got up. None of us were really that hungry (we finished lunch around 2), so we thought we’d go out for appetizers and dessert. No one could decide where to go, so I made the decision: Rossi’s. My boss had suggested it so I figured it had to be good. Well, it was good. And fancy. And expensive. Which wouldn’t have been a big deal, had we not already spent a TON of money on food. So we ate cheaply and discovered we were hungrier than we thought we’d been… and all enjoyed really great desserts (we all wanted something different: Karen—Key Lime Pie, Tom T—Cannoli, Tom H—Tiramisu, me—Peanut Butter Chocolate Cheesecake). By this time, it was after 11, so we decided to just go back to the hotel!

But first, we had to take some group shots—we had brought our camera, but hadn’t carried it around all day (so we missed some great shots, of course).

Myrtle Beach with Tom and Karen

Myrtle Beach with Tom and Karen

Stupid credit card fees

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I didn’t lose my credit card and I don’t think I’ve used it anywhere unsafe. However, there was an unauthorized charge for $80 recently so I called to cancel the card and have another reissued. Imagine my surprise when I was told there would be a $10 fee for new cards. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? I have never heard of a fee for reissued cards before and I think it’s just asinine. But I was so flabbergasted that I couldn’t even think or respond—I just said fine. For a split second, I did consider just cancelling the card but it’s the one with our photo on the front that I love…

UPDATE

I wrote an email to customer service complaining about the fee and they said they will credit it as a one-time courtesy. I guess sometimes it pays to complain…

T&W Oyster Bar

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$ • 2383 N.C. Hwy. 58, near Cape Carteret • (252)393-8838
Since 1971, T&W has had customers coming from near and far for steamed oysters served in rustic surroundings — even a roaring fire when the weather is right. Try the combination of two or more seafood items, steak, chicken or a burger. Guests will also find sandwiches made with fried shrimp, oysters, scallops or fish. T&W serves beer and wine and has an ABC license for brown-bagging. Don’t let the line fool you — the restaurant can accommodate close to 250 people, and the bar can handle anyone who stops by to feast on steamed oysters. Banquet facilities are available on site.

I had a few firsts tonight.

  • I ate oysters that were shucked for me (no self-shucking, thankyouverymuch).
  • I ate the best scallops of my life.
  • I choked on a Rooster.
  • I left an unfinished bottle of Smirnoff Ice on the counter.

Let me explain.

T&W’s was supporting Relay for Life by donating 10% of the night’s take. Jane and Dick wanted to go…so we went (and I’ve been wanting to try this place since it was recommended to me right after we moved here). Oysters aren’t my favorite seafood, but they’re not bad, so I was game. The cool thing? I discovered that they’re much better when someone else does the shucking! And I learned the proper way to eat them is on a cracker. Who knew?

We also ordered scallops and spicy shrimp. And the scallops were just TO DIE FOR! I haven’t eaten scallops many times in my life, but these easily topped the scale. So much so that we quickly ate the first side order and ordered another (which, unfortunately, we had to stuff down because we got so full—but we refused to let them go to waste).

So we’re drinking and eating and drinking and eating and the talk turns to a Rooster. What’s a Rooster, you ask? It’s their “specialty”—it sounded fairly hideous but with all the joking (including joking with our shucker), it was determined that I would do one. I tried to say no, but they weren’t having it. So, he starts building this in front of me: a saltine cracker topped with horseradish (then more horseradish—probably 2 TBS), topped with an oyster, sprinkled with pepper, sprinkled with two types of hot sauce, cocktail sauce, jalapeno juice, then a jalapeno slice. 88| I AM NOT KIDDING YOU. (There may have even been another few layers of hot sauce but I lost track.) It was literally 2″ tall so this wasn’t going to be a quick throw down. It looked pretty bad, but Dick said it wasn’t THAT bad (he’d had one the last time he was there). So, I went for it. OH. MY. GOD. You know when you watch TV shows and contestants have to choke something down and it looks like they’re going to upchuck right in the middle of eating it? Well, friends, that was me. IT WAS FREAKING DISGUSTING. I was sweating, my mouth was burning, my nose was running—and in the middle of all this action, I actually had to physically stop myself from throwing it up right at the bar. Jane and Dick were laughing and pointing and telling me I was turning red. Oh, what fun! LOL. I managed to choke most of it down, but spit out a huge chunk. Wow, horrible. (I honestly think it wouldn’t have been that bad without all the horseradish.)

So…then our second order of scallops came out and I wasn’t really that hungry anymore and it was all I could do to not vomit just thinking about that stupid Rooster (two hours later and I’m still a little squeamish about it). So it was about this time that our shucker guy came back, saw that I did the Rooster, and brought me another drink. I had said “no more!” but he brought it and opened it anyway. I was so full and so nauseous that I could only take about 4 sips of the drink and I left the rest there. (An unfinished bottle—alcohol abuse!)

But, all in all it was a fun time. I will definitely go back for the scallops (I think I’m off oysters for awhile).

Micsellaneous Updates

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I found my Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi last night!! I was getting gas last night and thought “Hey, I should check here!” Of course it wasn’t on sale like the Coke was, but I bought it anyway! You can tell I was desperate to have it, since I’ve NEVER IN MY LIFE paid $4.49 for a 12-pack of pop! (I rationalize it by saying it’s still only 37¢ a can.)

Tom should be heading home in two weeks!! Of course I’ve known that he’s coming home soon, but I was looking at the countdown clock last night and “14 days” just hit me like a ton of bricks! FOURTEEN DAYS! TWO WEEKS! Of course, he may not actually make it home for 3-4 weeks at most, but still… I’m getting excited!

It’s time to start seriously watching carbs again!! As most of you probably know, I’ve sort of given up on the whole STRICT no-carb thing since Tom’s been gone. (Well, I did okay for the first three months…but Christmas sucked me in and it’s been downhill ever since!) I had been thinking I would wait until Tom came home and then we’d both start again, but I HAVE to start now…a pair of khakis that used to be loose straight from the dryer are now just a bit tight (definitely still wearable, but definitely not loose). Uh oh. I’ve consciously known what I’ve been doing, though, so I only have myself to blame. So, it’s back to being strict again…which is good, since I’ve been feeling sluggish again. I just find it amazing that the food you eat can have SUCH an effect on your body and your outlook! So, I’m actually looking forward to starting!!

Another Dud Weekend

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I have such high hopes every weekend….and then nothing happens and before I know it, the weekend is over and it’s back to work.

BLECH.

So let me tell you about my EXCITING weekend. (I’m being sarcastic if you were unsure.) I went to town Saturday morning! WOO HOO! Can you feel the excitement begin? Let me just say it was bizzzzzz-e (as usual). First I went to BB&B looking for a hair trimmer—Tom will need one since I had to send him his—but I just couldn’t decide on one. Then I went to Petsmart to get cat food and litter, but thought litter was cheaper at Target so waited on that. I wanted to get a new water fountain because it looks SO cool, but couldn’t bring myself to spend $40 on a water fountain when ours still works fine.

Then I went to Target…and realized I forgot my receipt for the cold sore cream (one of the only reasons I went, to get my $2 back) so roamed around and got some water and litter. Then I decided to brave Walmart. And believe me when I say “brave Walmart.” If you’re laughing at me, you’ve obviously never been to our Walmart! I lucked into a parking spot after only driving up and down five rows (about five minutes) and it was only because someone was leaving. (I’ve often left Walmart because there was not ONE space to be had.) Anyway, it was not a very productive trip. I mean, I got what I needed but they didn’t have the things I wanted the most! NO PLACE AROUND HERE has the low-carb Doritos Edge chips anymore (I used to be able to get them at Walmart, Target, Food Lion, Piggly Wiggly, and the commissary). NO PLACE AROUND HERE has Diet Vanilla Pepsi OR Diet Wild Cherry Pepsi in cans (I’ve never even seen it, but it’s not as frustrating as having something and then not having it)! Also, now that I know I love Emeril’s specialty sausages (I love the Chicken & Apple), no one has them (again, I used to be able to get them at Sam’s Club, Walmart, and the commissary)! Sometimes I wonder what the hell is up with this town. Give me a Glen’s or Meijers any freakin’ day of the week…

And so ends my exciting expedition to town.

The rest of my weekend was spent watching TV, watching movies, and for a moment or two, actually twiddling my thumbs because I was SO DAMN BORED. (No suggestions from the peanut gallery, thankyouverymuch. There’s stuff to do…I just don’t want to do it.)

Chase sucks!

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I used to have a Chase credit card. USED TO. I finally decided to close it…and that’s where the fun begins…

Since I no longer needed the account, I wanted all my online information deleted. Easy request, right? You’d think. I emailed them via their own secure message center.

No luck.

They gave me an 800 number to call. Fine, I did.

No luck.

They told me to email [via my own email] to request closure. Fine, I did. They told me to reconfirm I wanted Bill Payment cancelled since it would be final and I would no longer be able to make payments.

Um, not quite.

I responded that I wanted ALL my information (i.e. login, account, bank account, etc.) deleted in addition to the Bill Payment service. They responded…are you ready????

After reviewing your account information, I have needed to forward the information onto our research department for further evaluation.

For further assistance please log on to Chase Online at http://www.chase.com and access your ‘Pay Bill’ link. This will launch the Chase Bill Management Center window where you can select ‘Contact Us’.

Please note that replies sent from within your personal email account will travel unsecured through the Internet. Therefore, we recommend that you access our website to send a secure email inquiry.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME? ARGH!!! They’ve now recommended I email them via their own secure message center—which is the first %(*&#* thing I did!

Republican Dinner

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You’ll never guess what I’m doing Saturday night. 🙁

Going to a Republican dinner. HA. HAHAHAHA, I know.

I sort of got suckered into it…one of those sorta-work things that I found it hard to say no to to get out of. Jane just came in and said “Can you rustle up a date for this Saturday?” Long story short, she has two tickets to this Republican dinner thingy (at the Country Club—ooh la la) and a local celebrity (store owner) said he’d give her two more tickets if she wanted them. I told her I doubt I could rustle up anyone (especially not on such short notice) so Kathy (another agent from down the hall that’s close with Jane and Dick) is going to go. So, I didn’t really say I’d go or that I wanted to go, but it was just sort of assumed and before I could weasel my way out of it with some great excuse, I was meeting them at Jane’s at 5:30.

Oh boy.

Not only am I NOT political in the least, if I had to choose, I’d go with Democrat. Like I want to waste a night of my life listening to politicians babble about who knows what, just for a free $50 dinner?

But just think, Tom…you’ll surely get roped into this shit when you come home!!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA.

Deployment: Yippee For Taxes

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Wow. That’s all I can say right now—wow.

I got our taxes done this week. This was the first year since we’ve been married that I’ve had to do it—we get it done on base for free, and Tom always does it because it’s more convenient for him. So, thanks to the deployment, it was my turn!

So, as per the past few years, I wasn’t expecting much back (for example, last year we got $159 federal and $229 state). So imagine my complete and utter surprise when the tax guy finished and said, ever-so-casually, that my return was $1451. My first reaction? “I’m sorry, that must be a mistake!” He reassured me that the amount was correct. Why the big difference? You won’t believe it. Deployment. All money earned while deployed in a combat zome is not taxed…but they keep taking out taxes as normal! So, we obviously overpaid by a large margin—so it’s all coming back! Talk about a great morning…

Clean Sweep!?

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Too bad this show is only looking for people in California…otherwise, I’d be signing up in a heartbeat!

So, I’ve decided this is what we have to do at our house (surprise, Tom!). We have actually discussed it before—but we both agree that we really don’t have that much big-stuff-type clutter to get rid of (I’ve seen the show and I don’t think we’re like the people they showcase)—but we have to do something because I’m tired of the clutter!

Here’s a good example that I was talking to our friends about… We probably have 3-4 large Rubbermaid containers of plain ol’ odds and ends crap. From when we moved from Virginia and just threw a bunch of shit in a container to not have to decide what to do with it or pack it. And once we moved here, and people were coming over and we had to hide a bunch of stuff quickly? Another container. And another. And how every so often I decide “THIS CRAP HAS TO GO!” and I make Tom drag out a box so I can go through it and either “put it away or throw it away” — yet at the end of the night, most everything is back in the container to be stored again?!

ARGH!

So, back to the friends. I said it’s obvious I don’t need any of that shit in there, but I just can’t throw it away because…I…JUST…CAN’T! I might need it someday, even though I obviously haven’t desperately needed anything in there YET. Well, Roger suggested I just throw the entire container away—sight unseen—that way I wouldn’t have to look inside and worry about what I was throwing away! I laughed, but I have to admit he has a valid point. At this moment, I couldn’t really tell you anything specific in any of those containers—so why do I need anything that’s in there? It’s obviously not that important. And I know if I even just peeked in there “just to see” then I would lose all momentum and I would be back to square one! (But I have to admit that sometimes I do find treasures…on my last “dig” through one of these junk containers, I found our wedding DVD—can you even imagine how sick I would be if I had tossed that? Although, if I tossed it without looking, I guess I would never know—and I would just assume I lost it!)

So, my goal, before Tom comes home, is to start getting rid of the small stuff. (My stuff, hon, don’t worry.) I may need help getting the boxes out of the attic (because that’s where I think they are) but I refuse to keep crap any longer. I’ve already started on a small scale (baby steps, baby steps)…I went through the bathroom cabinets and threw out lots of crap (like half-full bottles of products I don’t use anymore and don’t know if I ever will again).

My goal, once Tom does get home, is to get rid of even more crapola. Bigger boxes of crapola. Maybe even bigger chunks of crapola!? There, I’ve made the decision, LOL. (According to today’s Oprah, you have to make the decision in order for there to be any chance of success. If you start out by saying “I will try” then you’re already defeated. She was talking about weight loss, but I believe the theory still holds true here.)

So, with the TV show Clean Sweep as my guide, I’m hoping for a less clutterific house. Anyone want to come and help? I think we’re going to need a neutral third party!

FINAL NOTICE MY ASS!

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Tonight I received a notice from our credit union’s insurance department telling me they hadn’t yet received the insurance policy that covers the collateral [on Tom’s new car]. Specifically:

FINAL NOTICE BEFORE PREMIUM IS ADDED TO YOUR LOAN BALANCE AND LOAN PAYMENT IS INCREASED.

HUH? Could someone please tell me how on earth I could receive a FINAL NOTICE without ever having received any PRIOR NOTICES?

Also, have they never received ANY insurance information? Since November when we bought the car? Or do they just mean the renewal (since it’s due this month)? Of course, it’s after 5 so I can’t call (and I can’t email since no email address was given—even though it SAID to email)…so I faxed it.

Of course I had all the necessary information, but what the hell? I want to know who is slacking—Marine Federal Credit Union or USAA—because it sure as hell wasn’t me.