My car boo boo!!

Sunday morning when I backed out of the garage when heading to Panera for my Sunday paper ritual, I hit the side of the garage and tore my mirror completely off!! I had to duct tape it back on!! :(
$1048.64!! Whoo Hoo!!! Ouch!!! That also includes replacing the fender Paul cracked up this winter. Oh well. Who needs savings anyway?

Buster the cat!!! Another of my loves from the route.

Easter

We had such a nice Easter with Paul's parents! We had a delicious ham and Paul made fried potatoes. We also brought corn bread and potato salad. It was yummy!!

We also helped them re-hang their living room curtains which was quite amusing. In the end we e cut the seams with a razor blade!! We finally got them up.

Then, we went home, dropped the leftovers off and took off for Bar Louie's for a drink, Barnes & Noble for a cappuccino, and then off to the movies for Adventureland, which was pretty good. BUSY DAY!!!!

Easter

Classy snack, Gretta the cat, and my chiropractor's fish!!

Lovely weekend

For the end of my vacation week, we went up to Schaumburg for a little relaxation. We stayed at our new favorite hotel, Hyatt Place, near Woodfield Mall and had a ball. First, we went to one of our favorite restaurant, P.F. Chang's. They have this fabulous lamb dish I love, which is weird because I really dont eat lamb very much. This dish, though, is truly wonderful; full of spices!

After lunch we walked around Woodfield for some shopping. Victoria Secret was having a big sale and I got a cute travel bag for my many toiletries which I sorely needed! It came in very handy at the end of the weekend!! I also bought a Cure shirt at Hot Topic. It is so cute and Paul loves it.

After shopping, we checked into our hotel and unpacked. We brought our DVD player and some movies from home, so we hooked that up and watched Rachael Getting Married. It was really good though rather sad... After the movie, we took a trip to the pool area downstairs and sat in the jacuzzi for a while. We had to get out when 4 fat people decided we didnt deserve any privacy and sat their fat butts in with us!! We went back up to the room and watched Braveheart on TV, one of our favorites.

The next hour is censored; SORRY!! :) Later, we went to another of our favorite haunts, Ram Brewing Company. We always sit in their enormous bar and I always order the same thing; Blue Crab and Artichoke sandwich. YUM YUM!!! We stayed a while and then walked back to our hotel right next door. It was pretty cold and I was glad because I had a chance to wear some winter clothes I had just bought. I have a black cashmere cape I was very happy to wear!!

Next morning, we went down to the complimentary breakfast and munched! Then we packed up and headed to the downtown Chicago area. Paul wanted to stop at a spice shop on Wells, so we stopped there and he picked up some great spices so that he can make fabulous dinners for me!! :) Then, we headed to Flattop Grill for some Mongollian BBQ. As usual, it was fabulous!!

After lunch, we went to World Market and then Whole Foods for some grocery shopping. Thank goodness we were rather full or it would have cost a fortune. As it was, we spent enough! I had to stock up on my favorite peanut butter, because we do not have a Whole Foods at home. When we were done it was already 5pm, so we had to get on the road!! It was rainy/snowy and very cold. We got home at 7, unpacked, let the ferrets run around for a while, and then I went to bed! I had to get up at 5:30 to go to work.

And the sad end to this story is, I woke up to not only snow, but NO POWER! Nice. I had to get ready for work by candle light. Not cool!!!

Happy Day!!

I finally did it! I have had ENOUGH!! I will not spend one more summer watching the neighbor's obnoxious children ride their bikes across my lawn!! No more playing football on MY lawn instead of their own! I am totally sorry they have a small front yard, but not my problem! I am sick of picking up the trash that my neighbors throw on the ground in their yard. My neighbor on that side has a front yard that looks like a trash dump. It is so horrible and their daughter is loud and rude, of course. YEA FENCE!!!!!

Sweet kitties on the bed!!

Jill with her Boone's, still in her tennies!
Later, hangin' on me!!!

My relaxing vacation lunch on the back porch!

My route pets!!

These are Gretta, Jelly Bean, and Sophie!! Poor Gretta moved when I snapped the picture, so she got cut in half. Hopefully we will get another opportunity to put her pretty face on her... These are just a few of my favorite cuties I look forward to seeing on my route everyday. They know me and come running up to me when I deliver their mommies mail. I am going to try to get pictures of my other little friends this week on my vacation. And, yes Kim, I know you will laugh at me but I cannot help it!!!

Fun weekend!!

I went to Chicago Saturday afternoon with three friends to celebrate my best friend Kim's birthday. We stayed at the Westin on Michigan Ave, right next to Water Tower and across from The Hancock building. The rooms normally go for $256 a night, but being the savvy travel agent that I am, I got them for $98 a night!! So, we could afford to get 2 rooms and split the cost. We went to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner, then went back to the hotel and dressed up for the bar hopping in the evening!!! We walked to Rush St and went 3 bars and I had several margaritas on the rocks!! Yummy!! Everyone had a really good time and the sexy birthday girl got up on the bar and danced!! Wow!! I dont think even I could do that!!! Pretty awesome. We stopped for Chicago hotdogs at 2am, where a man we didn't know bought Kim's meal!! Then we walked back to the hotel, dragging 2 unwilling girls along with the 2 TIRED girls!!! Thank god Kim knew where the hotel was and she got us back safely.

The next morning we went to The Grand Lux for brunch. Too yummy. Go if you ever have a chance. Then, a brief stop at Water Tower Place where I had to have some Godiva truffles. Then, the drive home. I got home at 4:30 and was dead tired by the time I took care of the pets and unpacked.

Then back to work today!! Not fun after a week off. I am going to bed now.

Last night

Last night I went to Reggio's with my best friend, Kim. I knew I had to work this morning, but I am on vacation after today so I didnt care. OMG!! I am soooo tired!! We had such a good time, though. And I love my friend Kim so much. We can talk about everything, and though we surprise each other every once in a while with things the other did not know, it is all part of the fun. I cant believe we ever survived that office without being friends... And it is so nice to have a girlfriend who really gets it! We know we can say ANYTHING to one another and not be offended or pissed. We always know we love each other and mean no disrespect; we are just being ourselves. And "ourselves" is sarcastic and funny and obnoxious!!! YAY!!!!

Anyway, the food at Reggio's is fantastic and I brought most of my huge dinner home to Paul, who is really sick with the flu. He was very happy and ate it all! This will be a new favorite place, I am sure.

Paul is staying home from work today, which is a smart move. He now has lost his voice and is just overall wiped out. He needs to sleep all day and do nothing. All the bills are paid for the week, so he can relax. No stress.

Off to make the doughnuts; deliver the mail....

We had a big celebratory dinner tonight!! We refinanced our house this evening and will be saving $125 a month!!! And the closing was done in our house, which was convenient. So, we decided to live it up! New York Strip, grilled shrimp, and King Crab!! Yummy. And we saved more money by eating it at home, because of course Paul is a fabulous cook. No children screaming, no server complaining about her life, no steak over-cooked.... Just our lovely, lovely home. Life is good!!!

I am feeling anti-social and dont feel like posting.

RHINO!!!

My best friend, Kim, is at Disneyworld and got Rhino's autograph!!! She is so cool and she sent me a picture to freak out over. She knows he is my FAVORITE!!!!

TGIFriday's

Monday night we had some running around to do, so we decided to eat dinner at Friday's. It was a nice time and we were enjoying out food/conversations. As sunset approached, I began to be blinded by the setting sun in the window across from me. Paul had his back to it, so it was only affecting me... I told him I was going to ask the server if he would close it, because it was a window at someone elses table. Paul got up and went over to this large party and said, "Do you mind if I close this?" A twenty-something black kid playing with his cell phone said, "Yes, I mind very much." Paul looked at him, closed the blind, and said, "I'm over here." gesturing back toward our table. Heh Heh Heh. My hero. The kid proceeded to talk a bunch of crap about it, but never did anything. Maybe because my husband is 6'3, or maybe because he kept his steak knife near his hand after our server cleared our plates.... We will never know. I love my husband. :)