Month: January 2012

Things to Celebrate

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The promotion at work is finalized! I will no longer be doing billing, but will be working on special projects, internal audits, and system improvements which in many ways I was already doing except now I’ll have more time to focus on those things, I have a cooler title, and I’ll be getting paid more. Woo hoo!

As a result this means I can actually take vacation time during the beginning of the month which I haven’t done in six years. So come October we are taking a two week road trip to the East coast, a trip we had planned, and scrapped, over seven years ago.

Right now the general plan is to make stops in Pennsylvania (Hershey, and maybe Pittsburgh), Boston, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine. We picked October because it’s our favorite month and the Fall foliage should be at its peak according to some websites I’ve checked.

If anyone has recommendations on places to stay, or things to see, feel free to comment or send me an e-mail. I’m so excited!

iPad 2 Review

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As much as I love my new iPad, it irks me a bit that for the price Apple can’t throw in a pair of headphones or a cloth to keep the screen clean. Even Joe’s Android tablet came with a nice cleaning cloth and it cost half what the iPad did. Not that I’d want anything from Android. I never thought I’d become an Apple fangirl like I have but when something works so well it’s hard not to. Even Joe is starting to feel iPad envy. After reading rumors that the iPad 3 will be announced in just a couple of months I told him I could always upgrade and give him my iPad, hehe.

I’m surprised that so many of the apps I own do not take advantage of the iPads larger screen. No way am I running an app that opens up at the same size of my iPhone screen. All those apps got deleted because choosing to make them 2x bigger makes them look crappy. I found suitable free replacements for most of them anyway.

My Birthday

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Considering the fact that I worked both days this weekend I still had a nice birthday. Thursday evening Joe surprised me with an early birthday gift – an iPad 2! He really wanted to get me something nice because I’ve been so stressed at work with a recent promotion and last year when I came into some extra money I didn’t buy anything for myself but bought him a PS3. It was really sweet and despite my reservations about the 10″ screen being too large it is actually the perfect size.

He got me the 32 GB version since I had mentioned regretting only getting the 16 GB iPhone. I’m in love. With Joe, of course, but also with my iPad. I knew I wanted to get one eventually but I wasn’t in a hurry. Little did I realize just how much I’d love it since I had described it as nothing more than a oversized iPhone on this very blog. Which it is in so many ways but it’s much more fun to use than I could have anticipated. Not only can I type better and faster on it (I’m typing this entry on it right now), but the apps designed with the iPad in mind are amazing. They are both functional and beautiful. I’m also really digging the multi-tasking gestures to move between apps and whatnot. But I digress…

E is sick so we only had K this weekend. Friday we went out for dinner to our favorite Chinese place since K loves the place as much as we do. Saturday between me doing some work we visited two different malls – one for K so she could look for clothes and I could visit the Apple store for a case for my new toy, and another so I could redeem my free birthday burger from Red Robin where Joe made certain they knew it was a special day for me so that they would sing to me. Talk about embarrassing! My entire face was bright red and my sister in law was there too since she’s visiting from Arizona. Luckily there is no video evidence of the event because Joe didn’t think to record it on his phone until it was too late. Whew!

Between the two mall visits we bought cake mix at Target and K baked me a lemon cake. I thought that was very sweet of her. Later that evening we rented Mr. Popper’s Penguins which was a cute movie. Then I worked some more before going to bed.

This morning a coworker came over for training since I’m transitioning my billing duties to her and moving into a new role. I’m excited because this means I will actually be able to take time off during the beginning of a month which I haven’t been able to do in six years due to my work schedule. In fact Joe and I are already planning a two week trip to the East Coast in early October.

Birthday Freebies 2012

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I started keeping a list last year of all the birthday coupons I received and redeemed so I’m doing it again this year now that I’ve started getting them in both email and regular mail form (how Domo77 learned about my birthday I’m not sure).

I will continue to update this post as more offers come in and will add an asterisk next to every offer I redeemed.

Applebee’s – free entree when you buy one
Classic Cinemas – free movie ticket
Dairy Queen – free Blizzard when you buy one
Domo77 – $15 off purchase of $50 or more
* Houlihan’s – free entree up to $15 (and they don’t sing to you!)
Old Country Buffet – buy one adult buffet get one free (with purchase of a beverage)
* Noodles & Company – free bowl of noodles
Pit Rib House – free birthday gift (coupon doesn’t reveal what it is)
* Redbox – free DVD rental or $1 off Bluray
Red Lobster – $5 off two adult dinner entrees ($1 more in savings than the coupons that come in the Sunday paper)
* Red Robin – free birthday burger
Ruby Tuesday – free burger
* Smashburger – free Haagen Dazs shake with the purchase of a Smashburger entree
* Starbucks – free drink (any kind, any size)

I’m disappointed that I never got the buy one get one free entree coupon from Claim Jumper that I got last year. I love that place.

2011 – A Year in Review

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2011 wasn’t a terribly eventful year but that’s ok. We spent some money on electronic gadgets, visited a few new states, welcomed three new pets to the household, and said goodbye to two pets as well.

January
I celebrate my 35th birthday with a rollerskating party.

February
I buy Joe the PS3 he’d been lusting after for months and he joins the rest of the world by getting his first ever smartphone.

March
I attend my first ever football game.

April
We take a road trip south to visit Tennessee and Atlanta where we experience some great zoos and aquariums.

Lionfish

May
Amy, Bernadette, and Penny join the family.

Three Hungry Mice

June
I get to see my favorite comedian, Louie C.K., live.

August
We buy an Android tablet, which I quickly grow to loathe.

September
My sweet Templeton passes away.

Templeton in the Tub

October
I finally get the newest iPhone and couldn’t be happier.

December
Amy passes away.

Amy

I think I’d be pretty happy if 2012 was similar to 2011, although I’d like to go on more than one big trip this year and I’d also like to get a hamster once the other two mice pass away.