Category: Life

Neighbors, Pools, and Lightning Strikes

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Female Mallard (Duck)

Friday I actually spoke to our new next door neighbor for the first time. I was on the patio trying to get a photo of a duck who had appeared out of nowhere when he came out for a cigarette break. We ended up talking for about ten minutes. He seems ok. We both realized the walls between our units must be thin because he said he can hear our home theater when we’re watching movies and we don’t even have it turned up that high. Ugh, I can’t wait to have a house where that won’t be an issue. In any case, we both agreed we’re happy we don’t live next door to this one guy who lives across the street. He and his buddies are constantly outside late at night goofing off and using the garage as their man cave. I would go nuts!

Here’s a picture of the neighbor’s cute dog. She’s friendly and cute, I just wish she didn’t howl instead of bark.

Neighbor's Dog

Saturday we went garage-saling which always sounds better than it actually turns out. I tend to get frustrated quickly between trying to locate the property having the sale since they don’t always list the exact address on Craigslist, and finding sales that are offering something I’m actually interested in. I ended up with a 50 cent envelope organizer because I love crap like that. I will probably take it to work for the time being.

Saturday was also our first pool day of the season. Our pool is heated so even though it hasn’t been terribly warm, it felt great. Surprisingly, even though it was a beautifully warm day, the pool wasn’t crowded at all. There were three girls and one guy sunbathing and we had the pool to ourselves for the two hours we were there.

Sunday Joe and I were in the middle of some alone time *wink* *wink* when it started to rain. Then there was this huge loud crash and our fire alarm starting going off, so we had to rush to get dressed, expecting the fire department to arrive. About a minute later the fire alarm stopped on it’s own. It was the weirdest thing.

I’ve spent the last two weeks trying to find a decent hotel for our small road trip to Iowa and Nebraska later this month. We are finally going to visit Omaha but I am so frustrated trying to find the right hotel that balances good location, amenities, and price. I even tried booking through Airbnb but none of the places I was interested in were available. Ugh! I wish I was rich so I could just book a nice expensive hotel in the center of the city and be done with it.

Worst Week Ever

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Remember VH1’s Best Week ever series? Well, I present to you, Nicole & Joe’s Worst Week Ever. More like worst two weeks ever. Here’s a timeline for you:

Sunday, February 23rd – we purchase a baby rat from Petco

Monday, February 24th – Nougat dies out of the blue

Saturday, March 1st – we go to the Shedd Aquarium but it wasn’t as fun as expected

Sunday, March 2nd – Joe gets into a car accident while driving E home in the morning

Sunday, March 2nd – Hershey starts breathing heavily

Monday, March 3rd – Hershey dies

Tuesday, March 4th – the sink starts leaking

Thursday, March 6th – we find out E has to have an MRI

Can it please stop now?

So the bad news is the driver who caused the accident wasn’t insured so we are responsible for the $1000 deductible to have Joe’s SUV fixed. Even though they were going relatively slowly on the expressway (coming out of a tollbooth), the airbags deployed and the whole front end of the SUV was damaged because the guy who lost control flew into Joe’s lane and he couldn’t stop in time to avoid hitting him. Luckily they didn’t total out the car (and damn, based on what it’s going to fix the SUV, I think it came really close) or we’d really be screwed. We don’t want, nor need, to add car payments to our monthly bills right now. We’re the type of people who drive our cars until there’s no drive left in them. We just paid off the SUV in January 2013 so we were looking forward to at least five, if not ten years of life out of the vehicle. I still have my 2000 Jetta for goodness sakes! So that’s a relief.

As far as E is concerned, we aren’t sure what’s going on but the doctor might just be acting overly cautious. We hope to hear more by this weekend but we don’t think it as serious as having an MRI implies.

As for the pet situation, I am very angry with myself. I feel guilty as hell for Hershey’s death. I took Nougat and Hershey with me to the vet who examined the new baby rat. He felt that Nougat’s passing was a coincidence, but said that Hershey likely caught a respiratory infection from the new rat that was a new strain he hadn’t been exposed to and it just took him down fast (no vet was open on Sunday so I had planned to take him in on Monday but he passed away overnight). Basically I inadvertently killed Hershey due to my own ignorance. And here I was trying to help him by getting him a buddy!


RIP Hershey
Hershey on the Windowsill

Apparently I should have quarantined the new rat better by keeping him in an entirely different room on the opposite side of the house for at least two weeks before putting him anywhere near Hershey. It didn’t occur to me how easily these infections could get into the air supply. I wonder if perhaps Winston would have lived longer had I not brought Hershey home almost eight months ago. Ugh. Poor Hershey didn’t even get to see his first birthday. He was the first rat I raised from a baby. He was so scared/shy when I first got him and so friendly before he passed. He’d sit in the corner of the room when out of his cage, but if I turned around to make eye contact with him he’d come running over and hop on my lap. I’m going to miss him. :(

Oh, and don’t get me started on how expensive it is to take a pocket pet to the vet. My bill was $175!!! The breakdown was: $19 to cremate Nougat, $19 to cremate Hershey, $58 for the baby rat to be examined, and $79 for medicine for the baby rat. I cannot believe it. I knew it was going to be a pretty penny but I was thinking closer to $100, not almost $200!!! Ugh. This has been a very expensive two weeks, let me tell you.

This past work week was tough, too, since we only have one car. Joe dropped me off at 6:15 am and I’d work until he came and got me at 4:15, only taking a half hour break during the day. Sure, we could use that extra money, but I noticed by 2 pm I felt exhausted. It really isn’t healthy to work so many hours in one day regardless of what you do (and my job is easy).

As for the sink, it will be an easy fix. It was just another thing in the long line of misfortunes this week. I’m only hoping we’re done with the bad luck and will get a run of good luck next. We could use it with Joe’s impending layoff looming on the horizon.

P.S. I’ll write a separate post soon about our Shedd Aquarium visit.

Birthday Stuff

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My Birthday 

It turns out the jeweler charges to alter the length of a necklace even if you purchase it from them. I found that out the day before my birthday when we went to the mall so I could cash in my free burger from Red Robin. I ended up buying the aforementioned $16 necklace from JCPenney after all, but it was on sale for only $11.20. I also got a second necklace from them for $9.99. On top of that, a few days before I ordered a cute necklace from Silver Jewelry Club (http://www.silverjewelryclub.com/default.aspx/) for $17.95 ($12.95 for the pendant and $5 for a chain). I’ve had that website in my bookmarks for years and check it every so often but never see anything I like until recently. So that concludes my jewelry buying for awhile. I tend to buy multiple inexpensive necklaces all at once and then won’t buy any for years.

I took the day off work for my birthday, which was the Tuesday, January 7th. To be technical, I just swapped days and worked on Monday instead. It was super cold (negative numbers) so Joe worked from home and drove me to work and picked me up. He was worried my 13 year old car wouldn’t want to start in such extreme cold weather. I do miss that parking garage at my old job! Now I park in a lot, and while my car is much closer to the building, I have to clean it off when it snows. Boo hoo!

So anyway, on Tuesday I opened my present from Joe which was a 50 mm camera lens. Then we went for an early matinee at the cheapie theater to see Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs 2 which I really enjoyed despite not really getting into the first one. And even though the weather closed the area schools so there were a ton of kids in the theater, everyone was well behaved so it was all good. After the movie we had lunch at a Thai restaurant I had been wanting to try forever. It was a bit disappointing because it wasn’t as good as I was anticipating, but it still was nice trying something new.

I can’t remember what else we did that day. Probably nothing. It’s tough having a birthday in the winter, particularly when it’s been so cold and snowy this one.

Birthday Freebies

Since I like to document my birthday freebies every year, here’s the latest list where the ones I’ve redeemed have an asterisk next to them:

Buona Beef – Free original 7″ Buona Beef if you’re part of their Primo Club. Email comes 4 days before your birthday and offer is good until the 1st of the following month.

Classic Cinemas – Free movie ticket if you’re on their MovieTime Email list (which also sends other freebies throughout the year). Coupon arrives in your inbox the day before your birthday and is good for 30 days.

Culver’s – Free one-scoop sundae for being part of their club. Offer is good for 14 days from your birthday.

Half Price Books – 15% off entire purchase for being on their email list (they also send great coupons throughout the year). Email comes on your birthday and the coupon is good for 14 days.

Hooters – 10 boneless wings free for being part of their eClub. Email comes a couple of days before your birthday and the offer is good for 7 days following your birthday.

Houlihan’s – Complimentary entree up to $15 for being part of their eClub. Email arrives 4 days before your birthday and offer is good until 10 days after your special day.

IHOP – Free Rooty Tooty Fresh N’ Fruity (or menu item of equal or lesser value) for being part of the My Ihop Club. Coupon arrives a week before your birthday and is good for a week following your birthday.

Jason’s Deli – $5 off any item for being part of their Birthday Club. Email comes 5 days before your birthday and coupon expires 9 days after your birthday.

* Kellogg’s Family Rewards – Free code worth 100 points for being part of the rewards program. E-mail comes in on your birthday and the offer expires at the end of your birthday month.

* Noodles and Company – Free bowl of noodles for being part of their E-Club. Email arrives a week before your birthday and coupon expires at the end of the month.

Red Mango – 500 points ($5 value) is added to your Club Mango card. Email comes a couple of days before your birthday and the offer is good for 30 days.

* Red Robin – A free burger is added to your Red Royalty card and is good the entire month of your birthday. Email notice comes in on the 1st of the month.

Smashburger – Free shake with the purchase of any entree for being part of their SmashClub. Email comes a few days before your birthday and expires only 4 days from your birthday.

Sonic – Your choice between medium Tots, a 14 oz. CreamSlush® Treat, or a medium Soft Drink for being part of the My Sonic club. Note: You will be asked to choose these before they give you a coupon to print. Email comes on your birthday and the freebie is good for 14 days.

* Swagbucks – 50 bonus Swag Bucks added to your account. Email comes on your birthday. Expiration date is unknown.

* Starbucks – A free handcrafted beverage of any size when you have an account and registered card on that account. Email comes 5 days before your birthday and offer is good until the 1st of the following month. In addition, there’s a 15% off code for orders made on the site. You can use both offers.

Father’s Day

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On Sunday we picked E up at noon and decided to have lunch at Lone Star Steakhouse since there is one between his house and my parents’ (our final destination) in good old Crestwood, IL which happens to be one of my old stomping grounds. Even with a $5 off coupon our meal came to just over $60 (including tip), but damn was it good! I got the five star filet, E got a sirloin, and Joe got a sirloin with chicken breast. It’s probably a good thing that there isn’t a Lone Star by us anymore because I just love their steaks but cannot afford to eat there often, and much to my disappointment Discover card doesn’t offer a gift card via their cashback program for them even though they do for the inferior Outback Steakhouse.

Side note: I just ordered a Buffalo Wild Wings gift card from them and am looking to visit the newly built one that replaced the local Ruby Tuesday. I hope their food is good! We had their wings once several years ago so I can’t remember what they were like.

We killed some time after lunch by taking the “scenic” route to my parents’, including crossing into Indiana to get some gas and then riding past my grandparents’ old house (ahhh… memories – I spent my whole summers there for years). When we got to my parents’ we immediately headed to Brother #1’s room in the basement to hook up the new computer he had commissioned us to build him. He got the works, including new speakers and an HDMI monitor. I must admit, I’m slightly jealous, because there’s nothing better than a brand new computer, but I’m pretty happy with my machine overall so I really can’t complain. Plus we made $100 for doing the work. :)

After dinner and two rounds of Aggravation we had to leave to drop E off and get home at a decent hour since Joe had to work.

As for me, I’m still looking for work but not aggressively. I’m looking forward to the 1st week in July when Joe is off and E will be staying with us as we have a bunch of fun things planned and in years past I’ve always had to miss some of that time working. That being said, I spoke with a recruiter today and if she finds me something interesting I will definitely consider it but I don’t just want to end up at any old job. I have a feeling the right thing will come along. Despite how much I worry about money and the future (and trust me, I worry about it a lot), on the flip-side I’m actually optimistic that things will work out in the end and I will find the fulfillment I crave.

New Neighbors Forthcoming

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This marks the 3rd month we’ve put off an intended visit to the Shedd Aquarium. Back in March we planned to go during their Illinois Discount Days until I learned it would be cheaper to go the first weekend of the month through Bank of America’s Museums on Us program instead. In April we decided not to go because the date we had chosen fell on the same day as a big race that included shutting down streets around the museum campus where the aquarium is located. Today the reason for postponing our visit was that I woke up a few times during the night and when the alarm went off at 6:30 am was not feeling up to going into the city. Plus my back was hurting after playing tennis and frisbee with Joe and Brother # 2 yesterday. So our new plan is to go in June which may work out best in the end because by then their new sting-ray touch exhibit will be open and there will be something different to see (which I’m sure will cost extra, but hopefully not too much since even with the free general admission it’s still $6.95 per person to add on Oceanarium access and another $3 to see the Jellyfish so that’s $20 for the two of us plus parking. Even free days aren’t so free if you want to see the good stuff.)

The weather has been really nice this weekend and we’ve currently got the windows open to get some nice fresh air. We have to enjoy it while we can. Our neighbors (the annoying ones who were outside smoking every half hour) were foreclosed on a few months back and moved out leaving their place a mess. The bank recently sent someone in to clean it up and there have been multiple showings the last few days. They really lowered the asking price of the unit so I doubt the place will remain empty much longer. Unfortunately, we do not seem to luck out when it comes to neighbors so the thought of new ones is stressing me out. Is it too much to ask that they be non-smokers who don’t own any dogs (or at least any that bark) and aren’t loud or cook stinky food? I’m afraid that would just be too good to be true (even though that description applies to us, so it is possible). It’s tough sharing walls with people when most of them seem to lack consideration for the people around them. Please cross your fingers that someone good moves in because with the market the way it is, coupled with me not working, it’s not like we can afford to move elsewhere.

In other news, we rented Silver Linings Playbook last night and hated it. I honestly don’t understand all the good reviews. The characters were so odd and under-developed that I couldn’t care less what happened to any of them, not to mention that the ending was predictable from the very beginning. What a disappointment. It made me feel like people only liked the movie because of the actors who starred in it and less about the plot, which I thought was boring and choppy. I don’t know why but it really irks me how much it sucked; I’m just glad we didn’t end up seeing it at the theatre as it was barely worth the $1 rental fee as it was.