When (and if) it rains here, it pours!

Arizona monsoon.

Today is right up there with one of the best days ever!

I was so excited this morning when I got out of bed (aside from the fact that after the first step I almost fell on my face because of my buns that felt like they decided to abandon any of my efforts to be vertical today). I was jumping out of my pants (not literally-any kind of jumping today is physically impossible) because I was going to be able to leave work early! I was planning on working from 8 to 4 (through lunch) so I could pick up Emerson. Still 8 hours, but I would be able to leave at 4!

Well, I am splitting my time between two different departments at work. One of them has a secret special day every once in a while because they are on the road so much. They go to lunch and just hang out and then go to a movie. So, I was invited. It was probably one of the coolest things that has happened in a while! I mean, I was excited about leaving at FOUR, people. Imagine my utter shock about being rewarded the WHOLE AFTERNOON OFF! A couple of the partners took us out to lunch at a yummy mexican restaurant. It was awesome getting to know some of the people I work with outside of a work setting. They are all so nice. Then, when they went to a bar to have a day cap after lunch, I decided I would just go to Nordstrom to go shopping to burn a half an hour before I went to get Em (I moved up her appointment due to my afternoon off!) I figured that drinking and then having to drive all over the valley to get Em was not too smart (Plus, I'm not really that into drinking as a hobby but that is another story entirely).

At Nordstrom, I bought a few really cute things! I bought a cute navy and white striped fitted 3/4 sleved jacket (kind sailor-y I guess), a navy wrap around tee, and two chocolate brown camisoles (one has a pattern, one doesn't). By the way, I can't believe how hot chocolate brown seems to be this season! Now I just need to get some new brown shoes to match... And, I almost bought a pair of Seven jeans. My super fashionable friend, Rachel, introduced me to these and I think they are so cool! I will never be as stylish as her but I would definitely love a pair of these jeans...they are hot! But since I had already spent tons of money (and I knew I'd be spending more on the cat) I decided to spare my frugal husband the heart attack that would result if I added a pair of super cool jeans onto the list of things I bought today... he just doesn't understand how cool they are!

Then, I finally got to go pick up my kitten. She seems to be doing well. I think she is happy to be home. And the bill was only $453!!! I was SO PUMPED! We were quoted $450-$600 and usually those quote come out on the higher end. I figured it would for sure be about $600 especially considering the vet actually took her home to HIS HOUSE last night so he could keep a watch on her. Talk about all star treatment! I was so happy about that price! And to better my day even more and to convince me that miracles definitely do happen: I was home at FOUR THIRTY. HOME. Not leaving to start coming home but actually in the front door. And I hit NO traffic on the way home (amazing how when you're not in rush hour that happens).

So, it was a GREAT day. I am really happy. The only kind of bad thing is that I guess Emerson smells a little different to Berkeley from being in the hospital. So, Berkeley has been growling and hissing at her and attacked her once. Not as bad when we first got Em but it's still stressful. And Em keeps licking her wounds...which she isn't supposed to do. She's an excessive licker anyway and I think they just feel weird so she's licking more. Ugh. But aside from that, since I've gotten home (aside from monitoring the cats) I have loaded the dishwasher and done a load of laundry and cleaned up our clutter. It is amazing how rejuevenating a day off can be...and I am not even working that hard yet! It really has been a great day...GREAT!

UPDATE: Tim just called and he had a huge conference call with the president, CFO, and the vice-president (his boss) today. I guess they were all so impressed with the work he had done...the exact words his boss used were "dynamite." And he has a huge presentation in a couple of weeks with Penn and after today the president said he would not only be making the powerpoint, he would be giving the whole presentation! They said today that his analysis was better than they had ever seen! I am so proud of him!! Congrats, Timmy!! You are the best!

Sometimes I amaze myself...

Since I didn't have a needy, clingy kitten climbing all over me last night and wanting to play constantly (which I don't mind...it's cute), I took advantage of the fact that I could do exercises in our house without worrying about stepping on her.

Well, just a note to myself and to anyone else who considers being as stupid as me: When you are inspired to exercise, DO NOT do 100 lunges when you haven't done ONE in about 3 months. I can barely walk today... it feels like someone implanted rocks in my butt that are resistant to any type of movement. I know I probably look like a waddling duck today when I walk. Perhaps next time I will only do 50 because this is a little crazy, but hey, I guess they work, huh?

Reason #876 why I don't have kids: Guilt

For any of you who've somewhat read some of my posts, you probably have heard me make comments of why I don't have kids. FYI, someday we will probably have kids and I think I do want them. I just have to convince myself that I won't be a terrible mom. In no way, shape, or form am I even remotely ready now. Check back in a few years.

I am a cat mom though to two beautiful cats. One, named Emerson, who right now in her anesthesia induced state is probably dreaming of what she will do to me when she wakes up. She is probably dreaming of running around like a mad woman, rip roaring through the house, knocking things down, getting behind the dryer, washer, and refridgerator. Then she will proceed to poop on the floor and end it by scratching up our couches... (what she doesn't realize yet is that when she hits the scratching point she will realize that she does not have means to do any damage anymore so she will hate me even more).

I felt so terrible this morning. I really love my cats and I think that sometimes Tim thinks I love them more than him (I don't, by the way). It was so sad this morning because Emerson was so hungry and I couldn't feed her. Then I completely disrupted her routine by putting her in her little carrying case that she HATES (after the 20 hr. trip out here) and took her to a foreign place. She was shaking and crying so much and she was looking at me like "How can you do this to me?" It really did break my heart because she was mad about all this stuff but she will be even more upset when she wakes up in pain.

I do feel a little better because the animal hospital we took her to is the nicest vet's office I've ever seen in my life. In her exam room, there was a black leather couch, a TV in a cherry wood entertainment system, a fountain, and cherry wood bookshelves. Nicer than any doctor I've ever been to. And the doctor gave me a tour of the hospital (very clean and nice) and showed me where she would recover in her little heated space. Very cush..especially for animals. And she is having laser surgery so it will be much better and TONS less painful for her (even though there is still pain...I wish there wasn't any!) But still, I feel awful. I can't handle being at the root of what she will view as something bad although I know that is actually is something that does need to be done... so, this is why I don't have kids. I couldn't handle even seeing them scream and cry when they have shots. I've been sad all morning about Emerson even though I know I am doing the right thing and I know she will be fine... Berkeley is a living testament to that fact.

Monsoon 2005!

Last night we had the craziest storm I've ever seen in my life. It was unbelievable. It was a rival to midwest storms aside from the fact that there were no tornados (although you can't tell it by looking around-there is debris, uprooted trees and blown off roofs everywhere!) Most of the monsoon storms we've had just hit a portion of the valley... some hit the east valley, some hit the west, some hit the north, some hit the south. But this one hit THE WHOLE THING. And most of the time on the radar, the darkest color is orange...last night there was PINK! The heaviest rain possible. We got about 3 inches of rain in about 30 minutes. Our average rainfall during the entire monsoon season is not even that much and yearly it is about 6-7 inches. So, it was nuts! Most of the freeways were shut down because of flooding (luckily, they were reopened this morning) and a lot of the side roads were shut down as well. The lightning was nuts too... it was a strobe light-it never stopped! We heard on the news that Phoenix hasn't seen a storm like this in over a decade. It was definitely kind of cool and totally crazy! Awesome, that's the word to describe it.

Update on the insurance

We collectively spent about 5 hours yesterday trying to figure out where in the WORLD our insurance company was getting off charging us so much money when every other company was considerably cheaper. After these 5 hours, Tim (genius that he is) was looking at our copy of the manual sheets that our insurance agent filled out. We realized that the focus was actually about $300 more expensive yearly than the mini! He couldn't figure out why and then finally realized that the guy had put the focus in as a 2004, not a 2000. So, that makes a HUGE difference. He emailed him so we'll see what happens today.

Don't screw with me! (yes, I am complaining...again)

Yesterday we had an appointment with an American family insurance agent to switch our Iowa car and renter's insurance to Arizona. We had heard that Arizona insurance is a lot more expensive due to lots of cars getting stolen, multitudes of insane drivers that don't realize that they aren't the only people on the road, and older drivers that flat out just shouldn't be on the road. What we didn't know was that it was going to be more than double what we paid in Iowa and almost the equivalent of a second car payment.

So, in Iowa, American family insurance had the best price around. We paid $142.11 for our two cars and $18.00 for our renter's insurance every month. Our quote here: $313.00 for the two cars and $28.00 for renter's insurance. We understood we were in Iowa... probably one of the less expensive states. I don't know that for a fact, but it just seems logical. But, paying $340 a month for insurance seems RIDICULOUS. I mean, seriously. If that's really what it is, then I will pay it but it just seems a little steep even for Arizona AND considering we brought a lot of our coverage options down. (Like the $100,000/$300,000/$100,000 thing we brought it down to $50,000/$100,000/$50,000). And we left a few things off. Why you ask? Because otherwise our insurance quote was $355 JUST for the cars. Plus, we don't have a house or any equity so why have that much coverage? It still seems like a crazy amount of money to pay, regardless.

It made us so mad, too, last night because we were there for 1 hour and 20 minutes. I mean, we didn't even check other insurance carriers because we figured we were already on the system here, so it would be easier...like only takes 10 minutes easier. Well, I swear dude, it was like we were never customers of American family. We had to do everything we already did when we started the insurance. It was so stupid. AND, the guy had to manually fill out paperwork...that took approx. 45 minutes. Why aren't we in some database and the changes take effect immediately? I don't get it.

Since last night I just haven't felt great about this... So, this morning, I got a few quotes from other insurance companies including state farm and progressive. I personally am quite ticked off right now because I almost feel like I am missing something... like this guy just put more stuff on so our premium would be higher. I did the quotes for the other companies online with everything the same and we were quoted anywhere from $209-$280 a month...A TON less than we might end up paying through dumb American family. So then, I thought maybe I was just being an idiot and missing some type of coverage that would raise our rates to be comparable to American family. But I wasn't. Then I proceeded to RAISE all of of coverages and put different things on that we don't need and our rates STILL WEREN'T AS HIGH. WHAT??!! $1oo a month will make a difference over the course of the year...even $25 less a month would somewhat.

I feel like we got screwed somehow though I don't understand just how yet. I don't really care if ALL COMPANIES said I would be paying $350 a month. But they don't. And that's my problem with the whole thing. It seems like there are a lot of people who just take advantage of you so that they can benefit. I hate those dumb brokers, agents, and even some doctors who just talk over your head and do stuff that you don't even need done. That's what I feel happened... I am going to investigate more and talk to other insurance companies so we can get to what we REALLY should be paying: whether that is $350 or if it decreases considerably remains to be seen. I just want to know if we've been jerked around with. Because that's what pisses me off more than if we would have to pay $1000 for insurance out here. Stay tuned for the outcome of the insurance saga.

It's Monday and you know what that means

It means that Sunday night I didn't sleep. I think it's all in my head now. Ugh. We were tired and falling asleep at 9:30 p.m. so we went to bed. I woke up wide awake thinking it was 5 a.m. at 11:30 p.m. And then proceeded to stay awake until 2 a.m. Then we woke up at 5 a.m. So, really, not too bad- I will take five hours any day... although, of course, 8 is optimal. But the good thing is, I got into the office today at 7 a.m. (Tim, of course, beat me. He left at 5:30 a.m. and got to his office at 6 a.m.).

I was freaking out around 1 a.m. because I started thinking about our wedding for some reason and then I realized we still don't have our wedding pictures and that the last time I talked to the guy (right before we moved here) he said that would be done in two weeks. He was also in the process of closing his business (he said he was going to only do weddings out of his home). So for some reason, at 1 a.m. that made me really nervous. We've already paid for our pictures and if he's closed his business, how would we ever track him down? He seemed like a really nice guy and he's done weddings for people we know but for some reason last night I got a bad feeling about the whole thing.

I highly recommend eating cookies for breakfast

I made no bake cookies yesterday for Tim because he worked from 6 a.m. to 7:45 p.m. (yea, it really was 14 hours. I would've died). They turned out better than last time but I think I accidentally skipped a step so they were kind of chewy. Then today we both had 4 or 5 for breakfast. Definitely one of the better ideas we've had in a while... nothing beats chocolate at 6 a.m. Then we went on probably a 4 mile run/walk. We probably only ran a mile of it but that's better than we've been doing lately (it actually sprinkled on us when we were walking and it was a cool, but humid 80 degrees and overcast. Very abnormal! Yesterday we had the hardest rain/storm I've ever seen in my life. It was like someone dumped part of the ocean right on us. Crazy). I struggle to get in two good cardio workouts a week. I try my darndest but a lot of times it just doesn't want to happen. I know the problem lies in my motivation but that still doesn't make me want to do it anymore. I'm pretty good at lifting my free weights or doing pilates a few nights a week but cardio is a battle. I just don't ever want to do anything after work and I don't want to get up at 4 a.m. on weekday mornings. That will never happen, even for a morning person like me. And here, the best time to workout is in the morning and at 7 a.m. on the weekend, I just can't justify getting my lazy buns out the door versus sitting on them and still staying half asleep while I watch Today...

For lunch today, we went to Pita Jungle (the BEST ever). It was sooooo good. We had hummus for an appetizer, I had a thousand bean pita, Tim had a philly steak pita, and we had a chocolate phyllo dough piece of pie thing for dessert. Greek food is amazing. I really want my brother to come out here so I can take him here. I think he would love it! Jon, get your butt out here!!! You need to eat greek food with me. :)

This afternoon, we went and checked out some models we had seen earlier. We REALLY liked one of them. It was absolutely amazing. More than we ever thought we'd get for our money. It actually is less money than we thought we would spend at our top price. We'll see...the area that they are building the new neighborhood in is about 2 miles west of where we are now and there are a lot of things we need to consider and more houses that we need to look at. I need to stop getting so excited because I know I need to just take my time and be rational. BUT I REALLY LOVED IT. Sigh. We sent our R-E-A-L-T-O-R (I was informed I spelled this wrong in one of my last posts by someone who obviously is way smarter than me) an email asking him about the builder, the area, the schools in area (in case the market here continues like in California and we are stuck here indefinitely because we can't even afford to buy our own house back...so at this point, it would be beneficial to know that if this does happen, would our kids go to a good school?), any commercial development close by (don't want that), etc. Plus, we want to look at the inside of the houses with him to get his honest opinion. So we'll see... looking at any houses is pretty exciting, regardless.

Oh, and by the way, I am SO, SO FREAKIN EXCITED this week. My kitten is FINALLY getting declawed at the end of this week. No more blue tape on my couches (since she apparently thinks they are scratching posts). We are getting her laser declawed and spayed, which is a lot less painful for her, even though it's about $400 more expensive for us. But I feel pretty good about it. The money doesn't matter as long as she is ok. I know I will feel so sad on Thursday to just leave her at the vet overnight and she will be so confused and sad. Oh well, it's for the best... and I know she will be as good as new afterwards.

And one more thing before I stop the most random, pointless, rambling post ever. I will never talk in specific about my job on this website. If you know me, you probably have my phone number, and you can call me and I will tell you all of the intricate details who my company is, the work I do, etc., if you even care. My work bores a lot of people unless they are an accountant like me. Accountants are the only people in this world crazy enough to get excited and motivated by something as seemingly boring as taxes or auditing. So, anyway, the only thing I do want to say in general about my job here is that I absolutely love it. I actually like going to work and the people are so nice to me. I feel a little stupid right now because I'm still in the "Train me, I have no clue what I'm doing" stage but everyone goes though that. I really feel lucky to have come into contact with this job... it is better than I could've asked for.

From last weekend to this Saturday...

There is nothing better than a clean house. Unfortunately, I have been unable to motivate myself with this statement for the last 5 weeks. But today I did! Tim had to work today so he left at 5 a.m. I got up at 6:30 a.m. and cleaned until 10 a.m. Yes, it really was that dirty! So, now I am really happy because our house is finally clean!

Back to Tim working, I just want to brag about him a bit. I am so proud of him. He is such a hard worker and so nice to the people that he works with. A 'team player' is I guess what you would call him. He worked 11 hour days Monday through Thursday and then yesterday he didn't get home until 8 p.m. because of a huge project they were trying to finish for Penn (the tennis balls)-a 12 1/2 hour day! So he is already up to around 56 hours on the week and today he went in at 6 a.m. to finish up the Penn project and to get their inventory ready for auditors (like me!) to come this week. So he is probably going to end up working close to 70 hours this week. I worked 45 hours and I didn't think that was too shabby but compared to him it definitely is... he is amazing.

Later today I think I am going to take him to this tasty little hip place I had lunch at with some ladies from work this week. It's called Pita Jungle and it's a big hit with vegetarians (although they have non-vegetarian stuff too) and everything is all natural, organic, and healthy. It's so great! Then I think we might look at some more houses and just do whatever we feel like. We might go play golf tomorrow...

I procrastinated all week in getting up the pictures from last weekend. So, as promised, though quite late, here they are. Our dresser finally came in last Saturday and we went to the Diamondbacks game last Saturday night... if I would've posted these pictures on Monday, I would've had more details but this will suffice especially since I am posting this a week late... it was a fun weekend- we'll leave it at that.

Organization at last!

What our room looked like pre-dresser. It was fun while it lasted...

Arizona Diamondbacks game... against the Braves (they lost but it was still so fun!) I was even impressed by the stadium. Very unlike any other baseball stadium I've been to but really cool nonetheless.

Bank one ballbark.

Leaving the game... Tim looks a little tired. Maybe he is just sad to leave the game. We left right before the ninth inning.

Something that really annoys me...

I just remembered how irritated I was this morning. This is possibly one of the most annoying things that can happen: being rudely awakened by a screaming alarm clock at 5:30 a.m. and wondering why in the world the alarm clock is blaring at you on a saturday morning. And then, THEN, after 10 minutes of trying to ignore the stupid thing in your coma-like sleep state you remember it's Friday (thanks to your smarter husband) and it was right and you were wrong. Grr.

We need to hear from everyone who knows more than we do...

Does anyone know anything about home loans or the process of purchasing a home? We have decided that the next step we need to take is to buy a house. And that step has been sped up by about 2 years since the housing market out here is about to go through the roof. So, we are trying to buy a house and hopefully within the next few months to a year we will be moving again...at least it will not be halfway across the country this time!

We have looked at new models and we have a relator working for us on houses that are a few years old. We have to get prequalified for a mortgage first though before he really starts to work for us. I guess if we aren't approved, then he is just wasting his time. Anyway, does anyone have any suggestions or advice on what the heck we should or shouldn't be doing? We are clueless! And I'm not really even sure if we will be able to get approved for a loan...so I'm pretty scared we won't be able to buy a house. I mean, we are looking at A LOT of money. A LOT. Houses out here have doubled in the past year (which is why we want to get in so quick) but I just don't feel like we would ever be able to get a mortgage for what we would need. Tim keeps telling me that we have money and that we have really good credit and that I should just look at the monthly payments, which would be only slightly more than our rent right now. So, I guess I shouldn't be so worried but entering this phase of 'surburbia-ness' is a little frightening.

UPDATE: I talked to the mortgage guy earlier. He took all of our income/debt info and ran a credit report. He called back (I was prepared for the worst) and we were approved for WAY MORE than I ever expected. Like scary huge amount of money. I guess Tim was right and our credit is really good. I am amazed right now but it scares me that if we actually bought a house for this much, we would have that much debt. And that much money to me is absolutely nuts.

So, our relator is now working. He already sent me several listings and I feel like the ball is just rolling out of control. If we don't build a new house, at the rate things are going we could be into a house like SUPER fast. That, to me, is scary. Part of my plan when I was a teenager and even during my first few years at Gracleand, was to never settle into the surburbia thing. Of course, I never PLANNED to be married now either. I planned to be single (or dating someone but doing my OWN thing) and living overseas or in LA or New York City. And I was going to be a writer or a nutritionist/trainer, not an accountant. Funny how things work out completely different than you'd ever expect...but better. I love my life now but buying a house is like accepting that all my 'plans' are out the window. Even last year, I half expected Tim and I to like buy or rent a loft in the city or something... not buy a house and be the typical suburbia couple... but I think I'm ok with the idea now. Having a yard and room to grow will be nice. But all that debt and EQUITY (like real grown-ups have!) will be scary. I am starting to like the idea, though, of having something of our own. Just as long as we don't even consider kids for about 10 years, then I will be fine. The intended plan will still partially be real. Until I met Tim, I never wanted kids. But now look at me, I never really thought I would consider owning my own home until I was like 80 and couldn't go anywhere. It's funny though. I've realized that plans changed on the outside but the ultimate plan is happiness. And that's where I'm at right now. Total and complete happiness in my, our life.

Lunch for breakfast?

I am sleepwalking today...it's one of those days where you feel like you just are never fully with it. Not like dead tired but just not altogether there. So, being that I'm like this today, I had the weirdest breakfast I've probably ever had. It seems kind of like something you would eat if you were pregnant (and, just to clarify, I AM NOT pregnant).

1st course: Kashi TLC ranch crackers (I think I ate more this morning than I packed to eat for my ACTUAL lunch)
2nd course: Several carrots (I ate a few while I was packing a bag for my ACTUAL lunch...again)
3rd course: Was going to have toast but then decided it would be better as a peanut butter and jelly sandwich
4th course: Several big bites of Tim's cinnamon roll (dessert for me?)
5th course: Huge mug of green tea

Yummy... the more I think about it the more disgusting it sounds. I feel so gross right now. But tomorrow's Friday and since today is the DAY BEFORE the best day of the week, it doesn't really matter that I just consumed the weirdest breakfast ever and actually enjoyed it.

Update: CRAP for lunch
So today at work I had some TLC ranch crackers, carrots, and a granola bar for lunch. I didn't bring a lot because I knew we were having a birthday party for July birthdays here. What I DIDN'T know was that I would eat the biggest piece of cake I've ever seen in my life. And yes, I ate it all. It was white cake with strawberry filling and it was coated with frosting. It was probably 5 inches by 5 inches. It probably had 600 calories in itself...I feel so disgusting now!!! So, healthiness has gone out the door from minute one today. Yuck. And tonight I will probably eat more crap because I always do at night... Oh well, at least it was an enjoyable piece of cake. But now I need to run a marathon so that my thighs don't show the enjoyment.

DUSTSTORM WARNING!

The greater Phoenix area is under a duststorm warning right now! We have seen one from the distance but we haven't been in one since we've been out here... they look cool as long as you are somewhere safe. It is being caused by a thunderstorm to the east of us (we have had a hard time getting used to the idea of thunderstorms coming in from the east...it seems so backwards!) Since monsoon season is officially underway we've had severe thunderstorms every evening and night for about the past week or two weeks (yes it thunders, lightnings, blows, and even RAINS here). But no dust storms yet... Someone told me that only the desert here and the desert over in the middle east have these kind of storms. I'm kind of excited to see what they are all about... Good thing we haven't washed the cars recently!

Update: We have still not seen a duststorm. It only hit the northeastern corner of the valley. We could see the huge wall of dust (like we have before) but it didn't come over us.