Well, I've calmed down a bit now

After panicking last week when Chrysler brought their decision down to close 2 of Don Miller dealerships, I've calmed down a bit about our situation. I was never concerned about Kathy losing her job...she's been with DM for 10+ years and is their senior, best producing finance manager. She's golden in their eyes. The concern always comes down to money. She receives a salary for being the manager of all the other finance personnel and for organizing their schedules, etc. Now that they're losing 2 buildings that salary might be taken away since there will be less responsibility for her. But none of that is finalized yet.

Our big concern is the house. She has a crappy loan right now that she was essentially forced to take at the time to be able to buy out her former partner who was really screwing her over financially. 3 years ago when the loan was made we had full intention of refinancing later and fixing the issue. Then the housing market fell so the appraisal for this house is not high enough to get a reasonable bank to refinance. Then add to the mix that Paul hasn't gotten my name off the house so I can't really be used as a co-signer at this point. She is now trying to work with the mortgage company to get some sort of allowance since her income has drastically been reduced.

I hate that we're in this position, but we keep thinking positively. She still HAS a job. that's alot to say right now, especially with the instability of the car markets. Plus, she has lots of senority so her bosses are all working to make sure she's well taken care of. To top it off, she's damned good at her job and she will do whatever she can to do her best at whatever store she's put in. The waiting game is driving her crazy but the scenario is looking better than what it was last Thursday.

What a difference a good bra makes!

Those of you who know me well know that I've been "blessed" (ok, cursed!) with a large chest. The girls have been the bane of my existence for several years. I've never been small but back in high school was a comfortable 36C and could enjoy wearing pretty bras and button down shirts with relative ease.

Well, 10+ years and a lot of pounds later, the girls have grown and have become a gigantic pain in my front. Buying bras is pure torture and ones that I think fit fine when I first purchase them soon become medieval torture devices or complete wastes of fabric and provide no support whatsoever.

So, enter my frantic search for a good bra. A few weeks ago I went to a Hanes/Playtex/Bali outlet store nearby and went through the horrendous process of being measured by some Twiggy-like girl with boobs the size of my pinky. Then she proceeded to tell me that they didn't carry a size big enough for me (insert tears and embarassment here). I hastily ordered one from their catalog and left before I could be further humiliated. The bra came a week later and was a complete waste of money...it was no better than one I could get in a regular store.

I then broke down and went to Bravissimo and decided to give them a try. I've hesitated buying from here for a couple reasons...I'm not sure what size I am because I know I don't fit in typical sizes and ordering a ton of sizes from a company in the UK is cost-prohibitive. But I'm so tired of not having a good bra that I decided to give it a try.

Amazingly, it fit!!!!! The girls were properly supported, the band fit perfectly and I suddenly had a waist! I wore it to school and was constantly amazed that the girls were contained and not sliding out the top, side or bottom. It made a huge difference in how my clothes fit and how I looked.

It's not without issue though. The two that I've received so far have a bunch of seams in them so it's not possible to wear them under thinner t-shirts. Then, there's the irritation. I don't know if it's because they are new and I haven't washed them yet or if it's still not the correct fit but I had a huge red mark underneath the bra after wearing it yesterday. I'm hoping that goes away.

I know you all cared deeply about the intricacies of me buying bras, but for a big-chested girl is a big deal!!!

Heaven on earth

What a fabulous way to spend 3 days :)

Some of you may remember last year that I received a gift certificate from KK for my birthday to Sundara Spa. This is a gorgeous spa resort in Wisconsin Dells where you can get a variety of services done and the staff's job is to spoil you and pamper you for your entire stay. KK's brother and his wife have gone there a couple times and raved about it so I was excited to go. We've been putting it off for various reasons because of KK's work schedule, but the certificate expires on the 9th of this month so spring break was the perfect time.

We arrived on Sunday afternoon after dropping Bucky off at grandma and grandpa's house. Right away you relaxed as you walked in to a completely quiet lobby and entryway. Hushed voices are used in all public places and no cellphones are allowed outside of your suite. We checked in and were given directions to our suite and the bellman took our luggage up. Our suite was gorgeous...king size bed, whirlpool tub and fancy shower and a gas fireplace.

On the bed were robes and near the foot of the bed were sandals to be worn in the spa areas. Guests walk around in their robes and sandals everywhere as they travel to their spa services or even for breakfast in the morning.

We settled in to our room and then headed out to the outlet mall for some shopping and then dinner reservations later that night. We hit all the fun stores...Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Van Heusen and COACH!!!! My birthday gift for this year was a black Coach tote. I've been searching for a tote for school for quite a while but could never find one that was the right size but KK spotted this one and it was the perfect size for what I wanted.

Monday we hung out in the Purifying Bath and the pool area for most of the afternoon before our spa services.
During the bath you first shower and use a sandstone polish, then go into a steam room for 10 minutes, then you alternate between a hot whirlpool bath and a cold plunge pool 3-4 times before your services. This is to help you relax (obviously!) and to open your pores and relax your muscles to prep for massages and stuff. We had couples massages and facials and it was fabulous. You go into these treatment rooms that are completely silent and the massages/facials are sooooooo relaxing! I was a puddle after that afternoon.

Tuesday we took our time getting ready to leave...who would want to leave such a gorgeous place! We wandered our way back to pick up Bucky and made it home late afternoon.

Now I need to find a way to become independently wealthy so I can hang out at this spa more often!!! We're already thinking we might save up to come pack for our anniversary next year...but I'm going to try to work it for winter break :)

Just when I needed some blog fodder...

My neighbors don't let me down :)

We live in an older neighborhood, and when I say older neighborhood that means that the majority of the people on our street are 60+ years old. There's one younger family with kids across the street but other than that it's a social security kind of crowd. There is one particularly interesting set of neighbors right next to us. It's an older couple...probably in their upper 80s. The guy we see occasionally going to get his mail or struggling to bring his garbage can in from the corner. Supposedly there's a wife somewhere in that house, but I've never seen her. The curtains are constantly pulled and I don't think she never leaves the house. To top it all off, they have an alcoholic son who lives with them who (from what I can tell) doesn't have a job and has lost his license to drive. He often can be found sitting in his friend's car downing more beer than a frat party.

As a result of his alcoholism and his parent's age and health problems, the fire department and ambulance is a regular sight on our street. Including yesterday morning. I climb out of the shower and see the reflection of red flashing lights through the window. This sight used to initiate a sense of panic and concern about one of our neighbors. Now it just causes a roll of the eyes and a wonder about which one they are going to pull out of there this time. Usually it's been the son, dragged out in a passed out stupor to detox for a couple days before sending him back home. Once in a while it's the father, searching assistance for some ailment that he suffers from. Again, we've never seen the wife so we're not even sure she's still alive.

Who knows who they took out this time. I was too busy trying to get ready for work to snoop for too long. But, I'm sure that we'll be seeing the local EMTs again on our street sometime soon. None of the neighbors we've talked to really know what's going on in that house although they are starting to have the same opinion we are...the son needs to be taken to rehab and the parents need to be moved to an assisted living facility.

I wonder if the EMTs roll their eyes when the neighbor's address comes up on their dispatch. They're probably tired of coming here constantly.

Why is it...

when someone is pregnant, EVERYONE has to share their birth stories with EVERYONE in ear shot?!!?!!

The person who teaches next to me is pregnant and due any day now. Throughout her entire pregnancy I have heard more about stretch marks, epidurals, and labor pains that I ever wanted to know about my co-workers. And breastfeeding!!! Cripes, I don't care how bad your boobs hurt or how long it took for the milk to start producing. Dont...care....at....all!!!!!! If I was pregnant (which, if that were ever to occur we know the end of the world is coming) it would drive me nuts to hear all the bad crap about pregnancy. Seriously, give me the helpful information but keep the horror stories out of it.

And touching the belly....get your damned hands off!!! It's not a party favor, it's my stomach!!! While it may be incubating a new life it doesn't need to be rubbed for everyone's amusement.

I may be insensitive/creeped out by the whole ordeal because I have no interest in having kids, but seriously. Why does every person take it upon themselves to become involved in another person's life?!?

To come back....or not

I'm not even sure if there's anyone around here who reads my blog anymore. I've gone on hiatus from writing here for a few reasons. One of those was because I didn't think anyone was reading and who needs to write just to herself :) My second reason for not writing might be the reason no one reads...I don't have much to say!! Life around here is pretty boring. KK works way too many hours at work which means I spend alot of time at home by myself surfing the internet, reading books and putzing around the house. School is hell and I try to forget that I even work there once I walk out the door at 3:45 pm each day. So I don't have a whole lot of exciting and fascinating things to write about.

So, now the decision becomes...do I keep this blog open and try to think of fascinating and exciting things to talk about or do I just close it and move on.

Planning for the year

Today KK and I sat down and planned out our vacation time for the rest of the year. We have to be fairly organized about vacations for several reasons...my time for vacations is limited to school breaks and summer time (which is going to be even more limited because I'm doing summer school) and KK has to juggle her time off around busy times of the year and the schedules of her other employees. But getting her time off onto the calendar early in the year she is "guaranteed" (barring any strange business issues) the time that she wants.

So we've got a couple days in April planned to go to Sundara Spa in Wisconsin Dells. KK gave me a gift certificate last year for my birthday and we just haven't found time to use it so we're going to take a couple days, stay in a fabulous suite and get a few couples spa services together. In June we're taking a weekend to go up to the U.P. for a friend's wedding. In August will be our big week long vacation but we're not 100% sure what our plans are for the week. We talked about possibly going to Niagara Falls but I'm not sure if financially we can do that yet. In October we have another friend's wedding that we'll be attending and then we're going to Door County for a weekend. KK's parents have their condo in Door County the first week of October so we'll go up for a weekend and hang out. The final date will be in December for our holiday party.

It seems like alot but it breaks down to about 9 days. The nice thing is KK can adjust her day off so that we can take long weekends without her having to use a ton of vacation days.

Now to start saving the spending money :)