It's Friday!!!

It's Friday!!!  Does anyone have any big plans for the weekend? Yes, I'm talking to you...:P If you're reading this, i would love to hear from you. I often feel like I'm talking to myself, which isn't very fun. :P  There is a comment button below each post and you don't even have to sign up to blogspot, in order to reply. So give it a shot, why don't you? hehe And thanks to those couple people who have taken the time to comment on my posts! I LOVE reading what you have to say and it makes blogging a lot more fun! :)

No big plans here....I think Jessie(D's little brother) has a football game today @ 4, but we probably won't go since D works until 5. We're trying to be thrifty, so we'll probably just stay home tonight and save our gas money so that we can go over to his fam's house tomorrow and/or Sunday. (it's a quarter tank each way to go there). It's basically kinda like driving from Rensselaer to Lafayette, maybe a tad shorter. It takes a good 20 to 30 min, depending on traffic.

So as I mentioned in my last post, I didn't get the ESL job; however, the director told me that she liked some of my ideas and asked if I would like to be on the sub list. So I guess it's a way to get my foot in the door. They also weren't interested in me for the technical editing position ( which honestly, gave me a headache just thinking about it) , but the girl said that there is an entry level administrative assistant job that is available and asked if I would be interested. So I'm going to apply for that......

Have spent my afternoon working on laundry and housework...not fun! :P I miss having a washer/dryer in my apartment! It's such a hassle to fight over those washers downstairs, not to mention that it's super expensive!!! So get this, D's boss (Margo) had mentioned that her husband might be able to get a broken washer for $20 and asked D if he would be able to repair it and set up a drain in the shop so that we could share it! D and I had been talking about this for a couple  months now, but couldnt' afford to buy one...sooo if D can figure out how to set up a drain, it looks like we may be able to get a washer that only we and his boss would use! yay!!! That would be amazing! :)

In other news, D's in the process of getting his 90 day review...it's taking forever though since they seem to have a very disorganized system. We're really hoping that he'll get a raise! We also asked if we would be able to switch to a different apartment (there's one available on the other side of the building facing the ocean and has a BALCONY!) and also to be able to have a weekend (or maybe even two) a month free of call so that he can actually have a chance to relax once in awhile.  I really think his boss is not wanting to switch us to another apartment. We're currently right by the building gossip ( at the boss' request) and I'm pretty sure she spies on us--we have no privacy at all. This lady writes daily letters to the boss telling her what's been going on in the building and complaining about different sounds/occurrences. D was in there a couple weeks ago answering a maintenance call and he said that he saw this high grade microphone or something (some sort of recording device) in her room. She also has her bed right against the wall that's next to us. I think she just sits there and listens for any sound. That sounds crazy, but it's probably true. We usually don't hear anything from her wall, but once we heard her cough. So there's that, plus we're right in front of the smoker's bench, which we hate and also there is no breeze since we're not facing the ocean. So yeah, if you think of it, could you pray that things work out? That we can get a nicer apartment and also some weekends without call? Thanks!

Haven't done a whole lot of baking this week. I did bake some swirled cream cheese pumpkin bars and mailed them to my mom and dad. I think they actually got them today! I have some leftover pumpkin, so I'm thinking about making some pumpkin bread.

Yesterday I went on a hike out near Trump.  I went on the easy trail down to the water and this time actually went all the way to the beach. I saw a ton of dogs this time around! Probably four or so. I stopped and petted a couple of them...made me miss my Snickle so very much. :(  I miss having a dog around. I hope to eventually adopt one, if we ever move to a different apartment/house. So here are a few photos from my walk:

I don't know what they  are called, but I love these flowers!!

There were tons of them along the path...

It's difficult to tell from this picture, but those little plants/flowers on the trees are this really pretty purplish/pinkish color.

Love these spiky little flowers!

Some kind of berry...

It was sooo clear out! You could look across the water and see Catalina Island ( I think that's what it is, but not positive)...gorgeous!

The water was kind of brownish( from the wind blowing sand maybe?) near the shore, but a really pretty bright blue green a little further out...

The path that i followed is right around that hill...

I thought this sailboat looked so pretty with this backdrop...wish I would have had my real camera, but all i had was my phone camera...

A large bird posing on the railing....He let me get pretty close too....

Well, that's about it for today...Oh! One last thing-- I got another surprise package in the mail this week from M&D!

Silverware!!! And it looks really similar to the silverware that was lost in my missing box...

Thanks Mom and Dad!!!! We love it!!!!! :)

Speaking of the lost silverware, the moving company offered me the entire amount that they owe me which is about $250 some. Thanks to Alex, the customer service agent, who listened to me complain and pleaded my cause. The claims department was trying to give me the run around for months. I'm happy to get the money...I have learned a LOT from this experience. We probably have thousands of dollars worth of damage that was done to our furniture...sigh. Next time, I will deal with moving in a whole different way. Unfortunately, they never did find my box....or that's what they seem. I'm still not convinced that they didn't just keep it for themselves...

Well, happy friday everyone!