It's been a couple weeks since I blogged; primarily because last week I was on vacation, and the week before that was crazy busy.
Vacation in the Caribbean was amazing. The Freedom of the Seas is a huge ship: 14 decks (above the water line), a FlowRider, a rock climbing wall, at least 6 hot tubs. While the ship and the ports were fun, especially since it was in the 80's a lot of the week, one of the more entertaining parts of the trip was watching Jon and Aaron interact. Seriously, I started calling it the Jon and Aaron show a couple days into the trip.
I climbed the rock wall in about a minute, which I thought was okay considering it was my first time ever rock climbing. I also tried the FlowRider, not the stand-up surfing, but the boogie boarding was easier than I imagined, and I didn't even lose a contact lens!
Monday we were in the Bahamas, at Royal Caribbean's "island," CoCo Cay. That day the sun was warm, but it was windy. Once in the ocean, however, it was good. Emily, Jon and Aaron got on this mini sailboat and ended up shipwrecking into both the pier and the rocks. To their credit, the rudder was broken and the wind wasn't helping. Here's the video of the employee attempting to help them out:
On Wednesday, we docked in St. Thomas; we spent a large part of the day shopping; I ended up with probably 6 pendants, three pairs of earrings, and a ring. We also visited Blackbeard's castle, an amber museum (where we DID get into a discussion about Jurassic Park), and spent an exorbitant amount of time in taxis, which were essentially 5 rows of benches with a tent on the back of a pickup.
Thursday was the last port day, and we were in St. Maarten. Lisa and I took a catamaran ride and spent some time at a beach on the Dutch side of the island. The catamaran operator was this totally skeezy guy named Jason; don't get me wrong, he was nice, but I think he was under the impression that something was gonna happen with us. He clearly didn't know we were nice Mormon girls. In any case, the beach was nice: the water was not too cold and not too hot, although seeing wrinkly old ladies sunbathe topless was a little frightening. We also learned about the "bubble list." After that, Lisa and I got nachos at a local restaurant and then went on a search for postcards, which was surprisingly difficult.
All in all, it was a great trip: I flew 1st class for the first time, and ended the trip on a memorable note. All the pictures are on Facebook, so if you aren't friends with me, you should be. :)
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Saturday, January 8, 2011
Is it just me?
Or does everyone have as many problems with bathroom plumbing as I do?
In college, there was apparently a leaky seal around the bottom of my toilet which caused water to go spilling down the wall, and eventually resulting in mushrooms being discovered behind the couch of the person 2 floors down. Not my fault.
In the Amador Valley apartment I lived in with Lisa and Lyndy, one of the pipes over the bathroom burst and started leaking water all down the side wall and into the light fixture in the kitchen. The landlord cut a hole in the ceiling during the hottest time of the year, and left it there for a month. Not my fault.
Today, the management company pounded on the door at 8:30am to inform Lisa that there was a leak in the wall behind my bathroom counter, and they needed to come in and do some massive repairs. I unfortunately, was not home, and wouldn't be home until at least 10:30, since I crashed at a friend's house and had an appointment in Walnut Creek at 9:30. This left Lisa the crappy task of moving all the stuff on my counters to the floor of my bedroom so that the maintenance guys could come in. By the time I got home, this is what my bathroom looked like:
Needless to say, this is not how Lisa (or I) envisioned spending our Saturday. I am now just waiting for these men to leave. They told me I cannot use my sinks for at least 48 hours (which is how long the stupid fans have to fun for...continuously), and they actually will have to pull the counter out because the sheetrock is wet.
This is giving me a headache, but the telemarketer who just called told me that she hopes it goes away in the name of Jesus. Yeah, me too.
In college, there was apparently a leaky seal around the bottom of my toilet which caused water to go spilling down the wall, and eventually resulting in mushrooms being discovered behind the couch of the person 2 floors down. Not my fault.
In the Amador Valley apartment I lived in with Lisa and Lyndy, one of the pipes over the bathroom burst and started leaking water all down the side wall and into the light fixture in the kitchen. The landlord cut a hole in the ceiling during the hottest time of the year, and left it there for a month. Not my fault.
Today, the management company pounded on the door at 8:30am to inform Lisa that there was a leak in the wall behind my bathroom counter, and they needed to come in and do some massive repairs. I unfortunately, was not home, and wouldn't be home until at least 10:30, since I crashed at a friend's house and had an appointment in Walnut Creek at 9:30. This left Lisa the crappy task of moving all the stuff on my counters to the floor of my bedroom so that the maintenance guys could come in. By the time I got home, this is what my bathroom looked like:
Needless to say, this is not how Lisa (or I) envisioned spending our Saturday. I am now just waiting for these men to leave. They told me I cannot use my sinks for at least 48 hours (which is how long the stupid fans have to fun for...continuously), and they actually will have to pull the counter out because the sheetrock is wet.
This is giving me a headache, but the telemarketer who just called told me that she hopes it goes away in the name of Jesus. Yeah, me too.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Epic Christmas, etc.
Yeah, yeah, I know I haven't blogged in awhile; I've been busy! So, firstly, Christmas:
Christmas was generally awesome; I got some great gifts, got to spend time with people I care about, and take time off work. The gift that has thus far consumed most of my time was the Epic Mickey Wii game. It's like crack; you run around having adventures in this dark, twisted version of Disneyland: awesome! I also got a sewing machine, an fabulous leopard-print umbrella, and some wonderful assortments of socks. Mostly, I was glad to spend Christmas Eve jaunting around the Bay Area and spending time with my dad (and the dogs), and with Jeff, Daniel, and Jeff's family. It was a good day, and I won a whole $1.50 at poker (sssh).
Christmas day itself was super mellow - just hanging at mom's relaxing. The next day, my mom and I flew to Utah for a family reunion of sorts. For the first time since March of 2003, all the aunts and cousins got together with our grandma. We are all such different people: a stay-at-home mom, an accountant, an urban planner, artists, musicians, students, bankers, etc. It was a crazy two days, and included much playing of Settlers of Catan, which my aunt Cindy has now renamed "Satans of Hexagons."
New Years' Eve was also slightly nuts - went to Gabe's house for the party, and then left around 10:40 to hit up the dance. I thought I was only going to stay at the dance for a few minutes, but stuck around long enough to embarrass myself with some bad Britney karaoke and to remind myself that I am getting a little too old to ""Pop, Lock, and Drop It." I pretty much bailed after the clock struck midnight. By the way, did anyone else notice that people were driving abnormally slow on the freeway that night?
On New Years Day, Lisa and I went and saw Anjelah Johnson at Tommy T's. She was hysterically funny and didn't use a single swear word! If you have no idea who she is, go to You Tube and look for her Bon Qui Qui video or the nail salon one.
All-in-all, it was a great end to an eventful year and a fabulous start to what's sure to be another amazing year. I look forward to many fun blog posts!
Christmas was generally awesome; I got some great gifts, got to spend time with people I care about, and take time off work. The gift that has thus far consumed most of my time was the Epic Mickey Wii game. It's like crack; you run around having adventures in this dark, twisted version of Disneyland: awesome! I also got a sewing machine, an fabulous leopard-print umbrella, and some wonderful assortments of socks. Mostly, I was glad to spend Christmas Eve jaunting around the Bay Area and spending time with my dad (and the dogs), and with Jeff, Daniel, and Jeff's family. It was a good day, and I won a whole $1.50 at poker (sssh).
Christmas day itself was super mellow - just hanging at mom's relaxing. The next day, my mom and I flew to Utah for a family reunion of sorts. For the first time since March of 2003, all the aunts and cousins got together with our grandma. We are all such different people: a stay-at-home mom, an accountant, an urban planner, artists, musicians, students, bankers, etc. It was a crazy two days, and included much playing of Settlers of Catan, which my aunt Cindy has now renamed "Satans of Hexagons."
New Years' Eve was also slightly nuts - went to Gabe's house for the party, and then left around 10:40 to hit up the dance. I thought I was only going to stay at the dance for a few minutes, but stuck around long enough to embarrass myself with some bad Britney karaoke and to remind myself that I am getting a little too old to ""Pop, Lock, and Drop It." I pretty much bailed after the clock struck midnight. By the way, did anyone else notice that people were driving abnormally slow on the freeway that night?
On New Years Day, Lisa and I went and saw Anjelah Johnson at Tommy T's. She was hysterically funny and didn't use a single swear word! If you have no idea who she is, go to You Tube and look for her Bon Qui Qui video or the nail salon one.
All-in-all, it was a great end to an eventful year and a fabulous start to what's sure to be another amazing year. I look forward to many fun blog posts!
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Jury Doody...part 2
Ok, so when I left off, the mule was in FBI custody and had agreed to let the agents search her luggage and to cooperate fully with them. The two agents and the mule boarded another Southwest flight (with fake cocaine), and eventually, made it to Pennsylvania. Once there, the mule called the person we shall refer to as "the driver", to alert him that she had landed and was ready to be picked up. The driver picked the mule up, took her luggage, and put it in the trunk. At this point, the FBI agents were following the driver and the mule; they had to drive back to a town in Ohio, which was going to take about an hour. Any conversation between the driver and the mule were NOT recorded.
After driving back into Ohio, the driver and the mule finally arrive at the dealer's house. The driver takes the mule's luggage into the dealer's house, and about 5 minutes later the DEA busts in a pretty much arrests everyone. The FBI take the mule into the garage; during this time, the defendant is attempting to contact the mule and the dealer, all to no avail, since they are both in custody. At the dealer's house, the DEA seizes nearly $188,000, scales, and other drug paraphernalia.
Once the raid at the dealer's house is done, the FBI escort the mule back to the airport in Pennsylvania, and back onto a plane which eventually lands back in Oakland. At the exact moment she is supposed to land, the defendant calls her, and although she landed 25 minutes early, she doesn't answer because the FBI agents she is with want to attach a recording device to her phone.
Once the recording device is attached, the mule calls (actually chirps on a push-to-talk phone) the defendant back; he answers and is clearly pissed about having no contact with anyone involved for the past 12-14 hours. She explains that the dealer's house was raided and they got all the cocaine and all the money, and let her go only because the driver had been carrying the luggage and she was just a guest, and had distanced herself. He apparently buys this story and when she tells him she just wants to go to Reno to see her kids, he says that she needs to meet him before she does anything.
Once the mule arrives back at her brother's mobile home, she chirps the defendant to let him know she is there, and about 10 minutes later, two FBI agents see the defendant arrive in a silver Mercedes SUV. The conversation that takes place at the mobile home is mostly about how he is annoyed that he lost $177,000, but is glad that he at least didn't send 7 kilos, which was the original plan, and that he has 3 more kilos in play here in California, and can try to make up some of the money that way. He assures the mule that they can't touch her now that she is back in California, and that he wasn't at the scene, so he is immune also.
-----------------------
Cut to October...
The FBI and DEA execute a search warrant on the home owned by the defendant's estranged wife. In the home, underneath the washing machine, they find more than $40,000. Under the wife's bed, they find another $8,000. The wife claims in court that she likes to keep half of her liquid assets in cash in her home because she doesn't trust banks. Keep in mind that, at the time, this same woman was making approximately $50,000 a year, and she had almost that much in her house. I personally, found this whole thing really odd, but whatever.
The FBI finally caught up with the defendant on October 8, and there were seriously SO many cell phones entered into evidence. In my mind, he was guilty, and I am glad the jury felt the same.
After driving back into Ohio, the driver and the mule finally arrive at the dealer's house. The driver takes the mule's luggage into the dealer's house, and about 5 minutes later the DEA busts in a pretty much arrests everyone. The FBI take the mule into the garage; during this time, the defendant is attempting to contact the mule and the dealer, all to no avail, since they are both in custody. At the dealer's house, the DEA seizes nearly $188,000, scales, and other drug paraphernalia.
Once the raid at the dealer's house is done, the FBI escort the mule back to the airport in Pennsylvania, and back onto a plane which eventually lands back in Oakland. At the exact moment she is supposed to land, the defendant calls her, and although she landed 25 minutes early, she doesn't answer because the FBI agents she is with want to attach a recording device to her phone.
Once the recording device is attached, the mule calls (actually chirps on a push-to-talk phone) the defendant back; he answers and is clearly pissed about having no contact with anyone involved for the past 12-14 hours. She explains that the dealer's house was raided and they got all the cocaine and all the money, and let her go only because the driver had been carrying the luggage and she was just a guest, and had distanced herself. He apparently buys this story and when she tells him she just wants to go to Reno to see her kids, he says that she needs to meet him before she does anything.
Once the mule arrives back at her brother's mobile home, she chirps the defendant to let him know she is there, and about 10 minutes later, two FBI agents see the defendant arrive in a silver Mercedes SUV. The conversation that takes place at the mobile home is mostly about how he is annoyed that he lost $177,000, but is glad that he at least didn't send 7 kilos, which was the original plan, and that he has 3 more kilos in play here in California, and can try to make up some of the money that way. He assures the mule that they can't touch her now that she is back in California, and that he wasn't at the scene, so he is immune also.
-----------------------
Cut to October...
The FBI and DEA execute a search warrant on the home owned by the defendant's estranged wife. In the home, underneath the washing machine, they find more than $40,000. Under the wife's bed, they find another $8,000. The wife claims in court that she likes to keep half of her liquid assets in cash in her home because she doesn't trust banks. Keep in mind that, at the time, this same woman was making approximately $50,000 a year, and she had almost that much in her house. I personally, found this whole thing really odd, but whatever.
The FBI finally caught up with the defendant on October 8, and there were seriously SO many cell phones entered into evidence. In my mind, he was guilty, and I am glad the jury felt the same.
Jury Doody...part 1
Ok, so I just got a call from the court clerk that my fellow jurors reached a verdict of guilty on all three counts, so I can dish about the trial.
The defendant was charged with (1) Conspiracy to distribute cocaine; (2) Attempted distribution of cocaine; and (3) Distribution of cocaine. Here is the glossy overview of testimony and evidence:
On 9/16/08, the FBI intercepted the defendant's drug mule carrying 6 kilos of cocaine at Oakland International Airport. They had been monitoring her flight activity, since she was taking frequent trips to and from OAK to Philadelphia and not even staying more than 24 hours at a time. Allow me to back up and provide a timeline of that day, as based on phone calls and witness testimony (both the mule and the FBI agents).
The mule woke up around 3:30am, and from that time until the time she went through TSA security (at 5am), she was in contact with the defendant. On her way to the airport, she stopped by some hotel in Emeryville and dropped off 1 kilo to the defendant. Around 4:45am, she went to the Park and Call lot at the airport, and handed off the remaining 6 kilos of cocaine, in a black duffel, and her green roller bag to another guy who had a standby ticket on a different flight. At around the same time (5:05am), both she (the mule), and the guy she'd handed off her bag to went through 2 different security checkpoints at the airport. By this time, the guy with the mule's luggage has been in contact with a Southwest employee, and presumably, handed the cocaine over to said employee. This employee was on video entering the airport through the employee secure entrance wearing a humongous jacket, despite the testimony that it was a warm day. We see on video the guy with the luggage in the bathroom at the same time as the Southwest employee; we infer that they are transferring the cocaine from the jacket to the duffel bag at this point.
After both men exit the restroom, the man who had met the mule in the Park & Call met her again, in the cafe at the airport, and handed back her luggage to her. She then went to the bathroom and, again, we reasonably presume, transferred the cocaine from the duffel to her roller and her oversize Coach handbag. It was at this point that she went to her gate, and was intercepted by FBI agents.
Keep in mind, that during this entire time period the defendant was in phone contact with the man the mule met at the Park & Call and the mule herself, and the Park & Call guy was also in phone contact with the Southwest employee. The mule had already texted the defendant to say that everything was okay.
While in FBI custody, one agent took the mule's luggage and had it x-rayed and sniffed by a drug-sniffing dog. The x-ray showed 5 unusual square shapes in the roller bag and one in the Coach bag. At this point, when confronted with the mounting evidence, the mule agreed to cooperate and work with the FBI on the case. By this time, the mule had missed her original flight, and so ended up on a flight several hours later with 2 FBI agents.
Part 2 later....
The defendant was charged with (1) Conspiracy to distribute cocaine; (2) Attempted distribution of cocaine; and (3) Distribution of cocaine. Here is the glossy overview of testimony and evidence:
On 9/16/08, the FBI intercepted the defendant's drug mule carrying 6 kilos of cocaine at Oakland International Airport. They had been monitoring her flight activity, since she was taking frequent trips to and from OAK to Philadelphia and not even staying more than 24 hours at a time. Allow me to back up and provide a timeline of that day, as based on phone calls and witness testimony (both the mule and the FBI agents).
The mule woke up around 3:30am, and from that time until the time she went through TSA security (at 5am), she was in contact with the defendant. On her way to the airport, she stopped by some hotel in Emeryville and dropped off 1 kilo to the defendant. Around 4:45am, she went to the Park and Call lot at the airport, and handed off the remaining 6 kilos of cocaine, in a black duffel, and her green roller bag to another guy who had a standby ticket on a different flight. At around the same time (5:05am), both she (the mule), and the guy she'd handed off her bag to went through 2 different security checkpoints at the airport. By this time, the guy with the mule's luggage has been in contact with a Southwest employee, and presumably, handed the cocaine over to said employee. This employee was on video entering the airport through the employee secure entrance wearing a humongous jacket, despite the testimony that it was a warm day. We see on video the guy with the luggage in the bathroom at the same time as the Southwest employee; we infer that they are transferring the cocaine from the jacket to the duffel bag at this point.
After both men exit the restroom, the man who had met the mule in the Park & Call met her again, in the cafe at the airport, and handed back her luggage to her. She then went to the bathroom and, again, we reasonably presume, transferred the cocaine from the duffel to her roller and her oversize Coach handbag. It was at this point that she went to her gate, and was intercepted by FBI agents.
Keep in mind, that during this entire time period the defendant was in phone contact with the man the mule met at the Park & Call and the mule herself, and the Park & Call guy was also in phone contact with the Southwest employee. The mule had already texted the defendant to say that everything was okay.
While in FBI custody, one agent took the mule's luggage and had it x-rayed and sniffed by a drug-sniffing dog. The x-ray showed 5 unusual square shapes in the roller bag and one in the Coach bag. At this point, when confronted with the mounting evidence, the mule agreed to cooperate and work with the FBI on the case. By this time, the mule had missed her original flight, and so ended up on a flight several hours later with 2 FBI agents.
Part 2 later....
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
A brutally honest assessment of this year
So, some people write Christmas newsletters; I will attempt to give you a look at what life was really like this year, without glossing it over.
In January, I had an endoscopy to confirm my diagnosis of Celiac disease. The results, as you know, came back positive, so I have been on a gluten free diet ever since. On the 9th, I turned 30, which is fine; age is just a number, and since I still act like a teenager (in some respects), it's all good. Many friends came for my birthday party, which was a gluten free potluck. It was really nice to see everyone; I have the BEST friends!
In March, I celebrated 3 years at Cropper Accountancy, which sorta blows my mind. Yes, sometimes work is completely exasperating, especially since most of us are LDS and are all up in each other's business.
In late spring, I adopted a precious little Chihuahua mix from ARF, and kept her name as Darla. I like to think that she was like me; getting a little older, and sometimes a bit snarky, but if you loved her, she loved you back 10 times more. She got excited whenever I came in, and loved to go on walks and play with me. Unfortunately, the last time I saw her was on September 20, when I dropped her off at Michelle's house. Shortly thereafter, she was sent on to dog heaven; I feel a sense of guilt that I didn't say a proper goodbye to her, and hope that she is there in whatever degree of heaven I go to.
The middle part of the year was mostly boring; I did learn a lot about how to remodel bathrooms and kitchens. I also learned that you have a good chance of getting a free backyard remodel if you hang out at the West Sacramento Ikea.
September brought a big change; on a sunny Sunday, Mike came over and watched X-Files on my TV for several hours, then we went to the Athey's for dinner, and so I could see my dog (and walk her). While we were there, I answered a question that had been posed by Mike's brother, and apparently my response was not appreciated. We got into a little tiff, which ended back at my house with this exchange:
ME, "Are you EVER going to trust me as much as you trust your mom and your brother?"
MIKE (after several seconds of silence), "Probably not. I prayed about it this morning, and I'm not supposed to marry you."
I am the first to admit that he was right; we were not supposed to get married. It took me about 36 hours to figure that out and be okay with it. What I didn't understand, and quite frankly, still don't, is why he needed 8 hours to "mull it over" while watching TV at my house. HUH??? Anyway, I learned a lot from our year together, and am super thankful to the amazing people I still have in my life who happily let me make mistakes. Having the gospel, and knowing how much God loves me (and Mike, for that matter), made a HUMONGOUS difference. Terri told me I should write a book called How to Handle a Breakup. The draft is still forthcoming ;)
In October, I went to Disneyland with Lisa, Hillary, and Rachel. It was amazingly fun; I had forgotten how much I love that place, and traveling in general. The Tower of Terror still makes me giggle like a little girl every time, and the Halloween event was super fun; the Imagineers at Disney do great work. On Saturday night, we met up with Shaine and Kevin for a nice dinner; having that many friends with me at Disneyland was simply amazing.
Nothing super spectacular happened in November, but Lisa and I did do Black Friday shopping. Also, we are going on a cruise to the Caribbean in January - this is something I'd wanted to do for a long time, and no time like the present. The only other thing happening is that I have jury duty this next week. Once the trial is over, I will blog about that as well.
Happy ChristmaHannaWanzaaKah!
Katy
In January, I had an endoscopy to confirm my diagnosis of Celiac disease. The results, as you know, came back positive, so I have been on a gluten free diet ever since. On the 9th, I turned 30, which is fine; age is just a number, and since I still act like a teenager (in some respects), it's all good. Many friends came for my birthday party, which was a gluten free potluck. It was really nice to see everyone; I have the BEST friends!
In March, I celebrated 3 years at Cropper Accountancy, which sorta blows my mind. Yes, sometimes work is completely exasperating, especially since most of us are LDS and are all up in each other's business.
In late spring, I adopted a precious little Chihuahua mix from ARF, and kept her name as Darla. I like to think that she was like me; getting a little older, and sometimes a bit snarky, but if you loved her, she loved you back 10 times more. She got excited whenever I came in, and loved to go on walks and play with me. Unfortunately, the last time I saw her was on September 20, when I dropped her off at Michelle's house. Shortly thereafter, she was sent on to dog heaven; I feel a sense of guilt that I didn't say a proper goodbye to her, and hope that she is there in whatever degree of heaven I go to.
The middle part of the year was mostly boring; I did learn a lot about how to remodel bathrooms and kitchens. I also learned that you have a good chance of getting a free backyard remodel if you hang out at the West Sacramento Ikea.
September brought a big change; on a sunny Sunday, Mike came over and watched X-Files on my TV for several hours, then we went to the Athey's for dinner, and so I could see my dog (and walk her). While we were there, I answered a question that had been posed by Mike's brother, and apparently my response was not appreciated. We got into a little tiff, which ended back at my house with this exchange:
ME, "Are you EVER going to trust me as much as you trust your mom and your brother?"
MIKE (after several seconds of silence), "Probably not. I prayed about it this morning, and I'm not supposed to marry you."
I am the first to admit that he was right; we were not supposed to get married. It took me about 36 hours to figure that out and be okay with it. What I didn't understand, and quite frankly, still don't, is why he needed 8 hours to "mull it over" while watching TV at my house. HUH??? Anyway, I learned a lot from our year together, and am super thankful to the amazing people I still have in my life who happily let me make mistakes. Having the gospel, and knowing how much God loves me (and Mike, for that matter), made a HUMONGOUS difference. Terri told me I should write a book called How to Handle a Breakup. The draft is still forthcoming ;)
In October, I went to Disneyland with Lisa, Hillary, and Rachel. It was amazingly fun; I had forgotten how much I love that place, and traveling in general. The Tower of Terror still makes me giggle like a little girl every time, and the Halloween event was super fun; the Imagineers at Disney do great work. On Saturday night, we met up with Shaine and Kevin for a nice dinner; having that many friends with me at Disneyland was simply amazing.
Nothing super spectacular happened in November, but Lisa and I did do Black Friday shopping. Also, we are going on a cruise to the Caribbean in January - this is something I'd wanted to do for a long time, and no time like the present. The only other thing happening is that I have jury duty this next week. Once the trial is over, I will blog about that as well.
Happy ChristmaHannaWanzaaKah!
Katy
Friday, November 26, 2010
Black Friday
So, all of you know that the Friday after Thanksgiving is referred to as "Black Friday", because this is typically the start of the season when retailers enter the black in terms of revenue. Yes, Christmas shopping will do that for them; and we here in America have managed to elevate Christmas shopping (and bargain hunting) to some sort of crazed ritual. We forget about CHRIST part of Christmas, and turn this day into a consumer orgy.
So, naturally, Lisa and I went out last night to find some stuff. :) We left our condo around 2:15 with a plan, and for the most part we stuck to that plan.
First stop: Walmart, which ended up being an epic fail. Lisa was hoping to get some of these micro-chopping things, and by the time we got there, the store has been decimated and there was none left. I was hoping for a Brother sewing machine, but they didn't have the $50 deal on them until 5am, so we were too late for what Lisa wanted and too early for what I wanted. NEXT!
Second stop: Kohls, where we had much better luck. I ended up with 6 Christmas kitchen towels, 2 bath towels, a shirt for my dad, and 2 pairs of knee high socks. Lisa got some Pyrex for our kitchen, and some festive candle holders. I was happy that she got in line while I shopped and then we traded off so she could go look.
Third stop: Target. We actually ended up bailing out because we got there right at 4 when they opened the doors, and the line was about 200 yards long. Lisa went back after she dropped me off.
Fourth stop: the mall. We started a JC Penney, where they gave us a free mini Mickey snow globe upon entering the store. Both Lisa and I have a sweater addiction, so we looked at sweaters briefly before moving on to the jeans. Then, after trying on several pairs, I split off to go look at the unmentionables *snicker snicker* while Lisa stayed and looked at more sweaters. We met up downstairs in the lingerie checkout. Damage for me here was 2 pairs of jeans, a long-sleeve t-shirt, and 2 bras.
Next, we hit Bath and Body works, where we managed to sniff practically everything in the store before Lisa settled on 4 candles, the VIP bag, and some other stuff for her mom, and I got 2 candles and some vanilla foaming soap for the kitchen.
Final mall stop was Macy's; I got my grandma Joann her toaster oven, but stood, of my own fault, in the slowest line in the store. Lisa ran downstairs for some dad stuff and we finished roughly around the same time.
My final stop was Michael's. I didn't get anything, although we looked at fake trees. Lisa had more success.
Lisa finally dropped me off at 7am, and since neither of us had gone to bed yet, I quickly cleaned up and passed out. It was quite a successful and fun night!
So, naturally, Lisa and I went out last night to find some stuff. :) We left our condo around 2:15 with a plan, and for the most part we stuck to that plan.
First stop: Walmart, which ended up being an epic fail. Lisa was hoping to get some of these micro-chopping things, and by the time we got there, the store has been decimated and there was none left. I was hoping for a Brother sewing machine, but they didn't have the $50 deal on them until 5am, so we were too late for what Lisa wanted and too early for what I wanted. NEXT!
Second stop: Kohls, where we had much better luck. I ended up with 6 Christmas kitchen towels, 2 bath towels, a shirt for my dad, and 2 pairs of knee high socks. Lisa got some Pyrex for our kitchen, and some festive candle holders. I was happy that she got in line while I shopped and then we traded off so she could go look.
Third stop: Target. We actually ended up bailing out because we got there right at 4 when they opened the doors, and the line was about 200 yards long. Lisa went back after she dropped me off.
Fourth stop: the mall. We started a JC Penney, where they gave us a free mini Mickey snow globe upon entering the store. Both Lisa and I have a sweater addiction, so we looked at sweaters briefly before moving on to the jeans. Then, after trying on several pairs, I split off to go look at the unmentionables *snicker snicker* while Lisa stayed and looked at more sweaters. We met up downstairs in the lingerie checkout. Damage for me here was 2 pairs of jeans, a long-sleeve t-shirt, and 2 bras.
Next, we hit Bath and Body works, where we managed to sniff practically everything in the store before Lisa settled on 4 candles, the VIP bag, and some other stuff for her mom, and I got 2 candles and some vanilla foaming soap for the kitchen.
Final mall stop was Macy's; I got my grandma Joann her toaster oven, but stood, of my own fault, in the slowest line in the store. Lisa ran downstairs for some dad stuff and we finished roughly around the same time.
My final stop was Michael's. I didn't get anything, although we looked at fake trees. Lisa had more success.
Lisa finally dropped me off at 7am, and since neither of us had gone to bed yet, I quickly cleaned up and passed out. It was quite a successful and fun night!
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