Tuesday, November 28, 2006

Christmas is coming

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving. I went home to Mom's house on Thursday. I waited until then because I had to stay a bit late at work Wednesday and was rather tired to make the trip, plus had to wash my hair and all that. So got up around 10am on Turkey day and drove the 70 miles to Satellite Beach. Mom went to pickup Grandma and brought her back to the house, where we had a very simple dinner. Reno was able to get a 10 lb turkey for six bucks since he knows the meat guy at Publix. It pays to know people!

After dinner Mom and Reno cleaned up the kitchen while I had a nice long conversation with Grandma. I don't see her too often, since she lives in Melbourne and isn't usually able to make the trip with Mom when she comes to see me on weekends. And since Dad died I don't go home very much anymore. We talked about lots of different things, and it was really nice. Mom told me later that Grandma really enjoyed our talk and even cried. I feel guilty now for not calling more.

On Friday we went to see the movie Borat, which I will tell you honestly was funny in parts, but extremely shocking. There were scenes I wish I hadn't witnessed, those of you who have seen it know which one in particular I'm talking about! Reno couldn't stop talking about how awful it was, and I wouldn't say that, but it was definitely not for everyone. Definitely not for the easily offended.

Mom and I came back to Orlando on Saturday, and hung around the house the next couple of days. Tomorrow is my birthday, and Mom let me open a present a bit early on Sunday. She bought me an IHome alarm clock for my Ipod. It's pretty cool! I can wake up to the radio or my Ipod, and it charges the Ipod. Mom has ordered me a remote so I can work it from across the room.

After Mom went home Sunday night I went into the sewing room, which I hadn't been in in quite a while. I wanted to start a project I got from a lady on Ebay. It was a pattern and fat quarter kit which I had intended to buy from Connecting Threads, but by the time I got around to order it, had sold out. I was so upset. Luckily, someone had bought it and was cleaning out her sewing room and decided to sell it on Ebay. I wanted it so bad that I bid 10 dollars more than it sold for in the catalog. I watched the countdown closely, and someone tried to outbid me 30 seconds before the auction ended, but I was able to enter a final bid and win the kit. I was so happy. It is a Christmas table topper with fabrics from the Thimbleberries December Day collection. I have got a lot of it done, in fact, was just in there tonight and made some more progress. Hopefully if I am diligent this week I can get the top done and make the quilt sandwich for this weekend, and finish it by next week, so I can at least have it for a couple weeks before Christmas. Here's hoping!

Tomorrow Mom and Reno are coming over to take me to Olive Garden for dinner for my birthday. Betty, our secretary and office manager, promised me cake at work, which she does for everyone every year. She's quite the baker! I plan on taking the afternoon off, besides, my air conditioner is on the fritz again and the tech is coming at 1 pm. Hopefully he can figure out what is wrong! We shall see!

Wednesday, November 22, 2006

Dexter is a YouTube Star

Well, sort of. Monday night I posted a little video of Dexter "washing" his face with a stinky washcloth. I saw him do this once several months ago and thought "this is the most amazing thing I've ever seen a cat do." So I grabbed the video camera a week or so ago, threw down a washcloth that could probably stand up by itself in a corner and waited to see if Dexter would roll on it. And so he did...I tried to contain the laughter as best as I could as I shot the video, and this weekend edited it to remove the parts where he stopped performing and scratched a flea or whatever. Its about a minute and a half, so if you have the time, check it out:

Dexter Washing Up

Monday, November 20, 2006

Let's Roll!

Today I got my scooter lift installed in my new van. This was the second attempt by the Scooter Store. The first lift they put in was a boom arm type which would have required WAY too much assistance from me. I can barely stand up long enough to put my pants on, and I would have had to rotate, guide and help the scooter into the back of the van. I felt awful, but even after the two really nice guys (Chris and Jose) spent ALL day two weeks ago installing the lift, I had to tell them I couldn't use it. I had no idea I would have to do so much, and if I had known, I never would have had them install it.

Well, the wonderful people at the Scooter Store didnt give up on me, and found a platform lift that would fit in the back of my van, and wouldn't require anything of me except pushing a button! So today the same sweet guys came back to my house and installed the new lift, and I'm ready to roll!

Here is a picture of the scooter on the lift:


It's a Revo 3 wheel, which gets (supposedly) up to 20 miles on a full charge. I don't expect to do THAT much shopping, but you never know, especially with Christmas around the corner. It comes in Candy Apple Red and Viper Blue, but I really wish it came in black. But the red was the best choice, since the blue was pretty wild. The seat is pretty comfortable, but we'll have to see about how long I can stand to sit in it...

Here's a shot of the scooter all the way in the van, with Chris holding the button:


It was so funny, he said "I'm gonna take a picture of it in the van!" because the company initially said it probably wouldn't fit in my car. But they proved them wrong! Yeah, ok, I lost the 3rd row of seats, but how often do I cart around six people anyway? (NEVER!!!) There was a chance I might lose the second row of seats, which would have been awful since we hope to use this new van to travel. But they were able to save the second row. There is not a whole lot of room left over in the back, but that's ok.

So, I'm pretty happy. The scooter is outside in the garage right now charging up, so I can take it for a spin soon. May do it tomorrow, we'll have to see.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

A NEW CAR!!!

OMG I am so excited, I bought a new car this past weekend. I wasn't going to buy a car for a couple years because my Honda CR-V, even though nine years old, runs great and still looks pretty good for its age. But slowly I've been deciding it was time to swallow my pride and get some sort of power scooter to get around so I don't have to depend on my mom and friends to go places on my own. And the CR-V just wasn't going to carry one.

So what did I get? I got the 2006 Mazda MPV. I wanted the bronze one, but settled for the silver one, and you know, I think I like it better anyway! It has a V6, which I'm getting used to, you press the gas and ZOOOOOOM! I love it. It just barely fits in my garage though. Other minivans were just too big. We plan on using it when we travel, so it will save on van rental.

Today I signed an order for a power scooter. The Revo 3-wheel in candy apple red. It gets up to 20 miles on a charge, so that's a lot of shopping. LOL I also will be getting a lift for the back of the van, unfortunately the 3rd row seating will never be able to be used because of it. Oh well. Not like I haul a bunch of people around anyway. I should be getting both sometime next week. Lots of money out the window. But it also means points for my Marriott Rewards so free nights at hotels!!

I will post pictures soon. I played today with my Adobe Premiere Elements software, captured the video from my trip and also some of Dexter playing with a dirty washcloth. He looked like he was actually washing his face with it. May send it to America's Funniest Videos.