Sorry folks,

You have been directed to this (our old blog site) because some unfortunate individual decided they may find it fun to hack into the computers of the company that we get our website through!

I believe they are in the process of trying to rectify the problem, but it may be a while yet before we are up and running properly again.

Sorry for the inconvenience...........I am wholeheartedly hoping that whoever did this is brought to justice

Other site hacked

This sucks, but we're working on it....

We moved!

Check us out over at babydaydreams.com

lol...we made our own site.  Yay us!

Someone please hit the 'pause' button

Can't believe another week appears to have disappeared on me!!

Seriously, someone really does need to hit that 'pause' button and make everything stop!

This week began with the continuing saga of the flooded car. The insurance company told us on Monday, that the car would be ready that afternoon and to take the hire car back. So we dutifully dropped it off that morning, leaving hubby to ferry me to and from work. I had to work til 10pm that day, so had planned to pick my car up during my lunch break. However, the manager who was meant to cover my lunch break called out sick, so no break and no car!

When I finished work that night, I realized that the company repairing the car had not called, so I contacted them Tuesday morning, only to be told it still wasn't ready! Not only that, but they were supposed to replace my damaged windscreen (windshield) at the same time as putting right the flood damage, but had forgot, so it was going to be a few more days! (I should've known!)

Monday night my brother in law also showed up to spend some quality time with the hubby before his deployment. He could only stay a few days and I feel really bad because the entire time he was here we were travelling to and from the base attending pre-deployment meetings. We were super busy for the majority of the time he was here and I'm pretty certain that he found the whole process pretty tedious.......I know I certainly did!

So, brother in law left yesterday leaving me with a sad and sulky husband to deal with. Don loves spending time with his family, but being Military, we always end up living so far away from them. Reunions are few and far between and never seem to last long enough. Saying 'goodbye' sometimes seems to get harder each time, rather than easier.

Today is also the husbands birthday. (Happy Birthday Babe....I love you!!). He should have been able to kick back and relax, but instead we spent most of the day running errands. We have just about got everything done.....even got to pick my car up this afternoon....but we are both too exhausted to enjoy the few hours of free time we have left.

Highlight of the day (and week) has to be the hubby's birthday cake. This is probably the only tradition we actually stick to with any level of consistency and I always enjoy trying to get some a little different.

So this year, after my husband wrote a blog entry about me referring to him

as a "pig", I had a little brain wave...........yep, sure enough.........this was the cake:

LOL!!!! I love it........the only thing that was missing was the words "oink, oink, oink" from round the bottom!

Of course, in true 'piggy' fashion, hubby has already managed to devour a very large chunk of it!!

Anyways....that's enough from me today. Have to be up for work at 4 am, so already way past my bedtime......

Finally....the yard is almost done!

Today we finally got to the finishing stages of our yard project! YIPPEEE!!!

We had started discussing doing something with the front of our house several months ago, but my husband (bless him!) is not exactly what you would call a 'hands on' person when it comes to tasks that involve physical effort. (Sorry babe......but we both know it's true!)

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!!

Wow....where does the time go????

I can't believe another wedding anniversary is flying by!

Unfortunately, I had to work all day, so no going out to a fancy restaurant for me today. I was up at 5am, at work at 7am and didn't get home until 6pm. Thankfully my darling husband had dinner prepared for when I got home.....and had even baked a cake for me!!!! Sometimes I am soooo spoilt!!

Tonight we are doing absolutely nothing.....sounds boring, I know, but actually this is a rarity in our house. We are normally extremely busy all of the time, so I cherish those moments when you can just stop for a while.

Bath and bed me thinks............................

The Focus Lives On

Today I found out that my car will live to see another day (and hopefully several more years!).

The assessor says that the water level was 2 inches under what is considered disasterous. It did not quite reach the computer and did not get into the engine. So, after a whole new carpet and new seats (the back ones got wet when the front end was raised for towing) the car should be good to go.

I thought I would be angry about this.

On Sunday I had persuaded myself that an $11,000 payout would be a bonus and that with hubby going away, being minus one car would be no big deal. That was until I got the hire car!!!

See my little Focus (although a magnet of disaster that people seem to like crashing into!!!) is not an automatic.......it is a manual (stick shift). I hate automatic cars....... the only people who drive auto's in England seem to be the elderly or disabled. I like to keep busy while driving and having to change gear keeps my concentration levels up. Also, in a manual, I know that if something happens to the brakes, I can stop the car by changing down through the gears then gently applying the hand brake. How do you do this in an auto???? It just does not seem safe to me, and besides, manuals get much better gas mileage.

So when we discussed the possibility of it being written off, the plan was to bank the cash. Then when he returned from deployment and we moved to the new base, we would trade his car in and buy a hybrid something or other to share. Trouble is, it would have to be an auto as hubby never really learned to drive a manual and I'm sure he would burn out clutches at a rapid rate.

Seemed like a good plan until the hire car firm gave me an auto to drive.

They fixed me up with a Toy Motor Camry (sorry.....Toyota - just can't help myself!) and actually, although a little cheap looking on the interior, it's not a bad car.

But as I have been going about my daily business I have realized that the lurching motion that occurs when the car changes gear makes me feel sea sick........very.....very......very sea sick. So much so that today, when I arrived at work, my staff told me my face looked green and I had to make a mad dash to the bathrooms, just in case!!!

The very thought of having to make another journey in this car petrifies me. I want my Focus back.......NOW!

It may not be the best car on the planet, nor the fastest, or the cutest, but it is mine. It does exactly what I need it to do (at least it does when I don't park it in a flood zone in heavy rain!) and doesn't make me feel ill.

The insurance company says it should be fixed by Monday or Tuesday...........until then the only journeys I will be making will be to and from work!

Next Media Animation Takes on the Rumors Around Apple and Hulu - Technorati Business

The company that made this video sent me an email saying that the video was relevant to an article I had written previously. Turns out that the company made several animated videos about news events that are really quite funny. You probably have seen their videos, as I had, but just didn't know who they were.

Does that make me famous? No? Ah well, the video is funny anyway!

Next Media Animation Takes on the Rumors Around Apple and Hulu - Technorati Business

The curse of the Allen household!!!!

So, unlike last week, I was thinking that this week was going pretty smoothly.

No major crises at home; both cars running well; Millie's little paws beginning to improve; and work.....well it wasn't quite as disasterous as it has been in recent weeks, despite being two managers down.

The week rolled on quite uneventfully. In fact, when we got to Friday I was quite excited at the

prospect of finally managing to get through an entire week without issue.

That, of course, was until today!!!!

A Comedy of Errors...and Trials

Today started off like most weekend days...groggy.

Sarah was in a huff, running around the house like a crazy woman.  It isn't abnormal for her; she is like this most days that she works.  And this day just fits in with the others.

I don't think that she is like this most days, though.  I think it only happens on the days where I am off work and she has to work.  I've seen her make this run countless times.  She darts from the kitchen, complaining about her schedule while carrying recyclables out the front door and, as she runs past me, she comments on how lazy I am.  As she continues in her mania, she rattles off a list of tasks that I should complete.  In my grogginess, I grunt.  I think I may have scratched myself a few times, for effect, of course.

Plastic Surgery Gift Cards????

Yesterday I posted on Facebook that I had seen an advert for gift cards for plastic surgery. My immediate reaction was that I would be mortally offended if someone got me one of these.......after all - who the hell are you to be pointing out all of my imperfections!!!

However, I was astounded by the responses to this. Several people commented "I want one of these"! Others private messaged me asking for more details. Seriously.....what is wrong with just being the way you are?

I want to be funny

I want to make a really awesomely funny post, but nothing is coming to mind.

Knock, Knock..
Who's there?
To
To who?

Slow day all around

As my time here starts winding down, things seem to start going into slow motion, unless I want them to slow down, in which case time speeds up.

I betcha his day just rocks!  Work it, son...

For instance,

Would You Like a Baby? How Much Would You Like To Pay? - Technorati Technorati Women

With parents like these, why are we finding it so hard!????

Would You Like a Baby? How Much Would You Like To Pay? - Technorati Technorati Women

What a week

Phew.......last week was just slightly crazy.

It was one of those weeks when, no matter what you are doing, everything just keeps going wrong!

Monday began with the 'walk the dogs and end up with poop all over your foot' episode....... in hindsight I probably should have taken that as a sign from some higher power and stayed in bed for the next 6 days!

Tuesday we discovered that the doorbell on our house was no longer working. What was once a pleasant and musical 'ding dong' sound has now turned into a very flat "dunk" noise! Time to buy a new one I think.

Another article for Technorati

I love this site...they pay well!

Planning to go to Vegas? Try not to get Legionnaire’s Disease - Technorati Business

I Hate Cars…even the non-animated ones

It all started with digging out the front garden.  Weeds had taken over, namely Torpedo Grass (you can read about that battle here), and Sarah demanded a change.  Part of that change involved decorative stones. 

This is a car, therefore, it and I will not get along.

Two types of stones were required in the makeover.  Porous lava rocks, which, despite having the ability to float, somewhat, the bags were quite heavy.  Especially after 20(!) bags of them.  It also required some wall-type stones.  You know the kind, the ones look like bricks but are meant to be pretty.  Well, we loaded those bad boys into my 2007 Chevy Malibu, and off we went.

International Adoption.......pro's and con's

Many people in America choose to adopt their families from other Countries. Russia, China and Ethiopia have long since been some of the number one choices for Americans considering international adoption.

Why???

These countries, unlike the more wealthy western countries, do not have the finances available to support personalised care systems for the number of infants and children that are left without parents. The result is that the majority of orphans and otherwise abandoned children end up living an institutionalized existence in one of many orphanages. (Please read here.....it's heartbreaking!!!)

For people waiting to adopt, this means

Ah, Netflix, Wherefore Art Thou So Greedy? - Technorati Technorati Women

My first article for Technorati...

Ah, Netflix, Wherefore Art Thou So Greedy? - Technorati Technorati Women

Why is everyone born in the summer??

I have a package sitting on the sofa.  It's a birthday present that has been staring at me for nearly two weeks.  My brother, who has been ever so patient, is none the wiser.  He just thinks I am a bad brother.  He's probably right.

The cake is a lie.
 (Wikimedia Commons)

Several members of my family, including me, have our birthdays in the summer.  Not really lumped together, we're a smattering of small holidays spread throughout the non-Christmas months.  And that makes it unfortunate.