I Won!

I stumbled across this blog of media art by an Austrailian artist and I loved it. I love art and anything that someone takes the time and puts their whole heart into making something wonderful. Art is amazing to me. When I was little, I always wanted to be an artist. I guess scrapbooking is an art form.

Here are the AMAZING prints that I won:

I can't believe I actually won. I am so thrilled. I can't wait to hang them in my craft room for inspiration. You can check out her work at: http://www.gretchenmist.blogspot.com/.

Just had to share. I hope everyone has a fantastic day!
-Lindsay

Sesame Street Live - Elmo's Green Thumb

I decided I wanted to take Zoie to Sesame Street Live this year. I didn't get tickets last year, and I really regretted not going. So this year I made up my mind that we would go.

I bought tickets for Mom, Dad, Me, Tracie (my aunt--she always took us to Disney on Ice every year) and Zoie. It was on March 7 at 10:00 a.m. I got awesome seats... the 2nd row in the 2nd section. My birthday was the 8th, so I thought it would be a good way to spend my birthday, doing something Zoie enjoyed.

Zoie had such a great time. I bought her a light up toy and she loved playing with it and watching the show. She waved at the characters and especially liked Zoe and Abby Cadabby. The show was interesting. There was a lot of hugging and dancing. Zoie liked it, so that was what mattered. It was worth it, just to see the smile on her face. I want to cherish these moments while she is young and still enjoys those things. I know it will all too soon pass us by.

Just wanted to share a few photos I took from the show. I'm working on my scrapbook layout for it, so once I get that finished I will post.

-Lindsay

Poor Poor Toofy

I had my appointment yesterday for my dreaded root canal and crown. My mom, being a former dental receptionist, had to tell me the wonderful process of the root canal, adding to my fear of sitting in the dental chair. I got there early and she asked me if I wanted the "gas". I wonder if she could sense my nervousness as I quickly responded "Yes."

The gas is a funny thing, you know. You are sitting in the chair and conversations sound so more precise. Your feet begin to tingle as if you were falling out of the chair without even moving. Your fingers and toes go numb every once and awhile, when the tank seems to kick back on or something. Ah, dental gas. How I love thee. Take the pain away from me, please...

They began the root canal, which was NOT fun. It really hurt quite actually. I think he could tell that I was feeling it, as he kept having to give me more shots of who knows what, to try and numb me even more. They did the root canal, and over 2 hours later he informs me that there is puss coming out and my tooth was absessed. Wonderful. He gave me an antibiotic to take, and unfortunately he couldn't complete the root canal or crown until the infection was gone. But the good news was it was draining, and should relieve the pressure and not cause any more migranes and headaches.

So I get a temporary "pulp" plug in my tooth until they can finish it in 2 weeks.

I went home yesterday really feeling it. I had taken a loritab before I went in, so that really helped with the pain. After about 6 shots of novacane or whatever they used, the laughing gas and the loritab, I was exhausted. I went home and went to bed for about 3 hours. I woke up to my cheek still numb and my stomach hurting. I had this horrible burnt taste in my mouth too. I couldn't tell if it was from the drilling away of the gut of my tooth or if it was from the drainage. My mom called and said Mary, our hygenist, had called asking how I was doing. She said it was really absessed and since my mouth was so small the other day, they couldn't get a good x-ray of that back tooth or else they probably would have caught it. She told me to double up on the antibiotics for the first day or so. She's so sweet. She's the main reason we go there...

So I gathered my things together and went to mommy and daddy's house. At least there I wouldn't be alone for the night while I was drugged up.

I think I went to bed around 8 or so. I don't know. I fell asleep on the couch and around 9 pm I moved to the spare bedroom. I slept pretty sound during the night, only to be awoken by two barking dogs going crazy at the back door. It was 6:30 am. Joy. It woke up Zoie too, so she came and got in bed with me, and insisted that Mimi join. That also brought in two little pooches who then proceeded to jump in bed with us all wet from the snow outside (we were in the midst of a blizzard). I stayed awake for about an hour while they talked and "played" (or at least Zoie did). They then went in the other room and I was able to doze off for another 2 hours...until Zoie's yelling woke me up. Maybe I should have stayed home.

So for today's schedule I have some scrapbooking I brought with me. It was supposed to snow a foot last night, but I don't know if we actually got that or not. I have yet to look outside. I am supposed to have a date tonight, so we will see if that follows through. Maybe I will order Chinese in and watch chick flicks all night. Sounds yummy.

--Lindsay

Trip to the Dentist...

I have a tooth that has been bothering me for years. My dentist has worked on it numerous times, and even the military worked on it when I was married. (I honestly think they made it worse since their filling fell out.) It is a problem tooth, with a cavity on the side on my gum line. Last time I went in he told me I needed a crown, but I sort of blew it off since it was going to cost me almost $800 buckeroos.

I went in for my cleaning yesterday and they gave me the wonderful news-- my tooth was dying. It has been hurting me for awhile now, but it is one of those things where you just get used to the pain. Well now I have to have not only a crown, but also a root canal. Joy. They scheduled it for April 6th, but since they cleaned my teeth yesterday, I have had a gynormous headache. It has moved behind my eyes. I took some Tylenol, but it didn't help. I called in for a prescription, and they wanted to get me in ASAP, as in tomorrow morning at 10:45 a.m. They aren't even open on Fridays. I went to pick up my prescription... Loritab and Amoxicillin. At least hopefully I will get some much needed sleep tonight.

So wish me luck. I'm pretty nervous about it. Hopefully it won't be too bad. I'm working for 2 hours in the morning, but am taking the rest of the day off "just in case".

Love,

We Are Potty Training!

Finally. After months of begging and pleading (well, not really), Zoie is potty training! My mom stayed home on Friday and really worked with her. She even wore some "big girl" panties around the house. She isn't to the point where she will tell you she has to go, but if you just take her every once and a while she will sit down and go. She is getting to the point where she knows she's not supposed to go in her diaper, as she is hiding now. She hid behind the couch on Friday and mom had to clean up a puddle on the fire place (I can't help but laugh), and yesterday she hid behind the shower curtain to "do her business". But if you mention it to her and ask her if she needs to go, her answer now it "Sure!", instead of "NO."

This morning I got her up and her diaper was completely dry. I took her in to the bathroom and sat her down on her "big girl" potty. She has one of those potty chairs that sings music when it gets wet, so I heard the music start to play. I got all excited and made a huge deal about it. She was happy. I asked her if she was done and she said, "Just a minute." I figured she was going to sit there and try and pee again, but then I heard a loud poot. And another one. The next thing I knew, she had gone #2, too! I was pretty stoked--grossed out but happy that she was doing both now.

So we will see if she keeps it up. I had tried once before when she was lik 18 months and she did a great job. I had a sticker chart and everything, and each time she went "tinkle" she got a sticker. There were 25 spots. And if that little stinker didn't get to 24 and stop!! I was so upset. I tried bribing her and telling her that if she filled her chart, then Mommy would buy her something at the store. But nope. She wasn't budging. We will try the sticker chart again. We were giving her pennies over the weekend, but if she keeps it up then Mommy will definitely be going broke. :)

I just had to share our excitement. Keep your fingers crossed that she keeps it up... and that I won't go broke buying diapers either!

Love,

My NEW Car!!

I got a new car!! I am super excited about it too. I did my taxes and was getting back almost $12,000 ($7500 was basically a "loan" that is interest free. I have to pay back $500 each year for 15 years.) I decided that since it was so hard to get Zoie in and out of the back seat of my Mustang, it didn't do well on the ice, and it was getting close to 100,000 miles that it was about time to trade it in. This was the perfect opportunity to get something new, or at least different.

My boss has been looking at cars and I had kept my eyes open on ones that I liked. I really liked the Dodge Nitro. They were fairly new (came out in 2007 or 2008) so I didn't know if I'd be able to afford one. I had looked online for "pre-owned" aka "Used" and found a few I was interested in. One, in particular, was extremely nice. It was in Pauls Valley which was about an hour or so away, but it was silver with a sunroof, 20" wheels and only had 6700 miles on it. They were asking $16,988 which was more than I had wanted to spend, but I thought maybe they would come down a bit.

We drove out to Pauls Valley on Saturday after Sesame Street Live! and I went to go test drive the car. As soon as I opened the door I could tell someone had smoked in it. I was disappointed. I really liked the car, but I knew with Zoie's allergies and health there was no way we could get that smell out. I was looking at the car and the salesman took me to look at a brand new Jeep Liberty. While we were looking at it, a couple came in and bought the silver Nitro out from under me! I wasn't too upset, but a little disappointed. However, another salesman pulled up in a brand new black Dodge Nitro and told me I should take a look at it since it was cheaper than the silver one! I test drove it and loved it. It was a 2008 and only had 400 miles on it. I really loved the car.

It was negotiation time. I had a number in my head of how much I wanted to spend. The total amount of my tax refund was $11,462, so that was what I was willing to spend. I looked at the sticker price on the Nitro and it was $23,085, so I knew there was no way I would be able to get into it for that price. My dad offered them $10,500 and my trade-in, and they came back asking $13-something. I told them no, so we offered $11,500. They came back asking $12,500, but if I financed a portion of it, I could get a $1,000 rebate. I said no. I didn't want to finance any of it because I didn't think I could qualify and I really wanted to just pay cash.

We walked away.

As we were getting back into the Mustang, my heart just sank. I was really hoping I would have been able to get that car. They were offering me $4500 for my Mustang, which was more than we probably could have gotten out of it if we tried to sell it on our own. As we were driving away, mom and dad asked me if I was regretting it. I said yes. So dad told me to call back and offer $12,000. So I did, and unfortunately they wouldn't take it.

We stopped at two other dealerships afterwards, and neither one could match the price they were offering. I could get them for $12,500, but that was after financing. And neither one of them had one on the lot and they were going to have to "order" one and pay freight charges and what-not. At this point it was already past 9 p.m. on Saturday. The dealership in Pauls Valley closed at 8 p.m. and they weren't open on Sunday, so I had decided on Monday morning, I was going to call and buy that car.

I started calling at 7:30 a.m. I got the service department. They told me to call back at 8 a.m., but when I did I got the service department again. I am sure I probably drove them crazy calling, but I wanted that car. Dodge Nitros were hard to find around here, and I knew I had to jump on that offer. So at 8:10 a.m. I called again, and left a message for Ken, my salesman, to call me back. It seemed like I had to wait forever, but by 9 a.m. he had called back and the car was mine! He said he would even detail it and gas it up for me. I was stoked. I couldn't believe I was getting a new car!

The drive back down there was long and seemed like an eternity. When I pulled up, I just couldn't believe it. I had heard some rumors about the financing, so I was going to see if I could in fact get it for the price they said. They told me I would have to finance a minimum of $7500 and pay 6 months of payments. One of the other dealers I talked to told me no, that wasn't true. I had called 6 dealerships that afternoon trying to find out the "truth" about the financing, and every single one of them told me a different story with a different amount and a different time frame of paying it off. I finally called Chrysler Financial myself, and asked. They told me each dealership had a different amount they had to finance, but the loan could be paid off immediately. I wanted to make sure they weren't going to give me a hard time about it.

We had to wait for the financing department as there were two people in front of me. Finally it was my turn. My dad and I went back there and sat down and told him our plan. He told me I had to finance a minimum of 10,000 to get the 1,000 cash back. I was very hesitant since that was a LOT of money. However, he told me as soon as I got my booklet I could pay the whole thing off, and I would basically be pocketing about $900 since I was probably going to have to pay a little interest for those few days. Especially since my credit score was "emaculate" (I have an 809), so my interest was only 5-something. So I went ahead and did it. I am waiting to get my booklet in the mail so I can pay it off immediately.

After we finished all of the "dirty work" I was so relieved. I was a little sad to sign the title over to them for my Mustang. That was really a decent car, considering. It never gave me any problems really, so I was sad to let it go. However, I was very excited to be driving home in my brand new car!

We got everything out of the Mustang and turned over the keys. I drove home in the new Nitro and couldn't believe it was my car. My dad even told me he was really proud of me. He said he couldn't believe that at my age I had already purchased my first house and have a new car that is basically paid off.

I am really proud of myself too. Most people my age throw their money away, and I don't. I don't really have that option being a single mom with no child support. I am always scared that I won't be able to provide for me and Zoie and we will be trapped. I don't go shopping like most girls my age, and I am really frugal with my money. I guess it has paid off.

Another plus is my boss bought a car from the same place too, so I got a $200 referral! I told her I would split it with her of course, but still. That will at least pay for my gas down there and back. :)
Love,

I'm Getting Old...

Well, it's almost that time of year again. The day most of us dread. That's right, my birthday. Next Sunday I will turn 27. I can't believe it. It seems like time is flying by lately. I mean, Zoie is almost 3 already. I know I'm not "ancient" by any means, but I just feel old. I can tell I'm starting to officially age. I have to worry more about what I eat as my metabolism just isn't the same as it was when I was 20. I'm noticing wrinkles around my eyes, but I claim they are from laughing too much at Zoie. I even go to bed early. If I don't get at least 8 hours of sleep, I'm dragging. What happened to staying up and pulling all-nighters? I guess that is what happens when you get "old". And it doesn't help that I have an active 2-year-old who definitely keeps me on my toes.

For my birthday I have decided to do something nice for Zoie. I am taking her and my mom, dad and aunt to see Sesame Street Live! So Saturday morning we will go and do that, and hopefully Saturday afternoon I will get to test drive some cars. Saturday night my boss (and friend) Andrea is going to take me out Saturday night for my birthday that night. Sunday I will probably have lunch with mom, dad and Zoie since mom's birthday is the next day (Monday). I don't have a lot planned, but I know it will be a good birthday... even though I am an old fart now. haha!

Yah for Taxes!

I decided to go ahead and to my taxes to find out how much I'd be getting back. They were offering a $7500 first-time homebuyer's credit, but you have to pay it back over a 15-year period. I knew I would qualify for that, so I wanted to see how much more I would be getting back so maybe I could possibly get a new car.

I figured my taxes and couldn't believe it. I used taxslayer.com and it walks you through it step-by-step asking you all sorts of questions. When it was all said and done, I was getting back $10,941 from federal and over $500 for state! That was almost $12,000!! And I realized I did my taxes wrong last year and didn't claim Zoie's daycare and so I didn't qualify for the EIC (Earned Income Credit) and I think that was the reason I didn't get my full refund with the stimulus check. So now I have to do an amendment and I might get back more!

I have been looking at cars and I really like the Dodge Nitro. I am trying to find one in my price range. I figure I can maybe get $4000 out of my Mustang (dad thinks I can get $5000), so that will give me enough to get a new car and pay cash. I'm really excited. I'm going to probably go test drive one this weekend. I can't wait. I am soooo ready for a new car that is 4-door and I don't hit Zoie's head every time I put her in the back seat. lol And hopefully one that will do better on the ice. So we will see. I will keep you posted! :)