Lightening Up!!

I found out from one of the lists I am on that Liz Carlyle is having a contest to win one of eight signed arcs of her new book Two Little Lies. It will be released the day after Christmas but since I have never won anything as a prize and have not ever seen an arc, I thought I would try out. Also, I find her website very visually pleasing. Makes me wish I had a clue about web design ;) Also, I love this cover!

Good news. I have started the peppermint oil regime and have already started to reap the benefits. I would also suggest that writing my crappy few days down last night on the blog helped to bring the anxiety down a few levels. Tonight I started to have a break through panic attack but was able to stay the course. (Because I take medication, I shouldn't really get panic attacks but they can suddenly surface if you are under a lot of stress. Seeing as how Christmas is my Achilles' Heel I guess it is just the norm.) every time you are able to stand in front of the panic and win means that you are less likely to have an attack. Makes me happy when I think of it later and realize that a full fledged panic attack was not only averted but stomped into the ground! Hmm, may not want to get too cocky ;)

Reading wise I just haven't had the time. I got a hold of my insurance company today and they will cover the damage of the pipe that burst in our basement. Phew! That only took about 14 hoops but if there is one thing I have, it's the tenacity of a pitbull. I have a feeling that everyone with an insurance policy will soon get a definition for 'seepage'. The guy read the line in the 'contract' that they were stuck on. I looked at him and said, 'seepage is like an oozing and you can tell from just looking at the damage, that there was no oozing going on down there'. I think he knew I wasn't going to back down and the fact that they would use a specific word and then try to fit a situation to it was just ridiculous. I know what seepage would look like and so did he so they didn't have a leg to stand on. Again, lucky for me because they could have decided against me. I couldn't believe when the adjustor told me that if I didn't agree with the decision I could sue. When did companies decide they would rather be sued than to do what is right? What it came down to was whether they thought I would do the leg work and I guess they figured I would ;)

I'll have to take a few pictures before they demo so I can do the semi-before and then after shots. Even though Bob does renoes I have decided to have the insurance company's team come in and do the work. A) because it will get done maybe before Christmas B) Bob already has two other places he needs to finish up projects before he could get to this.

I'll have to tell you all the story about Bob's first wife, my now best friend and her and her husband's house. Long story. Let's just say she's hoping Bob will finish what he said he would by Christmas of this year. I told her he may have meant Christmas 2007, just to see her reaction ;)

I have decided that tomorrow must become errand day. I have 2 pairs of new jeans that I can't wear because the legs are too long. (Note: I am about 5'7" and am considered long in the leg. Who in the hell are they making these jeans for!? I guess they figure if you have a big waist your legs will naturally be longer. Uh, no. I'm just fat!) I just found out tonight that my husband needs me to iron something (I iron about 2 times a year) but, he used my good iron to put edgebanding on something which means there is glue on the element. Therefore, a new iron needs to be bought. I would also like to go to a used bookstore to find some books for my book trading group. I'm feeling guilty because I haven't been able to get out. Ah well, a step at a time.

Last but not least! A wacky Christmas gift for a man because I don't know many woman who can eat hotdogs the way the men in my life do.

Behold: The Hot Diggity Dogger!!

That's right. A toaster that not only toasts your hot dog buns but also cooks your hot dogs! My husband saw this last year and wanted one immediately. I may not have mentioned but our downstairs kitchen (which is now demolished) was in the style of a 1950's diner. I could handle him getting this as a gift and knowing that it would be relegated to the lower level kitchen. Now, I'm afraid to buy him this because it just might end up on the counter of our upstairs kitchen wedged in between his Kitchen Aid Mixer in blue and his horribly expensive Dualit Toaster. Bobby loves those kitchen gadgets. Doesn't do anything with them but loves to buy them ;)

If you have someone on your list that would absolutely love this gift, Amazon seems to have the best price I have seen so far and yes, I have been trying on Ebay.

Since my train of thought is all over the place I will now wrap up and go surfing. I love to see what others are up to!