Another key adventure...

Or you can't plan for everything. Friday nights a friend, L, and I have dinner. It's a great way to finish out the week. And, who doesn't enjoy having not to cook. A week ago this past Friday we were both exhausted and I was getting ready to go out of town on Sunday for three days. Had a lot on my mind. Since L uses a scooter, we frequently make a Target or Wal-Mart run as it's easier on her and I don't mind. So, even as tired as we were, for me it was either Friday or Saturday for the Target run and I didn't want to go on Saturday. So, we fortified ourselves with dinner and then headed for the Target. So far, so good. Now, I've lost a good deal of weight and most of my pants are loose, really loose. I usually hang my keys in the watch pocket part, easier to keep up with them. Except in these pants the pocket was a little bigger and of course, I'm yanking them up every time I turn around. I put my stuff in my car and then I go put her stuff in her car. Well, I send her on her way and go to get in my car, only to discover I don't have my keys. They fell out in her van. To make matters worse, for some reason, I locked my car. Probably out of habit. If I hadn't been so tired, I think I would have cried. It's after 8:00 pm and all of my stuff - purse, phone, spare car key, everything, is locked in my car. And, my keys are in L's van. And, she's practically out of the parking lot by the time I realize this. I gave serious consideration to chasing after her, but I'm just not that fast.

So, I head to the restaurant we ate at and ask if they have a phone book. Since my phone is in my car, I have no idea what L's number is but figured I'd look it up and call her so she'd know and come back. No phone book, but they kindly called 411. Her number wasn't listed. I know she'll come back if she finds the keys, but what if she doesn't find them? So, they help find the number for Pop-a-Lock and we call them. It's a toss up - if I don't call them, L won't find the keys until tomorrow, if I do call, she'll find them and come back. Pop-a-Lock estimates a 30 minute time frame and I head to my car.

Pop-a-Lock finally gets there (cool thing about them is if there is a child locked in the vehicle, they don't charge). And, about five minutes later, L arrives. She found my keys. Pop-a-Lock didn't charge me the full fee because they didn't actually open the car, which I was especially grateful for.

Lesson here is that no matter what you plan for, short of keeping all items on your person, you can't plan for everything. However, the big lesson we learned is we make sure each other is in their vehicle and headed out before leaving. Why we didn't do it that night, as we usually do, I'll never know. I could laugh about it when L got there, but when I realized what happened, I wished I'd just stayed in bed that morning.

Slide show....

One of the things I've been doing lately is experimenting with photography. I find I'm really enjoying taking photos of plants, in particular flowers. So, in the left hand column you'll find a slide show of several of my recent photos. This slide show feature will probably rotate with another album, but I had fun taking the pictures and adding the slide show. So, enjoy the show!

In under the wire....

Well, today, I finally filed my income taxes - Federal and Arkansas. I seriously considered saving my money and filing the federal by mail, but finally filed it electronically. I did mail Arkansas. I do get a refund, a whole $4. I think it will cost them more money to process. I moved from there on Jan 3rd. All that work on my part and their part for a one week paycheck in 2007. Many states don't require you to file if you lived there less than a certain amount of time or earned less than certain amount. Louisiana isn't one of them and neither is Arkansas. Thing is, I would have let them keep the $4. It's really not worth the time and effort, on my part or theirs, but they require it, so I filed. My federal refund with the house this year is much better, so that's nice. I'm never sure why I want till the last minute to file, but I'm glad it's done.

The picture to the right is an Amaryllis (I think). I planted the bulb last year and got a bloom, though the stalk was no where near as tall. But, look at the bottom, there's another bloom! I didn't notice that till today when I was taking the picture. I'm looking forward to them opening up. I planted several bulbs last year and this was the only one to bloom. You're supposed to dig them up in the fall, so I'm told, but I didn't. Apparently, this one didn't mind. Course, we had a mild winter, too. And, one of the other bulbs, that didn't bloom last year has a bloom on it as well. Fun.

Progress....

The picture is of my peach tree in bloom! It didn't die! I'm so very happy that it survived the winter and is coming alive with the rest of nature. Even the rose bush that I thought I might have killed is coming out in fine form.

The past couple of weeks have been hectic. My Mom paid her second visit to my house over the Easter weekend. But, we worked. New carpet was laid in the living/dining room and the master bedroom. It was about as I expected. We had all the breakables packed away though and most of the small stuff out of the way. The carpet layers (whose English wasn't good as was expected) did a great job. I've never seen carpet being laid before and it was interesting. And, there is a carpet pad under there. I wasn't really sure. The best part though, is there is no longer a stripe in my living room where the carpet pieces didn't match. And, for some reason, which neither my Mom nor I can figure out, this carpet looks better and feels better. It's supposed to be the exact same carpet, but it just seems to be of a better quality. I'm not complaining, though. I'm just terribly pleased to not have to look at that stripe anymore.

Then this past Friday, the drainage was fixed! I finally contacted the Warranty Manager (builder rep guy) and asked what the deal was. I knew they'd been out to look at the yard a month ago, but I'd heard nothing. So, he and the irrigation guy came out the Thursday before last, drew up the sketch for the drainage and it was done last Friday. I got home at three and they had dug the trench for the left side of the house, which was the worst. The crew leader recognized this right away. He also asked me, almost immediately, if they were going to fix the driveway. They tell me they will, but apparently they haven't figured out how yet because I haven't heard anything on that. Though, honestly, until the drainage was fixed, it was probably best not to fix the driveway. Now it can rain all it wants.

Then the really interesting thing. A week ago Thursday the foundation repair guys also showed up to cut the post tension cable that wasn't. Their English wasn't good either and I couldn't understand what they were trying to tell me. Finally, they called their manager and he explained it to me. According to him, the cable was cut when the house was built. Something happened and it "popped out." There was no tension on it. So, they were supposed to come the next day (same day as the carpet guys) to pull the cable and put in a new one. They were also supposed to call before they came. Well, they didn't. After the carpet guys left, we were starving, so we went to eat. While we were gone, they came and apparently pulled the cable (I could see the trail from the cable). Since I wasn't here, I have to go on faith that they put in a new cable, because it is now sealed. I've asked Warranty manager for a letter stating what exactly they did. I'm concerned for when I sell the house. I need to be able to disclose these things.

Apparently, I've scared off Warranty Manager. He's assigning me to another Warranty Manager. I finally got fed up and said if folks were sent to my house and I wasn't here I wanted a letter or some other documentation saying who was here, what they did, and what actions would or would not be taken. I'm still waiting to get a report from the roofing company; apparently they were here the week of Feb 13th, but I wouldn't know for sure since I wasn't told they were coming so I was at work. We'll see how new Warranty Manager handles things. Hopefully a little speedier than old Warranty Manager.