Happy Birthday, JDA!

In parts of China, I'd say "Sun Yat Fai Lok"

In Croatia, I'd say "Sretan Rodendan"

In France, I'd say "Joyeux Anniversaire"

In Germany, I'd say "Alles Gute zum Geburtstag"

In Japan, I'd say "Otanjou-bi Omedetou Gozaimasu"

But right here in Chicago, IL, USA, I say "Happy Birthday"!

Wishing you many more years of health, happiness, and all the blessings that only God can give!

New Years Preparations

Happy Belated Birthday to Jesus. I was intending to make a post on Christmas day but flying back home took a lot of out of me and I ended up sleeping the majority of the evening away. No use crying over spilled milk. So here's a catch up on the week's events. I flew out to Dallas last Saturday and my parents drove down to meet me. We surprised my brother and spent Saturday and Sunday with him and his "girlfriend". My dad's wife bought a ton of food so we ate good and played a few hands of Uno.

On Sunday, we made the 4 hour drive back to Little Rock. I got to see all of the family, although I didn't get to have Christmas dinner with them because my flight departed at 11:00am on Tuesday. I know...it was bogus but it was the last flight that Southwest had leaving Little Rock bound for Chicago. I tried to see about going to work a couple hours late on Wednesday so that I could catch a flight leaving out that morning but manager couldn't approve because "the boys" would have gotten upset. It was a great time regardless.

So, I'm preparing for the New Year although mentally I'm still not ready for 2007...lol! Regardless, I'm getting some things accomplished that I refuse to let roll over into 2008. I purchased a scanner and a shredder on Wednesday and I've been having a ball. I'm scanning EVERYTHING and shredding it. I want all personal docs saved to my new 8GB thumb drive before January 1.

Tonight I'm going to finish washing and folding all of the laundry and give both bathrooms a good cleaning. If I get ambitious, I may even finish painting my bathroom...hmmm, now that's a thought. I'm also going to journey into the middle bedroom and pack up a bunch of stuff and take it to the Salvation Army. Yep, need that write off. Besides that, I'm just going to do some serious organizing in the house. Should I have a "yard" sale in the spring? Hmmm, now there's something to consider...

Last but not least, I need to finalize my goals for 2008. I believe that I have all of my travels planned out for the year and I've submitted my vacation days to my manager. Selah. My manager told us last week that the colapse date for the broker dealer is October 24 2008. So by then, I'll definitely be in a new job because LFS is going bye-bye. Anyway, my manager approved my days so now I just need to start securing some cheap flights. My other goals are just some basics relating to my physical, spiritual, mental, and financial well-being.

Here's to 2008...coming rather I'm ready or not!

The Criminals Live Here...

On Friday evening, I arrived to the train stations to learn that my car had been broken yet again. This time, they didn't break the windows...THANK GOD...but they left the interior of my car a mess. Honestly speaking, it was time for a good cleaning but the fact that they rumbled through everything and throwing stuff all over the seats and floors didn't help the case.

On first look, it appeared that they stole my CD holder that was attached to my visor along with my "clicker" for the gate and an empty Family Feud game box. It had been in my car because I was planning to return it but kept forgetting to put the CD-Rom back into it. It wasn't until last night when I got a text message on my phone saying "IRREGULAR CHECK CARD ACTIVITY" that I realized what else I had hidden away in my visor...my emergency debit card.

I quickly logged onto the banks website while dialing the number provided in the text message. The first thing I noticed was that my account was negative more than $2300. A quick click and I found that someone had a field day at BestBuy.com. While on hold for the bank, I used my other cell phone to call BestBuy.com where Monique, a freindly rep, was more than eager to assist me in getting this resolved. She cancelled the order and at the same time my bank rep cancelled out my debit card and declined a $1500 charge to JustTires.com.

During our conversation, the BestBuy rep provided me with the address that the items -a flat panel television, a desktop computer, and a printer- were being shipped to. Here it is:

900 West 59th Street, Chicago IL 60621

After wrapping up with them, I called to make a police report, which I hadn't initially done because I didn't think it was worth it for a few CDs and a garage clicker. I'm still trying to decide how to use this information. For starters, I believe that the same culprits are responsible for the previous break-ins. Jason suggested that I send them a Christmas card with scriptures. My co-worker agreed with posting their address online. I'm tempted to drive by and even knock on the door....which is highly unlikely but a nice thought. I'm not completely sure but I'll come up with something.

Cheesecake

After much talk, I finally did buckled down and made my brownie bottom cheesecake. It wasn't perfect but it tastes great. I'm proud of myself, especially since its my first time doing it with no help...other than some over the telephone coaching from Maryann. When it came out the oven, I just stood there like "wow". I'm definitely going to buy my Emeril pot set in two weeks.

Reminder to me--Get a notebook to organize recipes.

I got myself a new comforter set for the winter. It was much needed seeing as how I had to send my electric blanket back to Sunbeam for repairs. I'm disappointed about it not working because I just bought it last winter. Thank God it has a 5 year warranty. In addition to my comforter, I picked up some dry towels and comfy slippers. Kohl's had a really nice 2 day sale going and some things you just can't pass up on.

The quarterly condo meeting was tonight. It wasn't nearly as bad as I had expected so for that I am thankful. My assessments for next year only went up about $12, which is a definite blessing. I was expecting a huge hike but I'm happy with at 10% increase...I can work with that.

Besides that, its busines as usual around these parts. Tomorrow morning, its back to the gym. Its been a month since I've been and my energy level is telling the story. I've used enough excuses for not going so here goes!