Saturday, September 23, 2006

#33 See a Baseball Game at Petco Park


Take me out to the ball game,
Take me out with the crowd.
Buy me some peanuts and Cracker Jack,
I don't care if I never get back,
Let me root, root, root for the home team,
If they don't win it's a shame.
For it's one, two, three strikes, you're out,
At the old ball game."

Friday I took the kids to the Padres vs. Pirates game at Petco park. The girls school had acquired a few tickets at a lower rate so we headed out to San Diego during rush hour "FUN" and got to the ball park and had a wonderful time. This was the first time my younger two girls had ever been to a game. I spent the marjority of the time explaining why a man was trying to steal from 1st to 2nd base and the fun of trying to catch him doing it. The game was awesome. The Padres smeered the Pirates, with (and we left at the beginning of the 9th inning so there could have been one more home run) but we watched 2 home runs, 2 triples and one great move after another. Thats my 'professional' take of the game. BUT it was fun, and let me just say this......$35 dollars for 2 orders of nachos, 1 hamburger, 1 fry and 4 drinks......HELLO! OK, but we had fun, and thats what the night was all about.

Friday, September 15, 2006

#75 Get a Puppy for the Kids

Crossing off this item is more then well deserved. After spending more then 8 hours driving back and forth on a journey that seriously should have only taken 5, we have a brand new addition to our family. Cleopatra "Cleo" has joined our family, and thus the new venture begins for our family. Im sure we will get very little sleep the next few nights and Ill hear the complaints of the children soon on who gets to clean the kennel next :) But let me just say this SHE IS ADORABLE!!!

Monday, September 04, 2006

Progress, More progress

This weekend we hit the Wild Animal Park one more time. With this visit I have one more to fit in and can cross off this little item from the list. Im thinking the next visit really should be to the zoo since we haven't made it there with our passes yet. It was a pretty hot weekend, but having Dennis out we just had to go :)

Purchased tickets for a game here at the Petco park with the girls school later this month so in a couple of weeks Ill be able to cross that item from the list.

Slowly working at de-cluttering, painting the kitchen. Midway through this project, school has begun and I decided to redo my son's bedroom since he has outgrown his twin bed, and it was due time to redecorate his room. So I am bouncing back and forth between the kitchen, the library and his room all while getting schooling off the ground and rushing around to two schools in two different cites........can you say MADNESS? :)

55 Can now be crossed off the list. I have just in the past week subscribed to Money and I have been picking it up the past couple of months and actually reading it. I think that alongside of reading Crowns information from their website, and The Motley Fool off and on, I have sufficently covered this item well enough to cross it off my list.

97 I am going back and forth on, because I didn't clarify this specifically enough. I think for now I will cross it off. I did pack a picnic and had one with Dennis while at the beach this weekend, ok it wasn't a full blown picnic and the kids were with us, hmmm ok it says someone I love...wouldn't that also mean the kids? So I have had several of those with just the kids? Neek and I also hit the beach and had a picnic, shes my dearest friend so .........arrrgh need to be specific on these!!!! :) but it will most likely haunt me and Ill be sure to have another in the near future so I wont stress to much over it :)

More just around the corner.....Madness Madness! Isn't that an Oingo Boingo song?

Friday, September 01, 2006

Debt free.....or kinda sorta :)

Its over and done with. I've paid off my credit cards and consolidated almost everything into one lovely lump junk of a house payment. I have to say though without having David, my awesome loan broker, I would not have had it as easy. There were so many stupid details to doing this, that he handled most of all of them for me I really appreicate all that he did. At first from something I had done last year apparently the lab company decided to bill me but to a city I don't or haven't ever lived in. Since I never recieved the bill, it was sent to collections. Thats never fun to find out, especially when you find out that a stupid unpaid bill of 54.00 can cause havoc to you credit score. Dropping it from 720 on my high score, which didn't have the collection on it down to 617 on my lower score. David worked hard to get that off my credit report, he chased them down, argued on my behalf, got them to admit their supidity, and even saved me a half point with the loan agency in the end saving me 1700.00 dollars in closing costs. He didn't earn anymore then my appreciation and loyalty....it is nice to know that there are still people out there that do serve their customers well, and go above and beyond. Then the next hurdle was the fact I did put together a living trust after the divorce. Refinancing means you have to pop the home in and out of the trust during the time you are refinancing. More paperwork, so much paperwork! Anyway, the long and the short of it is this...Im debt free with the exception of the house payment and the convertible. We got a better interest rate not including the car into the refinance, which was fine with me....and so with my head still shaking at what homes are now worth out here in California, I have indeed paid off those 3 credit cards and can cross off #54 from my list. Credit cards paid in full Im feeling kinda happy :)

Additionally I can cross off #51 from the list as well, considering I have done well over saving myself $50 a week from my budge.