Happy 15th Birthday Casey!

Here's a Shout Out to my little boy!

Happy 15th birthday Casey!

We love you!

Mom, Dad, Victoria and Hannah

Why do we pay auto insurance anyway?

I hate auto insurance! Late in December, I backed into a friend's car in my driveway causing $3000.00 of damage to the other vehicle. Not having $3000.00 in my bank account to pay out of pocket, we had to claim it on our insurance.

What I didn't know at the time was, that the other accident I had in 2007 (where I again, backed into a car) combined with the accident in 2009, took us out of the premium pool and moved us to a high risk pool. These two little 5mph fender benders caused my auto insurance to go from approx $1700.00 a year to over $7,000.00 a year! Let me say that again, over $7,000.00 a year! $7,000.00! You get it, right?

I know you are thinking I don't know what I am talking about, but I called 6 times for clarification, getting the same answer every time, therefore validating that we are officially ~ screwed! And I tell my kids not to talk like that.

Now, let's be fair to Geico. I did add my daughter as a new teen driver and a 10-year old car to the policy, but after hearing that figure, one of them had to go and since I can't get rid of the girl, it had to be the car. I asked the rep about dropping the car and asked how much that would save me. She said that if we removed the 3rd car from the policy that our insurance would go up $474.00. Yup. Up. I asked her to repeat herself and to explain. She said that the coverage on the 1st and 2nd car was higher than the 3rd car and putting the new driver on either the 1st or 2nd would cost more. Good Grief!

Sadly, this is not even related to my teenager. That was only going to be about another $700 for the year.

Needless to say, I have started shopping around. I did find one agency that is quoting around $3500.00 as long as they can write our homeowners policy. If they can come in at that price, they can write whatever they want.

I jokingly told the Geico representative that I was going to relinquish my license and get a bike. However, she quickly informed me that they would charge me for insurance anyway, because I was married and living in the same house as my husband. Isn't that where you are suppose to live when your married? Who the hell makes up these rules!?

Oh well. It's not the end of the world, just the end of the bank account, food, heat, new shoes for the kids and oil, but hey, you need insurance. After all, someone has to pay for those fender benders. Oh yeah, that's right....we do.

But, ya gotta love that Gecko.

The Blessings of Life Long Friends

It's been said that people remember the things they want to remember. I suppose to some extent it is quite true. For me that would be my high school years, which most people just want to forget.

Last week, I got together with two of my three best friends from high school. I hadn't see either one of them in over 10 years, but the minute we saw each other, it was like we were back in high school and had never left.

We went to this great little place in Manchester called Corey's Catsup and Mustard and talked for hours. Well, at least until the band came in around 11pm. Years ago we would have moved closer to the front to be sure we weren't missing any of the action. This time however, we moved further away. Further away, as in straight for the back and out the door...right to a 24-hour Dunkin Donuts. How time has changed us.

We again sat for hours talking about life ~ then and now, our families, friends and the death of all of our fathers. We reminisced about how high school was a time of "firsts," for us -first kisses, first loves, first cars, first jobs. It was a time when we reached many important milestone. I suppose this is why the thoughts of high school are still with me long after high school has ended.

We told story after story and laughed into the morning. Most stories were as I remembered, others were not. Some, I didn't remember at all, but apparently was there! We remembered back to a time when we had a bond so strong, that it could not be broken ~ a time of laughter, tears, broken dreams and broken hearts. We were inseparable back then.

As I drove home alone, I felt sad. Sad remembering a time when we were young and had our whole lives ahead of us, a time where we could dare to dream and take chances. A time where we could map out the rest of our lives and start over if it didn't work out.

Our dinner together reminded me of forgotten memories, great friends and a youth I can never get back. As I turned the radio dial, Trace Adkins sang, You're Gonna Miss This.

I already do.

Olay rebate

I got my rebate check yesterday, $7.99, so now my lotion is offically free! Not to mention, I love it. It is probably some of the best lotion I have used.

I confess

Okay, I was kidding that was not me in the lime green shirt, but wasn't she cute!

We're gonna Zum, Zum, Zumba Zum....

Am I showing my age? Okay, so it's not Zoom, but it is Zumba! I am thinking of signing up to take a Zumba class, you know, in my spare time. Apparently almost 1 million Americans have taken Zumba classes.

Zumba is a popular fitness program inspired by Latin dance. The word "Zumba" (pronounced ZOOM-buh) comes from a Colombian word that means to move fast and have fun, which is just how people describe the routine. Using upbeat Latin music together with cardiovascular exercise, Zumba is aerobic dancing that is lots of fun and easy to learn.

Zumba mixes cardio intervals with resistance training. It also gives you an interval/resistance combination that maximizes caloric output, fat burning, and total body toning. Zumba mixes effective body sculpting movements with easy-to-follow, fun dance steps. People seem to forget about working out during a Zumba session, allowing them to exercise longer, and burn even more calories.

A typical Zumba session lasts about an hour and incorporates several dance styles. The Latin music includes both fast and slow rhythms, allowing for a great cardio workout as well as body sculpting exercises.

Anything that gets you up and moving is a good thing. My friend in the black shirt taped this, but check me out. I am in the bright green shirt in the back. Pretty good, huh!?

Maybe I Shouldn't Put All My Eggs in One Basket

Hey there! I am writing to you because I want to WRITE. No, I don't want to write informative helpful articles about things nobody outside a 2-mile radius of my house is interested in. I just want to write. You know, stuff I hate or like, things I think about or hear about, things that make me happy or things that make me angry. You know, just Spoutin' Out kind of stuff.

I am not loving my other gig. It's not much fun and it's hard. My news has to be local, but I work full time, so don't have time to interview people at local events, which I love to do, but can't. I keep trying to make my articles locally based pulling from research I have completed, but they keep telling me it's not local enough, so I don't get paid. The reality is, local news is boring. Nothing happens in my town. Nothing anyone wants to hear about anyway.

My life is a series of strange dilemmas isn't it? They are never too stressful, thank God for that, they are just strange. I am not sure what I am going to do going forward. I suppose I will keep trying to please them, but I miss all of you and I miss my blog. My blog is a place where I can be Editor and Chief and nobody can tell me what they like or don't like. It's a place where I can write at the end of the day about whatever I want, and know that someone somewhere is reading it.

NHCTH Day

From one gorgeous gal to another......




Today is National 'HOLY CRAP, YOU'RE HOT' Day! Send this to someone gorgeous, but don't send it back to me, I've been getting this message all freakin' day.