Recently in Shopping Category

Status	In Transit
Scheduled Delivery	June 3, 2005
Shipped to	Nashvile, TN, US
Package Progress
Date / Time	Location	Activity
June 2, 2005 11:43 PM	Nashville, TN, US	Destination Scan
10:53 PM	Nashville, TN, US	Arrival Scan
8:16 PM	Lexington, KY, US	Departure Scan
3:52 PM	Lexington, KY, US	Origin Scan
12:06 PM	US	Billing Information Received
Tracking results provided by UPS: Jun 3, 2005 11:39 A.M. Eastern Time (USA)

Ohhh nifty new amazon navigation. I like the rounded corners and gradients -- and the "view all 31 categories" layer that becomes visible when you move your mouse over it.

Last year Steve and I did lots of Black Friday shopping - we got a 9 foot pre-lit Christmas Tree for $99, several 256MB Compact Flash cards for $10, two 256MB USB flash drives for $10. Basically - we got everything on our "Black Friday Wishlist" ... and didn't go to the stores 'til after 9AM. I don't believe in getting up at 5:30AM the day after Thanksgiving. That is just wrong. So last year - we decided to just chance it and see what we could get waiting until a decent hour to get out. And we got everything.

This year ... same story, second verse. We went out at 9AM and got almost everything on our list (only thing we didn't snag was a shredder ... and we were just looking to get that because it was FREE!) This year we got several 160GB hard drives for $39 (great deal!), a few network cards for FREE, surge protectors for FREE (you can never have too many surge protectors), a few stacks of 40 DVD-RW's for $2.50, 50 slimline jewel CD/DVD cases for $1.50, and when we got to Walmart at 10:00 AM we snagged 10 DVD's for $3.88 each (and they weren't even total loser DVDs, some decent ones that we'd actually watch ...Dave, Murder at 1600, Pale Rider, etc)

PromoGuy also got some good deals this year ... some from the comfort of his own home the night BEFORE Black Friday ;) A $198 5 megapixel digital camera :) Not bad ... not bad at all!

Delivery Estimate: May 19

Status as of Thursday, May 06, 2004 Central Time

1. Order Processing: Wednesday, May 05, 2004

2. Pre-production: Wednesday, May 05, 2004

3. In Production: Thursday, May 05, 2004
a. Kitting - Complete
b. Build - Complete
c. Testing - Complete
d. Boxing - In Process

I :heartbeat: Dell!

Dell Order Confirmation

Order detail - order placed 2004-05-05 12:58:52

Estimated ship date - on or before May 17, 2004

Inspiron 9100 (Intel P4 2.8GHz, 15.4-in. WXGA 512MB RAM, CD/DVD+RW/+R, Integrated Wireless, 60GB hard drive)

Over the past few months, I've bought quite a few books via the Amazon Marketplace -- and noticed that many times the books were coming from the same seller - Abebooks. I decided to try ordering books directly through them. Now I'm obsessed.

They have almost everything I'm looking for, and almost all of them for $1.00. I'm not picky about getting hardbacks, or books with no creases, or the latest editions. $1.00, folks. Basically Abebooks is kinda like the amazon marketplace -- in that it sells books for thousands of book stores all over the place. So, if you really want to save money on shipping, you just search particular sellers inventory. Today I got 11 books for $20.19. Thats Basically $1 a book, $1 shipping. Pretty good deal. I'm getting really good at finding all the books I want from one seller too -- that really helps keep the shipping charges down.

Are you a book-lover? You should definitely try out abebooks (they're also great for hard to find books. I was able to buy several books that aren't in print anymore!)

We are officially homeowners!! We closed this morning at 8:00; can you believe it only took 30 minutes to buy a house? Unbelieveable. We did sign our names about 30 times (which was a lot less than I thought!) -- but it was a fairly painless experience. We got a great interest rate, are comfortable with the closing terms, and LOVE the house -- what more could we ask for? Now we just have to wait til Sunday afternoon to get the keys! We talked to the sellers last night (we needed to get some info about the security and satellite systems) and they sounded totally stressed. It's totally stressful moving, period -- but I'm sure when you have two small children it's even more stressful. I think they are about to blow -- and are so ready to have it over and done with. They're going to call us on Sunday when they leave and we'll go and get the keys. Happy dance!!!! Let the painting begin! We're going to repaint the master bedroom and bath .... and probably the dining room as well. We're trying to get as much of that done as possible BEFORE our furniture gets there and is in the way. I love painting anyway -- so I can't wait! (can you tell I'm just a little excited? ).

I've made a few purchases this week .... this pretty cool gardenhose & sprayer for my husband who is dying to start growing an English garden, finally bought this book (only $1.32 .. !), the latest J.D. Robb thriller (I love this series!), and I've added a bunch of new stuff to my wishlist. I think I've finally figured out why you should have a wishlist on Amazon. So that when you see something you like - -you add it to your wishlist so you don't forget about it. It's not like you really have a wishlist so OTHER people can buy you stuff -- it's so that YOU can remember what you liked. Or at least thats how I see it. Then every once in a while, you go through your wishlist and see whats available through the amazon marketplace, and you can get books for $1.32. What more can a girl ask for.

Found a few blogs to add to my read list:

Dave .... Davezilla


Christine ... Big
Pink Cookie

Leia .... Random
Thoughts from a Large Head

Mike .... AKA Cooties


Matthew .... Defective
Yeti

Back to work ... so glad it's Friday! We're going out to dinner tonight
to celebrate being homeowners -- Logan's, of course (it's Steve's favorite
restaurant ... thank goodness I like it too! We go there like 2 or 3 times
a month!).... OH and I asked for comments in my last blog .... whew! Thanks
guys.... I think we can cool it with the political debates though. Now
that war has started ... all we can do is pray that it's over quickly.
Although it looks like North Korea isn't going to be ignored either ....
who knows what will happen next. Ugh. For now, I'm just getting back to
work. Later guys.

The "Pride and Prejudice" obsession continues. I bought the DVD set through ebay and it came in the mail yesterday. Even though I had just watched the movie last week, I watched the full 4 hours + last night again. Have I mentioned how much I love Colin Firth in this movie? He's simply sublime. The scene where Georgianna is playing the piano and Elizabeth is helping to turn the pages .... Mr. Darcy is sitting on the sofa watching them. Sigh. The looks between Elizabeth and Darcy are heartstopping! Wow! Their onscreen chemistry is amazing! Luckily, I have my very own Englishman (Steve) - and Colin has nothing on him!

I'll be adding another bridesmaid dress to my collection in October (not to mention the other bridesmaid dress I'm adding in June ... whew! I could have my own shop!). Last night, one of my best friends from highschool called and asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding! She's pretty classy and has good taste, so hopefully I won't end up with another taffetta, satin or sequin nightmare! This is my friend who's getting married in Boston; Wendy & Shawn started dating our senior year of high school; after graduation, she went off to MIT up in Massachusetts and he eventually moved up there a few years ago. They've been dating for almost EIGHT years now ... so this wedding is a long time coming and we're all super excited for them!

We're still awaiting news on our house. We're doing the structural inspection today - in fact the engineer is there RIGHT NOW doing the inspection. We're going to meet him at 11:00 and go through the house as he explains things he has found. So after the inspection, Steve and I will decide whether to remove the contingency of the inspection on our contract or to withdraw the contract. I can't think that there would be THAT much wrong with the house that we would withdraw the contract ... but you never know! We've still got our fingers crossed!
[Edited at 12:35 PM] We met the structural inspector at the house this morning around 11:00 -- and basically he said under no circumstances should we buy the house. He took us in to where the foundation was, and it is buckling on almost every wall; the main structural beam is eaten up with termites; the dirt underneath the foundation and all the foundation walls and beams are covered with toxic mold; the roof is ok, but probably only for another 5 years; the list goes on and on. It's unbelieveable that this much is wrong with the house underground - when everything above ground looks pretty good!! He said it would probably be at LEAST $130,000 just to fix up the house. We're disappointed ... but not totally surprised. So, we're back on the search again - for a house OR land and we'll build. Let the excitement begin. Again. [End Edit]

I'll close with a few links for today (most of which I found through my PAGE A DAY Internet Calendar) ....

The Human Clock - asks users to submit photos of random people holding up a time of day, such as 6:52. The site then displays the appropriate picture at the right time, with a different photo for every minute of the day. Just go to the site and click on display clock! Kinda neat idea!

Extreme Weather Sourcebook - catalogs the economic havoc caused by all sorts of weather phenomena. The main page lets you select a weather type—hurricane, flood, tornado, lightning, etc. It's a bit morbid in that you can view the stats on casualties, injuries, damage reports by state.

Dumb Bumper Stickers - organizes bumper stickers by such subjects as alcohol, blondes, honking, etc. Unfortunately, the site is evidently hosted on a crappy server because sometimes you can get in the site, and sometimes you can't.

If only Spam were True - a hilarious list in a blog by Promoguy. Basically he's listed the subject lines of about 50 spam emails - and wouldn't life be grand if they were all true! We could eliminate our debt in 15 seconds; Get our mortgage paid off; Drop 50 pounds in one week; etc, etc, etc. His blog is a great place to visit anyway - he blogs frequently and its not fluff!

AlternaCast- allows anyone with a 56K Internet connection and a computer microphone to broadcast instant audio to an audience of thousands and speak live with audience members who also have microphones.

BushCartoon.com - You can always count on the president—it doesn’t matter which one—to be a source of humor for the nation, and our current leader is no exception. This site is basically an index of funny President Bushg cartoons -- One classic that you can't miss is the DUBYA DANCE ... so be sure to view that one!

I'm going to see my niece this weekend ... I haven't seen her since the day after she was born! Only two and a half weeks ago - and yet it seems like ages! Later!!

Wow ... I got an email from Oksana today with this! (She gave me a "site of the month" award. How cool is that!) Thanks a bunch :) Be sure to visit her site ... it's excellent!

I got home from work yesterday afternoon and checked in on our aquarium. We had been debating on whether or not to get a larger tank ... and I decided yesterday to just go out an get one. Soooo ... an hour later and a few dollars poorer, I came out of the pet store with a new 30 gallon bowed-front tank. It's REALLY beautiful! The tank, stand and a few other accessories pretty much filled up the back of the Explorer... so when I got home, I just carried in a bag of gravel and said to Steve, "Guess what goes with this?" After a few trips back and forth, we finally managed to get it all inside. We set up everything last night .... filter, water, gravel, and plants. We're waiting til tomorrow to transfer the fish in though -- you're supposed to wait at least 24 hours after setting up a new tank to put the fish in. The water is supposed to "mature" and you want to check all the chemistries on it before adding the fishies. Can't wait to move them ... they will be so much happier in the big tank. I will have to take pictures when they've been transferred over! I'm sure you all will be giddy with excitement waiting on those pictures.

Off to watch Trading Spaces. Hope it's not a Kia episode. She makes me want to puke!!

Thursday Thearch - a somewhat new meme that PromoGuy has started. Basically -- you just list a few of the search words that people used to get to your site. Sometimes it's pretty funny to see how people find your site -- sometimes its just weird!!! Here are a few of mine from this past week:

Google: faith buffy 4th season kissing photos (BUFFY! woohoo)
Yahoo: firefly TV october 4 sexy redhead (sexy redhead ... hehe)
Google: willy wonka blueberry girl pictures (blueberry muffins, jeff?)
Google: chiacgo married sex (interesting ..... )
Yahoo: tamyra gray websites (lots of searches on that one ... really weird)
Yahoo: mary poppins greeting cards digital (love mary poppins)

Busy week! I've ordered the new Richard Preston novel, 'The Demon in the Freezer' from B&N. Ahhhh I can't wait to get it! I have practically every single book every written about biological warfare/weapons, infectious diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and USAMRIID. You could say I am obsessed with this stuff. I used to want to work at the C.D.C. Part of me still has that little dream in the back of my mind .... I think the biologist in me will always have a love for things like that. Anyway -- can't wait to get this book.

Several years ago, Steve gave me this beautiful leather Mulberry dayplanner (when he was still living in England - and we hadn't met in person yet ... lol). I loved it - but at the end of that year - I couldn't find a replacement calendar to put inside of it. I looked everywhere here in the states - but nothing was available in the right size or with the right holes. Steve even went into London to try and find me a replacement calendar - but evidently the Mulberry store that he bought it from had closed. I had looked online because I thought maybe I could just order one. They didn't even HAVE a website at that time. This month, out of interest, I looked online again - and not only do they now have a website, you can order products online! Awesome. So last week, I ordered a 2003 calendar, one of the little hole punch things, and several other "accessory" items for the planner. Mulberry rocks. I got everything in the mail today. From England. They just totally rock. I only had to pay like $8 shipping too -- not bad! Soooooo ... if anybody else out there has a Mulberry dayplanner from England -- you can now order stuff for it online at their website! Woohoo.

Several people I know have blogged recently about the addictive nature of bookstores. I have to wholeheartedly concur with that belief. It's like when you go in, you cannot help yourself. Your money just starts flying out of your pockets. It's an amazing phenomenon. I wonder if anyone has done a study? :)

OK - I'm off to watch Letterman and maybe catch Sarah Michelle Gellar on Conan! Nighty night!!!