Girls Weekend

As you know, Dan is still in Myrtle Beach with the baseball team so Lexi & I have been on our own. On Friday night we stayed in & I got caught up on some laundry & then we watched Twilight; it was such crappy weather out I didn't feel like going anywhere. When we woke up on Saturday morning it was sunny & clear skies so my idea of taking a trip over to the Reston Town Center was able to work out after all. After we got cleaned up & I called my Mom to wish her a Happy Birthday :o), we drove over to Reston. It was a little chilly but not cold enough to make you miserable. We got there around Noon & as I was taking Lexi out of her car seat a small family with 2 little kids were walking to their car & spotted us. The little girl said, "look Mom, look at the froo froo dog". We all started laughing & they wanted to come over & pet her & see her car seat. Once we got into the Town Center there were other people out walking their dogs so we got to be social. Smaller dogs Lexi is alright with, the larger dogs are a different story; she would bark & show her teeth if they got close to her so I had to keep my distance. We ran into the most beautiful Goldendoodle named Goldie & the owners also had a Jack Russell Terrier named Reagan (super hyper). Goldie was so sweet & laid back but of course Lexi couldn't stop trying to rip her face off so our social visit with them was cut short. We then ran into a Havanese named Izzybee. Yes, I said Izzybee. Very odd. Her owner would not stop saying her name either, I got to the point where if I heard the owner say Izzybee one more time I was going to have to smack her. She also felt the need to point out exactly where she lived & exactly where she worked which was right across the street from the Town Center. Thank goodness I was able to slip away while she was distracted by some labs that were walking by.
The little park that they have at the Town Center is very nice & they had the fountains going while we were there, here's a photo: When the fountain would come on Lexi would tilt her head from side to side like what is that? It was pretty funny. While we sat at the little park Lex rolled around in the grass & I gave her a rub down while we sat in the sun; it was very relaxing. Here's a photo of her watching the fountain: We continued our walk around the second half of the Town Center & decided to take another break by the big fountain at the entrance, it was so pretty & just the sound of the water was so calming:
Lex was a big hit with the kiddos & did very well while they would run up to her & pet her. She even gave a little girl a kiss on the face. So sweet. After we got home our groomer, Jon, came to the house to cut Lexi. As he was taking her out to the van he was talking to her saying, "hi Lexi, how have you been? Have you had a good week?" It was pretty funny.
After Lexi's haircut I went & did a little shoe shopping & grocery shopping. :o) DSW was having a HUGE sale & I got the cutest Steve Madden stiletto heels; I'll post a photo when I get a chance. They are super cute. I was very excited that I found them in my size. I was able to restrain myself from only purchasing 1 pair of shoes but it was extremely difficult. Saturday night Lexi & I watched New Moon, yes it was an Edward Cullen kind of weekend.
Sunday was a total drag because I got called into work at 9:30 a.m. & I didn't get home until 7:30 p.m.(!) Can you believe that? I don't even know what to say. I was completely miserable, starving & exhausted by the time I got home. I just keep telling myself 2 more weeks, only 2 more weeks.

Pure & Utter Relief

For those of you that are not on my immediate email list, I have some great news to share......I have accepted a new position at a law firm in Fairfax, VA & have officially given my 2 weeks notice to my boss! I am very excited. In the words of Jason Aldean (singing) "quit my job, flipped off the boss, took my name off the payroll (screw you man)". Well, not exactly that way but on my way back to work on Friday after lunch that song came on the radio.
Anyway, I had an interview on Monday afternoon with The Duff Law Firm & since then I have been impatiently waiting for Friday to roll around because that is when Nancy, the office manager, was going to make her decision about the position. All week I had been replaying the interview over & over in my head thinking of ways that I could have said this & that better. The waiting was driving me crazy. I even woke up at 5:00 a.m. on Friday morning & couldn't go back to sleep because I was worried about the job offer & not hearing good news. I didn't want to have to start over with my job search & not have an end in sight with my current job. Finally around 12:30 p.m. I heard from Nancy who extended the offer to me saying that I was her first choice during the entire interviewing process. :D I was very pleased to hear that. After my nerves were calmed by the new job offer the nerves started to set in about telling my current boss that I was quitting. I had been looking forward to that day for so long & now I didn't know what to say. I was thinking it was going to go badly but fortunately he decided to take the high road & accept my resignation in the end. I now feel like I have a weight that is lifted off my shoulders. I am definitely going to miss the good days at my old office, i.e. when the attorneys are in Court & its only the girls in the office. It makes me sad just thinking about it because I could not have made it through these last 2 years without Valerie. I'm really going to miss her.
My last day at O'Connor & Vaughn, LLC is Thursday, April 8. I start my new job at The Duff Law Firm on Monday, April 12. I am driving up to PA to visit my family on Friday, April 9 for a long weekend visit. Thanks to everyone that helped during this whole process. I especially want to thank my adorable & supporting husband who talked me down from quitting probably every single week & gave me the strength to hang in there until I had another job lined up. I couldn't have done it without you Lover - you complete me. :o)

Jealousy & Some Bullshit

Spring Break has arrived for Herndon High School which means Dan is on his way to Myrtle Beach for a week with the baseball team. Yep, I'm jealous. It happens every year. He left this morning at 6:00 a.m. & even though he'll be going to practices & playing games while he's down there, its still going to be a nice week away for him. Man could I use a week away. So last night we went out to eat at Uncle Julio's in the Reston Town Center; guess what kind of food they serve? You guessed it, MEXICAN. Anyway, we went out to eat & sat outside, basically a little date time before he had to leave this morning. At 7:00 p.m. he had to meet the other coaches to pick up the minivans that they are driving down to Myrtle Beach. The van that Dan was assigned to ended up having a flat tire so they gave him a brand new Chrysler Town & Country minivan which is like the Cadillac of minivans; this thing is amazing. When Dan brought it home Lexi & I got in it so he could show off some of the cool things that it does. We both said that maybe driving a minivan wouldn't be that bad once we have kids, especially if we got one like the Chrysler. We've always sworn that we would never drive a minivan when we had kids & that we would stick to SUVs but after sitting in this one I think my mind has been changed. I even think Lexi liked it. :o)
So Dan gets home next Thursday evening & while he's gone I don't really have anything planned. I guess I'll think of something to do when the weekend comes but so far I think my time will be used for spring cleaning. Yes, I live an exciting life when my husband is away. Aren't you jealous? What I had really wanted to do was take Lexi over to the Reston Town Center on Saturday & walk around for a while & look at the shops but the weather is pretty crappy here today & I'm not sure if it will be a wet mess by tomorrow. I guess we'll just have to wait & see. When Dan & I were at dinner last night there were so many people walking their dogs around & actually taking them inside the shops; I could do that with Lexi as long as I carried her while I was in a store.
Now its time for some bullshit. The other night I brought the mail in from our box & saw that we got something from our HOA; I was busy doing other things so I didn't bother opening it right then but when Dan got home around 10:00 p.m. he opened it. At dinner last night he informed me that we received a letter from the HOA stating that we were in violation of one of their many rules & that we received a $50.00 fine. I, of course, was pissed when I heard this because it brought me back to the "nuisance" letter that we received from them a few years ago regarding Lexi's barking which was total BS. I even wrote them a letter disputing the complaint & stating that I would appear at a hearing in front of the board with my attorney & signed affidavits from our next door neighbors. I later got a letter stating "that would not be necessary". Man that still gets me fired up just typing about it. So anyway, back to the new issue. They are fining us $50.00 because we left our trash can on our front step for 2 days. The reason for us doing this was because it was absolutely pouring out for 3 days so when trash day rolled around Dan didn't want to drag the trash can through the mud & wet grass behind our house so he ended up putting it out in front. We didn't want to take the trash can back through the house when it was soaking wet so we waited for the rain to stop & then brought it in. Apparently someone took a photo of the front of our house on March 18 showing the trash can sitting there & I don't mean a 4 x 6 photo, this thing was an 8 x 10 photo. Dan seems to think the photo was taken by one of our neighbors who is on the board because the two of them had a little falling out when we got that huge snow storm & they haven't talked since. I'm not sure who took the photo & frankly I really don't care; what I want to know is who comes up with the amount that they are going to fine you with? Who thinks of a $50.00 fine for leaving a trash can out? $50.00! That's a little excessive if you ask me. Ridiculous. I haven't decided if I'm going to dispute this yet; the letter says they are giving us 10 days to file an appeal with the board & to request a hearing on the issue. A total waste of time but I just can't bring myself to write out a $50.00 check & make it payable to them. Dan told me to just pay them & get it over with because it was his fault. That's not the point Lover. I want some time to bitch about it!