Nothing like a little romance

I love to read. Unfortunately what I love to read is nothing that is life changing. It is nothing to form a book club around or debate or anything close. I strictly love the mushy dare I say a little bit on the smut side romance novels. I love them and devour them. I am not ashamed to say that. In my line of work, I deal with the life changing, gut wrenching, and hard to comprehend every day. I don't want to read about too. So that is why I read romance novels. A little mystery always with a good ending.

The only thing bad about romance novels is it can create unrealistic expectation of men. If you have read Twilight, you know what I mean! So, yesterday I went to the library to get a few bodice rippers (literary reference meaning romance novels) to start reading. I had not read in some time because I have been busy with other things and was craving a good book.

Last night after a nice long relaxing bath, I settled on the couch in the living room to start reading my book. As I am getting into my book and reading about the handsome leading man, I see out of the corner of my eye, my hubby get up walk over toward me, move the lamp closer to me, and give me a kiss on my mouth. He looks at me and says " I just want to make sure you have enough light to read," and then sits back down.

Talk about romance!!! Now you know why I love this man!

I love Surprises!!!

So Saturday night I am sitting on my throne in the living room, when prince charming ask me if I have checked the mail. Well I had not checked the mail that day because it was pouring down raining. It is very unusually that I have not checked the mail because it is one of my favorite things to do. So since the rain had finally stopped for a while, my hubby ran out to the mail box and got the mail.

As he came through the door I hear him saying "Baby what is this brown box?" That is when I look up and see this.....

Okay it did not exactly look like that. I had started opening it at this point. I get really excited when there is a package for me, especially a surprise one. I then realize it is from my mom. So before I let myself get excited I think "Did I ask her to send me anything...Did I forget something at her house?" Sometimes when I visit my mom's house and I forget something important she will mail it to me.

Since I can not think of anything, I excitedly start ripping through the paper and package....

to find THESE!!!!!

My mom makes these coasters and sells them. They are my favorite coasters that I have ever seen and I have been meaning to ask her to make them because we just got new furniture for our living room. I thought I was going to have to buy coasters that I really did not love as much as these until I went down there to make some.

So imagine my surprise when my loving mother remembered and sent them to me. I love the fact that she did not tell me because the surprise was totally great!! It is things like this that make life wonderful!!

So if ya'll love these coasters as much as I do, my mom sells them for $25 for 4. You can email her at lisa36_99@yahoo.com or visit her blog at http://livinlouisiana.blogspot.com/. They are completely worth it and are beautiful!!!

Thanks mom for being the wonderful and loving mother you have always been. Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to stop and think of me. It makes me feel really special.

A TearJerker

I came across this blog today while blog hopping. I will warn you it is a tear jerker but I feel that this woman's grief and heartache need to be heard.

http://haileyshalo.blogspot.com

don't say I did not warn you. Make sure you get your tissues. Most of you will probably leave mean comments saying why did you make me read that, but her story really spoke to me.

People want to know

I have been asked over and over again "How do you get your Husband to do this......

AND THIS.......

on a regular basis? The Answer...................

I HAVE NO IDEA!!!!!

Nothing Like a Good Butt Kicking Letter

Okay so I am going to give you a little secret or tip that has helped me out a lot! This tip has helped me get a free computer, upgraded engagement ring, free airline tickets, and now free furniture. So what is this tip you ask............It is the simplest little thing...all you have to do is ......write a letter. I illustrate my point with a recent event. Now it is a long story I must tell you but the details will help you out for future letter writing.

So let me start from the beginning.....Two years ago, Milton and I were living in a tiny little apartment in Louisiana. We knew we going to move and wanted a new couch. Our first couch was a twin bed pushed up against the wall with big pillows and then after that my dad gave me his couch that he had for numerous years. It was nice but our whole house was hand me downs or freebies. Nothing wrong with that. Milton and I were just excited about picking out our first piece of furniture and purchasing it. So Christmas came around and my parents gave us a $400 gift card to a furniture store. I do not want to give the name of the furniture store so that way I do not sway anyone's opinion. So Milton and I started going there. At first we thought about getting a cloth couch or bedside tables. But then we came across this:

with a matching oversize chair and ottoman. It was a leather set that was going for $800. We could not believe it!!!!! We had half the money and we were confident that we could pay off the rest. So we hollared for the salesman and badgered him for the details. Our salesman went on and on about how we were getting a great deal on a leather set and how we had to take it before someone else snatched it up. He told us how you could tell it was leather because the way the couch was stitched So we excitedly told him to bag it up and went to the check out or cashier or whatever you call it at a furniture store.

At the check out, we were offered the protection plan. At first I thought it sounded like something that came with big meaty guys with Italian accents that protected our couch while saying "forgedda about it" or "you talkin to me!" However, we were quickly informed that if anything happened to our couch.... anything from stabbing the couch to writing Amanda Loves Milton on it with a sharpie that they would either repair the couch or if it is not repairable they would replace it. So we were like "Absolutely" I know this is turning into a long story but I promise it has a point and it will help you out.

So fast forward to June 2009. I am sitting on my couch and I look over and see this.....

What you can not see it. Let me go a little closer

Are those cracks and rips in my couch?!!! Yes they ARE!!!! How does that happened when only two people live in my house and both are mature adults that would not damage furniture. I immediately am upset, but then I pinch myself and remember that we have the protection plan that covers ANYTHING! So I call the protection plan and I am told that the plan only covers accidents and that this is considered normal wear and tear. Well I do not take no for an answer. So I ask what I can do? I was informed to call the store where I bought the couch because it was a manufacture defect. So I call the store and tell them the long story to only be told to call the service center. So I call the service center to be told that the manufacture only covers the product for a year. The rep with the service center advised me to call the store manager where I bought the couch and ask him to cover the repair of the couch since it was since employee that lied about the protection plan.

So I call the store manager to go through this long story. I tell him that when we bought leather couches that we wanted them to last longer than two years and how my parents have had their leather couches for like 10 years that are still in good condition. This is when the store manager interrupts me with his greasy southern accent and says "Ma'am did you say that you bought leather?" I replay "Yes" to which he replied "Ma'am your couches are not leather, they are VINYL." As I stand there in shocked disbelief, he tells me with a little smirk in his voice that you can not buy leather couches for the price that we did and he should know better. From here I go on and on how his sales person told us lie after lie. His only reply is ..."I am sorry you were lied to." At this point, he makes empty promises that he will see what he can do and will call me back.

Again I promise you there is a point!!!! So a week later, he calls me back and says the couch is discontinued and they can not repair the couch. Now before getting off the phone he offers me a word of advice in his sly little greasy southern salesman accent. He says "Now Ma'am your protection plan covers "Accidents," and if there was an "Accident" to happen to the couch that they would see that the couch is discontinued and you would get a store credit for the leather set." This really upsets me. I am an honest person and I have integrity and I expect others to also. Well as I stated, I do not take no for an answer. Plus I called my mom whining and crying and she reminded me of my letter writing skills and all the stuff it got me in the past. What would we do without good rationale moms that remind you of your best qualities? Well I would have probably "accidentally" tripped with a knife in my hand while running towards my couch!! Just kidding!! Oh come on...sometimes people drive you to do things that you would not normally do. I digress!

So I write a letter and call another store from the same chain of furniture store to ask who to send a complaint letter. After hearing my story, they give me a name. So I send my complaint letter with all my evidence certified to the name given.

A week later I get a phone call from this person telling me that he was REALLY impressed with my letter and they are giving me a store credit for my couch and to go pick out what I want. Little did I know I was talking to the owner of the company. He was the nicest guy and really made up for everything I went through. So I got two bedside tables and a twin bed for the guest bedroom.

I did not want to make the same mistake twice of buying a couch at this furniture store. However we went to another furniture store and bought these...

So my point to this whole story is.....The way that I have gotten the above mentioned free stuff is by writing a letter. My family thinks that I have gotten so good that I should start a business. I do not write a complaint letter unless it is really valid. I also suggest to always be polite and never to yell or anything that shows less class. Companies are more willing to work with you if you are nice and polite. However, I do want to say that not all letters have to be complaints. You can also write about how much you love someone's product. Right now I am writing a letter to appeal a denied medical insurance claim. I will let you know how it turns out.

I like to waste my days....how about you?

So I am now back from Louisiana. I know that everyone was missing my daily post! Wait! What? Nevermind. It was a fun and I love being around my family. It was hard to leave them but I was so excited to come home to my hubby. However, day one I went right back to the grindstone they call work. I had to make up the days I missed and work two long nights. I know! I know! Awful, right?

So I have a riddle. What do people do when they don't have kids and it is 10:30 at night?

They meet at Wal-Mart! That is right!! We like to do our shopping midnight style. So after we cruised the isles of Wal-mart with the rest of the late night reclusive peeps, we decided to come home and cook a late night dinner. However, in our defense is was grilled chicken, brown rice, and veggies. We then decided to damage our minds even more by watching the X-factor on MTV until two a.m. This is what happens when you do not have children to get off to bed or wake you up early in the morning. You develop the sleeping and eating patterns of a teenager.

So I finally aroused myself at 10:00 a.m. this morning so that I could go lay on the couch until 11 so I could follow up that with taking an hour before I went to the gym. I consider my time at the gym, charity work. My presences alone drives up sales and keeps people health concious so they don't become couch potatoes and look like me. I finally decided....Amanda, you need to get your lazy butt up and do some work or run some errands. So I drive the long (not really) drive to Target for the tedious task of shopping for bedding. I know, I know. Most of you are thinking to yourselves..."Thank goodness I get to slave away at work, come home to cook dinner and clean. I would never want the grusome chores that Amanda has to do."

I finally return home to prepare the hubby and I lunch around 2 in the afternoon. (for those of you that do not know, Milton has a flexible schedule where he can make his own hours and come home for lunch) Apparently, this tuckers us out because we then proceed to retire to the guest bedroom so we can watch a movie and play on facebook.

An hour later, Milton is out the door for class and work. Around 4:00 in the afternoon I decide that it is now time to take a shower. After this I am on facebook once again to only be put to shame by all the wonderful wives out there that are REALLY cooking and cleaning and do homework with their kids and paying bills. I am reading status like this ..."Jane Smith is glad that she can finally rest after getting up at six this morning to milk the cows for homemade waffles, get the kids off to school, clean all the bathrooms with a toothbrush until they gleam, drop off a casserole for the lady in our church who just had twins, sew all the kids costumes for the school play, do ten loads of laundry(washing, drying, folding, ironing, and putting them away), make after school snakes that look like butterflies using nothing but healthy stuff, pick vegatables from the garden for dinner made from scratch, difuse a bomb, read "War and Peace,"bake my hubby's favorite dessert, help the kids with homework, save a kitten from a tree, bath the children, massage my hubby's neck, and now I am sitting on the couch knitting a sweater for the charity auction next week." or basically something to that a effect. My first thought is "I wonder if I can hire these people?" followed by "Amanda, stop being lazy!!! Get to work!!!" So I did what any self respecting woman would do at 6:00 at night after realizing she is a lazy wife....."I loaded the dishwasher!

and then .........

I realize that the job of Superwoman has already been filled, so why try. I know I have it hard, but someone has to do it.