Missguided Mommy started this game and I wanted to play along. It's called, "What's in my bag"

Here's my bag: It's a Converse One Star tote bag I got at Target and it is HUGE. I also have one in black. This is actually the 2nd silver bag I've gone through. On the outside of my bag I have 2 keychains from the Philippines. One is the Philippine flag & the other is the bible verse 1 Corinthians 13:4 'Love is patient, Love is kind."



















Now inside... is my life... I'm not even kidding! Bet you didn't think anyone could have so much stuff in their purse! Now I'm embarrassed, haha!

(Click on photos to enlarge.)



















What are we even looking at here? I try to keep things organized by putting some of my stuff into smaller bags, instead of everything inside my purse. There are 3. One is a silver makeup bag from Watson's drugstore in the Philippines. Another is green & white Clinique bag and the other a small grey mesh bag. I will go over what is inside them later.

To the left: Pens, Makeup, My checkbook & calculator. To the right is my 80GB Video Ipod, Monkey Gloves, Hairbrush, Eyeglass cleaning cloth, my keyring with all of my keys, keychains & tags for stores. Down at the bottom is my real Louis Vuitton wallet (I got on ebay ages ago.) to the left of my wallet is Philippine & Hong Kong money... I don't know why I carry these in my wallet all the time along with my american money... but I do. Hehe. Such a mess. Let's look at what things look like when it's more organized in my bag.

Here's what is inside my makeup bag:
















1 Eyeshadow Applicator
1 Makeup Brush
2 Makeup Sponges
1 Comb
1 Clean & Clear Oil Aborbing Sheets
1 Eyeliner (Avon Glimmersticks: blackest black)
1 Maybelline Concealer (Ivory)
6 Lip Balms (Carmex, Watson's Mint, Watson's Lemon, Watson's Tinted, Burts Bees, Dr. Pepper Bonne Belle.)I confess... I am addicted to lip balms!
1 Lip Gloss: (Victoria's Secret Aphrodisiac)
2 MAC eyeshadows (Naked & Jardin Aires)
2 MAC powders (Medium & Light Blot Powder)

Here is my bigger organizer bag it's from Clinique. Inside is:















My hairbrush, Vaseline Lotion (Cool & Fresh), Bath & Bodyworks antibacterial hand gel (Honeysuckle). 1 1/2 Mentos Mints (addicted!), Orbit Gum from the Philippines. A Cherry Push Pop because I was feeling nostalgic one day. A little purple notebook I got in the Philippines, my checkbook & calculator, tampons & tissues. This great styling stick from Bench that I also got in the Philippines. Its keeps flyaway hair down.

My little gray mesh organizer I've had for years. On the outside is a key chain that says 'F.B. & SLC' that F.B. had made up. The other side has our picture. Inside is:















3 pens. (Bic Atlantis, Black, Blue. 1 Silver Parker pen from F.B. with my name 'Sarah' engraved on it.)
1 Tupperware pill case, (ibuprofen & aspirin inside.)
2 Kopiko Coffee Milk Candies. (From the Philippines! Love them!)
1 Blue 256mb Flashdrive (gift from F.B.)
1 Revlon nail file.
1 Purple Rosary. Gift from a co-worker years ago. (I'm not Catholic, I'm Christian, but I keep in it my purse like some people keep rosaries or angels over their rear view mirror. I feel it keeps me safe.)
2 Safety pins.
1 backup Blackberry battery for my cell phone.
1 Clear Eyes eyedrops.

With everything in my purse it's pretty heavy! I had the idea to weigh it and see how heavy it was on my postal scale. Since Misguided Mommy is doing a giveaway with her post, I am also going to do my first giveaway here on my blog!

If you would like to enter the giveaway all you have to do it post a comment and tell me how much you think my purse weighs. Whoever gets it correct or guesses closest wins! I will pick a winner next Sunday night. (If there is a tie. I will do a random drawing to see who wins.)

I have 2 prize sets & the winner will get their choice of 1. (I thought this idea would make it different since some of you might like a good book over makeup & vice versa.)

1st Set is a Makeup Set. With 4 brand new items.

1 Clinique Mild Facial Soap
1 Clinique lipstick in: Raspberry Glace
1 Clinique Mascara in: Black
1 Eyeshadow set from: Jasmine La Belle. (5 colors)














2nd set is:

2 Yankee Candles: (1.75oz) Scents: Buttercream & Vanilla Cupcake
1 Book: Elizabeth The Queen by Alison Weir. (Also titled as: The Life of Elizabeth I.) Non-Fiction, Paperback Biography.















The winner will also receive with their prize a brand new bag of Kopiko Coffee Milk Candies, I brought back from the Philippines in December. They are amazing!



















Good luck! (Remember, anyone can comment. You don't have to belong to blogger.com!)

If you play 'What's in my Bag' on your blog, leave a link in my comments!

I was planning on calling the vet to get Sugar's paw looked at again since it was still very swollen from her sprain a month ago. Well Saturday afternoon after I got home from work (overtime) my brother noticed her one eye looked larger than the other. I didn't think too much of it until Sunday when it swelled up. I used a gel ice pack and held it over her eye until the swelling decreased but by Monday evening her eye was actually bulging out. I made an appointment to get her paw & eye checked at the vet.

Tuesday she had her appointment and the vet checked her paw out. He wasn't sure why it was still swollen (mostly around her wrist, she can't bend the joint.) or why her eye was swollen. He said it could possibly be tumors and there wouldn't be anything he could do for that. He prescribed some more metacam for her swollen paw.

I don't really believe the swelling of her eye is being caused by a tumor at all. Just because of the fact the ice pack keeps bringing the swelling under control. If it was a tumor that would be a foreign mass under the skin and I don't think the swelling would have decreased with the ice if it really was a tumor.

Some of you might know I'm a member & moderator at the ratchatter forums. We were discussing Sugar's condition on the forum. We were saying it could be a possible infection or even a condition called edema. Then the fact was brought up that metacam is a immunosuppressive drug. When it is used for long periods of time it can decrease the immune system which makes your pet more susceptible to infections.

Metacam should actually be prescribed with an antibiotic because of this. (And Sugar was already on the metacam for almost 3 weeks a month ago.) I didn't know this beforehand or else I would have mentioned it to my vet. He is a good vet, but sometimes he isn't as knowledgeable about rats as I would like. (Though the way my rats keep visiting the vet- he'll be an expert on them soon enough, lol!)Surprinsgly; I also noticed tonight if you look up metacam here, it even lists edema as a possible side effect.

Well, since I didn't know that metacam should be prescribed with an antibiotic; I went home and by Wednesday night Sugar's eye was worse. Bulging farther out, red, runny, swollen. She couldn't close it, it was awful. I actually shrieked when I saw her. I called the vet and they said to bring her over and they would see me first. This time my vet thought it could definitely be an infection so he put her on the antibiotic SMZ-TMP The nurse was saying since her paw is still bothering her and because she's had alot of porphyrin in the mornings she was probably rubbing her eyes alot and could have gotten an infection that way. That makes sense, especially if her immune system is low.

Wednesday Night:















Of course the vet said if the swelling didn't go down then we could be looking at something more serious like a tumor- but she's been on the metacam & the antibiotic since Wednesday and this morning her eye looked so much better! It wasn't bulging. It still looks slightly puffy and irritated but nothing like the other night. She's also still been getting ice on her eye in the mornings, afternoon & evenings and this morning she didn't need any ice at all! So yay! Looks like she is on the mend! Her paw was actually looking slightly better too, so I'm wondering if it's just fluid buildup from her sprain. Once she's finished all of her med's & her infection clears up- if her paw still looks puffy I'm going to look into taking her to a different vet for another opinion & x-ray.

How her eye looks currently:















Sugar isn't fond of her medicines at all... she loves to drool it out of her mouth! She is getting 0.1ml of metacam once a day & 0.3ml of SMZ-TMP twice a day. I always try to trick her with a yogurt peanut afterwards so most of the medicine gets in her. I've decided to keep up with the ice pack in the evenings unless she looks like she needs it. I've also been rinsing her eye out with saline to keep it clean. Let's hope by next week she will be doing much better!

So as I mentioned the other day my brand new 3 week old Nissan Versa has a few scratches on the hood. It happened last Friday. I was at several stores and in several parking lots that night. Either someone scraped it with a key, walked into it or was sitting on it with the back pocket buttons of their jeans. The only thing I can think of is when I stopped at Walmart there was this sports car parked next to mine and these teenage guys hanging around admiring it. So maybe they leaned or sat on the front hood of my car and accidentally scraped it. Either that or someone scraped it intentionally. Either way it really really sucks! My first payment is due on Saturday.

I took the car up to the dealership today. I had to leave work an hour early to drive up there. When I called the salesman that sold me the car yesterday he said to bring it up and he would look at it and see if they could just buff it out. Well, they tried buffing it out with their strongest stuff and the 2 lighter lines are gone, but the 2 deeper vertical fine lines are still there, they couldn't get it out. Still looks white against the black paint. He said I could take it down to the collision center and get an estimate. He thought it might just need a wet sand. Well the man at the collision center said a wet sand probably won't get it out- it would need to be repainted. So I asked for an estimate and he said $400!!! I tried not to fall over after that price. I said I would have to think about it so he gave me his business card.

That's really too expensive for me. I can't afford that. My Dad said he could try a wet sand but if it needed to be repainted he could do it for much much less. My dad used to do auto body repair before he retired. He said to try a colored wax or touch up paint first though so I'm going to see if I have any luck with them before getting anything drastic done to my new car. First I ordered a Nissan Versa touch up paint pen with my paint color & clear coat. And I'm also going to try Turtle Colored Wax Since I had to order the paint pen online and it will take a week or so to arrive I'm going to see if they have the colored wax at the auto store tomorrow after work.

My manager called when I was on my way home from the dealership and said they would be offering overtime tomorrow from 6am-11:30am so I'll be off to work tomorrow. I really need the money. I have to pay off these credit cards so I can buy a plane ticket to the Philippines sometime this spring.

I also had my taxes prepared last night and my $600 refund will at least put a dent in my $1,800 balance on my credit card. I have to pay that down before I can afford to put $1,500 back on another card. I already got a new 0% APR card from Citibank that I'll be using for my plane ticket when the time comes. I'm thinking of going to the Philippines before or right after Thanksgiving and arriving home mid January 2010. That will give F.B. & I enough time to get our paperwork together before getting married in December.

I still haven't mailed F.B.'s valentines stuff... looks like it will also become his anniversary gift! (Our 5 year anniversary is April 1st.) I ordered his sister some ring guards for her engagement ring. (She got engaged a few weeks ago!) and I ordered F.B. a small something and then I ordered his mom a gift off of Etsy.com. So I have to wait for it to arrive before I mail everything.

I have to call the vet on Monday. The swelling on Sugar's paw has still not gone down completely. It's been about a month and her metacam only lasted 3 weeks. She can walk on it and climb and eat with it. She doesn't cry when you touch it. But she's can't really stand or walk properly on it. It's still so swollen she can't straighten her paw out completely so she walks crooked on it. Also she has alot of porphyrin around her eyes in the morning and rats do not get that unless they are stressed, in pain or ill. I'm hoping when I call the vet on Monday he can just prescribe more metacam since he said last time there was nothing else they could really do for a sprain.

Still Swollen:















It's going to be a very tight paycheck because too many of my bills are falling on the same week. I got my first car payment & first insurance bill and they are due when a few other high bills are due. I called Chase bank to find out about moving the due date for the car to the middle of the month but they said I must make the first payment before they will be able to move the due date. That's another reason I'm hoping she won't have to go in for an office visit, since it's $45 just for the visit and a 2 week metacam prescription was around $26. That's also another reason why I have to go in for overtime tomorrow!

My little English Irish Dumbo Rat, Nutmeg. Don't tell me you can't say, "Awwww!" to that sweet face. Heehee. Don't be fooled by her either, she's a real trouble maker!

Last Saturday we had overtime at work and I worked 8 hours. I was exhausted by the time it was Friday. Lucky for me Monday is a holiday and we aren't having any more overtime for awhile, so I get a 3 day weekend, yay!

My Valentines was okay... I started with another cold this week a sinus head cold and by Friday I was feeling worse and F.B. & I had a misunderstanding and I was upset with him so I just slept in on Valentines Day and didn't meet up online with him for our "date". This morning I didn't either, but I was just feeling so sick I took some NyQuil and went right back to bed and didn't get up until the late afternoon.

F.B.'s mom had some personalized sheets and pillow cases made up for my parents and a set for me too. They arrived on Valentines. F.B.'s Dad had mailed the package. He's a ship captain and happened to be docked in PA so he mailed the package while he was in the USA. My sheet set is purple. The 2 pillow cases match the sheets.











I texted F.B. and told him they arrived and then I got a text message back from him later asking if there had been anything from him in the box. I hadn't noticed it way at the bottom of the box under the sheets. Turns out he had enclosed a package in the box with my valentines cards and a letter as a surprise. He even sent me San Mig coffee & lemon mint Closeup toothpaste in sachets and a Watson's mint lip balm, because he remembered I just ran out of mine. That was sweet of him, I wasn't expecting a package. Too bad I didn't look in the bottom of the box until Sunday morning! I would have gotten my Valentines gifts on Valentines Day, haha!













Cinnamon turned 1 years old today. She's had such a full year. Getting to know her sisters Sugar & Spice, getting an emergency spay in May, losing her sister Spice in December and gaining 2 new sisters Ginger & Nutmeg. We had a little party for her, I bought ice cream cake for the family and the ratties enjoyed a slice too for Cinnamon's birthday, they really enjoyed themselves!

















































Saturday I also gave my new car a wash and discovered some scratches along the front of the hood... like someone almost brushed against it by walking by with something or I don't know what! There's 4 actually. 2 were very light and came out when I rubbed compound on it and then wax. The other 2 are quite deep and look like 2 fine white lines against the black paint. I'm hoping it's not very deep but it's not coming out with rubbing the compound with my hand and the white scratches are distracting against the black. My dad has to get a new pad for his buffer & is going to try buffing it out. I guess if it doesn't come out I'll have to take it to the dealership for repair. Sigh. Saturday after I came out of work from overtime someone has scraped their door against mine and there were 2 big scratches on it then! I had to use the compound on that too, but it was just in the wax coating. What the heck?! I don't make any payments on my car until March and it's already getting scratched by morons in parking lots! Arrgh!

Okay... I admit it. I am a girly girl. I thought I just wanted a plain wedding band... but I couldn't help it... I wanted something shiny to go with my plain titanium wedding band that F.B. & I bought for our wedding ceremony in December. I got a titanium solitaire ring to go with my band. I ordered it 2 weeks ago and it came today. F.B. is going to pay half for our wedding bands. It was cheaper to get our rings in the USA. They look so pretty together... click the photo for the full size version. It's so much prettier close up!

P.S. Please ignore my winter dry cuticles...ewww! I guess I should have put lotion on my hands before taking a picture of the rings, oops... haha!

My Dad & I went to Peruzzi Nissan on Saturday for my appointment. We arrived around 12:30pm and looked at some of the 2009 Nissan Versa Sedans on the lot. I got to test drive one that was in my price range and then we went to discuss numbers and do a credit check.

When the dealer showed me my credit report he seemed very impressed. I had a 700+ credit score with 15 revolving accounts and all 1's. I'm obsessive compulsive when it comes to my credit accounts. I always pay more than the minimum and I try to have the balances paid off by the time my 0% introductory rates are up. I mainly use my credit cards for purchasing my plane tickets every year and I'm always looking for a nice 0% APR offer.

The first monthly payment the dealership came up with was $280 a month and that was way out of my price range. I was looking at just under $200 a month. The insurance State Farm had quoted for me was $119 a month and on top of bills, rent, paying off Philippine plane tickets I can't afford that. So the manager came to speak with me and said they would try to crunch numbers and aim for a monthly payment I was comfortable with- they did not try to pressure me or sell me features I did not need. It took 3 of the people at the dealership to find a monthly payment and loan for me. They came up with $217 monthly which was only $30 more than what my highest monthly payment range would be so we settled on that. There was a 3 year road side assistance, etc included already but for adding $6 more to my monthly payment I will be covered for 6 years now- the term of my loan. So that brings my monthly payment to about $223 a month, though I can always pay more than that whenever I have extra. But now I can call them if I have a flat tire or break down, etc. And I need that!

They also took off some of the price of the car to include a CD/Stereo for me. And I didn't want power locks so that wasn't an issue. All together the car came to around $12,000. Of course with taxes and fees it was just over $13,000. My loan is for 6 years and I have to make 72 payments on it. My APR rate is very very low though! (Just 5.34%!) I was happy with that. By the time the car is finally paid off I'll have paid $2,000 in interest... but I'm glad the rate is low.

Never having bought a new car before though- and always having used I didn't think about having the money for inspection/registration, etc, oops! My down payment was only going to be $1,200 but in order to get the monthly payment I wanted they needed a $1,500 deposit and the inspection/resigration, etc was $200. So I had to to write a check for $1,700. My Dad had to actually loan me $400.00 which I have to pay him back this month. My next paycheck isn't until the 9th.

My insurance from State Farm turned out to be lower. It will be $105.00 monthly. That was the other thing we hadn't thought about- when opening a new insurance account they always want the 1st & last months payment. So it was $210.00 to open the account. Ouch. I had to put that on my credit card. If I had thought about those things in advance, I would have waited until the end of the month when I had more money together... but it's okay. I've never owned a new car and my dad has always bought used being a mechanic/auto body and owning a scrap & parts auto lot.

So... I signed my life away (Lol!) today on a 2009 Nissan Versa Sedan! It's black with a black interior and incredibly roomy inside. Much bigger than my 1993 Chevrolet Geo Prizm. They actually said I would have to come back up to the dealership next week to get the stereo installed but by the time all of the paperwork was finished and the car detailed, etc- they had installed the stereo as a surprise, which was very nice! They also included a full tank of gas! I will add some pictures I took of the new car tomorrow. It was dark by the time we arrived home tonight and then I took my parents and brother's out for dinner.


Tomorrow I have to run the $400.00 loan my dad gave me and deposit it in the bank. The dealership said they would cash the check Wednesday. I also have to fax a pay stub over to them and drop off a proof of purchase to my insurance office next week. Oh... and I have to call State Farm too... when they faxed over my temporary insurance card they spelled my first name as Sara on the policy... it's Sarah. I will have to get that corrected before they send out my actual insurance card!

When we left the dealership with my new car it was already around 4:30pm. 4 hours spent looking at the car, settling on a price and finishing all of the paperwork! I was exhausted. We stopped at Circuit City (Which is going out of business, I'm am so upset!) And I picked up an ipod radio transmitter. My 15 year old car had a cassette player so I always used my ipod with a car kit. My new car has a CD player and radio so I got a wireless ipod transmitter. It doesn't work as nicely as I would like it but it was only $11.00. (40% off) I will probably look for a nicer one sometime soon and just burn some of the albums I'm listening onto Cd's for now.

I'm really happy to have the new car, not so excited to start making the payments, lol. But I'm glad I probably won't have as many issues with it as my 15 year old Geo. Thursday morning on my way to work the car was making a thumping noise and I had to pull over in a parking lot. My front tire was completely FLAT! I think I punctured it during the snow/ice storm we had this past Wednesday. We had so much ice, there is still alot in our driveway that hasn't melted yet. We have a very steep winding driveway and it is impossible to get up it when it's covered in ice or snow.

Cell phone pic from Wednesday's snow storm- going down my driveway:


We started having overtime at work this past Saturday. I really hope they will have it again this Saturday. I cannot play around this year, I will have to work overtime on Saturday's when it is offered. I have new car payments, credit card to pay off, new plane ticket to buy, getting married in December... too much to do this year!

I forgot to mention, when I was at the dealership and it was just as I was signing some paperwork they had the radio on and it started playing that 80's song "Sarah". That goes, "Sar-rah... Sarah!" I said to my dad, "Do you hear what they are playing?" Haha, I thought it was pretty weird.

Also when we were waiting for the credit check the salesman, my dad and I were talking and the salesman noticed my engagement ring and congratulated me. He asked if my fiance and father got along and I said, "Well he hasn't met him yet." And went into how F.B. is from the Philippines and how I travel there yearly. Turns out the salesman actually has a girlfriend in Cebu in the Philippines and he will be traveling there in September. They are actually planning to get married. I told him about how F.B. & I will be working with our immigration lawyer early next year and he asked me for our lawyers name. I gave him one of the business cards our lawyer had sent me. He said he will be contacting our lawyer and mentioning my name.

He has never been to the Philippines yet. He met his girlfriend online like F.B. & I met. A friend of his had been to the Philippines and was telling him "horror" stories about their trip. I told him about my experiences in the Philippines and he asked me alot of questions. I really love the Philippines and I miss being there with F.B. Such a small world though... hehe. It made it really feel like this was the car dealership I was supposed to buy a car at. Everything happens for a reason.

I got Hoobastank's new album For(N)ever last week. I loved their past 3 albums. They are one of my favorite bands but I am just not loving this new one. It seems so mediocre to me. The only songs off the albums I really like are, 'The Letter' & 'You're the one'. (I changed my mind, lol. I now like a bunch of songs off this album.)

Update 2-2-09:

Pictures of the car finally!




More Photos Here:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v211/christianchickslc/2009%20Nissan%20Versa/

I haven't updated in a few days, I was so busy this past week and yesterday was spent cleaning my entire room and doing laundry. Sugar had her visit at the vet on Tuesday for her sprain. He did an x-ray to make sure it wasn't a broken bone. Pretty weird seeing the inside of your rat on an x-ray! It was just a really bad sprain. He prescribed some metacam an anti-inflammatory for her to take for 2 weeks. She has to get it once a day and she just hates it, she will try to drool it out of her mouth. The swelling is decreasing slowly and it definitely doesn't look as bad as it did. He skin was really dry and peeling on her paw when the swelling started to go down though so I was putting a dab of olive oil on it to help keep it moisturized.

Finally got a quote on insurance for a new car. It would be $119 a month for full coverage from our State Farm Agent. That's not bad at all. I have to call one of the Nissan dealers back on Monday. He called twice during the weekend but I've been busy this weekend so I will get back to him on Monday. There's about 4 dealers in our area. And once I talk to the one dealer my dad & I are going to check out all the dealers maybe this coming weekend or next weekend. So maybe I will have a new car by March or so! I'm still interested in the Versa Sedan. I also found out one of my co-workers recently got the same car from the dealer right near my house. The same dealer I have to call back on Monday.

My own car was having issues with the shocks last week. I actually had to get a ride to work on Tuesday. It had snowed in the morning and when I started driving the car it was shaking and bouncing so badly I thought something was wrong with the tires. My dad ended up dropping me off at work and my co-worker gave me a ride home. Turns out my car has just entered old age. (It is a 93') I now have to let it warm up for 10-15min in extremely cold weather or else my shocks freeze up. I will be so happy if I am able to afford a new car this year!

F.B. & I were talking recently about snow and what he would think of it. He was wondering how he would drive in the snow & ice too and what it would be like to experience 4 seasons when he moves to the USA heehee.

I visited my Nana on Friday night. I haven't seen her since before I went away to the Philippines and I had some gifts for her and she wanted to see my trip pictures. The ratties paid her a visit too. I took the girls last time I visited. She loved my new girls Ginger & Nutmeg and she gave everyone a Hershey kiss. She said, "See if you come to visit Nana- you get candy!" So funny, heehee.

I ordered 'The True Life of Mary Stuart' by John Guy off of Ebay. I just started reading it and it's really good. I've been reading alot of books about Mary Queen of Scots lately.

I have to start working on getting Valentines stuff together for F.B. too. Though I think he may get his package after Valentines. I'm going to get our trip photos printed up and put into albums like I do every year for us. And I've got to get him a card and write a letter. I'm finally getting a paycheck this monday. I always hate coming back to work after being furloughed because it takes 3-4 weeks before you receive your first paycheck again!

When I was in the Philippines the left button of my touch pad on my laptop died, so I ordered the part online. I've been putting off dissecting my laptop for more than a month now and it's a 3 day weekend so it was time... I was getting tired of using a mouse.

I love my Dell Inspiron E1505... but I've had issues with it. The M button went on my keyboard last year, so had to replace the keyboard. The hinges on the laptop lid went and needed to be replaced and now the touch pad needed to be replaced. I get my Dell parts from Parts-People.com

In order to replace the touch pad the entire front cover palm rest had to be removed. Which meant I had to take out my cd/dvd drive, remove my keyboard and take off the LCD Display... fun.... I just love dissecting my laptop, lol. I'm always so grateful Dell has the service manual published online.

It took about 40 minutes to remove and replace everything. And there was 3 years of dust, dirt and grime once the palm rest was removed... wow... yuck! I cleaned that out before replacing everything. So now I have my touch pad back. My co-worker joked with me and said if I keep replacing parts I'm just going to have a whole new laptop eventually, haha!

My laptop is nearly 3 years old now.... I bought it back in May of 2006. I love it, because I got to customize it online when I purchased it. I like alot of simulation type games, mainly the The Sims 2, The Sims, Sim City 4, Roller Coaster Tycoon Series, etc. I also create alot of web graphics with Macromedia Fireworks. So I really wanted a system that could handle those types of programs.

My laptop has a 2.0GHz Intel Core Duo Processor, 2GB of RAM, 100GB hard drive, 256MB ATI Radeon video card. Plus it has a really nice 15.4 wide screen display. I paid the extra money for the 2.0GHz processor because that's the most important part of a computer. I wanted a laptop that could perform like a desktop.

My #1 rule for buying a computer is to make sure you have at least a 2.0GHz processor or better, #2 would be your RAM (at least 1GB or more.), #3 video card (at least 256MB or more.), #4 hard drive size, etc. It really depends on what you want to use your system for. If you want your computer to run fast & smooth, the processor speed is what you should look for first in a system.

My only issue with Dell, is the casing for their laptops... very cheap plastic. The computer system itself though, runs great... so I don't mind that I've had to make some repairs to my laptop over the past few years. As long as your LCD screen or motherboard isn't damaged it's definitely cheaper to do the repairs yourself. (Which... if those go... you're better off just buying a whole new computer anyway!)

This has been a bad start to the new year. Last Friday I started with the office bug that's been going around. I felt like crap on Monday and called out of work. Tuesday we had update training so I had to be at work. And Wednesday I thought I would be okay but during the work day my cough was getting worse, sneezing, nose pouring... all that fun stuff. I stopped at the supermarket on the way home from work and picked up strong med's. Dayquil isn't cutting it. I got Tylenol Severe Congestion. So we'll see how that works.

I also picked up some hot chicken noodle soup... Ohhhh I have a bad obsession with chicken noodle soup. I can eat it for days in a row and not get tired of it. I love it. I eat it for dinner even when I'm not sick. So yesterday after work it was soup & bed for me and today when I woke up at 5am I felt like a truck had hit me. My body aches, my head aches, still coughing... blah. I called out again today and I'm going to bed after I post this and am sleeping ALL DAY. I can't wait until the weekend. It's a 3 day weekend because of the holiday on Monday... I just wish I wasn't sick! I really miss being with F.B. When I was sick in the Philippines he bought me noodle soup and mashed potatoes and listerine to gargle with for my sore throat... plus he always reminded me to take my vitamin c chews!

To top off my bad start to the new year my rat Sugar somehow sprained her front right paw on Sunday evening. I'm not even sure how. But now it's swelled up like a boxing glove almost. I've been giving her children's pain reliever for the pain. I just hope the swelling goes down or else I will have to take her to the vet on Monday or Tuesday so he can prescribe something for the swelling. She can't walk on it, she's just been holding it curled up. Earlier this week she was still eating with it, but as of last night she's not even doing that. And it hurts her terribly when you touch it or examine it, she cries.

I've been having such bad luck with my rats this past year. First was Cinnamon's emergency spay, Sugar getting a tick, Spice's mass removal, Spice passing away, Ginger getting her toes bit up by Sugar and now Sugar getting injured! I went a whole year without having any injuries or sickness and then 2008 & the beginning of this year everything just happened all at once. Rats really aren't as high maintenance as you would think... maybe someone jinxed me. And F.B. always laughs at me when I knock on wood... haha.


P.S. Sugar has a vet visit on Wednesday. The vet isn't in until then. The swelling still hasn't gone down on her paw and not sure if it will before her appointment he might have to prescribe something.

I went back to work on Monday after a 2 month break. I was exhausted all week, I'm just not used to getting up early again. Next week I'll be starting my workout routine with my treadmill Mon-Thurs. It was a busy week and we have update training at work on Tuesday.

I was able to order our wedding bands this week! F.B.'s Christmas package I sent him arrived and I had included a plastic ring sizer for him so we could find out his ring size. I ordered the rings from a wholesale jeweler. We got titanium wedding bands. I wanted something silver in color but very durable. F.B. is going to pay me back half for the rings. I like the satin finish which is more masculine for F.B. and the shiny one is more feminine for me.

Here is a picture of the wedding bands I ordered:























They just arrived tonight and they are so gorgeous! Here are the rings:











The left one is F.B.'s & the right one is mine. F.B. & I happen to have the same ring size. I'm 3 inches taller than him also; so I always tease him and say "At least your shoe size is bigger than mine!"

I've been bidding on Blackberry Pearls on Ebay for a few weeks. I really wanted a new phone but I'm not eligible for an upgrade from T-mobile right now and even the discount price they offer for me is still well around $200.00. The phones on ebay seem to be going for $100.00 as well even with a broken trackball, etc. I was finally able to win one for $65.00 though! The only issue with it... a dog chewed it. Yes! Haha! Here is the listing.

When the phone arrived it actually looked better than the description, the only major damage aside from cosmetic scratches was the back door panel was cracked:













I ordered a nice new hard shell case for it on ebay also for $1.99 and you can't even tell it's not new:

















I had to upgrade to the $24 T-mobile unlimited internet & 400 text message plan though in order to use the instant messaging. F.B. & I always talk on AIM or Yahoo messenger on my breaks at work so we need that. The only time we get to spend together when I'm working is a date online on the weekend and we email every other day Mon-Fri. Technically I'm only paying $14 more than what I was paying for internet & texting, so it's not too bad. And I don't talk on my phone so much. I have the lowest plan T-mobile offers. 300 minutes & unlimited weekends for $29.

I also decided to get some extras for my new phone on ebay. I ordered a 2GB memory card for $6. A new battery for $4 and a new back door panel for $1. So let's see- the phone was $69.00 with shipping and I've spent $12.99 on accessories. That's about $81.00 for a blackberry & accessories. God, I LOVE ebay! If I'm ever looking for something, I always check ebay first to see if I can get a good deal.

I'm also looking to get a new car this year. My Dad has to talk to our insurance company and see how much it would cost for me to get insurance on my own. Right now, I'm covered under his insurance still. I will be 27 this year so I'm hoping it won't be too bad to get insurance on my own. The car I am driving I have had for 4 years now. It's a 1993 Chevrolet Geo Prizm, that my Dad got used (He's a mechanic.) The starter went one year, the alternator last year, I needed new tires. It's falling apart and I want a car that I'm not going to have to worry about getting inspected every year.

And now is the time to buy a car. The prices are so low on some of the new 2009 models because of the issues with our economy. The cars within my price range are about $10,000 brand new. I'm looking at a Nissian Versa Sedan or a Hyundai Accent. First we will talk to the insurance company though, because it depends on how much those payments will be monthly in addition to what my payments on the car would be monthly. And then next year F.B. & I will start working with our immigration lawyer, so the car & insurance payments need to be affordable for me.

NOTE: Our lawyers Peter J. Gonzales & Shanna Stanton have changed firms. They are no longer with Kahiga Tiagha. They are now with Green and Spiegel LLC, but still located in Philadelphia. 

I've had Ginger & Nutmeg for about 2 weeks now. There were some issues with Sugar attacking Ginger though. I've had them separated on levels in the Ferret Nation cage. At first I had Sugar & Cinnamon on the lower level, but that didn't work out so well because Sugar was climbing up and Ginger was poking her hands down between the bars and she ended up getting attacked & bit twice. The 2nd time she was missing a toenail. So I moved the new girls to the lower level instead and there hasn't been anymore attacks. I've slowly been introducing the new girls to Sugar & Cinnamon this weekend. There's been a few scuffles but nothing major.

Tonight I'm going to try play time in the cage on one of the levels. But I'm going to remove their boxes and plastic igloo so no one gets cornered. The cage is a more territorial area, so we will see how things go. I think it's going to take a little longer than it did when I introduced Cinnamon to Sugar & Spice. But it will be nice when they can all live in the same cage together.

Here were all of the girls earlier hanging out in a soda box! So far so good!