Largest return day of the year

So we all know that the day after Christmas is the largest return day of the year. You'll also find a ton of people hunting for after Christmas sales. Well, I chose returning; my Rav4 went back to Toyota the 26th. I met the gentleman at the dealership at 9am (a third party company picks up the cars, looks them over, and finishes the paperwork). He even measured the tread in the tires. I was told how much tread needed to be on my tires and I guess I shouldn't have been surprised it was measured. He then looked through the car to make sure there was no damage or items left by me. He checked to make sure there was a spare tire, the jack and the tool kit.

Then we went inside to fill out the final paperwork. I filled out things like an odometer reading statement and release of liability form. It took about 45 minutes all together. He was glad I replaced the windshield. He's had to be the bad guy in many situations. He was telling me about a woman who had to pay to have the original tires and rims put back on the vehicle she was returning and she ended up putting the wrong tires back on; they should have been the run-flat tires (tires that won't go flat). She went back to the company were she got the tires and they wouldn't even exchange them or give her a credit. I told him I would have cried, he said she did.

Then I was car-less and waited for a ride home.

I almost forgot

Christmas eve was an interesting day at work. First we found out that because we were the only office without the new phone system, we were the only office with working phones. Nice, new system huh?? So our IT had all calls routed to our office and it was crazy! Luckily the calls died down after lunch. We were hoping people were only working a half day since it was Christmas eve and it pretty much worked out that way.

I had to leave Becky in the middle of the phone call craziness because I was having the windshield in the Rav4 replaced so the dealership wouldn't charge me for the rock chip in it. They said any window damaged would be charged at replacement cost, so I tried to fix the chip. No luck fixing it, so I had to replace the windshield. But, aftermarket glass was going to be A LOT cheaper than factory glass charged through the dealership. I just kept my fingers crossed for no rock chips for a couple days. Aftermarket glass is crappy and a small chip will crack just about every time.
Oh! I had to take my car to the gas station across the street because it was raining and the guy needed cover to replace the windshield. It took about 45 minutes and I met some really nice people while waiting. I ended up giving directions to people, chatting about why I was changing the windshield and one elderly gentleman walked by a couple times and just before he left he walked back over to me and said, "Since you're having such a bad day, here is a calendar with some pretty pictures of trains." It's the 2009 calendar for the OSH store and I think he's the artist. There's a small picture on the inside and it looks a lot like this gentleman. I really think people are crazy most of the time, but that was a great boost of what wonderful people are really out there. I just might have to hang out at the gas station more often :)

Anyways, back to my story...it was a crazy morning and lead into a crazy afternoon. Just before 2pm we feel the building shake and I noticed the windows flexing. We all start calling out, "What in the world was that?!" We start wondering if an elevator fell down a few floors or if someone ran their car into the building. We called downstairs to our marketing department and Andrew couldn't see anything on his side of the building either. Becky and I start pulling up websites to try and find out what it was. Becky came across a report that said it was a house explosion on the other side of the freeway from our building. Becky said, "meth lab". A bunch of people I talked to about it before we knew what happened thought it was a meth lab too. It turned out to be a natural gas leak that ignited. The reports said there were flames 40 feet high and it lifted the house off the ground and just leveled it. We found a video feed from the helicopter overhead and we couldn't believe what we saw! There was debris over the west bound lanes of the freeway and you couldn't even tell there was a house there. Residents including the owner of the home complained about a gas leak the day before. The explosion killed the owner of the home and a mother and daughter are still in the hospital with 3rd degree burns. The daughter will remain there for a couple more weeks and is scheduled to have surgery on her arms and hands soon. The mother is still listed as critical but stable condition. Anyone can help these families; accounts were set up at Bank of America: a memorial fund for Wilbert Paana and another fund was set up for the mother and daughter, Kim and Sunny Dickson, to help with medical bills.

This is the photo from KCRA.com.

Our New Year Celebration

I'd like to say it was fun, but it wasn't. Doug fell asleep on the couch and I was watching the New Year's celebrations on TV. Doug woke up at about 12:30am and kissed me on the head and got up from the couch and went upstairs to bed.

I did get a laugh watching Fox40 because they were the only news station in downtown Sacramento during the first ball drop like New York on the west coast. Well, it came to count down time and it went something like this...." 5...4...3...2..." then a black screen for about 30 seconds. OOOPS!!! I was telling Doug another news station was teasing about it and someone emailed in, "If the ball drops in Sacramento and no one sees it, does is still become a new year?" HAHA

Our Christmas

We started Christmas the weekend before with my grandma, aunt, cousin and her family, and my mom and step-dad.

Grandma Joyce and Aunt Linda

Scott and Cecily

Step-dad Glenn, you'll remember him from riding on the Harley at the wedding.
Stacy and my mom.

Cecily liked to watch herself in the screen in my camera while I took photos. I took a picture of these wooden candy canes because I thought they were really cool; little did I know it was a gift for us!
Then on Christmas day we headed to my parent's house. We ended up with a white Christmas.

Dinner at my parent's house was very interesting, to say the least. There was a woman there who asked where items were purchased as well as what the expiration dates were and if the bacon my mom used in her twice backed potatoes was fake or not. Her and her husband are nice people, but I was pretty shocked how this woman was knocking down my mom's Christmas dinner after she had been cooking all morning. Once my uncle mentioned something about this woman making a boxed lasagna that came out horribly, I couldn't help but say something back to her. She complained about the additives and preservatives that were in the fake bacon bits, so I asked her what she thought was in the lasagna she tried to make. I told her my mom's cooking is great and it's kept me alive for over 30 years now and to stop bagging on my mom's cooking when she couldn't make a boxed lasagna. It was a little uncomfortable at the beginning of dinner, but it became really funny. My mom had already filled me in on how this couple is when they go out in public. When Doug first saw the husband he said, "Custard's last stand?" because the man has a long, white handlebar mustache. Doug told me I needed a picture of him, but I didn't get one. I told my mom she has weird friends :)

Happy New Year

We hope you all have a wonderful and safe evening!

Merry Christmas

We wish you all a wonderful holiday!

Doug's 4Runner officially passed!!

Whew! Finally!!

The cost of vehicles

Well ladies and gentlemen we are up to $1400 to Smog Doug's SUV!! Yep. After another call from Doug and more tears; with each call, the price from the auto shop goes up $200-$400 - the price has reached $1000+ for the auto shop and $400 for parts he already replaced. The trade-in value on his SUV is $1400 in "fair condition", but it's not fair condition because it's a salvaged vehicle after it was hit while parked in front of his parents home over a year ago.

And my SUV is scheduled to go back on Friday the 26th. I'm so grateful to my parents for letting us use a truck they have until we can figure out what to do. I've been waiting for the check, but I found out this morning that they won't cut the check until they have my SUV back. Kinda hard to buy another car without money huh? And I have a list of things to fix or replace on the vehicle before they take it back or they'll charge me to replace it. So, I have a rock chip in the windshield to fix and they will measure to make sure the tires have 4/32" tread left on the tires; crap like that. Um....it's going back as a LEMON! Do you really thing the windshield chip makes that big of a deal. The guy even told me to run it through a car wash. If he didn't notice...it's raining! Sheesh.

It's been a poopy morning, every time I answer my cell phone, money has been shooting out the door. As Doug said, "It's cheaper than buying a new car." and Becky said, "Well, it could be a lot worse." Uh yeah! Those don't help right now.

If you need a good laugh

This video makes me laugh every time I watch it. Watch if first and then read my comment to the post.

Christmas Party Photos

On our way...

Arrived...

Beautiful room. Even a television to watch while soaking in the tub.

My work family... aren't the all beautiful!

Awwww....

Gettin' our groove on...

I wish I could remember what I said to Kristie.

Turn down service...even slippers left by the bed and light music playing on the Bose system.

On the way home... There was a Raider game, so the blimp was out and about.
The Oakland Temple...
A cool building with a green top and a neat clock...

I hope you feel like you were there! We had a blast. It was a great get away weekend before Doug's birthday too.