Linky Love

I found a new friend’s blog, http://doadiecut.blogspot.com/ which centers around scrapbooking. A passion of mine. And she posted some adorable photos of stuff she’s made, which totally sucked me in. She makes adorable stuff, and has an Etsy store in which she sells it, so check it out. Much cuteness awaits.

Some Photos from the fun

So in February (during which time we’ve already established I was away from the blog-world for no good reason) I went on a retreat weekend put on by my Director for myself and some other of HER Directors. This was just way too much fun and SUCH a productive weekend. AND we had a professional photographer come and take pictures of us, too (she was great – see her logo on all the photos and check out her site!!). So here are a couple of me and a couple of myself with the other women from the retreat. All of us are Thirty-One ladies, and definitely spent the weekend embodying the Thirty-One Celebrate | Encourage | Reward motto!!

Wow, welcome to 2011

Yeah, okay, so it’s almost April and I haven’t blogged since like the early 1800’s or something, but let’s go ahead and see if this thing is still on, eh?

What’s sad is, I constantly preach consistency in all you do, and then here I am not picking up a pen (or keyboard, as it were) in six months. <sigh>

So I could promise to do better, but you’ve heard it all before. So let’s just say that I’m working on trying, and working on putting some schedules and systems BACK in place that will allow me to keep up on things in a whole lot of other areas of my life. Wish me luck. Cause clearly I need it.

Happy Halloween!

From my ghouls to yours.

Go Sharks!

My son’s team played their bowl game today and won 25-6. At his age, they do not do playoffs, just a bowl game, so that officially signifies the end of our football season. Woohoo! As much as I LOVE it and will be looking forward to next season in a few months, it’s still a relief when it’s over. We’re onto soccer now, which is FAR less time intensive. It’s almost like getting a break.

Here’s Owen with his head coach and the trophy the team won for winning. They also all received medals with the name of the bowl they played on them. Super cute.

Dog Park

So today I decided to do a play date for the pups at the dog park with one of their doggie friends. Moose had fun and wore himself out:



Rico spent most of the time chasing squirrels. It continues to amaze me that squirrels even hang out there, honestly. Luckily my dog hasn’t yet learned how to climb trees, or those guys would be in trouble:

I suck, and some hate mail

Hey blogland. Where have I been? Dunno…slacking, busy, not posting. Not sure why. I do suck. Sorry. In a nutshell, here’s what you’ve missed: my son turned 9, I had a cold, Thirty-One kept me busy. That’s pretty much it.

As for the hate mail – not directed at me, but from me. To my stupid useless CDD board that I hate with a white hot intensity that could sear the very computer I type this on if I’m not careful. Stupid and useless, the whole lot of them. Anyway, here’s my latest letter to the head moron:

I am writing in regards to the supposed violations you say are occurring on my property.

1. We received a violation notice saying we needed to mow based on an inspection done on 9/1. So we mowed. Then on 9/23 we received a violation notice saying we still needed to mow, based on an inspection done on 9/1 and a re-inspection done on 9/1. Seriously? Our property had been mowed twice between the time of the first inspection notice and the second notice. I fail to understand the value of doing an inspection and a re-inspection on the same date, prior to us ever receiving a notice in the first place.

2. We received a violation notice regarding an inspection done on 9/16 saying we needed to clean and paint. First off, I don’t know if you took the photo attached in the dark or if you were just using world’s worst camera, but it took serious study to decode that that was even a picture of the trim over our garage. Once we figured it out, I took the time to both pressure wash and paint the trim, as requested in the letter. Then today I receive another letter saying a re-inspection was done on 9/30 and we’d failed to comply. Really? Because I distinctly remember being out there on a ladder on 9/20 painting the trim, and I dare say there are probably white paint droplets on my driveway to prove it. I’m sure the letter complaining about them will be coming next week.

Honestly, have you nothing better to do with your time and the money of the community than things like inspections and re-inspections on the same day, and harassing people about violations that have already been fixed? How about handling the foreclosed homes with weeds taller than the palm trees, or homes with mailboxes falling off their post? Where do those letters go?

It sincerely doesn’t benefit you to aggravate those of us that do still remain in this community. We’re the ones sticking it out and trying to make this a nice place to live and raise our families, rather than giving up and going into foreclosure like so many others. The sheer volume of people completely fed up with the disorganization and mismanagement of this community is staggering. I hope you’ll take a close look at what you’re doing and how you’re doing it when you’re sending out the next round of unnecessary violation letters.

So there. We’ll see what TweedleDum and TweedleAsshole have to say when/if they respond. Truthfully, I am sure they are going to suggest that our entire exterior needs to be repainted, but that’s just not financially feasible, so they’re going to have to go ahead and continue to levy their fines against us. Apparently we’re at $650 and counting. Bastards.