M.A.S.H.

If you are even close to my age it is likely you have played the Mansion, Apartment, Shack, House game. On the four sides of a square you write MASH, names of boys (or girls) you could marry, number of children, then a city or place. Based on a number you pick the choices are eliminated until you have one of each. I always thought a shack would be the worst type of habitation, but I am quickly learning that an apartment isn't much better. At least, not one owned by someone else and 'managed' by some random assistant.

It is time for us to renew our contract so we can keep living in the apartment we've been in for the last year. It is not my favorite place, as most of you probably already know, but the price is right, the location is good, and the pool is close by. When John and I went down to the office last weekend to sign our new contract we were surprised by a 'bond program' we apparently signed on for last year. We remember signing the papers, but the office girls who explained it to us neglected to tell us that if we exceed a certain income we would have to move out of our apartment. That's right, I make too much money so they were going to kick us out. Seriously?! Seriously.

Long story short, we've figured it out, but it has been a huge hassle every step of the way. If one more thing had gone wrong or if they had made me jump through just one more hoop we would be moving somewhere else. As it is, John and I are both bitter about the whole thing now. Fortunately, we aren't planning on being here much longer than a year so we won't have to go through it again. Hopefully. You never know...

Visitors Welcome

That's right, Lauren and Julia came to visit this last weekend. I always have a fantastic time with my sisters but this time was great because it's been so long since we've all been together. We went to dinner at Macaroni Grill (it was dark in there and the pic didn't come out great), helped Lar with her A1 Sauce contest entry, went shopping where John found some awesome shoes, and had fun just hanging out. It reached record highs here in Phoenix this weekend, but they didn't mind - Ju said the heat was 'exotic.' They might think differently if they actually lived here, but maybe not. I was so glad to have them here - I absolutely adore my sisters. We really are three peas in a pod although maybe differently shaped every now and then. We're hoping to get together again the end of August cuz fun like this needs an encore. There's no one like sisters!

Happy 4th of July in CA

It was so nice to be in California for July 4th because the weather was lovely. We got to see Srun and Harry, too, which was fun. We went to an Angels game and they had a really good fireworks show afterward. It was even better than the show we saw the next night at Disneyland. We also went down to Laguna Beach and John got to go swimming in the ocean for the first time. The lifeguard actually came down to make sure he was okay after a really big wave.

On the holiday we visited with Srun and Harry and their family which was so much fun. We sat around talking and ate great BBQ. John got his pic taken with a monster truck and we watched fireworks. It was actually quite cold out and I had to wrap up in a blanket while we ate chocolate pudding snack pies. It was a great weekend.

Thanks Srun and Harry! And thank you California!