Aileen’s Neighborhood

anyways just dropped by to describe what has to be my bestest birthday ever!

hubby took off (as usual) to spend the day with me... kid free!!!!! yipppee!!! now that has to be a prezzie in itself!

we went for breakfast at Carls' Jr (food wasn't really worth the trip), walked on the beach (one of my favourite places), wandered around Parkway Parade, picked up a funky magnectic bead accessory/game thingy... I've got pics just trying to figure out how to upload them... got a new SE C901 handphone to replace my dying SE K810... ate a free sundae at Swensen's then headed home for some good quality time in the bedroom playing with some new adult toys *evil grin*

In the evening, he brought me for some comfort food at a Taiwan porridge restaurant near our place then picked all the kids up and went home happy. 

When my youngest saw me, he reached up to plant a kiss on my cheek and said "Mummy, I love you". That's the first time he's EVER said that... super super super touched....

Then for dinner last night, my mom cooked all my favourite foods... yum yum yum. Next was a huge layercake (kueh lapis) with ONE candle on top. (my kids blew it out!) Plus loads of Haagen Daz ice cream (Belgium and Midnite Cookies and Cream). I ate til my tummy was sooo round - almost looked like I was preggy again. LOL!

I'm a gal who is rather high maintenance in terms of attention and time spent so I really got my love tank totally filled up. Haven't been this happy for a looooong while to be honest. But really content, satisfied and counting my blessings cos I'm truly blessed!

*Last week the license plates finally came for DH's company vehicle- they expired Aug. It's been parked in our drive waiting on the plates since then. So Thursday morning DH gets into vehicle to drive it after nearly 2 months-- won't budge. It's a 2008 Ford Escape-- so it's not very old. DH was so pissed off when he came back in to drive away in his own truck. So now we will have to wait on company to arrange to get that piece of shit towed out of our driveway. There are two vehicles available-- another Escape and a Dodge Journey. DH opted for the Journey- we are hoping it's not such a piece of crap like that Escape. Honestly after experiencing that Escape-- it's no wonder the American car companies are in such lousy shape. That vehicle was unbearably loud-- the road noise made it impossible to hold a conversation or listen to the radio- and was seriously the most uncomfortable ride. After a brief 10 minute ride in it, my feet would feel prickly from the floor vibration. It was also downright dangerous to drive-- you seriously couldn't see out the back-- it's like the entire rearview mirror was a blind spot. I would take my 1997 Bonneville everyday over that piece of garbage. 

*I've been doing some flu prevention techniques since I received a helpful email about this subject. Highlights-- #1 is washing your hands and not touching face. (I am reading "The Secret Life of Germs" and the author says that 80% of illness is through touching/contact.) The other point is doing some oral hygiene to prevent illness taking hold-- Gargling 2 times a day with warm salt water or Lysterine (I opted for this since I can't see my kids taking the time to do the salt water properly) and swabbing out the nose with warm salt water after blowing nose. Basically this removes them from your system so they can't take hold. I also couldn't see my kids doing the warm salt water so I bought saline spray for them to use for swabbing out their noses. Anyone interested in the flu email, I will gladly pass along. My other flu prevention is wiping down surfaces that get touched by everyone-- remote controls, door knobs, light switches, drawer pulls, phones, etc. I have been doing once a week with my normal cleaning routine. I've started using humidifiers because I notice that we tend to get less illness when they are in use during cold weather (not to mention my skin doesn't get so dried out.) Hopefully some of these will help prevent the flu taking hold here. 

* I've been working out routinely for the last few weeks. Every other day I do the treadmill for 1 minute intervals- one minute running/one minute rest for 10 times. May sound lame but I have some issues with my IT band (tendon that runs from hip to knee) and this seems to be the best way for me to actually get a whole workout in. If I keep running along, it tightens up and I am unable to proceed but I can get through the minute on the treadmill (times 10) without issue. I do set the treadmill at a higher incline and speed so that I am working more than what I would if I was trying to run for 10 minutes straight. After I finish up my reps for that, I hit the speedbag (I have my own platform and bag) for 10 minutes or more. This week I started bench pressing again... I was sore for days after but I lifted again yesterday and so far not too bad. Anyhoo, this weekend DH kept saying how I already looked skinnier-- so I shared my workout theory with him "If you let yourself go enough, a few weeks of working out makes you look like you've made a lot of progress." LOL I've already done my workout today. That may also be part of the reason I've had little time to blog... 

* My kids got their grades from 1st 9 weeks recently and they all got straight A's. The boys also got scores from state proficiency testing taken last spring. Both boys got "Distinguished" in all areas. My youngest got perfect score on 3 of the 4 areas (Reading, Math and Social Studies) while also scoring a distinguished in "Open Response Writing." (I remember when they were starting this testing, one teacher said that to get a distinguished on that part,one's just a natural writer, so they really only strive for proficient on that one.) My middle son got perfect scores on two of the three areas he was tested on- Math and Science- while getting a distinguished in Reading also. I knew they were smart kids but seriously didn't expect perfect scores on almost every area. DD will be taking ACT again in Dec. She thinks with taking Pre-Calculus now that she will do much better on the math- even though she already scored a 30 in June. She's trying to get a better score so she will get more scholarship money-- she is trying to get into Governor's Scholar Program which often means full tuition paid for at in state schools. It amazes me how fast it goes-- I don't remember really thinking about college until my senior year.

*I am researching cameras for my Christmas gift. My Kodak is getting sketchy to say the least-- definitely not taking sharp photos anymore. For example, Oct. 30 FOTD-- not a single one was very clear. I am leaning towards Panasonic Lumix because it's highly rated for photo quality-- I really want a good one for EOTD/FOTD photos.  

 

*I made some new eye shadows. I've been on a more natural eye kick so I came up with the "Natural-Eyes" collection- they are "almost matte"- ever so slightly pearlescent. Flaxen Light is the lightest of the three- a very golden  light brown. Brought To Light is a rather light taupe color. In Crease is a mid-tone tan that works beautifully "in (the) crease" to give just that little bit of definition. 

Oct. 13 FOTD using "Natural-Eyes" collection

Tanya Foundation

Raisin Rush Blush

Flaxen Light inner corner and brow highlight. Brought to Light middle 1/3. In Crease as crease color. Loreal Extra Volume with Collagen Mascara. 

Sally Hansen Natural Butter gloss in Bloom

Oct. 29- I've had to switch my foundation color-- it's funny how quickly it changes Tanya was just looking a little off so I went to my more winter shade of Dayna Dark

Beach as an all over skin perk up.

Perfect Pink Blush

Eyes- Just Browsing Brown for brow fill, Fiery inner 1/2, Copperhead in crease and along lash line. Flaxen Light as brow highlight. Loreal extra volume with Collagen mascara. 

Lips- Lili sent me some samples of Lip Tars and requested a "red" look. Here's my first attempt--- one thing I notice that's important for me to do with Lip Tars is put a clear gloss on first because I'm not a bold opaque lippie girl. NSFW/Grandma/Uber combo. 

Oct. 30-- not one of the FOTD shots turned out in focus- not even close-- even the EOTD are rather blurry-- I need a new camera. 

Eyes- 

Bonanza all over lid below crease, Red Blooded in middle 1/3 and crease. Enigma (why haven't I been using this one??? It's such a unique color-- green/purple/smoky) used as liner over Gelle Drops then applied dry to outer V.  

This is for LT- 

The Cover Girl Amaze Mint glosses I have-- they are sheer but also a bit opaque and little sparkle. 

Left to right-- Pink Positive, No Care Bare, Freedom of Peach   

I also made a new glow per H's suggestion that I make a "green" glow to counteract redness. I am thinking of calling it "Bewitching Glow." Here's a sample of it on bare skin-- 

A couple of photos of the dogs since I was outside taking photos for Bewitching and they were being silly.

Last photos of my kids pumpkins... DD did 3 carvings in one pumpkin-- members of Green Day from 21st Century Breakdown artwork

My youngest and his friend carved this one

Middle son and friend carved this one. 

This is my youngest being silly-- he dressed up as a "redneck" 

While watching a bit of news this morning, I saw a story on how physical activity actually makes you smarter. Just a brisk walk and other activity increases brain performance. Maybe we should all have stationary bikes as our seats and taller desks for our computers? LOL Makes sense seeing that more blood would be pumping all around. I do see that the cross country and track teams usually have the majority of kids on honor roll- almost every athlete that went to state last year also made all-state academic team from DD's high school. Of course running gives you plenty of time in your own head. Anyway, I'm off to test the theory by hitting the treadmill (this would have nothing to do with hubby's comment about jean size being the same-- OK, maybe it would LOL) and also the speedbag. I'm getting pretty good at  the speedbag but it's harder since hubby swapped my platform bracing with his old and broken one. Yes, the man actually broke the bracing that connects platform to wall-- stress fracture on one part of the bracing from repeated beating. Now my platform isn't as steady because of the broken brace, so the bag doesn't snap back as quickly because so much energy is absorbed by the broken brace-- meaning I have to hit a lot harder to keep things going. I feel like I'm losing IQ points-- better get going on that physical activity. LOL 

Today's rant- FRESH in my mind because I just found this letter from ALW Sourcing LLC in my mailbox this morning? Weird on two levels because I checked mail at about 4 pm yesterday and wonder how the heck I had mail between that time and 7 am this morning? Anyhoo-- this letter says that we have a balance of $118.09??? Seeing I've never heard of ALW Sourcing LLC I read on-- "This is an attempt to collect a debt." and then on the back is small type saying that the account they are trying to collect on is Cincinnati Bell. WTF?? We have not used Cincinnati Bell since Sept. 1998---at least I think? I couldn't even recognize the phone number associated with this account--- was it my cell before updating here in 2005? Was it actual Cinci number? I immediately call the number on the letter and ask about this matter. The rep couldn't tell me any more on the matter only that it would be "put in dispute." So my next order of business was to look up ALW Sourcing LLC on the internet and I see someone posted a complaint about how they were trying to collect a debt from her in her maiden name when she hadn't used in over 15 years- making her sure that it was fraud. Then someone else added to the complaint that they were being harassed by them because of someone with similar name. Finally a last person said they had to contact state attorney general to get these people to leave him/her alone. Next I looked up contact for Cincinnati Bell- thank goodness for internet--- they no longer had either hubby or myself in their system--- so no progress there- they couldn't even tell me if it was home or cell number account.  My next call was to state attorney general because this concerns me since I could get no information about this "debt." I am waiting for a callback from them concerning this. Then I spent a good chunk of time trying to locate old phone numbers... I save almost everything so I found box of old checks and the number was on it... associated with our Cincinnati address!! I have never received ANY kind of bill from Cincinnati Bell since 1998- but this leads me to believe that desperate times are upon us when debt collectors will bring up bogus debt from accounts not in use in 11 years. How is a consumer supposed to combat that kind of "out of thin air" debt? I mean how many people have financial records to combat this debt from an account that hasn't been in use in 11 years? For me, it's 3 bank accounts, 3 moves, (at least) 5 phone numbers (including cell) ago-- who would have proof that it was paid, that the bill is fraud? I am pretty sure the statutes of limitations are up on this even if it was legitimate- but I assure you, it is not, which concerns me even more. Are these debt collection agencies sending out these bogus debts hoping that consumers will panic and just pay it? Because we have impeccable credit, I KNOW this is a fraudulent debt, it would have shown up on credit reports on at least last two homes when we applied for mortgages- not to mention credit checks I do myself annually. It concerns me because those who may be in some financial uncertainty may just "go ahead and pay it" because they wouldn't know as I do that this is not legitimate. Now I'd like to send ALW Sourcing, LLC a bill for my time that I have had to waste on this matter of bogus debt--- how much should I charge for their bogus letter making me track down information to prove my "innocence" in this matter? I WILL be making a complaint with my state's attorney general and BBB. I would hate to see anyone be taken by this kind of thing because I didn't do my part to stop it.