Bid Week Madness

Well, I've heard complaints that I've already fallen down on the blogging job. But I have a valid excuse, I swear.

The last 5 business days of the natural gas month are known as "Bid Week." Its when most of the business for the next month gets done, and the financial contracts settle. The first 3 days are crazy for Traders (that's me!) and the last two days are insane for Schedulers (i.e. Lawrence). It makes for a pretty exhausting week on the Half Street. It used to be a bonus that they bring lunch in for us at the office during the week, but now with the wunder pup, that is actually a drawback, as one of us still has to go home to let him do his stuff. It also stinks that we can't really take vacation during this time, but that's a complaint for a different post. Anyway, this month's Bid Week went pretty smoothly...although you never really know until about 2 days afterwards if you blew something up!

In other news this week, Ripken did a bang up job at obedience school. We worked on focusing on the handler (me) and preliminary hand gestures for sit, down (that was a toughie at first but he's gotten pretty good), and turn around. We also tried to get him to sit on our left side and taking our first step (which apparently aids in healing...something a leash puller like Ripken can really use). I was a little disappointed that the trainer didn't have a magic bullet for our crate training problems. She pretty much told us we were doing the right things and to stick with it. I'll keep everyone updated if we see any progress. Ripken also discovered he LOVES Pet Deli Loaf. It looks pretty grody to me, but Ripken eats it like it was caviar for beagles. If it helps with training...his mom and dad are ALL for it.

In human news, our football team won the Rec League Championships in a double header last night. Very exciting, made doubly so since Lawrence scored his first touch down of the season, and I had an extra point. Next week we take on the champion of the other league, in a death battle for City Champion!

See?! I told you it was a busy week!

$300 Whoops

"Honey, when you get home, if you don't think you can get into the garage, just call me and I'll pull it in"

This is what Lawrence said to me as I left to take Whitney back to her hotel last week. I was out of gas, and he graciously just told me to take his car...or should I say tank?! For some brief background: Several months ago, Lawrence's car was broken into. At that time, we were going with the one-car-in-the-garage-one-car-parallel-parked-outside-the-garage method. Since then we've switched to the two-cars-shoehorned-into-the-garage method, for obvious reasons. Well I'm sure you can see where this is going. I tapped the garage on my way in. I should have just stopped and called Lawrence, but noooooooo. I thought that whipping the Blazer into the garage was the same thing as landing the space shuttle on a sailboat, which is what I felt like I was doing with Lawrence's Expedition. The result can be seen in the pictures. A small bump to the tune of $300 or so, which is currently at the shop getting patched up. And oh yeah, I dinged the garage as well.

The Genius of Gymbucks

In the brief history of shopper rewards programs, Gymboree's "Gymbucks" program has got to be the most effective. I actually had a panicked moment on the way home from the coast this weekend, when I realized that today was the last day in the redemption period, and that I was in danger of NOT SPENDING MONEY ON THEIR CLOTHES! Shocking, I know.
For those of you who aren't familiar, basically there are two relevant periods: Earning and Redemption. During the "Earning" period, you earn $25 in Gymbucks for every $50 you spend. Then you have to wait for the "Redemption" period, when you can use $25 for every $50 you spend. So all told, you can get $200 worth of clothes for $150 bucks. The genius part is this...you really think you are getting a STEAL! People (being me and Erin) actually mark their calenders to spend money. Incredible.

Erin-I hope you remembered to spend yours!

Gone Fishin'

Sorry for the lack of posting this weekend, but the Internet down in Indianola isn't very reliable. That's right, it was our first trip to the coast for the year, and it was as relaxing as I remember. It's funny: When you're young, "summer" doesn't start until school lets out, but now that I'm older it has a different definition. We've dusted off the rods and reels, aired out the cabin, and done the requisite work to get ready and I can say SUMMER IS HERE!

We got a little bit of fishing in, going out with James and Brandy on James' and Mario's boat. The bait store was out of live bait, but we managed to have some success on some "fresh dead" shrimp. As an aside, I'm not sure what qualifies bait as "fresh dead" but I'm pretty sure this shrimp hadn't been alive since the Carter administration. With this in mind I didn't have high hopes for our catch, but we did manage to catch some gafftop, which is a saltwater catfish. They are slimy, hard to get off the hook, and I'm not crazy about the way they taste, but they give a fun fight and its always exciting to pull a big one from the water. Lawrence officially out fished me this time though, catching the first, biggest and most gafftop of those of us on the boat.

Ripken had a great time. He loves playing with Cooper (James and Brandy's Lab) and Haley tolerates him (Joanne's miniature pincher), but she's not really crazy about anyone. You can see the pecking order amongst the dogs at left. He's totally tuckered out next to me on the couch as I write this.

In other news, Kenyon called Lawrence "La-La" for the first time this weekend, and he was thrilled! It made me anxious for Ella to start recognizing us as well. Can't wait!

On the agenda this week: Bid week at work so we should be pretty busy, getting Lawrence's car fixed (more about that later), Ripken starts obedience school, and Beer Bike. Should provide plenty of material to keep you guys amused!

Tough Week In B-Ball

Tough week for the family in sports. Like its not bad enough the Owls lose to the Ags at home, they take 11 innings to do it, and keep me up late on a school night to boot. But THEN the Ags have to go and lose to Memphis in basketball! I always cheer for the Aggies (as long as they aren't playing the Owls), and this loss was especially tough. I had a good feeling about it, but i guess it wasn't meant to be. Darn it. I hope A&M can keep Gillispie, I know the pain of losing a coach after a great season.

Keeping Up With The Martinez'

Well, I've always wanted to be like Mike (no, not that one...this one). Now that the Norfolk Martinez' have ventured into the blogosphere, I feel the need to make my mark as well. I imagine our spaces will be eerily similar, (heavier emphasis on puppy as opposed to adorable baby) but at least its more efficient than repeating my stories twice on Sunday phone calls! Don't worry Mom, I'll still call. So here it is! My own little piece of Internet real estate. Enjoy!