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I Just Can't Decide!

So we have gone back and forth and then back again about my birthday trip. I just can't decide. It is really hard when you are told you can go anywhere within reason for your birthday.

About a month ago we kind of decided on Chicago. We got as far as making flight reservations to Chicago, but that was it. I started leaning towards Boston and James started leaning towards California. We gave up for a few weeks.

Last week I started thinking about the beach. The beach sounded like the best birthday ever. James has been wanting to go to the Dominican Republic for months now. I decided the Dominican was the place for us. Monday night we narrowed down the Dominican resorts to three. I felt like we were getting so close. We started looking really close at the resorts and I started getting worried. I got scared that I was going to get bored. After laying on the beach for two days what was I going to do the next 2. It probably isn't a big deal. I am sure we would have a great time, but I started worrying.

Now we have moved on from the Dominican and are back to one of our original choices--California. We are now set on going to the LA area. I got us plane tickets, but now we need a place to stay. We want to stay on the beach somewhere outside of LA. We are thinking somewhere around Laguna Beach. So the question is, do you have any suggestions?

The Duck March

We stayed at The Peabody in Memphis and in Little Rock, both were very nice. The Little Rock Peabody is not very popular. The Memphis Peabody is a different story. You couldn't have payed me to watch the ducks coming or going there. Way too many people for my comfort.

Little Rock is a different story. The first morning we were there we slept in. I was looking at the hotel information book and noticed that the ducks were set to arrive at the fountain in 15 minutes. I told James to hightail it. We were going to see the ducks. We made it down stairs in time and I got a prime spot. James went to get coffee and didn't make it back. I told him to hurry, but he didn't listen to me. The ducks "coming to work" was very entertaining. I was happy we had seen it, but didn't care if I ever saw it again.

As luck would have it, it was time for the ducks to go home when we were returning from the library. This time I had my camera with me and I was ready. They say your life isn't complete till you have seen a duck march, so here you go. Enjoy!

Go Home Ducks from robin perrin on Vimeo.

I'm in Love...

His name is Hugo and he works for Sears. After waiting 13 days for my dryer to be fixed, Hugo showed up at my house yesterday. He was very nice, but best of all he fixed my dryer. I now have a new heating element and temperature controls. I feel like I have a new dryer! It took me 45 minutes to dry towels yesterday when it use to take me 2 HOURS.

The other great news was the repairs cost $411.83, but with my warranty it was all FREE. I don't hate Sears like I did last week. Hugo made it alright. I have one more load to do and then I will be all caught up. Praise the Lord!

Little Rock - Memphis

We took a quick trip to Little Rock and Memphis for the 4th. James had depositions in Little Rock on the Friday before the 4th. We decided to make a trip out of it.

We looked for a location close to Little Rock where we could see a Major League Baseball game. The closest was Dallas for a Rangers game and the next was St. Louis for a Cardinals game. We have been both places so decided against those two. I suggested Memphis. Memphis worked out. It was only a two hour drive and Memphis has a Triple A baseball team.

As we were getting ready to leave San Antonio James got a call that his depositions had been canceled. We decided to go ahead and go on our trip.

While we were in Little Rock we visited the Clinton Presidential Library. Neither James or I had ever been to a Presidential Library. The grounds of the library are beautiful.

The library was amazing! We spent three hours looking around and enjoying everything. The library is three floors so there is tons of stuff. On the first floor there is one of the Presidential cars that Clinton used.

The second floor was all about the history of Clinton's Presidency. It started with a replica of the oval office. I totally felt like I was on the set of "West Wing." It was really cool.

The second floor also had a timeline of Clinton's presidency, notebooks full of his daily schedules and all his accomplishments during his presidency. There were also tons of personal notes from celebrities and other politicians. Most were hard to read because of terrible hand writing. President Clinton's handwriting is not very good. There were notes from Bill Cosby, Whoopi, Sheryl Crow and many more. It all was so interesting. We spent most of our time on the second floor.

The third floor was the "People Magazine" of the Presidency. It was all about the social aspect of the Presidency. My favorite part of the third floor was Christmas at the White House. They have a theme for the Christmas tree every year. Love it! They also had this table set like it would be for a State Dinner. I am not fancy so I was amazed at the table. The amount of glasses and silverware on the table was outrageous.

After the Library we decided to hit up the mall in Little Rock. The lady at the hotel told us the mall wasn't that great, but we were out of options. I totally disagree with the lady at the hotel. The Little Rock mall ROCKED! We have a hard time finding James clothes. The Dillard's was huge and had a great selection. He got six new dress shirts. We had been looking for him some new basketball shoes, but finding a 15 is like finding a needle in a hay stack. The Champs had about 15 pairs of size 15 shoes to choose from. That might have been the highlight of the trip. I was so excited.

After a fun time in Little Rock we headed to Memphis Saturday. We had a nice easy drive to Memphis. We stayed at the Peabody in Memphis. When we got there it was a mad house. It was time for the ducks to leave the fountain and there were tons of people trying to see the ducks leave. We checked in and headed to the Redbirds game. The Redbirds are a triple A team for the Cardinals. We saw a great game. The Redbirds were down 3 in the ninth and the last batter up hit a home run with two men on to win the game. It was awesome! After the game there were fireworks which were really good.

We didn't really do much on the 4th. We had a wonderful brunch and then hung out in our hotel room most of the afternoon. We did go down to Beale street and eat down there, but it was crazy. We didn't stay long and then we headed back to the hotel. We didn't even see fireworks on the 4th. The fireworks didn't look like they were going to be any good so we stayed in the room. We ended up being able to see the fireworks from our room and they weren't that great. We made a good decision.

Overall we had a great trip and we marked two cities off our list.

So Much For Customer Service

I have a little problem actually a big problem. On Friday, July 16 my dryer broke. It runs, but doesn't blow hot air. Somewhat of a problem.

My dryer is a Kenmore that is nine years old. Grandma and Grandpa bought us the washer and dryer as a wedding present. It is probably the greatest wedding present we got.

I called Sears just to see what a new heating element would cost. I am a trained dryer diagnostician and that is what i decided it needed. Sears informed me that we still had a extended warranty on the dryer. That was a really nice surprise, but I would have to call back on Saturday to schedule an appointment.

James called to make the appointment. They said they could send someone out on Wednesday. Wednesday didn't work for us. We had already planned the Schlitterbahn trip and that was the only day James was planning to take off. James said that wouldn't work so the next available time was August 2. WOW!!! Are you serious? Fine we will take Wednesday. The lady tells us someone will be out to look at our dryer on Wednesday, July 28.

At this point I am freaking out. That is a week and a half till someone will be out here. Of course the lady on the phone was not very concerned and said we could call back on Monday. We called back on Monday and nothing. No one at Sears cares that we haven't had a dryer for a week and a half.

I am so frustrated with Sears right now! So much for customer service or dry clothes.

Back to Life, Back to Reality

Doneece is gone and now I am very sad.

We had a fabulous time while she was here. I made her watch Devin play basketball last weekend. Monday we worked out and laid by the pool. It was very lovely! Tuesday we spent the day shopping with Devin. We all got lots of good stuff. I got two new pairs of shoes because I need another pair of shoes like I need a hole in my head. I still love them even if I didn't need them.

Doneece also got these shoes. Same size and everything. We looked really cute walking out of the store with the same shoes on. We changed out of them after a little while. They need to be broken in before a lot of walking occurs.

I love my new Nike's. They are super light and cute. I feel like I should be running at a high rate of speed when I have them on, but I don't.

I also got some new workout clothes that are new, but boring because I actually have to go workout to wear them. I also got a new pair of sunglasses that are gorgeous. Gold and fabulous, but I forgot to take a picture so just imagine them.

Wednesday we took the entire family to Schlitterbahn. James took the day off so James, Doneece, Devin, Moses and I spent the day at the water park. Moses is Devin's best friend and we have become one big happy family.

Doneece learned the goodness of having a younger "sibling." She pestered Devin like there was no tomorrow and Moses just laughed at Devin. Devin even called my Mom to complain that Doneece was picking on him. It was good times.

James had so much fun with us that he took off the rest of the week. It was wonderful. Thursday we spent the day relaxing. We all slept late and headed to the pool. We didn't spend much time at the pool because of thunderstorms. We decided the movies was a good place to hang out. We saw "Knight and Day" and it was really good. After the movie we had a wonderful dinner at Pappadeaux. So yummy!

Friday my Doneece went home. I was so sad to see her go home. If you know of a dance job in San Antonio or the Austin area please let me know. James and I had a wonderful late breakfast at the best breakfast place in S.A. After breakfast we got a couples massage, but separate. The last thing I want to do during a massage is listen to James snore. Not what I call relaxing. Of course we finished off the week with one of Devin's basketball games.

It was a fabulous week with my favorite sister. I also really enjoyed spending some time with my sweet husband. I wish ever week included my sister and my husband only working two days.