benjerin.com Blog

I got so anxious about our upcoming trip to Costa Rica, and past-due household chores, that I took a personal day off of work last Monday.  It was fantastic!

We had a couple of customer visits at work last week, and I’m happy to say that there aren’t any more customer visits or audits scheduled for at least the next 2 months.  This is quite a relief.  I feel like I can actually catch up on work now.

Saturday morning, Christy and I participated in a 10K.  We alternated walking and jogging and were thrilled to finish the race in 1:08:26.

I have been having some trouble falling asleep lately because I daydream, fret and anticipate about our upcoming trip to Costa Rica.  Friday night, as I was trying to fall asleep, I was thinking I need to buy more tank tops for the trip.  So Saturday afternoon I decided to go to Target for a few tank tops.  An hour and a half later I left with three pairs of shorts, one t-shirt and ELEVEN tank tops.  I think I’m set.  I should never be allowed to go in Target alone and unsupervised!

Sunday was a lazy day.  I did some reading, which is so rare for me, and Benjy made crockpot ribs (YUM!). 

I’ll be pretty distracted at work this week as I get more and more anxious to begin our vacation.  Our plane is leaving Saturday morning.  YIPEE! 

I’m trying something new.  Click here to see our April photos on Flickr.  I think this might make photo sharing a little easier on me, and also it might be fun for our viewers to leave comments. 

Let me know what you think of this new format.

Oops!  I missed a week, so here is a two week summary.

The last week of May we had our registrar audit at work.  Then the first week of June we had a customer audit.  Both audits went really well and that was a wonderful way to wrap things up at work before our vacation in NEW MEXICO!

We flew into Albuquerque on Thursday and met up with my parents and my sister.  We drove to Taos where we ate pizza, then watched Native American dancers in some surprisingly cold weather.  Leah, Benjy and I went to the hotel bar for free glasses of wine before retiring to curl up in warm beds.

Friday morning we visited Taos Pueblo and took lots and lots of photos, bought some souveneirs and ate some yummy fry bread.  Then we toured an Earthship which took us across the Rio Grande Gorge.

Next we had lunch at Embudo Station, before heading to Santa Fe.  We checked in to a fancy shmancy hotel and had High Tea on the patio.

We did A LOT of walking around Santa Fe before we strolled to dinner at Maria’s and drank fancy margaritas.  I’m not sure this was such a great idea after a very long day with a lot of walking and a lot of sun.

I have yet to mention that we were in New Mexico for my cousin’s wedding.  So Saturday morning we had breakfast with extended family then strolled around Santa Fe some more.  The sun in New Mexico was so intense that we all had to buy big floppy hats.

The wedding was at Hyde Memorial State Park.  The ceremony was wonderful…there was laughter, there was tears…then there was very yummy food.  Some of us even went on a hike.

Saturday night, after all the wedding festivities, a few of us crashed Dylan and Nica’s home for a slightly more intimate visit and a few more beers.

Sunday morning it was back to Albuquerque to fly back to Atlanta.  It was disappointing to return to work on Monday but we were so happy to be reunited with our puppies again!  By Tuesday, however, I’m not sure the puppies were so happy with us because we had to take them to the vet for shots, shots and more shots.

Wednesday night we met up with Laci and Alan just long enough to catch up on two weeks worth of Battlestar Galactica.  We have one more episode to catch up on…then I can’t believe we have to wait until next year for more.  How cruel!

Thursday evening I attended a “farewell party” for one of my co-workers.  There were fried pickles, beer, cookies and cake.  These things are wonderful on their own, but I’m not sure they should all be enjoyed in one sitting.

This weekend has been L-A-Z-Y!  We’ve barely even left the house, but it has been nice and relaxing.  We watched a couple of movies, had Emily over for dinner, and really enjoyed the wonderfulness of the laziness.  There is so much I need to do.  I have to post April and May’s photos.  And I’m slightly ashamed to admit that we aren’t even fully unpacked from the New Mexico trip yet!  AND I’ve got to do some more planning for our Costa Rica trip which is less than two weeks away!!!

On another note:

Happy Anniversary to John and Nan!  32 years on June 5th!

Happy Anniversary to Bill and Susan!  40 years on June 15th!

Last week was very busy, and memorable for many reasons.  After my last weekly update Benjy received a phone call with an automated message about suspicious activity on his check card.  The message cut off before it was complete, so we went on the internet to check it out.  In one day (Monday) someone had charged over 2,500 dollars on Benjy’s check card.  This was very confusing to us because Benjy was still in possession of his check card, so someone must have gotten a hold of his number.  Most of the purchases were very large and ranged in location from Charleston, SC to Savannah, GA.  I immediately called the bank to try to at least cancel the card before any more damage was done.  It took forever to get a hold of a person, because it was a holiday and the call center was closed.  Once we got a hold of a human being, we thought everything was resolved, the card was cancelled and the fraudulent purchases would be removed from our account.  Two days later, the fraudulent purchases posted to our account.  I called the bank again, filed a claim, and was assured that the 2,500 would be returned to my account the next day.  The next day, the money was NOT returned to my account, and approximately 2,500 worth of bills posted to my account.  As a result we were charged an overdraft fee.  I called the bank again, and was assured again that the money (including the overdraft fee) would be returned to my account by the next day.  As of now, everything except the overdraft fee has been temporarily returned to our account.  Depending on the results of their investigation, they may determine that we actually made these purchases, and decided to take the 2,500 dollars back.  That would suck.

Overall last week had a very ominous feel to it.  I saw “Death” on the side of the road on Tuesday.  I was driving home from work and there was a person walking on the side of the road that was dressed in a long black cloak with a hood covering their face, with a big bright red cross on the back of the cloak, and a shovel swung over their shoulder.  I observed that the cloak looked very clean and crisp for a person that was carrying a dirty shovel over their shoulder.  As I drove by, the person started to look towards me, but I did not see their face.

The rest of the week, I was consumed by our registrar audit at work.  An audit is such an exhausting experience.  Our audit went very well, however, and it was a huge weight off of my shoulders.

Benjy spent most of the week consumed by his newest toy, the RC stadium truck.  Thanks again, John and Nan!  Benjy has spent a lot of time tinkering with the truck and using recycled materials to create different bodies for the truck.  Friday evening, a friend and co-worker of Benjy’s came over to race RC cars on the make-shift track that Benjy has constructed in our backyard.  It was fun to watch the boys “play”, but the doggies had to stay inside and they felt very left out.  After Benjy’s friend left we watched the movie “Heavenly Creatures“.  I would describe this movie as slow, but it was an intriguing story based on true events, and I suggest you all check it out.

Saturday was one of the laziest days I have spent in a long time!  We didn’t even leave the house. 

Sunday morning we had to run errands and buy birthday presents for Angela and Richard, because Sunday night we attended Angela and Richard’s birthday party at Andretti Indoor Karting and Games Center.  We raced cars, played arcade games, drank beer and ate greasy diner food.  It was good times!

I am oh so very excited about the month of June!  Work will be much less stressful after this week.  We will travel to New Mexico with my family in three days!  And we will go to Costa Rica at the end of this month!