Beatboxing

Gives me goosebumps...

I see a new truck in our future

Travis is playing softball with another team this season and they play on Tuesdays. Shannon and Chris came up to watch his early game last night. We found out yesterday that our insurance adjuster has decided to total Travis' truck out, which means he's on the prowl for a new vehicle. We got even better news when they told me how much they are quoting the truck at, so we will be getting some money back for a down payment on whatever we get next!! Chris brought a description of his dad's truck, that is for sale, with him up to the game. It's a 2005 Dodge Ram crew cab with a V8, towing package and a tool box. Everything Travis wants in a truck!! He probably won't be able to get it for a month because we have to wait for everything to be finalized with the insurance company and the lender we used for the S10. In the meantime, Travis is pimpin it in the Neon. LOL!

This video just made me laugh and laugh! I've watched it about 20 times now. Maybe you have to know my friend, but either way I think watching two grown men do this is hysterical. Supposedly, they were testing out a new video camera to make sure it worked. You MUST turn the sound on for this one...

Our Cinco de Mayo

SO! After all the chaos last week, Travis and I decided to make the best of our weekend. Friday night we were supposed to go up for dinner at Chris and Alexa's, but we postponed until Saturday because Chris got called out on ANOTHER flight. Thankfully it was only for a few hours so he was back by midnight. Instead, we stayed home and ordered a pizza and watched the movie Cloverfield. I was sooo excited about this film because I felt like there was all this hype about the monster. Well let me tell you, if you have ever had any motion sickness - DO NOT SEE THIS MOVIE. This movie has been compared to the Blair Witch Project, which also caused nausea due to the uses of a hand held camcorder. I wasn't worried though because I didn't have any problems watching that one (except that it scared the crap out of me). Besides being dizzy, I could barely tell what was going on because there was never a clear shot of anything and the entire film was extremely dark. Barf. Travis and I stared at the wall for 30 minutes just to get our bearings back. We ended up going straight to bed since neither of us felt very well.

Saturday we got up bright and early to get a few quick things done around the house before heading to the beach. The day looked nice and the Weather Channel said we had a wonderful weekend ahead of us, but when we got to the beach, this dark ominous cloud rolled over and it got very chilly. When the clouds hit the ocean, something very strange happened. It looked like fingers reaching down to touch the water. Don't know what it was, but it was cool!

We sat in the car for a few minutes to make sure it wasn't going to rain, but were soon heading onto the sand to set up shop. I didn't strip down to the bikini for about 15 minutes because of the chill, so when I finally did I FORGOT TO PUT ON SUNSCREEN. Bad Nikki! Travis didn't put any on either. That's not unusual though because he thinks he's invincible. I did remember after sitting in the sun for 30 minutes, but still, I'm fried. Travis and I were a pitiful sight for the past couple nights. We were either burning up or freezing or arses off. Ugh, I hope this ends soon!


The beach was so dirty. You may be able to see the line of trash behind me. Oh, and there's a dust storm up by those green umbrellas. It was windy!

For lunch, we went to a reggae bar and grill and sat outside to further the sunburns we were not yet aware of. After a day of fresh air and a drink at the bar, we were ready for a nap. I rarely take naps because for some reason it takes me an hour to ungrumpify and be back to my old self. The only reason I did on Saturday is because I fell asleep on the ride home!


Saturday night we used our rain check and went up to Chris and Alexa's for burgers. Chris had spent the day rebuilding his boat trailer, so we helped him get the boat back on it. It took four of us an hour of pushing and pulling, jacking up the boat, and pushing and pulling some more to finally get that stubborn thing to go back onto the trailer. Chris still need to bring it down to the dock to get it to balance properly. We had to head home because Travis got called into work on Sunday. =(


Since Travis was gone all day, I decided to help take care of a few things on his to-do-list. I woke up when Travis left and couldn't fall back asleep, so I got up and tidied up the house. Then I set out to mow the lawn. I had to take a break between the front and backyards - it was hot out! I had to run into work for a little bit and then I went grocery shopping. I spent the rest of the day doing laundry. Check out this moth that kept me company in the garage all day (that's where our washer and dryer are). Sorry it's blurry.

We have some great friends. Sunday night we had dinner at Sara and JR's and Monday night we celebrated Cinco de Mayo with fajitas and margaritas at Shannon and Chris' house. Seriously - that's three nights in a row without having to make dinner!!!

Travis Drama Update

It turns out that the insurance adjuster just took the truck on Friday. We won't know for about a week what the verdict is on whether or not we'll keep it. Travis is hoping it will be totaled because he's worried that they won't notice something, like a cracked block, that will cause us trouble down the line. He's already been looking up trucks online. Ha! My hope is that if it does get totaled out, there will be some money leftover to go towards a down payment on a new vehicle. Travis is confident that we'll get something. I just worry about everything. Well, here's the damage:

I still don't understand how the truck he ran into ended up ON Travis' hood. That big dent above the right blinker is where the tire was sitting. Travis said he and a couple other guys had to lift it off so the tow truck could get to it. Crazy. Here's hoping for a better week than last!!

Happy Birthday, Hottie!

I'd just like to add that today is my man David Beckham's 33rd birthday. Here's a link to a photo gallery that the radio station I listen to put up. THANK GOD FOR THIS GALLERY. =D

The Week From Hell Continues...

Well, this evil week reared it's ugly head again. I have almost felt guilt for the past year at all the good fortune that Travis and I have had. Our friends Chris and Shannon have unavoidable, sometimes horrific drama on a daily basis it seems and they are good people. They don't deserve that. I always wonder how we have been so lucky. I think this week is making up for everything. Travis was driving home yesterday from working with his old boss and got into a car accident. This is UNbelievable. Shannon pointed out that we should be thankful that Travis still has a job so we are able to deal with this better. She also noted that Travis is okay. These are all things to be grateful for.

Travis was driving down a fairly busy street when the truck in front of him slammed on his brakes. Travis slammed on his brakes also, but there was not enough time to stop before rear ending the guy. Unfortunately, the truck he hit did not have a rear bumper AND it was slightly taller than Travis' truck so he drove UNDERNEATH it. Ahhhhh! He said the tires were up by his windshield. Turns out, it was a four-car pile up, so Travis wasn't the only one at fault. The first guy ran off, so no tickets were issued. Travis said his air bags didn't deploy, but the engine was leaking all sorts of fluid. It wouldn't start, so the tow truck took it away. Luckily, one of Travis' work buddies was driving by and saw the accident so he turned around to keep him company and then drive him home. Just to be safe, Travis took the tool box and everything out of his truck back to the house. I had to laugh at the pile of his stuff in our garage when I got home.

Another positive thing here is that we still have my old car. Travis is going to drive that around until we can figure out the replacement vehicle situation. The insurance adjuster is going to the wrecker lot to decide if the truck is salvageable. I am hoping we owe less than it is worth so we'll get some money back for a down payment on a new vehicle. I am doubtful though. We are going to try to run up there after work to see if we can get some pictures (with our old crappy camera). If we do, I'll try to get some photos up.

Then to top off this beautiful week, we woke up to the scent of cat pee and crap in the kitchen again. I guess those plug-ins aren't working as well as we had thought.

TGIF!!!!

Bruhaha

Yesterday was a roller coaster ride from hell. It was horrible. Travis called me almost first thing in the morning to tell me he was fired from his job. I think I had a minor heart attack right at that moment. He said he was sitting in the work truck with another co-worker while a third was getting their daily permit (that they need before they can do any work) and his boss came up and yelled at them for sleeping on the job. He slammed the door and walked off, so they weren't sure what was going to happen. By the time they made it out to the job site, their foreman told them not to unload their tools and head straight to the office at the front. Of course, Travis knew exactly what that meant. He took it very maturely and didn't throw a fit about it, even though it is ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS. They have to sign a piece of paper stating why they are being fired and theirs said it was for sleeping on the job. Travis didn't agree, but there was nothing he could do. I don't understand how someone could make such a rash decision at a moment's notice. It is insane to me that they would fire last month's employee of the month because he was waiting for a permit that is REQUIRED to work in the plant.

Travis immediately decided to go into Houston to apply at the plants. Since he has his Journeyman's license now, he is eligible for more positions. Travis' old boss, from when he did residential electrical, said that he could come back and work for him anytime, which is always a nice back up. Even though he would get a raise from what he was getting paid there before, it doesn't quite cover what we need for our newest large purchase. When Travis applied at one of the locations in Houston, they really liked him and invited him back to take a written test in the afternoon. In the meantime, Travis applied at several other locations. He said the test was very difficult, but he passed it!

When he got out of his test, he found he had four missed calls and a text from his ex-direct-boss at the plant. Turns out he was able to convince the higher bosses that Travis was too good of an employee to lose and they invited him back to work at the plant. I guess the other guy that was in the truck with Travis had gotten a written warning for sleeping on the job in the past. They assumed that was what they were doing in the truck and chose to fire that guy for it. Unfortunately, they thought they had to fire Travis for it too. This is absolutely unreasonable because Travis has never received a warning for anything (not to mention he wasn't actually sleeping on the job). After getting off the phone with them, the Houston plant called and asked him to come back for an interview.

Despite all the bruhaha, Travis decided to take the job back since we need it so badly. He is getting a warning and a three-day, unpaid suspension from work. He goes back Monday and will work for his old residential boss in the meantime to help bridge the financial gap. I am extremely stressed about the instability of this job, but this is all we have for now. Cross your fingers for us that Travis doesn't get fired for wiping the sweat off his brow this week. God forbid he take any time from working!