Wednesday, August 29, 2007

que dia

man...what a day today was!
worked...tilled....started plugging the 1800 plugs of turffalo! It looks easy...and it is....but it's so frapping tedious! We got about 120 planted and it took us 1 1/2 hours! It's going to take a LONG....LONG time! But, it will be worth it - one day!

Just got an email from our realtor from SA...the inspection report came back....get ready for this junk.....the buyer wants us to pay 400 dollars for the lendor required repairs. We're already paying for ALL of his closing cost at 4500 bucks....I mean...really? thanks for playing but that's not going to happen! Oh well - what can you do.

Julie's mom came in today which has been great. She helped out a lot in the backyard - feel kinda bad..both times she's been to visit we put her to work! Maybe one day she'll stop by and will be able to relax!

I've decided -
1) I'm old
2) I'm tired
3) landscaping is not my cup of tea
4) selling a house is a pain
5) Abilene is awesome
6) work rocks my face off
7) red dirt turns a white beard chocolate brown - seriously, champ looks like a kid with chocolate all over his face...not sure whether or not to give him a bath or leave it because it's pretty darn funny
8) we're going to win the mega million Friday
9) that would rock my face off
10) i'm envious of everyone that started college on Monday
11) 99% of politicians are scum bags
12) dill weed really is a "spice" and not what I used to call people in 7th grade - had it tonight for the first time
13) cucumbers aren't bad if you add bread and ranch dip to the mix
14) mesquitos suck....literally
15) no one really likes list so I'm done

Tuesday, August 28, 2007

backyard...oh my

So the backyard is completely destroyed! Tilling is not much fun....I once loved working in the yard until we moved to Abilene. Maybe it's because my experience was putting in a flower bed that took maybe 3 hours.....and laying about 12 pieces of sod....tilling is a whole different animal.
I rented a tiller on Friday - worked for a few hours....woke up sore as all get out Saturday....worked about an hour more then had to stop. The tiller was a piece of junk!!! Apparently I got the wrong kind of tiller...whodathunk!
So today I rented a beast of a tiller and it was frappin' awesome! So much easier - it even has a few speeds as well as the capability to reverse....which I then took the opportunity to make the beep beep sound while backin' her up...yes I was bored and HOT!
We're (I'm haha - Julie is defintely not helping till) about 85% done with the tilling then comes the EXCITING part.....manually planting 1800 plugs in the ground. Doesn't that just sound like a barrel of monkeys? That's what I thought too!!
Soon...soon enough we'll be done with the back yard and it'll all be worth it.

Work is still going well....I'm doing a lot of riding with the sales reps and getting great experience. Making a few sales pitches while we're out and getting edjumacated on everything. Next week I'll actually have a quota for trying to upsell current clients...then in week 10 I get to go after new business. Crazy thing about it...they're going to pay me commissions on what I sell! IT'S ABOUT TIME...for those of you who know me, know the last job I had promised commissions for a bout a year and a half and I never saw a dime....So, it's been a long time coming!

I should be getting my business cards in a few days which will be lovely. Right now, when I'm making a cold call I'm having to hand the prospect a business card as either Garrett or Billy....then introduce myself as Garrett or Billy....I'm not going to lie...that's pretty dang hard to do. Crazy enough - introducing yourself as yourself is a pretty hard habit to break. Actually, yesterday while in Coleman I did the typical introduction as Garrett.....introduced Garrett as Jason....then when we were leaving I said again, I'm Jason and this is Garrett....DOPE - Not sure if he caught it but I sure chuckled. That's some good stuff right there - so professional!!:)

Please remember Jim Hughes (Julie's grandfather) in your prayers. He's having some test run.


I'll have more to follow! I know it's been a while and everyone has been anxiously awaiting to hear about my exciting life:)

Thursday, August 23, 2007

come on now!!!

Ok....so I am a competitive person.....I hate losing....It doesn't matter what it is.....parcheesi, twister, basketball, etc. I just realized that my wife is kickin' my rear end in the number of people viewing her blog site.....That is not ok! I know she's good looking and all but come on.....Everyone should want to know what's going on in the life of a 25 year old, tall, skinney, and balding dude from Abilene, TX. I mean....lets face it....I'm pretty cool and definitely funny.
I don't care what you have to do to get people to look at my website.....email everyone you know....I'll put together some logos and some tshirts...whatever....but this is ri-darn-diculous
HAHA....just kidding. I know she's the only one that really ever looks at her blog....She just clicks on it a bunch of times to make it look like a lot of people are really reading her stuff. HAHA

Today we went to the big city of Mason......You know how you know you're in a small town?
When you go to the golf course and the sports complex right beside you....consists of a stadium called Puncher Stadium, baseball field....and yes.....a barn for rodeos and livestock shows. I tell you what.....I would never need to leave that complex! It's got everything you could want!

Garrett and I decided to that we're going to buy some land....so we found 60 acres were are going to split.....Tiffany (his wife), Reese (their son), and Garrett would take one side and we would take the other. Then we figured that we would have to sell our house because we wouldn't be able to get approved for another mortgage (and if you count the mortgage we have in San Antonio still, it'd be our 3rd mortgage.) So, we'd then have to find a place to live.....I had the great idea of putting a RV on the property we could stay in until the place was finished.....Julie said no....the dream was dead....and i was sad.

You know....there's absolutely nothing I can talk about....i'm really bored and had nothing to say which is why you got this really random....all over the place blog!

Tuesday, August 21, 2007

Midland today....Brownwood tomorrow

Today I was in Midland riding a long with a sales rep. Left at 6:30...got back at 7:30....it was a great day but I'm tired to say the least. Tomorrow I'm back on route with the other 2 sales rep for Abilene and surrounding. I'm getting a lot of great sales training during this 3 month training period which is awesome!!
My wife is great...my job is great...my dogs are great (most of the time)...our house is great....Abilene is great. For the most part - we are truly loving life!!!

On a sad note, Sunday a fellow fraternity buddy was killed in a motorcycle crash here in Abilene.
Aaron Fry was 22 years old and should have been starting back to school next week. His motorcycle went off the road and he then hit a road sign. He was pronounced dead at the scene. I was good friends with his sister during college. Please keep their family in your prayers during this difficult time. He was a great man and a good friend to many and he will be truly missed.
Their family was a very tight knit family and I cannot even imagine what they are going through. Thanks for your prayers!
His funeral is tomorrow at 2:00pm in Grandview. I really wish I could be there but since I will be out of town it's just not going to work out.

More to follow later.....I gots to retire to the bed b/c I'm old:)

Saturday, August 18, 2007

offer!

We got an offer on the house today which we verbally accepted. NEAT!!!
Looks like we'll make a little money but at this point, we really don't care. We're just ready to be done with it. Say your prayers!!!!!

Apparently tonight we're expecting 1-3 inches of rain and....a co-worker of mine got a call from the city saying to be prepared to evacuate!! Isn't that lovely! haha

Hope everyone is doing well!

Friday, August 17, 2007

today

Here's the recap of what's been going on today......
1) my computer completely crashed...had to by a new one. My hard drive went awol and it would cost me as much to buy a hard drive as it would a new...cheap computer
2) Abilene is basically under water due to rain
3) water scare.....they thought there was some bacteria or something in the water....couldn't buy cokes, water, coffee or anything that had abilene water in it....gotta love abilene:)
4) had to work in the office all day today.....long and boring but some useful information
5) Julie's mom was here all day....I love her
6) dude came by to mount the tv over the mantel....it's pretty dang sweet!
7) went to outback.....service was sub par and the lights went out briefly
8) watched tv and now going to bed.
9) dropped the cashier's check off......we closed yesterday but we did not realize that Bank of America closes it's lobby at 3....we couldn't get a cashier's check or wire money yesterday so they actually let us sign the papers and bring the check by today! I LOVE ABILENE.....banks close early (I was livid) but it's probably one of the few places that will actually let you sign closing documents without paying!!!
10) went to get breakfast as part of my initiation to Cintas (they're so tough on me - haha)

Man...I love life in Abilene. Julie and I's relationship is so much stronger due to the fact that we're much less stressed than we were in San Antonio. With her not working much and me working 65 hour weeks.....out of the house....we were at each other's throat's. But...God is amazing and has blessed us so much!
More to follow.....I love you all very much!!!

Might have to go to wal mart to get some floaties so we don't drown.......might get some for the dogs as well:)

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

It's been a while

Yeah I know....it' been a while since my last post. Things are still rockin and rollin' around here!
Went to San Antonio this weekend to pack up all of our stuff. It was an interesting trip.
A realtor broke the key off in the key hole and did absolutely nothing about it. He said he wasn't strong enough to break the key and that it was our responsibility to get it fixed.....yeah and this was happening not only while we were driving to down there from Abilene....but the night before the movers were coming. Luckily he actually unlocked the dead bolt and we used a spare key to open the other lock.....yesh! Saved us about 120 bucks for an emergency call from a locksmith!
The Movers in SA were great. Actually one of the guys was the same guy who moved Julie into our house after we got married. They were great and did the job in about 2 hours.
I love driving U-hauls. We had the biggest one available (i think it's 24 ft.) It was a beast! Cost a jackload to fill it up.....but it's all good in the neighborhood (yes...i just said that...welcome back to the 90's - haha)
Our house (I know...which one right) in Abilene is awesome. Boxes are everywhere but we have the essentials pretty well taken care of....
1) tv - check
2) internet - check
3) kitchen semi organized - check
4) bed is put together - check

So - the rest are just details. Tons of work left to be done but once again...it's all good in the neighborhood because we're in abilene.

There was a showing on Sunday to a doctor and his wife. Apparently they complained about how dirty the house was. Seriously.....we just moved out on sunday......get over it!!!! So we're hiring someone to clean it so we dont have to go back to do it!!!! I mean....come on....look past the dirt and we can get that taken care of later....JUST BUY THE HOUSE!!! HAHA

Any who.....More to come....it's late and I'm exhausted!!!

Tuesday, August 7, 2007

And he's back

Well, it's been a while.....Thank goodness I finally have internet again. I've been going crazy.
So, I got to move into the new house on Sunday! It's so nice and I absolutely love it.
Things I have at the house
1) mini fridge with coke, turkey, cheese, and mustard
2) clothes
3) laptop (no internet until today)
4) 3 dvds (Count of Monte Cristo, Black ball, and Ghostbusters)

It's been so relaxing but honestly....there's only so much free cell you can play before you go crazy! So, it's great to be back up online.

The last 2 days have been great. Even though I had to be a work on Monday at 4:30, the day went fast and I was off by 2. We went to San Angelo to service 4 accounts and I learned yet again, another side of the business.
Today I spent all day with a sales rep....actually making calls in Brownwood....it was great getting back to selling but since it's been a while......i'm rusty to say the least!
The guy I road with is 26 and has a 5 month old baby named Reese.....His wife today asked while I was in the car, if Garret asked me if Julie and I wanted to be friends. It was kinda funny.....So I told him we were booked up on the friends department. haha - scary thing about it is she seems a lot like Julie....doesn't really like sports.....when they snow ski she shops while he's on the slopes...she was a teacher....she likes to shop.....they could be a dynamic duo! hahah
So, once Julie gets here and we get settled we'll have some other people to hang out with! Plus, they have a baby Julie can play with....maybe that will calm her down about wanting one:) Or....it could back fire and make her want one more...who knows...she's crazy!!
But, it went well and I'm counting the days until I get to sell in my territory (11 1/2 weeks)

Julie is coming into town on Friday....of which we're turning around and driving to San Antonio to get all our stuff packed and loaded onto a uhaul.....So by Sunday we'll actually have a fully functioning house (well....kinda)
Everything is going well with our loan and looks like we'll close toward the end of the month.....That's going to be a huge burden off our backs because we're so worried that something will fall and we'll have to back out. I would feel horrible for the sellers if that happens. Luckily we should be ready to rock and roll.
Our house in SA still hasn't sold so that's frustrating but hopefully soon. We're thinking about talking to the realtors this weekend and maybe dropping the price or offering an incentive to sell. Since we've had 11 showings and no offers, we're not sure what the problem is. But....in due time we'll figure it out. It's going to be great getting all of this behind us so we can start our new life in Abilene!

Days until Dove season....23 YIPPEE
Days until Julie and I live in the same city again....2
Days until our dogs will be reunited with us.....13 (give or take)
Days until closing....14 (give or take)
Days until we have cable in the house.....6
Days until my first Cintas paycheck....3 (I CAN'T WAIT)
Days in new house......3
Days being bored....0

Any who.....hope everyone is doing well!! I love you all very much.

Saturday, August 4, 2007

what it is yo

So, it has been a crazy few days.
Between working in the plant, running routes, and working 12 hour days......good stuff
Monday I have to be at the office at 4:15...yes...in the am!! It will be a miracle if I can get up that early.
But all is well because I got to come to Arlington to come see my beautiful wife. It' was over a week since we had seen each other. So it's been great. Boomer and Champ both went nuts when I walked into the backyard. It was sweet and very slobbery.
So now we're here.
Today we're going to see my cousin Suzanne who just gave birth to quads. She's doing well and the babies are being constantly monitored. 1 baby might have a problem with a valve openning in the heart causing breathing problems but they will scan the heart today and determine the course of action. They will either treat it with meds or have to a procedure...but only if the problem does not correct itself. Keep their family in your prayers during the exciting but anxious time.
Update on the house - we signed the contract on Wednesday and I actually got to pick up the keys on Thursday. Sunday I'll be spending the 1st night in the new house!! Julie and I could not be more excited!

More to come.....We're outty 5000! haha how old school is that