Worst. Company. Ever.

XM Radio.

Actually, I like their product, so maybe the title should be "Worst. Customer Service. Ever." It's one of those things that you can clearly tell that they outsource their customer service to India and these people have virtually no idea as to what they are talking about/supposed to be helping with. I hate dealing with them. (XM came with my car and they keep giving me a ridiculous rate to renew it every year since, but I really don't think I can handle it anymore. After this subscription, I'm done). Anyway, this time, they charged me twice and I have been trying to get this rebate and it is painful to try and talk to the customer service reps and then in turn understand what they are doing. Today will mark the second time I have spent 20 minutes to half an hour just trying to get a refund on my card. And I still don't totally follow what is going to happen. From what I understand, I am getting my money back in 7-10 days and I will also be getting a call from the billing department within 24 hours. When I asked why they needed to call me, I got a random mixture of words. Something about a request, my phone number, something he had to submit and a reference number (and there were several "ummm"s in there too). As long as I get my refund, its fine, but seriously. Oh, and he said his name was Ray. Yeah right.

Update: As of now, I have gotten back a whole $2.17 of my refund. I have no idea where this number came from and apparently they had to file a dispute for the rest of the amount. Why is it so hard to say, "You're right ma'm, we double charged you. I am going to put the full amount back onto your card"?!?

Update #2: I got the $2.17 refund to my card. I just got a check in the mail today for the remaining $83 and something cents. Really? Why do things have to be so complicated??

Ugh.

One of my friends believes that there is such thing as "blogger block". I would agree, especially seeing as its been almost a month since I have last written on here.

So, here is a brief summary:
-Kyle left on another trip and got to come home early. Which would have been much cooler if they weren't sending him out again on Thursday. (More on that in a sec)
-A very good friend from Del Rio came to visit last week. We had a blast and I wish she and her husband could move down here soon.
-I have been doing physical therapy for my knee for the past couple of weeks. It hasn't worked, so hopefully my doctor will send me to a sports medicine doc for more testing.
-We are getting a fence next week because there is a house going up right behind us and I don't like the construction people just looking into the back yard. That and we want to box out a storm drain before the other people move in.

So, when Kyle got back from his last trip I was excited because it was supposed to be that he wouldn't leave again until after my parents came in town in a couple of weeks. After this summer, that would have been wonderful. The past few times, it has been about a week before he is back out on the road again. Well, he tells me today that they might have to send him out again, cutting it very close, but getting him back just in time for his leave. I have to admit, I am annoyed. Lately, he hasn't been scheduled for any of these trips and gets put on them at the last minute. I know these things happen and there are other people in the same boat as us, but its getting old. Fast. Anyway, they were going to see if there were any other options this afternoon, but Kyle didn't sound very hopeful that any of them were going to work out. Awesome.

So, that's why I have blogger block. Today's news put a damper on things for me. Sorry.

Oh my gosh!

Ok, I just realized as I was reading a friend's blog that today is the last day in July!! What?! Where oh where has this year gone? Crazy. Sorry, I just felt the urge to share my shock and since the hubby is still gone, I chose to share it with all of you!

On another note, I feel badly because I have not been very diligent in keeping this updated, but truthfully, there isn't that much to update on! We have been doing some little projects around the house, and Kyle got a new TV, but that's about it. (Plus him being gone, but that is becoming semi-normal to me now). Well, here's a funny tidbit...we got the new tv because our other one died. Sort of. You could still watch it, but it looked like you needed 3D glasses because the colors were all messed up. And Kyle had been thinking about a new tv for a while, so this seemed like a good time to go ahead and get one. But instead of just getting rid of the old tv, Kyle moved it into our spare bedroom and has temporarily made it an "operating room". After talking with a couple of tv repair shops, he determined that he just needed to replace some chip (a converter chip maybe? I don't remember). Anyway, he was honestly more excited to take apart the old tv than to set up the new one. It made me laugh. I guess he has a little bit of the engineering side left in him after all. He got called away on his most recent trip in the middle of his project, so the tv is still a work in progress, but I'll let you know if he fixes it.

So if that's the most interesting thing that has happened, I think you can see why I haven't updated in a while...Until next time...

Aaaannnndddd....

...he's gone again. This trip was unexpected, but a trip none the less. Hopefully he will have some more beautiful pictures of his adventures to share.

As of late...

As of late I have been battling the forces of evil abroad by arduously traversing the Italian country side, sojourning in lavish hotels, battling the sun on the terribly fine grained beaches of Spain, and painstakingly rating fine German beers. With so many pictures I have decided to provide a link, enjoy!


Spain says hello.

I hate vinyl siding

Why?

First, its plastic! Ok, its "vinyl" but it feels (and looks) like plastic. I know brick on a home is just a veneer and adds no structural component to the house, but there is something a little more comforting about stone rather than plastic.

Second, I swear it actually conducts sound. Even when the construction crews are across the street they sound like they are next door. I know things are quieter in a brick house.

Last, and probably the new biggest reason that I despise the siding, it makes a perfect home for nasty things like black widow spiders. I had found a few a couple months back and sprayed them with an at home spray. Recently, I found more and resolved to call our exterminator. Today, when they came out for our yearly termite inspection, we asked if they could spray the spiders. I am totally freaked out by the amount that are literally coming out of the "plastic-works" to die. The guy said they get up underneath the siding and live there because it is cooler, and its really common around here since practically everyone has the vinyl siding. Oh. My. Goodness!!

Aggieland x2, Family time, Kite surfing, and a quarter of a century...

Settle in, this is going to be a long post. I will understand if you need to go grab a beverage or something, I'll still be here ;). Ok, a lot has happened since my last update (including our anniversary, I don't really consider that an update, more of an FYI type thing...).

1) TEXAS!!

Well, I left for Texas in the middle of May, and I can't tell you how great it was to be back! The first thing we did after I landed was go eat some good Mexican food! It was delicious...I missed it. It was also great to see a place with REAL highways, not the 2 lane things we have here. I miss that too. Weird thing to miss, but you would get it if you drove around here for a couple of weeks. That weekend after I got in, I was able to celebrate my dad's birthday with him (he turned 30) ;) and then I made my first of 2 trips to Aggieland. I love that place! This trip was to see my little brothers in their senior boots! Even after seeing it, its still hard to believe. I can still remember them with their bowl hair cuts playing with their WWF action figures (or punchies as they called them). And now here they are:

Crazy right! It wasn't so long ago that this was my reality:

(That's me and Kyle at his final review when he earned his boots). Now, its my brothers. I am so proud of them. I felt a little old, and a couple of times I caught myself looking for Kyle instead of them (ha!), but has been really special for me to go back and see them go through these amazing years at Aggieland that I know from experience mean so much! They are awesome!



(Note: This was the first final review that I have been to that it has rained. That's why I look so gross and my parents are wearing maroon trash bags) ;)

The week following final review, Kyle got home from his ridiculously long trip overseas (they are supposed to be gone max 10 days and he was gone for 2 1/2 weeks) and then flew down and joined us in the land of Texas. We had a great time! The following weekend, Kyle and I headed up to College Station, this time to see some very dear friends from college, John and Elizabeth and their two kiddos. We had a blast! We walked around campus a bit, the guys got into trouble (as usual) and we went back and had lunch with them and another couple from college days, Zach and Lauren. I forgot my camera this time, so I had to steal some pictures from Elizabeth's blog:

Kyle and John causing mischief, finding a way to get into Kyle's old dorm room (John's room was across the hall from Kyle's)

Ok, no one's coming, go go go!

Proof!

Afterwards, no harm, no foul. Elizabeth and I joked that if the general had gotten a call and had come over to the dorms, he would have laughed and shook his head because of course it would be John and Kyle...

And this picture I think is too cute. Kyle and Caroline (J & E's daughter) walked up under the century tree and were looking at birds or squirrels or something. John joined them and this is the picture we got. We also joked about this one saying if it fell into the wrong hands, it might end up on some diversity poster ;) Needless to say, neither one of us want our husbands on that kind of poster for the university!

Again, because I forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures from lunch, but we had a blast with our friends from Aggieland! We love you guys :)

Beyond our trips, we mostly enjoyed time with both of our families. It was so much fun and it was bittersweet to come back to SC.

2) Kite surfing

This past weekend, one of Kyle's friends from the squadron introduced him to a new activity: kite surfing. Its pretty neat, but looks really hard. Kyle didn't actually try it in the water (yet, he plans on going back this week) but really enjoyed playing with the trainer kites. And I really enjoyed sitting on the beach and watching :) Apparently, the kite surfing thing is really popular...

Kyle with the smaller trainer kite

The larger trainer kite

Getting drug by said larger trainer kite (its ok, that was supposed to happen)

Larger kite again

Getting the real kite ready to go into the water (a couple of guys did it this time, just not Kyle. He will be going back)

Look at all the kites!

3) A quarter of a century

Is how long I have been on this earth (my birthday was yesterday). Weird huh? I know I'm not, but when people say it like that, I feel really old. The good thing is that Kyle will always get to the milestones before me :) My birthday was good. Kyle had to work yesterday, so on Sunday we went to lunch downtown after church and hung out a little. Yesterday when he came home, he cooked me dinner for the second time EVER, and made me a molten chocolate cake for dessert, which was his first time ever baking. It was all delicious. He's the greatest :D And thanks to everyone who sent cards and called, you all made my day special :)

Whew! That may have been my longest post to date. In the future, I will try not to put it off so long! Stay tuned for another post; on Kyle's last trip (the really long one I talked about earlier) he was able to do some sight seeing in Venice and Florence, Italy. I will let him post more about that!