Brandon's Puppy

My sister and I went to a wake yesterday evening, and afterwards went to Sergio's for something to eat. We walked in and sat at one of the first tables, behind a guy eating by himself. I thought he looked familiar, but I wasn't absolutely certain. We placed our order, and as we waited for our food, a family was walking across the area where we were sitting, and I hear a kid say to the man, "I'm a big fan of your show, nice to see you!"

Turns out my hunch was correct, it was Manny Puig. If the last name doesn't sound familiar, you may know him as Manny the Shark Guy. I immediately texted hubby (who hates getting texts, but I figured this was worth the 25 cents as he's a big fan), and called him to confirm he got it. The man was sitting literally over my left shoulder, so the text was necessary to let him know the scenario without embarrassing myself. Hubby told me to go ahead and say hi, that he used to talk to him all the time and that he's very down to earth. In fact, hubby was the one who set up Manny's ringtone when he worked for Sprint, and he was certain that Manny would remember that.

I turned around, excused myself for interrupting him, and introduced myself, saying I was the wife of the guy from the cell phone store, and told him the story. He smiled and remembered, said that he still uses the ringtone and turned around and chatted with my sister and I for well over 15 minutes. He told us that during his latest adventure, he was bitten by a python for the second time in his life, and got a souvenir out of it: half his ring finger on his left hand is missing!

My sister told him she is a 3rd grade teacher, and that she had just covered ecosystems in Science, and that lead to him getting up, going to his car, and getting some flyers he had. He brought her a stack to hand out to the kids in class (and them some, it looked like half a box of business cards!) and then here's where things get weird: He asked my sister what ring size she is, took out a ring he made out of sterling steel from his shirt pocket, and tried it on her! He says he made it for a friend, but wasn't sure of the size, and she had similar hands...It was so random. But he's really a very nice guy, and we were very appreciative that he talked with us for a while.

Next time I see one of his specials on TV, I'm going to point him out to the boys and say, "that's the first guy that ever put a ring on Titi's finger!"

Posted by Amanda at 8:52 PM In Happenings, My Crazy Life!, TV Junkie
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Found out today that my friend C is having a baby! She's about two months along, and will be finding out if it's a boy or girl in a few weeks.
They say it happens in threes...I wonder who else will be taking prenatal vitamins and dealing with morning sickness in the near future. I am wishing and praying like mad that my two friends who are actively trying complete the trifecta soon.

Posted by Amanda at 11:48 PM In Babies!, Friends
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Ooh, I just got a Bingo in Scrabble with the word oximeter! I scored 110 points, as I managed to start the word on a triple-word spot, got one of the letters on a double-letter spot, and used all my tiles.
I tend to lose more games than I win, but I think I have this game in the bag with that lead.

Posted by Amanda at 9:42 PM In Fun and Games
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Went to the first showing of Alice in Wonderland with a bunch of people from work last night. I'm running on 4 hours of sleep. Wish I could call it an early night, but it's already 9pm, and I just got home just a short while ago. (p.s. it was great, go see it!)

I've got a long weekend ahead of me: there's Carnaval on the Mile, and my co-worker's baby shower on Sunday. Thomas is in town, though we're not sure yet if we're going this weekend or next. We can't afford it, but Brandon has been anxiously awaiting Thomas's arrival for the last month, and I told him we'd only be going if he behaved in school. Guess who's been a perfect angel the last two weeks?

Posted by Amanda at 9:05 PM In Happenings, Movies, My Crazy Life!
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A couple of weeks ago, our vacuum died. We had the Bissell with the detachable canister, and the thing that connected to the base (technical term) burnt out.

My coworker, who's cousin is a manager at Brandsmart, was able to get us a new vacuum using his employee discount. Yesterday we used our new Bissell Cleanview Helix, and OMG that thing is amazing! We tested it out in the living room area, and by the time we finished 3/4 of the dirt bucket thing (another technical term) was full with all sorts of icky stuff.

This leads me to believe that our old Bissell was no longer sucking up dirt properly. After six years, I'm not really surprised, but can you believe all the garbage in that thing? You'd think I hadn't vacuumed in months!
I really love my new vacuum, and I hope it serves us for as long, if not longer, than the old one.

(p.s. This is not a paid post, I just love my new vacuum and wanted to share.)

Posted by Amanda at 8:42 PM In Home Sweet Home
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Remember the post I wrote about my friend's parents and their Valentine's Day gift? I'm sorry to report that indeed it was their last Valentine's Day together. Sadly, Paul passed away yesterday morning at 6:10am. Angie called me at 8am, as I was setting up the space at the clean out sale, and I didn't fully have a chance to process the loss till last night.
Paul, you were a wonderful man, and it was an honor to have known you. Rest in Peace.

Posted by Amanda at 10:07 PM In Friends
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I participated in my community's seasonal Clean-Out Sale yesterday morning. My neighbor and I split the cost of a space, and we sold almost everything in our inventory.
It's amazing how much stuff people have. One guy had a small collection of Nascar jackets, and there was actually a bidding war going on for them! I never realized there were so many Nascar fans in my community. Another two guys bought a boat motor. It was funny to see them lug it across the parking lot to their car. One lady bought a futon set from the people right across from us. I still don't know how she got both the frame and the mattress to fit into her compact car.

I made $47, which is not bad for my first time. It was also all profit, since I stopped myself every time I got the urge to browse around, which could have led to me spending money, defeating the purpose of the whole thing. It was lots of fun, and I already started a "Clean-Out Sale" pile for the next one in June.

Posted by Amanda at 11:55 AM In Happenings, Moolah, My Crazy Life!
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Last night's homework:

My pupy Music fell down on a box, ran away and hit his leg hard. My Dad took him to the Vet. they waited their turn. the vet looked at him and found no problem.

Tonight's:

1. My favorite place is Disney World.
2. I like to drink chocolate milk.
3. I stand beside my mom when we go shoping.
4. I am looking at my fish.
5. I like shareing my toys with my friends.
6. I never get problems.
7. I like turning around so fast.
8. Me and my brother both like eating fish stiks.
9. Choosing a fish is so hard.
10. My brother is eating fish stiks again.
11. I can jump and down.
12. Get away from me.
13. Gravity* pulls us down.

Posted by Amanda at 9:13 PM In School, The Boys
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My boss asked me if I was planning on taking vacation soon, since my one-year-anniversary is coming up in a few weeks. I told her that I am not planning on going anywhere anytime soon. We can't afford even the cheapest of Outer Banks vacations (or any other kind of vacation) at this time, but I'm hoping that changes within a couple of months. Once some legal stuff we're going through clears up, I'm implementing a new payday rule: Pay ourselves first. I figure putting aside even just $10 a paycheck will build a nice little nest-egg in a relatively short time. At minimum, we can have $520 in a year, and that's not a bad start to a vacation account.

Posted by Amanda at 10:18 PM In Moolah
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We went to the pet store on Saturday and purchased a new fish. We went with a blue Betta again. Brandon very creatively named him Mr. Blue Fish. No pictures yet as we've not transferred him to the fish tank.

Today hubby and I met with Brandon's teacher, counselor and school psychologist. He has been recommended for gifted testing, and we had to sign the consent forms. They should have him evaluated before the end of the school year, and dependent on the results, he'll potentially be in the gifted program next school year. So proud of my smart boy!!

Posted by Amanda at 9:34 PM In Animals, School, The Boys
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