Dawson Has Been Found!

Dawson has been found!!!! Can you tell how excited I am? Last night I got home around 8pm started cooking dinner and saw the message light flashing on the home phone. I listened to the message and it was a guy from Austin saying he had my car. Thinking it could be the crooks who somehow got my number I was a little leary when I left a message with the guy. He called back and talked to Leland and said that they had my car at his dealership in Austin. Apparently the crooks took my car to his dealership and wanted to test drive this tricked out Toyota Scion. The keys were in the Scion and one of dealers was not with the vehicle at the time and the dude who stole my car just drove off in the Scion. After that they started looking for information on my car and found me. The best part is, Dawson is okay. There is no damage, just that the idiots were smoking in the car and now the car wreaks to high heaven of smoke. The dealer is beyond ticked about the whole situation and has sent his own, yes his own, bounty hunters after the thieves. Dawson is still in Austin at the APD impound. I am just waiting to hear about when I can pick her up. Such a relief! All I have to worry about is getting the car detailed and getting that nasty smell out. Soon, Dawson will be safe and sound at home. I can't wait!

Some Good News

A few good things that made me smile this weekend:

On Friday the Leon Valley PD caught someone tying to use my stolen ID and checks to cash a check with my cancelled bank account. Throw the book at 'em Dan-O! I really hope this breaks the case about Dawson wide open. Now if I could just get the po-po to listen to me and Leland, all this could be over with in a short while. Yes, Dawson is still missing and I don't think the cops are doing enough to find my poor baby. I feel like this week is the week though. We shall see.

One thing that made me smile this weekend was a pedicure. My good friend Ashley was in town this weekend and we both needed some girl time. Me to relieve stress from the week that I just couldn't get rid of and she needed some good down time. I love getting together with Ash. She is always so much fun. Her stories are always great too. The best part of the day, she treated me to the pedi as a belated birthday gift. Thanks Ashley! My toes and feet feel wonderful!

In other news, I have been married now for three months. Geez, three months already! We were commenting the other day that we have only really been together for about nine months, but it has felt more like a lifetime, in a good way. Everything we have moved into and done has been so comfortable. I think of the progression when we first started dating to when we got married and there was not any time in which I doubted or something just didn't feel right. There was no forcing anything. Some things have taken me longer to get into and get use to, but I am not having to force myself to do anything. The natural progression of things is nice. Can't wait to see what's in store for the next three months!

Anything made you smile this week?

Dawson is Missing :(

I am so happy Monday was such a good day because Tuesday totally hoovered. First, I didn't even want to wake up. Then work was really stressful with having to get FitnessGRAM stuff done and finding out that the results from last semester for the high school kids went missing (luckily I found two classes results but the other class I have to re-test everything) and having to get everything done with the soccer team stuff, Wednesday Folder announcements, etc. Here is what made the day totally hoover. I was at the gym working out. I arrived at about 7:15, 7:20pm. I was actually having a great workout and feeling really good. At about 8:30 I finished and went to get my stuff from the locker and leave. My locker looked a little funny and the strap to my bag was hanging out. I opened the locker and all the stuff inside my bag was missing. My purse, wallet, car keys, cell phone, and Oakley's, all gone! I ran to the front desk told them what happened, looked outside, and my car was gone! Dawson, was gone! I felt so stupid! I never take in all my stuff to the gym. I had gone to Hobby Lobby to get some things for my soccer kid's uniforms to get numbers and everything placed on them and had just thrown all my stuff into my backpack and walked into the gym. As I was talking to the manager she told me that three other people had been ripped off as well. The others had their car keys stolen, but their cars were still in the parking lot. My car, on the hand, was gone. She also said that she went into the locker room at about 7:50 and saw that all the lockers on one side of the locker room were open. So the entire thing happened within a 30 minute window. I am so ticked at myself for being so stupid with my things. I have filed a police report, cancelled my bank account and any credit cards, contacted insurance, had my locks changed and replaced and am waiting for more phone calls. The start of 2010 has been tough. First the mono and my cell phone being stolen and now all this. Like what Elder Bednar said, "Happiness is not the lack of trials in our lives, it is the trials that make us happy." I guess the bigger the trials the more joy there can be. If you are in the SA area and happen to see poor Dawson, please let me know. I sure miss him.

Fun and Games

This past week was Spring Break, and it was awesome! This has got to be the best spring break I have had in a long time. I have had fun spring breaks and breaks helping out family and stuff, but this break was more relaxing than anything else. Everything started Saturday night when Leland and I headed downtown for a night of Luminaria. I had never been but had heard so many great things about it and really wanted to go. It was a great experience. I just wish I had had my camera with me so I could take more blurry pictures of the lights and stuff. The whole thing took place downtown around the La Villita, Hemisfair Park area. There were lasers projecting things onto walls, live music, jazz poetry readings (reminded me of So I Married and Axe Murderer), glass blowing demonstrations, artists on the streets doing their whole art thing and exhibits all over the place. The best part about it, it was free and the fountains were flowing at Hemisfair! It was a very relaxed evening. After we finished with Luminaria we went to eat at Mi Tierra. I love that place. To be honest, I was a little scared walking through downtown so late at night, but because of Luminaria the streets were crazy crowded. The rest of the week was fabulous.
As of Monday, March 15, I am no longer Katie Gilmore, but Katie Page. Yep it's finally official, the name has changed. We got U-Verse so tv viewing is way more interesting, especially in HD. We also went out to Gruene and the outlets at San Marcos. I was proud of myself, I didn't buy a thing. That is so rare for me, but I restrained myself. It also helped that the Nike outlet was closed for remodeling. We really did a lot of stuff this past week. Even though we were busy and out and about this whole week it was really relaxing. It was just what I needed to get away from the pressures at work and prepare for the last nine weeks of school. I also learned that there is one sport, so far, that Leland can beat me at. . . bowling. So far, every game we have played, I have won. It was fun losing. I never say that, but finally, I lost and I am not bitter about it either. Probably because I know how horrible I am at bowling. Sometimes I wish spring break could last longer, but I am happy to be back at work stress and all, even if I do have to work on my birthday (which hasn't happened since I was in seventh grade).

Sad, Yet Comforting

Yesterday morning I get to work, open up my emails and see the subject line of one that just read "GRANDMA" I had one of those earlier in the weekend and it was about Great Grandma Aurea and her being placed into hospice care. No big deal. As I was checking the boxes for deletions I accidentally checked that "GRANDMA" message. A little later I was looking at my e-mails and thought I remembered seeing something that was about great-grandma so I checked the trash box and opened the message. The message stated that Great Grandma Aurea had died at 1:30am in her sleep. That is not the message I wanted to receive five minutes before the busiest day of the week started. Good thing I was so busy because I didn't have time for a breakdown, until later in the night. I purposefully kept myself busy all day so I wouldn't have to think about it. What do you do when you can't think of anything else to keep you busy? You play Wii Fit Plus of course. That didn't do much good because I was getting mad at the game and yelling at it. Yes, me, I was yelling at a stupid game. Sometimes, you just gotta let it out. It wasn't until Leland got home from football practice and he asked me how my day was that I totally broke down. The tears came gushing. Then it was a little better. I am grateful to have a husband that can remind me of the wonderfulness of the gospel (yes I just made up "wonderfulness"). Knowing that I will be with her again and get to know what she was like when she was younger and what she had always wanted for her family really comforted me. I know she is being embraced by a loving Heavenly Father, and probably giving him a hard time about some things ;) I know she is happy and someday, we will be an eternal family. Now to get the rest of the family in on this whole eternal family thing, hmmmmm. The comfort given to me lat night has made thins better today. I love my Great-Grandma Aurea and she has taught me many things, but that's for another post at another time.

Small Victories

The best deals ever some when you are not even looking for them. This weekend I decided that I needed to do a little shopping for the bedroom. We needed a couple more sheet sets so that when one set is being washed another set can be placed back on the bed. I decided that I would go to Anna's Linens. Can we say sheer awesomeness at the sale that was going on when I got there? I found two queen sheet sets for only twenty bucks each! The best part, they were the exact colors I was looking for and they were the last of the bunch. Triumph? I think yes. I also got two more much needed pillows for the bed as well. The whole cost of everything? Fifty smackers! Can you believe that? Where else can you get two six-piece bedding sets and two pillows for only fifty bucks? I was ecstatic at the deal. I am so happy with how everything looks as well. Victory!

I also knew that Ross was doing their big dress event. I decided that I would go and check things out. I love Ross, but I can never, and I mean never, find anything that works for me or looks good on me at Ross so I decided I would just go and look at things. I found something like eleven dresses that were absolutely adorable and that I actually liked. So I found eleven, but only four actually looked good on me. By time I hit the counter I had three. One of the dresses I have to make a slight alteration to the neck line then it will be perfect. I was so excited that I actually found something at Ross that fit and looked good. On top of that I went down a dress size! Another victory? Of course! Three dresses for thirty-six bucks! I love sales!

All in all, a successful shopping experience and weekend. The apartment was cleaned to my liking, laundry done, shopping success, and relaxation. What more can I ask for? Oh yeah, Spring Break. Four more days and a week of ahhhhhhhh. Have a wonderful week!

Texas Towns

This past weekend I had an opportunity to go to Uvalde and help out a friend. My friend and her husband just bought a house there and she has been doing some major renovations. All the work was suppose to be done by Friday so that Saturday we could clean things, get rooms set-up and boxes unpacked. It turned out to be a big play day since the contractors never finished what they started. Actually, the first contractor was lazy and never did the work and over charged for what was done and the others, well, they were slow movers. So the day turned into running errands and doing little things like lining shelves and unpacking the pantry. It was a great day and to be able to help my friend and spending time with her was the best.

What I love about Uvalde is it's town square. I love little Texas towns because of the town squares. They are so great and so much fun to shop in. They have the best antique shops and some of the cutest merchandise around. The buildings are beautiful too. Every building has a story and some famous, or even infamous, person went through there or grew up there. It is nice to be able to go to Texas towns like that. It's nice to get out of the city and be able to get away from all the stresses. The only thing I didn't like was the drive out there. The bad thing about Texas towns is that you have to slow down for them. You are making great time and the drive seems so easy then all of a sudden you are slowing down to 45 or 35 mph. While the towns are cute and cozy and great they do take a little time to get through. And they are speed traps! Small Texas towns are the biggest speed traps. If you aren't paying attention you will get the biggest ticket of your life. That is why you always, and I mean ALWAYS, slow down to the speed limit or a little under when going through those towns.

Overall, I love Texas towns. The only other place that can compete with a Texas town is small town East Coast. But no one can compete with the friendliness of Texans =0)