Ya, that is how much I won in the lottery….and you know why?? Because I couldn’t play! The big 333 Million jackpot could have been mine, but no. A handful of us from the station went out to eat in Hilliard, and right after we ordered our food my husband says “Hey weren’t you going to play the lottery tonight?” Saw it was about 10pm so I excused myself and thought I could just run across the street to get the mega millions tickets….oh come on! You don’t think it was that easy do you? Since I’m not from that part of town I was up and down Hilliard-Rome Road looking for places that sold tickets. I knew for sure that Speedway sold them and when I stuck my head in, the sign said “Lotto Machine Down” Are you serious?? So I darted down the street to Giant Eagle knowing they sold them…..well not at that hour they don’t! So it’s pouring down rain and I’m desperately trying to find a gas station! I’m so convinced I have the winning tickets that I find myself on Roberts Rd and run into that Speedway and once again “Lotto Machine Down” WHAT??????? So I ask the girl behind the counter where I could find another place that sells lotto tickets and she looks at me like I’m speaking another language (maybe I was!), then some smart aleck (and I’m being very nice) says to me “Well considering it’s 10:30 and they are drawing the numbers right now I don’t think it’s going to happen” So I promptly correct him by telling him “The drawing isn’t till 11pm and the cut off to buy tickets is 10:45″ which he responds with an “Oh”. I figure don’t chime in if you don’t know what you are talking about!! So here I sit with my 333 million dollars in two other peoples hands…..at least that is what I still think. Did you have better luck? What did you win?

So sorry to bring up the whole housing thing yet again but I need your opinion on another topic. Southwestern City Schools…to move there or not? I told my husband that there are tons of beautiful homes in that area that are a steal right now because families want to move out due to all the school issues going on. We could get an amazing deal down there but not sure if it is a good idea or not. We don’t plan to have kids so on the subject of schools…it wouldn’t matter much to us except for when it came time to sell. BUT would the decision to buy down there bite us back later? If they try to staighten out the school system there how high would the taxes go? I guess you could say we are getting desperate on the housing front and there is little to pick from. I thought if we weighed the pros and cons of that area that would help. So what do you think? Worth looking into? or stay away?
Thanks for all of your help!

Can someone please tell me who’s idea it was to put those round-abouts in Hilliard and Dublin?? I sure would like to give them a piece of my mind! Do you know what I’m talking about? We don’t have them in the Polaris area…Thank God! Round-abouts (not even sure if that is the correct name of those things) are sort of like an intersection but without stopping traffic. They are round and when you enter you have to yield to traffic already going through the circle. Well something to that extent! I know they are famous for them in Europe…..which is exactly why we don’t need them here! We were in Hilliard looking at houses and on our way back I had to go through at least two of them. BIG MISTAKE!!! I got through the first one ok (keep in mind this was during rush hour) and the second one……..well let’s just say it was a close call….almost caused a four car pile up! People are whizzing around these circles pretty darn quick and you have to pick the right time to enter the circle or you get killed! HA! So seriously….who on earth thought these were a good idea? Next time I plan on zipping around the circle for at least 15 minutes before exiting, just to irritate people….wanna join me?

Well we are interested in a house that is considered to be in a “condo” community. It has a pool, clubhouse, playground etc. But I wanted to put some feelers out there about those kind of communities. Have you ever lived in one? What are they like? Are they worth the money? and our biggest question…….what are the HOA dues like? I can’t seem to find anyone who has lived in one. We drove around the community last night and I finally pulled over and asked a man who was outside with his kids what the HOA cost would be. Well, with my luck he just moved here from South Carolina and he’s renting! Oh well, so if any of you have ever lived or are currently living in one of these communities could you give me your honest opinion of the place? Hey, if you want to tag along and look at some houses with me and my husband we’d love to have you!! LOL
Thanks for the help!

Vacation????? PLEASE! It was anything but! Not that I don’t appreciate the time off but it’s amazing how one minute you are flying high as a kite and the next your world comes tumbling down. I really don’t wish to rehash the whole thing but to make a long story short…last Tuesday were were told our offer on the house had been accepted and we were officially home owners! That was the good part. Then we took my parents who were visiting from Pittsburgh to see the house. My sister and my nephews tagged along and I was trying to explain to all of them that the house was quaint and needed some work so they wouldn’t be shocked when they saw it. Well we got inside and my nephew yelled from the kitchen “Hey is it supposed to look like this?” then my husband rounded the corner and then looked right at me and said “We’re NOT getting the house!” of course then I needed to see what all the commotion was about. All I saw was what used to be the kitchen ceiling laying on the kitchen floor and about an inch of standing water. I just went numb and wasn’t sure what to feel……mad, embarrassed, sad, crushed, scared….here I had just announced to everyone I know that we just bought a house and all I could think about was trying to explain to everyone that that wasn’t going to happen. I’m still not sure how I feel about the whole thing. I basically sobbed through dinner that night and was depressed all weekend. I knew I didn’t want the house but could we get out of it?? Do we get any money back? How are we going to find another house before this tax credit expires? So many questions and not all of them are answered. We are currently back on the market for another house. I think God was just trying to tell us to slow down and look a little bit more closely. It was his way of telling us this wasn’t meant to be and to have a little faith in him and he’ll lead us to the right one. So I do have faith that we will find one….I’m just hoping it’s SOON! I always try to look at things with a sense of humor…you have to to keep sane! It is amazing to me how the world works…..when you are going too fast and not paying attention sometimes it takes a collapsed ceiling to get your attention! Well we are definitely paying attention now and patiently waiting for OUR home. (so much for making the story short!! LOL)

Just got back from a VIP Party at The Wine Loft in Dublin. What a great time! Everyone was so much fun and seemed to have a great time. So a big thanks to The Wine Loft for having us…can’t wait to come back! I’m on vacation this week so I’ll drift in and out of blog mode this week. I have some fun stuff planned with the parents and a big surprise for them and my in-laws…..HMMMMM what could it be? My father in law seems to think we are going to tell them they are going to be grandparents!!! LOL Hey you never know
You stay classy Columbus!

I’m getting lots of questions regarding our house and wanted to give you an update. We did find the house we wanted and we made an offer and that’s where I left off so here’s the rest of the story. Well my husband and I did the dumbest thing….we counted our chickens before they were hatched. I know better than that so why did I do it? We had already renovated, decorated and entertained friends all in our head. My husband went as far as to contact a friend of ours to buy his riding mower!! Why did I let this happen? Why did we plan so far ahead for something that wasn’t even ours yet? So what we thought was going to be a slam dunk on the house well it’s now turned out to be an air ball. We found our house, we made an offer they counter offered and in the process of accepting that offer someone swung in and made our life miserable by putting in another offer. Now we have to give our best and highest bid by Monday. This stinks. We talked with our realtor on what we should do and how much to offer and she said she would pray about it. Meanwhile, we asked friends of ours what they think and they said to have some drinks and think about it. So we’ve got our realtor praying and we’re drinking…all over a house. It’s actually kinda funny when you think about it. So here’s a question for you….Would you rather help pray for our house or have a couple drinks with us and discuss it? Here’s a thought, let’s do both. I’m not too worried though, if there is anything in life I’ve learned its that what is meant to be, will be. Deep thoughts by Jordan Kline.

How many times have you yelled that in your car? Well that was me last night as I was headed into the station. I get off the Henderson Road exit off 315 and if you are familiar with that exit then you know that you come to a light at the end of the exit ramp which is Olentangy River road. The right lane means you can go straight into The Olentangy Commons apartment complex or turn right to go toward Bethel road. If you are in the left lane like I was then you are headed towards Henderson road. There were two cars in front of me….one in the left lane (my lane) and one in the right lane waiting to go straight. Well low and behold here comes a huge firetruck….YEA! The lights are going, the sirens are going and I automaticly move my car so that it’s up on the concrete barrier and out of the way. What do the two nimrods do in front of me??? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! The firetruck is honking his horn and they both sit there. The light turns green and the car in the right lane turns left ….right in front of the firetruck!! He honks is horn again and the guy stops in front of him. UGH! What is so hard people? You see a firetruck or police officer and you pull over to the side (and pray they aren’t pulling you over). And you wonder why the response time is slow…..it’s because the two cars who were in front of me won’t move!!!!
OK, done venting!

When I joined Facebook about two years ago (maybe longer I can’t remember) I didn’t care for it. I had a myspace page and that was good enough for me at the time and then I thumbed around and started to find old coworkers, classmates and childhood friends but little did I know how personal Facebook was going to get. In the past year and a half I have been able to have a front row seat to many milestones. I have enjoyed updates from friends talking about their weddings….. one post was announcing the engagement then the dress shopping, funny stories from the rehearsal dinner and pictures of the wedding. Others have excitedly posted pregancy announcements. They update everyone with morning sickness reports, baby name ideas and colors of the nursery. I get to see ultrasound pictures from the 12th week and quick blurbs that they are officially headed to the hospital. I’ve been there for car accidents, first steps and divorces. I never really realized what an impact Facebook would have on my life but having the ability to share these intimate moments of someone’s life is something that I look forward to and truly enjoy! One of my favorite posts that I’ve made was the morning of my wedding. It was nice to just sit and type what I was thinking and feeling early in the morning. Plus it was so enjoyable to read all the well wishes just hours before the wedding. Where else can you let people peek into your life in that kind of way? If you have a Facebook account what have your experiences been like? Has someones post on Facebook ever made you cry or rethink your view on a subject? What’s the most intimate thing you’ve shared on Facebook? I can’t wait to hear your answers!

That is what we are doing as we wait to see if they accept our offer for the house. It only took me eight hours to come up with an offer, no thanks to my husband who said to put down $20! After some phone calls for advice I pulled something out of thin air. I’m hoping to get in low since we have some updates to do. I’ll keep you up to date!