To read a hilarious post on the real estate woes of former OC Housewife Jeana Keough, go here.

Seriously, Your Mama is one of the most entertaining writers on the interwebs.

For actually taking to court a couple who is trying to reduce their water consumption.  They tore out their lawn and replaced it with fencing and drought-tolerant plants, but that didn’t appease the city.  Who (because I can’t believe it and I have to repeat it to myself) is now prosecuting them for not having a lawn!

In this age of being water-conscious, ridiculous!  As long as it isn’t endangering anyone and isn’t an eyesore, it is their private property to do with as they wish.

Good luck to the Has!

Dear Local Target Store,

Have I mentioned that I really do love you?  And that it hurts me to write this?

I was standing in line with my items that started out as a small list and ballooned (as always) to about a bazillion things.  I was tired and impatient, I’ll be honest. 

I get to the checkout line, and I take a gander at the checkout person.  She looks as if she is about to die.  You know how people look when they are really sick and should be in bed, but instead for some reason showed up to work?  Well, that was her. 

She croaks, “Hello” at me and then COUGHS ONTO HER HAND. I repeat ONTO HER HAND.  My first grader knows by now that you DO NOT COUGH INTO YOUR HAND you cough into the crook of your elbow.  He does it, I’ve seen him do it.  But for whatever reason, this chick decided it was too much effort. She then casually, or perhaps very slowly because she had a horrible illness residing within her that has rendered her limbs practically useless,  pumps a couple of drops of hand sanitizer onto her hands, rubs for about two seconds, and then PLACES HER GERMY HANDS ALL OVER MY STUFF.

Did they not just come out with a study that showed hand sanitizers do not in any way kill 99.9% of germs?  Why yes, they did.

What should I have done?  Should I have switched lines, even though she had already started on my things?  The thought crossed my mind, but it was too late. 

So thanks a lot, sick Target employee.  I have a three month old with an immature immune system at home, the last thing I need is an onslaught of your germs.

And Target, I don’t know if your policies encourage sick employees to show up to work or not.  I hope they don’t. And you might want to give your employees a refresher course in proper hygiene.  Especially in the time of, you know, that little thing called swine flu.

Thanks bunches,

Gina

For some reason, EVERY TIME we have enough rain to make the flood channels actually flow, at least one person decides to take a swim or something, causing your local fire fighters to get out the swiftwater rescue gear and get ready to get wet.

I ventured out after the big storms passed through to get some pictures of the flood channels FROM A SAFE DISTANCE when I noticed a fire engine on the Chapman Ave bridge over the Santa Ana River.  When I looked north, I could see flashing lights from other engines across all the bridges visible from that spot.  I found out later that 2 young teenage boys were playing in the water when they were swept away.  One boy was plucked out of the water just minutes later, but the other boy was not found.  He’s not expected to be found alive.

More information and pictures after the jump. (more…)

My e-card from last year. Photo by me.

Firstly, let me apologize for my too-long absence. I have no excuse except extreme busyness and to say, moving during the first week of December flat out sucks.

Well it’s that time again out with the old and in with the new. Whatever highlights or pitfalls you celebrated or endured in 2009 I wish you all nothing but the best in 2010, the start of a new decade. However, according to some (mathematicians and Jerry – see below) decades begin with a “1” not a “0.”

[YouTube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BF8P7Rrjkdk#watch-main-area[/youtube]

I resent the type of weather on Thanksgiving in which it is possible for me to wear shorts if I wanted to.

Something about Thanksgiving screams turtlenecks and sweaters, not tees and flip flops.

It will work for my dad, who is the official Turkey BBQ’er (yes, we put our turkey in the barbeque, and man, it is delicious!) for he will not be shivering in the cold. 

But for everyone else? Bah humbug!

You guys remember a while back when I posted about my awesome trip to The Valley aboard the Metrolink? I even had another one just a couple months ago where I utilized the Gold Line to Pasadena! Both trips were fairly easy and made it so I didn’t have to drive through traffic. However, I had to plan a few days ahead of time, because as I’ve mentioned, Metrolink doesn’t exactly have a “regular” schedule. Well today Metrolink let me down not once, but twice.

To hear the reason, just follow the jump… (more…)

Well, not yet, the first week of December.

If you’re a frequent reader of this site, I’m sure you know the husband and I were looking to purchase a house. I say “were,” because we are no longer looking to buy for several reasons. Here are some of them:

• Didn’t want to deal with a Short Sale and the time period it takes to close escrow. Unfortunately, Short Sales are currently the norm;
• Not interested in buying a REO/Lender Owned property, they’re typically in need of thousands of dollars in improvements;
• We’re not the type of people to make a giant investment decision based on a 15 minute walk-through, which is basically what you need to do, if you like a house and want to get it … etc., etc.

So after months of looking and one more, which turned out to be final, disappointment we put looking on the back burner for a couple of months. We just needed a break. For us, wanting to purchase a house in the current market was very stressful, time consuming, and ultimately unsatisfying. Sure we could’ve settled, but we know we would not have been happy with our decision. Settling and compromising are two different things. The way I see it, settling is buying a house just to buy it (it’s a great price or it’s in a great neighborhood), whereas compromising is buying the house that might not have all of your must-have features (hardwood floors or a foyer). The bottom line, buying a home is a very personal thing and you should only do it if it feels right.

After our self-imposed house hunting timeout, we decided to continue to rent, but move out of our current place. We wanted something bigger and closer to the beach. Once we made our decision, I couldn’t believe how easy it was to find a house. We looked at several places, all found via craigslist, and signed a lease within a week. However, I’m not so sure that it would’ve been so easy had we not seen 200+ houses over the past several months.

The best thing, it’s exactly what  and where we were looking to buy. So, for us it’s a win-win. We got the house we wanted and get to keep our down payment in the bank. For all of you who are still looking to move to your ideal home in the ideal neighborhood my advice to you is to look at alternatives, it just might pay-off.

Dear Fall Weather,

What made you leave?  I want you back.

I don’t know what I did wrong, but just tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it.

You see, it was such a wonderful time we had together.  I was able to break out some pants and long sleeved shirts!  I wore something on my feet called socks!  It was truly magical.

But now you’re gone, and I’m back to the same old clothes I seem to wear 80% of the time.  I need change, fall weather, and only you can give it to me.

So please think about it.  We’re great together, and you know it.

Sincerely,

A Lifelong SoCal Resident

Multimedia message, originally uploaded by suprdave89.

I saw this in the sky over Orange a few hours ago. I didn’t know people still did skywriting! I have n’t seen it in years!

I can’t figure out if they’re saying “S ‘heart’ S” or if it’s “SOS” but a heart for the O? Whatever. I’m sure it was very special to the person it was meant for.