Miss Communication

well as evidenced by my lack of posting here, that definately isn't my name. LOL!

As you know my house was pelted by hail a few times this summer. And I had the pleasure of calling my insurance company to file the claim. The adjuster came out and did everything so I could get a check for the damages.

However since we have a mortgage the check is payable to the mortgage company TOO! Bad enough that DH's name is on there, but their name is too. The insurance company said to call the mortgage company (although they are supposed to be the same company) to find out about getting it endorsed.

I called the mortgage company. The friendly gal there tells me right off that since my name isn't on the mortgage she can only help me this time...after that I will need authorization.

Let's back up a bit here. When DH & I got the mortgage on the house we were shocked to find out that they had not put my name on it. The title company said they could fix that for us and had us file the paperwork + give them a fee. ummm my name still isn't on the paperwork!!! sigh

So mortgage gal says no problem...just send the check to them and add a copy of the insurance adjuster's worksheet. She will go ahead and send me a Claim packet that I'll need for getting the part of money the insurance holds until the work gets done.

So I get the copies and I'm ready to mail in the check when I get the claim packet. But WAIT A MINUTE! The claim packet tells me that I & DH have to sign the insurance check and the mortgage company will hold the check in escrow until the roof is fixed and they will have the roof inspected and issue the payment checks.

HOLD THE PHONE! I can't call the mortgage company to ask about this again because I'm not DH and don't have authorization (forgot to ask what kind of authorization they wanted). So which do I do?

Now I totally get them wanting to protect their investment. totally! But ummm why didn't mortgage gal tell me this to begin with? Well I'm gonna follow mortgage gal's info and send in just that part and see what happens. LOL! This oughta be fun.

Good thing I'm in no hurry to get the roof done!

vacation

Updated with photos!

Darly & I went on a vacation road trip with our friends Marsi & K (K is Marsi's dd who is a month older than Darly...they are very good friends.)  We left a few days early for our trip to South Dakota.  We arrived on Saturday and spent what was left of the day just relaxing.  Here's some pictures of the dogs:

On Sunday we went to Church with Marsi's parents - Renae & Dan (doesn't Marsi's mom have a great name?) :D  After Church we watched a movie on DVD and then went to the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD.  Oh yeah, we are staying with Marsi's parents.  On the way to the Mammoth Site we were able to see a bunch of wild life in the Black Hills National Forest...we saw Buffalo, Pronghorns & Deer.  We decided that we really didn't need to go through Custer State Park to do the Wildlife loop.

On Monday we went to Mt Rushmore and then to Crazy Horse monument to see the laser light show.

On Tuesday we went to Bear Country, Jewel Cave and back to Crazy Horse (thank goodness Marsi's parents can get us in for free) to see to museum that we missed on Monday.

On Wednesday we went to Bear Mountain Fire Lookout and to a local mine to look for rocks.  Dan thought the property was on Forestry property but we learned when the owners showed up that it was privately owned.  The owners were very nice and allowed us to keep the rocks we picked up (just quartz & mica) but told us the property would soon be posted to prevent liability issues.  I felt so bad for the owners that they have to face liability if someone gets hurt trespassing on their property.

We also drove through Custer State Park

We'll be driving back home on Thursday.  I'll be updating this post with links and pictures after we return.

camping trip

Darly & I went camping and got back yesterday.

of course Lilly came with us!  She had lots of good camp food to eat while we were there.  I am pretty sure she ate a lot of non-food stuff too.  ugh!

When we got there and set up the tent we had a small problem...the tent pole to the front "porch" of my tent broke!!!  (that's the lite blue flap you see hanging in the middle of the tall arch)  So we weren't able to use the front door of the tent and had no porch. :(  I looked up my lovely warrantee on this tent and I'm betting that broken poles falls under normal wear and tear...although I would like to argue that this is faulty design.  That particular pole takes the most pressure of the entire tent.  I could also argue that the company is lucky that I didn't get injured, the break happened right at my face level.  ugh!  Luckily my friend's husband took the pole home and fixed it for me.  Unfortunately, they still have the pole.

This trip I brought with us a screen shelter.  I put it over the table and it gave us a good place to keep the coolers out of the sun so our ice lasted much longer.  The cars got way too hot.another improvement I made for this camping trip was the purchase of the plastic tote bins you can see in the far right corner of the picture (magenta & purple) I think that once I put in my organizing dividers that they'll be just perfect!  as it was for this trip they kept everything watertight and also provided extra work surface when needed.

After the kids went to the beach on Tuesday I was pondering a good way for their swim suits to hang dry.  We aren't allowed to tie anything to the trees in the campground.  However they can't stop us from using our own cars.the old beat up clunker in the rear is mine.  The other car is Marsi's car.  This clothes line was so popular that we ended up with even our friends' stuff.  Luv my luggage rack!

We had good weather and the kids had a blast playing for almost the entire time.  I keep meaning to teach Darly how to cook camping food while we're there.  But I get so caught up in the fun that I don't want to let her do it.  I'm so mean.

Table Manners - by Mia King a book review

There's nothing like reading a good book in the summer. So I was very excited to get the chance to review Table Manners by Mia King.

I had originally planned to read this book while working out on my poor neglected eliptical trainer...or even take it with me on my camping trip...but alas when I picked up this book it was too good to put down and I polished it off in just two days without even taking it near the eliptical trainer. ooops!

From the Author:  Meet Deidre McIntosh, the ever-resourceful lifestyle maven who has a knack for getting back up when life knocks her down.  At 41, Deidre has created a new life for herself with her own line of branded baked goods and a wonderful relationship with Kevin Johnson, one of Seattle's most eligible and sexy bachelors.  Creative, energetic, and loving, Deidre is the person people go to whenever they need a helping hand.

But when Kevin's ex-fiancée, the sultry and successful magazine publisher Sabine Durant, appears in Seattle, suddenly it's Deidre who needs help.  Already intimidated by Kevin's glamorous, moneyed world--and his sister, Marly Banks, who wants Deidre out of Kevin's life--Deidre knows she's no match for Sabine.  She turns to her friends for advice, but finds they're having crises of their own.  When her business begins to slip from her fingers, Deidre knows she must do something to keep her career and her love life from imploding.

This book is the sequel to Good Things.  I read Good Things a while ago so it was fun to get back into the story and catch up with the characters and see how they are all doing now.  And if Mia needs an idea for her next book I would love to hear what happens with Sarah next. ;) 
I found the story to be funny and intriguing.  I loved the dinner scene where the character Marla thinks that Deidre needs to have better table manners. 

I wrote this review while participating in a blog campaign by Mom Central on behalf of Penguin Group Publishing. Mom Central sent me a gift card and a copy of Table Manners to thank me for taking the time to participate.