Slow Start, Busy Day

This morning started slow...my body said "hell no I am not getting out of bed before 8:15" I woke up with a headache and sore back, and just overall tired. (maybe working out 8 of the last 9 days was a bit much...buy man I was feeling good while I was working out)

By lunch I was rocking and rolling with work stuff and reading blogs while waiting for reports to run. James and I took a break at lunch to eat and watch an episode of The Tudors (that's for another post). And since I've been back at the computer its been busy. I am pulling together data for an analysis and its crazy. Hubby wants me to help load names in a database, so I guess I should get moving and finish my last 2 files and then go help him...

Oh wait, the house needs cleaned, visitors on Friday and we have dinner plans at 7:30 (have to leave by 7).....hmm, maybe I won't be able to help him, unless he agrees to help with the house tomorrow....now that's not a bad deal...

Tennis

So ALTA tennis has started back up (or at least we have started practicing). First match is this Sunday. Unfortunately we've been put in a level higher than where we expected...should prove to be an interesting season....at least from practice on Friday, I can tell we are going to have a fun team...we may not win a bunch of matches, but we'll have fun doing it! Looking forward to it and getting to know some of the new girls on the team.

This household will be all about tennis for the next several week. James practices on Thursday, I practice on Friday, James has matches on Saturday morning and my matches are on Sunday afternoon...BUSY, BUSY....but it will be nice to get back to playing!!!

Sunny and Warm

I've been enjoying the sunny and warm weather here in Atlanta....I ran outside Saturday, walked on Sunday, and ran again on Monday. I think Barley is enjoying it, too, because he is finally getting his workout. He's been pooped today after all the exercise...though its good for him...My MIL thinks he has put on weight.

Internet Connection

Seriously...you don't realize how much you enjoy a fast internet connection until it slows down...I have no idea what is wrong with our service, but for some reason my computer is running SLOW today...it really hinders my ability to read blogs, comment on them, and update my status or comment on Facebook...
I know, I know, I have better things to do than blogging and Facebook (namely, my real job), but come on now....I NEED MY FAST INTERNET CONNECTION.
Oh its so bad that GMAIL has disabled chat because of the internet problems..now how I am supposed to send snarky, I mean sweet, little chats to my hubby? Now I actually have to walk up the stairs to talk to him.
So, hopefully this internet thing will get cleared up and I can tell you all about tennis starting, the warm weather, getting the outside cleaned up for spring, etc....but until then, all you have this rant on the slow connection...hope you're having a good Friday.

Customer Service - Apple

I just had a wonderful customer service experience and thought I would share it with you....

I received a gift card for iTunes. When I tried to redeem it, I received an error message that it was not valid. After several (read almost 20) attempts, I decided to email Apple Customer Service. I received a response within 24 hours. They had tested my card and it was in fact valid and active (this I already knew of course) and they gave me instructions to fix what might have been wrong. Yesterday was a bit busy with cleaning day (i'll update on that later) and all, so I didn't get to check to see if the card would now redeem. Well, I received a follow up email today asking if the suggestions had worked. So, I took a minute and followed the instructions on the email...easy as pie, my card redeemed immediately. I sent a thank you to them for the original instructions and then the follow up. This is the email I just received:

Hi Jessi,
You're very welcome. I'm glad to hear that you were able to redeem your gift card successfully.
Nothing makes Apple happier than to hear that we have pleased our customers. I hope that you continue to enjoy the iTunes Store.
Jessi, please let me know if I may be of further assistance. Thank you for being an iTunes Store customer. Have a great day.

(BTW - the original emails contained the customer support employee and her hours so that I could contact her if I needed further assistance)
In these times, where its hard to get great customer service (and when you would most expect it since you are actually spending money with them), I just thought I would pass this along.

THANK YOU APPLE FOR WONDERFUL CUSTOMER SERVICE!

Preppy Giveaway

Go visit Misadventures of a Newlywed....She's having a great giveaway...the tote would be perfect for a Spring Break beach vacation or as a pool tote!!!

But hurry .... you have to enter by Monday the 9th! Good Luck.

The Bachelor

So everyone and their mom is talking about the bachelor last night. I have not watched any of this season (or the last 3-4 for that matter), but have seen lots of talk out here in Blog World. I turned on the TV as we were going to bed last night and the After the Rose was just starting...Knowing what I had read on your blogs, I thought maybe I will listen for a few minutes....AWFUL...seriously...I only watched the first bit with Melissa, missed everything with Molly, but those poor girls...they have been put through the ringer all in the name of Love....REALLY?!? I hope they each find happiness and love in their futures...

Me, well, I went to sleep at 10:20 and made it to the gym at 5:45 and am feeling wonderful.....Maybe I should pass some of my good vibes on to the girls.

Trying New Recipes

We got a set of great cookbooks for our wedding - Williams-Sonoma Foods of the World. There are 8 cities: New Orleans, San Francisco, New York, Paris, Rome, London, Florence and Barcelona. The books are great because they are also little travel guides. The first 20 pages or so are dedicated to a culinary description of the region, typical foods, restaurants to try, etc. The books are great and we've just started looking at them. So, we decided to start trying recipes out of each book.

In honor of Mardi Gras, we tried a recipe from the New Orleans book last Sunday. It was okay, nothing overly exciting.

This week we tried a recipe from the Paris Book...YUMMY.

The recipe was for Duck Breast with Figs and Port. It was a bit difficult to make (having to heat things, keep them warm, do the sauce, etc.) but ended up only taking about 30 minutes once we started cooking. Prep was another 20 minutes or so. We served it with green beans and mushrooms. We also had a great Cote-du-Rhone wine, YUMMY.

If you are interested in the recipe, let me know....