Back in March 2008 I made the dumb choice of listening to a timeshare spill and dragging Matt along with me.  I wasn’t too worried about us purchasing one since Matt usually says NO to things like that.  But, this time he surprised me and said OK.  It was mostly because of the RCI perk…travel anywhere in the world and stay for a week and only pay $200 for the week.

Well, in June 2008 we moved to Scotland so we never went to our timeshare for a year.  Yet, the people with the timeshare kept calling us.  Scotland is 6 hours ahead of Texas, so you can imagine what time we were receiving calls from SilverLeaf (timeshare).  We asked numerous times to be placed on a “Do Not Call” list, yet every couple of months we got another phone call.

And now I just got off the phone again with Silverleaf…which I wasn’t going to answer but Kalani heard my phone ring and went to answer it.  The first lady was friendly enough and wanted us to go to a meeting to learn about the “new changes.”  I told her that we are trying to sell our timeshare and we only bought one for the RCI benefits.  She then quickly transferred me to another lady.  I told her the same things and she was telling me “how could I sell something if I didn’t know all of the changes?”  I told her I didn’t really care and whoever buys it will have to deal with it.  Maybe that is dishonest, but I am fed up with these people.  I told her our past 2 year experiences with them and their continuous phone calls when we asked to be taken off the list.  She told me that they do not have a buy back policy, but another lady said that they could if I didn’t bank my week with RCI…so conflicting information.  This lady’s grammer was poor, she was raising her voice and cutting me off, etc.  I just about  hung up on her since I was just getting more and more frustrated.    She told me that she could not take me off the “Do Not Contact” list, that only a manager could…so of course I asked for her manager.  I must have been labeled “irate” for the manager was defensive while she talked to me.  Finally she told me that, “I will not be allowed to use their resort on the years that we did not purchase and will be turned away at their other locations and will not be told about any new incentives or perks.”  My response, “FABULOUS!”

So, now we are stuck with paying the maintenance fees for something we don’t use, but want to keep our credit in good standing.  Live and learn…and hopefully others can learn from our mistake.  So, now the real question:  Anyone want to buy our timeshare?

My sister celebrated another birthday this past year.  She is 21…again and I was able to help her celebrate it.  I found this yummy chocolate cake a few days before her birthday and really wanted to try it out.  So, her birthday was the perfect excuse to bake it.  And boy was it yummy.  I didn’t like the buttercream that the recipe called for, but I really liked this one I found online (and I used heavy cream instead of milk).   I also made the Pioneer Woman’s cinnamon rolls.  I was quiet the baker last weekend!

Can you really have TOO MUCH chocolate?

We had a family party for her on Sunday and then went to Red Robin with friends on Monday.  Later that night we had a date with our husbands and watched Salt.

Thanks for being my sister and letting me celebrate your birthday with you!

“He surely won’t recognize us because he’s blind. But, I’m sure he’ll recognize the taste of a good meal.”

Link: World Real Life Super Hero Registry

Matt had to go to California for work and had the brilliant idea to take Mason along with him since both of our parents live in California, and Mason is still FREE to fly.  The grandparents loved the opportunity to be with their grandson who they really only met at Christmas last year.  So that meant that Kalani and I would have a week of doing “girl things” or at least things that would be difficult to accomplish with 14 month old Mason!

So, here is what our week consisted of; plus some eating out and Kalani swimming at our aunt’s house:

Sunday – Kalani had her cousin Olivia spend the night

Laundy room painted with bead-board and trim

Monday – Kalani and Olivia watched my niece Jaedyn while I painted and put up bead-board and trim in my laundry room.  It turned out pretty well, especially since I didn’t know what direction I really wanted to go when I started.  Went to blockbuster and Baskin-Robbins to end the day.

Tuesday – Painted Mason’s room…nothing excited just the same color as the rest of  the house.  Attended a Hawaiian Family Culture class in the evening…going to try to learn how to make some of the traditional Hawaiian crafts.  And Kalani had her cousin Caleb spend the night

Toy Story 3 in 3-D

Wednesday – Watched “Toy Story 3″ in 3-D and then went SHOPPING!  Kalani has been wearing the same 3 shirts and 3 jeans for the past 5 months…hopefully now she will change her wardrobe a bit and actually wear some shorts in the hot, humid Texas August!

1st fondant cake decorated

Thursday – My wonderful sister watched Kalani so I could attend the temple.  Then I took advantage of my alone time and finally used the massage gift certificate that I have had since I was pregnant with Mason.  After I picked up Kalani I went to a friend’s house and learned how to decorate a cake with fondant.  So, easy and fun…I think I may have cake decorating a part of our homeschool curriculum this year!

Jedi Kalani...or maybe a Bounty Hunter

Friday - Our year pass expires at the end of the month so we went to NASA for a couple of hours.  This summer they were showcasing Star Wars Clone Wars and Kalani was excited to try to be a Jedi.  I then had lunch with a friend from California and her daughter while we were down by NASA.

Kalani's idea of fun while I was being pampered

Saturday – I got a free facial at ULTA and then spent the day cleaning the house and doing laundry.  My reward for my hard work and for Kalani being such a good kid this week we went back to the movies and saw “Despicable Me”

Sunday – Matt and Mason got home and we are a happy family together once again.

I wore her out with all of our mother-daughter time

Tia wasn’t home, I was in the living room, and I heard Mason crying somewhere in the back of the house. After some searching, this is what I found: (and yes, I did leave him in there to go get my camera.. )