What?

Yes, you heard me right. Allstate is saying that things like the “warming oceans” need to be taken into consideration when setting home insurance prices. They are bringing this argument to the table to try and justify why they want to raise home owners’ insurance prices in Florida even after Florida put new laws into place that should LOWER insurance rates.

Allstate is desperate to raise our prices, even though it’s been years since a major hurricane has hit the state. And this is even in light of the highly controversial “McKinsey documents” that outline how the insurance company plans to increase profits by doing things like lowballing insurance settlement offers to desperate car crash victims.

Allstate, just one of the many insurance companies being run by complete tools.

One of my best friends just completed her first (and hopefully only) round of in vitro. As of now, she is pregnant with triplets. Of course she has to wait it out to see if the procedure was successful, but you can only assume the best in the meantime. Its fun to think about her eventually having three more babies at home. It’s also a little frightening, but at least it’s not me

One of the best parts of anticipating a multiple birth will be shopping for the baby gifts! It will be a blast to buy two or three of each item. I love shopping for the little sleeper and socks and keepsake boxes anyway. It will be all the more fun to double or triple each purchase.

Cross your fingers, say a prayer, and think good thoughts. I really want to be able to come back later and tell you all that my friend’s procedure was a victory.

I just applied online for a job with a firm down in St. Petersburg. They need someone to do some investigative work from home part time. This looks like a position that I would enjoy and also be able to fit into my parenting schedule. Plus, my background is in investigative reporting, market research, and public relations – which means that I have a lot of experience in finding information that might be difficult to dig up in the scheme of things.

Eventually I will use my teaching certification to work in the school system. For now, though, I am doing freelance work to make ends meet while I stay home one more year with my daughter. I always assumed I would be a stay-at-home mom until Gigi was much older. Circumstances being what they are, I will need to work outside the home much sooner than I had hoped. If I can pick up a couple of remote jobs in the meantime, I can manage to be here for Gigi when she needs me.

The weather here in Florida is lovely. It might be blowing snow and ice up north. But temperatures here will reach about 85 today and our skies are clear blue and sunny. I am listening to the birds sing outside and in a few minutes I will get up to water the tomatoes and check on the apple blossoms in the back yard. Life is good in Florida in the winter.

Soon, though, things will heat up and while I still love it in Florida in the summer, I like to be able to take off and find some mountains from time to time in the summer. I’m researching Pigeon Forge cabin rentals right now, because I want to combine a trip to the Smokies with a trip over to Knoxville to see one of my best friends. I start to miss the mountains when things here get hot and humid. And, the beach is great, but it starts to get old about mid-summer.

Yes, we all know that Joran Van der Sloot lies. The joke is on him, though. While he thinks he has the wool pulled over the collective eyes of the world, that we have believed his ever-changing stories and smug expressions, we all know that when he is telling people he lied about admitting to having a hand in the dumpling of Natalie Holloway’s body that he is lying then as well.

A judge in Aruba has ruled that the case against van der Sloot will be reopened. This comes after Dutch television aired an audio clip where Van der Sloot admitted that he was with Holloway on a beach near her hotel when she died, and that he subsequently arranged for a friend to dump her body at sea.

What he said was, “He went out to sea and then he threw her out, like an old rag.” Van der Sloot said this is a recording that Aruban businessman Patrick van der Eem made is his car while riding with Van der Sloot on January 16.

And now, Van der Sloot admits he said those words, but that he was lying at the time.

Riiight.

“I didn’t lose a minute of sleep over it,” he later said.