To Whom it May Concern: You owe me $500. Hugs and Kisses- Lesley (I'm looking at YOU City of Evanston)

September 1, 2011. 8:20 am. I was sound asleep in my comfy bed. My husband got up and left for his 2nd day of orientation for grad school. At 8:25 am, I get awoken from my slumber by my hubs to come outside and take a look at something. That something happened to be our sweet, brand-new, LEASED, 2010 Toyota Corolla S, from the headlight to the taillight on the drivers side, COMPLETELY smashed in. There is a sweet little note from the City of Evanston saying "Your car has been hit by a city vehicle. Call this number and mention this case number."
(Can I Leslie Knope and side bar for a hot min?? I'm thinking, if you have to be hit, being hit by the city HAS to be the best option. You. Are. Mistaken.)
We call. And call. and FINALLY get ahold of someone, who tells us to call our insurance company. Now, if I have learned anything through this, it's that Progressive Insurance is where it's at. They have been amaze. Anyways, they get a tow, get us a rental (mind you, only for 30 days) and start working with the City so we don't have to. Turns out, our neighbor heard the crash and told us what happened!
(Luckily my husband is apparently a god to the people he serves coffee to and they recognize him HEY! PEETS GUY! HEAR WHAT HAPPENED TO YOUR CAR?!)
A FIRETRUCK was turning down our street and the ladder fell off and hit my car. $14,000 worth of damage. But it's all fine!!! The city will take care of everything!!
(Bitches)
5 days later, we get a call from Progressive saying that their lawyers have done all they can (never a good sign) and apparently in Illinois, there is a law stating that if an emergency vehicle is on its way to an emergency, they aren't liable for anything that it harms in it's way.
(Really cool, Illinois. Way to have your citizens backs.)
So anyways, long story short, our insurance is covering most of it. Our car has taken 6 weeks to fix. We only had a rental for 4 weeks. It is ready this Monday, and we have to have our $500 deductible to pick up our car. $14,000 worth of damage that happened in OUR SLEEP and we STILL have to take the hit.
(This isn't points in your column, Chicago. Love ya babe, but Dallas is taking you on this one)
If you have been reading my blog posts before, you know that my fabulous hubs and I are already pretty poor. Seriously, I'm feeding my dog rice. I started buying lottery tickets.
(The Lesley with more money was so much more fun.)

Moral of the story: If you are ever anywhere NEAR Illinois, beware of government funded vehicles. They may just run into you without abandon just because they can!
It really hip and cool of you Evanston. You really owe me $14,000 and I'll take another $5,000 for the surgery I will inevitably have to have from all the wrinkle lines I'm creating. BUT, I'll be a nice southern gal and settle for just my $500 deductible so this mess doesn't actually cost US money. Thanks and have a good damn day.

(Just one more side bar. If anyone feels Jesus himself telling you to help a poor, seminary student and his hardworking hairstylist wife, I will never stop the Spirit from moving. Let me know, gurrll)
(Okay I lied. One more. Open your netflix instant stream and start watching Parks and Rec immediately. And then send me $500. The order isn't important, just that you do both. I'm kidding!)
(No. I'm Not.)

New Shows in Fall 2011, is anything better than Modern Family?

So- It comes to no surprise to anyone that knows me how much I am OBSESSED with TV. Seriously. My DVR is practically at capacity for the amount I can record a week. SO when it came to all the new shows coming on this fall, Emma and I took it into our own hands to see what is worth watching.
Here is what we started with:
::New Shows::
Ringer
Up All Night
Revenge
Hart of Dixie
New Girl
Pan Am
Whitney
::Returning Shows::
The Sing-Off
Parks and Recreation

And of course the shows I regularly watch: Gossip Girl, Grey's Anatomy, The Office, Sister Wives, SVU, Modern Family, and Glee.

So, out of all the shows we started with, we kicked Ringer and Whitney to the side. They were both not funny, trying to hard, and hard to follow. Over it.
My shows that I regularly watch are bringing it so far. Modern Family and Glee are the standouts for sure, SVU is not the same AT ALL without Stabler, Gossip Girl is as terrible as usual, and this SHOULD be Grey's last season. Come on now.

I had never watched Parks and Rec before, and I have to tell you. It. Is. Amazing. Stop what you're doing and watch last weeks episode, Ron and Tammys. IMMEDIATELY.

I will continue to watch all the shows left, but if you have to watch any make it
New Girl, Up All Night and Revenge.

Zooey Deschanel is everything. New Girl is just so funny and amaze. Up All Night is, hands down, one of the funniest shows I've seen in awhile. Christina Applegate, Will Arnett and Maya Rudolph are a great team. Seriously, hilarious.
If you love horrible TV, i.e. Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, 90201, etc. You will be OBSESSED with Revenge. Seriously? Murder Mystery? Can't. Get. Better.

All in all, I was afraid this fall wasn't going to be up there with my summer shows (The Closer, Shedding for the Wedding, Pretty Little Liars) But my 3 new shows tots made up for it.

Has anyone else watched any new TV shows? What did you think?
Are you PISSED 30 Rock isn't coming back till January? I. Am.

xx Lesley