This is a post that I hope most women will be able to relate to. Do you ever notice that in any group of women there's always THAT woman. The one who consistently finds everything offensive, is snobby, and generally just acts like a b*tch?
I'm a part of the local Moms Club chapter and let me tell you, we definitely have THAT woman. Unfortunately, she joined the executive board with me (late - otherwise I wouldn't have joined) and it has just been a nightmare. I can't even breathe without getting a sigh or a snotty remark.
Recently, someone volunteered to take over the newsletter from me. Wonderful, right? Well, to help make the transition easier, I asked that everyone who submits things to the newsletter also CC me for this month. As usual, there weren't any submissions for the around town sections, so I went and looked some things up. I CC'd the ladies responsible for those sections to let them know I had done it. (The deadline has already passed.)
A couple hours later I get a snotty email from THAT woman saying she already turned her stuff in.
I hit reply all and said great, thanks - I didn't see the email, so I didn't know. I refrained from mentioning that she was supposed to CC me too so I know what's going on during the transition time, but whatever.
Deep breaths. 6 more months of being on the board together, then I can say goodbye to ALL of my responsibilities and leave the club. The moms in it just aren't all that nice and we don't go to any events because bringing out 2 kids (3 in April) for an awkward playdate just isn't worth it.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Thursday, December 26, 2013
Merry Christmas
I hope everyone had a great holiday. I know my posts have been a little more sporadic than usual, but that's what happens around this time of the year.
Anyway, I just wanted to say that we had a good Christmas. The kids made out like bandits without us "overdoing it" like we did last year. The hubby absolutely spoiled me and I feel bad because I kept his reasonable. I can never win... he always out-buys me. I know that's not what the holidays are about, but man. Just one year I'd like to be the one that gets him just 1 more gift than he gets me or really nails what he's been wanting.
If you're wondering, he got me a new phone. A fancy schmancy new phone. I use Straight Talk (gasp! A pre-pay??) and my phone likes to freeze, not send picture messages, etc. It has pretty much no memory on it and can only hold 1-3 apps. The way that the android system is set up, you can't run 99% of the apps off of a memory card, so while I have a nice 4GB one in there, it's useless. He spent a gross amount of money on a new phone for me, but it's also an android. I'm contemplating doing the iPhone thing instead with a used 4S from Verizon (it's cheaper and I like Apple's interface better than Android's), but I can't get a clear answer as to whether or not it will work with their BYOP program. I know 6 months ago it wouldn't, but it appears that there have been some fairly recent changes to their program. I need an ESN/MEIP number to punch in to see if it'll work and I won't have that until I buy the phone. I don't want to buy the phone until I know if it'll work... see the problem??
A used 4S will save about 50% of the cost of the phone he got me. He says that I can use the savings in that scenario to get a little chest freezer. Oh so tempting as we approach the birth of baby #3... what to do, what to do... I'd do it in a heartbeat if I were 100% sure that it would work. Buying an iPhone 4S from Walmart isn't an option - for a decent sized one it would be too expensive. If I do the iPhone route, it'll be used and I'll be doing the BYOP option.
Ideas? Suggestions? Anyone actually successfully bring an iPhone 4S from Verizon to Straight Talk?
Anyway, I just wanted to say that we had a good Christmas. The kids made out like bandits without us "overdoing it" like we did last year. The hubby absolutely spoiled me and I feel bad because I kept his reasonable. I can never win... he always out-buys me. I know that's not what the holidays are about, but man. Just one year I'd like to be the one that gets him just 1 more gift than he gets me or really nails what he's been wanting.
If you're wondering, he got me a new phone. A fancy schmancy new phone. I use Straight Talk (gasp! A pre-pay??) and my phone likes to freeze, not send picture messages, etc. It has pretty much no memory on it and can only hold 1-3 apps. The way that the android system is set up, you can't run 99% of the apps off of a memory card, so while I have a nice 4GB one in there, it's useless. He spent a gross amount of money on a new phone for me, but it's also an android. I'm contemplating doing the iPhone thing instead with a used 4S from Verizon (it's cheaper and I like Apple's interface better than Android's), but I can't get a clear answer as to whether or not it will work with their BYOP program. I know 6 months ago it wouldn't, but it appears that there have been some fairly recent changes to their program. I need an ESN/MEIP number to punch in to see if it'll work and I won't have that until I buy the phone. I don't want to buy the phone until I know if it'll work... see the problem??
A used 4S will save about 50% of the cost of the phone he got me. He says that I can use the savings in that scenario to get a little chest freezer. Oh so tempting as we approach the birth of baby #3... what to do, what to do... I'd do it in a heartbeat if I were 100% sure that it would work. Buying an iPhone 4S from Walmart isn't an option - for a decent sized one it would be too expensive. If I do the iPhone route, it'll be used and I'll be doing the BYOP option.
Ideas? Suggestions? Anyone actually successfully bring an iPhone 4S from Verizon to Straight Talk?
Monday, December 23, 2013
Phil Robertson Controversy
I've been hearing a lot about the controversy surrounding Phil Robertson (the Patriarch on Duck Dynasty if you don't know), and I'm just confused about one thing... what's wrong with what he said?
I've read the interview, which seems to be the dividing factor between the people who are protesting him and the people who are supporting him. Those who took the time to actually read what he said aren't offended, while those who blindly follow the hate-speech being spewed by the NAACP and a small portion of the outspoken members of the LGBT community are up in arms over his racist, homophobic rant.
I'm not sure how it has become offensive to say that you prefer the straight lifestyle. You're not condemning anyone else - in fact, as a Christian he is leaving that one up to God. If Phil Robertson were really as anti-gay as everyone is making him out to be, would he have agreed to sign a contract with a network that has a long history of supporting and promoting alternative lifestyles? Probably not.
In regards to the fools at the NAACP - GO HOME, YOU'RE DRUNK! Talk about reaching. So Phil himself has never witness racism and he has worked along side black people during some of the hardest times in this country and only has good things to say about their attitudes and work ethics. He didn't say anything about Jim Crow laws. All he said was that in the rural town that he lived in, he didn't see racism. Things were good, people worked hard (he was one of them) and they were happy. How is that bad?
I'm going to shock the pants off of everyone, but I've never witnessed a blatant act of racism against blacks either. I'm white and I've lived on both coasts in my lifetime. Granted, I've always lived in pretty small towns, I did go to college in a city and I worked in an inner-city school while I was there. I think the vast majority of people respect one another, but that the media blows any act of racism (or potential racism) out of the water to make it look like we're just 1 incident away from a full on race war. That's really just not the case and kudos to Phil for being brave enough to say it. It doesn't fit with the NAACP's narrative, but the truth almost never does.
I've read the interview, which seems to be the dividing factor between the people who are protesting him and the people who are supporting him. Those who took the time to actually read what he said aren't offended, while those who blindly follow the hate-speech being spewed by the NAACP and a small portion of the outspoken members of the LGBT community are up in arms over his racist, homophobic rant.
I'm not sure how it has become offensive to say that you prefer the straight lifestyle. You're not condemning anyone else - in fact, as a Christian he is leaving that one up to God. If Phil Robertson were really as anti-gay as everyone is making him out to be, would he have agreed to sign a contract with a network that has a long history of supporting and promoting alternative lifestyles? Probably not.
In regards to the fools at the NAACP - GO HOME, YOU'RE DRUNK! Talk about reaching. So Phil himself has never witness racism and he has worked along side black people during some of the hardest times in this country and only has good things to say about their attitudes and work ethics. He didn't say anything about Jim Crow laws. All he said was that in the rural town that he lived in, he didn't see racism. Things were good, people worked hard (he was one of them) and they were happy. How is that bad?
I'm going to shock the pants off of everyone, but I've never witnessed a blatant act of racism against blacks either. I'm white and I've lived on both coasts in my lifetime. Granted, I've always lived in pretty small towns, I did go to college in a city and I worked in an inner-city school while I was there. I think the vast majority of people respect one another, but that the media blows any act of racism (or potential racism) out of the water to make it look like we're just 1 incident away from a full on race war. That's really just not the case and kudos to Phil for being brave enough to say it. It doesn't fit with the NAACP's narrative, but the truth almost never does.
Friday, December 20, 2013
High Deductible Health Plans
My mom recently called me in a panic because she and my father lost their insurance. My dad was covered through his job, but because of a buy-out, the new employer decided to change to a more "cost-effective" insurance option that's becoming increasingly popular because of the ACA and the so called "cadillac tax" that takes effect in 2018. To avoid being taxed because of offering employees health insurance plans that are expensive, more employers are scraping the bottom of the barrel and coming up with bronze-level plans, or high deductible plans.
With these high deductible plans, an employee must meet an out-of-pocket deductible that often falls into the $4,000 - $12,000 range before the insurance kicks in. While they are meeting these high deductibles, they are still paying health insurance premiums.
For an older individual that gets several prescriptions and goes to the doctor frequently, meeting the deductible may be realistic. However, for healthy, young individuals, that's just not going to happen. For many young families, meeting a $6,000 deductible while paying health insurance premiums is more than the family budget can sustain.
To help offset costs, employees are encouraged to set up an HSA account to pay for the deductible. While the money is from pre-tax dollars, it's still shrinking the paycheck while health insurance premiums are still being withdrawn. For many people, meeting the deductible won't ever happen, so the premiums are basically just a waste since they are paying out of pocket for doctor's visits, prescription drugs and other health care costs.
Lets look at a family with young children for example. The family consists of a dad, a mom and two young kids. They get insurance through the dad's employer, who suddenly begins only offering high deductible plans. They previously had an HMO. Under the HMO, they paid $500 per paycheck for health insurance, or $13,000 per year. Under the new high deductible plan, they'll pay $300 per paycheck for a total of $7,800 per year. Unfortunately, their plan has a deductible of $6000 for the family, so they actually need to pay $13,800 before the insurance pays out. That's not any better than the HMO, but now the family tries to avoid seeing the doctor for sick visits in an attempt to save money and as a result, a small condition may blossom into something much worse. A fever in a toddler could wind up being an ear infection that costs them their hearing because the parents tried to wait it out to see if it was worth spending the $185 on an office visit.
You see, if you need to spend several thousand dollars out of pocket before your health insurance kicks in, it's a lot like not having health insurance. Most families won't ever meet the deductibles required for insurance benefits to begin. As a result, people are going to avoid seeing the doctor and seeking treatment until conditions have deteriorated greatly. The people that will suffer the most are children, since young families are often strapped for cash.
As a parent, I can say that when I had my first child I was worried about everything. I brought her in to the doctor over mysterious rashes and fevers that were sometimes serious and sometimes nothing. I had no idea what was from teething and what was a sign of an ear infection and my doctor didn't want to dispense advice over the phone for fear of malpractice. When finances were tight, I was able to justify the $25. I could find places in the budget to make it up. If the cost had been $185, I wouldn't have been able to find places in the budget to make up the difference and I would have really had to think twice about bringing her in, potentially putting her health at risk if it was the time she had an ear infection or the time the rash turned out to be a penicillin allergy.
Back to my parents. My dad is a heart patient. He had 6 bypasses in 2007 and had a valve repaired at the same time. He sees a cardiologist once or twice a year for a check up and takes a host of expensive medications to regular blood pressure and other complications of heart disease. My mom also takes medications and sees the doctor regularly for her conditions. Under their new high deductible plan, those medications won't be covered anymore. Neither will the visits to the doctors until they meet their out of pocket deductible. Furthermore, the premium for their new health insurance won't be significantly less than their old health insurance. The increase in medication costs is greater than the savings on the cost of the plan, which means they'll be paying more.
My mom has already made plans to stop taking non-essential medications, like those for allergies, migraines and basically everything that's not life-threatening. My dad on the other hand will probably have a heart attack if he stops taking his medications. He's not sure how he's going to afford them and he's too young for Medicare. To help make up the cost, they're considering dropping their insurance and taking the penalty. That way, they can negotiate costs with their providers directly and save the money they would spend on premiums to go towards medications and doctors visits.
It's like my mom said, they want to take away all of the benefits of health insurance, but not the cost.
Unfortunately, somehow through all of this, my mom still doesn't see how the changes in their insurance and coverage is a direct result of the ACA. She still maintains that Obama is a great president and she still identifies with the Democratic party. She even tried to blame this one on the Republicans, which I couldn't figure out since Democrats were in charge when this was forced through. The ACA is the main reason I no longer identify with the Democratic party - they really didn't have anyone's best interest at mind when they forced through a huge law like that without thinking of the consequences. It's easy for politicians to play with everyone else's health insurance when they themselves use a different system.
With these high deductible plans, an employee must meet an out-of-pocket deductible that often falls into the $4,000 - $12,000 range before the insurance kicks in. While they are meeting these high deductibles, they are still paying health insurance premiums.
For an older individual that gets several prescriptions and goes to the doctor frequently, meeting the deductible may be realistic. However, for healthy, young individuals, that's just not going to happen. For many young families, meeting a $6,000 deductible while paying health insurance premiums is more than the family budget can sustain.
To help offset costs, employees are encouraged to set up an HSA account to pay for the deductible. While the money is from pre-tax dollars, it's still shrinking the paycheck while health insurance premiums are still being withdrawn. For many people, meeting the deductible won't ever happen, so the premiums are basically just a waste since they are paying out of pocket for doctor's visits, prescription drugs and other health care costs.
Lets look at a family with young children for example. The family consists of a dad, a mom and two young kids. They get insurance through the dad's employer, who suddenly begins only offering high deductible plans. They previously had an HMO. Under the HMO, they paid $500 per paycheck for health insurance, or $13,000 per year. Under the new high deductible plan, they'll pay $300 per paycheck for a total of $7,800 per year. Unfortunately, their plan has a deductible of $6000 for the family, so they actually need to pay $13,800 before the insurance pays out. That's not any better than the HMO, but now the family tries to avoid seeing the doctor for sick visits in an attempt to save money and as a result, a small condition may blossom into something much worse. A fever in a toddler could wind up being an ear infection that costs them their hearing because the parents tried to wait it out to see if it was worth spending the $185 on an office visit.
You see, if you need to spend several thousand dollars out of pocket before your health insurance kicks in, it's a lot like not having health insurance. Most families won't ever meet the deductibles required for insurance benefits to begin. As a result, people are going to avoid seeing the doctor and seeking treatment until conditions have deteriorated greatly. The people that will suffer the most are children, since young families are often strapped for cash.
As a parent, I can say that when I had my first child I was worried about everything. I brought her in to the doctor over mysterious rashes and fevers that were sometimes serious and sometimes nothing. I had no idea what was from teething and what was a sign of an ear infection and my doctor didn't want to dispense advice over the phone for fear of malpractice. When finances were tight, I was able to justify the $25. I could find places in the budget to make it up. If the cost had been $185, I wouldn't have been able to find places in the budget to make up the difference and I would have really had to think twice about bringing her in, potentially putting her health at risk if it was the time she had an ear infection or the time the rash turned out to be a penicillin allergy.
Back to my parents. My dad is a heart patient. He had 6 bypasses in 2007 and had a valve repaired at the same time. He sees a cardiologist once or twice a year for a check up and takes a host of expensive medications to regular blood pressure and other complications of heart disease. My mom also takes medications and sees the doctor regularly for her conditions. Under their new high deductible plan, those medications won't be covered anymore. Neither will the visits to the doctors until they meet their out of pocket deductible. Furthermore, the premium for their new health insurance won't be significantly less than their old health insurance. The increase in medication costs is greater than the savings on the cost of the plan, which means they'll be paying more.
My mom has already made plans to stop taking non-essential medications, like those for allergies, migraines and basically everything that's not life-threatening. My dad on the other hand will probably have a heart attack if he stops taking his medications. He's not sure how he's going to afford them and he's too young for Medicare. To help make up the cost, they're considering dropping their insurance and taking the penalty. That way, they can negotiate costs with their providers directly and save the money they would spend on premiums to go towards medications and doctors visits.
It's like my mom said, they want to take away all of the benefits of health insurance, but not the cost.
Unfortunately, somehow through all of this, my mom still doesn't see how the changes in their insurance and coverage is a direct result of the ACA. She still maintains that Obama is a great president and she still identifies with the Democratic party. She even tried to blame this one on the Republicans, which I couldn't figure out since Democrats were in charge when this was forced through. The ACA is the main reason I no longer identify with the Democratic party - they really didn't have anyone's best interest at mind when they forced through a huge law like that without thinking of the consequences. It's easy for politicians to play with everyone else's health insurance when they themselves use a different system.
Wednesday, December 18, 2013
SIL's Baby
I tend to post about things that bother me that I can't bug my husband about. That being said, I have to put a quick post up about my sister-in-law because it's really bothering me.
She has a baby (I guess it's my nephew, though I believe a DNA test would say otherwise since her erm... exploits... are well-known in the family). The baby is 5 months old and it is failing to thrive. I asked her about it a little bit - what exactly was going on and whatnot. She says the baby has horrible reflux that's causing it to not gain weight.
Well, over the course of Thanksgiving and now Christmas, I can say with some certainty that the reflux is not the problem, but rather that its mother is. I have yet to see her give the child a bottle. She was breastfeeding, but that didn't work out with her older 2 kids either because her "milk is bad". Her diet is pretty much crap and that could be why.
Anyway, not giving a baby that's failing to thrive any sort of food in a 3 or 4 hour time period is kind of extreme. At 5 months old, the baby weights 10 or 11 pounds. That's crazy! On top of not feeding the baby, when he started crying hysterically and looking hungry she didn't do anything at all! She just sat across the room and let grandma deal with him. I didn't see a bottle in the diaper bag, so they may not have even had one with them. I'm just amazed that she can think it's ok to not feed a child because of his age, even though he's the size of a much younger baby.
She has a baby (I guess it's my nephew, though I believe a DNA test would say otherwise since her erm... exploits... are well-known in the family). The baby is 5 months old and it is failing to thrive. I asked her about it a little bit - what exactly was going on and whatnot. She says the baby has horrible reflux that's causing it to not gain weight.
Well, over the course of Thanksgiving and now Christmas, I can say with some certainty that the reflux is not the problem, but rather that its mother is. I have yet to see her give the child a bottle. She was breastfeeding, but that didn't work out with her older 2 kids either because her "milk is bad". Her diet is pretty much crap and that could be why.
Anyway, not giving a baby that's failing to thrive any sort of food in a 3 or 4 hour time period is kind of extreme. At 5 months old, the baby weights 10 or 11 pounds. That's crazy! On top of not feeding the baby, when he started crying hysterically and looking hungry she didn't do anything at all! She just sat across the room and let grandma deal with him. I didn't see a bottle in the diaper bag, so they may not have even had one with them. I'm just amazed that she can think it's ok to not feed a child because of his age, even though he's the size of a much younger baby.
Tuesday, December 17, 2013
Frustrated with Hubby's Job
I am really frustrated with the hubby's job today. They are displaying a blatant lack of concern for their employee's welfare. Today, it's snowing. This isn't a huge surprise given that we're in New England and it's not a particularly large storm either (6-8 inches), BUT it's the timing that is sucky. The peak of the storm is hitting during the evening rush, when it's dark and below freezing. They expect visibility to suck, and as a precaution, state officials asked employers to let employees leave to be home by 4pm.
Did my husband's job comply? Hell no. Everyone there gets out between 5 and 7, right smack in the middle of the snow storm. That should make for a fun ride home. Furthermore, it's well-known that if an employee does value something (like say their life) above the company, they aren't dedicated enough and they get let go. They basically get bullied into taking stupid and unnecessary risks.
We don't live near his workplace to begin with - it's an hour drive on a good day. Tonight, he may as well not even come home. Local hotels are jacking up their rates and I'm torn between wanting him safe in a hotel w/ no change of clothes and wanting him home. I know he won't stay in a hotel because of the cost and the whole not wanting to be away from his family the whole night thing, so he'll make the ridiculous drive and get in just in time to go to bed, wake up and do it all again tomorrow.
I seriously hate where he works.
Did I mention that these people expect 200% from their employees, but don't give it back in return? They haven't had any sort of company party in years, nobody gets raises because "of the economy" despite the fact that they are busier than ever and this year they reduced the number of yearly vacation days by 4. (Yes, they can do that because they have a use-it-or-lose it system where your time off resets on the first of the year.)
I really want my husband to look for a new job, but he hates interviewing with such a passion that he'd rather work for a bunch of jerks with no shot at going anywhere than go through an interview. If he'd just put in the effort, I'm sure he could find a different job that he hates at a similar pay rate that's WAY closer to home. Wouldn't that be novel? He always seems to have horrific commutes too. We even moved closer to his job and then he got laid off (the company went out of business) and took his current job that was about 30 minutes away. Then they moved and now they are an hour and 10 minutes away. Go figure. :-/
Did my husband's job comply? Hell no. Everyone there gets out between 5 and 7, right smack in the middle of the snow storm. That should make for a fun ride home. Furthermore, it's well-known that if an employee does value something (like say their life) above the company, they aren't dedicated enough and they get let go. They basically get bullied into taking stupid and unnecessary risks.
We don't live near his workplace to begin with - it's an hour drive on a good day. Tonight, he may as well not even come home. Local hotels are jacking up their rates and I'm torn between wanting him safe in a hotel w/ no change of clothes and wanting him home. I know he won't stay in a hotel because of the cost and the whole not wanting to be away from his family the whole night thing, so he'll make the ridiculous drive and get in just in time to go to bed, wake up and do it all again tomorrow.
I seriously hate where he works.
Did I mention that these people expect 200% from their employees, but don't give it back in return? They haven't had any sort of company party in years, nobody gets raises because "of the economy" despite the fact that they are busier than ever and this year they reduced the number of yearly vacation days by 4. (Yes, they can do that because they have a use-it-or-lose it system where your time off resets on the first of the year.)
I really want my husband to look for a new job, but he hates interviewing with such a passion that he'd rather work for a bunch of jerks with no shot at going anywhere than go through an interview. If he'd just put in the effort, I'm sure he could find a different job that he hates at a similar pay rate that's WAY closer to home. Wouldn't that be novel? He always seems to have horrific commutes too. We even moved closer to his job and then he got laid off (the company went out of business) and took his current job that was about 30 minutes away. Then they moved and now they are an hour and 10 minutes away. Go figure. :-/
Friday, December 13, 2013
Kids Eating Habits
My kids have decided to become picky eaters. Once upon a time they would eat whatever you put in front of them, whenever you put it there. Then they discovered that daddy likes to buy snack cakes and an assortment of crap foods.
That's when they became picky. Now, instead of eating the salmon and liking it, they want candy. Cakes. Peanut butter... it's just annoying.
I really don't want to be one of those parents that hides healthy food in junk food, but if my kids don't snap out of their no-food bender, I'm going to have to. Anyone have something like this happen with their kids?
That's when they became picky. Now, instead of eating the salmon and liking it, they want candy. Cakes. Peanut butter... it's just annoying.
I really don't want to be one of those parents that hides healthy food in junk food, but if my kids don't snap out of their no-food bender, I'm going to have to. Anyone have something like this happen with their kids?
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
Pregnancy Journal: Week 21
I'm almost late on posting this, but that's just because things have been hectic around here. I'm at the tale end of week 21 and there's not a whole lot to say. I'm slightly bigger than I was last week, the scale says I've gained about a pound since my last Dr's visit and Christmas is right around the corner. I feel fine aside from sciatica and random bouts of Braxton Hicks.
I guess that's the biggest news this time - the Braxton Hicks. Boy are they painful. They knock the wind out of me and just completely kick my butt for the 30 or so seconds that they last. I'll get a couple in a row and then nothing, so I'm not worried about it. This is earlier than they came with my last pregnancies, but it seems that with each baby they come earlier and earlier. They are a lot more noticable though.
So there ya go - not a lot to write home about this week. :-P
I guess that's the biggest news this time - the Braxton Hicks. Boy are they painful. They knock the wind out of me and just completely kick my butt for the 30 or so seconds that they last. I'll get a couple in a row and then nothing, so I'm not worried about it. This is earlier than they came with my last pregnancies, but it seems that with each baby they come earlier and earlier. They are a lot more noticable though.
So there ya go - not a lot to write home about this week. :-P
Monday, December 9, 2013
Avoid Aeropostale: The Update
I had to post an update on the Aeropostale holiday drama, but I was just too peeved to do it over the weekend.
Just for kicks, I checked the website Sunday morning to see what else they have. I'm at a complete loss as to what to get this teenager kid and his mom is no help at all. Guess what - the hoodies they CLAIMED to be out of were back in stock. At the same price as on Cyber Monday.
Did I order? No. Absolutely not.
I think that's complete BS that they cancel people's orders on the basis that the product is out of stock and then mysteriously put more of the depleted item out for sale. Clearly what is happening is that if you only purchased the bargain items and had the restraint to not pick up anything else along the way, they cancelled your order. The deals were meant to get you in the door to make additional purchases and those who didn't fall prey to the retail mindset were sent cancellation notices.
No thanks. I'd rather not shop at a store like that. Besides, I'd still only order the hoodie and they'd probably cancel my order next week, leaving me in the same lurch that I'm in right now.
Still no refund as of yet.
Just for kicks, I checked the website Sunday morning to see what else they have. I'm at a complete loss as to what to get this teenager kid and his mom is no help at all. Guess what - the hoodies they CLAIMED to be out of were back in stock. At the same price as on Cyber Monday.
Did I order? No. Absolutely not.
I think that's complete BS that they cancel people's orders on the basis that the product is out of stock and then mysteriously put more of the depleted item out for sale. Clearly what is happening is that if you only purchased the bargain items and had the restraint to not pick up anything else along the way, they cancelled your order. The deals were meant to get you in the door to make additional purchases and those who didn't fall prey to the retail mindset were sent cancellation notices.
No thanks. I'd rather not shop at a store like that. Besides, I'd still only order the hoodie and they'd probably cancel my order next week, leaving me in the same lurch that I'm in right now.
Still no refund as of yet.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Avoid Aeropostale
Unfortunately, I have to add a company to my list of banned places to shop. Who ticked me off enough this time to blog about it? Aeropostale.
Bastards.
I shopped at their "too good to be true" Cyber Monday sale and it turns out, it really was too good to be true. I gleefully picked out a $49 zippered hoodie that was marked down to $15 and put it in my cart. Sizes were selling out, but since the boy in question wears his clothes slightly larger than a rapper at a hip-hop parade, I was able to snag an XL. Check, Christmas shopping was done for my FIL's girlfriend's kids.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
On Saturday I got an email letting me know that my order was cancelled. Happy holidays!
I called to find out what the heck could have gone wrong. Well, apparently the item was out of stock when I ordered it and they couldn't tell me until SATURDAY that I couldn't order it. How kind of them. A quick check of my credit card showed that they had the good sense to charge me first. Wonderful! The customer service rep (really, there's no point to having these unskilled high school drop outs on the other end of the line) told me I could go into the store and buy the hoodie, but that it would be whatever the store price was at the time. Wow. Ballsy.
So now I'm out $22 (shipping was not free) which may or may not get refunded in the holiday madness and I don't have a hoodie for an excessively picky teenager. Double wonderful! Aren't the holidays grand?!
I'm still shocked that a store as obnoxious as Aeropostale would pull that stunt and then have the kahonies to tell me to go into the store and re-purchase the item that my card had already been charged for at a higher price. Now i get to drive 30-40 minutes (the mall isn't exactly in my backyard), drag 2 little kids and my pregnant behind through said mall and then purchase an overpriced hoodie from a Chinese sweat shop for 3x what I had already bought the same hoodie for on Cyber Monday. How do these fools stay in business!?
I'm just floored right now at their terrible policies that would allow that to happen. If you're going to cancel my order, fine. Cancel it on Monday when I have a shot at getting another Cyber Monday deal. Don't cancel it on Saturday when the sale is already over and then try to talk me into going to the store and spending additional money on it.
Bastards.
Bastards.
I shopped at their "too good to be true" Cyber Monday sale and it turns out, it really was too good to be true. I gleefully picked out a $49 zippered hoodie that was marked down to $15 and put it in my cart. Sizes were selling out, but since the boy in question wears his clothes slightly larger than a rapper at a hip-hop parade, I was able to snag an XL. Check, Christmas shopping was done for my FIL's girlfriend's kids.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
On Saturday I got an email letting me know that my order was cancelled. Happy holidays!
I called to find out what the heck could have gone wrong. Well, apparently the item was out of stock when I ordered it and they couldn't tell me until SATURDAY that I couldn't order it. How kind of them. A quick check of my credit card showed that they had the good sense to charge me first. Wonderful! The customer service rep (really, there's no point to having these unskilled high school drop outs on the other end of the line) told me I could go into the store and buy the hoodie, but that it would be whatever the store price was at the time. Wow. Ballsy.
So now I'm out $22 (shipping was not free) which may or may not get refunded in the holiday madness and I don't have a hoodie for an excessively picky teenager. Double wonderful! Aren't the holidays grand?!
I'm still shocked that a store as obnoxious as Aeropostale would pull that stunt and then have the kahonies to tell me to go into the store and re-purchase the item that my card had already been charged for at a higher price. Now i get to drive 30-40 minutes (the mall isn't exactly in my backyard), drag 2 little kids and my pregnant behind through said mall and then purchase an overpriced hoodie from a Chinese sweat shop for 3x what I had already bought the same hoodie for on Cyber Monday. How do these fools stay in business!?
I'm just floored right now at their terrible policies that would allow that to happen. If you're going to cancel my order, fine. Cancel it on Monday when I have a shot at getting another Cyber Monday deal. Don't cancel it on Saturday when the sale is already over and then try to talk me into going to the store and spending additional money on it.
Bastards.
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
Why Do I Look at Facebook?
Does anyone else ever look at Facebook and wonder what kinds of idiots they're friends with? Seriously, it seems that every time I log on I find a post that's either poorly written, offensive or politically motivated. There's really no need for that nonsense on Facebook.
The latest post was a link to a blog about Hobby Lobby objecting to the ACA on the grounds of a conscience objection or something along those lines. In case you've been living under a rock, Hobby Lobby has a strong Christian background. They aren't open on Sunday and they haven't made it a secret that they put the morals and principles of their faith first. Part of that strong faith requires them to oppose the portion of Obamacare that would require them to pay for their employee's birth control pills through their health insurance.
The particular blog I read stated that basically because they were choosing to run a business in this country they needed to blindly comply to any law that was thrown their way. If they don't like the law, they can forfeit their business and close the doors.
Um... what?
Hobby Lobby isn't saying their employees can't use birth control, they're simply saying they don't want to pay for it because it violates the principles the company was founded on. As most people know, employer sponsored health insurance is subsidized by the employer. Therefore, everything offered in said health insurance is partially paid for by the employer. That includes birth control pills under the ACA as well as abortions and a slew of other things that various groups may find offensive.
The company isn't saying their employees can't get abortions or use birth control pills, they're just saying that they don't want to pay for it and they don't want to sell the service that covers it (aka the insurance) to their employees. They could offer insurance without those types of coverages and let employees pay for birth control pills or abortions out of pocket, but that's apparently not good enough. No, people are actually up in arms saying the employer HAS to pay for it.
I see something wrong with that. I see something really wrong with the notion that the government can not only tell individuals what they have to buy, but they can also tell employers what they have to buy on behalf of their employees. They don't just have to buy insurance, they have to buy insurance that covers birth control pills and abortions.
I'm sure everyone that works at Hobby Lobby knew they were a fairly religious company when they took the job. They CHOSE to work at Hobby Lobby and they CHOSE to accept employment at a company that's well-known for their religious beliefs. The people arguing that Hobby Lobby should get with the program or leave could also argue that the employees of Hobby Lobby should get with the program or leave. It's a 2 way street.
The latest post was a link to a blog about Hobby Lobby objecting to the ACA on the grounds of a conscience objection or something along those lines. In case you've been living under a rock, Hobby Lobby has a strong Christian background. They aren't open on Sunday and they haven't made it a secret that they put the morals and principles of their faith first. Part of that strong faith requires them to oppose the portion of Obamacare that would require them to pay for their employee's birth control pills through their health insurance.
The particular blog I read stated that basically because they were choosing to run a business in this country they needed to blindly comply to any law that was thrown their way. If they don't like the law, they can forfeit their business and close the doors.
Um... what?
Hobby Lobby isn't saying their employees can't use birth control, they're simply saying they don't want to pay for it because it violates the principles the company was founded on. As most people know, employer sponsored health insurance is subsidized by the employer. Therefore, everything offered in said health insurance is partially paid for by the employer. That includes birth control pills under the ACA as well as abortions and a slew of other things that various groups may find offensive.
The company isn't saying their employees can't get abortions or use birth control pills, they're just saying that they don't want to pay for it and they don't want to sell the service that covers it (aka the insurance) to their employees. They could offer insurance without those types of coverages and let employees pay for birth control pills or abortions out of pocket, but that's apparently not good enough. No, people are actually up in arms saying the employer HAS to pay for it.
I see something wrong with that. I see something really wrong with the notion that the government can not only tell individuals what they have to buy, but they can also tell employers what they have to buy on behalf of their employees. They don't just have to buy insurance, they have to buy insurance that covers birth control pills and abortions.
I'm sure everyone that works at Hobby Lobby knew they were a fairly religious company when they took the job. They CHOSE to work at Hobby Lobby and they CHOSE to accept employment at a company that's well-known for their religious beliefs. The people arguing that Hobby Lobby should get with the program or leave could also argue that the employees of Hobby Lobby should get with the program or leave. It's a 2 way street.
Monday, December 2, 2013
Pregnancy Journal: Week 20
Wait... what?! Where has the first half of my pregnancy gone?!?! I can't believe I'm officially halfway - though realistically I probably hit that marker last week judging by previous pregnancies.
As far as I know I'm at about the same weight I was at last week, which keeps my total just under 10 pounds. I have one of those older scales with the little arm that swings around and points to a number to indicate your weight. It's not the most accurate, but it gives you a general idea.
However, in terms of looks, you can tell that I'm pregnant when I'm wearing thinner clothing or more form-fitting outfits. In bulkier items like coats and sweaters, I still just look questionably fat. That's amazing given that this is my 3rd pregnancy. I think I'm about the same size-wise this time as I was with my first. I thought you were supposed to show sooner in subsequent pregnancies, what happened to that?! Not that I wish I were bigger or anything, but I'm a little surprised how long it's taking. I got a bunch of maternity clothes this time (though truthfully I hate 50% of them now because they are too clingy) and I was all set to be a house by 2 months in. It was downright surprising when that didn't happen.
So, that's the update. I don't see the Dr. again until mid-December... I was hoping to put it off until January, but she was more comfortable doing 4 weeks rather than 6 weeks. BOO! :-(
On the bright side, I have something to look forward to after the holidays as the hubby thinks that's when we'll really buckle down about decorating the baby's room. I just need him to paint and I'll take care of the rest. ;-)
As far as I know I'm at about the same weight I was at last week, which keeps my total just under 10 pounds. I have one of those older scales with the little arm that swings around and points to a number to indicate your weight. It's not the most accurate, but it gives you a general idea.
However, in terms of looks, you can tell that I'm pregnant when I'm wearing thinner clothing or more form-fitting outfits. In bulkier items like coats and sweaters, I still just look questionably fat. That's amazing given that this is my 3rd pregnancy. I think I'm about the same size-wise this time as I was with my first. I thought you were supposed to show sooner in subsequent pregnancies, what happened to that?! Not that I wish I were bigger or anything, but I'm a little surprised how long it's taking. I got a bunch of maternity clothes this time (though truthfully I hate 50% of them now because they are too clingy) and I was all set to be a house by 2 months in. It was downright surprising when that didn't happen.
So, that's the update. I don't see the Dr. again until mid-December... I was hoping to put it off until January, but she was more comfortable doing 4 weeks rather than 6 weeks. BOO! :-(
On the bright side, I have something to look forward to after the holidays as the hubby thinks that's when we'll really buckle down about decorating the baby's room. I just need him to paint and I'll take care of the rest. ;-)
Friday, November 29, 2013
Family Dispute
So the fighting between my youngest brother-in-law, his family and my father-in-law continues. This weekend we're heading down to my father-in-law's house to celebrate Thanksgiving with his girlfriend, her kids, his sister (my husband's aunt) and her family. I think my middle brother-in-law is also supposed to be there with his boyfriend.
So basically 2 of my father-in-law's 3 kids will be there and we're supposed to just pretend like the 3rd son doesn't exist. I'm sure my FIL will make at least a couple comments about him, which is going to be super awkward since the middle brother-in-law's boyfriend is bosom buddies with the youngest brother-in-law's wife.
Confused yet?
Oh and then to top things off, my FIL's girlfriend casually asked on Wednesday if we wanted to do our Christmas exchange on Sunday. We weren't even aware of who would be participating in such an exchange.
Not to sound like the Grinch or anything, but I'm a little (ok, a lot) not thrilled about buying extra gifts for children I don't know and probably won't see ever again. My father-in-law's girlfriend has a 14 year old and a 9 year old that will be there as well as her 11 year old granddaughter who now lives with them. The girlfriend has custody of the 14 year old son, but the 9 year old daughter lives with her father and sees her mother on the weekends (they have different fathers). The 11 year old granddaughter is living there because her mother was homeless and living in a car - I'm not sure if said homeless mother will be at Thanksgivmas or not. My husband's aunt will also be at the Thanksgivmas celebration, meaning we'll also need to get something for his aunt, her husband and their 2 kids. We actually know them though, so that's slightly better than the 11 year old grandaughter of the 40-something year old girlfriend.
I really really really wish that my father-in-law had held off playing house until we knew whether or not the girlfriend was going to be a permanent fixture in our lives. He always berated my middle brother-in-law (the gay one) about moving guys in so quickly and then the moment he became single he did the exact same thing. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Anyway, that's my rant - I guess I'll just have to see how the drama plays out between everyone while doing my best to keep my opinions to myself. I hope my father-in-law doesn't bring up the whole apartment thing or the whole missing brother-in-law thing because I really don't know how civil I can keep the discussion if he does. Well, wish me luck!
Oh, and also, fingers crossed that my father-in-laws girlfriend knows how to make a good Thanksgiving meal. LOL - I've never had anything that she's cooked, so I don't know what to expect.
So basically 2 of my father-in-law's 3 kids will be there and we're supposed to just pretend like the 3rd son doesn't exist. I'm sure my FIL will make at least a couple comments about him, which is going to be super awkward since the middle brother-in-law's boyfriend is bosom buddies with the youngest brother-in-law's wife.
Confused yet?
Oh and then to top things off, my FIL's girlfriend casually asked on Wednesday if we wanted to do our Christmas exchange on Sunday. We weren't even aware of who would be participating in such an exchange.
Not to sound like the Grinch or anything, but I'm a little (ok, a lot) not thrilled about buying extra gifts for children I don't know and probably won't see ever again. My father-in-law's girlfriend has a 14 year old and a 9 year old that will be there as well as her 11 year old granddaughter who now lives with them. The girlfriend has custody of the 14 year old son, but the 9 year old daughter lives with her father and sees her mother on the weekends (they have different fathers). The 11 year old granddaughter is living there because her mother was homeless and living in a car - I'm not sure if said homeless mother will be at Thanksgivmas or not. My husband's aunt will also be at the Thanksgivmas celebration, meaning we'll also need to get something for his aunt, her husband and their 2 kids. We actually know them though, so that's slightly better than the 11 year old grandaughter of the 40-something year old girlfriend.
I really really really wish that my father-in-law had held off playing house until we knew whether or not the girlfriend was going to be a permanent fixture in our lives. He always berated my middle brother-in-law (the gay one) about moving guys in so quickly and then the moment he became single he did the exact same thing. I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.
Anyway, that's my rant - I guess I'll just have to see how the drama plays out between everyone while doing my best to keep my opinions to myself. I hope my father-in-law doesn't bring up the whole apartment thing or the whole missing brother-in-law thing because I really don't know how civil I can keep the discussion if he does. Well, wish me luck!
Oh, and also, fingers crossed that my father-in-laws girlfriend knows how to make a good Thanksgiving meal. LOL - I've never had anything that she's cooked, so I don't know what to expect.
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
K-Cups DEAL
I recently obtained a Keurig. I know, I know, it's 2013 and I'm JUST NOW jumping on the single serve coffee bandwagon. I'm the only coffee drinker in my house, so you'd think it would make sense to have a Keurig, but I never bought one because I didn't want to spend that kind of money on myself. Anyway, thanks to the magic of the Facebook yard sale site, I was able to get one for free. It's nothing fancy - just the Keurig mini, but it works. The person that gave it away said it didn't work, but after descaling it was absolutely fine.
Anyway, onto the DEAL portion of the post.
Right now it's November and Keurig users are probably not thinking about their summer time favorites, but if you head to your local grocery store you can probably score a deal on the iced tea line of Keurig products. I just got back from Market Basket (it's a New England thing for those that aren't in the know) and they had their Snapple iced teas marked down to $2.99 a box. They are normally $6.97 in the summer, then they go on sale for $4.99 towards the end of summer/early fall and now they are $2.99. Will they go lower? Maybe, but I'm sure it helps that we're in the beginning of winter and the stores are looking at about 6 months or more of no iced tea sales.
I plan to grab a box a week as long as they are on sale to keep myself well stocked for the summer months. Then, in the summer I'll look into chai tea, hot cocoa and hot cider. Hopefully with a little planning I can keep the Keurig in the convenience category rather than the expense category. For regular coffee, I plan to get a couple of those refillable cups to use on a regular basis. Maybe Santa will tuck one under the tree for me. ;-)
Anyway, onto the DEAL portion of the post.
Right now it's November and Keurig users are probably not thinking about their summer time favorites, but if you head to your local grocery store you can probably score a deal on the iced tea line of Keurig products. I just got back from Market Basket (it's a New England thing for those that aren't in the know) and they had their Snapple iced teas marked down to $2.99 a box. They are normally $6.97 in the summer, then they go on sale for $4.99 towards the end of summer/early fall and now they are $2.99. Will they go lower? Maybe, but I'm sure it helps that we're in the beginning of winter and the stores are looking at about 6 months or more of no iced tea sales.
I plan to grab a box a week as long as they are on sale to keep myself well stocked for the summer months. Then, in the summer I'll look into chai tea, hot cocoa and hot cider. Hopefully with a little planning I can keep the Keurig in the convenience category rather than the expense category. For regular coffee, I plan to get a couple of those refillable cups to use on a regular basis. Maybe Santa will tuck one under the tree for me. ;-)
Monday, November 25, 2013
Pregnancy Journal: Week 19
Week 19 has been pretty uneventful. I saw the Dr. and apparently I have gained 9 pounds so far, which isn't a lot at all for this point. Especially not when you consider the staggering amounts I gained with the other two...
The baby is doing great, genetic testing and down's syndrome screenings came back great, nothing to worry about. I'm not showing much. I think I was bigger than this with my first pregnancy at 19 weeks. I'm in maternity pants and maternity shirts, but both are too big while my regular stuff is too small. I'm in that awkward "is she pregnant or just fat?" stage. Annoying.
The baby is doing great, genetic testing and down's syndrome screenings came back great, nothing to worry about. I'm not showing much. I think I was bigger than this with my first pregnancy at 19 weeks. I'm in maternity pants and maternity shirts, but both are too big while my regular stuff is too small. I'm in that awkward "is she pregnant or just fat?" stage. Annoying.
Friday, November 22, 2013
Winter Blues
I can't seem to beat the winter blues lately. The weather is not so wonderful (cold), Thanksgiving is around the corner and I'm cooped up all day, every day with the kids. The only other adult I see is my husband, and he has been getting home around 8pm every day then drinking and vegging out because he's stressed out from work.
I'm basically isolated right now. I talk to my mom and my BFF on the phone pretty much every day, but that's not the same as seeing other people, leaving the house and having something to do that doesn't incite anxiety. I don't want to pack the kids up and take them anywhere because I'm getting over a cold and they are both in it full-swing right now. Bringing sick kids into 30 degree weather seems like a bad idea to me.
I have to go out later this morning for my prenatal appointment and I'm dragging the kiddos with me to that because I don't want to pay a baby sitter, clean the house and then come back to a disaster. I'm not asking my father-in-laws girlfriend since she bailed on me the last time. Seriously, it's like the only person I can depend on is myself. Kind of sucks, but it's true.
What do you do to beat the winter blues? I'm desperate for suggestions at this point. :-/ I need something to look forward to and Thanksgiving is more stressful than anything since we travel to my family's house and then stay overnight a couple days and do some shopping.
I'm basically isolated right now. I talk to my mom and my BFF on the phone pretty much every day, but that's not the same as seeing other people, leaving the house and having something to do that doesn't incite anxiety. I don't want to pack the kids up and take them anywhere because I'm getting over a cold and they are both in it full-swing right now. Bringing sick kids into 30 degree weather seems like a bad idea to me.
I have to go out later this morning for my prenatal appointment and I'm dragging the kiddos with me to that because I don't want to pay a baby sitter, clean the house and then come back to a disaster. I'm not asking my father-in-laws girlfriend since she bailed on me the last time. Seriously, it's like the only person I can depend on is myself. Kind of sucks, but it's true.
What do you do to beat the winter blues? I'm desperate for suggestions at this point. :-/ I need something to look forward to and Thanksgiving is more stressful than anything since we travel to my family's house and then stay overnight a couple days and do some shopping.
Wednesday, November 20, 2013
Pregnancy Journal: Week 18 & Gender Reveal!
I'm really bad at posting my weekly updates until the last possible day. Fortunately, I don't think too many people read these posts, so it's all good.
Anyway, last week I had my gender ultrasound. I think I touched on that in a previous post. I may as well get to the best part... the results!
IT'S A BOY!!
We're very excited since we already have 2 girls. My husband is over the moon to not be the only member of the family with a Y chromosome anymore. I'm insanely nervous about the whole circumcision thing and buying blue stuff and just parenting a boy in general. This is girl central... adding blue seems like it'll be hard. I hope not. :-/
I'm also starting to think about breast feeding. I'm not sure if I'll do it this time around since I had such a rough go of it the last time (I had an abscess that was quite large and had to be surgically drained. A nurse had to come in every day to change the dressing and it was all around horrible. EXTREMELY painful.)
Anyway, that's the update. :-) I can't believe I'm almost to the 1/2 way point -- especially considering the longest I've gone thus far was 38 weeks.
Anyway, last week I had my gender ultrasound. I think I touched on that in a previous post. I may as well get to the best part... the results!
IT'S A BOY!!
We're very excited since we already have 2 girls. My husband is over the moon to not be the only member of the family with a Y chromosome anymore. I'm insanely nervous about the whole circumcision thing and buying blue stuff and just parenting a boy in general. This is girl central... adding blue seems like it'll be hard. I hope not. :-/
I'm also starting to think about breast feeding. I'm not sure if I'll do it this time around since I had such a rough go of it the last time (I had an abscess that was quite large and had to be surgically drained. A nurse had to come in every day to change the dressing and it was all around horrible. EXTREMELY painful.)
Anyway, that's the update. :-) I can't believe I'm almost to the 1/2 way point -- especially considering the longest I've gone thus far was 38 weeks.
Monday, November 18, 2013
Husbands.. SMH.
I'm convinced that my husband TRIES to be an ass. Seriously. Every time I have an obligation at night like when I was on the town's planning board or now that I'm on the MOM's Club executive board, he is magically late getting home.
Then he blames EVERYTHING else besides himself. Traffic was horrible, co-worker gave me a last-minute task to do that had to be done tonight, I had to stay 10 minutes late because I got in 10 minutes late because you didn't wake me up on time this morning, etc. etc.
The excuses are never ending, but the one thing that is consistent is that he NEVER takes responsibility. He never says, yes, I let the time get away from me. Even then, I wouldn't believe him since he can get home on time whenever he wants unless I have to go somewhere.
It doesn't even have to be a meeting or anything of consequence. I used to like to go grocery shopping at night when the store wasn't crowded and I could get what I needed without any trouble. I'd go after dinner and leave him with the kids. Well, pretty soon he started working late on the night I usually went grocery shopping. What's the result? I now have to go in the morning while he and the kids are sleeping OR I can haul the kids with me, but anyone that has 2 young kids knows, that's just not always an option.
I'm really at a loss for an explanation. It's like he doesn't want me to leave him with the kids so he consciously does things to ensure that I can't get the heck out of the house. My MOM's Club obligation is once a month. My planning board obligation was twice a month. The MOM's Club and planning board did not run concurrently - I had a month off from one before I joined the other. Grocery shopping is weekly. It really seems to me like he just doesn't want the burden of taking care of the kids one night a week so I can get out of the house and regain my sanity. Even when I'm home I'm the one that feeds them, gets them ready for bed and tucks them in 90% of the time. The other 10% is when I fall asleep on the couch because I'm just exhausted from being pregnant and having a total of zero time to myself.
Now this is where everyone says oh, but he works all day so he's tired and doesn't want to take care of the kids. Guess what? I work from home and I don't mean that I take care of the kids. I do that too in ADDITION to a job. Sure my hours are a little more flexible than his, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm trying to produce quality work while raising children, keeping the house clean and making sure everyone eats on a daily basis. I don't have the commute, but I have full-time child care, 100% of the housekeeping and 100% of the food prep/food shopping responsibilties. I take the kids to ALL of the doctors appointments - I don't even think my husband has MET their pediatrician. I have gone to all of my prenatal appointments alone. If someone needs to come in to do something I'm the one that has to hire them, meet them, check their work and pay them. My husband has never met the babysitter, whom I've hired a grand total of 2 times when I couldn't bring the kids with me to the doctor and I didn't have another choice.
Basically, my husband gets woken up in the morning (by me), showers in leisure while I get the kids up, gets dressed in clean clothes (washed and put away by me), then heads off to work without packing kids into the car or getting anyone's shoes on but his own. He listens to his podcasts on the way in, then works. Sure work can be frustrating and stressful, but it's a different kind of stress than I have. He works with adults and has adult interaction each and every day. Once a week he goes out to lunch with his friend. When the work day is over (whenever that is - he doesn't have to pick kids up or worry about their schedule), he gets into his car and drives home. Again, he deals with traffic, and I know that's not fun. When he gets home, the kids greet him like he's a rock star and then we sit down and eat dinner. He turns on his show and veges out during the meal, so conversation is pretty much null. After dinner the kids demand his attention and he does his best to ignore them, mostly browsing the internet or watching the rest of the 3 to 4 hour news programs he records during the day. 2 1/2 hours after he gets home it's time for the kids to go to bed. We (sometimes just I) put them to bed and then my husband resumes his internet/television watching. I can talk at him, but getting a coherent response pretty much never happens. Sometime in there I go to bed and he follows in when it's convenient for him. We repeat the process again the next day.
It's a boring, monotonous, unfulfilled life for me. I'm pregnant (not planned, at least not on my part.) and I feel lonely, bored and unappreciated. I've told him as much, but his show was on so he didn't hear me. Now I'm waiting for him to get home late so I can go to my volunteer position and enjoy what little time I get with adults - assuming he gets home in time for me to catch any of it at all.
Then he blames EVERYTHING else besides himself. Traffic was horrible, co-worker gave me a last-minute task to do that had to be done tonight, I had to stay 10 minutes late because I got in 10 minutes late because you didn't wake me up on time this morning, etc. etc.
The excuses are never ending, but the one thing that is consistent is that he NEVER takes responsibility. He never says, yes, I let the time get away from me. Even then, I wouldn't believe him since he can get home on time whenever he wants unless I have to go somewhere.
It doesn't even have to be a meeting or anything of consequence. I used to like to go grocery shopping at night when the store wasn't crowded and I could get what I needed without any trouble. I'd go after dinner and leave him with the kids. Well, pretty soon he started working late on the night I usually went grocery shopping. What's the result? I now have to go in the morning while he and the kids are sleeping OR I can haul the kids with me, but anyone that has 2 young kids knows, that's just not always an option.
I'm really at a loss for an explanation. It's like he doesn't want me to leave him with the kids so he consciously does things to ensure that I can't get the heck out of the house. My MOM's Club obligation is once a month. My planning board obligation was twice a month. The MOM's Club and planning board did not run concurrently - I had a month off from one before I joined the other. Grocery shopping is weekly. It really seems to me like he just doesn't want the burden of taking care of the kids one night a week so I can get out of the house and regain my sanity. Even when I'm home I'm the one that feeds them, gets them ready for bed and tucks them in 90% of the time. The other 10% is when I fall asleep on the couch because I'm just exhausted from being pregnant and having a total of zero time to myself.
Now this is where everyone says oh, but he works all day so he's tired and doesn't want to take care of the kids. Guess what? I work from home and I don't mean that I take care of the kids. I do that too in ADDITION to a job. Sure my hours are a little more flexible than his, but that doesn't change the fact that I'm trying to produce quality work while raising children, keeping the house clean and making sure everyone eats on a daily basis. I don't have the commute, but I have full-time child care, 100% of the housekeeping and 100% of the food prep/food shopping responsibilties. I take the kids to ALL of the doctors appointments - I don't even think my husband has MET their pediatrician. I have gone to all of my prenatal appointments alone. If someone needs to come in to do something I'm the one that has to hire them, meet them, check their work and pay them. My husband has never met the babysitter, whom I've hired a grand total of 2 times when I couldn't bring the kids with me to the doctor and I didn't have another choice.
Basically, my husband gets woken up in the morning (by me), showers in leisure while I get the kids up, gets dressed in clean clothes (washed and put away by me), then heads off to work without packing kids into the car or getting anyone's shoes on but his own. He listens to his podcasts on the way in, then works. Sure work can be frustrating and stressful, but it's a different kind of stress than I have. He works with adults and has adult interaction each and every day. Once a week he goes out to lunch with his friend. When the work day is over (whenever that is - he doesn't have to pick kids up or worry about their schedule), he gets into his car and drives home. Again, he deals with traffic, and I know that's not fun. When he gets home, the kids greet him like he's a rock star and then we sit down and eat dinner. He turns on his show and veges out during the meal, so conversation is pretty much null. After dinner the kids demand his attention and he does his best to ignore them, mostly browsing the internet or watching the rest of the 3 to 4 hour news programs he records during the day. 2 1/2 hours after he gets home it's time for the kids to go to bed. We (sometimes just I) put them to bed and then my husband resumes his internet/television watching. I can talk at him, but getting a coherent response pretty much never happens. Sometime in there I go to bed and he follows in when it's convenient for him. We repeat the process again the next day.
It's a boring, monotonous, unfulfilled life for me. I'm pregnant (not planned, at least not on my part.) and I feel lonely, bored and unappreciated. I've told him as much, but his show was on so he didn't hear me. Now I'm waiting for him to get home late so I can go to my volunteer position and enjoy what little time I get with adults - assuming he gets home in time for me to catch any of it at all.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
My In-Laws are Horrible People
Well, things were going somewhat smoothly for a while there with the in-laws. It had been a solid week since we'd gotten a call about the cops being called on anyone or anything ridiculous like that. Then, as typical, the shit hit the fan.
We got a message from my FIL's girlfriend that someone had turned them in for a zoning violation. That report happened to coincide with the move-out date of my brother-in-law and his family. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who did it. It was either my brother-in-law or someone acting on behalf of him and his crazy wife.
Normally, we just ignore the crazy that happens over there. We let everyone have their petty little fights and we don't say anything. We don't take sides and as long as nobody draws blood or causes a 3rd party agency to come in, we ignore it. Unfortunately, this time fell into the latter category and we had to say something.
Of course, that made us the bad guys. You see, nobody questions my brother-in-law or his wife. They are allowed to dish out silent treatments, scream, say horrible things and generally be a pain without any repercussions. It doesn't matter who they direct their ire at - we all just sort of ignore it, but the person being targeted always feels bad that nobody stands up for them. I've pointed that out, but nobody is interested in taking a stand so we deal with the emotional terrorists one outburst at a time and after 6 years we've gotten pretty good and just writing it off as them being the a-holes they are. So as you can imagine, when my husband and I confronted them to tell them they had crossed the line from things we can ignore to things we cannot tolerate, they were absolutely shocked. Not only were they shocked, my MIL was shocked too. How dare someone try to discipline her baby!
Needless to say, we didn't get anywhere, but it gave us a rather unique chance to see how these people think. They honestly believe they can convince everyone that my FIL's girlfriend is behind everything and made them look like the bad guys. They even suggested that perhaps SHE had called the zoning office to make the report so that everyone would get mad at them.
My MIL's boyfriend had another theory. Perhaps my FIL did it to himself when he evicted my BIL and his family for not paying rent - after all, he drew attention to himself with that one. Um... no... the town doesn't have anything to do with an eviction.
Somehow in all of this, my other brother-in-law's boyfriend tried to lighten the mood by telling a story about how he interviewed someone who couldn't subtract $1.37 from $5. (He manages a Burger King.) My sister-in-law chimed in and said, "OMG! That's so easy, it's $4 and change!!".
*face palm*
We got a message from my FIL's girlfriend that someone had turned them in for a zoning violation. That report happened to coincide with the move-out date of my brother-in-law and his family. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out who did it. It was either my brother-in-law or someone acting on behalf of him and his crazy wife.
Normally, we just ignore the crazy that happens over there. We let everyone have their petty little fights and we don't say anything. We don't take sides and as long as nobody draws blood or causes a 3rd party agency to come in, we ignore it. Unfortunately, this time fell into the latter category and we had to say something.
Of course, that made us the bad guys. You see, nobody questions my brother-in-law or his wife. They are allowed to dish out silent treatments, scream, say horrible things and generally be a pain without any repercussions. It doesn't matter who they direct their ire at - we all just sort of ignore it, but the person being targeted always feels bad that nobody stands up for them. I've pointed that out, but nobody is interested in taking a stand so we deal with the emotional terrorists one outburst at a time and after 6 years we've gotten pretty good and just writing it off as them being the a-holes they are. So as you can imagine, when my husband and I confronted them to tell them they had crossed the line from things we can ignore to things we cannot tolerate, they were absolutely shocked. Not only were they shocked, my MIL was shocked too. How dare someone try to discipline her baby!
Needless to say, we didn't get anywhere, but it gave us a rather unique chance to see how these people think. They honestly believe they can convince everyone that my FIL's girlfriend is behind everything and made them look like the bad guys. They even suggested that perhaps SHE had called the zoning office to make the report so that everyone would get mad at them.
My MIL's boyfriend had another theory. Perhaps my FIL did it to himself when he evicted my BIL and his family for not paying rent - after all, he drew attention to himself with that one. Um... no... the town doesn't have anything to do with an eviction.
Somehow in all of this, my other brother-in-law's boyfriend tried to lighten the mood by telling a story about how he interviewed someone who couldn't subtract $1.37 from $5. (He manages a Burger King.) My sister-in-law chimed in and said, "OMG! That's so easy, it's $4 and change!!".
*face palm*
Friday, November 15, 2013
Holiday Budget - Bah Humbug.
I'm really curious to know what everyone spends on gifts during the holiday season, particularly gifts for in-laws, significant others of in-laws, etc. because with all of the added gifts we're expected to buy this year it seems that our budget is getting blown out the window - especially if we spend the same on everyone across the board.
In years past, we have assigned $30 to siblings and $50 to parents. However, we now have 3 additional nephews to buy for and one sibling has a nasty habit of picking up a new love interest every so often that we never really get to know and never really want to spend a lot of money on because they will just be leaving in the not-so-distant future.
Add on to that the fact that the husband's parents have now split-up and are both involved in other relationships and we now have 2 additional "parents" to buy gifts for. My father-in-law's girlfriend also comes with 2 kids plus a grandchild that lives with her, so the divorce basically added on 5 more people to shop for, none of which we know very well. Then to make things even more awkward, my mother-in-law announced that she expects us to buy gifts for her boyfriend's grandchildren because they will be at the Christmas gathering as well.
In total between the two of us we're looking at 7 siblings, 6 parent figures and 9 children as a minimum not counting our immediate family (my husband, myself and our 2.5 children). In the past, my sister has decided to not exchange gifts with anyone outside of her immediate family, except for the kids, so that would take the number down to 5 siblings.
Realistically, that number will probably be higher. My husband likes to get gifts for his grandparents and his father's new girlfriend isn't exactly the hostess with the mostess so last year we celebrated at his aunts house, which meant adding on a gift for her, her husband and their two kids.
It just never ends and my husband isn't OK with giving cheaper gifts even though I keep telling him that people are doing that with us and our family because nobody can afford to spend $20 or $30 per person when you have 20 or more people to buy for. He doesn't get it, so I'm wondering if I'm the one that is being unrealistic here, especially since I know the number will only increase as the years go on.
What do you think? How much do you typically spend on people during the holidays?
In years past, we have assigned $30 to siblings and $50 to parents. However, we now have 3 additional nephews to buy for and one sibling has a nasty habit of picking up a new love interest every so often that we never really get to know and never really want to spend a lot of money on because they will just be leaving in the not-so-distant future.
Add on to that the fact that the husband's parents have now split-up and are both involved in other relationships and we now have 2 additional "parents" to buy gifts for. My father-in-law's girlfriend also comes with 2 kids plus a grandchild that lives with her, so the divorce basically added on 5 more people to shop for, none of which we know very well. Then to make things even more awkward, my mother-in-law announced that she expects us to buy gifts for her boyfriend's grandchildren because they will be at the Christmas gathering as well.
In total between the two of us we're looking at 7 siblings, 6 parent figures and 9 children as a minimum not counting our immediate family (my husband, myself and our 2.5 children). In the past, my sister has decided to not exchange gifts with anyone outside of her immediate family, except for the kids, so that would take the number down to 5 siblings.
Realistically, that number will probably be higher. My husband likes to get gifts for his grandparents and his father's new girlfriend isn't exactly the hostess with the mostess so last year we celebrated at his aunts house, which meant adding on a gift for her, her husband and their two kids.
It just never ends and my husband isn't OK with giving cheaper gifts even though I keep telling him that people are doing that with us and our family because nobody can afford to spend $20 or $30 per person when you have 20 or more people to buy for. He doesn't get it, so I'm wondering if I'm the one that is being unrealistic here, especially since I know the number will only increase as the years go on.
What do you think? How much do you typically spend on people during the holidays?
Thursday, November 14, 2013
Strange Day
What a long and strange day... it seems like everything went the opposite way that I expected it to today, yet everything managed to be "ok".
This morning I was supposed to head in for my anatomy ultrasound - that's the one where they tell you if you should paint the walls blue or pink. My father-in-law's girlfriend was going to come and watch the girls while I went to the ultrasound. Unfortunately, she had some unforeseen auto troubles (understatment of the year from the sounds of things!) and she couldn't make it. She didn't know until the last minute that this would be an issue, obviously, so I was caught a bit unaware and didn't have time to get another sitter. Thus, I did what any mother would do and I braved taking 2 toddlers with me into a cramped ultrasound room with a technician that hates people, much less small people. I stocked up with snacks, drinks and electronics to make the trip as painless as possible. Then the bribing began...
"Be good and don't cry, then we can go to McDonalds, ok?"
"Ok mommy, I like McDonalds."
"BURGERS!"
Thank God for small miracles. They actually heard what I was saying, understood it and cognitively decided to go with the flow for once in their tiny lives. They were quiet in the waiting room and then they sat patiently in the corner on the floor in the ultrasound room playing on the iPad TOGETHER - a miracle in itself - while the tech hmmed and hawed and did her thing. I didn't get to really watch the ultrasound because my husband wasn't there and I didn't want to see the gender. Instead, I had her write it down and put it in an envelope to look at later with him.. results to follow!
Anyway, it worked out better than I could imagine and I rewarded the kids with McDonalds a la picnic style in the living room. I've been avoiding Mcdonalds for the majority of this pregnancy for fear that I'd get addicted like with my first. That didn't happen. In fact, it turns out that I can't stand McDonalds food anymore. It tastes and smells horrible. So that's refreshing...
Then, for whatever reason I had only planned on making meatloaf for dinner. It's not my favorite meal and I can't think of any less exciting way to find out the gender of the baby than over a plate full of meatloaf. So, that plan got nixed. Instead, we warmed up leftover seafood chowder from the other night that was amaaaazzzinnnggg (I should seriously post that recipe) and the hubby picked up lobsters... or planned to. He went to our usual store and somehow there was a run on lobster and they were sold out. That's amazing since it's not really lobster season anymore. So, he had to go to a different store that's like 20 minutes away and get lobsters there for the exorbitant price of $9/lb. Crazy!
Again, it didn't work out like we had planned, but in the end he got lobster. As a bonus, they sell crab legs at the store he went to, so we really had a feast.
Anyway, we unveiled the gender after the meal and the results will be to follow. We haven't told the families yet since it's so late, so we want to let them know what the newest member of the family will be first.
This morning I was supposed to head in for my anatomy ultrasound - that's the one where they tell you if you should paint the walls blue or pink. My father-in-law's girlfriend was going to come and watch the girls while I went to the ultrasound. Unfortunately, she had some unforeseen auto troubles (understatment of the year from the sounds of things!) and she couldn't make it. She didn't know until the last minute that this would be an issue, obviously, so I was caught a bit unaware and didn't have time to get another sitter. Thus, I did what any mother would do and I braved taking 2 toddlers with me into a cramped ultrasound room with a technician that hates people, much less small people. I stocked up with snacks, drinks and electronics to make the trip as painless as possible. Then the bribing began...
"Be good and don't cry, then we can go to McDonalds, ok?"
"Ok mommy, I like McDonalds."
"BURGERS!"
Thank God for small miracles. They actually heard what I was saying, understood it and cognitively decided to go with the flow for once in their tiny lives. They were quiet in the waiting room and then they sat patiently in the corner on the floor in the ultrasound room playing on the iPad TOGETHER - a miracle in itself - while the tech hmmed and hawed and did her thing. I didn't get to really watch the ultrasound because my husband wasn't there and I didn't want to see the gender. Instead, I had her write it down and put it in an envelope to look at later with him.. results to follow!
Anyway, it worked out better than I could imagine and I rewarded the kids with McDonalds a la picnic style in the living room. I've been avoiding Mcdonalds for the majority of this pregnancy for fear that I'd get addicted like with my first. That didn't happen. In fact, it turns out that I can't stand McDonalds food anymore. It tastes and smells horrible. So that's refreshing...
Then, for whatever reason I had only planned on making meatloaf for dinner. It's not my favorite meal and I can't think of any less exciting way to find out the gender of the baby than over a plate full of meatloaf. So, that plan got nixed. Instead, we warmed up leftover seafood chowder from the other night that was amaaaazzzinnnggg (I should seriously post that recipe) and the hubby picked up lobsters... or planned to. He went to our usual store and somehow there was a run on lobster and they were sold out. That's amazing since it's not really lobster season anymore. So, he had to go to a different store that's like 20 minutes away and get lobsters there for the exorbitant price of $9/lb. Crazy!
Again, it didn't work out like we had planned, but in the end he got lobster. As a bonus, they sell crab legs at the store he went to, so we really had a feast.
Anyway, we unveiled the gender after the meal and the results will be to follow. We haven't told the families yet since it's so late, so we want to let them know what the newest member of the family will be first.
Wednesday, November 13, 2013
Pregnancy Journal: Week 17
This is the tail-end of week 17. In fact, tomorrow I cross into the 18-week territory..
This week I've had more of that lovely pre-pubescent looking acne explode all across my face, neck and even my chest a little bit. I picked up a bunch of samples the other week for moisturizers and face washes, but so far nothing is helping. I've discovered I have oily and dry zones, with acne crossing into both areas effortlessly. Fantastic. I definitely didn't have this problem with other pregnancies, so I don't even know where to begin.
I've been incredibly anxious the past week for my upcoming ultrasound. It's the big anatomy scan where they reveal the gender, but my husband can't come, so there won't be any revealing going on. Instead, the tech will (hopefully) discreetly slip the results into an envelope for us to open together at a later date - though I'm not sure when. I'm not going to lie, I'm going to try to guess based on what I see on the screen. lol
I also have my father-in-law's girlfriend coming up to watch the kids while I go. I have a "regular" sitter that has watched them twice, but both times she has left a mess in the epic proportions, so I'm hesitant to call her back. $20 minimum and 2 weeks worth of picking playdough out of a dark carpet doesn't really amount to a lot of fun on my end. Not to mention I can't decide if she's developmentally delayed or not and I'm not sure how she'd react if anything really went "wrong" while I was gone. That kind of scares me... bottom line, if you can't trust her, you need to get someone else. My father-in-law's girlfriend has been on the scene for a little over a year now, so I guess she can be trusted, not to mention the kids like her, so that helps. We'll see how it goes... I know my father-in-law would love for us to call them (as in both of them) one weekend to watch the girls since they are the only grandkids he gets to see. The family has been really cold and downright rude to her, so I'm trying to be the more "open" one since everyone deserves a chance.
Anyway, here's to hoping tomorrow goes well and maybe in a future post I'll reveal the gender!
This week I've had more of that lovely pre-pubescent looking acne explode all across my face, neck and even my chest a little bit. I picked up a bunch of samples the other week for moisturizers and face washes, but so far nothing is helping. I've discovered I have oily and dry zones, with acne crossing into both areas effortlessly. Fantastic. I definitely didn't have this problem with other pregnancies, so I don't even know where to begin.
I've been incredibly anxious the past week for my upcoming ultrasound. It's the big anatomy scan where they reveal the gender, but my husband can't come, so there won't be any revealing going on. Instead, the tech will (hopefully) discreetly slip the results into an envelope for us to open together at a later date - though I'm not sure when. I'm not going to lie, I'm going to try to guess based on what I see on the screen. lol
I also have my father-in-law's girlfriend coming up to watch the kids while I go. I have a "regular" sitter that has watched them twice, but both times she has left a mess in the epic proportions, so I'm hesitant to call her back. $20 minimum and 2 weeks worth of picking playdough out of a dark carpet doesn't really amount to a lot of fun on my end. Not to mention I can't decide if she's developmentally delayed or not and I'm not sure how she'd react if anything really went "wrong" while I was gone. That kind of scares me... bottom line, if you can't trust her, you need to get someone else. My father-in-law's girlfriend has been on the scene for a little over a year now, so I guess she can be trusted, not to mention the kids like her, so that helps. We'll see how it goes... I know my father-in-law would love for us to call them (as in both of them) one weekend to watch the girls since they are the only grandkids he gets to see. The family has been really cold and downright rude to her, so I'm trying to be the more "open" one since everyone deserves a chance.
Anyway, here's to hoping tomorrow goes well and maybe in a future post I'll reveal the gender!
Monday, November 11, 2013
Too Many Obligations!
Does anyone else feel like they just have too many obligations these days? I was looking at the ole calendar with the hubby and we realized we pretty much have something every weekend until 2014. That was insanely depressing. The worst part is that everyone and every thing is in another state, so we have to drive a minimum of 1 hour each way to get to the nearest relative/friend/event.
When will we Christmas shop? On the way to or from someone's house or party? When will we finish project like putting away the patio furniture for the weekend or installing insulation in the attic? Heck, I haven't even had time to CLEAN the attic, let alone install insulation up there.
Part of the reason life is so crazy is because nobody in my husband's family is getting along at the moment. So, not only do we have Thanksgiving with his mom, we also have to make time for his dad, his aunt, etc. It seems like every time I turn around someone isn't getting along with someone else and then the whole party dynamic is wrecked and you can't invite everyone to a single event because they won't get along.
I'm really close to just saying no to everyone and selfishly taking a weekend to do what matters - relax, take care of things around the house and spend time as a family outside of a car.
When will we Christmas shop? On the way to or from someone's house or party? When will we finish project like putting away the patio furniture for the weekend or installing insulation in the attic? Heck, I haven't even had time to CLEAN the attic, let alone install insulation up there.
Part of the reason life is so crazy is because nobody in my husband's family is getting along at the moment. So, not only do we have Thanksgiving with his mom, we also have to make time for his dad, his aunt, etc. It seems like every time I turn around someone isn't getting along with someone else and then the whole party dynamic is wrecked and you can't invite everyone to a single event because they won't get along.
I'm really close to just saying no to everyone and selfishly taking a weekend to do what matters - relax, take care of things around the house and spend time as a family outside of a car.
Friday, November 8, 2013
Product Review: Ken's Steak House Marinade & Sauce
My husband and I LOVED it. I opted to use it as a "sauce" rather than a marinade and holy yum, it was fantastic. I was in a pinch at dinner time and just dumped some over semi-frozen boneless thighs, then popped them in the oven to bake. The smell of the sauce filled the house and it was like being in one of those Japanese steak houses. Score one for the sauce. Next, I whipped up some stir fry veggies, fresh from the freezer and added another bit of sauce to the pan. Done. Finally, I made a little minute rice to serve it with. Here's a tip when making minute rice - season the water with complementary spices and it will flavor the rice as it cooks, seasoning each grain perfectly. I used salt, pepper, garlic powder and ginger powder.
When my husband got home, he immediately commented on how good dinner smelled. Of course by this time I disposed of the bottle and took all the credit, but in reality it took just minutes to prepare, plus time to bake. Like I said, I even used partially frozen chicken thighs, so these marinades and sauces really help on nights when you didn't do so well at planning ahead, but still want an excellent meal. I'll definitely be buying more at the store, possibly in other flavors, to keep in the pantry for emergencies or nights when I want takeout, but not the work of getting takeout or the price that accompanies the unhealthy choices. This sauce is sodium free and a healthy way to really satisfy a Chinese food craving.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Pregnancy Journal: Week 16
Today is the last day of week 16. I'm getting pretty good at posting at the end of the week... Anyway, it was extremely uneventful. I'm looking forward to my ultrasound in 2 weeks where someone (though not necessarily me) will find out the gender. My husband is going to try to "spill the beans" and see about coming with me to that one so we don't have to wait to find out, though I don't mind waiting.
This past week my nesting instinct has kicked in. Every corner of my home is getting cleaned and organized... I'm not sure if that has to do with the baby or the fall, but either way it's looking good! I hate having limitations on what I can do though, especially in lifting things because it means I have to wait for my husband to get home a lot, which is no fun. I feel bad that he had to put up the fence by himself and get the washing machine in by himself too. :-/
Anyway, that's about all that's new. Oh, and my old pants finally don't fit. I can't even suck it in and force them anymore.
This past week my nesting instinct has kicked in. Every corner of my home is getting cleaned and organized... I'm not sure if that has to do with the baby or the fall, but either way it's looking good! I hate having limitations on what I can do though, especially in lifting things because it means I have to wait for my husband to get home a lot, which is no fun. I feel bad that he had to put up the fence by himself and get the washing machine in by himself too. :-/
Anyway, that's about all that's new. Oh, and my old pants finally don't fit. I can't even suck it in and force them anymore.
Monday, November 4, 2013
When It Rains, It Pours
As the old saying goes, when it rains, it pours. That's been true for me the past week or so. First, my computer started acting up. It was going slow, barely chugging along and the spinning wheel of death was my constant companion. It got to the point where it just wouldn't function.. at all. It was awful.
My husband was optimistic. He thought he'd just run the disk utility and all would be well. The disk utility found hundreds of errors with iTunes. That seemed promising, so we faithfully restarted and waited... and waited... and waited. It still ran slow. He reset the PRAM and some other crazy thing that only computer geeks know about using ultra-secret key combinations during start up. Nothing worked. Finally, in a fit of anger he said we'd reinstall the OS. We tried... and we got an error. It couldn't be installed. It said we could try again, so we did and this time the error came up even earlier. This wasn't a good sign. Finally, on the 4th try it worked and I was able to restart, hoping my computer troubles would finally be over. Nope. No such luck.
At this point, it was pretty clear we had a bigger issue than either of us wanted to deal with. My husband sighed and resigned to the fact that it was my hard drive. At this point the newsletter I produce every month for the Moms Club was several days late and the hate mail started to flow in. Wonderful! We got a new hard drive and spent all of Friday night working to backup his hard drive on his computer, install the new drive in his computer, transfer the files to the new drive, backup my computer, wipe his old hard drive, and then transfer all my files to his hard drive. That was super time consuming and of course we ran into as snag - my computer couldn't even backup the hard drive. It wasn't recognizing the external drive we were backing it up to... so I lost everything between October 3rd and Friday night.
Saturday we spent traveling to family functions. Sunday, I got up early and began to do my chores. My washing machine has been loud since the day I bought it, but lately it has been REALLY loud. I threw a load of clothes in to wash and part way through the final spin cycle, it kicked the bucket. Literally - the drum dropped into the basket. At the same time, something locked and you couldn't turn the drum by hand anymore. The clothes only made it through part of a spin cycle, so they were soaking wet. I knew from Googling and talking to other moms that repairing a bearing or locked drum on a front-loader was more expensive than replacing the machine, so off to the store we went.
I was determined to not spend too much, so I was looking at clearance models. Front loaders are horribly expensive these days! I couldn't find anything in our price range, not even clearance models. When we bought our set, we paid $599 per piece and it wasn't the bottom of the line machine either. Now, they seem to start around $799 and they go way up from there. A cheaper alternative is the top loader HE machine. We tried 3 stores and at our final stop I found a beautiful LG top loading HE machine with all the bells and whistles a girl could want on clearance (it was a return) for $449. The original price was $999. WOW, what a deal!
Here's the funny part - that deal was at Sears. The store I swore I'd never ever shop at again. Well, they redeemed themselves a little with that one. The salesman was very nice and they got it off the floor and to the loading dock in under 10 minutes. We were there about an hour before they closed on a Sunday and nobody seemed to be hurrying us along. It was a nice change compared to the snow blower incident of 2013. I declined the extra protection plan though because quite honestly, I don't want to deal with the Sears repair team. No thanks!
So that's my tale - first the computer, then the washer. About $700 later, we were back in business. Oy!
My husband was optimistic. He thought he'd just run the disk utility and all would be well. The disk utility found hundreds of errors with iTunes. That seemed promising, so we faithfully restarted and waited... and waited... and waited. It still ran slow. He reset the PRAM and some other crazy thing that only computer geeks know about using ultra-secret key combinations during start up. Nothing worked. Finally, in a fit of anger he said we'd reinstall the OS. We tried... and we got an error. It couldn't be installed. It said we could try again, so we did and this time the error came up even earlier. This wasn't a good sign. Finally, on the 4th try it worked and I was able to restart, hoping my computer troubles would finally be over. Nope. No such luck.
At this point, it was pretty clear we had a bigger issue than either of us wanted to deal with. My husband sighed and resigned to the fact that it was my hard drive. At this point the newsletter I produce every month for the Moms Club was several days late and the hate mail started to flow in. Wonderful! We got a new hard drive and spent all of Friday night working to backup his hard drive on his computer, install the new drive in his computer, transfer the files to the new drive, backup my computer, wipe his old hard drive, and then transfer all my files to his hard drive. That was super time consuming and of course we ran into as snag - my computer couldn't even backup the hard drive. It wasn't recognizing the external drive we were backing it up to... so I lost everything between October 3rd and Friday night.
Saturday we spent traveling to family functions. Sunday, I got up early and began to do my chores. My washing machine has been loud since the day I bought it, but lately it has been REALLY loud. I threw a load of clothes in to wash and part way through the final spin cycle, it kicked the bucket. Literally - the drum dropped into the basket. At the same time, something locked and you couldn't turn the drum by hand anymore. The clothes only made it through part of a spin cycle, so they were soaking wet. I knew from Googling and talking to other moms that repairing a bearing or locked drum on a front-loader was more expensive than replacing the machine, so off to the store we went.
I was determined to not spend too much, so I was looking at clearance models. Front loaders are horribly expensive these days! I couldn't find anything in our price range, not even clearance models. When we bought our set, we paid $599 per piece and it wasn't the bottom of the line machine either. Now, they seem to start around $799 and they go way up from there. A cheaper alternative is the top loader HE machine. We tried 3 stores and at our final stop I found a beautiful LG top loading HE machine with all the bells and whistles a girl could want on clearance (it was a return) for $449. The original price was $999. WOW, what a deal!
Here's the funny part - that deal was at Sears. The store I swore I'd never ever shop at again. Well, they redeemed themselves a little with that one. The salesman was very nice and they got it off the floor and to the loading dock in under 10 minutes. We were there about an hour before they closed on a Sunday and nobody seemed to be hurrying us along. It was a nice change compared to the snow blower incident of 2013. I declined the extra protection plan though because quite honestly, I don't want to deal with the Sears repair team. No thanks!
So that's my tale - first the computer, then the washer. About $700 later, we were back in business. Oy!
Friday, November 1, 2013
Help, My Mac Is Running Slow!
I live on my computer. It's not just my gateway to Facebook, it's my bread and butter. I work from home and I use it everyday. Additionally, I hold a volunteer position with our local Moms Club chapter and I make the monthly newsletter for the group. Not being able to use my computer is an issue.
Unfortunately, at the moment anything more taxing than using Safari just crashes the whole dang thing. I get the rainbow wheel of death and the whole system just goes to shit. Not awesome. That really limits my ability to work (and consequently earn money) as well as producing the club's newsletter.
Even better is that the damn thing decided to die right before the end of the month, which is my busiest time at work and when I produce the newsletter. Fantastic.
I've been scouring the internet for advice and I've found out a couple of things: 1.) If you type in Pages (the name of the word processor on a Mac), you get a whole bunch of junk that is not related. Also, Pages itself does not have a usable help section. Annoying! 2.) It turns out that having a slow Mac is not an uncommon problem, but either I'm not fluent in geek or they made these things REALLY F-ING HARD TO FIX. I'll go with the latter, though it's probably a touch of the former as well.
I keep searching and hopelessly grasping at straws. Half of the "fixes" address only one of the many many problems I am having. You see, my computer is slow, Pages won't open, existing newsletters appear to only have 2 pages versus the 18 that actually exist, NOTHING WILL CLOSE, my Apple mail is just a giant shit-show and I keep getting this super annoying script error message in Firefox that probably has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that my computer hates me. Oh, and don't even try to get into the Applications folder on the hard drive. Actually, don't even try to open the hard drive in general.
After Googling myself crazy, I've determined the problem is either the hard drive, the battery, a corrupt file somewhere along the line, a plug-in, some other bit of hardware not previously listed, the memory or possibly Pages itself. I may also need to uninstall and reinstall Firefox.
Well hell, that doesn't really narrow it down at all.
Before you throw your nose up in the air and say I should just bring it to an Apple store to see a genius, let me point out that it's no longer under warranty. I'm rocking a Macbook Pro circa 2008 that was handed down from my husband. The hard drive was upgraded in 2011. It has also had the ram upgraded to the maximum amount. My other issue is that I don't live anywhere near an Apple store. They like to hide those things in cities and I have this extreme phobia of driving in cities with small children and electronics while New Englanders do death circles around me. It's just a bad idea. Speaking of cities and New Englanders, what the heck is with the roads being exactly wide enough for 1/2 a Prius around here? I drive an SUV. A big SUV. I don't fit on these dainty little streets and I refuse to downgrade to anything small enough to cause instant death when someone inevitably slams into me. Anyway, the Geeks at the bar always do the same thing, they turn the computer on while they attempt to look cool, try the most simple thing that anyone with access to Google has already tried, plug some little doodad into it, say "hmm..." then tell you they will have to do something a little more advanced that will take a while. Thanks a-hole, I figured it was something "a little more advanced" than what I could find with a Google search. Then they always want you to leave the computer with them and come back to pick it up later like getting there once wasn't quite enough fun. Meanwhile, the kids are screeching in the background because they want the newest iPad that's on display and convenient at their height and you're like yeah right, I'll just drop $500+ on something made of glass that requires a blessing from the Pope, a handle of whiskey and a PHD from MIT to fix. No thanks!
Seriously Apple, when your crap doesn't work, I don't want to look at new products. I'm not one to say oh golly gee, that last one was so damn fun I think I'll buy another. No, I'm like anything with an Apple logo on it better not be within my site or death rays will shoot out of my eyeballs as I go ballistic and curse every single one of the color-coordinated self-proclaimed geeks that are probably only working at Apple to get a discount on the latest iPhone.
AHHH! I hate computer problems!!!!
Unfortunately, at the moment anything more taxing than using Safari just crashes the whole dang thing. I get the rainbow wheel of death and the whole system just goes to shit. Not awesome. That really limits my ability to work (and consequently earn money) as well as producing the club's newsletter.
Even better is that the damn thing decided to die right before the end of the month, which is my busiest time at work and when I produce the newsletter. Fantastic.
I've been scouring the internet for advice and I've found out a couple of things: 1.) If you type in Pages (the name of the word processor on a Mac), you get a whole bunch of junk that is not related. Also, Pages itself does not have a usable help section. Annoying! 2.) It turns out that having a slow Mac is not an uncommon problem, but either I'm not fluent in geek or they made these things REALLY F-ING HARD TO FIX. I'll go with the latter, though it's probably a touch of the former as well.
I keep searching and hopelessly grasping at straws. Half of the "fixes" address only one of the many many problems I am having. You see, my computer is slow, Pages won't open, existing newsletters appear to only have 2 pages versus the 18 that actually exist, NOTHING WILL CLOSE, my Apple mail is just a giant shit-show and I keep getting this super annoying script error message in Firefox that probably has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that my computer hates me. Oh, and don't even try to get into the Applications folder on the hard drive. Actually, don't even try to open the hard drive in general.
After Googling myself crazy, I've determined the problem is either the hard drive, the battery, a corrupt file somewhere along the line, a plug-in, some other bit of hardware not previously listed, the memory or possibly Pages itself. I may also need to uninstall and reinstall Firefox.
Well hell, that doesn't really narrow it down at all.
Before you throw your nose up in the air and say I should just bring it to an Apple store to see a genius, let me point out that it's no longer under warranty. I'm rocking a Macbook Pro circa 2008 that was handed down from my husband. The hard drive was upgraded in 2011. It has also had the ram upgraded to the maximum amount. My other issue is that I don't live anywhere near an Apple store. They like to hide those things in cities and I have this extreme phobia of driving in cities with small children and electronics while New Englanders do death circles around me. It's just a bad idea. Speaking of cities and New Englanders, what the heck is with the roads being exactly wide enough for 1/2 a Prius around here? I drive an SUV. A big SUV. I don't fit on these dainty little streets and I refuse to downgrade to anything small enough to cause instant death when someone inevitably slams into me. Anyway, the Geeks at the bar always do the same thing, they turn the computer on while they attempt to look cool, try the most simple thing that anyone with access to Google has already tried, plug some little doodad into it, say "hmm..." then tell you they will have to do something a little more advanced that will take a while. Thanks a-hole, I figured it was something "a little more advanced" than what I could find with a Google search. Then they always want you to leave the computer with them and come back to pick it up later like getting there once wasn't quite enough fun. Meanwhile, the kids are screeching in the background because they want the newest iPad that's on display and convenient at their height and you're like yeah right, I'll just drop $500+ on something made of glass that requires a blessing from the Pope, a handle of whiskey and a PHD from MIT to fix. No thanks!
Seriously Apple, when your crap doesn't work, I don't want to look at new products. I'm not one to say oh golly gee, that last one was so damn fun I think I'll buy another. No, I'm like anything with an Apple logo on it better not be within my site or death rays will shoot out of my eyeballs as I go ballistic and curse every single one of the color-coordinated self-proclaimed geeks that are probably only working at Apple to get a discount on the latest iPhone.
AHHH! I hate computer problems!!!!
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Pregnancy Journal: Week 15
I am seriously behind on these weeks. Today is the last day of week 15... so lets just do a quick recap.
So there's your quick and dirty recap. ;-)
- I had a checkup - everything is good. BP is low, baby was moving all around when the Dr. tried to hear the heartbeat.
- I go back in 2-ish weeks to have more blood drawn for the down's syndrome screening test. The first set of bloods came back with a crazy low risk and the ultrasound was good.
- I'm negative for every genetic marker out there, so the baby is in good shape.
- I go back in 3 weeks to find out if it's a blue bump or another pink bump. Fingers crossed for blue since we have 2 girls and this is my last baby. :-P
So there's your quick and dirty recap. ;-)
Monday, October 28, 2013
Screw You, Tree Warden
I've come to the conclusion that my town is run by idiots. From the crooks we call the board of selectmen to the lowly tree warden, I can't seem to find a single person that knows (or cares) what is going on in this town and what their role is as a public official – elected or otherwise.
My latest disappointment comes from the tree warden. That little ass-hat took 3 months to respond to my complaint about the neighbor illegally removing trees, and that's only AFTER he ignored the complaints of 3 other neighbors over the course of about 9 months. I happen to be the most persistent person on our street I guess, otherwise I'm sure he'd have continued to blow me off as well.
Once he DID respond, he was sure to make it well known that he was not happy to be doing things like spending time outdoors, traveling or showing up for work. Pity. In some sort of childish tantrum, he thought it would be a smart plan to start shit with my neighbor (whom I called on) by telling him blatant lies AND listing the person who filed the complaint to begin with.
Listen you idiot, if someone FILES A COMPLAINT you don't name them! Obviously the person they are complaining about isn't going to be like, "Well damn, that's great that Ms. X was so concerned. I'm super glad they called you in about my illegal tree removal activities that will result in a sizable fine if you get off your duff and do your damn job." Naming the person filing the complaint will only result in retaliation from the person being complained about - DUH! This isn't a hard concept to master! Then, when you throw in additional (and false) information, it only exacerbates the problem, but that was sort of the goal in the first place, otherwise you wouldn't have even bothered to name the complainer.
Then, when I called out the tree warden on how unprofessional that was, he actually had the kahonies to tell me that he was the tree warden for the last 35 years and that he knew what he was doing. Just because you knew you were starting crap and inflaming an already volatile situation doesn't mean it's any less unprofessional. Also, if he has been the tree warden for 35 years, I kind of don't believe his claim that he had no idea that there were ever trees on the lot to begin with and that he had no reason to believe a clear-cut parcel in an otherwise heavily wooded area was unusual or the result of illegal tree removal. Right. If that's not suspicious to you, then clearly you aren't qualified to be the tree warden. Furthermore, as the tree warden, he should maybe visit construction sites whenever a permit is pulled on one of the 2 scenic roads on town. It's a small town and large building permits aren't exactly pulled on a daily (or even weekly) basis so it's not like there would be an excessive amount of work for him.
I don't even know who I would approach about having him removed for incompetence. Like he said, he has been the tree warden for 35 years. The person that is his direct boss has been in their position for roughly the same time. It is not an elected position. The system is broken and there seems to be little I can do about it. The rest of the town won't care – tell them the sky is purple and as long as they get some perceived benefit from it (reduced sunburns if you believe the sky is purple!) they will happily traipse along like the sheeple that they are. Honestly, I feel like I'm in the Matrix sometimes and that I'm the only one that can see things for what they really are.
My latest disappointment comes from the tree warden. That little ass-hat took 3 months to respond to my complaint about the neighbor illegally removing trees, and that's only AFTER he ignored the complaints of 3 other neighbors over the course of about 9 months. I happen to be the most persistent person on our street I guess, otherwise I'm sure he'd have continued to blow me off as well.
Once he DID respond, he was sure to make it well known that he was not happy to be doing things like spending time outdoors, traveling or showing up for work. Pity. In some sort of childish tantrum, he thought it would be a smart plan to start shit with my neighbor (whom I called on) by telling him blatant lies AND listing the person who filed the complaint to begin with.
Listen you idiot, if someone FILES A COMPLAINT you don't name them! Obviously the person they are complaining about isn't going to be like, "Well damn, that's great that Ms. X was so concerned. I'm super glad they called you in about my illegal tree removal activities that will result in a sizable fine if you get off your duff and do your damn job." Naming the person filing the complaint will only result in retaliation from the person being complained about - DUH! This isn't a hard concept to master! Then, when you throw in additional (and false) information, it only exacerbates the problem, but that was sort of the goal in the first place, otherwise you wouldn't have even bothered to name the complainer.
Then, when I called out the tree warden on how unprofessional that was, he actually had the kahonies to tell me that he was the tree warden for the last 35 years and that he knew what he was doing. Just because you knew you were starting crap and inflaming an already volatile situation doesn't mean it's any less unprofessional. Also, if he has been the tree warden for 35 years, I kind of don't believe his claim that he had no idea that there were ever trees on the lot to begin with and that he had no reason to believe a clear-cut parcel in an otherwise heavily wooded area was unusual or the result of illegal tree removal. Right. If that's not suspicious to you, then clearly you aren't qualified to be the tree warden. Furthermore, as the tree warden, he should maybe visit construction sites whenever a permit is pulled on one of the 2 scenic roads on town. It's a small town and large building permits aren't exactly pulled on a daily (or even weekly) basis so it's not like there would be an excessive amount of work for him.
I don't even know who I would approach about having him removed for incompetence. Like he said, he has been the tree warden for 35 years. The person that is his direct boss has been in their position for roughly the same time. It is not an elected position. The system is broken and there seems to be little I can do about it. The rest of the town won't care – tell them the sky is purple and as long as they get some perceived benefit from it (reduced sunburns if you believe the sky is purple!) they will happily traipse along like the sheeple that they are. Honestly, I feel like I'm in the Matrix sometimes and that I'm the only one that can see things for what they really are.
Friday, October 25, 2013
Neighbor Drama
I realized it's been a while since I updated everyone on the neighbor drama.
Basically, the husband and I have partially given up our fight - at least along one boundary. We're ceding the side of the yard to the neighbor, but we're putting up a big, ugly wooden fence just like he didn't want. We went to home depot and got the cheapy panels and the hubby put them up in one afternoon. They look like hell on his side, but we moved our bushes that he threatened to take out and put them in front of the panels on our side, so it's actually not bad. They do serve the purpose of blocking the view of him and his backyard out, so that's a plus. I wish they were taller - the 6 foot height doesn't do much to block a 2-story building. Oh well, such is life I guess. We're planning to do a lattice-work structure with climbing plants like something my husband saw online as well to help further block the view and add some additional growing space for flowers.
Now, he's onto this kick in the back. The difference between our surveyors was 22 feet and somehow he has decided to be "generous" and compromise at 6 feet - as in we can have 6 of the 22 disputed feet. Um... no. A genuine compromise is 11 feet - not 6 and since he didn't compromise at all on the side nearest our house, I don't feel inclined to give him any additional feet on boundary nearest his house. We could pursue all 22 feet and have the boundary be really near his back deck, but I'm not that big of a jerk - too bad that isn't a mutual trait between us. He sees nothing wrong with taking land as close to our windows and deck as possible, but he wants us to basically give up our land nearest his windows and deck. How does that even make sense? It doesn't. I guess it's a character flaw of his - he only sees things from one side. His. He doesn't see how being kind in this situation would have potentially worked in his favor. Oh well.
So, that's the update. The neighbor is still being a complete jerk. We lost land on the side, but I don't intend to lose any more if I can help it. I asked our surveyor for another estimate to mark the corners and find a landmark that is buried, but I haven't heard back from him yet.
Basically, the husband and I have partially given up our fight - at least along one boundary. We're ceding the side of the yard to the neighbor, but we're putting up a big, ugly wooden fence just like he didn't want. We went to home depot and got the cheapy panels and the hubby put them up in one afternoon. They look like hell on his side, but we moved our bushes that he threatened to take out and put them in front of the panels on our side, so it's actually not bad. They do serve the purpose of blocking the view of him and his backyard out, so that's a plus. I wish they were taller - the 6 foot height doesn't do much to block a 2-story building. Oh well, such is life I guess. We're planning to do a lattice-work structure with climbing plants like something my husband saw online as well to help further block the view and add some additional growing space for flowers.
Now, he's onto this kick in the back. The difference between our surveyors was 22 feet and somehow he has decided to be "generous" and compromise at 6 feet - as in we can have 6 of the 22 disputed feet. Um... no. A genuine compromise is 11 feet - not 6 and since he didn't compromise at all on the side nearest our house, I don't feel inclined to give him any additional feet on boundary nearest his house. We could pursue all 22 feet and have the boundary be really near his back deck, but I'm not that big of a jerk - too bad that isn't a mutual trait between us. He sees nothing wrong with taking land as close to our windows and deck as possible, but he wants us to basically give up our land nearest his windows and deck. How does that even make sense? It doesn't. I guess it's a character flaw of his - he only sees things from one side. His. He doesn't see how being kind in this situation would have potentially worked in his favor. Oh well.
So, that's the update. The neighbor is still being a complete jerk. We lost land on the side, but I don't intend to lose any more if I can help it. I asked our surveyor for another estimate to mark the corners and find a landmark that is buried, but I haven't heard back from him yet.
Wednesday, October 23, 2013
Pregnancy Journal: Week 14
I've popped. Oh God, it's bad. My hips spread and my belly busted on the same day in one glorious burst of agony. Everything hurt. With my first pregnancy it was a gradual process that one day resulted in an eruption of stretch marks on my thighs. With my second pregnancy it happened over the course of a few days, with a few marks appearing around my belly button.
This time, it was an explosion of pain in about 8 hours and I swear you could watch the belly grow. It was crazy. My hips even widened out. I haven't noticed any new stretch marks, but it's still early... I'm definitely in maternity pants now all the time. Maternity shirts too because the regular ones give me a questionably fat appearance. Especially the horizontally striped number my husband let me wear in public. *face palm*
The morning sickness is all but gone now and the headaches are easing off, but I feel angry, all the time. A lot of that could be because I'm surrounded by idiots, but I feel like there's a hormonal aspect to it as well. I also spent the last few days obsessively looking up the "nub theory" and comparing it to last week's scan images... I didn't come up with a really good conclusion even though I had several shots to work with. It appears that the baby doesn't want anyone to know.
This time, it was an explosion of pain in about 8 hours and I swear you could watch the belly grow. It was crazy. My hips even widened out. I haven't noticed any new stretch marks, but it's still early... I'm definitely in maternity pants now all the time. Maternity shirts too because the regular ones give me a questionably fat appearance. Especially the horizontally striped number my husband let me wear in public. *face palm*
The morning sickness is all but gone now and the headaches are easing off, but I feel angry, all the time. A lot of that could be because I'm surrounded by idiots, but I feel like there's a hormonal aspect to it as well. I also spent the last few days obsessively looking up the "nub theory" and comparing it to last week's scan images... I didn't come up with a really good conclusion even though I had several shots to work with. It appears that the baby doesn't want anyone to know.
Tuesday, October 22, 2013
National Fire Safety Month
In case you haven't heard, October is National Fire Safety Month. This is the month that homeowners are encouraged to replace the batteries in their smoke detectors, test their smoke detectors and take small steps to make their homes safer in the event of a fire. Besides doing the obvious safety checks and installing fire escape devices in upstairs bedrooms, there are a couple of small things you can do that only take a few minutes, but will help reduce your risk of a house fire.
Clean out the lint trap in your dyer and clean the exhaust hose leading from your dryer. That's it. That one simple cleaning measure can help prevent a fire in your home and keep your dryer running like new. This should be done ideally twice a year, though if you're like most people it may have been a while since you checked out this lurking danger. I just cleaned my lint trap today for the first time in 5 years - now I'm not talking about your standard removal of lint that you do with each load, but rather getting in there with the vacuum attachment and really going for the gold to clean that puppy out. Then get behind the dryer, unhook the vent and stick the hose attachment in there as well. You'll be surprised how much stuff you suck up!!
Clean out the lint trap in your dyer and clean the exhaust hose leading from your dryer. That's it. That one simple cleaning measure can help prevent a fire in your home and keep your dryer running like new. This should be done ideally twice a year, though if you're like most people it may have been a while since you checked out this lurking danger. I just cleaned my lint trap today for the first time in 5 years - now I'm not talking about your standard removal of lint that you do with each load, but rather getting in there with the vacuum attachment and really going for the gold to clean that puppy out. Then get behind the dryer, unhook the vent and stick the hose attachment in there as well. You'll be surprised how much stuff you suck up!!
Monday, October 21, 2013
Getting Rid of Facebook
My first real attempt to get rid of Facebook (or at least my addiction to it) failed miserably. I lasted about an hour. Yep, one whole hour.
It's not as bad as it sounds. It's not like I absolutely couldn't wait to get on there - I had to do it. I know that sounds pretty unlikely, but it's true. You see, I run the group for our local Moms Club. It usually requires 0 work, but today was the last day of the grace period for several old members to renew for the upcoming year. They didn't do it, so I kicked their behinds out of the group and sent out a notice to the secretary to take them off the roster.
Granted, about 5 minutes after I did that, the club's president emailed me to let me know they had told her that they were renewing. I'm the membership person and they didn't say squat to me, so I stand by my decision to follow the rules and kick them the heck out of the group.
I mean really... I sent them 3 reminder emails AND a snail-mail letter (with my own postage, mind you) to let them know that they needed to make a decision. The snail mail letter said if I didn't hear from them by today they would be gone. I didn't hear anything, so they are gone. This isn't high school people - buck up and have a little responsibility. Do what you're supposed to do and if you're not going to, at least go to the right person with your flimsy excuse.
It's not as bad as it sounds. It's not like I absolutely couldn't wait to get on there - I had to do it. I know that sounds pretty unlikely, but it's true. You see, I run the group for our local Moms Club. It usually requires 0 work, but today was the last day of the grace period for several old members to renew for the upcoming year. They didn't do it, so I kicked their behinds out of the group and sent out a notice to the secretary to take them off the roster.
Granted, about 5 minutes after I did that, the club's president emailed me to let me know they had told her that they were renewing. I'm the membership person and they didn't say squat to me, so I stand by my decision to follow the rules and kick them the heck out of the group.
I mean really... I sent them 3 reminder emails AND a snail-mail letter (with my own postage, mind you) to let them know that they needed to make a decision. The snail mail letter said if I didn't hear from them by today they would be gone. I didn't hear anything, so they are gone. This isn't high school people - buck up and have a little responsibility. Do what you're supposed to do and if you're not going to, at least go to the right person with your flimsy excuse.
Saturday, October 19, 2013
Reinventing Leftovers
At our house it seems like we always have an abundance of leftovers. Like a lot of people, they really aren't my favorite thing in the world. I kind of hate eating the same meals over and over until they are gone and honestly, it's never as good reheated as it was the first time around.
That's why I've made it a habit of re-inventing leftovers and turning them into new and exciting meals. This is considerably easier in the winter or fall when a lot of our meals are roasts or whole cuts of meat that are baked in the oven. That gives you a little more flexibility than say a dish made of ground beef or chopped chicken.
Last night was one of the nights that I really hit jackpot with my leftover creativity. I made a bisquick chicken pot pie that was more than 1/2 made of leftovers. It cleaned out the fridge, tasted AMAZING and best of all - it all got eaten. Even the kids liked it! I wish I had taken pictures, but we were all digging in like we hadn't eaten good food in months. Here's how I did it:
Bisquick Leftover Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients:
Filling:
-1/2 medium onion, diced
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-olive oil
-Roughly 2 cups cut chicken (I used 4 large thighs that had been roasted in the oven a prior night. Just pull of the skin and cut up the meat.)
-Roughly 2 to 3 cups cooked veggies (I used several containers of vegetables that had been leftover from meals earlier in the week. I had peas, carrots, broccoli and a little bit of cauliflower)
-1/2 to 2/3 cups of prepared chicken gravy (I used leftover gravy from earlier in the week. It had been made from a packet mix.)
-1 can cream of chicken soup (If you live near an Aldi's, buy their brand. It is amazing and I will never go back to Campbells as long as I live near an Aldi's.)
-1 soup can filled with milk
Biscuit topping:
-2 cups bisquick
-2/3 cup water
-1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice
Directions:
In a skillet, cook onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until onion is cooked through. Add chicken and cooked vegetables to the mixture. Heat through. Add the leftover gravy, cream of chicken soup and milk to the mix, stirring well to combine. Heat through. Depending on how well your chicken was seasoned and your preferences, you may want to add salt and pepper at this point.
Combine ingredients for topping in a large bowl. Dough will be sticky and wet when finished.
If you used an oven safe pan, proceed to the next step. Otherwise, transfer the chicken mixture to a casserole dish.
using a small spoon, drop bisquick mixture on top of the chicken mixture. No need to spread it out.
Bake the whole thing at 350* (F) for roughly 20 to 25 minutes or until the biscuit topping is cooked through. Scoop and serve.
That's why I've made it a habit of re-inventing leftovers and turning them into new and exciting meals. This is considerably easier in the winter or fall when a lot of our meals are roasts or whole cuts of meat that are baked in the oven. That gives you a little more flexibility than say a dish made of ground beef or chopped chicken.
Last night was one of the nights that I really hit jackpot with my leftover creativity. I made a bisquick chicken pot pie that was more than 1/2 made of leftovers. It cleaned out the fridge, tasted AMAZING and best of all - it all got eaten. Even the kids liked it! I wish I had taken pictures, but we were all digging in like we hadn't eaten good food in months. Here's how I did it:
Bisquick Leftover Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients:
Filling:
-1/2 medium onion, diced
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-olive oil
-Roughly 2 cups cut chicken (I used 4 large thighs that had been roasted in the oven a prior night. Just pull of the skin and cut up the meat.)
-Roughly 2 to 3 cups cooked veggies (I used several containers of vegetables that had been leftover from meals earlier in the week. I had peas, carrots, broccoli and a little bit of cauliflower)
-1/2 to 2/3 cups of prepared chicken gravy (I used leftover gravy from earlier in the week. It had been made from a packet mix.)
-1 can cream of chicken soup (If you live near an Aldi's, buy their brand. It is amazing and I will never go back to Campbells as long as I live near an Aldi's.)
-1 soup can filled with milk
Biscuit topping:
-2 cups bisquick
-2/3 cup water
-1/2 cup shredded cheese of your choice
Directions:
In a skillet, cook onion and garlic in olive oil over medium heat until onion is cooked through. Add chicken and cooked vegetables to the mixture. Heat through. Add the leftover gravy, cream of chicken soup and milk to the mix, stirring well to combine. Heat through. Depending on how well your chicken was seasoned and your preferences, you may want to add salt and pepper at this point.
Combine ingredients for topping in a large bowl. Dough will be sticky and wet when finished.
If you used an oven safe pan, proceed to the next step. Otherwise, transfer the chicken mixture to a casserole dish.
using a small spoon, drop bisquick mixture on top of the chicken mixture. No need to spread it out.
Bake the whole thing at 350* (F) for roughly 20 to 25 minutes or until the biscuit topping is cooked through. Scoop and serve.
Friday, October 18, 2013
I Want to Run Away
I want to run away from my family. I know as a married woman with kids, I'm not allowed to say that in this society, but it's true. It's not just my family though, it's the entire fricking world around me. Maybe I need a drastic change of scenery?
I know I shouldn't complain. I live in a nice house - not the best, but it could be a lot worse. Heck it was a lot worse before we started ripping it apart and fixing it. My kids are healthy. I'm healthy. The baby in my belly is healthy. My husband is healthy. We have enough food and a running vehicle. Everything is ok.
That's the problem. Everything is just ok. We are just making it through the motions. I feel like there is literally nothing to look forward to. Every time I look out a window, I'm reminded of the crummy house & lot we got saddled with. We were first time home buyers and we had no idea what we were doing. As a result, we got a house that needed way more work than we could afford to do, so we've got a mountain of debt and now "the neighbor from hell" has moved in next door so I don't even want to live here anymore. We tried selling and moving before dumping all the money into the house, but with the market being the way it was, that wasn't an option and leaving it like it was wasn't working out either (the ceiling leaked, there was zero insulation in the exterior walls so the heat bills were crazy, the bathtub leaked so badly it rotted the beam below it and the list just goes on and on.) We could sell the house now and maybe break even to get away from the neighbor and nullify most of the debt, but then we'd have nothing to start over with and buy a new house with, so that's not really a great option either. With 2 (soon to be 3) kids, a dog and a cat, renting is pretty much not an option. Not to mention that 3 or 4 bedroom rentals are scarce and extremely expensive around here thanks to the housing market. We've been considering moving to another state, but timing a move and a job change for the hubby seems tricky. The advantage of doing that would be to live near family, but we're not all that fond of my husbands family. They're great to visit, but in too high of doses they can be a bit overwhelming. My own family is scattered, so there's not really any one place where we can live near everyone.
Between the daily drudgery of caring for the kids and the house and dealing with the neighbor situation I'm just tired. I'm tired of it all. I want to run away and start a new life somewhere. At least have something to look forward to, even if it's not huge.
What do other moms do? I've heard that some people like to "treat" themselves once a month to something small like an eyebrow wax or getting take-out instead of cooking. I just need some ideas... maybe I'll work on a list of things I can do to make myself happy and then focus on finding more time in my day to get everything done so I can actually have some "me" time without feeling guilty that I'm taking care of myself at the expense of something or someone else.
I know I shouldn't complain. I live in a nice house - not the best, but it could be a lot worse. Heck it was a lot worse before we started ripping it apart and fixing it. My kids are healthy. I'm healthy. The baby in my belly is healthy. My husband is healthy. We have enough food and a running vehicle. Everything is ok.
That's the problem. Everything is just ok. We are just making it through the motions. I feel like there is literally nothing to look forward to. Every time I look out a window, I'm reminded of the crummy house & lot we got saddled with. We were first time home buyers and we had no idea what we were doing. As a result, we got a house that needed way more work than we could afford to do, so we've got a mountain of debt and now "the neighbor from hell" has moved in next door so I don't even want to live here anymore. We tried selling and moving before dumping all the money into the house, but with the market being the way it was, that wasn't an option and leaving it like it was wasn't working out either (the ceiling leaked, there was zero insulation in the exterior walls so the heat bills were crazy, the bathtub leaked so badly it rotted the beam below it and the list just goes on and on.) We could sell the house now and maybe break even to get away from the neighbor and nullify most of the debt, but then we'd have nothing to start over with and buy a new house with, so that's not really a great option either. With 2 (soon to be 3) kids, a dog and a cat, renting is pretty much not an option. Not to mention that 3 or 4 bedroom rentals are scarce and extremely expensive around here thanks to the housing market. We've been considering moving to another state, but timing a move and a job change for the hubby seems tricky. The advantage of doing that would be to live near family, but we're not all that fond of my husbands family. They're great to visit, but in too high of doses they can be a bit overwhelming. My own family is scattered, so there's not really any one place where we can live near everyone.
Between the daily drudgery of caring for the kids and the house and dealing with the neighbor situation I'm just tired. I'm tired of it all. I want to run away and start a new life somewhere. At least have something to look forward to, even if it's not huge.
What do other moms do? I've heard that some people like to "treat" themselves once a month to something small like an eyebrow wax or getting take-out instead of cooking. I just need some ideas... maybe I'll work on a list of things I can do to make myself happy and then focus on finding more time in my day to get everything done so I can actually have some "me" time without feeling guilty that I'm taking care of myself at the expense of something or someone else.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Free E-Books
It seems like everyone is rockin a Kindle or a Nook these days, and that's wonderful. However, it also seems like 75% of them have no idea that you can get completely free e-books. I'm not talking about shady download sites or the random freebies on Amazon, I'm talking about the books you really want to read (not to put down Amazon freebies, since I've found a few really good ones on there too).
I'm talking about the LIBRARY! Yes folks, modern libraries carry more than just paperbacks! Most branches give access to a selection of e-books that can be downloaded onto a reader for free. All you need is a library card. The books stay on your reader for a specific period of time and then they disappear, just like if you had borrowed a book and returned it. Easy peasy and best of all, free!
I'm talking about the LIBRARY! Yes folks, modern libraries carry more than just paperbacks! Most branches give access to a selection of e-books that can be downloaded onto a reader for free. All you need is a library card. The books stay on your reader for a specific period of time and then they disappear, just like if you had borrowed a book and returned it. Easy peasy and best of all, free!
Tuesday, October 15, 2013
Ranting About The Neighbor From Hell
I need to get something off my chest. I hope my neighbor-to-be flies away for the winter and decides that my neighborhood is just not the place for him. Then he can sell his McMansion and a nice family with some kids can move in next door. Maybe a family that isn't crazy. Wouldn't that be a surprisingly awesome change of events?
In case you haven't been following the drama, the new neighbor is an old fat guy with some serious entitlement issues. He basically thinks anything he can see is part of his lot. Our lots are interlocking L's and he won't accept that my back yard juts into his back yard. He thinks he owns not only half of my front yard, but the majority of the back as well and that's just simply not the case.
To make matters worse, the lot lines associated with our properties have always been this way since the day the lots were cut. There is a bit of an error in the deeds, but in the past 60 years nobody has had a problem with that. There have been no quarrels related to the lot lines that are recorded and in fact, nobody has ever even bothered to have a survey done because there has never been an issue. Until now. This jackass moves in and hires a surveyor that did a shotty job and basically told him what he wanted to hear -- that he owns the whole damn town.
We've also had our own survey done and unfortunately, it doesn't agree with his. He maintains that his is superior (realllly bad complex) despite the fact that my surveyor trained his. Adding insult to injury, the town is 0 help. They keep saying we have to take it to court to prove the land that we've been using and that has been associated with our property for 60 years is really ours. We consulted an attorney and court will cost $40K+ and could take upwards of 5 years or more.
That's just insane. Why is it so easy to buy property in this country, but so damn difficult to prove that it's actually yours? I feel like anyone at any point in time could just hire (pay off) a surveyor to say that they own your lot and unless you have a lot of cash hanging around, you're pretty much screwed. Even if you do have the money sitting around, you're at the mercy of the courts. Never mind if the property has been a part of your yard for 60+ years, is fenced, has been maintained and has old-growth shrubs on it. That's completely irrelevant. What matters is who has the most money, which judge you get and how lucky you are.
Because of the screwed up rules in Massachusetts, I highly recommend that nobody, NOBODY buys property here. You will be at risk of it being stolen not only by the state, but by overzealous neighbors that are better off economically than you.
I know nothing will come of complaining. Politicians don't care. The town doesn't care and it appears that most of the voting block is too ignorant to elect anyone other than the crooked losers that are currently in office creating the laws that make daily life difficult to begin with.
I know it's not good to put bad vibes out into the world, but I really really really hope something happens to the neighbor that makes him decide he needs to live elsewhere. Maybe he gets caught for tax evasion or has an ill family member that needs to be cared for in a far-off state. I don't know - something, anything would be good at this point. I feel like he's one of those people that constantly lie and cheat and it just never ever comes back to them. He's a horrible two-faced son of a bitch and Karma seems to be turning the other cheek at him. I just HATE it when people like him squeak by in life without ever suffering the consequences of their actions. It gets under my skin like no other because if I so much as a step out of line, Karma bitch slaps me back into place. Why doesn't it seem to work like that for the people like him?
In case you haven't been following the drama, the new neighbor is an old fat guy with some serious entitlement issues. He basically thinks anything he can see is part of his lot. Our lots are interlocking L's and he won't accept that my back yard juts into his back yard. He thinks he owns not only half of my front yard, but the majority of the back as well and that's just simply not the case.
To make matters worse, the lot lines associated with our properties have always been this way since the day the lots were cut. There is a bit of an error in the deeds, but in the past 60 years nobody has had a problem with that. There have been no quarrels related to the lot lines that are recorded and in fact, nobody has ever even bothered to have a survey done because there has never been an issue. Until now. This jackass moves in and hires a surveyor that did a shotty job and basically told him what he wanted to hear -- that he owns the whole damn town.
We've also had our own survey done and unfortunately, it doesn't agree with his. He maintains that his is superior (realllly bad complex) despite the fact that my surveyor trained his. Adding insult to injury, the town is 0 help. They keep saying we have to take it to court to prove the land that we've been using and that has been associated with our property for 60 years is really ours. We consulted an attorney and court will cost $40K+ and could take upwards of 5 years or more.
That's just insane. Why is it so easy to buy property in this country, but so damn difficult to prove that it's actually yours? I feel like anyone at any point in time could just hire (pay off) a surveyor to say that they own your lot and unless you have a lot of cash hanging around, you're pretty much screwed. Even if you do have the money sitting around, you're at the mercy of the courts. Never mind if the property has been a part of your yard for 60+ years, is fenced, has been maintained and has old-growth shrubs on it. That's completely irrelevant. What matters is who has the most money, which judge you get and how lucky you are.
Because of the screwed up rules in Massachusetts, I highly recommend that nobody, NOBODY buys property here. You will be at risk of it being stolen not only by the state, but by overzealous neighbors that are better off economically than you.
I know nothing will come of complaining. Politicians don't care. The town doesn't care and it appears that most of the voting block is too ignorant to elect anyone other than the crooked losers that are currently in office creating the laws that make daily life difficult to begin with.
I know it's not good to put bad vibes out into the world, but I really really really hope something happens to the neighbor that makes him decide he needs to live elsewhere. Maybe he gets caught for tax evasion or has an ill family member that needs to be cared for in a far-off state. I don't know - something, anything would be good at this point. I feel like he's one of those people that constantly lie and cheat and it just never ever comes back to them. He's a horrible two-faced son of a bitch and Karma seems to be turning the other cheek at him. I just HATE it when people like him squeak by in life without ever suffering the consequences of their actions. It gets under my skin like no other because if I so much as a step out of line, Karma bitch slaps me back into place. Why doesn't it seem to work like that for the people like him?
Monday, October 14, 2013
Healthcare
Anyway, I noticed that most of the people posting about healthcare online are people who don't have kids and who don't live in Massachusetts. I only mention the latter because where you live plays an important role on which side of the aisle you're on. While this is a rather liberal state, I find that many of us who are part of the "experiment" don't have enough of a chance to voice our opinions on the matter. So without further hesitation, lets just dive right into what I like and what I don't like about the system.
What I Like:
- I like that it's available. I know in some states it's much harder to get insurance than it is here. In Massachusetts if your employer doesn't offer health insurance, you can buy it through the states health connector.
- I like that it's easier for people with pre-existing conditions to get coverage.
- I don't like the ridiculously long waits at the doctor's office. I've gone through three pediatricians now and they are all pretty much the same. You wait an hour past your appointment to be seen and yet somehow the visit only takes 5 minutes or less. It doesn't make sense. I blame this on the lack of doctors -- many retired or moved out of state once the Universal Healthcare law took effect here.
- I don't like that there's a penalty for adults going uninsured for more than 60 consecutive days, even in the event of a job loss. I especially don't like this because employers are still allowed to impose a 90-day waiting period before coverage begins when you start a new job. Being unemployed is stressful enough, but now when you add in the tax penalty for your coverage lapsing, you're looking at a new level of stress. Most people who lose their jobs can't afford Cobra, and if you're not one of the people who are unemployed for years on end, you won't qualify for subsidized insurance.
- I don't like that it added forms and questions to the income tax form. Taxes are complicated enough without that extra step.
- I don't like how impersonal healthcare has become. I remember going to the doctor and feeling like they knew me. I didn't have to bring my own records in or anything else like that. I had faith in the medical system. Now, things are so rushed and so hurried because of a lack of doctors and a surplus of patients that you really need to be on top of your game, otherwise your kids are going to get the wrong shots and your own care will be less than adequate. Don't even get me started on how impersonal and ridiculous having a baby is.
I sincerely hope that I'm wrong and a program that failed on the micro scale can somehow work on a macro scale, but unfortunately I don't think that will be the case. The new law only brings in more penalties and hurdles rather than offering incentives and assistance. That's really not the way these things are supposed to work.
Pregnancy Journal: Week 13
Week 13 is about halfway over, but I wanted to wait to post until I actually had something to say.
First, let me start off by saying HELLLOOO 2nd Trimester!!
Last Friday I didn't post anything because I was having an NTT ultrasound done. That's the one where they go and look at the baby and measure the thickness at the back of the neck to give you a risk factor for Down's Syndrome. I haven't had the test done in the past because I would have had to drive into Worcester and because quite frankly, even if they DO find that I have a high risk, I won't abort, so it's kind of pointless.
So why go and have the test done this time you ask? Well, I wanted to see the baby. I'm having a bit of a hard time bonding with this child, probably because I wasn't thrilled to get knocked up again, so I'm taking every available opportunity to sneak a peek and start imagining life as a mother of 3.
Anyway, the ultrasound went great and I got some fantastic nub shorts to analyze and try to figure out the gender from. Unfortunately, I got about 9 different pictures and they go both ways. In some images it's forked, which means a girl, but in other images it's not forked and it's at a slight upwards angle, which means boy. The forked ones seem pretty parallel to the spine, which again would indicate girl. So you can't really get a good idea either way, but it's still fun to speculate.
Also, we've come up with some names this week.
If it's a girl, I'm leaning towards Alleigh, though my husband prefers Ally or Allie for the spelling. He also likes the name Allison, which is what we were going to name our youngest daughter, but she did NOT look like an Allison when she was born, so we had to come up with something else and she was nameless for 3 days. If it's a boy, I'm leaning towards Jacob, though my husband likes the name Jack and I don't think Jack is a nickname for Jacob. I thought Jack was a nickname for Jackson or something like that... consequently, we are NOT naming our child Jackson. Another "hitch" in the plan is that Jacob is what my husband's cousin that lives in Tennessee named her baby, which was like 3 months premature or something incredible like that (happy to report that he is doing fantastic right now with apparently no lasting side-effects of being a premie). She used to live in New England and was close with my husband growing up. They are the same age, only a few months apart and they used to live down the road from one another, so it's not like some obscure family member that named their kid Jacob or anything.
Anyway, that's the update. :-) Do you think it would be tacky to ask my husband's cousin if she minded if we used to name?
First, let me start off by saying HELLLOOO 2nd Trimester!!
Last Friday I didn't post anything because I was having an NTT ultrasound done. That's the one where they go and look at the baby and measure the thickness at the back of the neck to give you a risk factor for Down's Syndrome. I haven't had the test done in the past because I would have had to drive into Worcester and because quite frankly, even if they DO find that I have a high risk, I won't abort, so it's kind of pointless.
So why go and have the test done this time you ask? Well, I wanted to see the baby. I'm having a bit of a hard time bonding with this child, probably because I wasn't thrilled to get knocked up again, so I'm taking every available opportunity to sneak a peek and start imagining life as a mother of 3.
Anyway, the ultrasound went great and I got some fantastic nub shorts to analyze and try to figure out the gender from. Unfortunately, I got about 9 different pictures and they go both ways. In some images it's forked, which means a girl, but in other images it's not forked and it's at a slight upwards angle, which means boy. The forked ones seem pretty parallel to the spine, which again would indicate girl. So you can't really get a good idea either way, but it's still fun to speculate.
Also, we've come up with some names this week.
If it's a girl, I'm leaning towards Alleigh, though my husband prefers Ally or Allie for the spelling. He also likes the name Allison, which is what we were going to name our youngest daughter, but she did NOT look like an Allison when she was born, so we had to come up with something else and she was nameless for 3 days. If it's a boy, I'm leaning towards Jacob, though my husband likes the name Jack and I don't think Jack is a nickname for Jacob. I thought Jack was a nickname for Jackson or something like that... consequently, we are NOT naming our child Jackson. Another "hitch" in the plan is that Jacob is what my husband's cousin that lives in Tennessee named her baby, which was like 3 months premature or something incredible like that (happy to report that he is doing fantastic right now with apparently no lasting side-effects of being a premie). She used to live in New England and was close with my husband growing up. They are the same age, only a few months apart and they used to live down the road from one another, so it's not like some obscure family member that named their kid Jacob or anything.
Anyway, that's the update. :-) Do you think it would be tacky to ask my husband's cousin if she minded if we used to name?
Saturday, October 12, 2013
Every Neighborhood Has "That Neighbor..."
It looks like the old saying is true - that every neighborhood has "that neighbor". You know, the one that mows his lawn at 5am, hangs outside watching kids like a creeper and is generally just unpleasant to be around. In our neighborhood, "that neighbor" happens to be the one next door.
Lucky me.
While he hasn't technically moved in yet, he still finds ways to constantly irritate me. Whether it's him standing outside like a creeper all the damn time being obvious about eavesdropping (our lots are close together), watching my kids play like some kind of pedophile, or complaining about one thing or another that I do, he makes me want to risk the jail time to get in one really good swing at him.
Yep, he's that irritating. Surely nobody would blame a hormonal pregnant woman for losing her composure and finally calling enough enough when it comes to an idiot neighbor that just doesn't know when to back off and leave.
The latest drama involves captain asshole sending a love-filled email complaining that I was harassing him by asking the town to enforce their own bylaws! Can you believe it?! Yes, I am completely in the wrong to envoke the protections put in place by the town to prevent losers like you from coming in and making the town a hell-hole. I am not the first neighbor to call. I am simply the only neighbor with the experience to know which department to call and the conviction to keep on it until I get a reply. I didn't do anything wrong. There was no accusations of illegal actions as he claims, I was simply asking the town to do their job. I can see where this has gone wrong - #1.) The town wasn't really interested in actually enforcing bylaws because they are scared poopless of a lawsuit and #2.) The neighbor isn't interested in playing by anyone's rules but his own. I'm not sure what he thought I should have done - stand by while he flaunted disdain for bylaws in a way that would effect my property, or knock on his door and talk to him which has had exactly a 0% success rate in the past. Neither of those seem like a great option, so I went to the town and let them deal with it.
I feel the need to mention that I am not the first person to call the town on him. That alone has said something. Also, the town is really not the easiest entity to deal with and quite frankly, most people don't have the persistence needed to pursue the necessary channels to make sure bylaws are being enforced. If wanting my rights and the towns bylaws enforced makes me unneighborly, then so be it. He pulled up shrubs, removed and discarded of a temporary fence and even called the cops. He has threatened to sue us and everything else. I'm not sure how any of that is very neighborly. All I've done is request for the town's bylaws to be upheld and for our two surveyors to come to an agreement as to where the line is so that we can put up a fence. We have young kids and a dog, a fence does not seem unreasonable.
Honestly, I hope this ass-hat just falls off the face of the planet or something. I don't want to wish him dead because that's just way more bad Karma than I need at the present, but I'd really really really like for his Karma to catch up to him so he can maybe be a little less of "that neighbor" in the future.
Lucky me.
While he hasn't technically moved in yet, he still finds ways to constantly irritate me. Whether it's him standing outside like a creeper all the damn time being obvious about eavesdropping (our lots are close together), watching my kids play like some kind of pedophile, or complaining about one thing or another that I do, he makes me want to risk the jail time to get in one really good swing at him.
Yep, he's that irritating. Surely nobody would blame a hormonal pregnant woman for losing her composure and finally calling enough enough when it comes to an idiot neighbor that just doesn't know when to back off and leave.
The latest drama involves captain asshole sending a love-filled email complaining that I was harassing him by asking the town to enforce their own bylaws! Can you believe it?! Yes, I am completely in the wrong to envoke the protections put in place by the town to prevent losers like you from coming in and making the town a hell-hole. I am not the first neighbor to call. I am simply the only neighbor with the experience to know which department to call and the conviction to keep on it until I get a reply. I didn't do anything wrong. There was no accusations of illegal actions as he claims, I was simply asking the town to do their job. I can see where this has gone wrong - #1.) The town wasn't really interested in actually enforcing bylaws because they are scared poopless of a lawsuit and #2.) The neighbor isn't interested in playing by anyone's rules but his own. I'm not sure what he thought I should have done - stand by while he flaunted disdain for bylaws in a way that would effect my property, or knock on his door and talk to him which has had exactly a 0% success rate in the past. Neither of those seem like a great option, so I went to the town and let them deal with it.
I feel the need to mention that I am not the first person to call the town on him. That alone has said something. Also, the town is really not the easiest entity to deal with and quite frankly, most people don't have the persistence needed to pursue the necessary channels to make sure bylaws are being enforced. If wanting my rights and the towns bylaws enforced makes me unneighborly, then so be it. He pulled up shrubs, removed and discarded of a temporary fence and even called the cops. He has threatened to sue us and everything else. I'm not sure how any of that is very neighborly. All I've done is request for the town's bylaws to be upheld and for our two surveyors to come to an agreement as to where the line is so that we can put up a fence. We have young kids and a dog, a fence does not seem unreasonable.
Honestly, I hope this ass-hat just falls off the face of the planet or something. I don't want to wish him dead because that's just way more bad Karma than I need at the present, but I'd really really really like for his Karma to catch up to him so he can maybe be a little less of "that neighbor" in the future.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Maternity Pants Mayhem
I'm going to just throw this out there - I hate maternity pants.
There. I said it. Seriously though, who could have though to of a worse invention? There is nothing comfortable or trendy about maternity pants. And those belly panels! Phew! I don't care if you are looking at full-panel, partial panel or just one of those little elastic bands at the waist, they are uncomfortable!
At 12.5 weeks I find myself no longer comfortable for long periods of time in my regular jeans. They fit well enough when I'm standing, but as soon as I sit (like to work), they dig into my baby-gut and it HURTS! So, instead of dancing the button-battle where you are constantly buttoning and unbuttoning your pants all day as you sit and stand, I decided to jump into my smaller pair of maternity pants. They fit, except for the God forsaken elastic band of doom.
Seriously. I hate hate hate maternity pants. They must have been designed by a man, because no woman in her right mind would think - oh hey, lets use industrial-strength elastic and make it crazy kinds of tight around your stomach. Because when you're pregnant, having any degree of pressure on your gut doesn't make you want to projectile vomit or anything... If it weren't getting colder and if it were socially acceptable, I would spend my entire pregnancy in a moo moo because apparently modern fashion designers have NO FRICKEN CLUE how uncomfortable being pregnant is and they aim to enhance the discomfort with these 3-inch wide elastic waistbands that dig in to really drive home the fact that having 2 X chromosomes sucks.
There. I said it. Seriously though, who could have though to of a worse invention? There is nothing comfortable or trendy about maternity pants. And those belly panels! Phew! I don't care if you are looking at full-panel, partial panel or just one of those little elastic bands at the waist, they are uncomfortable!
At 12.5 weeks I find myself no longer comfortable for long periods of time in my regular jeans. They fit well enough when I'm standing, but as soon as I sit (like to work), they dig into my baby-gut and it HURTS! So, instead of dancing the button-battle where you are constantly buttoning and unbuttoning your pants all day as you sit and stand, I decided to jump into my smaller pair of maternity pants. They fit, except for the God forsaken elastic band of doom.
Seriously. I hate hate hate maternity pants. They must have been designed by a man, because no woman in her right mind would think - oh hey, lets use industrial-strength elastic and make it crazy kinds of tight around your stomach. Because when you're pregnant, having any degree of pressure on your gut doesn't make you want to projectile vomit or anything... If it weren't getting colder and if it were socially acceptable, I would spend my entire pregnancy in a moo moo because apparently modern fashion designers have NO FRICKEN CLUE how uncomfortable being pregnant is and they aim to enhance the discomfort with these 3-inch wide elastic waistbands that dig in to really drive home the fact that having 2 X chromosomes sucks.
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Proud Mom Moment
I just had a proud mom moment and I couldn't wait to share.
My oldest daughter was pushing her doll around the house in the stroller and talking to it. At one point I overheard the conversation. She said, "Oh Princess Wiki, you're so smart and funny. I love you."
WOW. I must be doing something right. Kids tend to repeat the things they hear, so I'm glad the message she's getting is that she's smart and funny as opposed to pretty or cute. Not that being pretty or cute is a bad thing, but I think it's great that her sense of self isn't based entirely on the way that she looks. I think that girls have enough pressure to look a certain way and I'm glad that my husband and I are laying the foundation that she's more than just a pretty face. She's smart. She's funny. She has value and more to offer than just what's on the surface. So maybe, sometime down the road when she gets teased for having a big nose (inevitable since I have a huge Roman honker) or being short or being skinny, she'll brush it off because her entire self worth won't be based on physical attributes.
The beauty of being smart or funny is that nobody can take that away from you with an opinion. If you're smart, you'll always be smart. If you're funny, you'll always be funny. Personality traits and intelligence aren't nearly as subjective to the whims of per-pubescent sheeple as beauty, and confidence based on those types of factors is a lot harder to shatter than confidence that's only skin deep.
My oldest daughter was pushing her doll around the house in the stroller and talking to it. At one point I overheard the conversation. She said, "Oh Princess Wiki, you're so smart and funny. I love you."
WOW. I must be doing something right. Kids tend to repeat the things they hear, so I'm glad the message she's getting is that she's smart and funny as opposed to pretty or cute. Not that being pretty or cute is a bad thing, but I think it's great that her sense of self isn't based entirely on the way that she looks. I think that girls have enough pressure to look a certain way and I'm glad that my husband and I are laying the foundation that she's more than just a pretty face. She's smart. She's funny. She has value and more to offer than just what's on the surface. So maybe, sometime down the road when she gets teased for having a big nose (inevitable since I have a huge Roman honker) or being short or being skinny, she'll brush it off because her entire self worth won't be based on physical attributes.
The beauty of being smart or funny is that nobody can take that away from you with an opinion. If you're smart, you'll always be smart. If you're funny, you'll always be funny. Personality traits and intelligence aren't nearly as subjective to the whims of per-pubescent sheeple as beauty, and confidence based on those types of factors is a lot harder to shatter than confidence that's only skin deep.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Pregnancy Journal: Week 12
Week 12 has brought a lot of emotional instability. Particularly when food is involved. For whatever reason my cravings and aversions are worse this time than they have been in the past. I find myself craving things I haven't had in 15 years or more. It's crazy.
Take yesterday for example. I wanted a tuna salad grinder like nobody's business. It was completely consuming and nothing else would work in lieu of a tuna salad grinder. Fortunately, I had everything needed to make one at home. So, I did.
OMG. It was the BEST tuna salad grinder I've ever had in my life. I ate the entire thing in one sitting, when I normally only eat 1/2 a grinder at a time. It was so good that I found myself CRYING from the intense pleasure I was getting from eating it. Even to myself that sounds ridiculous, but then I start thinking about the taste and feeling of eating that sandwich and the emotions start coming to the surface again. It was that good.
I feel like I need to take a moment to defend myself a little bit and mention that I'm not someone that get emotional over food. I don't let food control me and I'm good at saying no to overindulging (most of the time). So crying over a sandwich was really strange.
Other than that, the morning sickness has eased off for the most part and I'm slowly getting my energy back. I still feel lightheaded a lot, and that's my main complaint at this point.
Take yesterday for example. I wanted a tuna salad grinder like nobody's business. It was completely consuming and nothing else would work in lieu of a tuna salad grinder. Fortunately, I had everything needed to make one at home. So, I did.
OMG. It was the BEST tuna salad grinder I've ever had in my life. I ate the entire thing in one sitting, when I normally only eat 1/2 a grinder at a time. It was so good that I found myself CRYING from the intense pleasure I was getting from eating it. Even to myself that sounds ridiculous, but then I start thinking about the taste and feeling of eating that sandwich and the emotions start coming to the surface again. It was that good.
I feel like I need to take a moment to defend myself a little bit and mention that I'm not someone that get emotional over food. I don't let food control me and I'm good at saying no to overindulging (most of the time). So crying over a sandwich was really strange.
Other than that, the morning sickness has eased off for the most part and I'm slowly getting my energy back. I still feel lightheaded a lot, and that's my main complaint at this point.
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