As part of my previous post on "time management" I'm trying to get ahead with the blog posts a little bit. I thought I'd pre-write Monday's post as my sister is coming to stay with us until #3 is born and she's due to arrive Sunday.
So today's post is about her, even though she isn't even here yet. I haven't seen my sister in 2 years and out of the blue she volunteered to leave her family and come stay with mine while we wait for #3 to arrive. I'm shocked that she'd do that, and at the same time I'm not sure what to expect. We're not exactly "close" these days so I really don't know what's going to happen. On top of not seeing her for years, she's 6 years older than me and her daughter is a pre-teen. Her husband is in the military, so they live several states away. Not exactly a strong foundation of things in common.
I'm a little nervous about how things will change while she's here. I'm taking a work hiatus for the duration of her stay (because it's polite, but mostly for my own sanity so I can have plenty of time to rest, prepare for the baby and pay attention to my older kids).
I'll be sure to keep everyone updated on how it goes.
Monday, March 31, 2014
Friday, March 28, 2014
Time Management
I'm starting to go into "panic" mode now that #3 is almost here. I barely have time for my 2 kids AND my work AND the housework AND appointments. I'm not sure how I'll have time or a 3rd baby, especially an infant that actually needs me to do things for him. On top of that, my oldest will be starting preschool in the fall which requires me to drop her off and pick her up. I'm wondering how I'll possibly have time to do everything in a single day. As it is, I often find myself working until 11 at night and I still haven't gotten everything done.
Quite simply, I feel over extended and I don't have time to do anything that I want to do.
It's a terrible place to be. I know it's just poor time management on my part, but I'm starting to feel like I really need to get things in shape so I'm not scrambling. Any tips from super organized moms on how to make things go smoother? I know I can't make all the changes I need to make all at once, so I'm thinking of setting little goals for myself, which will probably get shot to hell when I go into the hospital and come back with a baby. Here's a few things I'd like to change off the top of my head:
-Spend less time on the computer (includes work, Facebook, etc.)
-Clean the kitchen before bed each night
-Clean the dining room table before bed each night
-Get back into my cleaning routine
-Get work done faster
-Spend time outside with the kids every day once it gets warmer
Quite simply, I feel over extended and I don't have time to do anything that I want to do.
It's a terrible place to be. I know it's just poor time management on my part, but I'm starting to feel like I really need to get things in shape so I'm not scrambling. Any tips from super organized moms on how to make things go smoother? I know I can't make all the changes I need to make all at once, so I'm thinking of setting little goals for myself, which will probably get shot to hell when I go into the hospital and come back with a baby. Here's a few things I'd like to change off the top of my head:
-Spend less time on the computer (includes work, Facebook, etc.)
-Clean the kitchen before bed each night
-Clean the dining room table before bed each night
-Get back into my cleaning routine
-Get work done faster
-Spend time outside with the kids every day once it gets warmer
Monday, March 24, 2014
Chicken Coop
So, I think Facebook is spying on me. It seems like every time my husband and I say that we're looking for something, it comes up on the yard sale site and then Facebook makes it a highlighted post or something that shows up on my news feed. Yep, weird, right? It's like they can hear me.
Anyway, he mentioned that he wanted to do chickens. This is something that comes up every spring and every spring I have a reason not to do it - Oh, there's no fence, oh, we don't have a coop, we're doing a home addition, you don't have time, etc.
This year, I said oh, we're having a baby. Well, my due date matches up with the dates that the chicks come in, so he's like perfect, I'll be home for 2 weeks to take care of the baby chicks. So then I was like oh, we don't have a coop. BAM. A free one shows up on the yard sale site. It's in good condition, about the size he wanted and even has a little tray you pull out to clean it so it's easy. At this point I'm like, are you kidding me?!
The home addition is done and he built a fence last fall so there's an area for them. Great. Looks like we're adding to the madness and getting chickens.
I've never had backyard chickens, so I'm not sure what to expect. My husband says they eat ticks and bugs, lay eggs and are low-maintenance. I'm hoping he's right. At least we got the coop for free, so we're not going to put a huge amount of money into this adventure and if it doesn't work out we can just cut our losses and call it a day. Best case scenario, he's completely telling the truth and we'll have fresh eggs and no bugs. Hopefully he takes care of the chickens like he says he will!
Anyway, he mentioned that he wanted to do chickens. This is something that comes up every spring and every spring I have a reason not to do it - Oh, there's no fence, oh, we don't have a coop, we're doing a home addition, you don't have time, etc.
This year, I said oh, we're having a baby. Well, my due date matches up with the dates that the chicks come in, so he's like perfect, I'll be home for 2 weeks to take care of the baby chicks. So then I was like oh, we don't have a coop. BAM. A free one shows up on the yard sale site. It's in good condition, about the size he wanted and even has a little tray you pull out to clean it so it's easy. At this point I'm like, are you kidding me?!
The home addition is done and he built a fence last fall so there's an area for them. Great. Looks like we're adding to the madness and getting chickens.
I've never had backyard chickens, so I'm not sure what to expect. My husband says they eat ticks and bugs, lay eggs and are low-maintenance. I'm hoping he's right. At least we got the coop for free, so we're not going to put a huge amount of money into this adventure and if it doesn't work out we can just cut our losses and call it a day. Best case scenario, he's completely telling the truth and we'll have fresh eggs and no bugs. Hopefully he takes care of the chickens like he says he will!
Friday, March 21, 2014
New England Cold
Attention New Englanders: It's cold out.
I said it. I'm sure you haven't noticed - or at least that's how the news is acting. We get it. This winter sucked - it was cold, it snowed a bunch and home heating fuel is at an all-time high. Tell us something we don't know. Any idiot could tell you that not breaking freezing several days in a row in mid to late March is "unseasonable".
I'm ready for the cold to be over and I'm sure everyone else is too. We normally plant our peas around St. Patrick's Day to get a nice early crop of them, but that didn't happen this year. The ground is frozen still and at this point it seems like garden season may never come.
Now watch, this summer it will be hot and dry. We'll have droughts and fires, going from one extreme to the next. I hope not, but that's how things work around here. Our town recently implemented a $215 capital improvements charge on top of our water bills, so we'll be setting up rain barrels to help conserve water and make up the difference. I have 1 barrel, so I'll be checking for plans online to turn it into a rain barrel and catch some of the snow melt this weekend.
I said it. I'm sure you haven't noticed - or at least that's how the news is acting. We get it. This winter sucked - it was cold, it snowed a bunch and home heating fuel is at an all-time high. Tell us something we don't know. Any idiot could tell you that not breaking freezing several days in a row in mid to late March is "unseasonable".
I'm ready for the cold to be over and I'm sure everyone else is too. We normally plant our peas around St. Patrick's Day to get a nice early crop of them, but that didn't happen this year. The ground is frozen still and at this point it seems like garden season may never come.
Now watch, this summer it will be hot and dry. We'll have droughts and fires, going from one extreme to the next. I hope not, but that's how things work around here. Our town recently implemented a $215 capital improvements charge on top of our water bills, so we'll be setting up rain barrels to help conserve water and make up the difference. I have 1 barrel, so I'll be checking for plans online to turn it into a rain barrel and catch some of the snow melt this weekend.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Appointment Scheduling
I've got a great suggestion for all the OB's in the world: Have someone on staff that can watch kids for 10 minutes at a time while a mother gets an internal exam.
I can't even describe how much easier that would make my life right now.
I'm 36 weeks pregnant and was scheduled to go early next week to get my Strep B test done. For those who have never had that lovely procedure done while pregnant, the Dr. basically swabs you in the bum and the hoo-haw to check for Strep B. Results take a few days. If you have the infection, you get antibiotics administered via an IV line during labor. It doesn't sound that bad, but apparently the antibiotics burn like the fires of hell and if you've never been in labor before, they like to put the IV in your hand. Yes, your F*ing hand. Just one more way to torture you while in labor, I suppose.
Anyway, yesterday I got a call from the office saying my appointment time needed to be moved up. To 9:30am. Getting my kids up, dressed and to someone's house to be watched at that hour is nothing short of impossible. Especially given that just getting them in the car this far into pregnancy is like an Olympic sport. I can barely get myself into the car, let alone 2 30lb+ kids. Not to mention they haven't been watched by any of the moms in the club before, so it would be a scary early morning experience for them. Awesome.
Well, there's a chance my husband could work from home that day, so I called to agree to the earlier time and let them know that I might have to cancel at the last second. Oopsie, the 9:30am time is no good. The Dr. will be gone all day. The next available appointment is Friday at 3pm. My youngest naps at that time and there's no way my husband can take Friday off or work from home on a Friday. Nobody can come here to watch the kids. Ok, that one's out. The next one is April 1st at noon. At that point I'll be 37+5, but at least my sister will be here to watch the kids. Fine, that works. Oh, and it takes 3-4 days to get test results back, so I'll definitely be past 38 weeks by the time we know anything.
Uh... the longest I've ever gone is 38 weeks on the dot. I've got the feeling that I'm getting the antibiotics no matter what. Awesome. Just one more choice taken away during labor and one more forced procedure. I can hardly wait. So, fingers crossed that baby boy bakes a little longer than his sisters did and that he's not the monstrously huge child the ultrasounds make him out to be.
I can't even describe how much easier that would make my life right now.
I'm 36 weeks pregnant and was scheduled to go early next week to get my Strep B test done. For those who have never had that lovely procedure done while pregnant, the Dr. basically swabs you in the bum and the hoo-haw to check for Strep B. Results take a few days. If you have the infection, you get antibiotics administered via an IV line during labor. It doesn't sound that bad, but apparently the antibiotics burn like the fires of hell and if you've never been in labor before, they like to put the IV in your hand. Yes, your F*ing hand. Just one more way to torture you while in labor, I suppose.
Anyway, yesterday I got a call from the office saying my appointment time needed to be moved up. To 9:30am. Getting my kids up, dressed and to someone's house to be watched at that hour is nothing short of impossible. Especially given that just getting them in the car this far into pregnancy is like an Olympic sport. I can barely get myself into the car, let alone 2 30lb+ kids. Not to mention they haven't been watched by any of the moms in the club before, so it would be a scary early morning experience for them. Awesome.
Well, there's a chance my husband could work from home that day, so I called to agree to the earlier time and let them know that I might have to cancel at the last second. Oopsie, the 9:30am time is no good. The Dr. will be gone all day. The next available appointment is Friday at 3pm. My youngest naps at that time and there's no way my husband can take Friday off or work from home on a Friday. Nobody can come here to watch the kids. Ok, that one's out. The next one is April 1st at noon. At that point I'll be 37+5, but at least my sister will be here to watch the kids. Fine, that works. Oh, and it takes 3-4 days to get test results back, so I'll definitely be past 38 weeks by the time we know anything.
Uh... the longest I've ever gone is 38 weeks on the dot. I've got the feeling that I'm getting the antibiotics no matter what. Awesome. Just one more choice taken away during labor and one more forced procedure. I can hardly wait. So, fingers crossed that baby boy bakes a little longer than his sisters did and that he's not the monstrously huge child the ultrasounds make him out to be.
Friday, March 14, 2014
Diaper Bag for 3 Kids?
I have a stupid mom post and I apologize in advance to anyone who doesn't have kids.
What diaper bag works the best for 3 kids? As soon as Baby #3 comes into the world, I'll be carrying significantly more crap with me wherever I go and I'm already maxed out with the current bag. It hangs uncomfortably and when I add to the burden I can't maneuver well to grab hands and wrangle 2 kids, let alone 3 in the parking lot.
Currently I use a Skip Hop Duo bag. It's fine, but I don't see it being big enough for the load I'll need to carry. Here's what I plan to take out on a regular basis (P.S. - my kids are 4, 2 and soon-to-be-born):
-Change of pants/panties for the 4 year old. I haven't needed this before, but I think the one time I leave it at home, I'm sure I'll need it.
-2 diapers for the 2 year old. I bring 2 because one time I brought 1 and the tab ripped off. FML.
-Wipes. Boat loads of them because we use them for face/hand cleaning on the go too.
-Drinks for the 2 and 4 year old (these go in the outside pocket)
-My stuff (keys, wallet, checkbook, phone, etc.)
*blanket
*toys
**my kids have a tendency to ditch whatever object they just HAD to bring with them and then it winds up in the diaper bag.
When baby #3 comes, I'll need to add to that list. I'll be carrying
-3 diapers for the baby for short trips
-wipes
-1 outfit change
-bottles
-formula
-nursing cover (unsure of whether I'll BF or formula feed. BFing hasn't worked out in the past for very long)
-blanket
I'm thinking 2 drinks for the older kids and the formula alone won't fit in the bag. I'm hoping to get my 2 year old on the potty bandwagon soon, but that presents other issues when in public (like dragging 3 young kids into a bathroom).
Has anyone else had this level of anxiety about leaving the house with 3 kids or is it just me? I think we'll be staying home a lot and mostly leaving when dad's around to wrangle at least 1 of the kids. Getting the 3 of them into and out of the car is another experience all together and I must say I'm not really looking forward to this "adventure". Why couldn't we stop at 2?
What diaper bag works the best for 3 kids? As soon as Baby #3 comes into the world, I'll be carrying significantly more crap with me wherever I go and I'm already maxed out with the current bag. It hangs uncomfortably and when I add to the burden I can't maneuver well to grab hands and wrangle 2 kids, let alone 3 in the parking lot.
Currently I use a Skip Hop Duo bag. It's fine, but I don't see it being big enough for the load I'll need to carry. Here's what I plan to take out on a regular basis (P.S. - my kids are 4, 2 and soon-to-be-born):
-Change of pants/panties for the 4 year old. I haven't needed this before, but I think the one time I leave it at home, I'm sure I'll need it.
-2 diapers for the 2 year old. I bring 2 because one time I brought 1 and the tab ripped off. FML.
-Wipes. Boat loads of them because we use them for face/hand cleaning on the go too.
-Drinks for the 2 and 4 year old (these go in the outside pocket)
-My stuff (keys, wallet, checkbook, phone, etc.)
*blanket
*toys
**my kids have a tendency to ditch whatever object they just HAD to bring with them and then it winds up in the diaper bag.
When baby #3 comes, I'll need to add to that list. I'll be carrying
-3 diapers for the baby for short trips
-wipes
-1 outfit change
-bottles
-formula
-nursing cover (unsure of whether I'll BF or formula feed. BFing hasn't worked out in the past for very long)
-blanket
I'm thinking 2 drinks for the older kids and the formula alone won't fit in the bag. I'm hoping to get my 2 year old on the potty bandwagon soon, but that presents other issues when in public (like dragging 3 young kids into a bathroom).
Has anyone else had this level of anxiety about leaving the house with 3 kids or is it just me? I think we'll be staying home a lot and mostly leaving when dad's around to wrangle at least 1 of the kids. Getting the 3 of them into and out of the car is another experience all together and I must say I'm not really looking forward to this "adventure". Why couldn't we stop at 2?
Wednesday, March 12, 2014
Weekend Recap
Do you ever have one of those weekends that flies by and you feel super accomplished only to look back and wonder what you really did? I'm having that right now. This past weekend felt like it was really busy, but looking back it seems like we didn't get that much accomplished and it's kind of a bummer. Here's the recap...
Saturday - Husband fixed his battery connection issue. We drove around to 2 auto parts stores to look for parts and found nothing. We also stopped to get some free baby clothes from the Facebook yard sale site and a couple of free mattresses for my MIL to use on her bunk beds. I'm not sure what else we did. Presumably, nothing. No wait, we moved caseats around to see if we could fit 3 in. The answer: sort of. They fit, but it's tight and you have to kind of shimmy the infant seat. I'm not happy with it, but my oldest will be transitioning to a different seat in 9 months, so I don't want to spend a lot of money on yet another car seat right now. We'll see how it is after the baby comes and if it's a huge issue, we'll re-evaluate at that point.
Sunday - I woke up early, but everyone else slept in late thanks to Daylight Savings. My MIL and her fiance came over at 10:30 to help the hubby fix his car. They were done by 1:30 then we had lunch and played a couple rounds of cards before they left with mattresses, a cradle swing and a high chair that I was sending over to their house. The hubby's car is now fixed. We took a trip to babies r us and Target to get the last few things on my list of baby goods (actually, I still need bassinet sheets), and then we came home. We had leftovers for dinner and fell asleep shortly after.
So here we are. Two more weekends before my sister comes up to help out and wait for the baby. Next weekend we are celebrating my brother-in-law's birthday. Pretty busy schedule!
Saturday - Husband fixed his battery connection issue. We drove around to 2 auto parts stores to look for parts and found nothing. We also stopped to get some free baby clothes from the Facebook yard sale site and a couple of free mattresses for my MIL to use on her bunk beds. I'm not sure what else we did. Presumably, nothing. No wait, we moved caseats around to see if we could fit 3 in. The answer: sort of. They fit, but it's tight and you have to kind of shimmy the infant seat. I'm not happy with it, but my oldest will be transitioning to a different seat in 9 months, so I don't want to spend a lot of money on yet another car seat right now. We'll see how it is after the baby comes and if it's a huge issue, we'll re-evaluate at that point.
Sunday - I woke up early, but everyone else slept in late thanks to Daylight Savings. My MIL and her fiance came over at 10:30 to help the hubby fix his car. They were done by 1:30 then we had lunch and played a couple rounds of cards before they left with mattresses, a cradle swing and a high chair that I was sending over to their house. The hubby's car is now fixed. We took a trip to babies r us and Target to get the last few things on my list of baby goods (actually, I still need bassinet sheets), and then we came home. We had leftovers for dinner and fell asleep shortly after.
So here we are. Two more weekends before my sister comes up to help out and wait for the baby. Next weekend we are celebrating my brother-in-law's birthday. Pretty busy schedule!
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Bad Day
Do you ever have a bad day where nothing really tragic happens, but nothing goes right either? It's like the world is just trying my patience today.
First, I had a Dr appointment at 11:30. Who has a Dr. appointment at 11:30? Talk about inconvenient. So, I packed the kids up - starting at 10:30 - and we were out the door by 11. Got to the Dr. at about 11:25 and headed in. That doesn't sound bad, but realize that in this short span of time, my oldest had a meltdown because she wanted to wear her pajamas, mini mouse snow hat and matching gloves. It was over 50 degrees out. Awesome. Eventually I said F-it and let her wear the strange ensemble. Then, when we got to the car, I realized my husband never took the baby seat out of the car that we were messing with to see if we could fit 3 car seats across in the Pilot. (The answer: kind of - more on that another time.) Have you ever seen an 8 months pregnant woman climbing over one child into the back seat of a car to fight a 2 year old into a car seat? It's not pretty.
Anyway, we got to the office and of course it's one of those visits that takes like 2 seconds to complete. A waste of time. First, you get the nurse that has you step on a scale. Why they weigh pregnant women past the first trimester is beyond me. I know I'm a fat ass, I don't need the scale to confirm this. My own scale is securely packed away - I don't need to know how much weight I've put on. A lot. I get it. STFU. Stepping on the scale invokes incredible anger and I find myself wanting to just punch the nurse in the face. She then cheerfully announces it's time to cart my 2 kids off to the bathroom to pee in a cup. Goody! I can't reach or see that general area well enough to know where the hell the cup is at, so I basically just pee all over my hand in an effort to catch some urine. I succeed, but the cup and my hand are covered in pee. Meanwhile, my 2 year old is pulling my hair as I'm hunched over and my 4 year old is unraveling 1/2 the roll of toilet paper screaming that I made a mess. Good times.
I leave the urine-covered cup on a paper towel on the counter and wash my hands. I help the kids go potty and wash their hands. It's quite the bathroom adventure. After that, we head to the exam room where we rot while we wait for the Dr. to come. My 4 year old is entertained by the iPad while my 2 year old literally climbs EVERYTHING that she shouldn't be climbing and I'm essentially just chasing her for the 20 minutes that it takes for the Dr. to come in.
Once the Dr. arrives she measures my stomach, checks the heartbeat and asks how I'm feeling. I have 2 rambunctious kids that nobody can control, I'm 8 months pregnant and you made me come here to step on a scale, pee in a cup, measure my stomach and check the heartbeat. How the F do you think I'm feeling? Homicidal comes to mind.
She says everything looks good and she'll see me in a week. I shoot her a death glare and laugh psychotically. She offers 2 weeks. I say 3. She says no. I say lets just shake, leave as friends and meet again at the hospital in about a month. She says no. Bitch. I imagine running her down in the parking lot since she's surely going to lunch after my appointment.
Then, to make things more fun she mentions we're doing "the swab" the next time. For those who haven't been blessed with giving birth, "the swab" is a reference to a test they do at the end of pregnancy where they use a big cotton swab to swish around your bum and you hoo-haw to check and see if you have Strep B. If you do, you get to go on antibiotics during labor - they go in your hand and I can't imagine they feel good since nothing that goes in your hand via an IV feels good. If you don't get the test done in time, you get the IV. Fun. In 2 weeks when she plans to do the test, I'll have the minions with me again as my sister won't be up yet. I really would prefer to wait 3 weeks, but she says no. So somehow I get to be bare-assed in the office with just a sheet of paper covering my modesty and a feisty 2 year old that loves to shred paper on my hands. Good times. I think I'm going to have car troubles and I'll just get the damn IV if I go into labor before the next appointment.
So after all of that nonsense, I fight the kids into the car - the 2 year old winds up in the front seat and has to be forced into her car seat where she screams and says I hurt her. The lady in the car next to mine with her window down looks like she's about to call CPS. At this point I'm beyond fed up with everyone. I strap her in despite her screams and leave.
We get home, unload and the kids do their usual strip-down less than 2 steps into the house which means you can't get past them without tripping. It's annoying and they won't move further in no matter how many times you tell them, move them, ask them, or otherwise try to get your point across.
The day continues with irritable kids that won't follow directions or behave for anything, but we add in a few braxton hicks and some random hip pains. Good times. I have ZERO motivation to clean, but I make myself do it anyway. Twice the husband calls to see what's new and when there's no news he acts as if I've committed some faux pas by not having anything interesting to entertain him with while he takes a break. Sorry.
At the end of the day I get an email from my editor. My last assignment was crap. He basically hated it. I didn't do any of it right. Wonderful. I suck at life. The kids are brats that won't nap. I feel like I'm on a healthcare conveyor belt and I can't personalize my care at all and everyone is pissing me off at this point. At least I'm planning leftovers for dinner, so I don't have to cook. Dinner rolls around, we bust out the leftovers and the hubby takes 2 bites before pushing his plate away. Apparently that's just one more way that I failed at life today. Awesome.
I can't do or say anything right and the world isn't afraid of letting me know. Nobody will cooperate and the day just sucked in general. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
First, I had a Dr appointment at 11:30. Who has a Dr. appointment at 11:30? Talk about inconvenient. So, I packed the kids up - starting at 10:30 - and we were out the door by 11. Got to the Dr. at about 11:25 and headed in. That doesn't sound bad, but realize that in this short span of time, my oldest had a meltdown because she wanted to wear her pajamas, mini mouse snow hat and matching gloves. It was over 50 degrees out. Awesome. Eventually I said F-it and let her wear the strange ensemble. Then, when we got to the car, I realized my husband never took the baby seat out of the car that we were messing with to see if we could fit 3 car seats across in the Pilot. (The answer: kind of - more on that another time.) Have you ever seen an 8 months pregnant woman climbing over one child into the back seat of a car to fight a 2 year old into a car seat? It's not pretty.
Anyway, we got to the office and of course it's one of those visits that takes like 2 seconds to complete. A waste of time. First, you get the nurse that has you step on a scale. Why they weigh pregnant women past the first trimester is beyond me. I know I'm a fat ass, I don't need the scale to confirm this. My own scale is securely packed away - I don't need to know how much weight I've put on. A lot. I get it. STFU. Stepping on the scale invokes incredible anger and I find myself wanting to just punch the nurse in the face. She then cheerfully announces it's time to cart my 2 kids off to the bathroom to pee in a cup. Goody! I can't reach or see that general area well enough to know where the hell the cup is at, so I basically just pee all over my hand in an effort to catch some urine. I succeed, but the cup and my hand are covered in pee. Meanwhile, my 2 year old is pulling my hair as I'm hunched over and my 4 year old is unraveling 1/2 the roll of toilet paper screaming that I made a mess. Good times.
I leave the urine-covered cup on a paper towel on the counter and wash my hands. I help the kids go potty and wash their hands. It's quite the bathroom adventure. After that, we head to the exam room where we rot while we wait for the Dr. to come. My 4 year old is entertained by the iPad while my 2 year old literally climbs EVERYTHING that she shouldn't be climbing and I'm essentially just chasing her for the 20 minutes that it takes for the Dr. to come in.
Once the Dr. arrives she measures my stomach, checks the heartbeat and asks how I'm feeling. I have 2 rambunctious kids that nobody can control, I'm 8 months pregnant and you made me come here to step on a scale, pee in a cup, measure my stomach and check the heartbeat. How the F do you think I'm feeling? Homicidal comes to mind.
She says everything looks good and she'll see me in a week. I shoot her a death glare and laugh psychotically. She offers 2 weeks. I say 3. She says no. I say lets just shake, leave as friends and meet again at the hospital in about a month. She says no. Bitch. I imagine running her down in the parking lot since she's surely going to lunch after my appointment.
Then, to make things more fun she mentions we're doing "the swab" the next time. For those who haven't been blessed with giving birth, "the swab" is a reference to a test they do at the end of pregnancy where they use a big cotton swab to swish around your bum and you hoo-haw to check and see if you have Strep B. If you do, you get to go on antibiotics during labor - they go in your hand and I can't imagine they feel good since nothing that goes in your hand via an IV feels good. If you don't get the test done in time, you get the IV. Fun. In 2 weeks when she plans to do the test, I'll have the minions with me again as my sister won't be up yet. I really would prefer to wait 3 weeks, but she says no. So somehow I get to be bare-assed in the office with just a sheet of paper covering my modesty and a feisty 2 year old that loves to shred paper on my hands. Good times. I think I'm going to have car troubles and I'll just get the damn IV if I go into labor before the next appointment.
So after all of that nonsense, I fight the kids into the car - the 2 year old winds up in the front seat and has to be forced into her car seat where she screams and says I hurt her. The lady in the car next to mine with her window down looks like she's about to call CPS. At this point I'm beyond fed up with everyone. I strap her in despite her screams and leave.
We get home, unload and the kids do their usual strip-down less than 2 steps into the house which means you can't get past them without tripping. It's annoying and they won't move further in no matter how many times you tell them, move them, ask them, or otherwise try to get your point across.
The day continues with irritable kids that won't follow directions or behave for anything, but we add in a few braxton hicks and some random hip pains. Good times. I have ZERO motivation to clean, but I make myself do it anyway. Twice the husband calls to see what's new and when there's no news he acts as if I've committed some faux pas by not having anything interesting to entertain him with while he takes a break. Sorry.
At the end of the day I get an email from my editor. My last assignment was crap. He basically hated it. I didn't do any of it right. Wonderful. I suck at life. The kids are brats that won't nap. I feel like I'm on a healthcare conveyor belt and I can't personalize my care at all and everyone is pissing me off at this point. At least I'm planning leftovers for dinner, so I don't have to cook. Dinner rolls around, we bust out the leftovers and the hubby takes 2 bites before pushing his plate away. Apparently that's just one more way that I failed at life today. Awesome.
I can't do or say anything right and the world isn't afraid of letting me know. Nobody will cooperate and the day just sucked in general. Hopefully tomorrow will be better.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Warning About Giving Things Away for FREE
I know I talk about the Facebook yard sale sites pretty frequently, but I just HAVE to pass on this warning after talking to my friend about her experience.
My friend recently posted a bunch of boxes on the site for FREE to people who needed moving boxes. She lives in a military community, so the demand for sturdy cardboard is pretty high. As expected, someone responded right away and picked up the boxes. She gave away about 3 lots of boxes total.
Well, a few weeks later she's getting ready for work and a cop appears at her door with a piece of paper. Apparently she had left a sales receipt from an online order in one of the boxes. It had her name and address on it. The boxes she had given away were illegally dumped along with some other trash. The paper with her name and address was found in the pile, leading the police to her door.
She explained the situation and was told that she could either clean it up that day or pay a $500 littering fee and face other penalties as well.
She wound up cleaning the trash up to avoid the trouble, but she'll probably be hesitant to give stuff away on the site again. Let that be a warning - giving away something as seemingly unimportant as some moving boxes can bite you in the butt. Be careful what you give away and make sure there's no personal information attached to it.
My friend recently posted a bunch of boxes on the site for FREE to people who needed moving boxes. She lives in a military community, so the demand for sturdy cardboard is pretty high. As expected, someone responded right away and picked up the boxes. She gave away about 3 lots of boxes total.
Well, a few weeks later she's getting ready for work and a cop appears at her door with a piece of paper. Apparently she had left a sales receipt from an online order in one of the boxes. It had her name and address on it. The boxes she had given away were illegally dumped along with some other trash. The paper with her name and address was found in the pile, leading the police to her door.
She explained the situation and was told that she could either clean it up that day or pay a $500 littering fee and face other penalties as well.
She wound up cleaning the trash up to avoid the trouble, but she'll probably be hesitant to give stuff away on the site again. Let that be a warning - giving away something as seemingly unimportant as some moving boxes can bite you in the butt. Be careful what you give away and make sure there's no personal information attached to it.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Friend Sale
I'm wondering what everyone's policy is on selling things to friends.
I know that if I have something that someone else wants or needs, I do my best to just give it to them for free, but there are times when you really don't want to, like if it's a piece of baby gear or something brand new that you were thinking about selling. Kids clothes and most toys I will give away if someone is looking for them. Other things it depends.
If I DO sell something to a friend, I usually sell it to the friend for a lot less than I'd sell it to someone else. I call it the friend discount. It's because you want to help out your friends, right?
If it's something I really don't want to take a hit on, I don't even offer to sell it. Sometimes that doesn't work out with the Facebook yard sale sites, but I guess that's a chance you take. I'm in a situation right now where a friend is looking for a specific DVD for cheap ($2) or free and I have that DVD, but it's brand new. I don't want to sell it for $2 because it's brand new and I know I can get $7-$10 from someone looking to give it as a gift. So, I'm not going to post it right now - see? Easy.
Well, I've been looking for a rock 'n play for baby #3 that's due next month and on the Facebook sites they usually go for $10-$20, occasionally $25 if they're the deluxe version with vibration and in near perfect condition. They don't come up a lot and they normally go really fast when they do. One of the ladies in the moms club who I'd consider a friend messaged me saying she was selling her rock 'n play for $25 when she was finished with it. I wasn't sure which version it was, so I said I'd take a look.
Then I start hearing from other people that she has basically lent it out to the entire group AND she got it from her sister AND her sister isn't the original owner. This thing has probably gone through 6+ kids at this point. About a month after the original offer she sends me a picture of it and says she wants $30 for it - because she's selling it for her sister. That little line is what she includes in posts when she doesn't want people to haggle. That way, she can say oh no, I can't go lower because it's not mine, sorry. I know that because I know her. Also, it's not even the deluxe version! It's a plain rock 'n play in obviously used condition (not the "great" condition she says its in - you can see the wear in the pictures) and she upped the price $5!
I was kind of offended. That rock 'n play retails for $50 and like I said, it has been through 3 owners and at least 6 kids. I think it should have been discounted at least 50%, but here she was trying to sell it for $30 and to someone she knows no less! Was I not supposed to find out about its history?
Needless to say, she's a friend and she knows I had been looking and it was a $20 discount off the retail price, so I said sure. It was an awkward situation and I didn't know what to do. My husband told me to just take it to not offend her and "help her out" as her husband had recently lost his job again.
As luck would have it, a rock 'n play went up on the free site the day after I agreed to buy hers this coming weekend. I inquired, third in line and didn't think much about it. Then I got the message - the free one was still available, would I like it? YES! My husband picked it up last night on his way home from work and it's in perfect condition. I emailed the friend to let her know I wouldn't be buying hers after all.
She went ahead and posted hers on the yard sale site for $30 with the line about it being her sister's item. These things usually go like hotcakes, but 9 hours later hers is still sitting there, waiting to sell... I guess that's confirmation that it was overpriced. I'm glad the free one came up to get me out of a tough situation.
Let that be a lesson - mixing friends and business is a bad idea!
I know that if I have something that someone else wants or needs, I do my best to just give it to them for free, but there are times when you really don't want to, like if it's a piece of baby gear or something brand new that you were thinking about selling. Kids clothes and most toys I will give away if someone is looking for them. Other things it depends.
If I DO sell something to a friend, I usually sell it to the friend for a lot less than I'd sell it to someone else. I call it the friend discount. It's because you want to help out your friends, right?
If it's something I really don't want to take a hit on, I don't even offer to sell it. Sometimes that doesn't work out with the Facebook yard sale sites, but I guess that's a chance you take. I'm in a situation right now where a friend is looking for a specific DVD for cheap ($2) or free and I have that DVD, but it's brand new. I don't want to sell it for $2 because it's brand new and I know I can get $7-$10 from someone looking to give it as a gift. So, I'm not going to post it right now - see? Easy.
Well, I've been looking for a rock 'n play for baby #3 that's due next month and on the Facebook sites they usually go for $10-$20, occasionally $25 if they're the deluxe version with vibration and in near perfect condition. They don't come up a lot and they normally go really fast when they do. One of the ladies in the moms club who I'd consider a friend messaged me saying she was selling her rock 'n play for $25 when she was finished with it. I wasn't sure which version it was, so I said I'd take a look.
Then I start hearing from other people that she has basically lent it out to the entire group AND she got it from her sister AND her sister isn't the original owner. This thing has probably gone through 6+ kids at this point. About a month after the original offer she sends me a picture of it and says she wants $30 for it - because she's selling it for her sister. That little line is what she includes in posts when she doesn't want people to haggle. That way, she can say oh no, I can't go lower because it's not mine, sorry. I know that because I know her. Also, it's not even the deluxe version! It's a plain rock 'n play in obviously used condition (not the "great" condition she says its in - you can see the wear in the pictures) and she upped the price $5!
I was kind of offended. That rock 'n play retails for $50 and like I said, it has been through 3 owners and at least 6 kids. I think it should have been discounted at least 50%, but here she was trying to sell it for $30 and to someone she knows no less! Was I not supposed to find out about its history?
Needless to say, she's a friend and she knows I had been looking and it was a $20 discount off the retail price, so I said sure. It was an awkward situation and I didn't know what to do. My husband told me to just take it to not offend her and "help her out" as her husband had recently lost his job again.
As luck would have it, a rock 'n play went up on the free site the day after I agreed to buy hers this coming weekend. I inquired, third in line and didn't think much about it. Then I got the message - the free one was still available, would I like it? YES! My husband picked it up last night on his way home from work and it's in perfect condition. I emailed the friend to let her know I wouldn't be buying hers after all.
She went ahead and posted hers on the yard sale site for $30 with the line about it being her sister's item. These things usually go like hotcakes, but 9 hours later hers is still sitting there, waiting to sell... I guess that's confirmation that it was overpriced. I'm glad the free one came up to get me out of a tough situation.
Let that be a lesson - mixing friends and business is a bad idea!
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
My Husband Is Still Useless
I think this is becoming a theme... maybe one day they'll make a TV series based off of this concept. Judging by the number of hits my other useless husband posts get, it's a pretty universal feeling for women to be baffled and annoyed by their husbands' lack of man-knowledge. If a woman can't cook or clean or take care of children with one hand tied behind their back and a blindfold on they are somehow less female, but if a man is inept at home repairs or car repairs, it's totally fine. Men don't have to have all the answers - women do. Not a double standard or anything.
Just for the record, I'm not being unfair - my husband can't cook and he needs more direction than a 4-year old to clean the bathroom. He expected me to come into the marriage knowing how to do these things and if I don't know something, I'm supposed to get immediate instruction and ace it after the first try. Likewise, I expected him to come into the marriage with some type of expertise other than playing the Legend of Zelda and surfing the internet for political news, despite the fact that he has no political ambitions and honestly just doesn't understand why the world isn't "fair".
But, I digress... the point of this post was to highlight his latest shortcomings... namely, his car.
You see, for the last 2 weeks his car has been sitting in the driveway, broken. He has devoted half a Sunday each weekend to fixing it and all he has succeeded in doing is breaking it even worse.
The first weekend, he had his mom's boyfriend down to help. My husband neglected to read the code on the check engine light before the car died, so he had ZERO to go on. They were basically grasping at straws. They replaced a part ($30) and then scratched their butt while listening to the engine sputter and die. There was man-talk about possible things that are wrong, but I can throw out things like "oh, maybe the throttle needs to be cleaned", or "oh, put some of that valve cleaner from Walmart in it". First of all - they're both dumbasses. Additives are for maintenance, not repairs. Second of all - they blew the entire day to put in an ignition coil? AN IGNITION COIL?? Are you fricken kidding me??
So no surprise when that didn't work. Then this weekend rolls around and again, he booked Saturday solid to leave only Sunday to work on his car. He was able to get a code - a problem with the fuel rail pressure sensor. So naturally he replaced an air sensor... makes sense, right? No. That didn't work, so then he was attempting to replace the fuel regulator. Again, no dice, but this time it was because he couldn't get the part off. Finally, he spent 3 or so hours on Google finding where the fuel pressure sensor was located to change that out. He knew that was what was throwing the code for like 4 days, but he decided to wait until the day he was fixing the car an hour before the parts place closed to see what and where it was and he wasted the rest of the time replacing random parts that had nothing to do with the code. Genius.
By a stroke of luck he got the part replaced and the car sounded better. It ran, no codes and he really thought it was fixed. Then his idiot complex kicked back on and he was like oh hey, great idea, I'll let the car idle in the driveway for an hour and 20 minutes, unsupervised. He was SHOCKED when he went out to discover the car smoking and the heat needle all the way up. SHOCKED I tell you.
Besides being a smoking hot mess, there was a good puddle of something under the car. He felt the need to stick his dirty fingers in it before coming into the house and shoving said nasty fingers under my nose while I was on the phone with my mom, demanding to know what it smelled like. My answer was dirty fingers. Not the appropriate time to ask me AND how the heck should I know what the liquid on engine grease smelled like? Look where it's dripping from, Einstein.
So now, his car is dead in the driveway except it's deader than dead this time. It won't even start. We're looking at him having my car ALL next week AGAIN - putting 100 miles a day on it and doubling the gas bill then working on it for 1/2 of one day during the weekend (begrudgingly, mind you because he's a whiny little bitch who thinks car repair is somehow below him. Why can't he have a nice car with payments? Um... 100 miles a day, that's why.). Option number 2 is bringing it to the mechanic and getting a bill for whatever he broke by letting it idle for an hour and 20 minutes, unsupervised. Did I mention it was left UNSUPERVISED? If you have a car that dies after running for 20 minutes, why would you leave it idling in the driveway while you go on the internet? Because you're lazy or just plain stupid? Which do you think it is?
In anticipation of a huge repair bill and/or him working on it next weekend, I cancelled my weekend plans. I was supposed to attend a Mary Kay party, but that's clearly not happening. Besides having no money because he's buying parts and possibly paying a mechanic, I'll have to watch the kids on the weekend while he screws around with his car. The friend's house is about 40 minutes away too and we need to actively try to drive less because of all the miles he's putting on it taking it to work. Our "good car" has over 100K miles on it and is running rough since he has taken it for the past week and a half to work. I tell you, he drives everything he touches into the ground. He has zero patience for traffic and drives like an ass, then blames his tickets on the police and his car troubles on being unlucky. No, it's all within his control - drive a little nicer and maybe you won't have as many problems. The car won't break because you won't push it and you won't get tickets for driving like a d-bag. Amazing idea, right?
Ugh, so frustrating.
Just for the record, I'm not being unfair - my husband can't cook and he needs more direction than a 4-year old to clean the bathroom. He expected me to come into the marriage knowing how to do these things and if I don't know something, I'm supposed to get immediate instruction and ace it after the first try. Likewise, I expected him to come into the marriage with some type of expertise other than playing the Legend of Zelda and surfing the internet for political news, despite the fact that he has no political ambitions and honestly just doesn't understand why the world isn't "fair".
But, I digress... the point of this post was to highlight his latest shortcomings... namely, his car.
You see, for the last 2 weeks his car has been sitting in the driveway, broken. He has devoted half a Sunday each weekend to fixing it and all he has succeeded in doing is breaking it even worse.
The first weekend, he had his mom's boyfriend down to help. My husband neglected to read the code on the check engine light before the car died, so he had ZERO to go on. They were basically grasping at straws. They replaced a part ($30) and then scratched their butt while listening to the engine sputter and die. There was man-talk about possible things that are wrong, but I can throw out things like "oh, maybe the throttle needs to be cleaned", or "oh, put some of that valve cleaner from Walmart in it". First of all - they're both dumbasses. Additives are for maintenance, not repairs. Second of all - they blew the entire day to put in an ignition coil? AN IGNITION COIL?? Are you fricken kidding me??
So no surprise when that didn't work. Then this weekend rolls around and again, he booked Saturday solid to leave only Sunday to work on his car. He was able to get a code - a problem with the fuel rail pressure sensor. So naturally he replaced an air sensor... makes sense, right? No. That didn't work, so then he was attempting to replace the fuel regulator. Again, no dice, but this time it was because he couldn't get the part off. Finally, he spent 3 or so hours on Google finding where the fuel pressure sensor was located to change that out. He knew that was what was throwing the code for like 4 days, but he decided to wait until the day he was fixing the car an hour before the parts place closed to see what and where it was and he wasted the rest of the time replacing random parts that had nothing to do with the code. Genius.
By a stroke of luck he got the part replaced and the car sounded better. It ran, no codes and he really thought it was fixed. Then his idiot complex kicked back on and he was like oh hey, great idea, I'll let the car idle in the driveway for an hour and 20 minutes, unsupervised. He was SHOCKED when he went out to discover the car smoking and the heat needle all the way up. SHOCKED I tell you.
Besides being a smoking hot mess, there was a good puddle of something under the car. He felt the need to stick his dirty fingers in it before coming into the house and shoving said nasty fingers under my nose while I was on the phone with my mom, demanding to know what it smelled like. My answer was dirty fingers. Not the appropriate time to ask me AND how the heck should I know what the liquid on engine grease smelled like? Look where it's dripping from, Einstein.
So now, his car is dead in the driveway except it's deader than dead this time. It won't even start. We're looking at him having my car ALL next week AGAIN - putting 100 miles a day on it and doubling the gas bill then working on it for 1/2 of one day during the weekend (begrudgingly, mind you because he's a whiny little bitch who thinks car repair is somehow below him. Why can't he have a nice car with payments? Um... 100 miles a day, that's why.). Option number 2 is bringing it to the mechanic and getting a bill for whatever he broke by letting it idle for an hour and 20 minutes, unsupervised. Did I mention it was left UNSUPERVISED? If you have a car that dies after running for 20 minutes, why would you leave it idling in the driveway while you go on the internet? Because you're lazy or just plain stupid? Which do you think it is?
In anticipation of a huge repair bill and/or him working on it next weekend, I cancelled my weekend plans. I was supposed to attend a Mary Kay party, but that's clearly not happening. Besides having no money because he's buying parts and possibly paying a mechanic, I'll have to watch the kids on the weekend while he screws around with his car. The friend's house is about 40 minutes away too and we need to actively try to drive less because of all the miles he's putting on it taking it to work. Our "good car" has over 100K miles on it and is running rough since he has taken it for the past week and a half to work. I tell you, he drives everything he touches into the ground. He has zero patience for traffic and drives like an ass, then blames his tickets on the police and his car troubles on being unlucky. No, it's all within his control - drive a little nicer and maybe you won't have as many problems. The car won't break because you won't push it and you won't get tickets for driving like a d-bag. Amazing idea, right?
Ugh, so frustrating.
Monday, March 3, 2014
GAF WeatherWatch Roof Underlay Warranty
After getting off the phone with GAF about a week ago, I was really optimistic about my odds of having the ice dam problem fixed once and for all. They made the process sound so easy and their promise to send out an info packet right away made me hopeful that they would be speedy about responding to my claim.
Unfortunately, they took me for a ride.
I got the packet in the mail a couple days ago, which is a really long time considering it's only coming from New Jersey and that it's just a standard sized envelope. In the "packet" was a brochure describing what I'd need to do to file my claim. Here it is:
1.) Submit proof of the product purchase - Sure, not a problem. I fortunately kept receipts from 2 years ago.
2.) Proof of property ownership - Again, not a problem. I have tax bills and the town can send copies if needed.
3.) Proof of quantity installed - This would be on the receipts, no?
4.) Repaired or replaced product (if applicable) - it's not.
5.) Photos, both long-distance and short-range showing the problem - Um, the problem is the underlay and it's under the shingles... that could be hard to take a picture of.
6.) Samples: A 12" x 12" piece of underlayment that exhibits the problem. - Um... really? In case you're not familiar with the product, the underlayment is basically a sticky roll of paper that adheres to the roof and then you put the shingles down on top of it. The point of the underlayment is to heal around any roofing nails to create a water & ice barrier to prevent moisture from getting in your house. If the underlayment fails to seal around the nails, water gets in if there are ice dams and you have leaks in the ceiling. The point is, this shit is sitting under thousands of dollars worth of fancy shingles AND it's stuck to my roof. How the heck do they think I'm going to get it off of the roof without causing even more damage?
Thinking about ripping my roof apart made me wonder how long the claims process would take. We're already, "that neighbor" and having a tarp on the roof would undoubtedly be attractive for the neighbors. I asked how long between receiving the sample and making a decision. The rep told me 2-6 months... fantastic! I'm sure too that I would need a permit from the town to do work on my roof, which is just one more expense on top of the inconvenience of having a torn up roof for an extended period of time.
Once received, they send the sample to their lab to determine if the cause is related to manufacturing, installation, etc. Once they make a determination, they either replace your roof or tell you to have a nice life, leaving you to foot the bill to fix the damage that was done to get the sample to send in.
So basically their warranty is crap.
Way to go GAF, I think I'll be steering clear of roofing products sold at Home Depot since almost everything they have is made by your questionable company.
Unfortunately, they took me for a ride.
I got the packet in the mail a couple days ago, which is a really long time considering it's only coming from New Jersey and that it's just a standard sized envelope. In the "packet" was a brochure describing what I'd need to do to file my claim. Here it is:
1.) Submit proof of the product purchase - Sure, not a problem. I fortunately kept receipts from 2 years ago.
2.) Proof of property ownership - Again, not a problem. I have tax bills and the town can send copies if needed.
3.) Proof of quantity installed - This would be on the receipts, no?
4.) Repaired or replaced product (if applicable) - it's not.
5.) Photos, both long-distance and short-range showing the problem - Um, the problem is the underlay and it's under the shingles... that could be hard to take a picture of.
6.) Samples: A 12" x 12" piece of underlayment that exhibits the problem. - Um... really? In case you're not familiar with the product, the underlayment is basically a sticky roll of paper that adheres to the roof and then you put the shingles down on top of it. The point of the underlayment is to heal around any roofing nails to create a water & ice barrier to prevent moisture from getting in your house. If the underlayment fails to seal around the nails, water gets in if there are ice dams and you have leaks in the ceiling. The point is, this shit is sitting under thousands of dollars worth of fancy shingles AND it's stuck to my roof. How the heck do they think I'm going to get it off of the roof without causing even more damage?
Thinking about ripping my roof apart made me wonder how long the claims process would take. We're already, "that neighbor" and having a tarp on the roof would undoubtedly be attractive for the neighbors. I asked how long between receiving the sample and making a decision. The rep told me 2-6 months... fantastic! I'm sure too that I would need a permit from the town to do work on my roof, which is just one more expense on top of the inconvenience of having a torn up roof for an extended period of time.
Once received, they send the sample to their lab to determine if the cause is related to manufacturing, installation, etc. Once they make a determination, they either replace your roof or tell you to have a nice life, leaving you to foot the bill to fix the damage that was done to get the sample to send in.
So basically their warranty is crap.
Way to go GAF, I think I'll be steering clear of roofing products sold at Home Depot since almost everything they have is made by your questionable company.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)