Hey, I am back. Not all better yet but getting there. What happened? Well, two Thursdays ago (Oct 18th) I woke up, made myself ready for work and Snow White ready for school. Just like any other week day.
When I arrived at my office I felt sluggish but quickly brushed it off as "You are just tired." An hour later the room seemed to move when I thought I was sitting perfectly still. I had an important meeting with my boss at 11 am and I was determined to make that meeting. Breathing started to become difficult but I thought "Don't worry, you just have a really bad cold. Worst case scenario you have the flu....but it is too early in the year for the flu!"
I kept telling myself to just make it through the morning until that meeting was over. After all, I work close to home and could run home to take a nap during my lunch hour. It might have been two hours after I arrived at work that my co-workers started making comments such as "You look horrible", "Are you ok?", "Maybe you should go home" or just plain running the other way when they saw me coming. I shook it off until my meeting when my boss, who really does not like me to take a sick day, took a few steps back and said "I think you need to go home. We don't want you to get everyone else sick."
After our meeting I literally saluted his Administrative Assistant and declared for all in ear shot to hear, "I am Going Home." I might have said it in a sing song fashion but I do not really remember. I don't even remember GOING home.
The next thing I remember was ManSon coming in my room to ask me what time I was going to pick up Snow White from Daycare. I woke up, put on my shoes and picked her up. Knowing I was feeling ill I decided not to cook, instead I did the McDonalds Drive Thru. I hate McDonalds food but my children think of it as a real treat and it was easy dinner for me. After all, I was sick and was not feeling up to eating anything. There is nothing wrong with McDonalds food. It is just not my preference. Anyway, it works out as a substitute when Mommy is not feeling well.
As soon as we were home I went straight back to bed. I woke up often coughing or in need of the bathroom when my body decided to violently extract something from one end or the other. ManSon took care of Snow White and made sure she went to bed when it was time. Around 7:30 am, during one of my bathroom calls, I called my boss to let him know I was still ill and would not make it in to work. I crawled back in to bed and went to sleep for a little while.
Thinking about how ill I was I sort of knew it would not be wise to drive any further than necessary. I decided it would be better to sleep for another hour and drive Snow White to school which was only two small blocks from our house rather than stay awake and drive all the way to the daycare center 7 minutes away. Seven minutes away may not seem like a great distance but the way I was feeling it was cross country traveling.
After dropping her off at school I return home, call the Dr to make a sick call appointment. They inform me I will be seen at 3pm so I slide back in to bed after setting my alarm clock for 2:30 pm.
At 2:15 pm ManSon comes in to check on me and I realize I went back to bed in my work clothes from YESTERDAY and I still have my shoes on. Oh well, at least I am ready for my appointment. I get up, brush my teeth and pull out a coat from the front closet. Um, it wasn't cold enough for a coat, it has been exceptionally warm for this time of year.... and it wasn't even MY OWN coat.
I arrive at the Drs office in yesterdays clothes, my teenage daughter's dress coat which she herself out grew a few years ago and a full box of Puffs Plus in my purse. Hey, you have to give me credit for actually bringing my purse.
When the Dr. saw me he mentioned the box of Puffs "It's never a good sign when a patient arrives with a whole box of tissues." They tested me for strep but it came back negative. The Dr. mentioned my lungs were clear which caught me totally off guard. How could they be clear when I was having so much trouble breathing? Apparently my tonsils were enlarged for no apparent reason and my entire throat was swollen!!
I was not processing this information I was just hearing it. When the nurse came in and said "Here are your prescriptions" all I thought of was "Here is your relief. You can sleep without the bathroom calling either end of your body. You will get better. You will live through this."
Then, I rushed to the grocery store across the street to fill my prescriptions. After looking over my credit card receipt from the Drs. office (apparently unable to count out the cash in my purse) and the receipt from the ATM at the grocery store it took me 30 minutes to make it across that street. While waiting on my prescriptions, I wondered around the grocery store picking up more Puffs and $50 worth of Progresso and Campbell’s soup (not an exaggeration). At one point I thought a man was checking me out. Later I realized he must have been staring at me wondering what type of hospital lab was minus this experiment.
I pick up my prescriptions, Snow White, more McDonalds then back to bed. The medication worked really well, just like the nurse said.
Saturday morning around 7 am Snow White was complaining of a sore throat. Oh No! Not that! How could I take care of a sick child while I was so very ill myself. So, what did I do? I called the Drs. office and made a sick call appointment for that morning. It is wonderful to have a Drs. office open on Saturdays! The nurse says she thinks it is strep. How much more wonderful could this weekend get? Their lab would be open on Monday so they would call us when they had the results.
Snow White started crying about a birthday party she was suppose to attend. She has been ready for this party for a week! We even had the presents wrapped and in the car for a few days in preparation. She had her pirate's costume in the car, which she checked daily to make sure she had everything she needed to be the pirate she wanted to dress up as for the party.
The out of state birthday party we both so wanted to go to...started like hours ago! I panic! How can we get there? Taxi? No it is out of state. Can I drive? I think I can drive. No. I cannot even stand up straight without the room shaking my feet and making me wobble all over the place. Franticly I dump everything out of my purse remembering I had put the invitation in there. I cannot find the freaking invitation! I know the Mom giving the party gave me her cell phone number so I must have written it on that invitation. I give up looking for the invitation and go to my computer. Maybe I have an email with the Mom's cell phone number.
I do not remember if it was an email or my computer address book which had her cell phone number but I did find it. I called her and she thought maybe I was lost somewhere in the state looking for the party. Sadly I had to explain we were sick and could not make it. I wished it was just as simple as we were lost and looking for directions. This Mom, her daughter and their entire family are people you just really, really want to be around. They are such a joy to be around it would have surely cured me by being there for just a few minutes. That is how wonderful they truly are. I am not sure what exactly I said during our phone conversation other than we are not lost and gifts will be mailed out.
Sunday, I spent all day in bed with my children checking in on me from time to time. I did eat some soup and I think I managed to take my prescriptions a few times during the day. Monday morning I went to work but still not feeling any better. Snow White went to school since she did not have a fever and we would not have the results back from the Drs. office. After lunch the Drs. office called to say she does not have strep. The sore throat and cough must have been the caused of post nasal drip. All that was required was cough syrup.
This is getting long so I will go for now. There are good things coming.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Monday, October 22, 2007
Sick Leave
Sorry everyone. I have not been up to blogging over the past few days due to illness. Hopefully I will be back to normal tomorrow or Wednesday.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Shopping Marathon
Friday. Well, I cannot remember much from Friday other than we rushed here there and everywhere. It started at the crack of dawn rushing around the house to get ready for work and school. All day at work I rushed to get things done then waited for this and that to come back with important information.
During my lunch hour ManSon said "My wallet was stolen." Oh My Gosh! When? Where? What happened? "Well, it was at so and so's house." But that kid lives in another state. You haven't seen him since..."Yes. I know. Since May." Why are you...What do you mean..Are you pulling...Your Social Security Card? License? WHAT?! {deep breath} How is it that you waited this long to say something?
I make phone calls to the State License agency and Social Security Office. Apparently you need a utility bill in your name if you are over the age of 18. What the heck? What about college students? Surely there must be some college students at the local University who live with their parents so the parents can save some money. You also need a birth certificate and your Social Security Card. No surprise there. The list of items needed to identify you for your Social Security card is just one...a Doctors Note.. A birth certificate doesn't do a thing for you. Thank goodness a dentist note will do. ManSon has not been to a doctor in the last three years since he has not been injured or seriously ill (thank God).
After work I rush home, make dinner and a lot of rushing about to get things done around the house, homework and such. I was dead on feet by 10:30 pm but did not get to bed until much later.
Saturday morning we had a basic breakfast then it was off to the Post Office to pick up a certified package addressed to ManSon. We think it was the Cobra paper work from my employer. Unfortunately it was addressed to him so we could not pick it up due to ManSon having no ID.
After the Post Office we decided to go on a shopping spree for ManSon. He was in need of a whole new wardrobe. Really, this boy has specific taste. He becomes really attached to the clothes he buys and wont let them go until they are about to fall apart. Unfortunately, he has very good taste so it takes a very long, long time for them to wear out.
Another problem with purchasing clothing for ManSon is his size. He is 6 feet tall, has a 29 inch waist and likes about 2 inches of his pant cuffs to rest on the top of his shoes. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a pair of Man's dress slacks with a 29 inch waist? It is like finding a needle in a hay stack and I really truely mean that.
We went to the big mall which is nearly located in another state. We split up into groups to scour the stores for 29 inch dress pants. After three hours of blinding ourselves looking at every size of ever pair of pants in the two story mall we met up at the food court for a break. When I sat down I swear my muscels let out a huge sigh of relief. I had mannaged to find 3 pairs of imported dress slacks with a 30 inch waist. Hey, that beats out the rest who only found 34 inch waists. ManSon even tried on JEANS! He has never worn jeans in his intire life. I had to laugh at the thought of him wearing jeans. It would be like putting ice cream on pizza and not being pregnant. Well, I said to ManSon "You in jeans is like watching Escaflowne without subtitles." It is like nails scraping on a chalk board to hear Escaflowne in English. Weird.
Ok so we are all worn out. We take a 15 minute break and rush off to the one store which actually has pants ManSon size. He tries them on since they are imports and hip hurray they fit! ManSon looks over the jackets and swears one of them would be the coolest item he owns. Lucky for him the matching jackets are half price if you buy the pants. He was beside himself when I said we would take both of the jackets he liked. The pants were on sale for $75 each then bonus buy (purchase jacket) made them $45 each add on $64 for each jacket.
Oh my gosh Pup is whining at the moment. Snow White has her bedroom door shut so she can change her clothes. Pup is outside her door whimpering, howling and barking. He thinks she is going to bed without him.
Ok back to the shopping spree from this weekend. ManSon's girlfriend "Corkie" was part of our shopping possy. She dyes her hair different colors but seems to be down to earth with a strict mother. Really nice girl trying to figure out where she belongs with a mom who can reel her in. I could not be happier for the moment. She was very helpful with the shopping, quick to get tasks accomplished and a joy to be around.
While ManSon was trying on the pants she helped me look through the many, many long sleeved sweater shirts. ManSon wanted long sleeves with a collar but not dress shirts and goodness knows how he dislikes logos. We found one shirt in the whole store and it was a Men's Medium. In this particular brand the medium was a tad bit long but he really liked it so that was added to our purchase at that store. We still needed 4 more pairs of pants and a dozen shirts. By this time the stores were closing so we gave up for the day...so did our legs.
Sunday afternoon we decided to tackle another mall and check out their stock. The same store that had his size pants but in a different mall. They had clothes ManSon really liked but way too big. "No one carries that size. It's just not done. " ManSon's response "In a world of obesity concerns no one stocks small sizes. Maybe I need to start eating those 'can my butt look any bigger' meals. We all laugh and walk away leaving the sales lady looking perplexed.
Snow Whtie was telling me about two cartoon theme songs she thought were the greatest. She really doesn't watch too much tv. I told her to ask her brother if he still has his Pokemon sound track from when he was in 2nd grade (remember ManSon is 19). He knew exactly where it was and handed it right over to her. He knew how excited she would be! I can hear Pokemon Master blasting in the background.
We finally went to Macy's and they HAVE mens' shirts in size Small!! We bought up a full lot of shirts but may have to go back when they replenish their stock. From now on we will shop at Bonton for pants and Macy's for all of ManSon's clothing.
So, after 9 hours of running (litterally) here and there for ManSon's wardrobe we made a dent in what he really needs to replace. Shoes...well he wants Vans but the shoe stores here do not sell Vans! Well, they sell the slip on multi color/deco Vans at the skater shops but not the Vans he has become acustome to. I see an out of state shopping expedition in a big city in our near future.
During my lunch hour ManSon said "My wallet was stolen." Oh My Gosh! When? Where? What happened? "Well, it was at so and so's house." But that kid lives in another state. You haven't seen him since..."Yes. I know. Since May." Why are you...What do you mean..Are you pulling...Your Social Security Card? License? WHAT?! {deep breath} How is it that you waited this long to say something?
I make phone calls to the State License agency and Social Security Office. Apparently you need a utility bill in your name if you are over the age of 18. What the heck? What about college students? Surely there must be some college students at the local University who live with their parents so the parents can save some money. You also need a birth certificate and your Social Security Card. No surprise there. The list of items needed to identify you for your Social Security card is just one...a Doctors Note.. A birth certificate doesn't do a thing for you. Thank goodness a dentist note will do. ManSon has not been to a doctor in the last three years since he has not been injured or seriously ill (thank God).
After work I rush home, make dinner and a lot of rushing about to get things done around the house, homework and such. I was dead on feet by 10:30 pm but did not get to bed until much later.
Saturday morning we had a basic breakfast then it was off to the Post Office to pick up a certified package addressed to ManSon. We think it was the Cobra paper work from my employer. Unfortunately it was addressed to him so we could not pick it up due to ManSon having no ID.
After the Post Office we decided to go on a shopping spree for ManSon. He was in need of a whole new wardrobe. Really, this boy has specific taste. He becomes really attached to the clothes he buys and wont let them go until they are about to fall apart. Unfortunately, he has very good taste so it takes a very long, long time for them to wear out.
Another problem with purchasing clothing for ManSon is his size. He is 6 feet tall, has a 29 inch waist and likes about 2 inches of his pant cuffs to rest on the top of his shoes. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to find a pair of Man's dress slacks with a 29 inch waist? It is like finding a needle in a hay stack and I really truely mean that.
We went to the big mall which is nearly located in another state. We split up into groups to scour the stores for 29 inch dress pants. After three hours of blinding ourselves looking at every size of ever pair of pants in the two story mall we met up at the food court for a break. When I sat down I swear my muscels let out a huge sigh of relief. I had mannaged to find 3 pairs of imported dress slacks with a 30 inch waist. Hey, that beats out the rest who only found 34 inch waists. ManSon even tried on JEANS! He has never worn jeans in his intire life. I had to laugh at the thought of him wearing jeans. It would be like putting ice cream on pizza and not being pregnant. Well, I said to ManSon "You in jeans is like watching Escaflowne without subtitles." It is like nails scraping on a chalk board to hear Escaflowne in English. Weird.
Ok so we are all worn out. We take a 15 minute break and rush off to the one store which actually has pants ManSon size. He tries them on since they are imports and hip hurray they fit! ManSon looks over the jackets and swears one of them would be the coolest item he owns. Lucky for him the matching jackets are half price if you buy the pants. He was beside himself when I said we would take both of the jackets he liked. The pants were on sale for $75 each then bonus buy (purchase jacket) made them $45 each add on $64 for each jacket.
Oh my gosh Pup is whining at the moment. Snow White has her bedroom door shut so she can change her clothes. Pup is outside her door whimpering, howling and barking. He thinks she is going to bed without him.
Ok back to the shopping spree from this weekend. ManSon's girlfriend "Corkie" was part of our shopping possy. She dyes her hair different colors but seems to be down to earth with a strict mother. Really nice girl trying to figure out where she belongs with a mom who can reel her in. I could not be happier for the moment. She was very helpful with the shopping, quick to get tasks accomplished and a joy to be around.
While ManSon was trying on the pants she helped me look through the many, many long sleeved sweater shirts. ManSon wanted long sleeves with a collar but not dress shirts and goodness knows how he dislikes logos. We found one shirt in the whole store and it was a Men's Medium. In this particular brand the medium was a tad bit long but he really liked it so that was added to our purchase at that store. We still needed 4 more pairs of pants and a dozen shirts. By this time the stores were closing so we gave up for the day...so did our legs.
Sunday afternoon we decided to tackle another mall and check out their stock. The same store that had his size pants but in a different mall. They had clothes ManSon really liked but way too big. "No one carries that size. It's just not done. " ManSon's response "In a world of obesity concerns no one stocks small sizes. Maybe I need to start eating those 'can my butt look any bigger' meals. We all laugh and walk away leaving the sales lady looking perplexed.
Snow Whtie was telling me about two cartoon theme songs she thought were the greatest. She really doesn't watch too much tv. I told her to ask her brother if he still has his Pokemon sound track from when he was in 2nd grade (remember ManSon is 19). He knew exactly where it was and handed it right over to her. He knew how excited she would be! I can hear Pokemon Master blasting in the background.
We finally went to Macy's and they HAVE mens' shirts in size Small!! We bought up a full lot of shirts but may have to go back when they replenish their stock. From now on we will shop at Bonton for pants and Macy's for all of ManSon's clothing.
So, after 9 hours of running (litterally) here and there for ManSon's wardrobe we made a dent in what he really needs to replace. Shoes...well he wants Vans but the shoe stores here do not sell Vans! Well, they sell the slip on multi color/deco Vans at the skater shops but not the Vans he has become acustome to. I see an out of state shopping expedition in a big city in our near future.
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
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Tuesday, October 09, 2007
A Few Updates ...
My car is finally all legal and mine! I have the registration and real honest to goodness tags to prove it. That all happened Friday around lunch time. Andrea from the dealership called to say Mr. Fix-it from the shop will be right over to deliver your registration and sticker. When Mr. Fix-it arrived at my work he said “I never get out of there for anything. Thanks for having them make me come out here. I really needed the break.” I respond ever so cheerfully “I am glad you are getting a break but it was the King of Stupid at the dealership who suggested my registration and sticker be delivered. I don’t think he wanted me back in his show room.”
Snow White is doing well with the Brownies. I had one minor incident where I almost smacked the Assistant Leader for saying something not so very nice in front of little Snow White. After a few days I got over it and the next meeting the Assistant Leader was all cheer and pep. Maybe the Troop Leader saw that I was about to attack and had a little chat with her. Anyway, we had a great time sewing, painting, and we watched synchronized swimming! I had no idea there were teams of synchronized swimmers out here in the country. From ages 6 to 60 some-things they really put on a great show.
Remember when I said how happy I was knowing I would never see Bunny again. Don’t you just hate it when your words come back to bite you in the tuckus? My little brother helps EVERYONE. He busts his butt to make sure everyone else has things easy. If there is the slight chance you might need help with something, anything, he is right there taking charge and making it easy on you. He never seems to need help with anything himself. Well, he called me and he needed a favor. Oh my goodness! He needed a favor. Whatever it was I knew right away I would do it!
I broke a house rule that I made. Nothing else that poops will be brought into our house. Snow White exclaims “Yeah, we have a Bunny rabbit!” She is honestly thrilled. This outburst creates a very opposite reaction in my nieces (11 & 13 yrs old). They not only cried, they sobbed and moaned loudly. I assured them we were not keeping their Bunny forever. It will most certainly be returned to them as soon as their new house is built. They even call to check up on him. My brother and sister-in-law assure me the girls lost interest in the Bunny a few years ago. Pretty much it is my sister-in-law’s Bunny as she takes care of it every day. I chop veggies for it in the morning and ManSon cleans out the cage 2-3 times a week. The cats take turns sitting next to the cage just watching it. Pup barks incisively while the cage is open during feeding time.
Gas went down to $2.65 for awhile. During that time I noticed some numbers on my grocery receipt. The cashier explained for every $50 I spend they will give me $0.10 off per gallon of gas at their gas station. Since I had no idea about the gas discount and I have teenagers my savings were substantial….$.090 off per gallon! How long ago was gas $1.75 per gallon?! I saved $16.00 on gas that day. It pays to have all those membership cards. I have a card for every hotel chain, grocery store, airline, airport parking facility, book store, music store, etc. So glad I can save so much on gas.
Snow White is doing well with the Brownies. I had one minor incident where I almost smacked the Assistant Leader for saying something not so very nice in front of little Snow White. After a few days I got over it and the next meeting the Assistant Leader was all cheer and pep. Maybe the Troop Leader saw that I was about to attack and had a little chat with her. Anyway, we had a great time sewing, painting, and we watched synchronized swimming! I had no idea there were teams of synchronized swimmers out here in the country. From ages 6 to 60 some-things they really put on a great show.
Remember when I said how happy I was knowing I would never see Bunny again. Don’t you just hate it when your words come back to bite you in the tuckus? My little brother helps EVERYONE. He busts his butt to make sure everyone else has things easy. If there is the slight chance you might need help with something, anything, he is right there taking charge and making it easy on you. He never seems to need help with anything himself. Well, he called me and he needed a favor. Oh my goodness! He needed a favor. Whatever it was I knew right away I would do it!
I broke a house rule that I made. Nothing else that poops will be brought into our house. Snow White exclaims “Yeah, we have a Bunny rabbit!” She is honestly thrilled. This outburst creates a very opposite reaction in my nieces (11 & 13 yrs old). They not only cried, they sobbed and moaned loudly. I assured them we were not keeping their Bunny forever. It will most certainly be returned to them as soon as their new house is built. They even call to check up on him. My brother and sister-in-law assure me the girls lost interest in the Bunny a few years ago. Pretty much it is my sister-in-law’s Bunny as she takes care of it every day. I chop veggies for it in the morning and ManSon cleans out the cage 2-3 times a week. The cats take turns sitting next to the cage just watching it. Pup barks incisively while the cage is open during feeding time.
Gas went down to $2.65 for awhile. During that time I noticed some numbers on my grocery receipt. The cashier explained for every $50 I spend they will give me $0.10 off per gallon of gas at their gas station. Since I had no idea about the gas discount and I have teenagers my savings were substantial….$.090 off per gallon! How long ago was gas $1.75 per gallon?! I saved $16.00 on gas that day. It pays to have all those membership cards. I have a card for every hotel chain, grocery store, airline, airport parking facility, book store, music store, etc. So glad I can save so much on gas.
Monday, October 08, 2007
School Picture Day
Tomorrow is picture day at Snow White's school. For years and years I have worked 2 hours or more away from where we live. For years and years I have sent my children to school in what I deem their best possible outfits (sometimes to their great protest) with their hair neatly groomed and a clean face. A month or so later a package comes home with nearly 100 photos that do not look like the children I sent to school on picture day.
I swear they wait until after recess, gym with their hair all sorts of here and there. Better yet after lunch with blue pudding etched around their lips or spaghetti with matching stains on shirt. There must be a prize that out shines any lottery awarded to the photographer who captures the most awful photo of a child.
Anyway, I have had to deal with the pain of being a single mother who cannot take a full day off work to help my children realize the person taking the school photo only says "You look fantastic" is not actually looking at you but has 300 more children to photograph today and only wants you to take up the 2.5 seconds allowed per photo. They no longer give the children time to check themselves in the bathroom, class room window or even give them a comb any more.
You may think you are saved by not purchasing the school picture photo package but you would be sadly mistaken. That photo is the only way to preview the photo which will appear in the school year book. Yes, from pre-K to High School senior the photo taken on picture day is the one that will be distributed to every person in that school. It will also be kept as a record at the school for many years to come. That photo will never go away.
Last year after receiving yet another set of 'Ooops!' photos I opted to take a half day off for retakes. I had put up with "Ooops!" photos from time to time since ManSon was in kindergarten through 11th grade! I was there when she was in line. I was also brushing the hair of other students who had just been out at recess. I made sure her hair was brushed down (super curly needs some attention) and that year there was a really nice photo we did not have to explain away Blue super berry yogurt, recess of who can hang upside down the longest or why my hair has brambles and thistles that match the outline of the playground.
It is my goal tomorrow to be at her new school and supervise. I just looked at the weather forecast and it will be humid and rainy. Her extra curly hair will need extra attention. With all the stay at home moms here I am sure not to be standing there in the photographers line alone.
I swear they wait until after recess, gym with their hair all sorts of here and there. Better yet after lunch with blue pudding etched around their lips or spaghetti with matching stains on shirt. There must be a prize that out shines any lottery awarded to the photographer who captures the most awful photo of a child.
Anyway, I have had to deal with the pain of being a single mother who cannot take a full day off work to help my children realize the person taking the school photo only says "You look fantastic" is not actually looking at you but has 300 more children to photograph today and only wants you to take up the 2.5 seconds allowed per photo. They no longer give the children time to check themselves in the bathroom, class room window or even give them a comb any more.
You may think you are saved by not purchasing the school picture photo package but you would be sadly mistaken. That photo is the only way to preview the photo which will appear in the school year book. Yes, from pre-K to High School senior the photo taken on picture day is the one that will be distributed to every person in that school. It will also be kept as a record at the school for many years to come. That photo will never go away.
Last year after receiving yet another set of 'Ooops!' photos I opted to take a half day off for retakes. I had put up with "Ooops!" photos from time to time since ManSon was in kindergarten through 11th grade! I was there when she was in line. I was also brushing the hair of other students who had just been out at recess. I made sure her hair was brushed down (super curly needs some attention) and that year there was a really nice photo we did not have to explain away Blue super berry yogurt, recess of who can hang upside down the longest or why my hair has brambles and thistles that match the outline of the playground.
It is my goal tomorrow to be at her new school and supervise. I just looked at the weather forecast and it will be humid and rainy. Her extra curly hair will need extra attention. With all the stay at home moms here I am sure not to be standing there in the photographers line alone.
Impromptu Vacation
Saturday was like being on vacation but better.
I did not have to pack up the suit cases, fret over what could be the one item I forgot to pack. I did not have to sit through many renditions of the Sponge Bob Songs or hear “he’s touching my side of the seat” or “She’s looking at me again.”
No, all of this was avoided on my impromptu vacation day.
My normal Saturday goes like this…up at the crack of dawn. Feed all the animals so they do not trodden me to death in my bed. Prod children out of bed. Make a big breakfast. Fit in household cleaning chores in between all the rushing about here and there for my children. It has been this way for years and years.
This Saturday morning…I actually slept in! How was this possible? All of the children woke up at their normal time and made their own individual breakfasts. No pets came to jolt me out of bed. Apparently my children fed all the animals.
I lazily laid in bed awake but still enjoying the warm comfort of the heavy blanket in the coolness of the room. Then a telemarketer interrupted my bliss. I let them go with their spiel then said “Hey, thanks for the wake up call. Have a nice day.” It was then I noticed that my bedroom door was shut. It is always open so I do not have to get up 20 times in the middle of the night to let a crying cat or a fuzzy Pup in or out of my room.
I went to check on everyone. Snow White was battling in Majora’s Mask in the family room right outside my bedroom door. She turned the sound off so she would not disturb me. That really impressed me since it seems the sound is really important for playing a video game. ManSon was in his room looking through his books and Oldest Daughter was visiting friends.
All the animals were laying about like they didn’t have a care in the world. A few minutes later Snow White proclaimed she was bored with the video game. I reminded her about the book sets she has not yet read through. She went off to her room and I didn’t see her again until a few hours later.
I decided to dive into the Half Blood Prince which Oldest Daughter kindly lent to me. I had the whole day to lounge around and read. Which I did. The whole day long. I lingered over the book while I ate breakfast peacefully in the dinning room. Later on I lounged on the family room couch in complete comfort, just reading. I eventually ended up in the living room sitting in my favorite chair reading while one of the cats laid at my feet. During the day I would make a few stops in the kitchen for something to snack on or drink. Each time I saw one of my children reading a book and like me rotating from room to room. I like that we can spread out in the house and each have some time to ourselves.
When lunch time came we were each so engrossed in our own books we did not want to leave them. Lunch turned in to “When I’m hungry I will make a sandwich.” Dinner was the same way. No one was hungry at the same time and each insisted they would make their own dinner eventually. This was a really nice break for me!
We let our normal Saturday household chores go for the day since the house seemed pretty well clean already.
Saturday was perfect. I was feeling the great need to get away from it all and head out for a vacation some where. Turns out home is a pretty good place for a vacation.
I did not have to pack up the suit cases, fret over what could be the one item I forgot to pack. I did not have to sit through many renditions of the Sponge Bob Songs or hear “he’s touching my side of the seat” or “She’s looking at me again.”
No, all of this was avoided on my impromptu vacation day.
My normal Saturday goes like this…up at the crack of dawn. Feed all the animals so they do not trodden me to death in my bed. Prod children out of bed. Make a big breakfast. Fit in household cleaning chores in between all the rushing about here and there for my children. It has been this way for years and years.
This Saturday morning…I actually slept in! How was this possible? All of the children woke up at their normal time and made their own individual breakfasts. No pets came to jolt me out of bed. Apparently my children fed all the animals.
I lazily laid in bed awake but still enjoying the warm comfort of the heavy blanket in the coolness of the room. Then a telemarketer interrupted my bliss. I let them go with their spiel then said “Hey, thanks for the wake up call. Have a nice day.” It was then I noticed that my bedroom door was shut. It is always open so I do not have to get up 20 times in the middle of the night to let a crying cat or a fuzzy Pup in or out of my room.
I went to check on everyone. Snow White was battling in Majora’s Mask in the family room right outside my bedroom door. She turned the sound off so she would not disturb me. That really impressed me since it seems the sound is really important for playing a video game. ManSon was in his room looking through his books and Oldest Daughter was visiting friends.
All the animals were laying about like they didn’t have a care in the world. A few minutes later Snow White proclaimed she was bored with the video game. I reminded her about the book sets she has not yet read through. She went off to her room and I didn’t see her again until a few hours later.
I decided to dive into the Half Blood Prince which Oldest Daughter kindly lent to me. I had the whole day to lounge around and read. Which I did. The whole day long. I lingered over the book while I ate breakfast peacefully in the dinning room. Later on I lounged on the family room couch in complete comfort, just reading. I eventually ended up in the living room sitting in my favorite chair reading while one of the cats laid at my feet. During the day I would make a few stops in the kitchen for something to snack on or drink. Each time I saw one of my children reading a book and like me rotating from room to room. I like that we can spread out in the house and each have some time to ourselves.
When lunch time came we were each so engrossed in our own books we did not want to leave them. Lunch turned in to “When I’m hungry I will make a sandwich.” Dinner was the same way. No one was hungry at the same time and each insisted they would make their own dinner eventually. This was a really nice break for me!
We let our normal Saturday household chores go for the day since the house seemed pretty well clean already.
Saturday was perfect. I was feeling the great need to get away from it all and head out for a vacation some where. Turns out home is a pretty good place for a vacation.
Wednesday, October 03, 2007
Monday, October 01, 2007
What Color is a Death Bed?
This weekend, in between travels and house cleaning chores I sat down to watch 10 - 15 minutes of TV. I caught a few minutes of Forest Gump, Medium and a few other shows I cannot recall.
At one point Snow White came to sit next to me on the couch. In the show I was watching a young man just had a small accident and was in the hospital. He was fully awake but had a little boo boo on his head.
For some unknown reason Snow White asked “Is that a death bed?” I explained that the accident was very small but the hospital wanted to check him out just to be safe.
Later on while watching a show on Life Time (cannot remember the name) a little girl coming out of a coma was laying in a hospital bed. Snow White was suppose to be getting ready for bed but she popped down to snuggle up next to me on the couch. “Is THAT a death bed?”
“Honey, what is with this fixation you have about death beds?”
The puppy dog eyes and super-sad-about-to-let-out-river-of-tears frown came. With her voice quiverying she said “Mommy. I just want to know what it looks like. I don’t want to accidentally sleep in one.”
I hug her and I burst into laughter. Not just a little giggle but a full hearty laugh. “Honey, those are hospital beds. People go to hospitals to get better. A death bed is when someone is very ill and they know they are dying.”
“Why do they call it a death bed? Why do they have to be laying down in a bed?”
“Well, I rarely see old people who know they are about to die out doing jumping jacks and cartwheels. {she laughs thinking about this} “They are too tired for all of that. They are laying down because it is almost time to go to heaven and their bodies are tired.”
This seemed to satisfy her.
At one point Snow White came to sit next to me on the couch. In the show I was watching a young man just had a small accident and was in the hospital. He was fully awake but had a little boo boo on his head.
For some unknown reason Snow White asked “Is that a death bed?” I explained that the accident was very small but the hospital wanted to check him out just to be safe.
Later on while watching a show on Life Time (cannot remember the name) a little girl coming out of a coma was laying in a hospital bed. Snow White was suppose to be getting ready for bed but she popped down to snuggle up next to me on the couch. “Is THAT a death bed?”
“Honey, what is with this fixation you have about death beds?”
The puppy dog eyes and super-sad-about-to-let-out-river-of-tears frown came. With her voice quiverying she said “Mommy. I just want to know what it looks like. I don’t want to accidentally sleep in one.”
I hug her and I burst into laughter. Not just a little giggle but a full hearty laugh. “Honey, those are hospital beds. People go to hospitals to get better. A death bed is when someone is very ill and they know they are dying.”
“Why do they call it a death bed? Why do they have to be laying down in a bed?”
“Well, I rarely see old people who know they are about to die out doing jumping jacks and cartwheels. {she laughs thinking about this} “They are too tired for all of that. They are laying down because it is almost time to go to heaven and their bodies are tired.”
This seemed to satisfy her.
Friday, September 28, 2007
Show Down In The Show Room
No, I didn’t go in there blazing mad or ready to scream and shout. I arrived at the dealership and walk to the plexi-glass window which separates the customers from the office staff. I even manage a cheerful smile.
“Hello, I would like to speak with your CEO, President.”
Happy, smiling blonde girl: “Can I tell him what this is regards to?”
“It is regarding a sale.”
“Can I tell him who is calling on him?”
“Yes, ….MommasWorld.”
All six of the girls seated behind the plexi-glass gasp. I hear whispers of “that’s the lady.” I almost let out a laugh. Wow, they are all afraid of me? Weird.
Blonde girl’s smile and cheerful attitude quickly vanished. “I’m sorry but he is in a meeting and we have no idea how long he will be. You can wait right here in the sitting area until he is finished. Well, if you really must speak to him.”
Great, I am getting the brush off. Just what I needed on top of everything else. I sit for a few minutes but with each passing minute my anger grows. I decide to walk around a bit and get rid of some of this energy building up inside.
Before I knew it I was walking around cars in the show room. Sean (my sales guy) comes up all smiling and super cheerful “Hey! How’s it going?” That is all it took.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW’S IT GOING?
I BOUGHT A CAR FROM YOU GUYS AND I CANNOT DRIVE IT!
THE REGISTRATION EXPIRES TODAY!
THE TAGS EXPIRE TODAY!
THE WARRANTY I PAID FOR NEVER WENT INTO EFFECT!
THIS DEALERSHIP POCKETED THE TWO-THOUSAND-THREE-HUNDRED-FOURTY-FOUR DOLLARS AND DECIDED NOT TO TELL ME!
YOU SOLD ME A CAR WITHOUT A TITLE!”
As I take a moment to catch my breath I look around me and wonder…where did everybody go? All of the customers ran out of there. The only people left in the show room were sales people.
I think Andrea heard me way back in her office behind the plexi-glass. She comes out to the show room and says this…exactly this
“Because you think you are too good to drive on expired tags. {pause for her eye-rolling} We are going to give you a dealer tag.”
Oh. No. She didn’t!
“Me? I think I am too good?! Too good?! HOW ABOUT IT’S FREAKEN ILLEGAL! IL-LE-GAL!”
Every muscle in my body constricted and I was to the point of actually standing on my tip toes while yelling. I have seen this in movies but never in my whole life experienced anger to this extreme.
A quiet voice from beside me says “Um, you can’t tell her to do that. It IS illegal.” That was Sean, my sales guy. He couldn’t believe what Andrea had just said either.
Some where near the back of the show room a young salesman says to the guy next to him “I think she is Italian. Doesn’t she look Italian?”
“NO! I AM NOT ITALLIAN! IRISH! YOU’VE GOT MY IRISH UP!”
“Dude, she heard me.” And then he runs off to hide in the back with the vending machines.
Ok, now I am really starting to scare people and that is frightening for me. A few of the sales guys and I walk outside. Some are holding on to my hands and some just have their hand on my back for support all the while saying things like… “Don’t let them work you up like this.” “This dealership brings on it’s own problems” “I can’t believe how they so royally screwed you. That is just messed up.”
I walk around the dealership lot and eventually calm down enough to go back in the waiting room to wait for the President.
I am trying to relax my muscles but they are not cooperating. My stomach feels like something exploded inside and then was set on fire. Is this what people mean when they say “bust a gut”? After an hour and no change in my muscles or stomach I decide to run out for Pepto-Bismol. Tony says he will put the dealer tag on for me right away.
Out of nowhere here comes the President. He immediately starts shaking my hand and saying something to the effect of ‘Sorry to keep you waiting and oh, you are on your way out. Maybe we can chat next time.’
Not so fast buster. “No, I am not leaving. I have time for you.”
He reluctantly lead me to his office where he explained everything they have done up to this point is “Normal.” “Nine times out of ten this is how things work out.” Yes, I met the king of stupid. He even backed up his employees saying they were right to tell me to drive on expired tags and registration. “I don’t understand why you think it is such a big deal. This is a minor problem which we are already helping you with.” Yeah, as if I was the one who caused the problems!
I listen to him try to put the best spit and shine on this whole situation and I see that he clearly admits they messed up ALL of my paper work. He also refuses to apologize or make it sound like they were in the wrong…for any thing.
He keeps talking and I keep listening. He looks at me quizzically from time to time. I imagine the thought going through his head was “Why isn’t she smiling and thanking me profusely yet?”
Finally, I have had enough. As I am leaving the President explains that the title and tags are in their name just for a little while. During which time their insurance covers the car. I give up on educating the office staff about the law and how to apologize.
Around 9PM my body is finally back to normal. My stomach is no longer on fire and my muscles have stopped trying to squeeze me to death.
“Hello, I would like to speak with your CEO, President.”
Happy, smiling blonde girl: “Can I tell him what this is regards to?”
“It is regarding a sale.”
“Can I tell him who is calling on him?”
“Yes, ….MommasWorld.”
All six of the girls seated behind the plexi-glass gasp. I hear whispers of “that’s the lady.” I almost let out a laugh. Wow, they are all afraid of me? Weird.
Blonde girl’s smile and cheerful attitude quickly vanished. “I’m sorry but he is in a meeting and we have no idea how long he will be. You can wait right here in the sitting area until he is finished. Well, if you really must speak to him.”
Great, I am getting the brush off. Just what I needed on top of everything else. I sit for a few minutes but with each passing minute my anger grows. I decide to walk around a bit and get rid of some of this energy building up inside.
Before I knew it I was walking around cars in the show room. Sean (my sales guy) comes up all smiling and super cheerful “Hey! How’s it going?” That is all it took.
“WHAT DO YOU MEAN HOW’S IT GOING?
I BOUGHT A CAR FROM YOU GUYS AND I CANNOT DRIVE IT!
THE REGISTRATION EXPIRES TODAY!
THE TAGS EXPIRE TODAY!
THE WARRANTY I PAID FOR NEVER WENT INTO EFFECT!
THIS DEALERSHIP POCKETED THE TWO-THOUSAND-THREE-HUNDRED-FOURTY-FOUR DOLLARS AND DECIDED NOT TO TELL ME!
YOU SOLD ME A CAR WITHOUT A TITLE!”
As I take a moment to catch my breath I look around me and wonder…where did everybody go? All of the customers ran out of there. The only people left in the show room were sales people.
I think Andrea heard me way back in her office behind the plexi-glass. She comes out to the show room and says this…exactly this
“Because you think you are too good to drive on expired tags. {pause for her eye-rolling} We are going to give you a dealer tag.”
Oh. No. She didn’t!
“Me? I think I am too good?! Too good?! HOW ABOUT IT’S FREAKEN ILLEGAL! IL-LE-GAL!”
Every muscle in my body constricted and I was to the point of actually standing on my tip toes while yelling. I have seen this in movies but never in my whole life experienced anger to this extreme.
A quiet voice from beside me says “Um, you can’t tell her to do that. It IS illegal.” That was Sean, my sales guy. He couldn’t believe what Andrea had just said either.
Some where near the back of the show room a young salesman says to the guy next to him “I think she is Italian. Doesn’t she look Italian?”
“NO! I AM NOT ITALLIAN! IRISH! YOU’VE GOT MY IRISH UP!”
“Dude, she heard me.” And then he runs off to hide in the back with the vending machines.
Ok, now I am really starting to scare people and that is frightening for me. A few of the sales guys and I walk outside. Some are holding on to my hands and some just have their hand on my back for support all the while saying things like… “Don’t let them work you up like this.” “This dealership brings on it’s own problems” “I can’t believe how they so royally screwed you. That is just messed up.”
I walk around the dealership lot and eventually calm down enough to go back in the waiting room to wait for the President.
I am trying to relax my muscles but they are not cooperating. My stomach feels like something exploded inside and then was set on fire. Is this what people mean when they say “bust a gut”? After an hour and no change in my muscles or stomach I decide to run out for Pepto-Bismol. Tony says he will put the dealer tag on for me right away.
Out of nowhere here comes the President. He immediately starts shaking my hand and saying something to the effect of ‘Sorry to keep you waiting and oh, you are on your way out. Maybe we can chat next time.’
Not so fast buster. “No, I am not leaving. I have time for you.”
He reluctantly lead me to his office where he explained everything they have done up to this point is “Normal.” “Nine times out of ten this is how things work out.” Yes, I met the king of stupid. He even backed up his employees saying they were right to tell me to drive on expired tags and registration. “I don’t understand why you think it is such a big deal. This is a minor problem which we are already helping you with.” Yeah, as if I was the one who caused the problems!
I listen to him try to put the best spit and shine on this whole situation and I see that he clearly admits they messed up ALL of my paper work. He also refuses to apologize or make it sound like they were in the wrong…for any thing.
He keeps talking and I keep listening. He looks at me quizzically from time to time. I imagine the thought going through his head was “Why isn’t she smiling and thanking me profusely yet?”
Finally, I have had enough. As I am leaving the President explains that the title and tags are in their name just for a little while. During which time their insurance covers the car. I give up on educating the office staff about the law and how to apologize.
Around 9PM my body is finally back to normal. My stomach is no longer on fire and my muscles have stopped trying to squeeze me to death.
Wednesday, September 26, 2007
Tomorrow I Start My Criminal Life?
Yesterday, I received a letter from the company who administers my vehicle warranty.
Oh my goodness! I have been driving a vehicle for 3 months without a warranty! This needs to be fixed right away.
I call the dealership and speak to the finance department. "Yes, this is the finance department...I am sure they are misinformed. Our warranty guy is out on vacation. Let me call you back. Call me at 5 o'clock if you don't hear from me."
I call Sean, who sold me the car and he says "Gee Wiz! I worked so hard on this deal and everyone else is screwing things up. Let me talk to the finance and title people and call you back. If you don't hear from me by 5 o'clock call me."
Why the title office? I also explained I have a temporary tag and registration which expires TOMORROW! I have not received the permanent tag or registration yet.
Well, 5 o'clock rolls around and no one called me back so I call the dealership and guess what? They close at 5 o'clock! Every. Single. Day.
This morning, I sent an email to the dealership CEO, President, all the department heads, and the Sales guy. Lunch time passes and no response. No emails or phone calls from the dealership.
I am a bit fed up so I call and explain to the dealership receptionist that my temporary tag expires tomorrow. She transfers me to Tracey in the Title department.
Tracey pulled up my file (I am guessing on the computer) and said she is aware of the situation. She explained they are having difficulty obtaining the title.
I am completely STUNNED! Speechless! I think to myself…What?! They sold me a car without actually having the freaken title?! How is that possible?! Oh My Gosh, I have been driving this car for 3 months! Three months without a warranty. Three months I have paid for this car and the dealership who sold it to me doesn’t even have the freaken title! Deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Come on woman, Breath!
I ask her how soon will she get the title? Her response… “In a couple of weeks. Maybe longer but I really don’t think it will be too much longer than that.”
My registration expires tomorrow. I cannot wait a couple of weeks or longer. I cannot drive the car without proper registration. What if I get pulled over for an expired temporary tag?
“You will be fine. Don’t worry about it. If you do get pulled over have the policeman call us and we will explain everything to him.”
And then...my head explodes.
In a sort of stupor I say “Are you kidding me?”
Tracey: “No, it will be fine. Just have him ask for the title department.”
Me: “Who should he ask to speak with?”
Tracey: “Just have him ask for me, Tracey.”
I can no longer continue this conversation with her. My mind is reeling and I have to find some dark corner to sit in the fetal position and regain normal heart rate and breathing.
After a few minutes I think I am stable enough to call the dealership again.
This time I ask for a manager.
I explained to Bud, my registration expires tomorrow and the first thing he says is “Why have you waited so long to contact us about this?!”
My thoughts were…Um, excuse me? I thought they were doing their job and I would receive the proper documents in time but now it looks like they dropped the ball. Oh silly me I forgot I was in charge of his employees. I should have kept them in line and on task. Wait, I do not work there. I am a customer.
He said he would pull up my transactions and talk with the title clerk. I explained I already spoke with Tracey who told me “You will be fine. Don’t worry about it. If you do get pulled over have the policeman call us and we will explain everything to him.” Imagine if you will a policeman laughing at me and saying “Here is your ticket. This is your fine. Take care of your business lady.”
Bud thought Tracey’s solution was “That is putting a Band-Aid over a difficult situation. This will not solve the problem.” Really? Ya think? Plus what about me being pulled over for something that is not my fault and so out of my hands? The embarrassment of being pulled over with police lights flashing and him finding out someone other than the dealership and myself are the real owners of this car on paper. Yeah, real treat for me. Cannot get enough of it.
I also explained the issue with my warranty and he said “I am hearing all sorts of problems that should never have happened to you.” He was going to talk to the finance/warranty department but I explained to him the man who handles warranties (right there in the same building as you Bud) is on vacation. Mmm, they really do not communicate there do they? Here I am a customer letting a manager know one of their employees is on vacation.
Bud again..."I just don't understand. They had 90 days, 3 months, to handle all of this and on day 89 I am left in the lurch." In my head I am thinking...Yeah, its all you Bud. The customer, me, would have no cause for stressing out at all. Bud interrupts my thinking process ... "I am here until 8 o'clock tonight. I will get to the bottom of this and call you back. If you do not hear back from me by then call me. Um, they close at 5 o'clock so he wants me to wait until three hours after they close to freak out again. Ok, sure Bud. Do what you need to do. I will be there tomorrow at lunch time looking for my free of charge loaner luxury car that will fit 5 Brownies scouts and two adults.
Ten minutes later Andrea, the dealership controller, calls me. In the voice of lawyer dude in commercials who speaks so quickly you might catch every other word....
It must be programmed in all of their employees to say "If you do not hear back from me by 5 o'clock call me." I suppose their thinking is if it is not fixed by close of business they will try again the next business day.
My head is spinning and I want to scream, yell and stomp my feet! But I don't. Instead my mind buzzes and I start to giggle. Yes, giggle. Then I start to laugh. I laugh at the complete stupidity that I have to deal with having bought a car out here in the country.
My plan is to call Andrea at 11:30 AM and check the status. If the registration and title issues have not been resolved I am driving over to the dealership with the phone number of the State Police and Licensing commission at the ready. If she does not produce a compilable vehicle before my lunch hour is over I will call the State Police and the Licensing commission. After which, I might have to borrow ManSon's new mountain bike to get too and from daycare and work. I wonder how Snow White will feel about riding on the handle bars until I find another dealership and vehicle?
I just called the state police who informed me it is against the law for me to drive my car after midnight tomorrow if I do not have the new tag (license plate), registration and tag sticker. The officer told me to go to the local court house and the local State Licensing commission office to receive something in writting explaining the details of all laws, fines, penalties, etc. related to driving with expired tags, registration and tag stickers. If that doesn't work with the dealership to contact my lawyer. The officer seemed to hint that I would most likely require the services of a lawyer.
Dear Mommas World,
We regret to inform you the car dealership has ignored our repeated insistance that they provide us with the correct information on your vehicle. Last month we gave up on them and sent them the $2,344 check you paid for your warranty. I hope you succeed in your next attempt to receive warranty coverage on your vehicle. Yes, this means you have no warranty and the dealership has pocketed your money.
Sincerely,
Ms.
T.Hought Yadwannano
Oh my goodness! I have been driving a vehicle for 3 months without a warranty! This needs to be fixed right away.
I call the dealership and speak to the finance department. "Yes, this is the finance department...I am sure they are misinformed. Our warranty guy is out on vacation. Let me call you back. Call me at 5 o'clock if you don't hear from me."
I call Sean, who sold me the car and he says "Gee Wiz! I worked so hard on this deal and everyone else is screwing things up. Let me talk to the finance and title people and call you back. If you don't hear from me by 5 o'clock call me."
Why the title office? I also explained I have a temporary tag and registration which expires TOMORROW! I have not received the permanent tag or registration yet.
Well, 5 o'clock rolls around and no one called me back so I call the dealership and guess what? They close at 5 o'clock! Every. Single. Day.
This morning, I sent an email to the dealership CEO, President, all the department heads, and the Sales guy. Lunch time passes and no response. No emails or phone calls from the dealership.
I am a bit fed up so I call and explain to the dealership receptionist that my temporary tag expires tomorrow. She transfers me to Tracey in the Title department.
Tracey pulled up my file (I am guessing on the computer) and said she is aware of the situation. She explained they are having difficulty obtaining the title.
I am completely STUNNED! Speechless! I think to myself…What?! They sold me a car without actually having the freaken title?! How is that possible?! Oh My Gosh, I have been driving this car for 3 months! Three months without a warranty. Three months I have paid for this car and the dealership who sold it to me doesn’t even have the freaken title! Deep breaths. Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Come on woman, Breath!
I ask her how soon will she get the title? Her response… “In a couple of weeks. Maybe longer but I really don’t think it will be too much longer than that.”
My registration expires tomorrow. I cannot wait a couple of weeks or longer. I cannot drive the car without proper registration. What if I get pulled over for an expired temporary tag?
“You will be fine. Don’t worry about it. If you do get pulled over have the policeman call us and we will explain everything to him.”
And then...my head explodes.
In a sort of stupor I say “Are you kidding me?”
Tracey: “No, it will be fine. Just have him ask for the title department.”
Me: “Who should he ask to speak with?”
Tracey: “Just have him ask for me, Tracey.”
I can no longer continue this conversation with her. My mind is reeling and I have to find some dark corner to sit in the fetal position and regain normal heart rate and breathing.
After a few minutes I think I am stable enough to call the dealership again.
This time I ask for a manager.
I explained to Bud, my registration expires tomorrow and the first thing he says is “Why have you waited so long to contact us about this?!”
My thoughts were…Um, excuse me? I thought they were doing their job and I would receive the proper documents in time but now it looks like they dropped the ball. Oh silly me I forgot I was in charge of his employees. I should have kept them in line and on task. Wait, I do not work there. I am a customer.
He said he would pull up my transactions and talk with the title clerk. I explained I already spoke with Tracey who told me “You will be fine. Don’t worry about it. If you do get pulled over have the policeman call us and we will explain everything to him.” Imagine if you will a policeman laughing at me and saying “Here is your ticket. This is your fine. Take care of your business lady.”
Bud thought Tracey’s solution was “That is putting a Band-Aid over a difficult situation. This will not solve the problem.” Really? Ya think? Plus what about me being pulled over for something that is not my fault and so out of my hands? The embarrassment of being pulled over with police lights flashing and him finding out someone other than the dealership and myself are the real owners of this car on paper. Yeah, real treat for me. Cannot get enough of it.
I also explained the issue with my warranty and he said “I am hearing all sorts of problems that should never have happened to you.” He was going to talk to the finance/warranty department but I explained to him the man who handles warranties (right there in the same building as you Bud) is on vacation. Mmm, they really do not communicate there do they? Here I am a customer letting a manager know one of their employees is on vacation.
Bud again..."I just don't understand. They had 90 days, 3 months, to handle all of this and on day 89 I am left in the lurch." In my head I am thinking...Yeah, its all you Bud. The customer, me, would have no cause for stressing out at all. Bud interrupts my thinking process ... "I am here until 8 o'clock tonight. I will get to the bottom of this and call you back. If you do not hear back from me by then call me. Um, they close at 5 o'clock so he wants me to wait until three hours after they close to freak out again. Ok, sure Bud. Do what you need to do. I will be there tomorrow at lunch time looking for my free of charge loaner luxury car that will fit 5 Brownies scouts and two adults.
Ten minutes later Andrea, the dealership controller, calls me. In the voice of lawyer dude in commercials who speaks so quickly you might catch every other word....
"Bud just updated me on your problematic status. We are working on the issues. Warranty is being corrected. Something on the form was filled in incorrectly. We here will take care of any tickets, fines you might incur in the mean time. No points go against your license for expired registration/tags. Will try to get an extension on the Registration. The state does not normally issue an extension but I will try to cash in a favor. Any questions? I will call you by 5 o'clock tomorrow. If you do not hear back from me by 5 o'clock tomorrow call me."
It must be programmed in all of their employees to say "If you do not hear back from me by 5 o'clock call me." I suppose their thinking is if it is not fixed by close of business they will try again the next business day.
My head is spinning and I want to scream, yell and stomp my feet! But I don't. Instead my mind buzzes and I start to giggle. Yes, giggle. Then I start to laugh. I laugh at the complete stupidity that I have to deal with having bought a car out here in the country.
My plan is to call Andrea at 11:30 AM and check the status. If the registration and title issues have not been resolved I am driving over to the dealership with the phone number of the State Police and Licensing commission at the ready. If she does not produce a compilable vehicle before my lunch hour is over I will call the State Police and the Licensing commission. After which, I might have to borrow ManSon's new mountain bike to get too and from daycare and work. I wonder how Snow White will feel about riding on the handle bars until I find another dealership and vehicle?
I just called the state police who informed me it is against the law for me to drive my car after midnight tomorrow if I do not have the new tag (license plate), registration and tag sticker. The officer told me to go to the local court house and the local State Licensing commission office to receive something in writting explaining the details of all laws, fines, penalties, etc. related to driving with expired tags, registration and tag stickers. If that doesn't work with the dealership to contact my lawyer. The officer seemed to hint that I would most likely require the services of a lawyer.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Monday, September 24, 2007
Extra Terestrials in the Country
We were on our way to the store when I noticed how dark it was and how bright the stars were shining. Snow White thought she saw a flashing comet. I tried to explain it was an airplane but she insisted it was a blinking comet. Some how the subject of aliens came up. "Mom, you know they are evil. They want to destroy our cars, trees, houses and battle us for our planet." I couldn't help but laugh.
I tried to explain how aliens were made up due to the unknown, way out there. She thought that was pish-posh. I told her the simple story of how people from long ago thought the world was flat. She asked if anyone took on a dare to prove them wrong? I told her how everyone tells of Christopher Columbus setting off to sail. How he was to prove the world was round on his adventure to India. When his ship went ashore he thought he was in India but actually he just discovered America (I am not going in to a full fledged history lesson as to who came here when). I told her the Indians were called Indians since Columbus thought he landed in India. At least we were off the subject of evil aliens.
I tried to explain how aliens were made up due to the unknown, way out there. She thought that was pish-posh. I told her the simple story of how people from long ago thought the world was flat. She asked if anyone took on a dare to prove them wrong? I told her how everyone tells of Christopher Columbus setting off to sail. How he was to prove the world was round on his adventure to India. When his ship went ashore he thought he was in India but actually he just discovered America (I am not going in to a full fledged history lesson as to who came here when). I told her the Indians were called Indians since Columbus thought he landed in India. At least we were off the subject of evil aliens.
Friday, September 21, 2007
A Girl Named Bunny - The Last Day
Sunday
Sunday morning Pup woke up early intent on defending the house. I opened the back door and let him out. After he barked for more than 5 minutes on the back deck I went out to carry him back in. It was Sunday morning and some people do sleep in. I noticed the house seemed a bit cold. Fall is just about here with cool mornings and hot afternoons. I don't know if I should turn on the central air to heat or cool.
Given that it did seem a tad bit chilly, I went upstairs to see if Oldest Daughter and Bunny needed extra blankets. What I discovered was Oldest Daughter was in her room alone. I checked ManSons room and there he was sitting in his bean bag chair watching TV....and Bunny was asleep in HIS BED!
My blood went straight to boiling point! WHAT IS SHE DOING IN YOUR ROOM?! IN YOUR BED?! I am a mild woman even in the worst moments but I was ready to start knocking both of their heads together! "Mom, I promise. Nothing happened. She basically kicked me out of my own bed. I let her sleep there and I staid up all night watching movies. She is just an annoying little kid and she is Oldest Daughter's friend."
I start yelling at Bunny "You are only 16 years old! Sixteen years old! You are NOT old enough to sleep in a boys room!" She smiled and batted her eyes at me which made me want to grab her by the shoulders and shake her! I didn't but I really wanted to. "Get up! Get out of this room!" She took her sweet time getting off the bed and walking past me. I could see she still had on the same clothes as yesterday.
I went back down stairs to cool off. I practiced what I was going to say to Oldest Daughter. My reasons for why this little pain in the butt can never come back to our house. She is NEVER coming back to our house. Not for birthday parties, an afternoon or just to stop by and say hello.
Snow White was still asleep but I heard movement going on in Oldest Daughter's room. ManSon came down stairs to talk with me. I told him she was never coming back here. He thanked me. "That would be great. I can sleep in my own bed. She thinks like Snow White and acts like a little kid. I am surprised you didn't take her home right after dinner. She was rude." He went on to explain other things "She is my sister's friend. I don't want to be rude to her.
He also mentioned how it seemed like such a long time since he and his sister really hung out together. "It would be so much better if we didn't have to deal with such a fussy girl in the middle of it all. I forgot how much fun it can be to just hang out with my sister. We don't even have to finish a sentence before we both start laughing. It is like we have a secret language all our own. Other people get it but you have to explain a little. With my sister I don't have to explain anything. If she weren't my own sister I would still like to have her as a friend."
In our house it is normal to have half a dozen to a full dozen teenagers all at once. I suppose it has been awhile since ManSon and Oldest Daughter were together without each of their entourages.
I thanked him for talking to me now but scolded him as well. "You should have come to me. I would have picked her up or woke her up and made her to go to the room she was suppose to be in! This was a dumb move on your part. If there is ever a next time make the girl leave. It is not rude. If she takes it that way then she definitely has moral issues and you don't want to deal with that can of worms."
Oldest Daughter and Bunny pretty much staid in Oldest Daughter's room all morning. Eventually Oldest Daughter came down stairs. I explained to her this was Bunny's last visit with us. She was no longer welcome to come over to our house. Oldest Daughter also expressed some relief. "So I can tell her the reason she cannot come over is because you said so right?" "Yes, I am definitely willing to be the meanie."
The whole trip back to Bunny's house she and Oldest Daughter slept in the very back of the van. We even brought Pup with us. Snow White was put to sleep by the CD Oldest Daughter selected for the trip back.
On the long return trip home Snow White read out loud one of her Tinker Bell books. When it was too dark for her to read any more we sang along to the Girl Scout CD she picked out at the Girl Scout Council shop.
We are home and I am just glad to know ....I will never have to see Bunny again.
Sunday morning Pup woke up early intent on defending the house. I opened the back door and let him out. After he barked for more than 5 minutes on the back deck I went out to carry him back in. It was Sunday morning and some people do sleep in. I noticed the house seemed a bit cold. Fall is just about here with cool mornings and hot afternoons. I don't know if I should turn on the central air to heat or cool.
Given that it did seem a tad bit chilly, I went upstairs to see if Oldest Daughter and Bunny needed extra blankets. What I discovered was Oldest Daughter was in her room alone. I checked ManSons room and there he was sitting in his bean bag chair watching TV....and Bunny was asleep in HIS BED!
My blood went straight to boiling point! WHAT IS SHE DOING IN YOUR ROOM?! IN YOUR BED?! I am a mild woman even in the worst moments but I was ready to start knocking both of their heads together! "Mom, I promise. Nothing happened. She basically kicked me out of my own bed. I let her sleep there and I staid up all night watching movies. She is just an annoying little kid and she is Oldest Daughter's friend."
I start yelling at Bunny "You are only 16 years old! Sixteen years old! You are NOT old enough to sleep in a boys room!" She smiled and batted her eyes at me which made me want to grab her by the shoulders and shake her! I didn't but I really wanted to. "Get up! Get out of this room!" She took her sweet time getting off the bed and walking past me. I could see she still had on the same clothes as yesterday.
I went back down stairs to cool off. I practiced what I was going to say to Oldest Daughter. My reasons for why this little pain in the butt can never come back to our house. She is NEVER coming back to our house. Not for birthday parties, an afternoon or just to stop by and say hello.
Snow White was still asleep but I heard movement going on in Oldest Daughter's room. ManSon came down stairs to talk with me. I told him she was never coming back here. He thanked me. "That would be great. I can sleep in my own bed. She thinks like Snow White and acts like a little kid. I am surprised you didn't take her home right after dinner. She was rude." He went on to explain other things "She is my sister's friend. I don't want to be rude to her.
He also mentioned how it seemed like such a long time since he and his sister really hung out together. "It would be so much better if we didn't have to deal with such a fussy girl in the middle of it all. I forgot how much fun it can be to just hang out with my sister. We don't even have to finish a sentence before we both start laughing. It is like we have a secret language all our own. Other people get it but you have to explain a little. With my sister I don't have to explain anything. If she weren't my own sister I would still like to have her as a friend."
In our house it is normal to have half a dozen to a full dozen teenagers all at once. I suppose it has been awhile since ManSon and Oldest Daughter were together without each of their entourages.
I thanked him for talking to me now but scolded him as well. "You should have come to me. I would have picked her up or woke her up and made her to go to the room she was suppose to be in! This was a dumb move on your part. If there is ever a next time make the girl leave. It is not rude. If she takes it that way then she definitely has moral issues and you don't want to deal with that can of worms."
Oldest Daughter and Bunny pretty much staid in Oldest Daughter's room all morning. Eventually Oldest Daughter came down stairs. I explained to her this was Bunny's last visit with us. She was no longer welcome to come over to our house. Oldest Daughter also expressed some relief. "So I can tell her the reason she cannot come over is because you said so right?" "Yes, I am definitely willing to be the meanie."
The whole trip back to Bunny's house she and Oldest Daughter slept in the very back of the van. We even brought Pup with us. Snow White was put to sleep by the CD Oldest Daughter selected for the trip back.
On the long return trip home Snow White read out loud one of her Tinker Bell books. When it was too dark for her to read any more we sang along to the Girl Scout CD she picked out at the Girl Scout Council shop.
We are home and I am just glad to know ....I will never have to see Bunny again.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
A Girl Named Bunny (2 of 3 days)
Saturday morning I wake to find Bunny asleep on the couch. I cover her up with a blanket and go about my morning. Later in the day we decide to do the malls and shops beyond this country place.
First stop the Girl Scout Council to pick up a few Brownie items for Snow White. We make our selections and head to the register. There are two little boys running about the store but not in a wild fashion. They are around 5 & 6 years old and asking their Dad questions. They appear to be waiting for the lady running the store. After we check out she locks the store up saying she needed to get ready for her other job. I apologize for not knowing we were keeping her and she shyly says it was no trouble at all.
Off to the big mall. We arrive and discuss how the first floor is about the same size as the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville which we truly enjoyed. The mall we visited today had two stories and easily twice as many shops. We made our way through half of the mall when I suggested we eat a late lunch at a stake house I had seen.
Another Bunny moment. Her nose came within an inch of my own as she barked out like a little yapping dog... "I HATE stake! I hate it! hate it, hate it! Lets eat at McDonalds!"
ManSon says "That is not a real restaurant in the way my Mom means."
Bunny "It is so a real restaurant!" and Snow White quickly agrees.
ManSon laughs and says "I told you, you are a little girl. An eight year old is the only one agreeing with you."
I am again shocked at the 3 year old that continues to burst out of this 16 year old girl. I wanted to slap her but I repeated those lovely calming words in my head ‘She is only here for the weekend. She will be gone tomorrow.’ I politely say "It will be ok. I am sure they have more to offer than just stake."
Bunny shuffles her feet as though kicking sand and trudges along. We arrive at the stake house. ManSon is leading the way with Oldest Daughter and Bunny just two steps behind while Snow White and I bring up the end of our little procession. Just before we reach the front doors a lady dressed in a football jersey shouts out "You are stalking ME aren't you?!" She laughs as we all turn to look behind us...all of us except Snow White who points to her own chest and mouths "Me?"
The lady laughs and says "I just saw you at the Girl Scout Council. This is my other job." We all laugh and follow her inside the restaurant.
The hostess seats us at a booth with two chairs on one side. Figuring Snow White might be too small to sit on the tall chairs the hostess sets the Child's menu and crayons at the booth side. Oldest Daughter and ManSon take their seats thinking Snow White will sit between them with Bunny opposite of Oldest Daughter on one chair and me in the other.
Bunny will have none of that and slides up next to ManSon. This pushes ManSon to the middle where the child's menu is and he laughs "It has been a long time since I had the child's menu."
Snow White is goodhearted and agrees to sit in the very tall chair. She almost toppled over while climbing up to sit on the chair. Bunny laughed at the clumsiness of it as I tried to steady Snow White.
The waitress comes to take our order. Bunny orders something similar to what ManSon orders but she is unsure what Chicken Parmesan is. After taking down her order the waitress says "Your Chicken Parmesan comes with the salad bar located down stairs behind you." To which Bunny promptly states "I HATE salad! I hate it! Really hate it!" The waitress looks at me and I just shrug my shoulders. All the while I am thinking "At least she has this 'Hate' issue with all adults not just me."
ManSon, Oldest Daughter and I make our way around the salad bar. Oldest Daughter laughs and points upstairs to our table. There was Bunny pressing her face against the glass making faces at us. Snow White just rolled her eyes as if to say “How embarrassing.”
We return to the table and tell Bunny about the non-salad items on the salad bar such as the bread, chocolate chips, trail mix and fruit. She asked if the grapes were green or purple. I said purple and before she could say it I sarcastically mimicked her "I know, you hate it, hate it hate it."
ManSon and Oldest Daughter were shocked and did not know what to say or do. They sat there with their mouths open. They just could not believe I would be so out right rude!
Bunny on the other hand was ready to embrace me. Like I finally got in the swing of things!
That was not the impression I wanted to give her. I wanted open her eyes to how rude she had been. It was totally lost on her.
We returned to the mall intent on going through every store contained in the second half of the mall. ManSon approached a T-Mobile kiosk in the attempt to add minutes to his phone. The sales people wanted him to sign up for a new plan for only $49.99 a month. He assured them he was very happy with his existing phone and only wanted to add minutes to his phone. They passes him off to another T-Mobile kiosk who also tried to get him to buy into another plan. Eventually they passed him off to the head office upstairs. We waited for about 4 minutes with no eye contact from any of the sales people. ManSon said he could load up his phone with minutes from a card at the gas station. Enough minutes to last him about 4-6 months for only $20 so we left the T-Mobile office.
We found a gourmet doggy store and Snow White picked out a few specialty treats made with yogurt and carob for Pup. Oldest Daughter wanted to check out the FYE store so we went there next.
I had not caught The Da Vinci Code movie on the cable channels so I thought I would buy that movie and the Disney Princess Enchanted Tales. ManSon and Oldest Daughter did not see anything they really wanted but Bunny did. Right in front of the sales clerk who helped us look around, Bunny begged and pleaded with me to buy her a $16.00 hat. I explained they have an FYE store near her house but she kept pleading for me to buy it for her.
I am not use to begging from my own children let alone someone else's child so I said "I will give you the same rules I give my own children. If it is Not Your Birthday, if it is Not Christmas and it is Not under $5 you are Not getting it." She smiled, and skipped off to find something under $5...anything under $5.
Oldest Daughter giggled a little as her friend skipped away. "I have not heard that speech from you since I was 6 years old." Oldest Daughter, the sales clerk and I all laughed while shaking our heads and watching Bunny skip through the store.
First stop the Girl Scout Council to pick up a few Brownie items for Snow White. We make our selections and head to the register. There are two little boys running about the store but not in a wild fashion. They are around 5 & 6 years old and asking their Dad questions. They appear to be waiting for the lady running the store. After we check out she locks the store up saying she needed to get ready for her other job. I apologize for not knowing we were keeping her and she shyly says it was no trouble at all.
Off to the big mall. We arrive and discuss how the first floor is about the same size as the Opry Mills Mall in Nashville which we truly enjoyed. The mall we visited today had two stories and easily twice as many shops. We made our way through half of the mall when I suggested we eat a late lunch at a stake house I had seen.
Another Bunny moment. Her nose came within an inch of my own as she barked out like a little yapping dog... "I HATE stake! I hate it! hate it, hate it! Lets eat at McDonalds!"
ManSon says "That is not a real restaurant in the way my Mom means."
Bunny "It is so a real restaurant!" and Snow White quickly agrees.
ManSon laughs and says "I told you, you are a little girl. An eight year old is the only one agreeing with you."
I am again shocked at the 3 year old that continues to burst out of this 16 year old girl. I wanted to slap her but I repeated those lovely calming words in my head ‘She is only here for the weekend. She will be gone tomorrow.’ I politely say "It will be ok. I am sure they have more to offer than just stake."
Bunny shuffles her feet as though kicking sand and trudges along. We arrive at the stake house. ManSon is leading the way with Oldest Daughter and Bunny just two steps behind while Snow White and I bring up the end of our little procession. Just before we reach the front doors a lady dressed in a football jersey shouts out "You are stalking ME aren't you?!" She laughs as we all turn to look behind us...all of us except Snow White who points to her own chest and mouths "Me?"
The lady laughs and says "I just saw you at the Girl Scout Council. This is my other job." We all laugh and follow her inside the restaurant.
The hostess seats us at a booth with two chairs on one side. Figuring Snow White might be too small to sit on the tall chairs the hostess sets the Child's menu and crayons at the booth side. Oldest Daughter and ManSon take their seats thinking Snow White will sit between them with Bunny opposite of Oldest Daughter on one chair and me in the other.
Bunny will have none of that and slides up next to ManSon. This pushes ManSon to the middle where the child's menu is and he laughs "It has been a long time since I had the child's menu."
Snow White is goodhearted and agrees to sit in the very tall chair. She almost toppled over while climbing up to sit on the chair. Bunny laughed at the clumsiness of it as I tried to steady Snow White.
The waitress comes to take our order. Bunny orders something similar to what ManSon orders but she is unsure what Chicken Parmesan is. After taking down her order the waitress says "Your Chicken Parmesan comes with the salad bar located down stairs behind you." To which Bunny promptly states "I HATE salad! I hate it! Really hate it!" The waitress looks at me and I just shrug my shoulders. All the while I am thinking "At least she has this 'Hate' issue with all adults not just me."
ManSon, Oldest Daughter and I make our way around the salad bar. Oldest Daughter laughs and points upstairs to our table. There was Bunny pressing her face against the glass making faces at us. Snow White just rolled her eyes as if to say “How embarrassing.”
We return to the table and tell Bunny about the non-salad items on the salad bar such as the bread, chocolate chips, trail mix and fruit. She asked if the grapes were green or purple. I said purple and before she could say it I sarcastically mimicked her "I know, you hate it, hate it hate it."
ManSon and Oldest Daughter were shocked and did not know what to say or do. They sat there with their mouths open. They just could not believe I would be so out right rude!
Bunny on the other hand was ready to embrace me. Like I finally got in the swing of things!
That was not the impression I wanted to give her. I wanted open her eyes to how rude she had been. It was totally lost on her.
We returned to the mall intent on going through every store contained in the second half of the mall. ManSon approached a T-Mobile kiosk in the attempt to add minutes to his phone. The sales people wanted him to sign up for a new plan for only $49.99 a month. He assured them he was very happy with his existing phone and only wanted to add minutes to his phone. They passes him off to another T-Mobile kiosk who also tried to get him to buy into another plan. Eventually they passed him off to the head office upstairs. We waited for about 4 minutes with no eye contact from any of the sales people. ManSon said he could load up his phone with minutes from a card at the gas station. Enough minutes to last him about 4-6 months for only $20 so we left the T-Mobile office.
We found a gourmet doggy store and Snow White picked out a few specialty treats made with yogurt and carob for Pup. Oldest Daughter wanted to check out the FYE store so we went there next.
I had not caught The Da Vinci Code movie on the cable channels so I thought I would buy that movie and the Disney Princess Enchanted Tales. ManSon and Oldest Daughter did not see anything they really wanted but Bunny did. Right in front of the sales clerk who helped us look around, Bunny begged and pleaded with me to buy her a $16.00 hat. I explained they have an FYE store near her house but she kept pleading for me to buy it for her.
I am not use to begging from my own children let alone someone else's child so I said "I will give you the same rules I give my own children. If it is Not Your Birthday, if it is Not Christmas and it is Not under $5 you are Not getting it." She smiled, and skipped off to find something under $5...anything under $5.
Oldest Daughter giggled a little as her friend skipped away. "I have not heard that speech from you since I was 6 years old." Oldest Daughter, the sales clerk and I all laughed while shaking our heads and watching Bunny skip through the store.
Tuesday, September 18, 2007
When Recycling Goes Bad
It just occurred to me that I misplaced something, actually a few things. Now I remember where I put them and I am so sorry I did not keep them in my purse or anything other than what I put them in.
I have tried to break myself of this awful habit. I have numerous tote bags from so many places. Why on earth do I use grocery bags? I use grocery bags to sort out my car. What items need to go in the garbage are placed in a grocery bag. Items that need to come into the house are put in a separate grocery bag.
I have teenagers, weekly guests and a full house on other days. This means I have an abundance of grocery bags. I use them for sorting out things in my car, temporary replacement for rubber gloves when I had forgotten I used my last pair. I also use them for garbage bags in the small garbage cans located under the kitchen sink and every bathroom sink. On garbage day I collect the bags from under the kitchen sink and the bathroom, tie them up and leave them at the kitchen door. ManSon picks up the tied up bundles, places them in the garbage cans and puts the cans out to the curb.
There is a huge flaw in my system of “recycling” the grocery bags as garbage bags.
If I need to make sure I take a few miscellaneous items with me in the morning I leave them by the door. This is an attempt to make sure I do not leave the house without those items.
Some times I forget to tie the grocery garbage bags. I just leave them by the kitchen door. Most mornings we leave via the front door but there have been times I parked the car/van by the Sunroom which is off of the kitchen. I know at the end of the night which door I plan to exit in the morning.
Unfortunately, ManSon is not advised about what I am leaving in the kitchen. He is not aware most times due to sheer fact he is asleep when I am making last minute plans for my morning. He goes to bed around 10 PM and I go to bed around midnight. Thus a grocery bag at the kitchen door usually means it is meant for the garbage can.
The items I am currently looking for can be replaced…just not at the moment. Maybe not even tomorrow but I can replace what I am looking for. What am I looking for? Snow White’s Brownie tie and the contact information for her Troop. I had them in my hands last night and wanted to make sure I had them for night. The Brownie tie can be purchased again this Saturday. The contact information for the Troop Leader can be replaced at our next meeting. The problem is I need to have the News Letter ready to distribute at the next meeting.
Oh well, I can always leave a __________and write in the information before the end of the next meeting.
I should also learn NOT to use that abundance of grocery bags for toting things around when I have so many pretty tote bags. I might even purchase the “Brownie Volunteer” tote bag to keep all of our “must have weekly Brownie items.”
Sunday, September 16, 2007
A Girl Named Bunny (1 of 3 days)
My weekend started off a little rocky due to a surprise resignation of a fellow employee. His departure left a series of waves crashing in our office but all worked out for the best. I think.
Friday after work I left to pick up Oldest Daughter. She invited an out of state friend to stay the weekend with us but this friend's friend was leaving unexpectedly. Mmm another surprise departure. Anyway Oldest Daughter invited another friend, Bunny, at the last minute. This particular friend annoys the heck out of me. She is not a bad girl nor does she get in to trouble or anything. It is just her complete lack of maturity that sucks the life out of me.
When I say it is ok to invite another teenager over to our house I am expecting a teenager...not a toddler. This young lady is 16 years old but acts like a tempermental toddler. She may think it is totally cute. I want to bang my head against the wall when she is around.
She is Oldest Daughter's friend and it is only the weekend so I agree to let her come over for another visit. Yes, she has visited once before.
During our drive home Bunny is very quite unlike last time where she rarely stopped talking long enough to gasp for breath. This time she was plugged into a DS game and totally oblivious to what was going on around her. I welcomed the change from not stop chattering. I think Oldest Daughter had a little chat with her friend after I mentioned how much Bunny chattered on before.
On her last visit Bunny sat next to me and talked NON-STOP through a 2 hr movie. She kept saying "What just happened? What did I miss?" My response was always "you already explained what was going to happen and that is what was going on while you were talking."
Since I had already seen the movie before I gave up watching and picked up my cross stitch. I was hoping to watch it with Oldest Daughter and get her take on the movie. She also gave up watching the movie due to the chatter and went to bed...leaving me to indure the not stop chattering for remainder of the movie with Bunny. At one point I almost said "Shut up! I need to count the spaces inbetween stitches!" but I sat silent. Saying to myself "You only have to deal with her for two days...just two days. She is Oldest Daughter's friend. Be nice. Smile."
After Bunny's first visit I chalked her insessive chatter to nervousness coming out but Oldest Daughter said she is always that talkative.
Anyway, the lack of filling all space with Bunny's words this weekend gave Oldest Daughter and I a chance to catch up, listen to a few CDs we liked and just shoot the breeze giggling here and there. Snow White even had a chance to join in on the conversation without the constant interuptions.
Instead of heading directly home we had to make a stop at the grocery store. We had just ran out of cat food and needed to replenish the food stock. It was a weekend and teenagers are normally in an abundance at our house on the weekends.
Have you ever been in a grocery store with a tired, cranky 3 year old? I have but it has been a long time so I was a little out of practice and did not have a 3 year old with me.
It is after 9 pm when we reach the grocery store. While making my way throught the produce section Oldest Daughter asked for a few items. I sent her on her way to gather them. No matter what age your children are they still ask for special things in the grocery store. They just ask nicer and understand why if you do not agree with their choice.
I was taken aback when Bunny very perkily says "What's for din-din?" I am puzzled as to why she has not had dinner. Does she really expect me to cook up a huge dinner at this time of the night? I motion towards the lunch meat in our cart and politely say "You can make sandwiches when we get to the house."
"Sandwiches?! Sandwiches?! I HATE sandwiches!" She crosses her arms, puts on the best pouting face I have ever seen on a 3 year old and even stomps her foot! Um, I don't know how to react or what to say. Even little Snow White is puzzled by this behavior. When I stopped stairing at Bunny I decided to move on down the grocery isle.
Oldest Daughter returned with her requested items and asked if she could also get a sub. Thank goodness she came at that time. I agreed to the sub and said "Why don't the two of you pick out something you might like to eat when we get home."
Oldest Daughter comes back with a sub but Bunny comes back empty handed. We walk through the isles and I pick up this and that. Eventually we make it to the frozen food section. Bunny still has not picked out anything. I pick up 4 pepperoni pizzas thinking Teenagers are always willing to eat pizza.
Out of the corner of my eye I can see Oldest Daughter making granduous hand jesters towards the cart while making a head jerking motion signally Bunny to "look". Sort of a "See, Mom is getting those for you." Then it comes..."I HATE Pepperoni! I hate it, hate it!"
I freeze not because she is displeased but she is just being down right rude. If she were really 3 years old I might expect her response but come on! She is 16 years old. Instead of repremanding her I simply reach for the cheese pizzas and she smiles. Then I say "If you wanted cheese pizza all you had to do was ask. There is no need to yell."
Bunny smiled, batted her eyes then linked arms with Oldest Daughter and attempted to skip down the isle with her. Oldest Daughter is not use to making a spectical of herself in public so she detangled their arms and left Bunny to skip through the isle on her own. Oldest Daughter, Snow White and myself stood a the back of the isle just watching Bunny skip up the isle as if she was skipping down the yellow brick road linked arm and arm with the Scarcrow and the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. We looked at her then each other and slowly made our way up the isle behind us. I think Oldest Daughter was keeping her distance so maybe no one would notice Bunny was with us.
We finish our shopping and head home. The girls and ManSon are all so wonderfully helpful unloading the bazzillion grocery bags from the van. I tuck Snow White into bed and the girls watch TV all night in the family room.
Friday after work I left to pick up Oldest Daughter. She invited an out of state friend to stay the weekend with us but this friend's friend was leaving unexpectedly. Mmm another surprise departure. Anyway Oldest Daughter invited another friend, Bunny, at the last minute. This particular friend annoys the heck out of me. She is not a bad girl nor does she get in to trouble or anything. It is just her complete lack of maturity that sucks the life out of me.
When I say it is ok to invite another teenager over to our house I am expecting a teenager...not a toddler. This young lady is 16 years old but acts like a tempermental toddler. She may think it is totally cute. I want to bang my head against the wall when she is around.
She is Oldest Daughter's friend and it is only the weekend so I agree to let her come over for another visit. Yes, she has visited once before.
During our drive home Bunny is very quite unlike last time where she rarely stopped talking long enough to gasp for breath. This time she was plugged into a DS game and totally oblivious to what was going on around her. I welcomed the change from not stop chattering. I think Oldest Daughter had a little chat with her friend after I mentioned how much Bunny chattered on before.
On her last visit Bunny sat next to me and talked NON-STOP through a 2 hr movie. She kept saying "What just happened? What did I miss?" My response was always "you already explained what was going to happen and that is what was going on while you were talking."
Since I had already seen the movie before I gave up watching and picked up my cross stitch. I was hoping to watch it with Oldest Daughter and get her take on the movie. She also gave up watching the movie due to the chatter and went to bed...leaving me to indure the not stop chattering for remainder of the movie with Bunny. At one point I almost said "Shut up! I need to count the spaces inbetween stitches!" but I sat silent. Saying to myself "You only have to deal with her for two days...just two days. She is Oldest Daughter's friend. Be nice. Smile."
After Bunny's first visit I chalked her insessive chatter to nervousness coming out but Oldest Daughter said she is always that talkative.
Anyway, the lack of filling all space with Bunny's words this weekend gave Oldest Daughter and I a chance to catch up, listen to a few CDs we liked and just shoot the breeze giggling here and there. Snow White even had a chance to join in on the conversation without the constant interuptions.
Instead of heading directly home we had to make a stop at the grocery store. We had just ran out of cat food and needed to replenish the food stock. It was a weekend and teenagers are normally in an abundance at our house on the weekends.
Have you ever been in a grocery store with a tired, cranky 3 year old? I have but it has been a long time so I was a little out of practice and did not have a 3 year old with me.
It is after 9 pm when we reach the grocery store. While making my way throught the produce section Oldest Daughter asked for a few items. I sent her on her way to gather them. No matter what age your children are they still ask for special things in the grocery store. They just ask nicer and understand why if you do not agree with their choice.
I was taken aback when Bunny very perkily says "What's for din-din?" I am puzzled as to why she has not had dinner. Does she really expect me to cook up a huge dinner at this time of the night? I motion towards the lunch meat in our cart and politely say "You can make sandwiches when we get to the house."
"Sandwiches?! Sandwiches?! I HATE sandwiches!" She crosses her arms, puts on the best pouting face I have ever seen on a 3 year old and even stomps her foot! Um, I don't know how to react or what to say. Even little Snow White is puzzled by this behavior. When I stopped stairing at Bunny I decided to move on down the grocery isle.
Oldest Daughter returned with her requested items and asked if she could also get a sub. Thank goodness she came at that time. I agreed to the sub and said "Why don't the two of you pick out something you might like to eat when we get home."
Oldest Daughter comes back with a sub but Bunny comes back empty handed. We walk through the isles and I pick up this and that. Eventually we make it to the frozen food section. Bunny still has not picked out anything. I pick up 4 pepperoni pizzas thinking Teenagers are always willing to eat pizza.
Out of the corner of my eye I can see Oldest Daughter making granduous hand jesters towards the cart while making a head jerking motion signally Bunny to "look". Sort of a "See, Mom is getting those for you." Then it comes..."I HATE Pepperoni! I hate it, hate it!"
I freeze not because she is displeased but she is just being down right rude. If she were really 3 years old I might expect her response but come on! She is 16 years old. Instead of repremanding her I simply reach for the cheese pizzas and she smiles. Then I say "If you wanted cheese pizza all you had to do was ask. There is no need to yell."
Bunny smiled, batted her eyes then linked arms with Oldest Daughter and attempted to skip down the isle with her. Oldest Daughter is not use to making a spectical of herself in public so she detangled their arms and left Bunny to skip through the isle on her own. Oldest Daughter, Snow White and myself stood a the back of the isle just watching Bunny skip up the isle as if she was skipping down the yellow brick road linked arm and arm with the Scarcrow and the Tin Man from the Wizard of Oz. We looked at her then each other and slowly made our way up the isle behind us. I think Oldest Daughter was keeping her distance so maybe no one would notice Bunny was with us.
We finish our shopping and head home. The girls and ManSon are all so wonderfully helpful unloading the bazzillion grocery bags from the van. I tuck Snow White into bed and the girls watch TV all night in the family room.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Oh the Fun of Fundraisers
Our packets included a few fundraisers.
I do not know what came over me when I looked at the Magazine Subscription Catalog. For some reason it made a bad taste materialize in my mouth. The thought of asking people to sign up for magazine subscriptions made me feel like a leper. I decided to order the minimum requirement of 2 magazines (Girls' Life and Parents Magazine) so Snow White could receive the one-forth portion of the overall fundraiser badge.
The first person on our calling list was Auntie D. We chat on the phone every day anyway. While telling her about the many fundraisers I mentioned the magazine subscription catalog. She flipped out a bit. "Don't put my name on that one. Magazine subscriptions really freak me out! Either you do not get what you ordered or you get roped in to paying for them after they run out." I cannot disagree with her. The last time we ordered magazines I received my Cooking Magazine, Snow White's Highlighter books and Oldest Daughter's BMX racing mag came like clock work. Some how ManSon's Video Game Tricks N Codes magazine was switched out for ....Young Miss Magazine! What is he going to do with that? Even Oldest Daughter did not want to read it. I do have to say the magazine subscriptions we had did end when they said they would. The magazines stopped coming and no one contacted me to renew. (sold to us by a young man using the proceeds for college...not through the Scouts)
Auntie D decided to order the Chocolate Covered Raisins and Delux Pecan Clusters from the Candy and Nuts catalog. She also agreed to participate in the email and mailing address portion.
A few minutes after we spoke with Auntie D, Grandma called to check in. She and Grandpa travel so much they like to check in now and then just to let everyone know they are doing fine and what they have been up to lately. While catching up I told her about Snow White's fundraisers. To my surprise she said she would rather have a magazine than candy. So we put her down for Women's Day Magazine. Grandpa was all to happy to order the cashew nuts. They also quickly agreed to participate in the email and mailing address portion.
What kind of Mother would I be if I didn't order a few things myself? When I saw the first item on the Candy & Nuts flyer I knew I wanted it. This is the Chocolate Malted Milk balls in a tin that looks like a Girl Scout Handbook. It's not the chocolate I want, it is the box it comes in. Snow White said she wanted one too. "I would so use this to hide candy from ManSon. 'Oh, excuse me big brother, I need to go read my Girls Scout book. Page one...bite, bite, nibble, nibble.' All the deliciousness. Mine." I also orderd a few other items for ManSon and Oldest Daughter.
School fundraisers are sure to follow. Since school has only been open for a few weeks I have received one fundraiser - Scholastics Book order form. The only set in the whole flyer Snow White wants is the 40 book set of Magic Treehouse. It works out to $1.00 for each book. Who could say no to reading?
My grand total towards fundraising so far ( it is only Wednesday) is $28 Magazines, $32 Candy and $39 for books. Snow White still needs to sell 25 Candy & Nut items. We need to submit the 12 email addresses (do not worry none of the Bloggers will be used) and fill up the address booklet.
If you hear a knock at your door just after dinner...Hurry up and answer it! It's US, Snow White and Momma's World coming to your house to take your order.
- Address booklet which we are to fill in names and address of people to solicit for Magazine Subscriptions.
- Magazine Subscription catalog and order sheets for going around the neighborhood.
- Candy, Nuts and Candles order form.
- Flyer for the website and instructions for submitting 12 email addresses.
I do not know what came over me when I looked at the Magazine Subscription Catalog. For some reason it made a bad taste materialize in my mouth. The thought of asking people to sign up for magazine subscriptions made me feel like a leper. I decided to order the minimum requirement of 2 magazines (Girls' Life and Parents Magazine) so Snow White could receive the one-forth portion of the overall fundraiser badge.
The first person on our calling list was Auntie D. We chat on the phone every day anyway. While telling her about the many fundraisers I mentioned the magazine subscription catalog. She flipped out a bit. "Don't put my name on that one. Magazine subscriptions really freak me out! Either you do not get what you ordered or you get roped in to paying for them after they run out." I cannot disagree with her. The last time we ordered magazines I received my Cooking Magazine, Snow White's Highlighter books and Oldest Daughter's BMX racing mag came like clock work. Some how ManSon's Video Game Tricks N Codes magazine was switched out for ....Young Miss Magazine! What is he going to do with that? Even Oldest Daughter did not want to read it. I do have to say the magazine subscriptions we had did end when they said they would. The magazines stopped coming and no one contacted me to renew. (sold to us by a young man using the proceeds for college...not through the Scouts)
Auntie D decided to order the Chocolate Covered Raisins and Delux Pecan Clusters from the Candy and Nuts catalog. She also agreed to participate in the email and mailing address portion.
A few minutes after we spoke with Auntie D, Grandma called to check in. She and Grandpa travel so much they like to check in now and then just to let everyone know they are doing fine and what they have been up to lately. While catching up I told her about Snow White's fundraisers. To my surprise she said she would rather have a magazine than candy. So we put her down for Women's Day Magazine. Grandpa was all to happy to order the cashew nuts. They also quickly agreed to participate in the email and mailing address portion.
What kind of Mother would I be if I didn't order a few things myself? When I saw the first item on the Candy & Nuts flyer I knew I wanted it. This is the Chocolate Malted Milk balls in a tin that looks like a Girl Scout Handbook. It's not the chocolate I want, it is the box it comes in. Snow White said she wanted one too. "I would so use this to hide candy from ManSon. 'Oh, excuse me big brother, I need to go read my Girls Scout book. Page one...bite, bite, nibble, nibble.' All the deliciousness. Mine." I also orderd a few other items for ManSon and Oldest Daughter.
School fundraisers are sure to follow. Since school has only been open for a few weeks I have received one fundraiser - Scholastics Book order form. The only set in the whole flyer Snow White wants is the 40 book set of Magic Treehouse. It works out to $1.00 for each book. Who could say no to reading?
My grand total towards fundraising so far ( it is only Wednesday) is $28 Magazines, $32 Candy and $39 for books. Snow White still needs to sell 25 Candy & Nut items. We need to submit the 12 email addresses (do not worry none of the Bloggers will be used) and fill up the address booklet.
If you hear a knock at your door just after dinner...Hurry up and answer it! It's US, Snow White and Momma's World coming to your house to take your order.
Brownies On An Empty Stomach
We had our parents meeting at Brownies yesterday. I was so excited I forgot to eat…all day. No breakfast. Completely forgot about eating lunch. When I picked up Snow White at daycare she was equally excited but managed to remember to eat.
We signed the attendance sheet and were each given a packet of unknown material. The Troop Leader gave her speech on what to expect this year and a little history on Girl Scouts. After this the girls introduced themselves by saying their name and grade. The last little girl to introduce herself said her name, grade and “I told my Mommy that we just had to sign up for this Brownie Troop because Snow White goes here!” It was Lunch Girl. Snow White was thrilled to see one of her new friends in the same Troop.
The Assistant Leader asked the parents for volunteers for different things. One Mom was the Cookie Mom last year so we all thought it was fantastic that she wanted to continue this year. Why put some newbie in the position if we already have a tried and true expert, right? Four Moms, including myself, volunteered for transportation duty.
The Assistant Leader said she would issue a weekly news letter with pictures and event plans. She also said it would depend on her computer, her short list of computer skills and ….then I started waving both of my hands in the air while grinning from ear to ear. Sort of like "Pick Me! Pick Me!" She was so happy to pass off the news letter duties to me. I explained how I love taking photos “I have my camera with me all the time….see!” Yeah, I was acting like a kid on a sugar high. I will remember to eat breakfast and lunch the day of our next meeting.
I was ready and willing to volunteer for everything. So my list of Brownie Mom Duties are Photographer, News Letter, Transportation, Weekly Helper, and Snack Mom.
Maybe I was not the only Mom who forgot to eat. Lunch Girl’s Mom and I chatted briefly and she wasn’t making any sense to me. Or it could have been me…my food deprived brain not understanding what was said. She said something like “I am always at BJs. If you cannot find me _____ just go to BJs. It would be very likely I am there.”
I think she said her Mother-In-Law or someone lives on our street. Then she said Lunch Girl’s is named after her but it is her name backwards. I turn this over in a brain awhile and cannot figure out how in the world this could be possible. Eventually she spells it out for me. Lunch Girl’s first name is Mom’s middle name and Mom’s first name is Lunch Girl’s middle name. Awww now I understand. It turns out that Lunch Girl and Snow White both have the same middle name! Snow White’s middle name came from her Auntie D.
At the end of the meeting I was waiting my turn to speak to the Troop Leader. The Assistant Leader looked deep in thought as she watched Snow White. Then she let out a sigh and said “Wow, she is so beautiful.” Suddenly, she snapped to attention, her eyes grew wide as she added “Did I just say that out loud?” We all laughed. Snow White said “That’s ok. Its not the first time I have heard that.”
We signed the attendance sheet and were each given a packet of unknown material. The Troop Leader gave her speech on what to expect this year and a little history on Girl Scouts. After this the girls introduced themselves by saying their name and grade. The last little girl to introduce herself said her name, grade and “I told my Mommy that we just had to sign up for this Brownie Troop because Snow White goes here!” It was Lunch Girl. Snow White was thrilled to see one of her new friends in the same Troop.
The Assistant Leader asked the parents for volunteers for different things. One Mom was the Cookie Mom last year so we all thought it was fantastic that she wanted to continue this year. Why put some newbie in the position if we already have a tried and true expert, right? Four Moms, including myself, volunteered for transportation duty.
The Assistant Leader said she would issue a weekly news letter with pictures and event plans. She also said it would depend on her computer, her short list of computer skills and ….then I started waving both of my hands in the air while grinning from ear to ear. Sort of like "Pick Me! Pick Me!" She was so happy to pass off the news letter duties to me. I explained how I love taking photos “I have my camera with me all the time….see!” Yeah, I was acting like a kid on a sugar high. I will remember to eat breakfast and lunch the day of our next meeting.
I was ready and willing to volunteer for everything. So my list of Brownie Mom Duties are Photographer, News Letter, Transportation, Weekly Helper, and Snack Mom.
Maybe I was not the only Mom who forgot to eat. Lunch Girl’s Mom and I chatted briefly and she wasn’t making any sense to me. Or it could have been me…my food deprived brain not understanding what was said. She said something like “I am always at BJs. If you cannot find me _____ just go to BJs. It would be very likely I am there.”
I think she said her Mother-In-Law or someone lives on our street. Then she said Lunch Girl’s is named after her but it is her name backwards. I turn this over in a brain awhile and cannot figure out how in the world this could be possible. Eventually she spells it out for me. Lunch Girl’s first name is Mom’s middle name and Mom’s first name is Lunch Girl’s middle name. Awww now I understand. It turns out that Lunch Girl and Snow White both have the same middle name! Snow White’s middle name came from her Auntie D.
At the end of the meeting I was waiting my turn to speak to the Troop Leader. The Assistant Leader looked deep in thought as she watched Snow White. Then she let out a sigh and said “Wow, she is so beautiful.” Suddenly, she snapped to attention, her eyes grew wide as she added “Did I just say that out loud?” We all laughed. Snow White said “That’s ok. Its not the first time I have heard that.”
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