2008 September

Feeling like myself again

September 30, 2008 By Heather 7 Comments

Last night I fell asleep before 10 PM on the couch, hubby woke me up a little before 11 PM and sent me to bed. I thought it had to be around 1 or 2, but nope, 10:51 PM on the alarm clock beside the bed. I set the alarm and went back to sleep.

I woke up this morning at 6:30 AM. Giggles was well on her way to being ready, I didn’t have to threaten her within an inch of her life to get her up. In fact she greeted me very warmly this morning, thanked me for getting up and then said if I wanted to lay back down it was no big thing. So I did. I slept until 7:10 when I got up and put her lunch together and drove her to school.

I got home and woke up the Chicken. While she was harder to wake up, she got up cheerful all the same. She was very easy to get off to school as well.

My wrist still hurts, but I feel like a new woman. I haven’t felt this good in a long time. I can move my thumb around now, I still can’t feel it but I can move it. The wrist is still hurting but I can deal with that. My husband called yesterday just to tell me that He loved me and to thank me for letting him hang out with his brother who is in from out of town.

I feel like I am blabbering on, but I just feel so good! Thanks to all of my friends and family who have been so supportive to me. I know that the many thoughts and prayers from you have also helped. So now I am off to do some stuff around here that I want to do that needs done, not to over-do it though, just a bit at a time.

Filed Under: randomness

So I am officially the Worst Mom Ever

September 27, 2008 By Heather 6 Comments

This wrist thing is really starting to bother me.

First I am in constant pain.

Second I am missing meeting up with some awesome ladies in DC next week because of this stupid wrist and an Orthopedic appt for it. I don’t know what the crap we are going to talk about at the appointment because I don’t start Occupational Therapy until the 8th. So, I will drive the 20 miles to Parma so they can say “Yup, looks like your wrist is still there, come back in 2 weeks.” Really glad my appointment isn’t like right now, because I may or may not come unhinged on that poor PA I have been dealing with. (PA=Physician’s Assistant, geez, I am not that bad yet)

Third, it is getting to the girls. They hate picking up the slack around here. Granted most of the slack belongs to them, but they hate it. I can’t say I blame them in this department. But not listening to me unless I am yelling (which I hate being the yeller) or just totally ignoring me and doing whatever they want anyways, whining, or giving me dirty looks and/or nasty comments……well. I may have just come unhinged with them a few minutes ago.

I know that I am PMS’ing right now, so that with the whole pain in the wrist thing, two very hormonal girls who happen to be on the same schedule with PMS’ing as I am and a hubby who has been gone 80 hours this week. Well, when he gets home I am just going to bed. But he is gone so much that I doubt I will be awake when he gets here.

I hate being that whiney blog, but here I am. I am writing about life and right now it seems to be a bit harder. I promise to not whine tomorrow. Hopefully I will be celebrating my wins for the BFL, or at least celebrating Cleveland’s win. But we shall see.

I am going to end this on a happy note. Go and Wish Redneck Mommy a Happy Birthday, she will probably like that!!

Filed Under: whining

Let’s do this Football thang

September 26, 2008 By Heather 1 Comment

So, last week was pretty bad for me. I didn’t keep track but I am sure I could have claimed the loser badge. If so I will claim it soon ;OP

This week I understand more. I understand that Amy in Ohio needs to be taken down a notch. She won our league and is winning in another, what is that all about? So here are my pics, hopefully they are better than last week, but I don’t do much research, I pick with my heart.

Atlanta @ Carolina

Cleveland @ Cincinnati

Houston @ Jacksonville

Denver @ Kansas City

San Fran @ New Orleans

Arizona @ Jets

Green Bay @ Tampa

Minnesota@ Tennessee

San Diego @ Oakland

Buffalo @ St. Louis

Washington @ Dallas

Philadelphia @ Chicago

Monday Night

Baltimore @ Pittsburgh

Combined final score 17

*my pics are in bold orange

Be prepared to be dazzled ladies & gentlemen….and Brownies…don’t let me look bad AGAIN!

Filed Under: BFL

September 25, 2008 By Heather 4 Comments

My life has been caught up in reading this week. I have truly enjoyed reading the Twilight Series. It is the one thing that I can do that doesn’t seem to bother my wrist much. I am nearly done with the 4th book, as annoyed as that makes Giggles. Apparently I read at some super human rate. She gets peeved that I blast through these books in what seems like no time at all. I never really realized that I read so quickly until I started living with other people who I thought were just really slow readers. I should have figured out that I was the freak in the bunch.

The cast came off last Friday. It was kind of scary, as I hadn’t had a cast off in over 20 years. But the Chicken has some sort of hero worship thing going on with Mike the cast guy from when she broke her radius and ulna 4 years ago, that I felt at ease with him. He chuckled when I told him about the Chicken and her adoration for him. She was so bummed I didn’t take my camera to get more photos of him. He also stated that Chicken should possibly get a life.

In the grander scheme of things I think I would like her puppy love directed at some guy that she has no access to than someone local that I have no clue about. But hey, that’s just me.

Hubby has been working lots of hours. They are doing mandatory 6 day work weeks now. With that and him working 60 plus hours a week with drive time, well we don’t see the hubby much. I can’t wait for the U-verse to get here because when you are letting the “cable guy” into your house at 10 PM and letting him stay till the stuff is hooked up, well that has to be some awesome stuff. Sadly even with him working for the company we won’t get the service for at least another year or so in this area. It has to work its way out here and they have a non competitive agreement with the local phone company.

Other news is that 2 of our neighbors are selling. The one I am saddest about is our next door neighbor that has his driveway right next to ours. So in a sense we have this huge double wide driveway. We seem to be the only neighbors on the block who take full advantage of this fact. We stagger all the cars in the drive so we never have to let people out. The kids have more room to play. I love it. The neighbors across the street are not in the same awesome situation. The one neighbor that just moved in told the other “This is not a shared drive, keep your %&#$ car off of my property” Waaahhhh? I am really praying that we don’t get neighbors like that. We are so sad to see Bob go, but after the divorce and the rising gas cost, he just can’t afford to live there anymore. So get us good neighbors, Bob…..K?

Well, the book is calling to me to finish it and typing isn’t exactly comfortable yet. I will be back soon, with my NFL picks of course!!

Filed Under: updates

While listening to the radio

September 24, 2008 By Heather 4 Comments

Just an observation. Listening to 98.5 WNCX the other day and there was a commercial on discouraging texting while driving. Now I am all about safety and driving but this particular commercial cracked me up.

Apparently if you are ~~drunker than drunk~~ above the legal limit you are 12% less responsive than the average sober driver.

If you decide to smoke some weed before you head out on the road you are 35% less responsive than the normal sober driver.

BUT, if you are texting and driving? You are 91% less responsive than if you were just paying attention like you should.

WOW! Now I am not a fan of texting and driving, but some of these kids don’t even look at the keypad when they text. Are they sure that in their research they didn’t accidentally check the guy who they let drink & smoke on his responsiveness while throwing texting in the mix?

I’m just sayin’.

On the wrist front, still not sure what is going on. Starting OT this week or next. Got all the insurance approvals I have to call for an appointment tomorrow.

Off to read the last book in the Twilight Series. They are that good!

Filed Under: randomness

Is Customer Service too much to ask for?

September 23, 2008 By Heather 5 Comments

Last week my girlfriend and I went out for lunch at Harry Buffalo’s. We both had errands to do at the mall and with my hand casted it was easier to go out than to try to fix myself something here. The lunch itself was great. The service was a bit slow, but overall I was satisfied. We got our respective bills and took out our respective credit cards and paid the bills and we left.

Fast forward to Thursday night when I realize that they have charged me not only for my bill, but for someone else’s. I called them on the phone and asked for a manager. They tried to tell me that it was impossible for them to double charge me. I explain that I wasn’t “double” charged I was charged two separate amounts. She told me to bring in my statement, my bill and my card and they would take care of it.

I go in on Friday late afternoon/early evening and asked for a manager. A man comes up and introduced himself to me as the manager. I explain the situation and he takes my bill and statement and says “Worst case scenario I will just give you the money back, but I need to look into it.” I wait out in the restaurant for about 5 minutes (not an unreasonable amount of time) But the guy didn’t come back, instead a girl came out. She introduced herself as Rochelle and said she was the District Manager. I had to explain my situation once again and told her I expected my money back. She told me that things weren’t adding up on their side and she would be right back.

While I am waiting for Rochelle to come back I called up my girlfriend and asked her to look at her receipt. She does and realizes that our server has charged me for her food and that is where the extra charge came in. Rochelle comes back while I am on the phone and tells me that she will call me after they figure things out, and walks away. I followed her and told her what happened and that I wanted my money back. She said “Look I am in the middle of the dinner rush and I don’t have time to do anything about it. You have my word I will call you.”

“Do you have a business card or something so I can contact you?” I asked her.

“I told you not to worry about it, I can’t deal with this now. I will call you” was her reply.

I was livid when I walked out of there. She brushed me off like it was my fault that I was over charged. I could have easily gotten the money from my girlfriend, but at this point I wanted them to take care of things because of the principle. She pushed me out of the restaurant without even thinking how it would look for the business.

When I got home I emailed the company. I still have yet to get a response. Even an automated one.

I finally called them today, 4 days later, because if they weren’t giving me my money back I was filing a complaint with my bank. When I spoke to the manager at the restaurant today she had NO clue what was going on. Within about 4 minutes she had made a couple of calls and called me back telling me to come up and they would take care of things for me.

I drove out there again (at this point I have probably wasted as much gas and time as the amount that I wanted them to refund me) I asked for the manager and she knew right away who I was. She went to the register at the bar, grumbling the whole way and took the cash, $17.74 that they overcharged me. She reached over the bar, handed me the cash, told me “You know we are sorry. ” And then walked AWAY!

Now I guess I should be happy that I finally got the money, but I had to threaten them with calling my bank and filing fraudulent charges against the amount. I wasn’t expecting the moon, but I was expecting some customer service. Maybe I shouldn’t post this on my blog, but if I didn’t it would just fester and fester until I exploded.

Thanks for listening.

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?

September 19, 2008 By Heather 6 Comments

Am I? Probably not. But, because I do love my twitter friends so I decided to play along. Will I get the coveted badge for this week? We shall see, but I would be more impressed if I did the worst and got a special badge for that instead. ;OP

So without further ado here are my picks (sorry there isn’t more hype or trash talking this week, it has been a rough day that I will go into more details about tomorrow when my head has cleared and people have a chance to right the wrongs)

My picks are in orange (for the Brownies, of course) bold

Arizona@Washington

Carolina@Minnesota

Houston@Tennessee

Miami@New England

Oakland@Buffalo

Cincinatti@NY Giants

Kansas City@Atlanta

Tampa Bay@Chicago

St.Louis@Seattle

Detroit@San Francisco

Pittsburgh@Philadelphia

Cleveland@Baltimore

Jacksonville@Indianapolis

Dallas@Green Bay

Not sure on the whole scoring thing because I can’t find that email and I am a dork. I swear net week will be better.

Filed Under: BFL, week 3

This Mommy Gig

September 17, 2008 By Heather 7 Comments

Lately I have been wondering a lot about this Mommy Gig thing that I let myself get into over 14 years ago. Yes I said to those very observant folks who realize Giggles in not yet 14. I am totally counting that pregnancy where I barfed for over 7 months and had a horrible case of sciatica, the kidney problems and many trips to the hospital. The pregnancy that stole the last bit of my youth away from me to give me a person who needed me and who wouldn’t let me be a teenager anymore.

For years I have thought that this Mommy Gig was supposed to work a certain way. I never really had a great role model in that department. My parents divorced early and while my parents both remarried there were no Mommy role models. My mom worked outside of the home as well as in the business that she and my step dad created together. My stepmother in her sheer hatred for my mother was not a Mommy Gig role model as well. I tried not to pay attention to her growing up as I felt that she was the reason that my family was never intact. That she caused all that was wrong with my father’s relationship with my brother and myself. The neighborhood I called home was full of single mothers, barely scrapping by. So there were none showing me the Mommy Gig there either.

My idea of the Mommy Gig came from the movies. Mostly Disney movies, I guess. This was long before Lifetime Movie Network and Oxygen. Although, to be truthful if we had those stations I would expect some of the things that happen now. But in my mind I would have these beautiful children and I would meet other moms at church, at the playground, heck we would be drawn together in the grocery store. And when I say that we would be drawn together I thought it would be this instant connection. That we would be BFF’s til the end of time (okay so I didn’t word it just like that in my brain) But, I thought there would be lunches, and shopping dates, playdates, parties, dinners…..you know all that happily ever after crap.

Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike where this Mommy Gig has taken me, I love my life-this new life that I have adjusted to. For a long while I was hurt and depressed that no matter what I did or said that I seemed to alienate some or all of the groups that I found. There seemed to be cliques in place that unless I wanted to change who I was, would mean that there was no penetrating these cliques. These women didn’t want to take me for who I really was. Sure, we were all friends on the surface, but deep down they didn’t want to know the real me. When they asked “How are You” Heaven forbid you actually tell them your day sucked and you needed to vent. I was welcome to be part of them if I didn’t socialize with the moms outside of the circle and I didn’t get too “real” with them.

When my hubby was in the Navy it was very easy. You were thrown together with other wives that were in the same predicament. Under any other circumstances I wouldn’t have befriended some of the ladies that I am still friends with still today. There is something crazy about a group of women who are left alone with their children, their spouses who knows where and who knows if they will return. Although we never talked of such things. We all kept ourselves busy with preparations for all the men’s return home. When you are tossed together with these women, where emotions are raw and exposed. It does something to bond you together. Now I am not saying that I am friends with every last one of these women, in fact many I have no clue where they are today. But there are few select women, that really helped me in my time of need that I will never forget. They are in my heart forever. The hard thing about the Navy friends were when the husbands came home. It was as if these friendships didn’t exist. Or if they did exist after the men came home it was from 0700-1600 friendship (that is 7am-4pm for all you civilian folk) Hubby and I have never had the type of relationship where we need to be together 24-7. I love my husband, I truly do, but I love my space as well.

After we got out of the Navy we moved back home. I thought that I would pick back up with my friends and it would be as if I had never left. But 6 years had passed and none of my friends got knocked up their Junior Year and got married their Senior Year. They were still in the “Party stage” of their young lives and I had a husband, a 6 and 3 year old, and a dog. Most of my “friends” didn’t even have houseplants for fear that they might kill them. Most of my friends were still drinking their weight in whatever. I was getting up early and doing home daycare and all the other things that my life at home entailed.

As the girls got older I just assumed I would befriend the moms of the kids that my girls were friends with. Sadly that didn’t work out so well. Mostly due to the fact of my age. Most women can’t see past the fact that I am younger and in some instances have more life experience than they have. And what really kills me is how catty some women can get. I tried to “fit in” to be one of those moms. But it really killed me. Don’t get me wrong, no one forced me to change, and not all the moms out there are like that. But sadly a vast majority around me are.

It depressed me even further when I came here to the suburbs and met a group of SAHM’s and well…….I just don’t know what to say, except I tried for a year and then decided it wasn’t worth it. I was more than just a “young girl” They looked at me and saw inexperience, when in fact my older daughter was older than their children. The other thing that most women see is a whore. Now I am sure that I am not “Heather the whore” but I do not hide the fact that I got pregnant when I was 16. I am not proud of that fact, I don’t wear a sign around my neck. But most people look at me and when they realize that Giggles is mine, tell me that I don’t look old enough to be a mom to a teenager. My standard reply is “I’m not.” I have had people ask me if my husband is Giggles’ father. (which he is) But mostly I think that people think I was some sort of sex fiend that couldn’t get enough. When the truth is that we had sex 3 times and I found out I was pregnant. That we were in an exclusive relationship together for over a year before we even thought of doing anything like that. It sucks, we lost our childhood, or what was left of it. But I wouldn’t trade anything for my Giggles. She got me into this Mommy Gig and I like that.

Now I don’t know if something happened to my brain when I turned 30 last year, or if it was my fibromyalgia (realizing that life is too short), or the fact that we finally got internet. But something happened last year, as I got sucked into this worldwide web and met all of you, I finally understood this Mommy Gig. I try to express in real life what I do here. Sometimes I do a better job in real life as I can see who I am talking to. Here people read me from all over the world and I have no idea why. I am glad that we have all been tossed together, that I am learning that I am not alone in how I feel or what I say. To know that other people had unreal expectations of their Mommy Gig as well. I love that there are some of you out there that have not held anything back. I am grateful for that. Wishing that I insisted that we get internet sooner so I could have found all of you.

So to all of you new to this Gig, please know that you will not enjoy every second of it. It won’t be all unicorns and rainbows all the time. This Mommy Gig sometimes sucks-it sucks hard, but in the end you have a person that you have helped to create and mold. Hopefully a person that will do something better than you have. To make your life even that much more. When I look into the eyes of my daughters I see a confidence that I never had. They aspire for so much more than I did. And for that I am proud. Hopefully when they are entering the Mommy Gig part of their lives they will be more sure of themselves than I was. I am not upset for the mistakes that I have made along the way with them. Why? Because I think in making mistakes it shows them that this Gig isn’t something perfect, it is something that is always changing and evolving. That there is no one way to do it. Thanks to all of you for showing me that. Hopefully you can learn a little something from me as I have learned so much for all of you.

Filed Under: this mommy gig

Teaching our girls that time=money

September 15, 2008 By Heather 9 Comments

Ever since the girls were big enough to pick up their things we have had some sort of reward/chore chart. When they were around three or so it was for stickers and gummies but as they got older the stakes went up as well. When Giggles was 5 I created a chart with all the household chores on it, and boxes for each day of the week next to the chore. She could chose whichever chore she wanted and when it was completed she would check off the box that would correspond with the chore and day. At the end of each week we would give her a dime for each check mark she had on her chart. (Yes I know we were working her like a little sweat shop worker, but she loved those dimes darn it!) She would save up her dimes in her “special place” I think it was a coffee pot in her kitchen set, but I can’t quite remember and she would never spend them. Most children get money and it burns a hole in their pocket, but not Giggles she will hold on to the cash for dear life. I remember when it was too many dimes to handle and I tried to change her out to bills. She flipped out on me thinking I was stealing her money.

Chicken, well, Chicken is freer with her money. With our money as well. She is a girl for a bargain. She even falls for those ads at Target on items that aren’t even on sale. They are the “As Advertised” Specials at Target. Sometimes she will ask for something and I will tell her that we simply don’t have the money right now but if she would like to save some money towards it, I would happily bring her back (plus it might be on sale or even better Clearance) Her reply is normally “Let’s just put it on the credit card”

Ummm, sweetie, I hate to break it to you but I have to pay the nice people at the bank when I use my credit card, so let’s not. K? thanks!

But the greatest way to teach the girls money didn’t come from money at all, well not really. It came from our arguments over when you can wear what clothes or coat outside. I have a teenager who thinks it is cool when there is about a foot of snow on the ground and it is in the teens outside that she shouldn’t have to zip up her coat. I also have a fashion diva tween on my hands who thinks that hats and hoods and boots are the devil of fashion and she should not, under any circumstances, be caught dead sporting things to warm her body, or pants for that matter. (Geez, get your mind outta the gutter the girl likes to wear skirts)

So, one very cold winter day I sat the girls down. I took out our medical cards and showed them how much our co-pay is. My statement was simple. ”If you want to dress however you want and cause yourself to get sick and make your asthma flare then please hand me $150 in cash and you will have a one day free pass” Now I know what you are thinking, why in the world would you ask for $150. The reason is simple and I will explain it for you.

1. Our co-pay is $20 for an office visit.

2. With them being asthmatic we normally walk out of these visits with at least 2 meds each at $10 a pop.

3. there is the gas to get us there because we live about 20 miles from our doctor’s office

4. It takes about 3 hours out of my day to do this doctor and script thing

5. Since I will be closed in a car with them and exposed to a bunch of sickies at the office,

I am bound to come down with something as well.

When both of them heard what I had to say and then had their Dad back me up on it, well, they were both shocked and realized that money is important.

We also to put into perspective when we purchase something just how long Dad had to work to pay for it. They realize that time=money and how it just doesn’t fall into our laps. (if it falls into your lap just let me know how that happens, k?)

Since I have messed up my wrist the Chicken wanted to know how much it has cost us so far, and if we didn’t have insurance how much would it cost then. So, with teaching them about money I guess we are teaching them some responsibility as well. That you need to have a job, that might not pay you the best, but has good benefits.

Well, my mind has trailed off a bit and I had a great point but alas it has escaped me. I wrote this post in an effort to win a free i-phone ~~and share my lovely way of getting the kids to bundle up in the winter, hit them in the pocketbook, it hurts even the littlest of teenagers.~~ Head on over to Here or Here to see more of posts on how to teach your kiddos about money.

Filed Under: money, the girls

French Lick sounds kinda dirty

September 12, 2008 By Heather Leave a Comment

Now let’s take a moment to learn the geography of Indiana with Jennifer. Thanks so much to coming to my one armed aid. I don’t even remember how I found her, but once I did I was hooked. Thanks again!

***************************************

The other night at Bunco, several women were talking about French Lick, Indiana.

One of the women asked me if I’d ever been to French Lick. I shrugged and coyly said that I’d never heard of it. “Oh? You’ve never heard of it,” she questioned. “Well it’s a blah, blah, blah, blah, blah place…” I wasn’t really listening to the last part because I was thinking to myself, “Is it weird that I don’t know about French Lick, Indiana?”

The thing is, though, is that maybe I have heard of it. I mean, I’ve HEARD of Hartford, Connecticut and El Paso, Texas and Istanbul, but they don’t have any special meaning for me. The next day at lunch I asked Tate if he’d ever heard of French Lick, Indiana. I whispered it quietly across the table of the semi-crowded restaurant because I sensed that NOT knowing about this place was like standing up and shouting “I HATE NOTRE DAME, PURDUE, AND the HOOSIERS.” (I don’t, by the way.)

Tate gave me a most exasperated sigh and shook his head. “It’s where Larry Bird was born.” [imagine that he was looking at me like, YOU NUMBNUT] “French Lick, Indiana?,” he said as if repeating the words French Lick, Indiana would now somehow magically make it all click in my brain.

“Why would I care about where Larry Bird was born?” I asked truly wondering why in fact I WOULD care about a 1980′s Boston Celtics, short-shorts wearing basketball player.

“It matters. We live in Indiana now, Jennifer. Basketball MATTERS,” Tate explained. And that was the end of the discussion. At least for he and I anyway. Now I’d like to include all of you in on the talks.

I have since googled French Lick, Indiana and learned that it is a resort area, but it’s also “known” (I use the term verrrrry loosely) for being Larry Bird’s birthplace . However, I’m still befuddled. Is it weird that I don’t know much, okay ANYTHING, about French Lick, Indiana? Did everyone except me take a class titled, “The Low Down On French Lick…Everything You Must Know to Have a Fulfilled Life?”

********

Guest post by Jennifer at Playgroups are no place for children, a fairly new Indiana resident! Fairly as in she’s lived there for 7 months, not nearly enough time to have travelled to French Lick herself to see what all the fuss is about.