Saturday, June 27, 2009
Looking back....
So all day I've been trying to figure out why this year felt like the worst.year.ever.
And frankly, I've been through some pretty rough patches in life, so I'm sitting here trying to understand what was different this year.
And I think I've got it narrowed down to 2 things.
Problem One- one of my coping mechanisms has been having my husband around- to talk, vent, have adult conversation. Even when he'd go away for a month for Navy-something-or-other we'd talk on the phone and it was for a month. And frankly, it's better than the other used coping mechanism of chocolate and ice cream.
So.. take him away mentally for an entire year and I didn't have my fall-back person around. Sure, he was there sometimes physically- generally asleep- "don't wake me til tomorrow morning" or if awake, zoned out in front of the TV or computer and not looking for small talk. Or to have the kids around (that issue to follow below)
I also had zero help from him. We were here 1 day when his orientation started and I was left trying to clean up the smelly house and the major disaster the movers left us. And his first month was TAD, meaning "temporary away duty" and ICU which meant he worked a zillion hours a week, was supposed to stay at the hospital, never slept and lost sleep being chewed out for not knowing what he needed to know.
And because I didn't know my limits, I got a job, a nanny who didn't speak english and still tried to manage the home business- however poorly that was going. Then some wildfires, homeschooling and still running the business from a very chaotic organization system.
Problem 2- The kids. Yes. I know I wanted them. I wanted them a long time before we had them. I just wish they.. uh.. we were part of one of those sects that value silence.
I'm not a noise person. I like stillness. I do not get stillness unless it's midnight and Sonia has FINALLY fallen asleep around 11:30 (that would be PM)
My kids are noise personified. And it has gotten so.much.worse the older they get. Crying used to be one thing- even crying because the other kid(s) had the toy they wanted.
I used to that that was bad.
The screaming fighting fits make me want to sick toothpicks through my ear drums.
It's the chasing each other through the house or screaming in the car or in public "THAT's MINE! I WAS USING THAT! GIVE THAT BACK!! (fake crying ensures here at the absolute loudest they can conjure up) Add a few "BUT I DON'T WANT TO (fill in the blank- get dressed, go potty, buckle in, sit next to someone, etc..... )" and a few thousand "OWWWWW!!!" when someone touches someone else, sits too close, etc.... to be followed by the "MOMMM!!! [someone] hit/touched/pinched/spit at, etc... ME!!!" and the general barrage of tattling every 2.6 seconds.
It's the non-stop refereeing and chaotic noise that makes my soul want to run as far from my body as it can.
So...
Since I haven't found a way to teleport my soul while leaving my physical body here to deal with the environment around it, I think I'll research that sect- the one that doesn't speak except when it's important. I'm thinking it's an Amish sect..
And hey, if I'm wearing one of those dresses I don't have to worry too much about loosing this extra 25 (ok. 30, but who's counting?) lbs I've managed to keep on my body.. from my fall-back coping mechanism
And frankly, I've been through some pretty rough patches in life, so I'm sitting here trying to understand what was different this year.
And I think I've got it narrowed down to 2 things.
Problem One- one of my coping mechanisms has been having my husband around- to talk, vent, have adult conversation. Even when he'd go away for a month for Navy-something-or-other we'd talk on the phone and it was for a month. And frankly, it's better than the other used coping mechanism of chocolate and ice cream.
So.. take him away mentally for an entire year and I didn't have my fall-back person around. Sure, he was there sometimes physically- generally asleep- "don't wake me til tomorrow morning" or if awake, zoned out in front of the TV or computer and not looking for small talk. Or to have the kids around (that issue to follow below)
I also had zero help from him. We were here 1 day when his orientation started and I was left trying to clean up the smelly house and the major disaster the movers left us. And his first month was TAD, meaning "temporary away duty" and ICU which meant he worked a zillion hours a week, was supposed to stay at the hospital, never slept and lost sleep being chewed out for not knowing what he needed to know.
And because I didn't know my limits, I got a job, a nanny who didn't speak english and still tried to manage the home business- however poorly that was going. Then some wildfires, homeschooling and still running the business from a very chaotic organization system.
Problem 2- The kids. Yes. I know I wanted them. I wanted them a long time before we had them. I just wish they.. uh.. we were part of one of those sects that value silence.
I'm not a noise person. I like stillness. I do not get stillness unless it's midnight and Sonia has FINALLY fallen asleep around 11:30 (that would be PM)
My kids are noise personified. And it has gotten so.much.worse the older they get. Crying used to be one thing- even crying because the other kid(s) had the toy they wanted.
I used to that that was bad.
The screaming fighting fits make me want to sick toothpicks through my ear drums.
It's the chasing each other through the house or screaming in the car or in public "THAT's MINE! I WAS USING THAT! GIVE THAT BACK!! (fake crying ensures here at the absolute loudest they can conjure up) Add a few "BUT I DON'T WANT TO (fill in the blank- get dressed, go potty, buckle in, sit next to someone, etc..... )" and a few thousand "OWWWWW!!!" when someone touches someone else, sits too close, etc.... to be followed by the "MOMMM!!! [someone] hit/touched/pinched/spit at, etc... ME!!!" and the general barrage of tattling every 2.6 seconds.
It's the non-stop refereeing and chaotic noise that makes my soul want to run as far from my body as it can.
So...
Since I haven't found a way to teleport my soul while leaving my physical body here to deal with the environment around it, I think I'll research that sect- the one that doesn't speak except when it's important. I'm thinking it's an Amish sect..
And hey, if I'm wearing one of those dresses I don't have to worry too much about loosing this extra 25 (ok. 30, but who's counting?) lbs I've managed to keep on my body.. from my fall-back coping mechanism
Anchors away!!
Last night was Larry's official last day as an intern.
I breathe a heavy sigh of relief because.. hands down, it has been the.most.challenging. year in our married lives. Newborns twins screaming all night long pales in comparison to an overworked grouchy husband with grouchy kids in a new land.
Yesterday morning they had a graduation ceremony. We went- meaning Larry was there and had been there since the day before since he was on call the previous day- and I dragged the kids.
Poor kids couldn't figure out which back of shaved head in hat was their father's..
Anyway.. it was about an hour of speeches and boring talk- to both the kids and the adult trying to keep them quiet.. I have a picture of Larry walking back from shaking the CO's hand after getting his internship completion piece of paper.
1/2 of the interns are staying for residency, the other 1/2 of us are going "to the fleet" Navy talk for being a doctor to Marines/Sailors with 1 year of internship under their belts.. they'll have to finish residency at some point. Or just continue being a GMO (general medical officer) the rest of their working-as-a-doctor lives. If Larry keeps up his career change in 10 years or less trend, we don't have that much longer to go on this one...
Last night was the "hail and farewell" again - (translation- the semi-formal dinner marking the entry of the new people and the departure of the old. Each residency class and the faculty did a movie or skit, for the most part pretty entertaining. Larry's class video took the 3 them (Larry being one of the 3) 3 sleepless nights of editing to get it done.
I wish they edited out all the talk of circumcision, but apparently the number of circumcisions they've done has been mighty memorable to them. A good 10 minutes or more of their 20 minute video was about circumcision.
Probably one of the funniest things that happened this year that made at least 2 videos was a patient who presented to the ER with her husband who complained she had "bugs" in her "Va-j-j". And her husband attempted to vacuum them out with a regular old vacuum. Not that I think ANY vacuum would be appropriate for such a complaint, but.. there was an infomercial for a vacuum specially designed for Va-J-J's and something else. I remember the infomercial.
And as I've mentioned- sometimes things need to be "broken down barney style" (meaning as if it's Barney the big purple dinosaur that is explaining it) - and it can be fodder for the videos. Last year I remember a video that highlighted the "labor deck" (labor and delivery ward, but because it's the navy, they call it a deck- like it's a ship, but in reality it's a plain ole hospital) and some of the "tattoo to teeth ratio" jokes and the "burth" jokes. They also ring the "ship's bell" with every birth and announce it over the hospital speakers "baby girl XXX arrived? on board?" I forget. The first time I was at the hospital during the day for something, I was stunned at the frequency of that bell ringing.. but.. hey.. several hundred thousand guys, girls and their significant others under age 24.. what do you expect?
I didn't really take any pictures to show of the hail and farewell. I think we'll have a copy of the DVD if you really want to see it.
I breathe a heavy sigh of relief because.. hands down, it has been the.most.challenging. year in our married lives. Newborns twins screaming all night long pales in comparison to an overworked grouchy husband with grouchy kids in a new land.
Yesterday morning they had a graduation ceremony. We went- meaning Larry was there and had been there since the day before since he was on call the previous day- and I dragged the kids.
Poor kids couldn't figure out which back of shaved head in hat was their father's..
Anyway.. it was about an hour of speeches and boring talk- to both the kids and the adult trying to keep them quiet.. I have a picture of Larry walking back from shaking the CO's hand after getting his internship completion piece of paper.
1/2 of the interns are staying for residency, the other 1/2 of us are going "to the fleet" Navy talk for being a doctor to Marines/Sailors with 1 year of internship under their belts.. they'll have to finish residency at some point. Or just continue being a GMO (general medical officer) the rest of their working-as-a-doctor lives. If Larry keeps up his career change in 10 years or less trend, we don't have that much longer to go on this one...
Last night was the "hail and farewell" again - (translation- the semi-formal dinner marking the entry of the new people and the departure of the old. Each residency class and the faculty did a movie or skit, for the most part pretty entertaining. Larry's class video took the 3 them (Larry being one of the 3) 3 sleepless nights of editing to get it done.
I wish they edited out all the talk of circumcision, but apparently the number of circumcisions they've done has been mighty memorable to them. A good 10 minutes or more of their 20 minute video was about circumcision.
Probably one of the funniest things that happened this year that made at least 2 videos was a patient who presented to the ER with her husband who complained she had "bugs" in her "Va-j-j". And her husband attempted to vacuum them out with a regular old vacuum. Not that I think ANY vacuum would be appropriate for such a complaint, but.. there was an infomercial for a vacuum specially designed for Va-J-J's and something else. I remember the infomercial.
And as I've mentioned- sometimes things need to be "broken down barney style" (meaning as if it's Barney the big purple dinosaur that is explaining it) - and it can be fodder for the videos. Last year I remember a video that highlighted the "labor deck" (labor and delivery ward, but because it's the navy, they call it a deck- like it's a ship, but in reality it's a plain ole hospital) and some of the "tattoo to teeth ratio" jokes and the "burth" jokes. They also ring the "ship's bell" with every birth and announce it over the hospital speakers "baby girl XXX arrived? on board?" I forget. The first time I was at the hospital during the day for something, I was stunned at the frequency of that bell ringing.. but.. hey.. several hundred thousand guys, girls and their significant others under age 24.. what do you expect?
I didn't really take any pictures to show of the hail and farewell. I think we'll have a copy of the DVD if you really want to see it.
Friday, June 26, 2009
More random stuff I've learned in life
61. People your age look older than you think you look
62. There will always be something in your life that can stand improvement
63. No matter how long you've lived there.. as long as the majority of people remember when you moved there.. you're not a local.
64. Especially if you're from the north and you move to the south
65. Even if you have an uncle that coached at ole Miss
66. People being nice to your face are not necessarily nice people
67. When celebrities die, the world makes a big deal about it
68. When someone close to you dies, the world doesn't make a big deal of it
69. Even though it is a big deal to you
70. Life is short, live like it matters
71. Even though puppies are cute, they are and will be a big PAIN
72. Babies are also cute
73. When you want to be pregnant, it will seem everyone around you is pregnant or has a newborn.
74. Friends are priceless, no matter if they are close or far away
75. The best friends are the ones that time and space don't matter when you get back together
76. The morning you HAVE to get up and the Alarm HAVE to go off, there is a chance you will loose power in the night and the clock not go off.
77. Clocks that have battery back up only work when you have batteries in them and those batteries work
78. Those new clocks that re-set themselves do not get daylight savings time changes right.
79. Cell phones with alarms make pretty good alarm clocks if you put them far enough from the bed that you can't turn it off in your sleep
80. Sometimes you might try to answer the phone when it's alarm goes off.
81. Despite what the movies show, it is very rare for a woman's water to break in public.
82. Even if it does break, it's not the huge drama scene that calls for the immediate boiling of water and clean sheets.
83. Even with 80 channels on TV there can be nothing worthy of watching
84. It is hard to sleep when your husband isn't home
85. It is hard to sleep when your kid gets nose to nose with you while you're sleeping and sticks her fingers up your nose.
86. I guess I prefer kids waking in the night and knowing where they are opposed to waiting for teens to come home.
87. Morning comes early when you can't sleep at night
88. It is hard to sleep when you're sitting on the couch with a computer on your lap
And with that bit o wisdom, I'm going to bed :-)
62. There will always be something in your life that can stand improvement
63. No matter how long you've lived there.. as long as the majority of people remember when you moved there.. you're not a local.
64. Especially if you're from the north and you move to the south
65. Even if you have an uncle that coached at ole Miss
66. People being nice to your face are not necessarily nice people
67. When celebrities die, the world makes a big deal about it
68. When someone close to you dies, the world doesn't make a big deal of it
69. Even though it is a big deal to you
70. Life is short, live like it matters
71. Even though puppies are cute, they are and will be a big PAIN
72. Babies are also cute
73. When you want to be pregnant, it will seem everyone around you is pregnant or has a newborn.
74. Friends are priceless, no matter if they are close or far away
75. The best friends are the ones that time and space don't matter when you get back together
76. The morning you HAVE to get up and the Alarm HAVE to go off, there is a chance you will loose power in the night and the clock not go off.
77. Clocks that have battery back up only work when you have batteries in them and those batteries work
78. Those new clocks that re-set themselves do not get daylight savings time changes right.
79. Cell phones with alarms make pretty good alarm clocks if you put them far enough from the bed that you can't turn it off in your sleep
80. Sometimes you might try to answer the phone when it's alarm goes off.
81. Despite what the movies show, it is very rare for a woman's water to break in public.
82. Even if it does break, it's not the huge drama scene that calls for the immediate boiling of water and clean sheets.
83. Even with 80 channels on TV there can be nothing worthy of watching
84. It is hard to sleep when your husband isn't home
85. It is hard to sleep when your kid gets nose to nose with you while you're sleeping and sticks her fingers up your nose.
86. I guess I prefer kids waking in the night and knowing where they are opposed to waiting for teens to come home.
87. Morning comes early when you can't sleep at night
88. It is hard to sleep when you're sitting on the couch with a computer on your lap
And with that bit o wisdom, I'm going to bed :-)
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Life with the Marines
1 year later...
If you'll check #6 in the Things I've learned Post (which of course is not exhaustive, but will be added to as toddler allows) you'll see life doesn't turn out as planned..
You see- when we were trying to plan (God laughs while we plan) our lives out for medical school and forward, Larry posed the idea of joining the military to pay for school.
Expecting twins at the time, with little idea of how we were going to support our growing family in addition to private school tuition, we planned that it would be a good idea for him to join.
He approached the Air Force recruiter in the area (since he had already served in the AF) and was told he was too old.
Not one to take "NO" for an answer- he called the number for the Air Force recruiter in the surrounding states, got the same person and the same answer.
So.. weighing the options, he choose to go with the Navy, who didn't tell him he was too old.. THINKING at least he won't be deployed to be "playing in sand" should we still be at war when he's finally done school and residency. We were thinking in the event of war, he'd be safe on a hospital navy ship.
We forgot the Navy plays with Marines. In fact the Navy is the Marines' medical corp. And the Marines call themselves the "men's department" of the Navy.
A detail it might have helped us to remember or learn before signing that fateful dotted line
And when applying for internships, we applied for Navy ones first, putting the one Marine base one on the list, only because we had to put all 5 options on the list and it was higher on the list than Washington State (IMO since I'd be seriously depressed with all that rain..)
BUT
God laughed, we planned, and here we are..
At the farthest point away from family while remaining in the continental US
In a sunny paradise, playing with Marines
And a few things I've learned about live with Marines~
If you'll check #6 in the Things I've learned Post (which of course is not exhaustive, but will be added to as toddler allows) you'll see life doesn't turn out as planned..
You see- when we were trying to plan (God laughs while we plan) our lives out for medical school and forward, Larry posed the idea of joining the military to pay for school.
Expecting twins at the time, with little idea of how we were going to support our growing family in addition to private school tuition, we planned that it would be a good idea for him to join.
He approached the Air Force recruiter in the area (since he had already served in the AF) and was told he was too old.
Not one to take "NO" for an answer- he called the number for the Air Force recruiter in the surrounding states, got the same person and the same answer.
So.. weighing the options, he choose to go with the Navy, who didn't tell him he was too old.. THINKING at least he won't be deployed to be "playing in sand" should we still be at war when he's finally done school and residency. We were thinking in the event of war, he'd be safe on a hospital navy ship.
We forgot the Navy plays with Marines. In fact the Navy is the Marines' medical corp. And the Marines call themselves the "men's department" of the Navy.
A detail it might have helped us to remember or learn before signing that fateful dotted line
And when applying for internships, we applied for Navy ones first, putting the one Marine base one on the list, only because we had to put all 5 options on the list and it was higher on the list than Washington State (IMO since I'd be seriously depressed with all that rain..)
BUT
God laughed, we planned, and here we are..
At the farthest point away from family while remaining in the continental US
In a sunny paradise, playing with Marines
And a few things I've learned about live with Marines~
- Punctuality is a religion here. When things start at 1700, you better get there at 1645 or you're considered late.
- You can get used to the time designations 1700 and after a year you're no longer doing the math in your head - "uh... 17 minus 12.. oh, that means 5pm"
- When you're late you will be gossiped about by those who aren't
- I will be late to my funeral if it means I have to get my kids dressed/out the door/in car seats/changed from dirty diaper or clothes/run back in the house to get the keys again..
- Gossip happens more on base than in your average high school
- Unattended Children- living on the compound gives you a sense of security that lets children run unattended
- When you have to be somewhere on time, there will be 5 jerks who cut you off to get in front of you in line to drive on base without DOD stickers and hold the line up 4 or more minutes per person who cut you off. One of them will then ask for directions someplace difficult to explain how to get there.
- "Break it down Barney Style"
- Don't expect to find a parking spot or empty shopping cart at the commissary on payday.
- For the most part, they can make the rest of the US military look like sissies.
- OOO-RAH!
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Well.. that confims it.
We've been looking at foreclosure houses so long that now that I'm looking at the rental listings, I realize we've been INSIDE a good percentage of these houses already.
For Example- The pit bull neighbor house is for rent. With new carpeting/paint and kitchen. But I think the pit bull is still there. The pit bull wasn't mentioned in the rental listing.
But it also confirms that we're not competing with other families trying to buy these homes. We're competing against investors with money.
But I can move into 5 houses in our neighborhood for $500/month less rent. The neighborhood is a known entity, the move would be short.. it's just the lousy school should I abandon homeschooling and the overbearing HOA that I don't really care for.
But that wasn't on my criteria list, now, was it?
For Example- The pit bull neighbor house is for rent. With new carpeting/paint and kitchen. But I think the pit bull is still there. The pit bull wasn't mentioned in the rental listing.
But it also confirms that we're not competing with other families trying to buy these homes. We're competing against investors with money.
But I can move into 5 houses in our neighborhood for $500/month less rent. The neighborhood is a known entity, the move would be short.. it's just the lousy school should I abandon homeschooling and the overbearing HOA that I don't really care for.
But that wasn't on my criteria list, now, was it?
Clearly
We are not supposed to be buying a house right now
We have now bid on more houses than I can keep track of and gotten none of them.
They all have gone to cash buyers.
The most recent was a really nice 5 (yes 5!) bedroom house with swingset, fenced yard at the end of a cul de sac. I wanted it even more than the fenced driveway house since it needed far less work- paint and carpet as opposed to putting windows back in and walls back up.
And to add insult to injury, we have heard stories of people who short sale their houses after transferring all their assets to their kids' names and then buy a house.. for cash.. in their kid's name.
*sigh*
And if finding someone who was willing to rent to us with 4 kids was hard, I can only imagine how hard it will be to find someone who will rent to us with 4 kids and a dog.
Criteria:
to pay $500 less/month than we are currently paying in rent (yes. I know some people pay $500 total for rent a month. They don't live in CA)
Does not smell like cat
No mold issues
No other smell issues
Non-barrio neighborhood
is that too much to ask???
We have now bid on more houses than I can keep track of and gotten none of them.
They all have gone to cash buyers.
The most recent was a really nice 5 (yes 5!) bedroom house with swingset, fenced yard at the end of a cul de sac. I wanted it even more than the fenced driveway house since it needed far less work- paint and carpet as opposed to putting windows back in and walls back up.
And to add insult to injury, we have heard stories of people who short sale their houses after transferring all their assets to their kids' names and then buy a house.. for cash.. in their kid's name.
*sigh*
And if finding someone who was willing to rent to us with 4 kids was hard, I can only imagine how hard it will be to find someone who will rent to us with 4 kids and a dog.
Criteria:
to pay $500 less/month than we are currently paying in rent (yes. I know some people pay $500 total for rent a month. They don't live in CA)
Does not smell like cat
No mold issues
No other smell issues
Non-barrio neighborhood
is that too much to ask???
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
I guess I'm not alone..
Check out Margarita's blog- another Cloth diaper peddler who's got 4 or so more years into this than we do.
I LOVE her top 100 things here and here
And the post here about balancing your life
I'm inspired to hire some help. Still hoping to hire that company that does that for a living (partner still on vacation)
And I'll add a few things to the top whatever number things I've learned in life:
I LOVE her top 100 things here and here
And the post here about balancing your life
I'm inspired to hire some help. Still hoping to hire that company that does that for a living (partner still on vacation)
And I'll add a few things to the top whatever number things I've learned in life:
- You're not going to please everyone, not matter how hard you try.
- Some of the people you'll never please will be related to you
- You can't change others
- Toddlers have the relative destructive force of the same weight of dynamite. (say... 30 lbs of dynamite compared to what my 30 lbs toddler can accomplish..)
- If you joke that something bad will happen, it usually does. (so, don't kid about running out of gas, getting a flat tire or getting snowed in Chicago or it will likely happen)
- Life never turns out like you planned when you were 9, 12, 16, 21...
- A prince coming to sweep you off your feet and you live happily ever after stay perpetually young without a care in the world is a myth. You age past early 20's and I bet that Castle needed upkeep, the horses needed the vet and if the romance is real there will be kids to add to the cares in the world. Kids age you double.
- Never say " I will never" because.. yes.. you will.
- Things will not go as smoothly as planned, particularly if I'm involved somehow
- Major disasters always happen while I'm cooking and often result in burned food
- Grilled cheese is the food most likely to be burned while I'm putting out other figurative fires
- Grilled cheese can burst into flames
- and leaves charred marks on the griddle used
- Outdoor Gas Grills can also catch fire
- Cast iron can melt and warp when you catch said grill on fire long enough.
- Whatever you're selling you'll realize you're sold out of it about 10 minutes after you have 5 orders for the same thing
- People aren't generally understanding when you tell them you don't have what they want to buy
- Postal Employees do not have to speak English
- Postal Employees can and will pick up unattended Fedex Packages, no matter how big the sign "for Fedex" you put on top of them.
- The post office does not return to your fedex packages one of their employees pick up accidentally
- Nor do they drop them off at Fedex where they should have gone
- Printers stop working the day you need them the most
- Internet stops working when you need it the most
- Cell phones do not have service everywhere
- Writing the email does not mean anything if you forget to click 'send'
- It seems lots of people forget to click 'send' or the internet is as poor at delivering messages as the post office.
- 2 year olds are drawn to wearing high heals
- Particularly if that 2 year old is a boy
- and his father has a stroke every time he sees it
- 2 year old boys also like wearing their big sister's hats with flowers and their makeup.
- That can also give their father a stroke
- Moms don't think it's THAT big a deal
- But don't appreciate their kids using/eating their lipstick/makeup
- In a pinch Cell phones can distract kids in long line
- It's surprisingly easy for kids to call 911
- 911 operators are pretty good at asking "is your mother there?" before sending the police
- If you live in our neighborhood and your kids open the car door and leave it open, the police will bang on your door at 2 am to see if you're ok
- Hearing banging on your door at 2 am takes 10 years off your life
- Don't answer the door with a gun in your hand if the police are the ones knocking
- Don't shoot things on your property, even if you're careful
- Police arrive remarkably fast when they're told there's gun shots fired
- I don't know what happens if you get arrested for shooting a gun on your property, but I bet it's bad
- Babysitters are hard to come by and the ratio of difficulty is directly related to how important you get one for said event.
- Kids aren't welcome at a bunch of places
- When bringing kids to places they're not welcome, the likelihood of them misbehaving is directly proportional to how much they're not wanted there.
- $65/plate dinner includes kid plates
- $65/plate dinners are not enjoyable when your kids are there
- Babysitters are cheaper than buying dinner for the kids at those events
- But not by much
- Shoes with sand in them are never comfortable
- Missing DVDs can be found the the VCR slot when toddler wants to watch TV
- VCRs can house other things that don't belong there
- They stop working forever after too much stuff has been put in them
- Potty trained kids will have an accident when you are least prepared to deal with it
- Thrown rocks at Tball practice will hit the windshield of the most expensive car in the parking lot
- And will cause damage
- Time spent waiting at Tball, swimming lessons, dance lessons, etc. should be refunded later in life
- It's a form of torture for younger siblings to have to wait at the above lessons/practices
- The last parking space available is never big enough for me to park the Excursion
- 6 year olds can kick the butt of any 35+ year old in video games
Monday, June 22, 2009
on a lighter note
For those of you who watch what you eat, here's the final word on nutrition and health. It's a relief to know the truth after all those conflicting nutritional studies.
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION.... eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
1. The Japanese eat very little fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
2. The Mexicans eat a lot of fat and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
3. The Chinese drink very little red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
4. The Italians drink a lot of red wine and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
5. The Germans drink a lot of beers and eat lots of sausages and fats and suffer fewer heart attacks than Americans.
CONCLUSION.... eat and drink what you like. Speaking English is apparently what kills you.
What a lousy start to the week
Sometime this weekend, I knocked the power strip down next to the chest freezer which somehow wedged itself between the freezer and the concrete pole in the garage and hit the toggle switch JUST RIGHT and turned it off.
Well..
Today at lunch we had a smorgasbord of previously frozen needed to be cooked items and will be eating this same tasty buffet of chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, pumkin pie, and frozen veggies for the next 4 days.
ARGH!!
This Friday is the "hail and farewell" which marks the end of our year here. "farewell" to us and "hail" to the wretched souls who are entering the program.
And it's a mandatory affair, so we have to go.
And I still don't have a babysitter lined up. Just like last year.
I'm a bit grumpier than usual today (as if you couldn't tell) overwhelmed with too many demands and too little time...
And as if it's not enough.. we start swimming lessons every morning for the next 2 week
Well..
Today at lunch we had a smorgasbord of previously frozen needed to be cooked items and will be eating this same tasty buffet of chicken nuggets, frozen pizza, pumkin pie, and frozen veggies for the next 4 days.
ARGH!!
This Friday is the "hail and farewell" which marks the end of our year here. "farewell" to us and "hail" to the wretched souls who are entering the program.
And it's a mandatory affair, so we have to go.
And I still don't have a babysitter lined up. Just like last year.
I'm a bit grumpier than usual today (as if you couldn't tell) overwhelmed with too many demands and too little time...
And as if it's not enough.. we start swimming lessons every morning for the next 2 week
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Happy Father's Day
Particularly to my Father and Father in Law~
~~~~Happy Fathers' Day ~~~~
since I forgot to mail your cards. I see them here, mocking me saying "well, what good did it do you to get us if you weren't going to mail us?!"
I'll show them. I'll stuff them in a dark envelope and leave them sitting by our front door waiting to be put in the mail box for a week.
~~~~Happy Fathers' Day ~~~~
since I forgot to mail your cards. I see them here, mocking me saying "well, what good did it do you to get us if you weren't going to mail us?!"
I'll show them. I'll stuff them in a dark envelope and leave them sitting by our front door waiting to be put in the mail box for a week.
Friday, June 19, 2009
About yesterday
We met with the guy and saw how the company worked. It looks like it would work but we haven't talked about price. We will once the other company partner returns from vacation.
So.. hoping it will still work out
no news on housing
no news on who Larry will be stationed with and/or if he will pursue something else.
I thought I had some great pictures from the state fair to put up, but they seem to be missing from the camera card. I did have trouble with the camera that day- first it said my camera card was full then it said the battery was dead. I was sure I had a zillion of them petting cows and sheep and the turkeys.. but.. nothing.
I have a few of them spinning wool.
Still to come this weekend-
Meeting friends at a park and Julian Gold Rush days.
Coming next week- Larry's graduation ceremony-whoo hooo!!
So.. hoping it will still work out
no news on housing
no news on who Larry will be stationed with and/or if he will pursue something else.
I thought I had some great pictures from the state fair to put up, but they seem to be missing from the camera card. I did have trouble with the camera that day- first it said my camera card was full then it said the battery was dead. I was sure I had a zillion of them petting cows and sheep and the turkeys.. but.. nothing.
I have a few of them spinning wool.
Still to come this weekend-
Meeting friends at a park and Julian Gold Rush days.
Coming next week- Larry's graduation ceremony-whoo hooo!!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
On the business front
Meeting today with someone who could take 90% of the hassle out of owning a online retail business-
They can store all our inventory and ship all our product.
We simply manage the website, order in the inventory to ship to them and answer the emails. Which... we could do from anywhere- Vacation, overseas, Chick Fil A.. if you have internet access you can run the business- like an executive or something.
crossing my fingers we can afford this luxury because the next shipment (yes mom) could go straight from boat to his warehouse and then all our inventory can go from here to there and we'd have room in the garage for.. cars and bikes and other stuff.. and we could sell the monster trailer.. maybe even trade it in for a camper or something we'd enjoy having..
SWEET!!!
Of course it's probably going to cost a trillion dollars and we'll go back to the system we have with me wondering why I have a master's degree to be doing a minimum wage job picking and packing orders.. until we find a better system and/or employees.
On the home front.. no housing news. If we don't get the current house we've bid on, we're going to pursue some rental options. If we know we don't need room for storing and shipping diapers it would really free up some options for us .
I'll let you know if it works out
They can store all our inventory and ship all our product.
We simply manage the website, order in the inventory to ship to them and answer the emails. Which... we could do from anywhere- Vacation, overseas, Chick Fil A.. if you have internet access you can run the business- like an executive or something.
crossing my fingers we can afford this luxury because the next shipment (yes mom) could go straight from boat to his warehouse and then all our inventory can go from here to there and we'd have room in the garage for.. cars and bikes and other stuff.. and we could sell the monster trailer.. maybe even trade it in for a camper or something we'd enjoy having..
SWEET!!!
Of course it's probably going to cost a trillion dollars and we'll go back to the system we have with me wondering why I have a master's degree to be doing a minimum wage job picking and packing orders.. until we find a better system and/or employees.
On the home front.. no housing news. If we don't get the current house we've bid on, we're going to pursue some rental options. If we know we don't need room for storing and shipping diapers it would really free up some options for us .
I'll let you know if it works out
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Busy couple of days
Yesterday we went to the San Diego County fair. It was fairly fun, the kids loved petting the cows/goats/sheep.. and of course it made me a wee bit nostalgic for Woodstock.. but we know I have a tendency towards nostalgia for anywhere I'm not..
They got to see and try to spin wool into yarn which I thought was a pretty cool thing. Kinda like visiting that tiny part of Old Sturbridge Village here in San Diego.
Watched pig racing, turkey racing, ate cotton candy and some really over priced over greasy not yummy onion rings..
I guess fried dough is a regional thing, since they didn't have any and it's my all time favorite thing to get at a fair. They had funnel cakes, but let's face it- they are not fried dough- not even close. I was hoping there might be fried pickles there, but no luck on that one, either- they had fried twinkies, fried oreos, but no pickles or dough. Nope, didn't even think about trying the fried twinkes or oreos.
It had been a while since we'd been to a fair and I don't really remember the last time we took the kids if at all. So I'd forgotten how much "fun" the rides and games look and how much money it would cost to let the kids ride them. Really- it would have cost $30 to let them all go on the ferris wheel. one time. good grief. So we talked about the cost of stuff (which they seem to understand, kinda) and they got some cotton candy and ice cream cones.
Today we spent the morning at a park. The kids met 2 four-year-old-boys and had a blast running wild with them. I had a good time talking to their parents, so we'll do it again next week.
But otherwise.. no news in the housing department, no big news on any other areas- just life going on.. laundry needing to be washed and put away, toys needing to be picked up, kids whining because they need to rest but refuse to, diapers needing changes- the non-glamourous not exciting side of life...
They got to see and try to spin wool into yarn which I thought was a pretty cool thing. Kinda like visiting that tiny part of Old Sturbridge Village here in San Diego.
Watched pig racing, turkey racing, ate cotton candy and some really over priced over greasy not yummy onion rings..
I guess fried dough is a regional thing, since they didn't have any and it's my all time favorite thing to get at a fair. They had funnel cakes, but let's face it- they are not fried dough- not even close. I was hoping there might be fried pickles there, but no luck on that one, either- they had fried twinkies, fried oreos, but no pickles or dough. Nope, didn't even think about trying the fried twinkes or oreos.
It had been a while since we'd been to a fair and I don't really remember the last time we took the kids if at all. So I'd forgotten how much "fun" the rides and games look and how much money it would cost to let the kids ride them. Really- it would have cost $30 to let them all go on the ferris wheel. one time. good grief. So we talked about the cost of stuff (which they seem to understand, kinda) and they got some cotton candy and ice cream cones.
Today we spent the morning at a park. The kids met 2 four-year-old-boys and had a blast running wild with them. I had a good time talking to their parents, so we'll do it again next week.
But otherwise.. no news in the housing department, no big news on any other areas- just life going on.. laundry needing to be washed and put away, toys needing to be picked up, kids whining because they need to rest but refuse to, diapers needing changes- the non-glamourous not exciting side of life...
Monday, June 15, 2009
Not enough time to write something meaningful so.
pulling up a picture to share
EDIT to add- no one in this house did this, I copied it from somewhere online
Friday, June 12, 2009
Pictures from our mountain side adventure
The passable part of the road - above
The abandoned car on it's side below
Coming back down the hill- the passable road
And below- the house on top of the mountain- the one we were trying to get to
Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the really bad road. Actually- come to think of it- you couldn't actually see the road from the vantage point of the truck at that point- we were facing 45 % up and the road turned 45% down and to the right, I think... Either way- we were at that point where you couldn't see where you were going and weren't sure we'd get there... Scratched up the side of the truck getting through the brush on the sides and got brush stuck on the bug shield in front of the truck, too..
But honestly- the scenery was breath-taking when we weren't worried we'd slide off the hill.
And thinking about it- the kids probably realized we were in trouble when their parents were raising their voices about which one of us screwed up the gps because it couldn't POSSIBLY be right because what it said was a road clearly wasn't a road, or hadn't been in the past 10 years...
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Back in the saddle again...
as far as looking at houses, that is.
Words do no justice to our adventure this afternoon trying to see one house-
5 acres on top of a mountain. Literally you can see the ocean from it. They have pictures of the view from the house to prove it.
Sounds lovely doesn't it?
Well.. there might not be internet available there other than dial up, but we wanted to at least to check it out.
5 acres, no neighbors and ocean views?! I mean, really- it called to our inner pioneer spirit.
Mapquest had it 30 minutes from the hospital, so.. why not see it. I mean- 5 acres- what's to loose?
I'll tell you what you can loose- your life
and/or your car as it snakes up the side of the mountain on a rutted road wide enough and appropriate for a mule- on the side of the mountain. With nothing keeping you from the drop off into the ravine so deep you can't even see the bottom of it from standing on the side of the rutty road.
We were driving out there, turn out of town, head north and the road gets really sharp turns and winds around mountain sides- but paved. We get a little further out and it gets more narrow, and driving the Excursion we essentially take up the whole road..
And then the pavement ended.
And the adventure began.
I have pictures and video which I'll upload but suffice to say we got 70% of the way there when the road that mapquest said was there was just too steep and too narrow and too rutted to try to navigate.
We could see the house, on top of the mountain, we just couldn't get there. At the place where we we turned from the road that was passable to the road that wasn't passable, there was a car rolled on it's side and completely stripped.
Ominous- did it slide down the rutted road that way or is it there in red-neck fashion?
As Larry was backing down from where we just couldn't pass any further and we were 90% sure AAA wasn't going to save our butts on this one and for the first time- EVER- the kids were silent in the car. I think they had an idea that maybe mom and dad were really really nervous and talking was a bad idea.
ok.. finding camera cord and coming back with the video and pictures
And now Larry feels like the mountain is not going to get the best of him. He wants to try scaling the mountain from the other side of the mountain and road to see if we can get there that way. You can be sure I'll be videoing the WHOLE thing instead of snippets between getting whiplash from the bumps and trying to not toss my lunch...
And I want to know- do you think a moving truck would be willing to move us there? Or do we need to rent a cargo helicopter?
And another first- none of the kids got carsick on this wild wildadventure..
Words do no justice to our adventure this afternoon trying to see one house-
5 acres on top of a mountain. Literally you can see the ocean from it. They have pictures of the view from the house to prove it.
Sounds lovely doesn't it?
Well.. there might not be internet available there other than dial up, but we wanted to at least to check it out.
5 acres, no neighbors and ocean views?! I mean, really- it called to our inner pioneer spirit.
Mapquest had it 30 minutes from the hospital, so.. why not see it. I mean- 5 acres- what's to loose?
I'll tell you what you can loose- your life
and/or your car as it snakes up the side of the mountain on a rutted road wide enough and appropriate for a mule- on the side of the mountain. With nothing keeping you from the drop off into the ravine so deep you can't even see the bottom of it from standing on the side of the rutty road.
We were driving out there, turn out of town, head north and the road gets really sharp turns and winds around mountain sides- but paved. We get a little further out and it gets more narrow, and driving the Excursion we essentially take up the whole road..
And then the pavement ended.
And the adventure began.
I have pictures and video which I'll upload but suffice to say we got 70% of the way there when the road that mapquest said was there was just too steep and too narrow and too rutted to try to navigate.
We could see the house, on top of the mountain, we just couldn't get there. At the place where we we turned from the road that was passable to the road that wasn't passable, there was a car rolled on it's side and completely stripped.
Ominous- did it slide down the rutted road that way or is it there in red-neck fashion?
As Larry was backing down from where we just couldn't pass any further and we were 90% sure AAA wasn't going to save our butts on this one and for the first time- EVER- the kids were silent in the car. I think they had an idea that maybe mom and dad were really really nervous and talking was a bad idea.
ok.. finding camera cord and coming back with the video and pictures
And now Larry feels like the mountain is not going to get the best of him. He wants to try scaling the mountain from the other side of the mountain and road to see if we can get there that way. You can be sure I'll be videoing the WHOLE thing instead of snippets between getting whiplash from the bumps and trying to not toss my lunch...
And I want to know- do you think a moving truck would be willing to move us there? Or do we need to rent a cargo helicopter?
And another first- none of the kids got carsick on this wild wildadventure..
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Maybe today
maybe today we'll hear about that house we really really want.
Crossing my fingers.
We (the kids and I) drove past a few other houses on the "maybe" list Larry came up with and I *thought* I'd seen all the barrios and scary neighborhoods within 15 miles from here.
But I was wrong. Apparently there are a few more we hadn't ventured into.
*sigh*
And it's not like we don't stick out in those neighborhoods- rumbling into town in our ginormous diesel Excursion.. which I'm driving until the Van's radiator gets fixed.. and Diesel is cheaper than gas these days and the local station has bio-diesel cheaper than regular diesel (how COOL!!) speaking of which.. maybe I'll take the van in today.
I promised the kids while we were waiting for it that we'd ride the commuter train to San Diego and back and get an ice cream cone. That should be good for 3 hours of waiting time.
The repair shop I've found with a good reputation has a first-come-first-serve policy- so we go, bring it there and wait in line for it to be done. Could be all day, could be a few hours.. hard to know but they're always busy. But they take good care of military families, so we like them. And I'll wait for them rather than be told I need $3000 worth of work that I don't really need. For a van that might be worth that much.. if you parted it out.
Crossing my fingers.
We (the kids and I) drove past a few other houses on the "maybe" list Larry came up with and I *thought* I'd seen all the barrios and scary neighborhoods within 15 miles from here.
But I was wrong. Apparently there are a few more we hadn't ventured into.
*sigh*
And it's not like we don't stick out in those neighborhoods- rumbling into town in our ginormous diesel Excursion.. which I'm driving until the Van's radiator gets fixed.. and Diesel is cheaper than gas these days and the local station has bio-diesel cheaper than regular diesel (how COOL!!) speaking of which.. maybe I'll take the van in today.
I promised the kids while we were waiting for it that we'd ride the commuter train to San Diego and back and get an ice cream cone. That should be good for 3 hours of waiting time.
The repair shop I've found with a good reputation has a first-come-first-serve policy- so we go, bring it there and wait in line for it to be done. Could be all day, could be a few hours.. hard to know but they're always busy. But they take good care of military families, so we like them. And I'll wait for them rather than be told I need $3000 worth of work that I don't really need. For a van that might be worth that much.. if you parted it out.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Today..
I am ready to sell the business
Or at least hire someone to run it and let me manage from afar..
I'm also ready to sell a particular 6 year old who has been extremely difficult to deal with the past 2 days.
And the lack of knowing where we're moving to is giving me insomnia. We were hoping to hear about the house (the one with the gated driveway and tree house) today, but haven't heard anything. Of course our Realtor is out of town, so it's hard to know if it's because they didn't decide yet of if they decided and we just haven't been told. And if they haven't decided- why not?! We were told this was a straight bank forclosure sale and that we'd hear friday. Then we were told probably Monday but then our Realtor went out of town. ack!
(see I told you there is a theme to this blog)
And I'm going to go off on a business related rant, so please feel free to not read it:
BUT...
WHY is it so hard to read the address you are including as the "ship to address" when you check out?
This is a recurring problem- people check out with paypal, click "pay now" before reading and then get mad when I ship to the address they sent with "pay now"
WORSE is they track the package online, can see the address it is being shipped to and don't contact me until after it's delivered. Delivered to their old address. The one they gave at check out.
And THEN they send irate emails that HOW DARE I send it to the wrong address and demand I send them the items they paid for. And when I don't immediately re-ship to the current address, there are threats of and often bad reviews left about us. And then internet trolling and bashing of us for being the worst people in the world with the "worst customer service"
When you order, you're entering into a business contract- and it goes something like this- you pay, I ship, you get it. Contract done. It doesn't say you pay, I ship to the address you gave me but didn't actually want it to go to then re-ship it. Paypal says I have to send to the verified address with proof of deliver- and that's what you sent me. And we both have proof that the package was delivered.
so- in the words of John Stossel- GIVE ME A BREAK.
Especially when you own the house it's been shipped to
Or it's in the same town you live in and you can drive the few miles and get it.
Take some responsibility. Really.
And in regards to that particular 6 year old. *sigh*
I wish there was a simple fix on that one. Perhaps ritalin, but I doubt it.
Or at least hire someone to run it and let me manage from afar..
I'm also ready to sell a particular 6 year old who has been extremely difficult to deal with the past 2 days.
And the lack of knowing where we're moving to is giving me insomnia. We were hoping to hear about the house (the one with the gated driveway and tree house) today, but haven't heard anything. Of course our Realtor is out of town, so it's hard to know if it's because they didn't decide yet of if they decided and we just haven't been told. And if they haven't decided- why not?! We were told this was a straight bank forclosure sale and that we'd hear friday. Then we were told probably Monday but then our Realtor went out of town. ack!
(see I told you there is a theme to this blog)
And I'm going to go off on a business related rant, so please feel free to not read it:
BUT...
WHY is it so hard to read the address you are including as the "ship to address" when you check out?
This is a recurring problem- people check out with paypal, click "pay now" before reading and then get mad when I ship to the address they sent with "pay now"
WORSE is they track the package online, can see the address it is being shipped to and don't contact me until after it's delivered. Delivered to their old address. The one they gave at check out.
And THEN they send irate emails that HOW DARE I send it to the wrong address and demand I send them the items they paid for. And when I don't immediately re-ship to the current address, there are threats of and often bad reviews left about us. And then internet trolling and bashing of us for being the worst people in the world with the "worst customer service"
When you order, you're entering into a business contract- and it goes something like this- you pay, I ship, you get it. Contract done. It doesn't say you pay, I ship to the address you gave me but didn't actually want it to go to then re-ship it. Paypal says I have to send to the verified address with proof of deliver- and that's what you sent me. And we both have proof that the package was delivered.
so- in the words of John Stossel- GIVE ME A BREAK.
Especially when you own the house it's been shipped to
Or it's in the same town you live in and you can drive the few miles and get it.
Take some responsibility. Really.
And in regards to that particular 6 year old. *sigh*
I wish there was a simple fix on that one. Perhaps ritalin, but I doubt it.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
I spoke too soon
All 6 goldfish has now passed on.
With the dirty grimy hands in there non-stop the water went from clear to murky white/grey in 1 day. Not to mention that one of them was scooped out into a cup previously holding one of the kid's drink (milk, I believe?) and played with before returned to the tank after the 19th time I yelled to the kids to LEAVE THOSE FISH ALONE!
Well.. 1 less thing on my plate to worry about. And I have a "I told you so" stored up for the next time they don't listen to me....
With the dirty grimy hands in there non-stop the water went from clear to murky white/grey in 1 day. Not to mention that one of them was scooped out into a cup previously holding one of the kid's drink (milk, I believe?) and played with before returned to the tank after the 19th time I yelled to the kids to LEAVE THOSE FISH ALONE!
Well.. 1 less thing on my plate to worry about. And I have a "I told you so" stored up for the next time they don't listen to me....
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Rumors of my demise are greatly exaggerated
I heard today though the grapevine that we are going out of business. With the implication that our business had major issues.
Hmm. News to me.
I had no intention of going out of business. Perhaps handing the mantle of chief cook and bottle washer over to someone else..and profiting from that- but closing our doors forever? after killing ourselves to get it brand name recognition, a decent website (ok. still working on this), good business contacts, and the domain names registered? not a chance.
And if you don't know me and have just somehow found my blog- I'll let you in on a secret- this blog is a place for me to vent and get out my frustrations without paying for therapy. And you'll notice a theme to the blog's venting- it goes something like this:
kids make me crazy, business makes me crazy, the Navy makes me crazy, moving makes me crazy, I'm just plain crazy.. and repeat, maybe mix the order up a little.
And if you're one of the handful of customers who make me pull out my hair- please know that yes- it IS YOU you makes me want to sell the business and gift the mantle of "customer service" to the new owner. I don't write about you or the details of our interactions, so it comes out as "I can't stand this business." but believe me- if I was working as a nurse and we were interacting in that capacity, I'm pretty sure it would come out in my blog as "I can't stand my job" even though the job is fine, it's the dealing-with-you part of it that I could live without.
But I heard that from a fellow cloth diaper peddler who was told that one of her customers read that on a blog. I'll have to go back and read what I wrote and maybe put the above disclaimer 'please take anything written on this blog with a grain of salt'
But anyway-she's a kindred spirit and encouragement to me- a Marine wife who started her business from her home and recently got a much larger absolutely beautiful store front. I wish her much success and hope one day to succeed as she has.
But she has a 2 yearly "yard sale" at her business and invited me to come and sell stuff (super nice of her, huh?) And I brought 5 big boxes of returns, seconds with problems and other stuff that has been sitting on the shelf forever. And came home with 2 not-as big boxes of stuff. I'm thrilled. And it sold in about 1 hr and 15 minutes. The kids were there with me and fairly well behaved.
So to celebrate not-horrific behavior- we went to chick fil a for ice cream cones and then chicken nuggets (once I realized what time it was. So- yes. in that order). I still *heart* chick fil a.
I don't know if they have this near you, but our chick fil a has "save your receipt day" where you buy a meal on a said day and then you can come back anytime the following month to get the exact same order free- just hand them your receipt.
So.. it's on my calendar- we're going to Chick fil A on that day-June 25th - probably for lunch to try to beat the crowd on that day (we happened into it a few months back when we went to CFA - not as crazy busy as the military appreciation night, but still the line went well out the door).
But now I'm bone tired and still have 5 loads of laundry staring me in the face, dishes in the sink and the kids' toys and treasures strewn across the house..
And the fish are still alive. bummer.
Hmm. News to me.
I had no intention of going out of business. Perhaps handing the mantle of chief cook and bottle washer over to someone else..and profiting from that- but closing our doors forever? after killing ourselves to get it brand name recognition, a decent website (ok. still working on this), good business contacts, and the domain names registered? not a chance.
And if you don't know me and have just somehow found my blog- I'll let you in on a secret- this blog is a place for me to vent and get out my frustrations without paying for therapy. And you'll notice a theme to the blog's venting- it goes something like this:
kids make me crazy, business makes me crazy, the Navy makes me crazy, moving makes me crazy, I'm just plain crazy.. and repeat, maybe mix the order up a little.
And if you're one of the handful of customers who make me pull out my hair- please know that yes- it IS YOU you makes me want to sell the business and gift the mantle of "customer service" to the new owner. I don't write about you or the details of our interactions, so it comes out as "I can't stand this business." but believe me- if I was working as a nurse and we were interacting in that capacity, I'm pretty sure it would come out in my blog as "I can't stand my job" even though the job is fine, it's the dealing-with-you part of it that I could live without.
But I heard that from a fellow cloth diaper peddler who was told that one of her customers read that on a blog. I'll have to go back and read what I wrote and maybe put the above disclaimer 'please take anything written on this blog with a grain of salt'
But anyway-she's a kindred spirit and encouragement to me- a Marine wife who started her business from her home and recently got a much larger absolutely beautiful store front. I wish her much success and hope one day to succeed as she has.
But she has a 2 yearly "yard sale" at her business and invited me to come and sell stuff (super nice of her, huh?) And I brought 5 big boxes of returns, seconds with problems and other stuff that has been sitting on the shelf forever. And came home with 2 not-as big boxes of stuff. I'm thrilled. And it sold in about 1 hr and 15 minutes. The kids were there with me and fairly well behaved.
So to celebrate not-horrific behavior- we went to chick fil a for ice cream cones and then chicken nuggets (once I realized what time it was. So- yes. in that order). I still *heart* chick fil a.
I don't know if they have this near you, but our chick fil a has "save your receipt day" where you buy a meal on a said day and then you can come back anytime the following month to get the exact same order free- just hand them your receipt.
So.. it's on my calendar- we're going to Chick fil A on that day-June 25th - probably for lunch to try to beat the crowd on that day (we happened into it a few months back when we went to CFA - not as crazy busy as the military appreciation night, but still the line went well out the door).
But now I'm bone tired and still have 5 loads of laundry staring me in the face, dishes in the sink and the kids' toys and treasures strewn across the house..
And the fish are still alive. bummer.
Friday, June 5, 2009
Random things from the past week or so
Today our kids had a "carnival" for their "school."
Yeah.
I could hardly stand the excitement. But I was put on the spot Tuesday when we were turning in our last bit of work, books and paying the fines/replacement costs of the thing the dog chewed and the math manipulatives we can't find all the pieces from.
So there I was paying them $38 for the lost/missing/chewed stuff and they ask my kids will they see them at the carnival. UGH. The kids' eyes light up and say "mom!!! there's a carnival!!!"
Darn it. Not one to want to bash the school in front of the school while in the school.. I found myself paying $5 for the joy of going to the carnival and $3/kid for lunch as well.
And we went today to the carnival which was.. well.. a few games which the kids could win cheap oriental trading post toys or candy. joy.
BUT there was the one game that the line was around the entire park for. THAT game you played and won goldfish.
So while I was waiting in the line that took a full hour to get their lunches, I gave them their carnival tickets with instructions to stay together and they went to the ......
you got it. The gold fish line.
And while I was there they didn't often or consistently win the games that got them cheap plastic toy or candy, but dang it- all 3 of them won goldfish.
And Kayla won 4 goldfish in her bag. In true Kayla fashion- life seems to smile down on her favorably and when everyone else gets 1 goldfish, she gets 4. I think the day she turns 21 I'll take her to a Casino.
So.. We are now the proud owners of 6 goldfish. And we had to stop at Stuff Mart and get a fish tank, de-chlorinator and fish food. I passed on the rocks, fish net, and tank decorations. I told them if the fish were alive in a week from now we could discuss buying those things. While I wasn't looking, Kayla took one out to pet it (much like she did with our beta fish when we had one), JM fed them quesadilla, and none of the kids could leave the tank alone for more than .5 seconds. Their names are Six-y (because Joey's six years old now), Little Cutie (because Sonia names nearly everything cutie), Cinderella, Nemo, and I forget what else (because Kayla likes Disney names).
But on a side note. Homeschoolers are their own worse enemy. I know I'm a bit over-the-top protective of my kids but the un-ruly and unsupervised kids at the "carnival" weren't ambassadors for homeschooling. It was windy (as any day here is that we plan on doing something) and the kids had balloons. not helium, just plain old blow-them-up balloons. And the wind often blew them out of my kids grasp. As they (or I) was chasing it, other kids would grab it and yell "MINE!"
huh? how do you figure? After the 6th time this happened, I went up to the kid that grabbed (the ticket this time that blew 2 feet away as Joey was handing it to me) and said something 'that JUST blew out of my hand' can you please give it back?' and the kid claims it's his.. whatever. I glare at him and drop it. He hands it back and runs and tells his mommy that lady took his ticket. Great. making friends. Not that a single mom said anything to me the entire time we were there, anyway. There is really nothing about that school that I like. Really. put someone near me and I'll start talking. These moms were sitting around chatting with each other while their kids were doing whatever they wanted. hmmm.. reminds me of some of those unsupervised playdates I'd been on..
And in other news... This week I realized that "stripey" Kayla's beloved beanie baby cat was really worn. Add to that the fact that it's the dog's #1 favorite thing to find and chew I went on a quest to find another one in the event that Something unfortunate and deadly happens to Stripey since Kayla needs Stripey to sleep. She used to need Princess as well, but she was decapitated by the dog, so Stripey is the only thing we have left.
Anyway.. I went on this quest and found Stripey (who's real name is Amber) on Ebay and promptly bought her. We exchanged new Stripey for old/aged/cataract "ice cream eyes" Stripey and the next day Stripey went everywhere with us and at night I could not find her. ANYWHERE. So I take old stripey out of the washer and let her sleep with Kayla one last time before she went into the safe place in case of emergency.
And we still haven't found new Stripey. We went to all 5 places we had gone to the last day she was seen, turned the house upside down.. no Stripey. I guess she decided to find her way back home. I hear cats do that sometimes.
In housing news- we still are waiting for that short-sale house which isn't really happening.
So.. Larry found a house that he saw and liked alot, so we bid on it. He liked it so much that I went to see it the following day. The house was on the market 6 hours when we bid on it and at that point we were bid #5. I kid you not.
So.. today we gave our "best and highest" bid and cross our fingers. Not holding my breath... but I really really really really want this house. REALLY. The entire yard- ENTIRE yard- INCLUDING DRIVEWAY is gated. it has an automatic gate like the movie stars do. Not that I think I'm a movie star but if I have to worry less about our kids running in the road.. oh praise Jesus!
On the downside- it only has 3 bedrooms and vintage 1960 stove top and oven and bathroom fixtures. And a vintage 1986 built in microwave. It has a bunch of projects 80% competed.
Oh, and it's next door to a firestation.
So.. we'll see. I'm praying and hoping that we get this house, but know that if we don't- I'm confident that God knows the desires of my heart and that it will work out somehow. I like this house SO much more than the other but can't really put my finger on why. This house screams "this was lived in by grandpa" but the yard and size of it makes me swoon. Don't get me wrong- it's smaller than the house we're in but yard and 3 storage buildings and TREEHOUSE.. makes my giddy if we get it. I can handle electric heat and stove and lineoleum with holes in it and wall paper galore for a the fenced yard/driveway and tree house.
We're also looking at other rental houses if this falls through. God also knows that I'm really really hesitant to buy a house.
We got our dog fixed and I felt horrible that she was wimpering and crying for the entire day after we brought her home but today she's back to her usual obnoxious self. I actually got a shock collar for her since he's been dang near impossible to train.
Larry has a theory that dogs are recycled- once they die they re-incarnate so to speak. And I believe him now. We put the collar on her and she was a new dog- without even putting batteries in the remote. I'm thinking in a past life her owners also had to resort to a shock collar.
We're exited to have my family visit this summer. It would have been nice to have been settled in a new house but.. oh well.. this house is bigger. Maybe this is where we were supposed to be.
Yeah.
I could hardly stand the excitement. But I was put on the spot Tuesday when we were turning in our last bit of work, books and paying the fines/replacement costs of the thing the dog chewed and the math manipulatives we can't find all the pieces from.
So there I was paying them $38 for the lost/missing/chewed stuff and they ask my kids will they see them at the carnival. UGH. The kids' eyes light up and say "mom!!! there's a carnival!!!"
Darn it. Not one to want to bash the school in front of the school while in the school.. I found myself paying $5 for the joy of going to the carnival and $3/kid for lunch as well.
And we went today to the carnival which was.. well.. a few games which the kids could win cheap oriental trading post toys or candy. joy.
BUT there was the one game that the line was around the entire park for. THAT game you played and won goldfish.
So while I was waiting in the line that took a full hour to get their lunches, I gave them their carnival tickets with instructions to stay together and they went to the ......
you got it. The gold fish line.
And while I was there they didn't often or consistently win the games that got them cheap plastic toy or candy, but dang it- all 3 of them won goldfish.
And Kayla won 4 goldfish in her bag. In true Kayla fashion- life seems to smile down on her favorably and when everyone else gets 1 goldfish, she gets 4. I think the day she turns 21 I'll take her to a Casino.
So.. We are now the proud owners of 6 goldfish. And we had to stop at Stuff Mart and get a fish tank, de-chlorinator and fish food. I passed on the rocks, fish net, and tank decorations. I told them if the fish were alive in a week from now we could discuss buying those things. While I wasn't looking, Kayla took one out to pet it (much like she did with our beta fish when we had one), JM fed them quesadilla, and none of the kids could leave the tank alone for more than .5 seconds. Their names are Six-y (because Joey's six years old now), Little Cutie (because Sonia names nearly everything cutie), Cinderella, Nemo, and I forget what else (because Kayla likes Disney names).
But on a side note. Homeschoolers are their own worse enemy. I know I'm a bit over-the-top protective of my kids but the un-ruly and unsupervised kids at the "carnival" weren't ambassadors for homeschooling. It was windy (as any day here is that we plan on doing something) and the kids had balloons. not helium, just plain old blow-them-up balloons. And the wind often blew them out of my kids grasp. As they (or I) was chasing it, other kids would grab it and yell "MINE!"
huh? how do you figure? After the 6th time this happened, I went up to the kid that grabbed (the ticket this time that blew 2 feet away as Joey was handing it to me) and said something 'that JUST blew out of my hand' can you please give it back?' and the kid claims it's his.. whatever. I glare at him and drop it. He hands it back and runs and tells his mommy that lady took his ticket. Great. making friends. Not that a single mom said anything to me the entire time we were there, anyway. There is really nothing about that school that I like. Really. put someone near me and I'll start talking. These moms were sitting around chatting with each other while their kids were doing whatever they wanted. hmmm.. reminds me of some of those unsupervised playdates I'd been on..
And in other news... This week I realized that "stripey" Kayla's beloved beanie baby cat was really worn. Add to that the fact that it's the dog's #1 favorite thing to find and chew I went on a quest to find another one in the event that Something unfortunate and deadly happens to Stripey since Kayla needs Stripey to sleep. She used to need Princess as well, but she was decapitated by the dog, so Stripey is the only thing we have left.
Anyway.. I went on this quest and found Stripey (who's real name is Amber) on Ebay and promptly bought her. We exchanged new Stripey for old/aged/cataract "ice cream eyes" Stripey and the next day Stripey went everywhere with us and at night I could not find her. ANYWHERE. So I take old stripey out of the washer and let her sleep with Kayla one last time before she went into the safe place in case of emergency.
And we still haven't found new Stripey. We went to all 5 places we had gone to the last day she was seen, turned the house upside down.. no Stripey. I guess she decided to find her way back home. I hear cats do that sometimes.
In housing news- we still are waiting for that short-sale house which isn't really happening.
So.. Larry found a house that he saw and liked alot, so we bid on it. He liked it so much that I went to see it the following day. The house was on the market 6 hours when we bid on it and at that point we were bid #5. I kid you not.
So.. today we gave our "best and highest" bid and cross our fingers. Not holding my breath... but I really really really really want this house. REALLY. The entire yard- ENTIRE yard- INCLUDING DRIVEWAY is gated. it has an automatic gate like the movie stars do. Not that I think I'm a movie star but if I have to worry less about our kids running in the road.. oh praise Jesus!
On the downside- it only has 3 bedrooms and vintage 1960 stove top and oven and bathroom fixtures. And a vintage 1986 built in microwave. It has a bunch of projects 80% competed.
Oh, and it's next door to a firestation.
So.. we'll see. I'm praying and hoping that we get this house, but know that if we don't- I'm confident that God knows the desires of my heart and that it will work out somehow. I like this house SO much more than the other but can't really put my finger on why. This house screams "this was lived in by grandpa" but the yard and size of it makes me swoon. Don't get me wrong- it's smaller than the house we're in but yard and 3 storage buildings and TREEHOUSE.. makes my giddy if we get it. I can handle electric heat and stove and lineoleum with holes in it and wall paper galore for a the fenced yard/driveway and tree house.
We're also looking at other rental houses if this falls through. God also knows that I'm really really hesitant to buy a house.
We got our dog fixed and I felt horrible that she was wimpering and crying for the entire day after we brought her home but today she's back to her usual obnoxious self. I actually got a shock collar for her since he's been dang near impossible to train.
Larry has a theory that dogs are recycled- once they die they re-incarnate so to speak. And I believe him now. We put the collar on her and she was a new dog- without even putting batteries in the remote. I'm thinking in a past life her owners also had to resort to a shock collar.
We're exited to have my family visit this summer. It would have been nice to have been settled in a new house but.. oh well.. this house is bigger. Maybe this is where we were supposed to be.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Housing Hunt part 35
So.. we're STILL waiting to hear from the short sale house with the fruit trees and solar panels.
Our lease is officially up so, we're looking again.
Or rather- Larry is looking again. I browse the internet listings occasionally. He went to see them yesterday after he was done working.
And we're now bidding on a bank owned house with.. solar panels and fruit trees on more than an acre of land, further out in the "country" but less money than the other house.
But of course we're #4 to bid on this house and it's been on the market 1 day. Less than a day.
I don't know who is talking about real estate not selling. You price something under $300K here and put in a not-scary neighborhood it will sell in hours. There are some bargains for under $200K but not in a neighborhood we would feel the least bit comfortable living in.
But if you drive down the road, every 7th house has a "for sale"sign in front of it, but these are short sales and will be for sale for a year. As I understand it, it looks better for banks to have a 'non-performing loan' than to write it off entirely and permit a short sale. And then there are those who say they want a short sale but really don't. It is a rare rare rare thing here to find a house for sale by it's actual owner.
But if you want to see the current house we're bidding on, here it is:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Fallbrook/2210-Winterwarm-Dr-92028/home/3081140
Our lease is officially up so, we're looking again.
Or rather- Larry is looking again. I browse the internet listings occasionally. He went to see them yesterday after he was done working.
And we're now bidding on a bank owned house with.. solar panels and fruit trees on more than an acre of land, further out in the "country" but less money than the other house.
But of course we're #4 to bid on this house and it's been on the market 1 day. Less than a day.
I don't know who is talking about real estate not selling. You price something under $300K here and put in a not-scary neighborhood it will sell in hours. There are some bargains for under $200K but not in a neighborhood we would feel the least bit comfortable living in.
But if you drive down the road, every 7th house has a "for sale"sign in front of it, but these are short sales and will be for sale for a year. As I understand it, it looks better for banks to have a 'non-performing loan' than to write it off entirely and permit a short sale. And then there are those who say they want a short sale but really don't. It is a rare rare rare thing here to find a house for sale by it's actual owner.
But if you want to see the current house we're bidding on, here it is:
http://www.redfin.com/CA/Fallbrook/2210-Winterwarm-Dr-92028/home/3081140
Monday, June 1, 2009
Praying
When we lived in Christiansburg, we attended church with the Ryans-
Mom- Gwynne was often in the kitchen and stopped by the nursery when I was holed up in there, sometimes sharing nursery duty with me. Dad- Steve played a mean bass guitar with the worship band.
Their 2 kids were Hailey- a pre teen girl active in the youth program and navigating puberty.
And Kelly- a young boy who was an active boy scout with dad who was often see wearing his scout leader uniform on stage during worship.
For reasons I don't understand, Kelly became very sick- it was thought to be strep throat, then mono, then hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. I didn't know what it was either- I had to google it.
People have been praying for his healing and for the Ryans since the beginning. Yet for reasons I don't understand, in a few short weeks Kelly lost the fight this weekend.
His father wrote the following which has reduced me to tears
Sunday, May 31, 2009
This is probably the most difficult thing that I have ever sat down to write. This morning, at about 3:10 Kelly Ryan lost his battle with the HLH disease. He fought it hard, as best his body would allow, right up until the end.
God allowed us 10 wonderful years with Kelly in our lives and then called him home. I don’t know why, but God’s plan is perfect and His ways are not our ways.
Our pastor summed it up nicely, I think. God did, in fact, heal Kelly. Just not the way we hoped He would. He is resting in God’s arms now…disease and pain free. It’s my strongly held belief that I will, someday, get to hold him tightly in a big ol’ hug again.
I’d like to encourage each one of you…if you have a little one in your life, go love on them like never before. We are not promised even our next breath so make each and every second with them count. Don’t take even the smallest of moments for granted. And if you don’t know the peace of our Lord and Savior, please, please, please take this time to examine your life and give control of it to Him. With salvation there are no goodbyes and, even though our hearts break with the burden of losing Kelly, we are assured an eternity together in the glory of our Father, who is above all things is worthy to be praised.
Thank you…each of you…for your kind thoughts and prayers. They have sustained us in this most difficult time of our lives. And even though we will likely never know one another personally, please know that I’m personally grateful for each and every one of you.
In Christ,
Stephen Ryan
If you have a minute, please lift them up in prayer.
Mom- Gwynne was often in the kitchen and stopped by the nursery when I was holed up in there, sometimes sharing nursery duty with me. Dad- Steve played a mean bass guitar with the worship band.
Their 2 kids were Hailey- a pre teen girl active in the youth program and navigating puberty.
And Kelly- a young boy who was an active boy scout with dad who was often see wearing his scout leader uniform on stage during worship.
For reasons I don't understand, Kelly became very sick- it was thought to be strep throat, then mono, then hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. I didn't know what it was either- I had to google it.
People have been praying for his healing and for the Ryans since the beginning. Yet for reasons I don't understand, in a few short weeks Kelly lost the fight this weekend.
His father wrote the following which has reduced me to tears
Sunday, May 31, 2009
This is probably the most difficult thing that I have ever sat down to write. This morning, at about 3:10 Kelly Ryan lost his battle with the HLH disease. He fought it hard, as best his body would allow, right up until the end.
God allowed us 10 wonderful years with Kelly in our lives and then called him home. I don’t know why, but God’s plan is perfect and His ways are not our ways.
Our pastor summed it up nicely, I think. God did, in fact, heal Kelly. Just not the way we hoped He would. He is resting in God’s arms now…disease and pain free. It’s my strongly held belief that I will, someday, get to hold him tightly in a big ol’ hug again.
I’d like to encourage each one of you…if you have a little one in your life, go love on them like never before. We are not promised even our next breath so make each and every second with them count. Don’t take even the smallest of moments for granted. And if you don’t know the peace of our Lord and Savior, please, please, please take this time to examine your life and give control of it to Him. With salvation there are no goodbyes and, even though our hearts break with the burden of losing Kelly, we are assured an eternity together in the glory of our Father, who is above all things is worthy to be praised.
Thank you…each of you…for your kind thoughts and prayers. They have sustained us in this most difficult time of our lives. And even though we will likely never know one another personally, please know that I’m personally grateful for each and every one of you.
In Christ,
Stephen Ryan
If you have a minute, please lift them up in prayer.
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