Sunday, November 1, 2009

If you haven't already...

Check this guy out: http://travelswithsmee.blogspot.com/

He has some hilarious travel stories and a unique writing style...very entertaining! And feel free to leave a comment or two-- part of the fun in writing about his experiences is hearing people's reactions!

Enjoy!

PS- "Halloween in The 'Hood" party pics coming soon!

Monday, October 26, 2009

Sparkly Halloween

Okay, I know just yesterday I wrote that I'm thinking about ditching the blog because I've lost my creativity...but I'll tell you who's found it...

Miss Sassy-pants! Last week her class held a pumpkin decorating contest- there were no rules, just be creative and have fun. Miss C and I spent an hour walking around Michael's looking for ideas...at one point we had in our hands a pair of googly eyes, a doll's wig, and a pack of stickers...then we decided maybe we liked the rainbow pipe cleaners and sequins better...then it was a Mr. Potato Head that caught our attention...in the end, the item that caught Miss C's eye the most was a container of glitter.

"What about a sparkly pumpkin, Mommy?" her eyes got wider, "A sparkly PRINCESS pumpkin!!"

That settled it. We bought a tube of glue, picked the best looking collection of glitter colors and made our way home. We had the most fun decorating our pumpkin, and Sassy-Pants loved getting to choose which color went where. She made sure we used every color.

We made a mess of the kitchen and got some silly looks from Daddy when he walked in the door...but Miss C was ecstatic to bring her finished product to school. She got "oohs and ahs" as soon as she walked in the door.



Everyone brought fun and interesting pumpkins to share. They all sat together in a row for all the kids to look at. Then last Monday, another class came in to vote. Each child got to pick their favorite- Miss C's got 7 votes! She was the grand prize winner and was so proud that everyone "clapped at her pumpkin". It was displayed at the front desk and she received a special prize from her teacher.

Here she is, tickled to show off her prizes:


Way to go Sassy-Pants!


We're taking our sparkly princess pumpkin with us to Nana & Poppa's for Halloween, it will go perfectly with the very special pink princess dress that Nana is making for her!

Sunday, October 25, 2009

I got nothin'

You know what I'm talking about...scroll down this page and read the dates on my blog posts if you're not sure. Pretty sure the last entry ON THE CURRENT PAGE was posted shortly after the arrival of Spring. As in April.

Every time I sit down to blog, I stare at the computer for a while, look through my recent photos, spend some time stalking my friends blogs....then decide I have nothing exciting to write about, so I log off. This has been going on for quite some time now, so I've started to wonder...

Why do I have a blog?

I do not know. I started this to keep friends and family informed on all the happenings in our corner of the world, but it seems like lately, not much has been going on. And of the handful of things that have been happening, I can't seem to use my creative juices to make an interesting enough blog post to share with everyone.

That being said...I'm thinkin' about ditching the blog scene. I just think it's kind of silly to keep pretending that I have a blog, when I never update it (except for the background that I just changed...I thought maybe a new background would spark new posts? It did not.)

Anyway, I'm going to think about it for a little while longer, but I think it might be time to give up. If anyone has any suggestions on how to build your creativity or thoughts on how you determine what to blog about (and how the heck to make it interesting!), I am all ears...

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

On the way home today...

This is the conversation that Sassy-pants and I had:

Mom: "I missed you today, baby girl."
Sassy-pants: "Yuck."

Um, okay...not quite the response I was looking for...I'll try again in a few minutes.

Mom: "I missed you today..."
Sassy-pants: "I know."

Wow, shut down again. I'll give her another minute...

Mom: "Hey honey? I missed you..."
Sassy-pants: "Yeah. Can I have a pretzel?"

Man, I cannot win today! Let's try this ONE...MORE...TIME.

Mom: "I MISSED you today baby girl!"
Sassy-pants: "I missed you too, Mommy!"
Mom: "It's about time!"
Sassy-pants, in her sassiest voice: "Heehee, you betcha! I'm funny!"

Oh yeah, you are HILARIOUS, kiddo...

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

See ya, suckers!

We're off for 4 nights and 5 days of this:



And this:


And some of this:

Be jealous.

Friday, July 10, 2009

Absurd.

Sometimes I get totally ridiculous, absurd ideas in my head. And once they're in there, I can't get them out again. Take this week, for instance. Tommorrow, Handsome's sister arrives for a four day visit. On Tuesday, my cousin "The Dish" arrives for nearly two weeks. Wednesday we're leaving for a 5 day camping trip in Washington. What would one be doing the week prior to such events? Probably lightly cleaning house, doing some laundry, planning menus and grocery shopping? Sounds doable, right?

Well this girl had other plans. I decided it was a good time to completely spring clean the entire house (I realize it's July, let's pretend I did this months ago), clean the fish tank, go through each of our closets and thin out wardrobes, weed the entire yard, detail the cars, wash and wax the kitchen floor, clean out the garage, wash windows, and my latest and greatest idea...PAINT.

I was in the middle of tossing my kitchen upside down yesterday when I got to thinking about how gross our bathroom is, and then I got the urge to paint it. I looked at my "to do" list. I considered how far behind I was. My eye caught the Lowe's ad on the dining room table. Aha- paint is on sale! It's a sign, I must paint! Hmm, where will I find time to get that done? Well I suppose I could skip "organize DVD's by genre"...and maybe I could alphabetize our cd collection another time. I bet if I clean the guest bathroom after Sassy-pants goes to bed tonight (yeah right) and I get up an hour earlier tommorrow (hahaha) I could do it. Oh yeah, totally doable. Nevermind the fact that I'll probably waste at least an hour walking around Lowe's, paint in hand...

Now here it is, Friday at noon and I have yet to clean the fish tank, vacuum and clean bathrooms, take clothes to Goodwill, finish weeding, wash rugs and sheets, tape the bathrooom, and oh yeah- PAINT it. And I suppose we should set up the tent to make sure our air mattress fits in it...and I need to pick up Sassy-pants from daycare. And we're supposed to have pork tenderloin and au gratin potatoes for dinner. And here I sit, blogging. I love how my reasoning works.

And I wish I could say I don't always operate this way, but that's not true...last Thanksgiving the house still smelled like paint when our guests arrived, and I had to ask them not to touch the hallway walls, as they were still wet (what is it with me and paint??). And I am almost always washing the guest bed sheets when my parents walk in the door for a weekend visit. Me and organization, logic, and time management need to sit down and have a chat.

Stupid absurd ideas of mine. Stupid to do lists. Stupid to do lists full of absurd ideas. I need help.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

Fireworks on the 4th

Just thought I'd share a quick clip of the fantastic fireworks we saw on the 4th...Sassy-pants LOVED them, and you can hear her very enthusiastic responses in the background :-)

And have you ever heard fireworks as strange as the ones in this next clip? They appear at about the 35 second mark. WEIRD!!


Happy Belated 4th!!

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

She's Baaaaaack!!!!

Just when you thought I'd abandoned the blogging world forever, here I am again! My very serious case of writer's block is starting to fade away and I'm finally feeling the urge to blog again. Sorry for the unexplained 3 month hiatus!

We've been keeping plenty busy here in Oregon (I'm on my 3 week summer vacation!!), and the next two weeks will be the busiest of the summer. We're counting the days until a visit from Handsome's sister and her husband, followed immediately by a 5 day camping trip along Bumping River in SE Washington with my bestest friend in the whole wide world...then another couple days of fun at the beach and a little exploring in downtown Portland. Needless to say, I am VERY excited and will have plenty to blog about!

Other news on the home front...Miss Sassy-pants is finally potty trained! What a difference it has made for us. She is more independent and VERY proud of herself, and we are enjoying the small pay raise now that we don't have to buy diapers anymore!

Handsome is doing very well at work, his branch just finished third in the state last month! He has been working very hard lately and is counting the days until his week long vacation. I am currently on summer break, which I am LOVING. It will be hard to go back to work on the 22nd, but nice to get back into a regular schedule.

That's about all I can think of for now, but I PROMISE I will stick around this time...really! Okay, I know you don't believe me...I suppose I deserve it after 3 months of silence. I will do my very best to win you all back!

Until I blog again...

Thursday, April 2, 2009

10 Things I Love

I love...finding good deals! I know I've mentioned this in past posts, but I really really love a good deal. My most recent impressive buys include a pair of pants and a sweater at Macy's, originally priced at $95 but purchased for $40, and a trip to Walgreens where I spent $16 but saved $18. My husband thinks I'm a nutcase because every time I find awesome deals while out shopping, I parade him through the house in the evening to show off every one of my purchases. Poor guy.

I love...having a child who LOVES sleep. If we had to, we could get Sassy-pants through her whole bedtime routine and happily tucked into bed in 5 minutes flat. Of course, we don't, because bedtime is full of cuddles, kisses, stories and tickling. All of which I also LOVE.

I love...surprising Handsome with one of his favorite meals ever- his reaction is so funny, he nearly trips over himself with excitement when he sees tuna noodle casserole sitting on the stove when he walks in the door at night :-)

I love...crossing things off lists. This is a little OCD sounding, but sometimes I make lists for the day just for the satisfaction of crossing things off. Makes me feel like I've had a worthwhile day, even if all I did was fold a load of laundry and watch an "America's Next Top Model" marathon.

I love...sitcoms. Nothing takes the stress of a crazy day away like laughing for 30 minutes straight. And usually the characters are getting themselves into much worse situations than you experienced during your hellish day, and it's always entertaining. I live for Two & A Half Men, Big Bang Theory, Rules of Engagement, New Adventures of Old Christine, and Gary Unmarried. Thank you CBS, for making my life better.

I love...SPRING. Although, where is it??? It's rainy, cold, cloudy and altogether depressing right now. I'm looking at daffodils in my front yard but bundling up in the morning like I'm going ice fishing. There's something wrong with this picture! I can't wait for warm days, sunglasses, sandals and trips to the ocean.

I love...having my very own parking space at work. It's the last parking space in the lot before the student section begins and often times I return from lunch to find some silly tricked out Honda Civic parked in my spot, but nevertheless- I enjoy the "perks" of being school staff.

I love...Sundays. Especially Sundays during football season! I love going to church as a family, driving around and looking at houses in the neighborhood afterward, and spending the afternoon relaxing and watching movies on the couch.

I love...vegetables. I could make a meal of just peas, broccoli, carrots and green beans. Cooked, raw, seasoned or plain, I LOVE veggies. Of course, to my husband, each of the above items is like kryptonite and he seems to think that he may actually DIE if he were to eat an entire serving of anything green. This is entertaining to me.

And lastly, I love...doing creative things. I have very little patience with myself and I get really irritated when the final product doesn't turn out quite like I envisioned it...but it's really fun to be creative. Right now I'm finishing up a scrapbook for my parents of their 2008 Hawaii/Vow Renewal trip. I'm also getting ready to make a felt storyboard for Sassy-pant's room, as well as some mini terrariums out of mason jars. Did someone say Martha Stewart?

And...thus concludes this week's edition of "Things I Love"....stay tuned for "10 Weird Things I Found in My Junk Drawer".

Thursday, March 26, 2009

This just in...

I am the worst blogger ever.

I am a meticulous list writer, and every day this week the first item on my list has been, "write a blog entry". I dutifully settle myself in front of the computer screen, position my hands for some "QWERTY" action, and then....I go blank. I mean I....got...nothin'. It's not like things haven't been happening in our corner of the world, I just can't seem to figure out what's worth talking about and how to make it interesting.

But, rather than despair over my inability to deliver our little family updates creatively, I'll just give you a list of a few random tidbits to keep you all from wiping my URL from your computer forever:

-For the first time in 8 years, I am on SPRING BREAK. That's right, two weeks into the job and I already have a week to rest. In my opinion it's the only way to work. Two weeks on, one week off. Definitely my kind of schedule :-)

-Speaking of which, the job is still going well. There really is A LOT to learn, but I'm slowly getting myself organized. I'm lucky to have very helpful and understanding coworkers and am looking forward to getting back to work on Monday. I think. I'm almost positive. ;-)

-I've managed to get a few things done around the house this week...for instance, Sassy-pants finally has stuff on her walls again! And the purple walls and pink ceiling are NO MORE!! We finally broke down and bought some paint, and I spent two afternoons ridding her room of glued on glow in the dark stars, and purple and pink madness (seriously). It's now a simple off white with all our favorite framed photos and artwork bringing a little color into the room. As soon as my camera is charged, I'll snap some pics to share.

-Sassy-pants has her first ever (very small) ear infection and I am super bummed. I've been forced to revise my long "to do" list for the rest of the week in order to keep my little girl comfy, which is difficult since she has a nasty cough, ear infection and small eye infection (not pink eye, thank goodness!). Despite all of that, during our three hours at Urgent Care today, she didn't complain once. What a champ!

-Along those same lines, we recently found out that Miss C will not be needing glasses (whew!). Some of you know that we've been a little concerned about the fact that one pupil has always been larger than the other, especially since Handsome was in glasses at age 3...but luckily after going to two doctor's appointments and hearing from an eye specialist in Portland, there are no concerns with her eyesight. We have a follow up appointment a year from now, and we can rest easy knowing that all is well.

Ok, to sum up- Spring Break, painting, ear infection and eye appointment. Really? That's all I got? I wonder why I've had such a hard time finding something to blog about lately!

Let's hope Spring brings warm, dry weather soon so we can get outdoors and find stuff to do. We have big plans this spring/summer to hike around some of the state parks, Yurt on the coast, and maybe camp in SE Washington...and we're counting the weeks until visits from Handsome's Mom, my cousin The Dish, and Uncle H and Auntie S.

Bring on SPRING!!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Dear Faithful Blog Readers

I have been meaning to post something on here for WEEKS!! Things have been so busy and I have been so very tired, which has made it a tad difficult to keep up in the blogging world. I'll just go over the basics to catch y'all up to speed:

1) I got a job! This time it's FOR REAL! I started Monday in the front office of one of the local high schools. So far, so good- there's a lot to learn and it's a totally new environment, but I'm excited to be working again and I'm really enjoying everything so far. The best part: I work 7-3:30 and I have winter, spring and summer breaks off! Though I don't particularly delight in hearing my 5:30AM alarm, I sure love having the afternoons with Miss Sassy-Pants, and am happy to be able to easily put dinner on the table each night. Also, I can't help but be proud of myself for beating 91 applicants!

2) We were able to get Sassy-Pants into the dream daycare that I visited a few weeks ago! She started with two half days, and has been going full time since Monday. This afternoon I had to persuade her to leave, she was not happy about leaving "the girls and boys". I watched her for a few moments this afternoon and she was interacting with one of the other kids- it was so wonderful to finally see her playing with kids her own age! I can't wait to hear (and share) her stories each day. And as soon as she is potty trained, she'll start daily swim lessons!

3) We spent a week in Minnesota in February visiting family and friends- it was a blast but it went by far too quickly. I've got all kinds of pictures to post, but I'll have to save that for tommorrow's energy. It's quarter to seven and it feels like 10:00...how will I ever make it to bedtime?

4) A quick note about Handsome- he was one of only three managers that were recently selected to speak on a conference call with all of the area managing staff (50+ individuals) about his recent branch success, and goals/tips for improving in the coming months. I think that's pretty great, especially in our current economy! He is always finding new ways to impress!

That's about all the updates I can think of for now, which is good since my energy is flagging considerably! I'm hoping that after a week or two of this new schedule, I'll find some energy and get into a good, restful routine. Thanks for all who have sent their congrats on the job, it's been a long road and I'm so happy to be working again! I'll end on a ironic note- I received the job offer on the same day that we celebrated exactly one year as Oregon residents!

Bear with me as I adjust to our new schedule, until then I will be the best blogger I can be!

From Oregon,

With Love

Monday, February 23, 2009

She's 3!

Yesterday my baby girl turned three years old. I can't believe how much she's grown, especially in the last few months. It's been wonderful having the last year at home with her, watching her grow and learn. I can hardly wait to see what year 3 brings!

Just three short years ago...


And just last week!


Happy birthday baby girl! :-)

Love,

Mommy

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Inspiration Needed....

It's been a frustrating week.

As most of you know, I was supposed to start a new job with the courthouse on Monday. Unfortunately I received a call last Wednesday informing me that a hiring freeze has been put into effect and my job offer was no longer being extended to me. The call came in as I was walking in the door from finalizing plans for the daycare of my dreams. I don't think I've ever been more frustrated and upset, I can't tell you how disappointed I was (and continue to be).

I'm having a hard time with the fact that I have to start the job search at square one AGAIN and I can't put my daughter into the best daycare I've seen in a year of searching. For the first time since we moved to Oregon, things seemed to be going our way and working out perfectly and it was all reversed with that one phone call.

Though I've having a hard time staying positive, I'm thankful to be receiving such wonderful support of all of my friends and family. I continue to remind myself that everything will work out when it's meant to happen, and things could be so much worse. In the meantime I'm enjoying spending so much time with Sassy-pants and counting the days to our week long visit in Minnesota. I'm hoping to come home from our trip feeling refreshed and ready to start again.

Until then, I'm sorry to be such a blog bum. I'm hoping inspiration finds me soon so I can get back on track here. If you see any inspiration, or have any extra you'd like to donate, I'd love to have it. I'll trade you for it.

Friday, January 30, 2009

Rocking out to...



Sassy-pants LOVES music. Like, LOVES it. I can barely get my seatbelt on in the car before a little voice shouts from the back seat, "Turn the music on please!"

And the only volume level acceptable to her is the "the people in the car next to us can actually feel this song" level. Of course, I don't allow the music to be quite that loud, for the sake of our eardrums, and those around us.

She likes just about any type of music, specifically soundtracks to her favorite movies. "Sugar Sugar" came on the radio the other day and I swear, two beats into the song (before I was even aware that the previous song has ended) she shouted "Mommy it's Bee Movie!"

We have a pretty wide range of music that is acceptable for a toddler to bop along to, but I do try to keep her music selection aimed towards kid's cds. Unfortunately, this means that I am constantly subjected to various renditions of "Twinkle Twinkle" and "Itsy Bitsy Spider", and particularly mind numbing versions of "Mary Had a Little Lamb ". And don't get me started on "It's a Small World".

Thanks to my parents (er, maybe it was Santa Clause) we are now the proud owners of "That Baby CD", which is actually pretty enjoyable! It does have it's slightly cheesy tracks, but overall I don't mind listening to this one. Maybe that's because rather than hearing "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Puff the Magic Dragon", I am treated to acoustic versions of songs by Neil Diamond, The Pretenders and Fleetwood Mac. There's even a song originally written by Jonny Lang (one of my favorite young Blues artists). Definitely a must if you are getting tired of the same old kid's songs.

Kudos to "That Baby CD", my eardrums thank you.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

25 Random Things

In sort of a MySpace/Facebook survey fashion (and inspired by a friend's blog), I am posting 25 totally random things about me. There is no rhyme or reason, these are the first things that came to my mind. Here goes...

1) In my family, there is an unspoken rule: no matter who is leaving the house or what the reason is, you must wave goodbye. It doesn't matter if someone is leaving on a trip, or running down to the grocery store, we always wave. My grandma started this and it has been carried down to my own family, which I love.

2) I cry VERY easily during movies. I am the biggest sap ever. My husband makes fun of me for it all the time, but I can't help it.

3) Since I graduated high school, I have lived in 3 states, 5 apartments, and 5 houses, and I have moved 10 times.

4) I want to go back to school someday. What for? Who knows...

5) I have discovered that I can vacuum my entire house using one outlet. At first this made me sad, but then I realized that I'm totally happy with the amount of space we have, and less square feet = less time spent cleaning :-)

6) I hate golfing, but it's my favorite game on the Wii. Plus, I worked at a golf course for three years. Ironic?

7) I have a serious fear of small spaces. I can't even watch scenes in movies involving crawl spaces, closets, or being trapped. Even thinking about it is making my palms sweat.

8) I would love to have a garden someday, but it is physically impossible for me to keep plants alive. I once had a small indoor tree that only needed to be watered once every few weeks, and it died. On the other hand, I remember to feed our fish twice a day and am fully capable of taking care of my family.

9) I hate following recipes. It's so much easier to just throw a bunch of stuff into a pot instead of having to stop every five seconds to double check a measurement or see what the next step is. It's more fun to guess, but consiquently my food almost never tastes the same as the last time I made it.

10) When I'm thinking really hard, I often twirl a pen in my hands without paying attention. Hours later someone usually has to point out that my hands are inexplicably covered in black ink.

11) I really miss MS-DOS programs. I was going through some old boxes the other day and came across a game that I used to play with my dad all the time- The Dagger of Amon Ra. It was a totally awesome adventure/murder mystery game about a reporter named Laura Bow. It got me thinking about all the other old games we used to play- Space Quest, King's Quest, Lemmings...anyone else ever play these games?

12) I LOVE rain. It doesn't matter if it's sprinkling, misting or downright pouring outside, it always puts me in a good mood. And I realize that's weird, but it's the truth.

13) I sincerely hate emptying the dishwasher. I would much rather clean my bathroom and wash windows than empty one load of dishes. I don't know why.

14) I love cheese but I'm very picky about the type of cheese I eat. I will only eat blue cheese, parmesan or EXTRA SHARP cheddar. And that's it.

15) I had three reoccuring dreams growing up. One involved being stuck in a moving vehicle that I couldn't stop, another was of my sister and I being chased by ghosts, and the third was about our house being robbed by men in white painter coats. Totally weird.

16) I took four years of Spanish in high school and I can't remember how to say anything beyond "Hola, como estas?". I really really wish I had paid closer attention, I would love to be bilingual.

17) I have zero tolerance for barking dogs. We are surrounded by dog owners, almost all of whom let their dogs bark at all hours of the day and night, and it drives me mad. My blood pressure skyrockets the second I hear a dog's bark.

18) Calvin and Hobbes is my absolute favorite comic strip. My dad has the entire Bill Watterson collection and I am so jealous.

19) I still listen to the Backstreet Boys. Don't judge.

20) I hate watching basketball. It's the most boring sport in the whole world to me. That even includes golf.

21) I can recite just about any scene from just about any episode of Friends. If someone is questioning what episode a specific scene is from, I can usually tell them which one it is. And I'm not bragging, I think it's completely ridiculous.

22) I was in seven car accidents with my first car (although one of those doesn't count- my car was backed over in a parking lot). I have been rear ended sitting at a stop sign twice, I have been rear ended while slowing for a turning car twice, and I have hit two deer. And I hit those two deer in a two week period. With the same car. On the same road. One on each side.

23) I am really good about not hanging on to things I don't need, except when it comes to clothes. I still have a pair of jeans from the beginning of high school. I will never fit into them again, but I just can't bring myself to throw them out. It's ridiculous.

24) I hate butter, mayonnaise, miracle whip, and ranch dressing. Yuck.

25) I really don't like talking on the phone. I am so much better at staying in contact via email, letters, texts...anything but the phone. Any daily tasks that involve calling someone (even if it's just to make an appointment) are usually pushed to the end of the list in the hopes that by the time I get to it, it won't need to be done. That almost never happens though.

Saturday, January 24, 2009

Crazy Hair

I love cute litte girl hair. It's so fun to put silly bows and ribbons and bright colored clips in my daughter's hair, she look so cute. Unfortunately, Sassy-pants does not agree.

This lasted about an hour:


Then this happened:

"Mommy, I LOVE my crazy hair!"

(Sigh)...She's having her 3 year pictures taken in two weeks...what are the odds that she'll be okay with "cute little girl" hair?

Thursday, January 22, 2009

You're Not Mommy.

Sassy-pants and I went grocery shopping yesterday and found Shrek 2 in the five dollar movie bin. This was especially exciting for two reasons- One, it came with a baby shrek doll, which hasn't left our sights since it came home with us. Two, we broke Shrek 2 a few months ago after accidentally stepping on it.

If you know Sassy-pants, then you know that Shrek is one of her favorite movies of all time, and Princess Fiona is a favorite character as well. We've already watched the movie twice, and all morning, when she's needed something from me it's, "Hey Fiona? Fiona, can you help me please?"

"Honey, I'm mommy. THAT'S Fiona."

"Nooo, you're not Mommy, you're Fiona."

Ok...I sincerely hope I'm "skinny human Fiona", not "big green ogre Fiona"....

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Dear Verizon

I am interested in bundling my home phone, internet and cable television services with Verizon Wireless and have questions regarding pricing, installation, etc. I called the customer service phone number for Oregon and used the automated service to connect to someone who could answer my questions. That was 1 hour 40 minutes ago and I am still on hold.

I have tried to get this information online, but when I enter my home address, your site says the address "has been standardized according to the U.S. Postal Service records", which is a completely different street and city then my address. This makes it impossible for me to move forward on the site to have my questions answered accurately. I literally entered my address with one pointer finger, one…key…at…a…time, MULTIPLE times, just to make sure I wasn’t doing it wrong. I even asked my husband to confirm our address in case I was suffering from some kind of brain damage. And every time, it told me I was wrong.

I have even tried finding service information with the "corrected address", only to have it corrected again before it allows me to continue. This is pointless because it doesn't even resemble my actual address. On that note I have used websites such as Mapquest before, which also correct the address before showing results, and I have never run into a problem with this particular address.

Furthermore, after completing this online inquiry, I tried to send it, only to see that the "State" drop down menu had no states listed, which made it impossible for me to submit my email. I started the process of contacting Verizon via email again, choosing different settings before it finally gave me the option of choosing my state.

I was originally interested in Verizon services only because it would save me about $10 per month, which after nearly two hours on hold and countless tries obtaining the information online, is not looking worthwhile. Like, not even a little bit.

Needless to say I am extremely displeased to have lost two hours of my day just trying to get information on your product, and can say that I have never been more frustrated by a company’s lack of customer service and technical support. And that hold music? Appalling.

Regardless, if there is anyone available to email or call me with the information I need, I’m cheap enough that I’d still like to hear about it. I better get some extra channels out of this deal though…but not ESPN2 or ESPN News or ESPN Classics. One sports channel is enough.

I can’t promise that I’ll forgive you for sucking at customer service though…in fact, as soon as I get this kink out of my neck and stop humming your incredibly mind-numbing hold song, I may actually call my buddies over at Comcast to see if they can get me a better deal. Or a deal at all, since I still don’t actually know what you guys cost.

Thanks for wasting my cell minutes,

Ms. Irate

Monday, January 19, 2009

Rant & Rave

I've been struggling with an idea for a post for a while now and remembered that while ago a friend posted something that I've been meaning to try myself. Apparently the Seattle newspaper has a section called "Rant and Rave" where people send in one or the other to share. They're fun to read and easy to think of, so here goes...

Rave: Pandora Internet Radio. For those who haven't heard of it, go to http://pandora.com/. You can search for an artist or particular song, and Pandora will play music by that artist and other similar ones. It's an awesome way to hear new music! Being a big Jack Johnson fan, I created a listening station with his music, where I heard great new music by Donovan Frankenreiter, Dispatch and Brett Dennen. I have a bunch of different radio stations to choose from depending on my mood and I've really widened my music collection. Check it out!

Rant: Potty training is the devil. It makes me want to tear my hair out. Sassy-pants and I have had an endless number of conversations about how big girls go potty in the toilet, we watched Elmo's Potty Time until my brain went numb, and we LOVE getting stickers and other treats when we do sit on the potty. Things haven't improved at all since my last potty training rant, which you can read all about here. We're doing everything the way the books tell us to, taking all the advice we can get...and we are getting NOWHERE.

Rave: I love love LOVE waking up in the middle of the night feeling extra sleepy and dreading looking at the clock, only to find out that I've only been asleep for an hour. It's a FANTASTIC feeling knowing that I have almost a whole night's sleep ahead of me yet!

Rant: People who leave their trash cans out for days after the truck comes by. I've noticed that one neighbor in particular has made their empty trash can a permanent feature of our sidewalk, which is so lovely to see every time I look out the window. I realize that dragging an empty plastic bin on wheels from the end of the driveway to the house is really quite physically demanding...what can I do to make it easier for you?

Rave: Coupons. Coupons are awesome. They are a total pain to clip out, organize and actually REMEMBER to use, and I'll be honest- being in line at the grocery store behind the lady with seventeen hundred coupons and a coin purse is truly maddening...but man, it's nice to save money! For instance, I found two coupons for a hair salon near our house- one for a free haircut (which Handsome used this past weekend, and his hair has never looked better!) and another for a haircut and color for just $35 (which I will be using in two weeks! yahoo!). If you've ever had your hair colored, you know this is a SWEET deal. Go ahead, be jealous.

Well there you have it...I don't think I could have been more sporadic with this post, but those are truly the first things that came to my mind.

What are your Rants and Raves?

Monday, January 12, 2009

PUT A SMILE ON

Sassy-pants always seems to find the most inopportune time to need my help with something. I’m usually up to my elbows in soapy dishwater, buried beneath mountains of unfolded laundry, or right smack dab in the middle of making dinner. This morning her untimely request came while I was attempting to clean yogurt smoothie off the countertop, cabinets and floor (MAJOR spillage, you don’t want to know).

“Mommy, I need to play playdoh! I need to play playdoh!!!” …notice it’s “need" and not “want”, like this is a life or death situation

I explain that I am busy but will help her in one minute. She then calmly repeats herself, emphasizing each word by drawing it out slowly, as if I misunderstood the fact that she wants my assistance. “I W-A-N-T….to plaaayyyy ….P-L-A-Y-D-O-H.”

In my most calm mommy voice, I explain again that I need to finish what I’m doing before I can get out the playdoh. She proceeds to demand AGAIN, this time raising her voice to that whiny “on the verge of a tantrum” level.

I muster up all the strength I can and take a deep breath. Through clenched teeth and in my most stern Mommy voice I simply say, “MISSY…”

She pauses, then utters a VERY over exaggerated sigh and rolls her eyes…”Okay Mommy, I will be patient and put a smile on”. Funny, I was trying to do the same thing, darling girl.

Thursday, January 8, 2009

Are you there readers? It's me, Kirimi.

Remember that time I promised lots and lots of posts because I had so many ideas and things to share and I was stuck at home and had all that time to post things and then I never did?

Remember?

Well please excuse the time lapse occuring between posts here, but you'll be happy to know that this girl is back online and ready to blog!
I think I'll use this post to share a little about our holiday season, which was wonderful. We certainly missed being near our friends and family in Minnesota, but it was an enjoyable holiday nonetheless. We drove up to my parents in the snow on Christmas Eve, which was a slow and slippery drive. We were thankful to arrive safely and thoroughly enjoyed Christmas with neighborhood friends and family.

Handsome had to drive back down for work the day after Christmas, so Sassy-pants and I stayed behind and spent some time with my family. We shopped until we dropped, wined and dined and just enjoyed each other's company.

New Year's Eve was spent with the usual neighborhood crowd at my parent's house. There were about 20 of us total, and enough food and drink to satisfy a small country. Handsome made the drive up again New Year's Eve night, but because of his late work schedule, didn't make it until 12:10am. Lucky for us, it was just an excuse to continue the New Year's Eve celebration until the early morning hours!

After a New Year's Day fondue dinner, we spent the rest of the weekend staying up way too late and squeezing every last drop out of our mini vacation. It was hard to leave, but our bodies needed rest and regular schedules again.

I've spent the last couple of days putting away our Christmas decorations and returning the house to it's normal organized and clutter free state. I think I'm finally back to a normal sleep schedule, and ready to dive into the new year! And yes, I realize we're on day eight already. No laughing.

Here are a few of my favorite pictures from this season, and now that we're all caught up, I PROMISE to keep this thing updated!

These next three are a few of my favorite photos from our holiday/family photo session:



This one makes me smile:


This one is going on the wall:
Mom and Dad's Christmas card:
And a few from New Year's Eve:
The most fabulous crabcakes ever made (just one of MANY tasty appetizers):


Having fun with sparklers:


My favorite neighborhood ladies:

The 'hood:

Happy New Year to all!

From Oregon,
With Love