Just three short years ago...
And just last week!
Happy birthday baby girl! :-)
Love,
Mommy
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
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.
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.
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?
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"....
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
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
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