February 16, 2011

Washer shopping.

The washing machine has been acting up in a bad way lately, it's been making this grinding noise during all of the cycles, and one night when doing the laundry, I had to shut it off because the belt was burning.
I know it was burning because of the following:
1) the smell
2) the smoke that filled the room
If the washing machine continues to act up, if the belt starts burning again, it looks like I may have to purchase a new one with my income tax return.
I don't want to spend money on that, I'd much rather do something fun with the money, like take the teens to visit their family up north or some sort of other family vacation, but if the washer breaks, I absolutely have to have a new one.

When we first moved in here, I didn't have a washer or dryer, so we had to go to the laundromat every Saturday morning, it cost roughly $12-$15 dollars in quarters because the dryers never, ever seemed to dry on just one or sometimes even two pay cycles, and it would take about six-seven hours to wash and dry it all, and then come home and fold it all, and then put it all away.
I refuse to ever have to go back to a laundromat again, it just sucks!

So if the washer breaks, I am hoping that I can either find one locally and really cheap, or get one for a really good sale price, and Buy.com has some nice washers that are priced LOWER than two of my local appliance stores.
I did some price comparisons the other day with these washers, and yeah, Buy.com is definitely priced lower on these two models.

This LG Electronics Electronics 5.2 Cu. Ft. Top Load Washer is priced at $998.98 with free shipping at Buy.com.
At one of my local appliance places, it is priced at $1,079.99 with a $150 fee for delivery of the new one, and removal of the old washer.
The other local place has it listed at $1,059.99 with a $100 fee for delivery of the new one, and removal of the old washer.

This LG Electronics WM2050CW 4.0 Cu. Ft. Large Capacity Front Load Washer is priced at $879.00 including shipping at Buy.com.
At the first appliance place, they also have it priced at $879.00 but with the $150 fee for delivery of the new one, and removal of the old washer.
At the second place, they also have it priced at $879.00 and with the $100 fee for delivery of the new one, and removal of the old washer.

If I go with either model from Buy.com, it will be delivered for free, and as far as removal of my old washer goes, all I would need to do is get a dolly and roll it out to the end of the carport.
There's an appliance place in the plaza up the street from me, and they have two guys who go driving around town with a huge truck with a lift, and all they do is find and pick up broken washers and dryers that people leave at their curbs.
The store then repairs and sells them for outrageous prices as "used" appliances, they don't tell people that they go picking up broken ones from around town.

I really hope that I don't have to buy a new one, but if I do, I am definitely buying a new one, not a used one so that it comes with the warranty and everything.
Just keep your fingers crossed that the washer holds out for just a little longer.

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February 16, 2011

Food poisoning and hot cats.

Yesterday, Tuesday, Mark and I took a walk and went up to CVS to get his script and a Moneypak card so that I could pay my hosting bill and the water bill, and then we stopped and had lunch at the Chinese place near there.
I use the Moneypak cards because I can add cash to the Moneypak card and then transfer it to my PayPal account, and then use my PayPal card to pay my bills.
My web hosting company, ICDSoft.com, takes PayPal directly, so I used PayPal to pay the hosting renewal bill, and then the card to pay the water bill.

Mark and I had a really great lunch (or so we thought) and we talked about a lot of things.
Mark has spent a lot of time online researching his spine problems, the Spondylolysis and Spondylolisthesis, he wanted to know for himself exactly what he has, not just hear the doctors say those big words to him and not really explain what anything is or how it can be corrected, so we talked about all of the information he learned and a whole bunch of other really interesting subjects he looked up online as well.
We took a really slow walk home because after walking there, I was simply in too much pain to walk quickly back home.
To be honest, I should have spent the stinking $7 and taken a cab home, I'm still in pain from the walk.

But anyway, everything was going good, (or so I thought), until around 6:30pm or so.
When we came home from our errands, Mark went and laid down, he wanted to take a small nap and I had no objection to that because he had actually been up all night.
Sebastian was going to wake him at 7pm because I went to my friend Nikki's house because she was going to help me dye my hair.
While I was sitting there with dye in my hair, Sebastian calls and tells me that Mark is feeling really nauseous and is "sorta green looking".
I told him that I would be back home as fast as I possibly could, and to just tell Mark to stay laying down and take it easy.
While there for about another 45 minutes, I got two more calls from Sebastian telling me that Mark had now puked three times and for me to not rush home, he was just giving me updates.
When I got in the door, Mark was definitely green looking, he had now puked a total of five times, and he got up and ran into the bathroom again to go for round six.
Poor kid.
He had the curry chicken at the Chinese place, and something must have been really wrong with it because Mark definitely has food poisoning.
I do believe it's all over now, (I hope) he's been in bed sound asleep since about 11:30pm, he hasn't puked again, and the wicked bad stomach cramps that he said he was having, have totally stopped too
What was a nice lunch and really great talk with Mark, turned into him being sick for hours because of that "nice lunch":
Ugh.

I've been awake all night (nothing new there) and just sitting here thinking about a lot of things, mindlessly watching crap on the tv, and trying really hard to get myself out of this horrible depression that I've been in for several months now because of all of the new medical issues that I'm dealing with.
I so just want it all to stop, after all of these years, I just want the medical crap to stop.
It's just not going to, not anytime soon anyway.
So I was sitting here and then decided to go lay on the couch and surf the channels looking for anything even halfway decent to watch, and it was cold in here even with the blanket I was wrapped up in, and I was thinking how much I used to love my electric blanket when I was a teenager and how nice it would be to have one now for the winters here because we don't have heat in this house, it usually doesn't ever get cold enough for the use of heat.
That's when the cats realized that I was on the couch with the blanket, they love the blanket, and they love it when someone is on the couch with it, they all come cuddling up on you.
After about 15 - 20 minutes with Kali, Nova, Shahiro, and Simba all curled up on top of me, I was definitely not cold anymore, as a matter of fact, I had to get back up off of the couch because I was sweating.
The cats are like little fur-covered breathing electric blankets. hahaha!
They cuddle all up, start purring, and within minutes, you're definitely not cold anymore.

I got up off of the couch over two hours ago and I've now just been sitting here mindlessly surfing the channels again, thinking, and trying to find the positive in all of this stuff and wondering why, why I go in for one painful medical issue in my left hip, and come back out with two medical issues, one in each hip!
I keep telling myself to laugh, you know, gotta laugh because if you don't, you'll cry, and I do end up laughing because of the insanity of it all.
I just wonder how many more things can possibly go wrong with my body, how many more titanium implants I can get inside of me, and wondering when it's all going to stop, when I'm finally going to catch that break that everyone keeps telling me that I should be getting really soon.

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February 12, 2011

Home alone for the rest of the weekend.

Mark just left with his friend Jeff, he won't be back home until sometime tomorrow, probably after dinner time.
Sebastian left yesterday with my sister, he won't be home until tomorrow, probably sometime after dinner time.
My sister is taking him and my adorable nieces to do some fun things this weekend.
They are finally going somewhere that Sebastian wanted to go when he was little so so bad, and they are finally going today.
Even at age 17, Sebastian was very excited!
Where are they going?!
You might all think it's totally hokey, but it's not really, it's kind of like Jurassic Park but the dinosaurs are not going to eat you.
They are going to Dinosaur World, they have over 150 life-sized and life-like dinosaurs that are all man made, and I think, think, that some of them move, not really sure about that, but I could have sworn that some of them have some robotic movement.
I am sure that Sebastian is going to have a really good time, he always wanted to go when he was little, so he was very excited when he came home yesterday and I told him to pack his clothes for the weekend.
I can't remember why we didn't take the boys when they were little, but we just didn't.
We took them to every other theme park in Florida, but not that one.
Is it really a theme park?
I don't think so, I am sure there are no rides, I think it's just all dinosaurs, but it should be a good time anyway.
My nieces love dinosaurs just like the boys did, so sis is taking them there today.
Mark didn't want to go, he's just not as interested in them as he was way back when he was little, I guess.
Mark prefers video games, food, and sleeping these days.

In my clumsy news, I often lose feeling in my feet, worse if I cross my legs, and I was sitting here in my chair last night talking to a friend on the phone for about an hour with my legs crossed.
When I finished and got up to hang up the phone, I didn't even realize that I had put my right leg and foot to sleep, and when I stood up, I came right back down between the couch and the coffee table with a bone breaking and very loud "cruuuuuuuunch".
I have obviously done something really bad to it, I am pretty sure that at least one toe, the big one, is broken, along with maybe a fracture in the top of my foot, and a really bad sprain of the ankle.
My entire right foot is swollen and black and blue, that means broken right?

So I'm just taking it as easy as I possibly can today, just hanging out watching movies and crap shows from the couch.
I'm watching and actually enjoying, Julie & Julia right now on Mark's LCD HDTV that he brought out here for me so I could enjoy a good picture.
My sis got him the tv for graduating high school, and he just thought I'd like to see movies look good today.
Heck, everything looks good on it, not just movies.
It's not too bad of a movie, or maybe that's the pain killers and the muscle relaxers talking, don't know, but it's really not that bad at all.

Later days.

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December 22, 2010

Getting things done for the Xmas weekend.

I've been doing a lot around here since getting the all-clear from my doc on Monday to be off of bed-rest because of my lung.
The house was a total disaster, the teens did what they could, they did almost all of the cooking, laundry, and shopping, so that I could follow my doc's orders to not lift anything or do too much bending or other things that could cause my lung to not heal up properly and completely.
Being on bed-rest for so long was really, really boring.
I've watched more stupid tv shows and movies than ever, even more than I did in the days, weeks, and months following my surgeries, than I care to even admit.
I will say though that I've found a few stupid shows that are just addicting to watch, like Married To Rock.
I LOVE Josie, and hate Etty. God, Etty is so damn annoying! Her voice, her whole attitude, gah, she just sucks.

Our neighbor's son went and saw the movie Tron Legacy the other day, and said it was great which only makes Sebastian want to go see it even more.
The neighbor kid has never seen the original movie Tron, and Sebastian has, he's been dying to see the new film since he heard about it because he loves the original movie so much.
He also wants to new video game Tron Evolution which Buy.com has on sale for under $60 with free shipping.

I will more than likely get it for him, not for xmas though, but after, I've already gotten them all of the video games and WoW stuff that they asked for and that has left me tapped out broke.
I will probably get it next month just because he's been so good and helpful over the last several weeks while I've been healing up and not able to do much around here.

OK, time to get going again, I need to go to the store, get some more people food, cat food, and some other things that we need, and then come home and do some cleaning up around here.
I've tackled most of the cleaning, but there's still quite a bit to go.
Later days!

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December 21, 2010

Qwik Shower Gym Class Wipes product review.

I recently received a few samples (four individual packets) of Qwik Shower Gym Class Wipes.
They are disposable wipes that are quite large and wet enough to almost wipe down your entire body after gym class, a jog, a walk to work, or whatever you do that may cause you to get sweaty and need to be cleaned up but in a place where you are not able to take a shower.
They come in a small package, but unfold into a huge wipe, larger than a normal size washcloth, and much larger than a baby wipe.
Each wipe is large, thick and cloth like (10" x 12") moist, single-use disposable towels.*
That's really pretty large, and you can see them in the following image by clicking it to make it larger.

I had Sebastian try one out because he walks to school every day, and here in Florida it's even really hot at 6:45am on hot days. (Yes it's winter here, but we are still having some hot days mixed in)
He walked to school and he said that by the time he got there, he was sweaty and felt gross, so he went to the bathroom, went into a stall and opened up the Qwik Shower Gym Class Wipe.
He said it was very large and wet enough to wipe down every single part of his body that was all sweaty, and when he finished, it was still a bit wet and he probably could have wiped down even more of his body.
After using it, he said, his body was no longer sweaty, he felt clean again, and he didn't have any odor. He always carries a travel size deodorant and a travel size spray of his cologne, and so he used those to freshen himself up a bit more because he used the wipes on his armpits just to make sure that he got himself really clean and had no body odor.
He's really taken to making sure that he looks good and doesn't stink at school because he said that the boys (and girls) who don't keep themselves clean and have body odor, get picked on and teased really bad, so he makes sure that he doesn't have any BO at all.
He really liked how big the wipes are, how wet they are without being "drippy", and how much of his body he was able to get clean with just one wipe, and he said that if he had wanted to, he probably could have wiped down his entire body, arms, legs, his whole chest, back, everywhere, but he only concentrated on the ares that were totally sweaty that day, his arms, pits, chest, face, lower back, neck, and thighs.
He said that he wiped down his face first, and liked that he had something to wash his face with because he doesn't like having acne, so being able to wash his face with something other than just a wet paper towel, made him very happy.
He said that he was clean, that it felt like he had taken another shower, and that the wipes don't have a strong scent, which was really important to him because he uses a matching deodorant and spray cologne, and he didn't want any competing scents mixed in.
Overall, he said that the wipes worked really great, and he took two more of the four sample packets that I received, and put them in the pocket of his backpack where he keeps his deodorant and cologne spray.

This left me with just one wipe for myself to try out.
After I had walked to the corner store and back one afternoon, I came home and was all sweaty as I usually am after a walk there and back.
After a walk to the store, I would normally take either a quick shower or get a washcloth and wipe myself down, but I recalled that I had the wipe to try out, so I grabbed it and went into the bathroom.
Just like Sebastian said, the wipe was quite large and it was wet enough to wipe my whole body, every single area that was sweaty, and I used it to wipe down almost every part of my body simply because I could, because it was still wet enough to do that.
The Qwik Shower Wipe worked really well, and just like Sebastian, I liked that it doesn't have a strong scent, it didn't compete with my deodorant and perfume, and it really made me feel fresh and clean again.
The both of us really like them, they work very well, and Sebastian said that he wouldn't mind having some more of them to use in the spring when it starts getting hotter again, and so I will probably be buying a bunch of them for him for those walks to school on hot days.

They aren't expensive at all, you can get a sample, one wipe, for just $1 by clicking here.
You can get 10 for $7, 50 for $29.00, and 100 for $49.00, (all purchases made from their site have free shipping) that's really not bad prices at all for something that helps your teen(s) or yourself, get fresh and clean when you need to be in a place where you can't take a shower but need to be clean.

If you have an organization that needs to raise funds, like maybe the school football or other sport team that needs to raise money to pay for trips or uniforms, etc, you can sign up your organization and QWIKSHOWER will send you an email to distribute to your membership and when they buy QWIKSHOWER, they will send you 10% of the gross purchase price.*
So not only is it a product to help get your teens clean, but it can also help with fund-raising.
QWIKSHOWER is also available for wholesale, and you can click here for that information.

FTC disclosure;
I was not compensated in any way for this post.
I received four samples for free to try out and and was asked to write a product review.
I was not compensated to write this review, and I was not asked to write a positive tone only review.
I was asked to write my honest opinion of the Qwik Shower Gym Class Wipes, and then any other information about the product that I felt like including.
All opinions of the product are mine and some are my son's.
Some of the wording has been taken directly from their website and are marked with an asterisk at the end of the sentence.

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December 14, 2010

Today's agenda for 12/14/10

*Go to 7-elven.
*Buy a MoneyPak card.
*Go to Publix and do shopping (DO NOT forget cat litter!! ) and get the vitamin supplements that have run out or are running way low, household groceries, cleaners, and food staples/supplies, etc.
*Come home, put groceries away, add funds to PayPal account (LOVE Green Dot for the ability to add to my PayPal account and not just their cards! *swoon*).
*Pay water bill of $25.14 (LOVE my water bills! hahahaha!) using PayPal card.
*After shopping and paying bills, take quickie lunch break and then start cleaning the house.
*After cleaning, dig out all xmas decor and the tree.
* Decorate the tree and house.
*Have all the xmas decor and lights on well BEFORE 2:38pm so when Sebastian walks through the door, at exactly 2:38pm, he will smile like he's 4 years old again.
*That smile will be worth the major backache that I'll have for the entire rest of the night.
* Well worth it.

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December 8, 2010

One gift down-loaded.

Both of the teens have been playing WoW (World of Warcraft) for a few years now, and the newest expansion pack came out on December 7th called World of Warcraft: Cataclysm.
I know absolutely nothing at all about this game or the expansion packs, but millions of other people do including my sons and my sister too.
It's a visually beautiful game, I admit that I am awed by how gorgeous the game is every time I go in the room to check out what they are doing and who they are chatting in-game with, and Cataclysm is even better looking than all of the other game packs if that's even possible.

I like all of the various creatures that they have created, elves, night elves, trolls, all kinds of odd but interesting looking creatures.

I already bought and downloaded the game for the teens the day that it came out as an early Christmas present, they had been asking for it since the day they heard it was coming out, and I had made a promise months and months ago, that on the day it came out, I would get it and they could play it right away.
If I hadn't made that promise though, I would still be able to get it at a great price, the same price as the official site too.
Buy.com has it on sale for the exact same price as the official game website, so I feel good about buying it and letting them download it early.
It made them happy and they have been doing every single thing that I've been asking them to do for weeks now.
Bonus! Hahaha!

They have so many things on sale at really good prices for Christmas like SanDisk mp3 players, and these Altec Lansing earphones with Swarovski crystals, which I have and love, they're so pretty and they have awesome sound too.

I'm glad that their computer is working again, it had been months of hell and agony with their computer not working, three separate trips to the repair place with the computer actually staying at the repair place for almost 2 months in total time that it was gone from our house, and no one could figure out what was wrong with it.
It worked perfect at the repair place, but as soon as we got home, it wouldn't work.
Everything was tried, power supplies, new motherboards installed twice, new video cards, new power cords, all kinds of stuff.
You know what it was?
I'm so mad at myself for not thinking of it and testing it out sooner.
Grrrr! could kick myself over it!
It was a possessed keyboard.
No, really.
The keyboard had something wrong with it, some computer chip malfunction or something, it was shutting the computer down on it's own, making it re-install Windows, telling us it had viruses, all kinds of whackness, so it's no wonder that when at the repair place it worked, but at home it was whacked out and making us nuts for months!
This went on from August right up until about three to four weeks ago.
We finally figured it out by just for the fun of it, (Ha! Fun!? I was at wits end ripping my hair out!) I took their keyboard and plugged it into my computer, and bam! It shut my computer down instantly.
OMG! So so mad at myself for not thinking of something so simple sooner, it would have saved me countless trips to the repair place, which luckily, cost me nothing because the computer is still under warranty until February, but damn, what a huge pain in the butt.

Anyway, I have a lot to do, so much to catch you all up on if anyone is still around.
I know, it's been such a long time, but so much has been happening, just crazy, nutty, health and friend and life drama.
I should have blogged it all as it was happening, but half the time I couldn't even sit up.
OK, things to do be back later on.

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December 6, 2010

Only 18 days, 2hours, 17 minutes,and some odd seconds

Until Christmas day.
How ready are all of you?
Been due to all of my recent illnesses and injuries, i am bit fare behind than I should be normally at this point, but I will catch up.
Especially when there are some really great deals and steals going on the internet lately.
Take Buy.com for instance and their super awesome daily and weekly sale that they always have going on.
For example, they have taken $230.00 off the price of a Hannspree ST42DMSB 42" LCD HDTV, and the shipping is totally free too, so yeah, a major bargain.

It's got fantastic reviews on it, and it also comes with "470 points" to earn for buying it.
What are these points?
Here; let me explain to you what the points are directing you to this page;
http://www.buy.com/rakutensuperpoints/default.asp
But basically, the more points that you earn, the more stuff that you can buy at Buy,com once you've accrued enough points.

The tv come with all of the great features and specs, so if you're in the market for a new tv for the family, give these features and specs a look at and see if it's something that you would like to have.

Features
Video Features Features ultra-sharp Full HD 1080P image resolution w/ ViVid Motion 120Hz
Video Features Provides excellent image detail, picture quality, and video performance
Video Features Great for watching HD programming, sports, movies, and enjoy gaming
Video Features Connects to over-the-air HD antenna, cable set-top box, Blu-ray™/DVD player, gaming console, VCR, video camcorder, and PC
Video Features USB 2.0 Flash Drive Input for enjoying music and photos
Video Features Standard 1 year warranty
Video Features
Tech Specs
Tech Specs Display Area: 42"
Tech Specs Display Type: LCD
Tech Specs Aspect Ratio: 16:9
Tech Specs Dynamic: 15000:1
Tech Specs Contrast Ratio: 1300:1
Tech Specs Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Tech Specs Screen Refresh Rate: 120Hz
Tech Specs Response Time: 4.5 ms
Tech Specs Signal Compatibility: 1080p
Tech Specs Input Video Signal: ATSC, QAM, NTSC
Tech Specs Compatibility: VESA (200 mm X 200 mm)
Tech Specs Condition: New
Tech Specs Features: PC Input
Tech Specs Speakers: 2
Tech Specs Inputs: S-Video/Composite,Y,Pb,Pr/HDMI/VGA
Tech Specs Outputs: Analog Audio,Digital Audio Out
Tech Specs HDMI Ports: 4
Tech Specs Power Consumption: 113W
Tech Specs Height (inches): 25.5
Tech Specs Height with Stand (inches): 27.8
Tech Specs Width (inches): 40.1
Tech Specs Depth (inches): 3.6
Tech Specs Depth with Stand (inches): 9.6
Tech Specs Unit Weight: 42.5 lb

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November 16, 2010

Slowly on the mend.

I'm slowly starting to feel a bit better, slowly starting to get some strength back, and slowly starting to feel sort of myself again.
I've been down sick for the last few weeks with gastroenteritis, aka, the stomach flu, and a UTI, and another infection which hasn't been named/found yet.They just know that I have something else because my white cells are wicked high again.

I'm now on my second antibiotic because the Cipro was making me feel even worse.
They gave me Zofran to stop the nausea and vomiting, but the Cipro was making me puke anyway.
It was just far too strong for me, within 20 minutes of taking it, I would be barfing my guts out, and after not being able to eat anything at all for days on end, it was mostly stomach bile or the dry heaves, which in my opinion, is even worse than throwing up acidic bile.
Gastroenteritis is by far the absolute best appetite suppression that there ever was.
I still don't have any appetite and I've been on antibiotics and the other meds since last Monday the 8th.
So now I'm taking the Zofran, Zantac 150mg twice per day, and now for an antibiotic, Bactrim.
The Bactrim will hopefully, according to my doc, do a couple of things.
First, it will clear up the UTI, and second, it might cause a decrease in white blood cells, which is a good thing.
My white cells are sky high again, and the docs frantically try to figure out why, and there's been talk a few times now about doing another Indium Scan.
I HATE that test, really hate that test, so I am hoping that when I go in tomorrow they have some sort of idea why my white cells are so high, what the infection is and where it is, or that the Bactrim has cleared it up, or decreased my white cell count so they stop all the talk about doing that test again.

My appointment is at 9:30am, and then I'm going to have to run to the pharmacy and get my scripts filled, and then I should be back home sometime around noon, or at least I hope, that is if all goes well and there's no problems or bad news.
Keep your fingers crossed for me that everything goes well and that I don't have to have that test again.

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October 30, 2010

Sims 3 for Xbox360 at Buy.com

This is definitely on our family Christmas list for this year!
The new Sims 3 for the Xbox360!

Hopefully Buy.com will still have it on sale for the awesome price of just $57.99 with free shipping, which most other e-tailers are not offering on this item.

For the longest time, the Sims has been a strictly pc game, and even though there have been a few versions for consoles, honestly, they sucked.
This version, the Sims 3, looks A-ma-zing!
It looks just like the pc version, and from what I am reading in the reviews, it plays just like the pc version.

The only "negative" things that I've read are that the ability to "slide" the sliders in the "Create-a-Sim" section are not there.
That means that you cannot slide to make noses, ears, and mouths, bigger or smaller, you have to choose from what is already there as far as the sizes of noses, ears, and mouths go, and that there's no direct control over your sims, meaning that you don't play in first person, that it's exactly like the pc version, you see the Sims and tell them what to do.
Apparently, some people wanted the Sims 3 for the console to be more like most console games, like first person shooters or something.
Personally, I like seeing my Sims and telling them what to do, and then watch them do it.
Like this image below, I love being able to tell my Sim to play a game of chess with Death in a game of win or die if the Grim Reaper comes a calling for your soul.
It would be very fun to watch your Sim play against Death, and if you win, tell and see your Sim to do a happy dance, and then watch as Death gets mad that he doesn't get to swallow your soul! hahaha!!

There is something new in the console version that is NOT in any of the pc versions, it's called "Karma Powers".
From the game features information:
Unlock All-New Karma Powers - Wield the ultimate control over your Sims giving them wealth, beauty, and love, or take it all away with the click of a button.
This feature sounds like so much fun!
Some of the other key game features:
Build and Customize - Build the ultimate home for your Sims, improve your town with building upgrades, and more.
I absolutely LOVE building houses! I can spend hours and hours of my game-play time, just building and decorating my house. I once spent about 6 hours of game-play time over the course of five straight days, doing nothing but building and decorating their home.
I bought a huge empty lot, (gave myself tons of Simoleons using the cheat code of course) and then spent all of that time building the most beautiful home that I could possibly imagine. It was truly incredible.
Then the game crashed.
*sigh*
Control your Sims' Destinies - Choose whether or not to fulfill your Sims' destinies by making their wishes come true, or letting their dreams die. Will your Sims be emperors of evil, world leaders, or expert thieves? It's up to you.
I love that in the Sims 3 we were given far more choices for what our Sims' would be, what their careers would be, and then make them do things to achieve those career goals.
Build and Share Online* - Connect to share your creations and download content from other players around the world, without ever leaving your game.
Some of the coolest clothes and furniture that I've downloaded for my Sims' were all things that I've gotten from other users who created stuff. I simply do not know how to create clothes or furniture, houses I can do, but I have no idea how to make the clothes and furniture, you have to be like good at some program, and I don't have the patience to learn a new program even though I would LOVE to design my own clothes and stuff.

Both Sebastian and I love playing the Sims' and Mark does too, but he doesn't like the controls of the pc, he prefers the video game console controls, so if we do get this for Christmas, then I know that Mark will play it too.
Yeah, we are so definitely going to get this, I just need to do way more work and as fast as I can to ear my Christmas spending money!

Hooba Noobie!*

Continue Reading �

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October 28, 2010

The flu sucks.

The teens and I have had the flu since last week, we are finally getting over it now, finally feeling well enough to actually do things, and things sorely need to be done.
Sebastian missed several days of school due to being sick, Friday of last week, and Monday and Tuesday of this week, and then I realized that there's no school this Friday due to a "professional day".
He's already mostly caught up on the work he missed because he's allowed to do his work on the computer at his own pace, which is good.
If he wasn't allowed to do that, it would take him a whole lot longer to get caught up.

The house is a total disaster area, there should be warning signs posted on the front door about what an absolute mess the house is, but I've just been too sick to do anything about it, or care really.
Tomorrow though, I am going to attempt to get some of it cleaned up, do some laundry, definitely clean the floors, they are awful, and the bathroom has got to be done.
One week without cleaning that, yeah, not good.
I swear, teenage boys just don't even seem to notice that they've left their shaved off facial hairs laying in the sink, on the sink counter, everywhere.
Let's not forget the gobs of toothpaste left in the sink either.
Yick.
And on top of being sick and having a totally messy house, I haven't been able to sleep at all either.
There's nothing worse than feeling like you've been hit by a bus, then a truck, and then a 20 car pile up, on top of you, and all that you want to do is sleep, but you can't.
Some one of these days I'll find a permanent cure for my insomnia.

There's so many things that I want to do this coming weekend, that I wish that I could get a cash advance on my check so that I can pay all of the bills, get those over with and out of the way, then pay for the stuff that the teens need for college apps and required test taking in order to apply for the job.
It's kind of insane that you have to pay to take a test in order to apply for a job, but whatever.
Then, with whatever money is left over, do the things that I need and want to do this weekend.
But nope.
After paying the phone/internet bill, there isn't diddly squat left. haha
Laugh or cry, I'm choosing to laugh.
It's OK though, I have other things to do this weekend which will be a lot of fun but I'm not going to blog about it until after.
I don't want to mess things up by saying too much or the wrong stuff.

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October 20, 2010

Sick teens, and WHAT did you just say about my parenting?!

Holy heck man, I have had like the worst six, maybe seven days that I have had in a long, long time, this past week.

It started off on Wednesday morning when I was supposed to have my doctor appointment at 10am.
At 8:10am, I received a totally frantic call from the doctor's nurse, she had a total of 148 patients to call who had been scheduled to be seen on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, and she had to tell everyone that their appointments were canceled and going to be rescheduled, but right at that moment, she didn't know what day or time they were going to be for, what was going to be done about medications, nothing, she quickly said that my doctor's family had been in a car accident and then *click*.
Um, wha?
What, wait?
I called right back, I was so totally confused, I thought maybe a friend was playing a joke on me because everyone knows that this doc is hard to get into, getting on his schedule is tough, but it wasn't a joke, his nurse explained it again, everyone had to be rescheduled, she didn't have the new schedule yet, a small supply of meds were going to be called in but she didn't know what meds or when they were going to be called in, and she was sorry but she would call me back in an hour.
Then because I was in like a state of shock, I totally forgot to call my friends who were giving me a ride to my appointment, so they showed up, I had to explain it to them, and then the entire rest of the day Wednesday was just call after call from some jerk that I know, we shall give him the initials of Gr., and he must have like gone off of his meds or something, and after the first three calls from him screaming at me over all kinds of crazy stuff, I stopped taking his calls and let all seven more of them for that day, go to voice mail.
One of Gr.'s scream-fests was him blaming me for him losing a $4,000 job and he was going to make me pay for it, he was going to come to my house and make me pay for it, he didn't care how, but oh yeah, I was going to pay.
I had to stop taking his calls after the first three like I said, it was just insane, and no matter what I said to him, no matter how I tried to calm him down, he got more and more irate, and after that third call, I couldn't take it anymore, I sat down and cried, then had a massive anxiety/panic attack, cried some more, and when my cellphone rang and it was Gr. again, I just let it ring until the voice mail picked up.
I let that happen, for like I said, all seven more of his calls that day, for the five he made on Thursday, the five more he made on Friday, the two on Saturday, I got a reprieve on Sunday, and then at 8:20am on Monday morning when Gr. called me again, I let it go to voice mail again.
I simply could not handle being yelled at by him again, I couldn't take it.
I listened to every single one of his voice mail messages, I shouldn't have after listening to just the first couple of them, but I did, and I shouldn't have, because it caused me to be a complete nervous wreck for the entire weekend.

But back to my doctor and Wednesday, they did call in a 3 day supply of all of my medications and a few others that I don't normally take, they said that they gave me those because they would help with the stress and anxiety over having my schedule turned upside down because they know that I have OCD really bad, and they know that having my schedule thrown off can set me off and I'll end up washing the same load of laundry 3 times, or just stand at the kitchen sink and wash the same batch of silverware over and over while having panic attacks and crying uncontrollably.
I finally admitted to this doctor approximately four months ago how severe my OCD was getting, that I was extremely worried about it because I have found myself getting worse with certain issues, and I was finally admitting to a doctor that I needed help with it.
I've been battling my OCD on my own for quite a few years now, I've been ashamed to admit it to my doctors because once you admit that you have it, they start asking you about what sets it off, what makes it worse, how bad the spells can get, etc, and it's embarrassing to admit some of the things that I do because they make me sound like I'm absolutely insane, and ever since learning about my biological mother and her mental health issues, admitting to a doctor, or anyone really, how bad my OCD is in my own words, I have actually questioned myself on whether or not I'm going crazy.
If you're going crazy, do you know that you are?
Do you feel yourself slipping away, or do you just go about your days thinking that everything is just peachy keen?
So yeah, I had a very rough six to seven days dealing with crazy cellphone calls from Gr., dealing with my panic and anxiety attacks, my OCD, and uncontrollable crying fits.

I survived the weekend, obviously, went to my doctor appointment Monday morning at 11:30am, and had my ride just drop me off at my friend N.'s house after I was done, I just wanted to hang with a friend and chill for a bit, and who was there when I walked in?
Gr.!
I immediately ran straight into N.'s bathroom and refused to come out until he left, I had no idea where his head was at or anything but I assume it was still in a bad place because he had called N. several times and told her he was going to her house, she kept telling him no, to not come over, he went over anyway, but N. and her friend T.. finally got him to leave and then the three of us girls just sat down and chilled for a bit, and while out on her lanai having a smoke, (I know, I know) I just started crying again, quietly, at least it wasn't outright bawling like I had been doing all weekend.
Then our other friend D. showed up, we all chatted for a few minutes, and then I had to go home because Sebastian was home from school and when I walked in the door, I learned that he was down sick.
Now both of the teens are sick, some sort of something.
They both have a high fever, headaches, cramps, and the diars, one has a stuffy nose, and the other has a cough, so what it is, I haven't the slightest clue.
So on Monday night, a friend drove me to the store at around almost closing time, and I picked up both Nyquil and Pepto, I have plenty of Tylenol at home, all bases for whatever it is, are covered. haha
Laugh or cry, laugh or cry, I'm choosing to laugh.

So then this friend asked if the teens wanted to make some money today, Tuesday, if they felt better in the morning.
I told her to call me in the morning and ask me before she drove all of the way here because I let Sebastian stay home from school, he was wicked sick on Monday night, way high fever, wicked cramps, he went to bed as soon as I got home from the store and she went home.
Well, instead of calling me in the morning, (Tuesday morning) she just knocked on my door at 9:51am and asked if they were ready to go.
I said no, they're still sleeping, they're really sick, I told you to call me before coming, why didn't you call, I coulda saved you the trip?
Well, I don't know what kind of issue she was having, we'll call her B., but B. seemed to think that sick or not, my two sons were able bodied and capable of working, so why wasn't I making them get up and go earn their own video game money instead of me buying them every game that they want every single time they want a new one?
B. proceeded to go into Sebastian's room and yell his name, I yelled at her to get out of there, don't wake him up, he's sick, she then did the same to Mark, walking right in his room and calling out his name loudly and telling him to get up.
I yelled at her to get the hell outta his room, don't wake him up either, he's sick as well, caught whatever Sebastian had on Monday night, and so then she went out and slammed my front door.

OK. Ok. Ok.
NOT OK!

I tell the boys to relax, it's OK, go back to sleep, I got this, and I went outside to find her cleaning out the back seat of her car, organizing it so that the teens can sit back there so she can drive them to do this yard work for three hours at $10 per hour, they were each going to make $30, she said, so they better be getting up and ready to go, they should have been ready by the time she got here.
I said; "B. FIRST, you were supposed to call me in the morning and ask if they were A) going to be OK to do it because you knew last night that Sebastian was sick, and B) if they even wanted to do it. And NO, they are not OK, they are both sick now, not just Sebastian, but Mark's got it now too, they both have really high fevers and stomach issues, so no, they won't be doing anything today but resting in bed or on the couches to lay down and watch tv and try to rest up from whatever this is."

Without missing a beat, she says to me, "Damn, your are white, while they're working, we can kick back in the recliner chairs and get some sun, I've got some really great tanning lotions that will get you some color really quick today."
"B.", I said; "They are NOT working today, it's a sick day for Sebastian from school, he's very sick, and now so is Mark, they both have it, they aren't working today, they are sleeping and resting today."

Continue Reading �

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October 17, 2010

I can get a Ped Egg at Buy.com

I think I have mentioned before that I can't reach my own feet to care for them, yeah, I know that I have, probably a gazillion times now. Ha ha
I hate having to go to a salon where all the ladies talk in in whatever language they speak in, and they make fun of my totally poor and battered feet, and the teens won't do it, so I struggle and struggle to try and make my feet look somewhat more human than hobbit.
Anyway, I have seen product after product that claims to work on troublesome feet, but I've never heard anyone actually tell me that it really works.
Until now that is.
I've had at least three friends tell me that the Ped Egg actually really works!
And because I've been doing a lot of my online shopping and wish-shopping at Buy.com over the last year or so, when I do go to buy it, I'll be buying it at Buy.com either on sale or not because, their regular price is $9.99 with free shipping.
That's all of the time, not a sale price.
I checked out a few other e-tailers, and one of them has it for just $6.99, that's a really great price, but then you have to buy $18.01 worth of other products to qualify for the free shipping!
That makes it a not-so-great price after all.
I've also seen it in the pharmacy when I go to pick up my scripts, and it's well over the price of $9.99, so why would I spend more on it when I can get it for that price all of the time with free shipping?
That's right!
I wouldn't!!

Ooooooh!
I found out that it comes in black too!
That one is called Ped Egg Platinum, not black, but it looks black, and that one comes with five free buffing pads.
I guess after you do the rough scrubby, you can then buff your heals even softer.
I've tried so many different products on my feet, so to hear friends tell me that it really works, well, I'm going to have to get one on one of these days when I have the spare $10 bucks and try it for myself!!

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October 14, 2010

Been a busy few days here with the teens.

Mark has been getting things and himself ready to take a test and apply for a job as a dispatcher for the local police station, a friend got him the application, helped him getting the book to study for the TABE test, and all kinds of other stuff.
There's exactly one opening for a dispatcher, but the friend seems to think that Mark has a really good, as in excellent, chance of getting it.
I really hope that he does, it would be awesome for him, help him get his foot in the door to the career path that he's wanted to do since he was three years old.
He's also been cleaning himself up, making sure that his hair looks good, he's shaving his face much better, not so haphazardly, and he's trying to clear up some of his acne.
Anyone know how to get rid of acne fast?
He turns in his application and has the interview at the same time, on Monday.
Eeek!

Sebastian has been doing a lot of things to prepare for his future as well, talking to two different art colleges, and this afternoon, we had an hour and half long phone meeting with the woman from admissions for the Art Institute.
It was an excellent meeting, we learned a lot, asked a lot of questions, and the new school year for freshman starts in July 2011, so we have to apply online next week, he has to write his entrance essay, all kinds of stuff, and then once we find out if he's accepted, (or not) then the financial aid specialist at the school begins helping him apply for and get all of the financial aid, grants, scholarships, and other forms of monetary help needed to help him pay for it all.
192 credit hours over 3.5 years comes to $93,888.
That's a wicked lot of money, but they are pretty positive that at least 96% of that can be covered by aid, scholarships, grants, and other things.
I certainly hope so because there's no way at all that I can pay for college, but I am going to do everything that I possibly can to help him achieve his dream career in the game and digital design field by getting his BA in Fine arts and digital arts.

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October 6, 2010

Time to get a No Parking sign at Buy.com

My neighbor lady really pissed me off a few hours ago, urgh! I'm so mad!
I have a right to have cars parked on my side of the carport, it is my side of the carport after all.
My friend Brandy and her daughter Jess came over around 6:45pm or so, and they stayed here until about 8pm, they ran Sebastian and myself up to 7-eleven, and then they went home, but right before we went to the store, my neighbor laid on her car horn for us to move.
I have a right to have a car, or several cars, parked on my side of the carport, just like they have 2 vehicles parked on their side of the carport.

Right before we left to go to the store, I mean, we were grabbing our purses and heading towards the door as it happened, my neighbor lady laid on her car horn, then let off, then honked three times in a row, then laid on it again!
Even as we were actually walking out the door, she was still honking the horn at us!
I get out there, and she tells me that I have to move the car so she can get out.
I said to her, we are leaving right now, you didn't need to honk the horn, you could have knocked on the door and asked us to please move the car, which we were doing anyway, but you did not need to lay on the horn like that.
She said; "Well I need to get out and your car is blocking my way."
I said that "We were leaving right now anyway, so just give us a minute and..."
Well, I tried to finish saying something to her, but she rolled up her window before I could finish.
For the last two weeks, she's been letting people, her friends and stuff, park on my side of the carport like it's no big deal, you know, because we don't have a car.

Sebastian is going to get his license very soon, he's been studying the book every single day, and he and my sister are going to go down and take the test as soon as he says that he's ready to take it.
Once he gets his license, we have three people who have all offered to pitch in together and buy him a really nice but used and reliable car, and my sister is going to put it on her insurance because it will be cheaper rather than me trying to get him insurance right now.
Once he's had his license for at least six months, maybe go to the one year mark, but once he's had it for at least six months and not had any accidents or tickets of any kind, then we can go ahead and get insurance for him ourselves.
If a teen driver goes at least six months with no accidents, no tickets, no driving infractions of any kind, the insurance is way cheaper.
But once he gets his license and has a car, does my neighbor actually think, will she be expecting us to move OUR OWN vehicle whenever she wants to go out or whatever?
She's totally delusional if she thinks that we're going to move our car every single time she wants to get in and out, too bad!

Like I said though, for the last two weeks, she's been letting people park on my side, and tonight with the honking of the horn because she wanted us to move the car, all this does is make me want to buy a No Parking sign like I used to have when I had other neighbors living on that side of the duplex before them.
The other neighbors used to just let tons and tons of people park there whenever they wanted, and one night when I came home from work around 7pm on a Saturday, (that tells you how long ago this was because I stopped working in 2001) I had a cab bring me home because it was winter and way too dark at that time of night for me to walk all the way home with no sidewalks, and the cab couldn't even get IN the driveway, never mind even try to get on my side of the driveway.
The cabbie had to let me out in the street, and I was furious!
Not only was the entire driveway full of cars, but they had people parking on the lawn for some huge party they were having.
You cannot park on the lawn, we have septic, the septic line pipes are in the lawn, like just a few feet below the grass, so absolutely no cars can ever be parked or driven across the lawn!
I came into my house, set my stuff down, grabbed the phone, got the number of a tow truck company dialed in to it, and walked next door, banged on the door, and told them that they had 10 minutes to move every single car off of the lawn and out of my side of the driveway, or I hit redial on my phone and have every single car that isn't moved, towed at the car owner's expense.
The guy said to me that I must be joking, I said, "Really? Try me. You got 10 minutes starting right freaking now."
I stood there, the two of us staring at each other, and then I calmly said, "Eight minutes."
People started to scramble, said goodnight to their hosts, and they hauled ass out of the house and into their cars.
I had the entire driveway cleared of all cars in 10 minutes.

Apparently, it's time to remind my neighbor that half of the driveway and carport belong to me even if we don't have a car right now, but with Sebastian getting a license soon, we will have a car and I will not be moving it whenever she wants to get in and out, she'll just have to tell her hubby to move his jeep so she can come and go whenever she feels the need to.
And maybe it's time for me to buy another No Parking sign like I used to have.
I absolutely LOVE this vintage No Parking Cruise Zone sign.

I know that it says "Daytona Beach Florida Biketoberfest", but I love it and it would look sooo cool.
Maybe they wouldn't take it seriously because it says that, but it does say NO PARKING, so maybe they would take it seriously, hard to say with them, the lady does not understand that 10 does not equal 50.
And I would love to be able to get it on sale, but it's actually very well priced at $28.95 which includes the shipping and handling.
I have to do something, it's getting out of control.
Every single day, someone is parked on my side of the driveway, I've had people parked right up under my side of the carport when it's rainy out, and now tonight with her laying on her car horn telling me, demanding that we move the car so she can get out, is just too much when you add this to all of the toilet problems that we've been having, something has to be done, I have to get a sign, tell the landlord, whatever, but this cannot go on any further.
She thinks that she has the right to let people park on my side, and now she thinks that she has the right to tell me that I have to move any cars that I have parked on my side, just so she can get in and out.
No.
Something has to be done.
I'm going to talk to the landlord about this AND I'm going to buy a sign that says NO PARKING.
Enough is enough and it's only been a few months since they moved back in.

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October 4, 2010

And the winner is...

The winner of the Rubbermaid Reveal Mop is comment 43 which belongs to Louise!

I'm going to email Louise and she will have just 2 hours to email me back claiming her prize or another winner will be chosen.

Congrats Louise!

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October 2, 2010

The humidity is killing me today.

I've been a bad girl today, not staying on total bed rest like I am supposed to, I'm actually doing stuff around the house that needs to be done.
I did the dishes, laundry, some dusting and we all cleaned the cat boxes out before Mark went off to his friend's house for the night, but the humidity in here today is crazy high!
I'm sitting here sweating, the AC is on, I have fans going, and I'm sweating, and Sebastian is too.
I don't need a basement dehumidifier because I don't have a basement, (no basements in Florida heh) but I do need a dehumidifier for this house.
I would probably put it in the big back room where the washer and dryer are, or in the kitchen/dining room area, but yeah, we definitely need a dehumidifier.
I know that it's almost cooler temps, almost winter, but this kind of humidity will last us at least two to three more months, and it's really awful sitting in this house and sweating.
Gah.
I feel like I'm going to need to take another shower today, I probably will right before bed so that I can try to get some decent sleep without being all hot and sweaty.

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September 29, 2010

Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop product review and giveaway!

I was recently fortunate enough to receive a new product from Rubbermaid called the Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop, to try it out, take it on a few test runs on the terrazzo, keep it, and to also give one away to one lucky reader!

I'm sure that I've complained about my terrazzo flooring on this blog before, and I know that I just recently complained about it on KatScan, and this is what I said in one of my posts there:
"Terrazzo is just so hard to clean, it's made with concrete, stones, and marble chips, then it's given a protective coating which is supposed to keep it shiny and looking good.
Every so many years, you're supposed to have it restored, sand-blasted down, sanded again, buffed, given a new protective coating, and then polished and polished until it looks all shiny and new again.
But I don't think that the terrazzo in my house has been restored in many years, I mean, I have now lived here in this duplex for 12 years and the floors didn't look that great when I moved in, so yeah, I'm pretty damn positive that they haven't been restored in ages.
This duplex was built in the early 1970's, and that's when the terrazzo was laid down, and I'm not even sure that it was restored in the years following that.
Cleaning it is a real hassle, you can wash it, scrub it, wash and scrub it again, and it still doesn't look all that great."

I have used sponge mops, "wonder" mops, so-called "smart" mops, and I've also used those Swiffer mops with the expensive refill pads and the expensive cleaning solution refills too.
While they all got my terrazzo clean, it just never really looked all that good after I was done.
I liked the Swiffer because I could throw away the icky dirty cleaning pads after, I didn't have to rinse and wring them out after I was done cleaning like I did with the sponge and "wonder" mops, but the refill pads and cleaning solution just got too expensive for me to keep buying.
In comes the Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop.

The Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop comes with washable microfiber cleaning pads that you just take off and throw in the washing machine when you're done cleaning.
The microfiber cleaning pads also picked up far more dirt and little pieces of whatever off of my floor that all of those other mops left behind.

The Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop also comes with it's own bottle for making your own cleaning solutions.
That's right, you don't have to buy those expensive cleaners anymore!
You make your own!
Just throw in some hot water and a little bit of whatever you like, and ta-da!
A far cheaper, far better, cleaning solution!
What homemade cleaning solution works really, really good on my icky, hard to clean terrazzo flooring?
I pour in 1/4 cup of white distilled vinegar, and then fill the rest of the bottle with hot tap water, give it a little shake-up, then pop the bottle into the mop, and away we go!
The vinegar and water mixture cleans the stains off the terrazzo flooring, and the microfiber pad cleans up anything that my broom left behind, it also scrubs the cleaning solution into the floor really good, and the vinegar leaves a nice, clean, and fresh smell behind.

What if you don't like vinegar?
That's OK!
You can make any cleaning solution that you like, and here are some solutions that Rubbermaid suggests:

Cleaning Solution 1: 2 Tablespoons ammonia, 1/2 cup white vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of baby shampoo, fill the rest with hot water
Cleaning Solution 2: 2 Tablespoons white vinegar, 2-3 drops liquid soap, fill the rest with hot water
Cleaning Solution 3: 2 Tablespoons baking soda. 2-3 drops liquid soap, fill the rest with hot water
Cleaning Solution 4: 1 Tablespoon white vinegar, 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil, fill the rest with hot water

Would you like to have your own Rubbermaid Reveal Mop?
If so, you can win one right here by entering this giveaway!
Rules:
The giveaway is open to United States and Canada, (including Alaska and Hawaii).
This giveaway is open to all, not just bloggers, but rules must be followed.
Only 1 entry per person/family/household.
Only 1 person per IP address can enter the giveaway and complete the required entry and extra entries.
No entering on behalf of others, using extra identities or others identities, no automated program entries, etc.
I can check and verify IP addresses and email addresses. *wink*
If you are caught cheating, you will be banned from this giveaway and any future giveaways on my blogs.
This giveaway is only open to those ages 18+.
All entries must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Sunday, October 3, 2010.
I will pick the winner randomly using random.org on Monday, October 4, 2010, email the winner, and they will have just 24 hours to claim their prize.
If I do not get a reply within 24 hours, I will pick a new winner using random.org again.

How to enter:
This is the required entry, if this one entry is not done, you will not qualify for the giveaway.
For your chance to win, please tell me why you would like to have the new Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop instead of your current floor cleaning method, and tell me what your current floor cleaning method is.

For extra entries, you can do any or all of the following, each of these is worth 1 additional entry.
You MUST leave a separate comment for each one that you do so that all your entries can be accurately counted.

* Post about this giveaway on your blog, Twitter, and/or Facebook, and you can use the following to link back to this post: http://tinyurl.com/2a9tqh4
* Follow me on Twitter
* Follow Lauren of Rubbermaid on Twitter
* Follow Rubbermaid on Twitter
* Follow Erin of Rubbermaid on Twitter
* Like Rubbermaid on Facebook

In accordance with my disclosure and privacy policy;
I received the Rubbermaid Reveal Spray Mop for free in exchange for a review of the product.
A positive toned review was not required. I was asked to post my honest thoughts and opinions of the product, and if I liked the product and wanted to give one away, I was free to hold a giveaway with the giveaway rules of my own choosing.

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September 27, 2010

Buy a banned or challenged book at Buy.com

Every year, the ALA, the American Library Association, holds banned books week.
This year banned books week is September 25 through October 2, 2010.
You can learn more about frequently challenged books by reading this page on the ALA website.

I love to read, I don't read as much as I used to or as much as I would like, but I still love to read a really great book.
It really bothers me that individuals and groups try to get books taken off of the shelves of public and school libraries, they try to limit what we and our children can read simply because they don't like the books for political, sexual, or religious reasons, but our first amendment rights protect each of us, it allows us to read these books if we want to, if we want our kids to read them.

"Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States.

Intellectual freedom - the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or unpopular - provides the foundation for Banned Books Week. BBW stresses the importance of ensuring the availability of unorthodox or unpopular viewpoints for all who wish to read and access them."

You can learn about why some of the books on the list have been challenged by reading this page that gives some details into why certain classic books are always being challenged and attempts to ban them have happened.

I would love to see people buying and reading any of the books on the top 100 list, and you can even save some money when you buy one or more of the books by checking to see if they are on sale at Buy.com.
I picked a random title off of the list, The Lord of the Rings, and they have it on sale in paperback for just $10.97, and that price includes the shipping.

Why is The Lord of the Rings on the banned and challenged list?
People believe that it, along with more of Tolkien's novels, are satanic.
In 2001, The Lord of the Rings, along with more of Tolkien's novels, were burned in Alamagordo, NM outside of the Christ Community Church.

Here are 10 books that you might not expect to be on the list via Yahoo!, and the reasons that they are/were on the list at some point.
You can read the other titles and reasons by clicking the link above. *!*
Captain Underpants - One of the top 10 most frequently banned and challenged books for 2002, 2004 and 2005. The books were said to contain offensive language, to be sexually explicit and to be anti-family.
Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary - Contained an offending term, oral sex.
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? - The Texas Board of Education banned the book, in January 2010, because it thought the book was written by the same Bill Martin who penned the nonchildren's book "Ethical Marxism: The Categorical Imperative of Liberation."
James and the Giant Peach - James was disobedient and there was violence in the book.
American Heritage Dictionary (1969) - It contains 39 objectionable words. It was also banned by the Anchorage School Board in 1987 for its inclusion of slang words, including "balls."
Grimm's Fairy Tales - A couple of California school districts found a whole new reason to ban Grimm's Fairy Tales in 1989: misuse of alcohol. Little Red Riding Hood's basket for her grandmother includes wine.

In the extended entry, you will find the top 100 most banned or challenged books.
The titles in bold represent banned or challenged books.
The titles not in bold may have been banned or challenged, but there have not been any reports on them.
I have placed two stars ** next to the books on the list that I have read.
I would love to see other bloggers post the list of the top 100 banned and challenged books on their blogs, and to see them check off, mark, or star, the books on the list that they have read.
Will you post the list on your blog?

*!* The books and reasons were copied directly from the Yahoo! article.

Continue Reading �

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September 19, 2010

Taffy was a Welshman.

It's a very old nursery rhyme, and the lyrics vary, but these are the ones that I remember from when I was a kid, and this picture is the exact one that I remember being in my big book of nursery rhymes.

Taffy was a Welshman,
Taffy was a thief;
Taffy came to my house
And stole a piece of beef.

I went to Taffy's house,
Taffy was not home;
Taffy came to my house
And stole a mutton bone.

I went to Taffy's house,
Taffy was not in;
Taffy came to my house
And stole a silver pin.

I went to Taffy's house,
Taffy was in bed;
So I took up a poker
And I flung it at his head

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September 19, 2010

Injuries, so-called friends, & stuffing emotions.

It's been an absolutely crappy last few days, a total roller coaster, and pain, both physical and emotional.

I had my doctor appointment Wednesday morning at 9:45am, and I forgot to take my drink with me, and I have to have a drink just in case I have to take a pee test, so I asked my friend to stop anywhere between my house and the doc's so I could get a drink.
Well, we're flying down Bee Ridge Road, she sees a gas station, and with no warning, she just pulls a wicked right hand turn, I don't even think she used a blinker, and she went up and over one of those parking lot curbs on just the passenger side of the car, my side.

The right tire went up and over, and all of my titanium felt like it went up into my skull and slammed back down into my tailbone, and then the back right tire went up and over, and again, the titanium felt like it went up into my skull and slammed back down again.
I am still in a world of hurt from hitting that curb around 65mph, days later.

Then!
I was so upset about some text messages that I received, approximately 27 of them over the course of just an hour, that when I went to get out of the car at the pharmacy, I fell out, landed on my hands and knees, and again, all of the titanium felt like it got slammed around in there.
I am still in so much pain.

Those text messages, ugh.
A so-called friend of like 7 years, was ripping into me because I said no to her latest request of wanting more of my time and things that I have.
She's always asking me for stuff, cigs, laundry soap, to fix her computer, all kinds of stuff, and this time, she knew that I got my food stamps on Wednesday, so she asked me to let her buy them off of me for .50cents on the dollar, I said no, I don't sell them, ever, they are for me to buy my family food.
She started texting in all caps that she needed the food stamps to buy food for her house because she spent the money her husband gave her for groceries on drugs, and so if she didn't get the groceries, he was gonna be furious and know that she was using.
I said that wasn't my problem, I wouldn't be selling her my stamps, no, sorry.
She spent the next 20 some-odd text messages absolutely berating me, calling me names, telling me that I was a terrible friend to her, that I never help her, that she's always helping me, doing things for me, so I owed her this, that technically, I should just give her ALL of my stamps, so many really horrible things, I was just absolutely crushed, devastated, that she was saying all of that to me.
The friends that I was with who took me to the doc's, they read the messages and were just floored, telling me that wasn't right for her to be talking to me like that, and also to do it by text message was just super cowardly too.
I just had such a horrible day on Wednesday between the curb accident, falling out of the car, and those messages, just a really, really, super bad day.
My blood pressure has been through the roof, I haven't been sleeping hardly at all, but insomnia is nothing new for me.
But then today around 11am, I passed out cold on the couch and didn't wake up until almost 8pm.
I just passed out from total exhaustion I guess.
I am also an emotional eater.
When I am really super sad and stressed out, I eat, and eat, and eat.
I had bought a red velvet cake on Wednesday when I went shopping, the cake WAS slightly smaller than a pound cake in width and length, and it WAS to die for.
Because of how upset I was, crying, yelling, screaming, and in so much physical pain too, I just ate that entire cake all by myself in 3 sittings/slices.
I can't believe that I did that, I haven't stuffed like that in years and years, but Wednesday, everything that happened, all of the pain, physical and emotional, I stuffed big time and ate an entire cake all by myself.
I feel really horrible about doing that because I've done so well with my weight loss, so the emotional stuffing, wow, that was just so bad and I really haven't done that in years.

Anyway, when I went to the store, I only got a few things to make a few meals, so I do need to go back and I was hoping that the coupons my mom said she sent me would have come today, but oh well, they didn't, so I'll just wait until they come to do the rest of my shopping.
I need to and like to save as much money on groceries as possible.
I am still so upset about what my "so-called friend" did and said, all over MY food stamps.
She behaved like I should have just given them to her, like I should have just done it so that her husband didn't catch her doing drugs again.
She's been doing them for a long time and he said if he caught her again, he was going to leave, so she just expected me to cover for her, let her go buy their groceries so she didn't get caught, and when I said no, she accused me of wanting her to get caught.
I don't give a crap what people do, but just don't expect me to fix it for them, ya know?
Just don't demand that I fix your mistakes, and that's what she did to me, demanded that I let her spend my food money so she doesn't get caught, and all of the things that she said to me, still hurt me, I am still so so upset by it all, it still hurt really bad.

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September 15, 2010

Doctors, friends, and shopping.

I had some friends spend the night with us last night, it was so great to have them here, spend the night talking, laughing, just hanging out.
I have so missed having them around, so when they asked to come spend the night, I said "Of course, come right over!"
They are taking me to my doctor appointment this morning around 9am, so it was much easier for them to spend the night anyway, but our visits have been so rare lately that having them hang out overnight was just really great.

I have a couple things to talk to my doctor about today, like my insomnia, my weight loss, and my nerves.
Well, anxiety, to be more specific.
I have just been so stressed out lately, for months it feels like, and it probably has been months, just building and building up inside me, and it has been slowly seeping out in these tiny little explosions of both extreme anger and extreme sadness.
I have either been screaming mad or crying uncontrollably, and then it shuts off as quickly as it started, so I need to talk to him about it, it has really been bothering me to be an emotional roller-coaster, jumping at the slightest sounds, crying, yelling, just all over the place.

I also need to talk to him about my super quick weight loss because it's bothering people.
Yes, MY weight loss is bothering people.
It has taken me a full year to lose 46lbs and keep it off, not gain any of it back, and still losing more weight.
In July 2009, I weighed 196, I now weigh 150 on the dot, and I am still losing more.
I've lost 46lbs slowly over the course of a year, but it's really bothering some people.
I've been told that I look totally unhealthy, that I've lost too much weight, and that there must be something wrong with me like an eating disorder or something, all because I'm losing weight.
I know that I lose weight in my legs really quickly, I lose it in my arms and legs before I start losing it in my midsection, so when people see my skinny legs, they assume that the rest of my body is just as thin but they can't tell because I wear baggy shorts and shirts.
So just to shut some people up, *cough neighbor lady cough* I'm going to ask my doctor if I'm OK, if the amount of weight that I've lost is too much for my height, frame, and age, BUT I am going to tell him that it took me a year to lose those 46lbs, that I didn't drop it all in like two or three months, but I am also kind of curious if I'm OK, which I'm sure that I am, but people have made me a little self-conscious about it now.
I HATE that.
I hate how other people's perceptions of us, well me, affect me and my thinking about myself.
I was all proud of myself that for the first time in years, I'm down to 150 again, and now their opinions of how I look too thin has me worried that maybe I am too thin.

After I go to the doctor's, I need to take the teen's computer back to Geek Squad because they repaired it, but didn't actually repair it.
The computer is still doing the exact same thing that it was doing when I first brought it to them a month ago, and they replaced the motherboard to repair a video problem that we didn't even have, they wiped out the hard drive of all of our programs, and then said it was fixed, and told us to come pick it up.
We brought it home, plugged it in, and a disc started to auto-run.
They left one of their disc in it, one of their testing discs.
We took the disc out, rebooted, and it did the exact same things that caused us to bring it in for repair the first time, over and over and over.
When we picked it up, they never plugged it in to show us that they had it working like they are supposed to do either.
Had they plugged it in to show us, they would have realized that they left one of their discs in there.
I have already spoken to the store manager, he's expecting me to bring it in for repair, again, this week.

Then after that, I need to go to the pharmacy, and then much later on today because doing all of that this morning is going to wipe me out for awhile, do the grocery shopping at Publix.
And speaking of my neighbors, the landlord came over and warned them again about being careful flushing when it rains heavy, and also about NOT flushing things like baby wipes because the septic system cannot handle it.
He also told them that they need to switch to a septic-safe toilet paper like Scott instead of any kind of toilet paper that says super soft, quilted, 3 ply, etc etc.
The paper needs to be septic-safe, and Scott is as safe as it gets.
He also told them that they also need to be putting down one single box of Rid-X every single month too, not just me, but there are three of them using both of their bathrooms, so they need to dump just one box per month down there.
And boy, didn't she complain about that!
Oh my god! You would have thought he told her to replace the entire septic system because she complained about the cost of of that one single box like it was simply going to break her finances and budget every month!
It only costs $4.99, that's it, and it just has to be done once per month, but she complained and complained like the stuff costs $1,000.00 per box!
I really do not miss this stuff about them living next door.

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September 9, 2010

So frustrated!

Ever since my old neighbors moved back in, we've been having problems with the plumbing and septic system again.
They keep plugging up the toilet, and this causes our toilet to back up and overflow into the house.
Tonight, well last night, they plugged up their toilet and it overflowed, this caused my back bathroom and bedroom to flood because it was their back bathroom that was plugged up and overflowing, and it also caused my main bathroom toilet to back up and start to overflow.
The teens quickly helped me take care of it, soaking up the water with towels and mops, but ugh!
So damn frustrating!
They've only been moved back in a short time now, like a little less than three months, and in just that short amount of time, they have caused this to happen at least a dozen times!
I am getting so tired of having to plunge our toilet, soak up water, and run laundry.
I have warned them repeatedly that it's septic, that when it rains heavy, like it does every single day in the summer for at least 20 minutes, that you have to be super careful flushing the toilets because the ground gets too saturated and the drain field can't take the pressure.
They simply do not listen!

But oh, she'll listen if it's something that's super important to her like me helping her understand her disability insurance paperwork and helping her fill it all out correctly every time they send her stuff to fill out.
I'm the one she came to for help when she was applying for disability, I'm the one who told her how it works, how they deny everybody just to see who is really serious and who isn't.
I'm the one who helped her through the appeals process and all of it, she listens so attentively when it's something like that, but when it comes to flooding the damn duplex, she simply will not listen to me!

I've told her that you have to use septic safe toilet paper like Scott, that if she uses baby wipes to keep herself clean, that they absolutely, positively, cannot be flushed.
But do you know what the landlord fished out of the septic lines when it got clogged when they lived here before?
That's right!
Baby wipes!!
I'm just really angry and frustrated that she will not listen, that she keeps flushing things down there that is clogging it up, causing it to overflow and back up into the house.
Every morning I have to have the plunger ready just in case it starts to back up because they get up at 5am and she uses baby wipes every morning.
I've told her so so many times to NOT flush them, and she insists that they are septic safe.
Just because it says so on the box does not mean that OUR septic system can handle them.
It's a very old duplex, the septic system is as old as the house, you have to be careful until they finally get around to adding us to the city sewer grid which they've been promising for as long as I've lived here, 12 years.
I'm just really tired and frustrated right now.

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September 3, 2010

Computer needs to get at Buy.com

There's a couple of things that I would like to get, one when I can spend the extra money, and one that I want to get Sebastian for either Christmas or just because it will help him with his digital design classes and the stuff that he wants to do for his future career.

The first thing that I would like to get is for me and my computer.
I want to get a USB hub like this Belkin Hi-Speed USB 7-Port Mobile Hub which is on sale right now at Buy.com for just $14.99, it's normally $39.99, so a really big savings of $25.00.

I have so many USB gadgets, and only six ports.
I have four on the front, right at the top of the tower, and two ports on the back, but I have approximately 12-14 different USB gadgets that I am always switching in and out of being plugged in because I don't have enough places to hook them all up.
Most of them are gadgets that use the USB to recharge, and they can all transfer files to and from the gadget to the computer.
It would be really great to not have to switch the cords in and out all of the time, doing that has caused me to lose three different USB cords so far that I cannot find replacements for, so yeah, if they could all be plugged in all of the time there would be no more lost cords, and no more pain in the butt switching things around all of the time.

The other thing that I would like to get is for Sebastian.
It's called Manga Studio™ Debut 4.

Sebastian wants to go into digital design and video game making, that kind of stuff, for his career, so I am always supporting him and his artwork, his dream career.
He sends me things from school all of the time and it just started back up again about two weeks ago, and I want to help him with his dream, so if I can get him some computer tools, programs like this that will help him get better and better at what he makes, then that's what I'm going to do.
I want him to be successful and happy, live a very good and successful life doing a job that he loves.
The Manga Studio helps make manga (anime) and comics that are ready to publish quickly and easily, so it says.
You can use all of the tools that it comes with, or use a pen tablet to draw freehand and it will appear in the program, ready to color and animate.
I bought him a used pen tablet from my blogging friend Charlotte at Life After The Army a couple of years ago, and he's really good at it, so we already have one of those that can be used with the Manga Studio program.
You can animate your work, make comics, and add thought balloons to have a dialog between the characters that you create.
It even allows you to scan drawings that you have made on paper and upload them to the program, and I already have a scanner, and I've scanned quite a few of the drawings that he's made here at home over the summer so he could post them to his Facebook and also have them readily available to email to people who may ask for them.
I would post one of his sketches, a concept logo for his future design business, but it's a concept logo and he doesn't want anyone to steal any of his ideas, so I have to respect that and not post any of them up, but trust me, they are so very cool looking.

The program will fit and work on their Vista operated computer once we get it back from being repaired.
The motherboard fried, but because I had just bought it in February, it's still under manufacturer warranty, so it's currently being repaired at no cost to me which is really good because, like I said, I just bought it with my tax return and paid way more for it than I wanted to.
To have the motherboard fry in June, just slightly over four months after purchasing it, yeah, it's a very good thing that I don't have to pay to have it fixed.

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September 1, 2010

Spammers and learning something new.

In blogging and site news, I have had to shut down comments on all previous entries, including the last two that I just wrote a single day ago, due to being flooded by some nasty and evil spammers.
All comments get moderated anyway, nothing gets published unless I say it does, but I am getting pounded by spammers!
Every hour, I get approximately 20-30 spam comments from the same exact spammer(s) all posting the same exact list of spam URLs, to the exact same nasty websites.
They think they are oh so clever though, they say things like the following at the beginning of their huge lists of URLs in the hopes that I will mistake it as a real comment and not mark it as spam and block their IP address;

"Congrats on your new home!" (what?)
"I hope that I can have one someday too!" (er?)
"Sorry for my silence these past days, my computer was broken." (I hope you get the blue-screen of death, for reals!)
"In related news, the Wayans brothers want to cast Tiger woods in their next movie but they can't decide if the title should be White Chicks 11 or 12 ?" (ha-ha! OK, that IS kinda funny, but it's still spam!)
"Oh man, I'm so not your friend anymore!" (Good! Now go away and leave my blog alone!!)
"Deeply entrenched lurker here ;)" (Great, thanks for letting me know, IP is now blocked!)
And oh so many more stupid and off topic comments like them.
_________________

Sebastian and I took a walk to the corner store a bit ago, and when we go for walks, he always tells me about his day or a story from his life from another day.
Tonight he told me about one of the times that he went to the horse farm with my sister Jo to ride the horses and help out around the farm for a day.
The horse farm they go to lets you ride a horse for awhile for free if you help out around the farm first.
Muck out the stalls, feed the chickens, geese, horses, and pigs, all of that kind of stuff, and then you can pick a horse that you like to ride, and go out riding the beautiful trails for a couple of hours.

One Saturday when they went, one of the people who works at the farm asked him to go to the stalls and get the horse tack, that's all that she said to him, so he started to walk off toward the stalls and then stopped.
He walked over to Aunt Jo, and asked her, "Aunt Jo, what is horse tack?"
She told him to go and just grab everything that you need to ride the horse.
He went to the stalls and grabbed a bridle, bits, a harness, a saddle, saddle pads, stirrups, reins, crops, and a martingale.
He carried it all back out to the area where they were getting the horses ready for a day of riding, and brought it to the woman who had told him to go get it.
He started helping her put it all on the horse he was going to be riding that day, Maximilian, and he just had to know exactly what it was, so he asked her, "Which one of these things that I brought, is the horse tack?"
She laughed a little bit, and then she said to him, "It's all horse tack. We call all of the stuff that you use for riding a horse, 'tack'. It's so much simpler to say 'get the tack', then it is to say 'get the bridle, bits, a harness, a saddle, saddle pads, stirrups, reins, crops, and a martingale', isn't it?"
He agreed and said yes, and he also felt a little bit embarrassed by asking, but he really didn't know.

And neither did I until he told me the story tonight.
When we came home from the store, I wanted to see if he was pulling my leg, so I typed into Google, what is horse tack, and this is the definition that I found;
"Tack is a term used to describe any of the various equipment and accessories worn by horses in the course of their use as domesticated animals. Saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, harnesses, martingales, and breastplates are all forms of horse tack. Equipping a horse is often referred to as tacking up."

I learned something new on my walk tonight.
I like learning new things.
I also like having those walks with my sons, whichever one decides to walk to the corner store and back with me, because it gives me a chance to have some one-on-one alone time with them.
I get to talk with just them, no one else around to interrupt or make them uncomfortable, they open up and tell me things when it's just the two of us.
The boys and I have always had a pretty good open communication line between us, but I would say that the older they got, the harder it was to talk with them about some things.
Both of them are going through some things, some of those things I won't be discussing on my blogs, but I do talk about them with my counselor when I go and see her (once a month) because those things have a lot to do with the current situations in my house and with my family.
Earlier tonight, all three of us sat down and talked about the family issues that have had me really upset for several days now, some that I did blog about.
There were a lot of questions, a lot of denial, a lot of yelling, a lot of crying, a lot of confusion, and a lot more of me learning what people think and say about me.
There's a very deep hatred for me because I packed up my sons and moved here to Florida in 1997, instead of just staying in Maine.
But I will have to talk more about that stuff in another post because this one is now well over 1,000 words, and I know, super long posts like this don't get read all of the way through, people skim long posts, or just don't even bother reading long posts at all.
And that's OK.
I blog it because I need to, because I need to talk it out, get it out, so it doesn't build up in me and cause an emotional explosion.
So that's all for now, more to follow, most definitely.

Comments temporarily disabled.

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August 31, 2010

Rainy, hard, educational days.

While Sebastian was at school today, Mark and I had a very long talk about a lot of things.
It started out with how he was feeling about some stuff, some issues that he didn't quite know how to bring up to me.
I told him the same thing that I have always told my sons, "No matter what you say to me, I promise I will not get mad at you, ever, I may hurt, but I won't get mad, and I PROMISE that I will NEVER stop loving you."

So he told me some things about how some people who have been in my life just a little bit longer than my sons have, just some of my extended family, really feel about me.
I am hated actually, and I can understand why, I really can.
I'm one of the only ones in my extended family who has never forgiven my ex-husband for the things that took place during all of the short years we were together.
He's a changed man you see, yet I have not forgiven him like they all have.
He's never asked for it, he's never apologized, so how can I forgive someone who has never apologized or asked to be forgiven?
I have not forgotten or forgiven him for the things that he's done to me or to my sons, he hurt my sons terribly, and I love them more than my own life.

The conversation with Mark went on for hours, things that I am being accused of doing, still, but now by them, people who live in Maine, thousands of miles away, people who never see me or speak to me unless I pay for us to fly up there.
I just love being accused of doing all kinds of drugs, not just the drugs that my doctor prescribes to me on a monthly basis, but hardcore street drugs, like cocaine, and heroin.
Did you all know that I was shooting up?
Between my toes so that there's no visible track marks on my arms or body?
Did you know that?
Did you know that they sit and talk about how I need to go in for some very serious opiate detox very soon?
I'm not to be trusted with money, ever, I'm a thief, a liar, a strung-out junkie and a horrible mother.
Did you know those things?!?

Yes, these are the things that I am told that I am and am doing, they are told to my sons who spend day after day with me, they would know if I was doing those things, they would see me doing those things, yet, at the very same time I am all of those things, I am expected to come up with enough money to fly the three of us up north to Maine every single year so that the teens can visit all of their family.
I am a disabled and single mother living on a very limited income, yet I'm supposed to somehow come up with ALL of the money to fly us all up there every year before the older relatives die ya know?
Does anyone, has anyone, EVER offered to help me buy the plane tickets for us to get up there?!
Hell no!
Have any of them ever come here to visit us?
Hell no!
It's expensive dammit!
And oh forbid that I say that I can't afford it one year, I am guilted so bad for it, but um, hello?!
Did y'all miss the part about me being a single and disabled parent living on a very, very limited income?!

I do the absolute very best that I can every single day of my life.
I pay the bills, I buy the food, I work as much and as hard as I can, I take damn good care of my sons, they have turned out really amazingly well, and believe me, it was not because anyone helped me, I did it all by myself.
People who sit in judgment of me, saying all of those horrible things, hating on me, yet my sons have turned out incredible, and that is because of me, so if I am so freaking bad, how did they turn out so damn good huh?
HUH?!?!?

I would really, absolutely, sooo TOTALLY LOVE for that Freaky Friday kind of stuff to be true.
I would love for all of the people who sit in judgment of me, to spend just 24-48 hours in my body, in my life, do what I do every single day of my life, live it.
Hell, spend a week inside my body, swap souls with me, live my life, and then at the end of it, I can guarantee that they will be BEGGING to go back to their own bodies and lives, and then maybe they will shut up and leave me and mine alone.
What's that saying?

"Before you accuse, criticize, and abuse- walk a mile in my shoes".

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August 26, 2010

What a rainy, crazy, and crappy week it has been.

It has been raining off and on all week long, and when it rains, I am a totally useless lump of flesh on the couch.
I haven't been able to do much of anything at all, I've been in far too much pain to do anything, and I have been sick on top of it, so yeah, just miserable.
___________________

On Tuesday morning, I received a text message from Moe, the guy who owns the corner store, a really great guy, who was letting me know that Rachel, the girl who worked there and was a friend to me, had killed herself sometime around 2am Tuesday morning.
She left her purse, cell phone, all of her things at the store around midnight, said that she was going home, but something snapped I guess, and she ended up hanging herself in the little wooded area right behind the corner store.
I've walked up to the corner store and back a few times now, and there is now a cross, flowers, and 4 large candles placed there for her.
This afternoon when I was on my way to the pharmacy and grocery store, I stopped and lit all 4 of the candles for her. The rain had put them all out.
I said a few words for her as I lit them, I said that I hoped that she finally was at peace now, that whatever it was that drove her to that, hopefully, she was at peace now. I also said that if I had known she was thinking of doing that, that I would have gladly talked to her, that I would have been a friend to listen, and a shoulder to cry on, that I would have tried to help her.

I know all too well that feeling of hopelessness, of feeling like there's no way out of the current and horrible situation that drives you to think of suicide, and that if she had only talked to someone, maybe it didn't have to end that way.
I know that's what happened for me.
In 2001 when I had to stop working, when I got the wicked bad news about my back, I felt so lost and hopeless, like a total failure as a mother, I couldn't work anymore, how was I going to provide for my boys, what was I going to do, how the hell was I going to get out of this super mess?!?
My landlord, of all people, just happened to knock on my door on one of the days that I was crying uncontrollably and thinking of ending it all, he asked what was wrong, and it all just came spilling out of me like a flood.
He came in to my home and talked to me for hours, he gave me so many reasons to not kill myself, he saved my life that day, and I have never thought of suicide again, and the very few times that it has slipped back into my head, the words he said to me that morning come back.
If only someone had been there for Rachel, if only someone had asked her what was wrong, maybe it wouldn't have ended this way.
If I had known she was thinking of suicide, if I had only known that she was feeling so lost and hopeless, I know that I would have talked to her, I would have repeated the same words my landlord said to me, maybe it would have made a difference, maybe it would have helped, or maybe it wouldn't have, there's really no way to know now.
All I can do now is hope that she's finally at peace, that whatever it was that brought her to hang herself, was finally over for her.
_______________________

In other news, Sebastian started school again on Monday, they didn't have him registered for any classes yet, none, so he had to sit and wait for almost 3 hours while they figured out why he didn't get signed up for any of the classes he had registered for, then register him for them again, and print his schedule.
Ugh.
Then on Wednesday, the teens had to go and give their depositions in the "iced tea mugging", so he missed a day of school for that and the vice principal is demanding he bring in proof that he was doing depositions, she wants the actual subpoena, not a copy, and uh, sorry, he needs those for the courts, so she's getting a photocopy of it, like it, lump it, or suck it.
________________________

This morning started out really good.
The sun finally poked back out, and I got an email from Lori at A Cowboy's Wife, letting me know that I had won the giveaway she had on her blog for an awesome pair of Langston's cowboy boots!
I have been given the promo code to go to the site and pick out my pair and order them, yay!
These are the ones that I really like, so I'm pretty sure that they are the ones that I'm going to get.
________________________

The sun came out, I won a great giveaway, and I got paid a day early so I was able to go and pick up my meds, pay a bill to keep the lights on, and get some groceries for the house.
Hopefully things just keep getting better from here on out!

---

August 18, 2010

Whoah, been a few days huh?

As soon as I finish this post, I need to go hop in the shower to get ready for my doc appointment.
Well not hop in the shower, I cannot hop at all these days, but you know what I mean, I need to get in the shower and take a shower so I can be all nice and clean for my doc appointment today.
I am going to my doctor's new practice today for the first time.
He and his PA (Physician's Assistant) Mary left the old practice they were at and are now at a new one, so I am headed there this morning for my appointment.
It was supposed to be last week, but that was at the old practice with the other doctor that has never once treated me, so I had to be rescheduled for today because they moved.
I really don't mind even though it is in a different part of town, I have a ride there and back, so no biggie at all.

OK, time to go get ready and get my butt in gear to go.
Later days!

---

August 10, 2010

Another if I owned my own home post.

Even though I know that it will probably never happen, I like to think about all of the things that I would do in my own home if I were to ever own my own home.
I already have my wall paint colors picked out, my style of furniture, how I would want my kitchen to look, that kind of stuff.
Like, I want all stainless steel appliances in my big (read: HUGE kitchen!) kitchen with a lot of counter space, and a lot of cupboards for all of my stuff, all of my kitchen gadgets and appliances, and a nice big food pantry to store all kinds of extras and cooking essentials that every kitchen should have on hand.
I currently don't have enough counter space for all of my cooking gadgets, nor do I have enough cupboard space to always have the basic pantry cooking essentials on hand, which drives me nuts and is one of the reasons why I am always dreaming and thinking about how my kitchen would look if I ever own my own home.
I have to have a large kitchen with a ton of counter and cupboard space, and a food pantry for all of the basics so whatever meal I am cooking, I will always have the right ingredients on hand to make it.

Anyway, I took a walk to the corner store and back earlier this evening, and on my way back it was now dark enough for the street lights to come on and the ones at people's homes too.
One of my neighbors is a guy who works for one of the local tv stations, he lives just up the street from me, about a block or so, and he's always doing work to his yard, putting in new Florida friendly plants and designing it, and tonight I noticed that he's now added some nice new landscape lighting around the trees and plants that he planted in his front yard.
It looks so wicked nice!
He has some lights aimed up near the base of the palm tree he has planted in the middle, there's some smaller lights mixed in with all of the different Florida friendly plants and flowers that he has, so when you look at his yard, you can clearly see all of the beautiful plants and rocks that he has done some nice design with right in his front yard.
I would love to do that kind of stuff to my own yard some day if I ever own my own home.

---

August 10, 2010

Rain, sick, sleepless.

I have been sick and in pain for like the last four to five days now, and it has totally sucked.
Between the rain and my arthritis, my back, insomnia, and meds running low, I have just been a totally useless waste of flesh laying around the house.

Sebastian spent most of the weekend at my sister's house, and Mark spent most of the weekend at his friend Jeff's house playing video games, so I didn't feel quite so bad about being so sick and sleeping off and on, complaining about my pain and the crappy rainy weather.
No one was here to listen to me. haha

I spent the whole weekend either sleeping for 15-30 minutes at a time or watching movies when I had insomnia and just couldn't sleep at all.
I watched the entire Indiana Jones collection, Iron Man, The Karate Kid, and a ton of other movies that the names are currently drawing a blank on me.

The only thing of any real importance that happened this weekend is that my doctor's PA Mary, (physician's assistant) called me on Sunday afternoon, and she told me that my doctor and her are no longer at the office that they were previously at, and she gave me all of the new information on where they are and stuff, and so then today, I called and scheduled my appointment with them for this month instead of at my old office.
I never saw the other doctor from that practice, so I want to stick with my doc and the PA Mary if I can, so I did.
I have no idea why they left, but hey, whatever, as long as I get in for my appointments every month I'm happy. I'll ask why they left when I go in to see them.

I figured that I should at least check in here in case anyone was wondering about me.
Not that many people do anymore, and I know that it's because my posting has become totally sporadic, I often don't post for days at time and I wish I could get back on track, but I don't know, I just feel so out of it for the last few months.
Like I wake up in the morning and just feel, empty, blank, just totally empty.
Ever feel that way?
Like not sad, not happy, no depressed, not hungry, not tired, not sleepy, not anything, just blank, empty feeling, like no emotions at all.
Empty.
That's the best way that I can explain things.
Empty.

---

August 3, 2010

To sleep, perchance to sleep?

Well Momma Maggie and her four babies have gone on to their new home today, just right through my back yard!
My friends got a duplex apartment on the street right behind me, and their back door faces the back of my house, so we can go visit with the kitty babies any time that we want to.
That's really good as we've loved having them here, it's always fun to have baby kitties around, and Momma Maggie was just so sweet and loving, and she let us hold her babies too.
They were all so soft, they had that new kitten smell, it's like a brand new baby smell, but from a cat.
They mewed so tiny and sweet, they slept in funny positions, it was just a lot of fun having them here.

I think that I'm finally exhausted enough to sleep, at least I hope I am.
It's now been five days, maybe six, that I haven't slept at all, and I feel like I'm running on fumes.
Well that's not totally true, I'm actually running on Diet Coke, Pall Mall Lights, and sugar cookies.
After so many days of not sleeping, I can't even really eat a meal, it makes me feel sick, so I just drink my Diet Cokes, smoke, and ingest sugar to keep me going until my body finally decides to let me sleep.
I know, not a healthy way to do things, and yes, I know all about the smoking, but I'm doing the best that I can do here.
I have been suffering from terrible bouts of insomnia for about the last five to six years now.
I'll go for days and days without sleeping at all, maybe catch a few minutes dozed off in my chair, or maybe 15 minutes or so on the couch, but these last few days, I haven't gotten any sleep at all, not even one single minute, so I'm so totally exhausted, my brain is completely fried, I am not even sure if I'm thinking clearly or not at this point.
I feel like I'm rambling on and on,yet I can barely type at all, my hands and fingers feel so very heavy, I keep making mistakes, having to click on the spell checker or backspace to correct my mistakes.

Before I try to go to sleep though, I have quite a few emails that I need to answer, I have been putting a few of them off for at least four to five days, so now I need to answer them.
Hopefully it's not too late to answer some of them, they didn't say they were time sensitive, but you never know, some people expect a reply within 24 hours, and if they don't get it, they just don't want anything at all to do with you after that.
I really hope that's not the case with some of them, they seemed kind of interesting to me so I'll keep my fingers crossed that I haven't lost my chance to talk with some of these people.

Anyway, I am going to go answer those emails now, hopefully answer those emails now. haha
And then yes, I am going to go lay down, and I am pretty sure that this time, I'll be able to fall asleep.
I really do think that tonight's the night.
Yes I do.

---

July 31, 2010

A very long and rough night for a friend of mine.

I have permission from my friend Nik, who this is about, to post this.
I have blogged about Nik a few times on here, and before I left to come back home tonight, I asked her if it was OK for me to blog about this just in case some people may be wondering where I was and what I was doing all night long.
I know I don't lead a terribly exciting life, but I do get emails from friends every so often asking me why I haven't posted, asking if I am OK or not because I haven't posted.
So this will explain where I was all night long.

My friend Nik was on her way to pay her cell phone bill and get it turned back on, she was a little late making the payment so they shut her off, and so she was going to pay it in person and get it turned back on, and then run a few more errands before coming back home and then her and I were going to have a movie night up at her place.
She stopped at a Hess gas station in Bradenton to get some drinks for her and her eight year old daughter L. who went with her, and when they got back to the truck, her daughter got in on the driver side, slid over, Nik threw her keys and cell phone on the seat next to her daughter and was just about to throw her purse in and hop in the truck herself, when some guy hit her on the back of the head really hard, grabbed her purse, and took off.
Nik never saw him, she got hit in the head from behind, it dropped her to her knees she said, so she never even got a glimpse of the guy, and her poor little daughter L., was so scared and freaked out, all she can remember seeing was a black man in a white tank top and dark colored pants, she was just so scared because she saw her mommy get hit, heard her mommy scream and cry, and so that is all she saw, a black man in a white tank top and dark colored pants.
Nik called the cops from the store phone, she never even got to get to the cell phone place to turn her phone back on yet, the cops showed up did their thing, took her and her daughter's statements, asked other people if they saw anything, then the cops had to call Hess corporate to be able to review the video surveillance tapes of the parking lot to try and get a look at the guy, try to see how he escaped, either on foot, bike, or a car, and hopefully, if it was a car, get the make, model, and HOPEFULLY, a plate number to try and catch this jerk.
Nik had to go to the hospital in Bradenton to get checked out and luckily she didn't get her head split open, but she has one hell of a knot on the back of her head, and her poor little girl is absolutely terrified.
Nik is not allowed to go to sleep because of the possibility of a concussion, so I had to go up to her apartment up the street and stay with her to keep her awake until G., her daughter's father and her roommate, (they are not together as a couple but live together for the sake of their daughter, looonnnng story) came home from wherever he was so he could keep her awake for the rest of the night.
He came home around 1:45am and I stayed for a little bit to help Nik explain to him what had happened and why she has to be kept awake all night.
I also told him that I took L. to her grandparent's house, his parent's house, who so conveniently (thank goodness they do in situations like this!) live right across the street from their apartment building.
I told the grandparents what had happened, why poor little L. is so scared and upset, and so they hugged her tightly and are going to be taking care of her for the whole night, letting her sleep over their house, cuddling with her, and letting her know that everything will be OK in the way that only grandparents have that special way of somehow making the grand-kids really believe that everything really is going to be alright.
L. was just crying and sobbing, and she was holding onto my hand so tightly as she and I crossed the street to go to their house, and she kept saying that a really, really bad man had hit her mommy on the head and took her purse, he hurt her mommy bad, she kept repeating to me as we crossed the street and knocked on their door.
She just fell into her grandmother's arms when she opened the door.
Poor little thing. *wicked sad face*

So anyway, I just got back home a little bit ago.
But poor Nik.
She had just got her first SSI monthly check in the mail, yesterday, Friday, and she had just cashed it and was on her way to pay and get her cell phone turned back on, and then she was going to go pay her car insurance bill, and then come home and she, L. and I, were going to have a girl's movie night at her place.
But it was so wicked hot out, so she stopped for waters for her and L. at a Hess gas station.
The guy must have been in line behind her, or next to her, or something, saw the amount of money in her wallet, and just went for it, decided to take her whole purse, violently.
She said if he had spoken to her, if he had just asked for the money, or just threatened to hurt her for the money, that she would have just handed him all of the money as long as he didn't hurt her or her daughter, she would have just given it to him to avoid a violent confrontation in front of her daughter, she would do anything to protect her child.
He hit her so hard in the back of the head so she doesn't even know if he used his closed fist or if he had some sort of weapon in his hand, she just knows it hurt really super-wicked bad and dropped her to her knees.
She has a massive lump on the back of her head where she got hit, so she is really lucky that whatever he hit her with, didn't split her head wide open, the lump is that freaking huge.

Nik is so upset, and not just about the lump and the pain and the money, but because she had just cashed that check, it was her very first check after finally being approved for SSI and SSDI after almost 4 years of court hearings and doctors, and paperwork up the butt to finally get approved.
It was the very first check in what feels like a never ending battle to get approved, that first check is like a huge sigh of relief when it finally comes, it just takes all of the stress and worry off of your shoulders that you've been carrying around for all of the years that you have been fighting to get approved for your disability.
She just got a new set of MRIs and saw her doctor, he is talking major surgery, spine fusion surgery, and she is so scared, so she and I have been talking a lot about it, I've been there, done that, so I can help her get through it.
Anyway, it was just a monthly check, not the big retroactive check, that would have really sucked, but still, it was a lot of money to have taken that way, almost $500 just ripped from her violently in front of her daughter, and not to mention everything else in her purse.
Her license, her social security card, her food stamp card, medicaid card, her prescription insurance card, her bank and debit cards, freaking everything was in her purse, so not only did I have to help keep her awake all night long until G. came home, but we had to call as many places as we could that were still open for customer service calls and tell them to cancel all of the cards, give them the police report case number so the cards could all be marked as stolen.
Thank goodness all of them had the press the number option to report your card as lost or stolen, so we were able to report every single one of them as stolen, and I also had her call the three credit reporting agencies so they could put alerts on her credit reports just in case something happens and her SS card number doesn't get canceled immediately by the SSA.

The whole late afternoon and night were a freaking nightmare for her.
The attack happened around 3pm or so, maybe a little later, and she didn't get home from Bradenton and the hospital until around 8pm when she called me up crying really hard and begging me to come up to her apartment, she begged me for help, she didn't even know where or how to begin reporting things as stolen, and her head hurt really bad, she was just sobbing and begging me for help, so with the teens gone for the night to my sister's house, I immediately got myself dressed and walked straight up to her place.
I did every single thing that I could think of to report all of her cards as stolen, and a few of the places that we called gave us some other numbers to call for some of her other things that were stolen, so I think we got it all covered and taken care of, I hope.
Identity theft really sucks so I really hope that we got everything canceled ASAP.
What helped a lot was that I made her remember and write down a list of every single card that she could recall being in her wallet slot by slot, visualize the contents of the wallet, so that I could look up all of the telephone numbers for each one so that she could call them and explain, I kept track of each one as we called it, checking it off of the list, made sure she gave each one the police report number and everything that she needed to tell each place when she called.
I had written it all down for her so that she wouldn't be stumbling over her words not knowing exactly what to say.
It was so hard for her, she was in such wicked bad pain, I kept changing out her ice pack for her, getting her drinks of water, hugging her when she started to break down and cry again, and she was trying really hard not to cry when she was speaking to people on the phone, but her whole purse with everything in it was stolen so violently from her in front of her daughter, it was just such a horrible night for her.

I feel so so bad for her, but I did every single thing that I could think of to do to help her.
I really think just having a friend sitting there on her bed with her, hugging her when she needed it, letting her cry, telling her that things were going to be OK, letting her talk about her very frightening experience, helping to take care of her and her head injury, and making sure her daughter was in a safe place for the night, and just being a good, loving, and supportive friend, is what she really needed to help her get through a very traumatic afternoon and night.
Once G. found out what had happened and he knew that L. was in a safe place for the night, and also knew that his daughter didn't get physically injured, he also was extremely supportive of Nik.
They may no longer be married, they may sleep in separate bedrooms at the apartment, and they may really just be living together for the sake of their daughter, but I saw the look in his eyes as he was listening to Nik tell what happened.
There is still some love there, he still cares very deeply for her, he has never moved on, never gotten into any serious relationships after her, and even though they agreed to split the rent and bills, just live as roommates who happen to be the parents of L., he just pays everything and doesn't complain.
I really think that he takes care of his family because that is how he sees it, it's his family living in that apartment, and he loves both his daughter and Nik.
Really, the look in his eyes and also the way that he hugged her when she started to cry again, yeah, he still cares for her and loves her very, very much.

---

July 28, 2010

I'm babysitting newborns!

I posted to Twitter and Facebook last night but forgot to post about it here, ooops, sorry!
Some friends are moving, but they can't move into their new place until Monday, so they are staying with some friends but the friends said no pets, so I am babysitting their cat Maggie.
Maggie was pregnant, she was not not due for another week or so, but the stress of moving caused her to go into labor early and she gave birth to four tiny baby kitties yesterday!

This is a picture of Momma Maggie and her babies, click for biggie.

These are the tiny kitty babies on the second day of their lives!
To me, tiny kitty babies are more precious than diamonds. They are just so stinking cute!
I wanna pick them up and cuddle with the all!
Click for biggie size on this one too!

We are having so much fun with Maggie and her kittens, the teens just love them.
Mark loves the little orange one of course, it reminds him of his cat Simba that he had when he was younger and it was killed by the store owner that ran the store below our apartment.
That guy killed five cats that morning, jerk
I went in the other room and caught Mark laying on the bed just staring at the little kitty, he looked so sad, so I asked him what was wrong, he said that he missed Simba a lot and this little kitty looks just like him.
I gave him a hug and put the kitten in his hands, he smiled, said it was so tiny and cute, but it made him nervous to be holding such a small newborn, so I put it back in the box with Maggie and he went back to just laying there staring at the kittens and smiling.
Kittens make people smile, happy.
Mark may miss Simba, but seeing the tiny kittens makes him happy.

---

July 27, 2010

Trying to stay cool, day 4.

It has been so hot out the last few days, I am totally ready for it to be winter again.
We have just been trying to stay as cool and a comfortable as is possible under these hot temps.
It has only been in the low 90's, but there has been a high heat and humidity index every single day making the 93 degree temperatures feel like 103 degrees.
You take one step outside, and you are immediately covered in sweat.
It is really rather gross and disgusting, take a shower, go out to get the mail, and need another shower.
Yuck.
The poor air conditioner has been struggling to keep the house at 78 degrees, we only have window units, an LG window air conditioner, and it is just working really hard to keep the house cool.

All of the appliances are working over time, so tomorrow I have a plan to clean the dust out of all of them.
I am going to clean the filter on the AC, and have Sebastian and Mark help me move the refrigerator so that I can vac behind it and vac out the refrigerator filters of all of the dust so that it can work more efficiently.
I am also going to clean the hose on the dryer, vac it out and clean the lint filter really good.
If you let dust stay in all of those filters, not only does it have the potential to cause a house fire, but it also causes the appliances to work harder which increases you electric bill.

Tonight we are just chilling out, relaxing and watching movies.
Right now, we are watching Clash of the Titans, and so far, it's not too bad.
It just started, and I know that it got some bad reviews, the story line and script is bad apparently, but the special effects go good ratings anyway.
Meh, it's something to watch, something to do that doesn't take up any energy and make you sweat, so we'll watch it.
Not too much else going on here, really just trying to take it easy and chill out as much as possible.

---

July 22, 2010

Almost scammed by another pharmacy.

I just woke up after falling asleep in my chair for about five hours.
I fell asleep like that because of sheer exhaustion, insomnia for about the last six days, maybe a total of three hours of sleep over the last six days, plus a lot of stress, and a really horrible day yesterday after leaving my doctor's office.

I left my doc's office, I was in and out in 15 minutes, and went straight to the same pharmacy that I have been going to for the last two years.
As I was waiting to be waited on, I watched as five other people were told that their insurance no longer covered their medications because the price went up.
I listened as the pharmacist told these people that they couldn't pay cash for their scripts either because then they could go call their insurance and try to get reimbursed by saying the pharmacist was making them pay cash.
A lot of angry people left the pharmacy.
I handed in my scripts, waited, and then was told the same thing.
My insurance no longer covered it because the price went up, he was losing money.
I've heard this same kind of story before, been there, done that,

I called my insurance company to find out what to do, to verify it, that they no longer covered it.
My insurance company said they did cover it and they were going to call the pharmacist and find out what the problem is.
So my insurance called him to tell him it was covered, he lied to them and said he didn't have them in stock anyway.
My insurance company said they were looking up other pharmacies to see if they had my pain meds in stock, please hold.
I'm standing in the pharmacy waiting to hear, I needed to be in the AC because it was about 98 degrees with a high heat index and massive humidity, I felt like total crap, I had been sick for the last 4 days, no sleep, I needed to stand there and wait to find out what to do.

As I'm waiting on hold, the pharmacist said that if I really wanted my medications, even though they ARE covered by insurance, if I really wanted them, he was refusing to take my insurance, he told me that if I really wanted my pain medications that I needed to pay $879.90 for my medication, but he would not take my insurance which has a co-pay for me of just $2.50.
He was so totally trying to rip me off!!
This is exactly what that other pharmacy did, but they only extorted me for $20!!
I told him that was not the price of the medicine, that my insurance just told me how much they were for the cash price, and it came to $358.00, not $879.00.
He said the price went up, I either pay it or I don't get my medication.
I said no, that wasn't the price, I was not going to pay that, he was trying to extort me.
While he and I were talking, my insurance company called back, his assistant got him to the phone, the rep I was on hold with came back on the line and I told her what he told me, she relayed that info to the supervisor who was now talking to him, the supervisor told him that he legally cannot charge people whatever price he wants if he accepts insurances which he does.
He started yelling at the supervisor, screaming, said he was not going to fill it, he was losing money, he did not have to fill it if he chose not to, and that yes, he can charge whatever the hell prices he wants.
He then hung up on the supervisor and came around to the front where I was still waiting, glaring at me.
The death stare.
He started yelling at me like he just yelled at the supervisor.
Because I called the insurance company and he got caught in a lie saying my meds weren't covered by my insurance, my insurance company is now investigating him for fraud, so he told me to get the hell out of his pharmacy, I was "dismissed", he told me to get out and that I can never, ever, go back to his pharmacy ever again.

So then I had to go to 3 other pharmacies which didn't have them in stock, then I finally found one that had them, but the wait to get it filled was going to be about 45 minutes to an hour, so I had to sit there and wait for almost an hour after just spending almost two and a half hours dealing with a total jerk and extortionist of a pharmacist, and going to other pharmacies, in and out of the car a whole bunch of times in the heat, I just wasted time all afternoon and my doc appointment was only 15 minutes long, but I spent nearly three hours trying to get them filled!
I was tired, sweating to death, angry, upset, I just wanted to get my meds and go home.
I finally got them filled and came home where the teens had been waiting for hours and hours for me, they kept calling to make sure that I was ok because I'm usually only gone for a max of two hours on doctor day, and now I had been gone for almost three hours and they were worried about me.

Then later that night, Mark asked me to pop this huge zit he had on his forehead, he couldn't get it to pop, he wanted me to use my nails on it.
So I popped his massive, and I do mean MASSIVE zit on his forehead, holy crap that sucker was enormous!
After that, I dug through my medicine cabinet and make-up bin finding all of the 10 - acne products+ that I've bought for the teens over the last six months or so trying to help them clear up their skin, and I washed his face with a cleanser, then I applied a mask for five minutes, washed that off, then I applied a toner and told him to keep his hands off of his face for the rest of the night, if I saw him picking at his skin I was going to dig out some old mittens and tie them to his hands to keep him from picking at the rest of his pimples.
He laughed, but I was so not joking, I said, "Don't push me dude, I had a really bad day, I will so totally tie mittens on your hands to keep you from popping and picking at the rest of your pimples."
He looked at me wide-eyed, knew I was seriously in a bad mood, and swore to not pick at his face for the rest of the night, pinky-swear promised me.

I just can't believe that there are so many unscrupulous pharmacists out there trying to extort people, trying to force people to pay outrageous prices for their medications when they accept insurance but just don't want to wait for the reimbursement or whatever.
This is now the second time that I have had a pharmacist try to extort me, and the second time that my insurance company has had to investigate a pharmacy for fraud.
If my insurance goes back through the records and sees anything that looks suspicious, like price fixing and upping the prices or whatever, he is in so much trouble.
The rep that I was speaking to said that the supervisor was so not happy with him at all, that the supervisor called his actions "shady", said that he was a liar, he had said that he didn't have them in stock, then he said that he did if I wanted to pay $879.00 for them, the supervisor said that he was totally trying to be fraudulent, and so the supervisor was personally going to investigate him.
I hope they do, he was totally shady, totally trying to extort me, and now I wonder just how many other customers he's done it to and because they needed their medications, they just paid it.

---

July 20, 2010

It's been a totally crappy 4 days.

I started getting sick sometime on Saturday, and between that, my back hurting, and running low on my pain meds, it's been a hellacious 4 days.
I look absolutely awful, I look like I got hit by a truck.
I have huge bags under my eyes from not being able to sleep due to being sick plus the heat, so before I go to my doc appointment tomorrow afternoon, I need to dig through my make-up bin and find my eyeseryl eye cream.
It generally reduces the puffy bags and lightens up the dark circles a little bit so I don't look quite so crappy at my appointment.

Sebastian did make it home safe and sound, Mindy and I picked him up at the Tampa airport around 11:30am on Sunday.
I brought him a sub from Publix and a Coca-cola, some Swiss Rolls, and he was so happy to have it because neither of his flights served him anything.
Everything cost extra money, and even though he had $20, he didn't want to spend $5 on a single can of Coke.
Those prices are ridiculous, so yeah, he was very happy to have some yummy food to eat on the way home.

I'm very happy to have him home though.
I missed him like crazy, just sucks that I've been sick since he came home.

---

July 16, 2010

He comes home on Sunday!!

Sebastian will be home on Sunday!
Mindy and I will be picking him up at the airport when his plane lands around 11:30am, I'm so excited!!
I have missed him soooo much!
I can't wait to see him, I'm probably going to hug him so hard that I'll squeeze him too tight...LoL
I'm going to stop and get him a sub and a soda to eat on the way home because all that he's going to get on his flights with Delta is basically snack foods.
Some sort of breakfasty type food like a muffin and juice on his early morning flight, and a light snack like chips and a soda on his mid-morning flight, so he's going to be hungry when he lands, and it's about an hour ride home.

I'm going to try making coming home for him as pleasant as possible, he asked that I please wash all his blankets and pillow cases so they all smell nice and fresh when he sleeps in his bed for the first time Sunday night, so I'm going to do all of that tomorrow.
I'm also going to go shopping and get a lot of his favorite foods so he has yummy stuff to munch on when he comes home.
I'm just so excited that he's coming home, I really have missed him so incredibly much.

---

July 15, 2010

Huff and puff and blow your house in.

I was laying on the couch this morning trying to rest which was an impossible feat.
I have barely slept at all in the last 3-4 days, so I was trying to get some sleep, but my phone get beeping with text messages from friends stressing out over stuff, and then the door happened.

I was laying here, almost asleep, I was totally dozing off, almost to la la land, when there came a pounding on the door so loud I thought someone was trying to actually come in the house.
Mark got up and answered the door, it was a process server here to subpoena the teens to court over the iced-tea mugging incident.
In August, either the 12th, 13th, 19th, or 20th, at 9:30am, the teens have to be in court to testify against the two teens who mugged them a month ago.
Four days, we don't know which day yet, so basically, they have to be in court on all four of those days just in case the court case gets heard on one of those days.
That's ridiculous!!

---

July 7, 2010

Oh! There it is!

For the last couple of weeks I have been in a total funk.
I have had absolutely no motivation to do anything at all, I have been mildly depressed and I hate to admit it, but I have to, talking about it helps, says my doctor.
I have been feeling this way ever since Sebastian told me that he had a decision to make about whether to live up in Maine for a year, or come back here and finish his education.
Every time that we talked on the phone, I have been totally supportive, telling him that no matter what he decided, I would stand behind his decision 100% even though it was ripping my heart out to even think about him not coming back home to stay.
I've done hardly anything at all, my house clearly showed what was going on with me mentally, it was a mess.
I haven't been sleeping, and I have barely eaten anything at all in weeks.
With me, the very best natural diet supplements is the thought of not having either or both of my sons with me for whatever reasons, be it an accident, going away to college, or moving away to live with the other side of the family for a year.
It was killing me inside, I ate probably once every two to three days, and you couldn't really call it eating, it was more like nibbling on a single slice of deli ham at one am or whatever.
I have been laying around on the couch most days just mindlessly watching the tv, or sitting here in my chair and mindlessly surfing the internet.
I had lost all motivation to do anything at all.
My home and work have both been suffering because of it, and I just couldn't shake it.

Then around 1:15-1:30pm this afternoon, my Mom called and then I called her right back because I have free long distance, and I talked to Sebastian for about 45 minutes.
Sebastian is spending the night with my parents to help them out around the house and go grocery shopping with my Mom in the morning because she has a hurt knee and a broken vertebrae, so she needs some help and he's great at grocery shopping, he always goes with me and he's really great at helping.
Sebastian said that he'd be home on the 18th, and I asked if he had made a decision yet because if he chose there, then we needed to hurry and try to get a child custody court date, transfer his school records etc.
He told me, "No Mom, I'm coming home on the 18th for good. I'm going to finish my school and then go to SCF for the required classes, and then try to go to Full Sail for my computer and digital art classes that I want to do for my career."

I was Soooooo happy to hear him say that!
To hear him make his education a priority, that makes me so so SO proud of him!
I feel sad that Great-Gram and Aunt Heather will be sad and miss him terribly, but his education is the #1 priority right now, when he finishes, he can go back if he chooses too.
Gah!!!! I miss him but I'm so happy that he's going to be coming home!
Yay!
Yeuuuusss!!

After I got off the phone with him, it's like my mojo came back!
Mark and I went and did the grocery shopping, and then tonight, I finally cleaned the floors like I have been saying I was going to for oh, about two weeks now.
I vacuumed the rug, and I mopped the totally sucky terrazzo flooring in the kitchen, hallway, and bathroom.
I hate the terrazzo flooring, it is so hard to get clean.
You can mop it repeatedly and it still looks filthy, it's just the way the floor is, it's this yucky stone type stuff, and nobody knows how to get it to look clean.
I've talked to people who clean for a living, and nobody knows how to get it to look good.
You can mop it over and over, your mop will wring totally clear, no more dirt is coming off of the floor or wringing out of the mop, the floor is clean, but you look at the just mopped floor, and it still looks totally gross.
Ugh.
Then I did almost all of the dishes, I have just the silverware and cups left to do, I folded all of the laundry in the drier, and I even cleaned the kitchen counters.

Hearing that my baby boy is coming home and he's going to stay home, totally brought me out of my funk.
I got my motivation back.
Sebastian is coming home on the 18th.
To stay.

---

July 6, 2010

Been doing nothing much here.

I know that I haven't posted in quite a few days, there just really isn't much of anything going on here.
Mark and I are just hanging out, each of us doing our own thing, it's been really kind of boring around here.
It rained all day yesterday which sucked, the both of us just laid around watching movies because the both of us have arthritis, so the rain just makes both of our backs hurt a lot, so we just laid around so as not to make it hurt even worse.
Mark was digging around in his keepsake box, where he keeps all of the things that are special to him like birthday cards, his collector edition Boba Fett, stuff like that, and that's when he found a gift card to AMC theaters, so he asked me to check the balance on it.
I called the 1-800 number, and it said that he has a balance of $19.50, so that's enough for him and I to go see a matinee and maybe get a small popcorn and a small drink.
There's a movie coming out that he wants to see, the new Predators movie that starts Friday.
We're planing on going to see it sometime next week in the afternoon.
Mark loves the Predator series, so I figure what the hell, we'll go see this new one together, it will give us something to do.
It actually looks pretty decent too.

---

July 6, 2010

Things I need for my printers.

I need to get a few ink cartridges for my two printers so that I can print stuff out, like pictures, instead of having to use a service to do them, or ask my sister to do them.
Family members have been asking me for ages to send pictures of the teens, and I keep saying that I will, but then I forget, and then when I remember, I remember that I don't have any ink.

My HP Photosmart printer for printing pictures, takes a single cartridge, an HP 110 Triincolor Ink Cartridge, it goes for about $28.00, and I'd like to find it on sale, but the price varies at every single store and e-tailer, so every time I think I have enough money for it somewhere, I get there, and the price has been marked back up again.

My other regular printer for printing out letters and stuff, is a Lexmark, and it takes two cartridges.
A Lexmark #60 for the colors, and a Lexmark #50 for the black.
The #60 color runs about $45.00, and the #50 black runs about $37.00 regular price, so I definitely have to find those when they are on sale.

Why is ink so damn expensive?
And I've tried those refill kits, yeah, never doing that again.
And I'm never doing refurbished ink again either, that was a total waste of money because after printing out about 20 regular pages, just black text, it ran out of ink, so yeah, I was so not happy about that.
I hate having to use a photo printing service, but I do have some credits at one of them, so I am going to use those credits up until I can get some ink for my printers.
Hopefully that will be sometime soon.

---

July 1, 2010

Overwhelming emptiness.

It has been very, very quiet around here, both on my blog and here at home.
I never realized just how much Sebastian and I interacted with each other until he was gone.
Mark and I are very much alike, we go and do our thing and we stay doing our thing, we only interact with each other at meal times and if we're watching a movie or going to the store or something.
Other than that, it's very quiet here.
I am out here at my desk mindlessly surfing the internet or playing with my Sims 3, and Mark is in the other room playing his video games.

I have been a complete wreck without him here, knowing what I know about what's going on up there and the decision that he has to make, and so I have been under a ton of stress.
What used to be my "hives of unknown origin", has now officially been labeled as "stress hives".
When I get stressed, I break out in hives all over every single inch of my body.
We know, the doctor and I, that the hives are from stress because I make a very strict point of not going near any of my triggers, and making sure that none of them come in to the house.
There are never, and never will be, any peaches or strawberries in the house.
Those are my food triggers, and I don't use any of my other triggers either, one of which is the Bounce dryer bar, and thanks to that experience, I am allergic to all fabric softener sheets, so I can only use the Purex 3-in-1 laundry sheets, and I really hope that I never become allergic to those.
After doing some journal writing, writing out the dates that I broke out in hives and what I ate and did, what my mood was, what was going on in my life on those days, my doctor figured out that they are 100% stress related.
At least I know now so that I can attempt to keep my stress under control, but that's not really working right now, not with this situation.
So because of the massive amounts of stress that I have been under, I have been broken out in hives almost every single day, all day and all night long for the last 4 or 5 days.
The Benadryl is not working, but I'm taking it anyway in the hopes that it will eventually kick in and start working.
I also wasn't getting much sleep at all, so I had to pick up some sleep aids when Mark and I were at the store the other day, and so I have been getting about 5 hours of sleep per night now.
That's better than nothing, definitely better than not getting any sleep at all like what was happening, so I'm at least feeling a little better.

I don't know, I am just dealing with it all the very best that I can, just trying to be patient and at least I know that he will be home on July 18th.
That's when his return ticket is for, and I know that at least I will see him when he comes home that day, and then from there, I don't know what will be happening, but at least I will get to see him and hug him again.
I just miss him so very much, I know that I'll probably hug him and not let go until he tells me I'm squishing him or something. hahaha

---

June 28, 2010

Keeping myself busy.

I want to thank you all for your words of support and encouragement, it really means a lot to me, and I am sorry if I am unable to personally respond to each and every one of your comments, there are just far too many of them.
Do not get me wrong, I LOVE all of your comments, they really do mean so much, it is awesome to know that I have so much support from so many people during all of this.

I got tired of crying and decided to do something to keep myself busy, so I went and looked up how to make my own ringtones for my cell phone because A) I could not find any on the Virgin Mobile site that I liked, and B) they are just too expensive when you start adding them up.
I found a great site to make ringtones that really works awesome, so if you want to make your own for your cell phone, just go to this site.
It is fast, easy, and there are no harmful things on the site or when you download your newly made ringtone.

Then I needed a way to get them to my phone.
I don't have the USB cable or a micro SD card to use to store and transfer them from my pc to my phone.

They are on sale this week for really good prices, so maybe when I get paid this week after I pay some stuff, I'll pick those up so that I can transfer whole songs to the phone so that I can listen to music on it using the media player it comes with.

But I did find a way to do it.
I needed to download and install Opera Mini 5, and I tried upgrading Opera Mini 4.2, but it wouldn't do it, so I deleted 4.2 and then tried to install 5 for like 2 hours but I kept getting the message "Access Denied" when I went to the site www.m.opera.com, m.opera.com, I even tried the link for Virgin Mobile phones specifically, opera.mini.com/virgin, no matter how I tried it, I was denied.
So I did a search on Google and found that I needed to type in to my phones default web browser, mini.opera.com, and it will download.
The file size on mini.opera.com is like 1kb bigger than the others, so maybe that's why it works, who knows.

Then once you get Opera Mini 5, you need to make your ringtone, then if you have gmail, attach the ringtone file to an email and email it to a yahoo mail account, so if you don't have one of those, get one, they are free.
Then open up Opera on your phone, go to your yahoo email account, click on the email with the ringtone, (hopefully you labled it by putting something in the subject line) then click on the attachment, then click on the box shaped icon that appears, and then in the lower left of your Opera browser, you will see that it says "save".
Click that and it will download the ringtone to your phone, to the ringtones folder.
It will not be labeled the title you gave your ringtone, but instead, it will just say "securedownload" as the ringtone filename, but it's there and it will work.
I have now made two ringtones and emailed them to my phone.
I am way happy that I figured it out, I supposes that sometimes it helps to have OCD, it makes me complete every single thing that I start no matter how frustrating it was to keep seeing that "Access Denied" message.

---

June 26, 2010

I just want him to be happy.

I have to be really careful how I word this post, I know that other people read my blog and I don't want to be misunderstood in any way.

First, he will not be coming home early, he will be staying until July 18th as originally planned.
I know that staying there is what he needs to do, he needs to have this experience, it's a huge part of growing up for him, I've accepted this trip and what is happening in my head and heart.
He's learning who his father is, he's met all of his half-siblings, he's learning who they are, and in turn, he's learning a good deal about who he is too.
Now onto other things which I am upset about, but I love him and only want him to be happy.
Whatever my sons want in their lives that will make them happy, is what I want for them.
It's all that I have ever wanted for them, all I will ever want for them.

Sebastian called me this afternoon, his voice sounded heavy so I asked if he was still upset about what happened on Tuesday night, he said yes, that he was very, very sorry, but he had a lot on his mind too, a lot to think about.
I asked about what, I reminded him that he can always talk to me, that no matter what, I am always open to hear whatever he has to say.
He said that his family on his dad's side have all been really great, they love having him there, they are so happy that he's there visiting.
They have also been talking to him about living there, they want him to come live there for his last year of school.
I knew it was going to happen, I even talked about it with friends, I just knew.
Great-Gram who is very old, she always says to the boys when we go up, that we get up there so very rarely, that she's afraid that she'll be dead by the time we get up there next, so of course, she wants him to come live there for a year.
His Aunt Heather also thinks it's a good idea, his half-brothers also do.
Surprisingly, it wasn't his father who had this idea or started this whole conversation, it was Great-Gram.

Sebastian said he has to think about it, weigh the pros and cons, think about the consequences of his decision.
No matter what he decides, he knows that someone will be upset.
If he decides to live there for a year, he knows that I will be sad and upset, his Aunt Jo, his brother Mark, and if he decides to come back home, everyone up there will be sad and upset, but he knows that he has to choose, that he has to make a decision, and he really needs to decide by the time he's due to come back here so that if he's going to live there for a year, his school records can be transferred, and all of the legal paperwork can be done so that someone up there will have legal custody of him.

He asked me how I would feel, and being his mom, being that I love him with every fiber of my being, and being that all I want for my sons is that they be happy, I told him that I would be very sad, that I would miss him very, very much, but if it's what he wanted, if it would really make him happy, then I would let him go.
I will support whatever decision he makes, to live there for a year, or come back home, whichever he decides, I just want him to be happy, and so if living with his half-brothers and father, getting to see Great-Gram, Aunty Heather, and Ninny and Pop-pop, (my parents) all of the time is what would really make him happy, then I would be behind his decision 100% and let him go.

He got very quiet, and asked me if I really would behave like that, if I really would let him go, no arguing, no legal fighting, and I repeated what I had just told him.
I will support whatever decision he makes 100%, to live there or here, I will let him go but miss him very much, I will be very sad, because I love him, no matter where he goes and what he does, he will always be my son, and I will always love him.
We talked for just a few more minutes, he was still very quiet, his voice very heavy with contemplation, people laying guilt at his feet isn't really fair in my opinion, telling a kid that you want him to live there because you may be dead by the next time he gets a chance to come up and visit, it just isn't fair in my opinion.
I don't think I'm wrong about that, it's just not fair or right to guilt kids into doing things, especially life changing things like living somewhere else for your last year of high school, having to go to court and tell a judge that you want to live with your father from now on, having to come back here and pack up all of his belongings, say good-bye to his brother and mother, his cat too, to the home he has lived in for the last 12 years, it's just not right to place that on a kid's shoulders.

It kills me that he may decide to live there, but I meant what I said, I will support him no matter what he chooses, I will let him go because I love him, because all I want is for him to be happy.
I will definitely miss him wanting to be tucked in every single night, rubbing his temples when he has a migraine until he falls asleep, listening to him play with his toys or sing in the shower or bathroom. I will miss him begging to buy Halloween costumes and go trick or treating even though he's far too old for it, and listening to him plead his case that people buy candy to give it away, that there's hardly any kids left in the hood anymore, so somebody should get dressed up and knock on their nicely decorated doors, that it makes the people smile to see cool costumes, it would be an injustice to not give the people what they are expecting. ha ha aha!
I will miss so many things about him, his little annoying quirks, the constant fighting between him and Mark, how he still loves to watch kid's movies all curled up on the couch with his blanket, and I will miss all of our talks as we take walks to the store and back.

I will miss so many things he does, all of the wonderful things about him, his hair, his bright blue eyes, the way that he smiles and laughs, the small brown freckle on the end of his nose, I will miss him so so much, but if it makes him happy, I will let him go.
I love him that much, I love him enough to let him go so that he will be happy.

---

June 24, 2010

Get an Amazon Kindle for just $189.00!

Amazon has put the Kindle on sale for just $189.00!
The Kindle was priced at $259.00, and it is now just $189.00, that's a savings of $70!
PLUS!!!
Amazon is offering FREE Two-Day Shipping

I normally do not put up posts like this, an 'OMG you should totally buy this' kind of post, but this is a really great price for a really great product.
Everyone that I know who owns a Kindle, absolutely loves it and raves about it.
I know a couple of people who bought a Kindle and they are major book readers, they can read two to three books per week, and almost every single time I talk to the both of them and ask what they are doing, they tell me, reading a great new book!
Both of them have said that they really don't know how they used to carry around all of the books that they would take with them everywhere now that they have a Kindle.
The difference in weight has made an impact in how they walk, and their posture has improved, they are standing up straighter, because they aren't lugging around a giant bag with two or three books in it everywhere they go anymore.
One friend said that the very first day that she had her Kindle in her bag and she wasn't carrying the usual two books that she used to carry with her every single day everywhere that she went, she kept marveling at how light her bag was now, and that's when she realized just how much extra weight she had been carrying around every single day for as long as she could remember due to her love of books.
She had a huge bag too, it was big enough to carry all of her normal purse stuff and had room for at least three hardcover books, which she preferred over paperbacks because paperbacks tend to get ripped up she said.
Once she got used to carrying just the Kindle with her, she downsized her bag and is now using a normal sized purse for the first time in years because the Kindle is so small and lightweight, and she's very happy with it, loves it, and she said the Kindle is the coolest thing that she's bought for herself in years.

I would love to get a Kindle for myself, but I have some bills to pay off by mid-August, (responsibilities first!) but if the price stays this low, (or maybe it will get even lower!) I just might have to buy myself one for Christmas.
I checked the coverage map to see how the 3G signal is in my area, and it's good, so I know I wouldn't have any problems downloading the books in the 60 seconds they say it takes.
I can't believe that the Kindle is so small, yet it can hold 1,500 books at a time, and there are now over 600,000 book titles available to download and read.
And for those of us who don't have a Kindle yet and can't get one for awhile, but we'd still like to try out the technology, we can download the free Kindle app for our pc, and they even have an iPhone Kindle app for free download too.

I think I'm going to download the free Kindle app for my computer to give it a try, and I'll be able to download books to it and read them, so why not right?
While it's downloading, I'm going to go look for a few books that I have been wanting to read for awhile....

---

June 22, 2010

I knew there would be problems.

I just knew it, I knew that there would be problems letting Sebastian go to Maine, I knew it.
He left Sunday, it's only Tuesday night, and already there are problems.
I knew there would be, but I thought that it would take at least a week before anything happened.
I really don't want to go into it, I know that his father reads my blogs, so I will not get into it just yet.
But I will say that I am extremely disappointed in Sebastian, extremely disappointed and extremely hurt.
I didn't think that the influence would be so immediate on him, I thought that I raised him better than that.
He will be coming home earlier than planned.
I'm sorry, but I will not allow this to continue, I can't.
As soon as I have the money, I'll have it in about a week and a half, I'll be buying a ticket and he'll be coming home.
I am so hurt right now, hurt, angry, but mostly hurt.

---

June 19, 2010

So close, but yet so far...

I posted about my friend Mindy and her family's situation a few days ago, and you can read about her situation in her own words here, and she's posted an update tonight.

We have been searching for a new place for almost a week and a half.
When I am not working or packing up the house, we are driving all over to look at the next dwelling. We have spoken with many potential prospects which have all fallen short of obtaining the keys because of one problem.
We do not have the full funds.
Every single one of the houses that we have looked at require security,first and last months rent.
We are close but still fall short.

Thanks to so many of you who donated to them to be able to help them secure a new place to live by the end of the month, but they are still a bit short and still need our help.
I know that times are tough for so many people and their families, that's why all I am asking for is if you have just $1.00 that you can donate to them.
If everyone who reads my post and Mindy's donated just $1.00, they would be that much closer to being able to afford the required first, last, and security deposit on a new place to live.
They are so so close people!
They don't need too much more, that's why all I am asking for is just $1.00 from everyone who reads this post.
Please go to Mindy's blog and click on the PayPal donate button in her sidebar and give just $1.00 to her so that her and her family can afford the required first, last, and security deposit to be able to move out of the home they are renting in just 11 days, and into a new rental home.
They only have 11 days to pay the required first, last, and security deposit on a new rental home and move out of the rental home that they have been living in for two years but is now being foreclosed on, and the owners want to sell it ASAP to try and avoid the foreclosure.

In the state of Florida, if you are a month-to-month renter, either party, owner or renter, only has to give 15-30 days notice to vacate, and that is what happened.
Mindy, her husband Chris, son Jeff, and young daughter Katie, only have until June 30th to move out or face eviction proceedings which would end up on their credit and make finding a new home to rent even more difficult, as pretty much every single property owner down here runs credit checks before allowing new tenants to move in.
Having an eviction on your credit can ruin your chances of being able to rent a new home to live in even if the eviction was never carried out completely to the end in court.

Mindy and her family have been there for me so so many times over the last five, almost six years.
Because of my back and disability, Mindy and her husband have helped me with so many things from driving me to the hospital for my surgery, grocery shopping, installing a new AC for me, twice, cooking meals for us after my surgeries, cleaning my home after my surgeries, they've driven me to countless doctor appointments and multiple trips to the pharmacy, they've driven me to the hospital ER several times when I was extremely sick, they have done so many things to help me and my family, and they have never asked for a single thing in return from me, not ever.
They have never asked anyone for anything, they have never asked anyone for help, they are always the people helping other people who need help, and they need help this time.
Posting about their situation and asking my readers to donate just $1.00 to help them afford the required first, last, and security deposit on a new rental home, is the only way that I can help them.
Even with all that they are going through, all of the stress they are dealing with because of having to find a new home to rent and move out of that home and into the new home in just 11 days, Mindy is driving over to my house at 4:30am to drive me and Sebastian all of the way to Tampa to the airport to send Sebastian to Maine for a month to get to know his father for the first time in his life, meet all of his half-siblings, and also visit with the rest of his family (Great-Gram, Aunt Heather, Ninny and Pop-Pop) and my friend Shell and her family as well.

It always blows my mind how willing Mindy and her family are to help others.
They never say no to helping someone else in need, whenever I have needed help with anything, there they are, no hesitation, they just help.
Posting about their situation and asking my readers for help is the only way that I can think of to repay them for all of their help and kindness, because they would never accept any kind of payment for all of the help they have given me.
So please, can you donate just $1.00 to help them be able to afford the required first, last, and security deposit on a new home to rent and be able to move in just 11 days?

To help spread the word, you can copy and paste this into your Twitter and that way even more people will read my post and possibly help them reach their goal.

Can you spare just $1.00 to help a blogger & her family not be homeless in 11 days? Thank you!! http://tinyurl.com/2duwdrv

Thank you.

---

June 19, 2010

Friday was one of those days.

Yesterday, Friday, I had a couple of things to do to get ready for Sebastian to go on his trip to Maine for a month, and a friend was supposed to take me so that I didn't have to walk everywhere that I needed to go.
I needed to go get the grocery shopping done, and I needed to go down to the credit union and get a letter notarized giving Shell and her husband Ray, temporary medical guardianship of Sebastian.
He's going to be in Maine from Sunday June 20th, until Sunday July 18th, and if he gets hurt, (oh please no) I want Shell and Ray to be the ones who make any medical decisions for him, they can legally sign for medical treatment of him, and no one else.
But because said friend never showed up yet kept saying they were on their way in 30 minutes all day long, absolutely nothing at all got done.
All day long they had excuses, but they kept telling me they were on the way, for me to stay here, wait, they were definitely coming, so I waited, wasted my whole day.
I didn't get the grocery shopping done, and I never made it to the credit union to get the temporary medical guardianship notarized.

I know that going to those two places doesn't sound like a lot to do, but it actually is because of how much time each thing takes me to get done, especially when I'm distracted and stressed out.
I usually do not go grocery shopping with any friends because friends like to talk while I'm trying to shop.
I have a list in my head, I know each aisle, I know exactly what I need, where it is, and how much it's all going to cost, (Hello? OCD much?) but when I'm with a chatty friend, I lose my place on my mental grocery list and end up forgetting to buy at least a dozen or more items which aggravates me to no end when I get home and realize that I don't have a much needed item to make dinner with because it means that I have to go back to the store.
*breathe*
So for today's outing, knowing that I was going to be with a friend who likes to talk and talk and talk, I wrote out a real list, had my coupons ready, I was ready to go and get it all done as fast as possible without being distracted and stressed out.

Why didn't my friend show up?
I'll tell you why.
She was supposed to be here at 11am, but she said that it was just one thing after another, the dogs needed to go out, the pool needed to be cleaned, the counters were dirty, the dryer stopped and she didn't want things to get wrinkled, she was considering going to North Carolina where her mother lives, where she grew up, because she needs to go see her Charlotte dentist that's been treating her since she was five, and then her and her "old man" got into an argument and she was pissed off and thinking about packing up and just moving back in with her mother in North Carolina, and "OMG Kat! He's driving me nuts! But Kat! I'm on the way! just give me 30 more minutes! I am on the way! I will be there!!"
So I waited.
And waited.
And waited.
I really should have just gone, said screw it, and just walked everywhere that I needed to go, got it all done with because now I'm even more stressed out than I already was.
This trip he's taking has me wicked stressed out and worried.
I'm nervous about him flying alone, nervous about him being alone for the layover in New Jersey, nervous he's gonna wait at the wrong gate and miss his flight and be stuck in New Jersey, all kinds of things that a mother worries about when sending her child off alone for the first time.

Just being told over and over that she was on the way in 30 minutes, to stay here and wait, put me in stress overdrive all day long as I watched the hours ticked away.
It just amplified the stress that I was already overloaded with.
See, when I tell someone that I will be somewhere in 30 minutes, I WILL be there in 30 minutes, probably even there in under 30 minutes, because I hate to wait for people, so I don't ever make people wait for me.
Ever.
When someone tells me that they are on the way to get me, I am ready to go.
I have my shoes on, purse by my side, and the blinds open so I can see them pull in the driveway, and as soon as they do, I'm up and closing the blinds and out the door before they even put the car in park.

I did did call another friend to take me to the store to just get the teens something to eat for dinner.
I ran into Publix and grabbed two subs as fast as they could make them, and then came back home thanking my other friend profusely while I was on the verge of tears the whole time, and so now, I have to go do the full grocery shopping today.
It's gonna suck.
Saturday grocery shopping sucks because it's always super busy with people who can't do their shopping during the week due to their work schedules, and tons of old gray hairs whacking me in the butt with their carts.
Then on Monday, I have to go to the credit union and get the temporary medical guardianship notarized, and then stick it and his insurance card in the mail for Shell.
He was going to have the letter and insurance card on him, in his backpack or suitcase, and just give it to Shell when he sees her, or she could go and pick it up at his father's house so it doesn't get lost or anything, but now I have to mail it and just hope he doesn't get injured between the time I mail it and it gets there because Shell and her husband are the only people that I want making medical decisions for him.
I know that Shell knows CPR and other first aid stuff, I know she knows what to do in the event of a broken bone, excessive bleeding, etc etc, plus I know that if he does get hurt and has to be treated, that Shell will call me and keep me informed every step of the way, and ask me what kind of treatment I want him to have.
I didn't want to burden my parents with that duty, they have their own health issues to deal with, and his father doesn't know any of his allergies or other medical history, Shell does, I know that she can answer almost any medical question about him because we practically raised our kids together when I lived there, and even after moving here, I still told my best friend everything about the teens as they grew up.
I know, I sound totally overbearing and that was a massive run-on sentence, but he's my baby, I'm nervous and worried about him, he's never been away from me for this long, ever, he sticks to me like glue, he's my boy, where I go, he goes, so yeah, I'm really super stressed out about this whole trip.
I don't want to be, I want to not feel this way, but I can't help it, I cannot stop feeling like this, I want him to go and have a great time, but I am going to be a nervous wreck the entire month that he's gone.
And I hate it.

---

June 18, 2010

He's leaving on Sunday morning.

Sebastian really is going to Maine, he leaves on Sunday morning, Mindy is driving us to the airport so that I can check him in at the desk.
I can't believe that he's really going to go, I'm sad, nervous, scared, and I'm worried about him flying by himself.
We've started getting his clothes ready to pack up, and on Saturday, I'm going to wash all of the clothes that he's taking, dry them, and pack them up in the suitcase as soon as they come out of the dryer so that everything is really clean and fresh.
He's picked out all of his fave shirts, his super cool urban clothing that he's accumulated over the year, you know, all the "cool" t-shirts that the kids are wearing these days, and he's wanting to take my shirt that I won from Jenn.
He loves that shirt and every single time that I wash it, he gets it out of the dryer and puts it on before I even get a chance to see it, never mind actually wear my own shirt.

I just really can't believe that he's going.
I'm so nervous about him flying by himself, and he's going to an airport that I've never flown through, so I'm really nervous about that.
He has an almost 2 hour layover in Newark New Jersey.
Yeah, totally nervous about that, but we've gone over what he needs to do about a million times, I make him repeat it all back to me so that I know that it's sunk in his head.
I just can't believe that he's going, my baby, he's all grown up and going to fly by himself.
I am going to be so totally nervous and worried all day Sunday until I know that he's safely landed in Maine and with family members, I'm going to be a freaking wreck, I know it.
I asked him to make sure that he calls me on his layover, and then again when he lands in Maine, and then again when they pick him up at the airport.
I know, I sound like an overbearing, overprotective mother, but neither of the teens have ever flown alone, so yeah, I'm like way nervous and scared, I just don't want anything bad to happen to him, and I am so not going to be able to relax until I know that he's safely with his father and half-siblings.
Ack!
I'm a wreck already!

---

June 18, 2010

Amega Amwand product review.

First, I apologize in advance for the length of this post, but this is a very serious product review of a medical device that claims it can completely relieve pain, "remind the body to heal itself", and strengthen the body's immunity, and many, many other medical claims

Second, I am in NO WAY affiliated with Amega Global.
I am NOT an Amega Global distributor.
I DO NOT sell the Amega Amwand, the Amega pendants, or any of the many other Amega products.
PLEASE STOP emailing me asking to sell you these products or asking me for more information, like the research from an independent third party study.
To my knowledge, and I have searched and searched and found none, there has NOT been an independent third party study done, or if it has been done, the results of that study have not been made publicly available on PubMed.gov or anywhere else.

PLEASE, I cannot help you get the information you are looking for.
I've tried and tried myself, and gotten nowhere.
This company, Amega Global, most certainly knows how to keep a secret concerning the results of any independent studies that may or may not have been done, but by the looks and sounds of it, absolutely NO independent studies have been done, Amega Global has not volunteered to allow any of their products to be independently studied and the results publicly published.

About two months ago, I was contacted by a woman named Cheryl who said she had an amazing product that would help me, help me with my back pain, blood pressure, all kinds of things, and she would love it if I would try it out and review it on my blogs.
I agreed to test it out and I have been using it as she told me to ever since receiving it in the mail.
It's called the Amega Amwand, and it claims to use "zero point energy" to help the body heal itself.
I HATE giving these people a link, but I feel that I need to so that people WILL NOT fall for this scam, I need to warn people that this thing is a total scam and costs hundreds of dollars ($304.00) to buy, and all it is is the body of a ball point pen minus the ink and ink chamber.

Click the image below to make it bigger so that you can see a screen capture of the checkout cart for the price of the Amega Amwand, and read the actual product description which says the following, and I quote:
"A futuristic tool that is made up of special combination of granulated materials processed using our proprietary Amized Fusion Technology."

It is one solid piece of metal shaped like a pen, it looks exactly like the image above.
You can pretty much tell that this thing is a scam by the url of the website where they sell it.
The url to purchase this thing has the words "CASHRICHES" in it!
Another of their sites is just one big page all about positioning yourself to get in on this amazing money making scheme!

Cheryl told me that in order to get the most benefits from it, to use it properly, all that I needed to do was to simply "wave" the Amwand over my body, the areas that are in pain, in a clockwise circular motion for 30 minutes, 5 times per day.
"It's vital" she said.
She even told me to "wand" my son Mark with it as well because he is having bad back pain too.
Mark laughed at the idea, but he let me use it on him for the entire two months that I've had it and have been testing it out.
Below are the claims that this "wand" can supposedly do to help people.

Usage of AmWand Can:

* Discharge blockages in the body
* Clear distortions in our bio energetic field
* Facilitate the body in healing
* Energize food and drink increasing potency of the minerals & vitamins within them
* Use it on our pets and plants to supplement any energy deficiencies that they have
* Balance and energize imbalances your body may be experiencing
* Help to remove aches, pains and other discomforts
* Lift the face...tightens the skin
* Energize our environment in which we live

Amega AmWand Benefits Can:

* Help the body obtain homeostasis condition
* Help the body's bio-energetic field to source Zero Point Energy
* Relieve aches and pain
* Neutralize harmful elements (energetically) from the liquid we drink, & food we eat
* Energize the skin providing a "face lift" with noticeable improvement
* Energize creams and oils for better absorption of nutrients
* Facilitate and strengthen the flow of energy in our body
* Stimulate bodily functions and strengthens immunity
* Help the body to look and feel younger

You also can have quicker and stronger nail and hair growth, and a greater resistance to tooth decay that is visibly seen. The lifting of the face with noticeable improvement has also brought forth an additional and extremely high interest.

When water is treated with the Zero Point Energy Wand and then used in conjunction with any supplements, they can be absorbed much more quickly and efficiently, and effectively by the body's cells.

I have used the Amega Amwand every single day, five times per day for 30 minutes each session as I was told to do.
I even "wanded" my water with it as I was told to do.
I am here to tell you that the Amega Amwand did absolutely nothing at all for me.
It did not relieve any aches, pains, or other discomforts, it has not helped reduce my blood pressure, and I saw no noticeable improvement in my hair, nails, or face.
It has not helped me to look or feel younger.
It has not helped or strengthened my immunity, as a matter of fact, I've been really sick several times during the last 2 months, and it did not help me get better faster, or at all.
It did not do a single thing that it claims it can do.
The Amega Amwand is a total scam and I feel the need to tell people the truth before they fall for this scam and waste hundreds of dollars on it.

Every day, millions of people live in pain and are desperate to be free from that pain, and would take any kind of supplement or other types of self care items to try and relieve that pain.
If you live with chronic pain or know someone who lives with chronic pain, then you know how desperate you can feel to get any kind of relief, and there are very unscrupulous people and companies out there who know that desperation and are ready and poised to take full advantage of those people who live in pain.
There are thousands of products on the market already that make thousands of claims that their product can help you be free from pain, and people buy them because they are so desperate.
This product, the Amega Amwand, is one of those products that claims so many amazing things that it can do for you, but it does absolutely nothing.
NOTHING.

The existence of zero point energy is not controversial although the ability to harness it is.
No device claimed to operate using zero point energy has been demonstrated to operate as claimed. No plausible description of a device drawing useful power from a source of zero point energy has been given. Thus, current claims to zero point energy-based power generation systems currently have the status of pseudoscience.
That means that this Amega Amwand is a total scam.
It is pseudoscience, fake, not what it claims to be.

Energy healers:

Many energy healers assert significance of zero-point energy in the rationale for practices such as reiki. Physicists and physicians consider such claims to be pseudoscience: at best based on a complete misunderstanding of physics, biology, and medical science and at worst self-serving, fraudulent business practices.

Amega Global makes all kinds of products that claim to use zero point energy to help the body heal itself.
They make the Amwand for $304.00, the AmPendant in silver for $394.00, another AmPendant in Rose Gold for $404.00, and another AmPendant in bronze for $409.00.
They also make "food" that ranges in price from $52.00 up to $270.00.

They make all kinds of other products that claim to use this zero point energy, and they are selling them to people that are desperate to be free from pain, there are testimonials out there that claim this thing really works, but I can tell you after testing it on both myself and Mark for almost two full months, that it DOES NOT work.
I really feel the need to warn people about this new self care, help the body heal itself, scam.
I do not want to see anyone at all fall for this, and that's why I have used the name of it, Amega Amwand, as many times as possible so that it will get indexed in Google and other search engines, and be in the search results for it so that people will find this post (cross posted to KatScan as well) and learn that it is a total scam.
I feel very strongly the need to warn people so that they do not fall for this scam and waste hundreds of dollars on any of these Amega Global products that will do absolutely nothing for them except remove hundreds of dollars from their bank accounts.

Please, if you or someone that you know suffers from chronic pain and have either been told about the Amega Amwand, or they read about it, and are thinking of buying the Amega Amwand, please, direct them to this post.
I would not ever lie to my readers, this product, the Amega Amwand, is a total scam, it does not work as it claims to.
I tried and tested the product 5 times per day for 30 minutes each time, for two months, and saw no noticeable improvement in pain relief or energy, or any signs of looking and feeling younger either.
The Amega Amwand is a total scam.

Back when I first received the Amega Amwand, I brought it with me to one of my pain management appointments so that I could get my doctor's opinion of it.
I took it out the box and explained to him what the distributor Cheryl was selling to people at a cost of $304.00 and a promise that it could heal people's ailments and completely relieve pain.
He read the little pamphlet, looked at the wand very closely, and then he asked me if I had actually paid for this thing.
I told him no, of course not, and explained to him how I received it and what my plan to review it was.
He told me, and I quote,

"Kat, you have to use your websites to tell people about this. This is probably the single biggest medical scam that I've seen in the last five years, and believe me, I've seen a lot of them. If you have your blogs (he looked kinda confused on what a blog really is) and the power to reach as many people as possible, you absolutely must tell people the truth. And Kat, the truth is that this thing is 100% garbage. It is a lie packaged and sold to desperate people, people who are so desperate to be free from pain that they will do just about anything they can to get relief. You have the ability to help people not waste their time and their money. Use the power you have to do something good. If you just spare even one person from wasting their money and their time, then you've done something great. Thank you for bringing this to my attention, I am going to go to the website and then email this to as many of my colleagues as I can, they need to know about this too and try to stop their patients from getting scammed if any of their patients happen to mention it or ask their doctors if they've heard of being healed by zero point energy."

He then laughed and repeated the phrase "zero point energy" as he jotted down the website urls for both of the websites that Cheryl gave me.

When I got back home and was going back over the pamphlet and stuff that came in the box with the wand, I found the certificate of authenticity, and one thing that I noticed on this "Certificate of Authenticity" that comes in the beautifully padded and silk lined box, is the ultra fine print typed so freaking small that I had to get my jewelry making magnifying glass out in order to be able to read it.
On the very, very bottom of the back of the certificate of authenticity, it reads in super tiny fine print exactly as follows:

DISCLAIMER: These statements have not been evaluated by The Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or physical condition.
The FDA won't even approve this thing!

I will be updating this post on both of my blogs with new information or links to other articles about the Amega Amwand and what a total fraud it is, as I find or come across them.
If I find other reviews, I will link them, if I find video reviews, I will link to them as well, and when I see my doctor on Tuesday at 11am, I will be updating him about my "progress" after using it for two months.

**EDIT**
Added links on 6/22/2010

Here is a link to a Youtube video and a post about the Amega Amwand scam.
I am not a hamster, Boob product: Amega Amwand.

Amega Amwand: Medical Scam, at the blog I Am Not A Hamster.

Amega Amwand Is a Scam at Blahvert.

The comments on this post at a money making blog are quite interesting, especially one by someone named Chadi.

FTC disclosure;
I was not compensated in any way for this post.
I received the Amega Amwand for free to test it and review it, and I have to send it back.
It is not mine to keep.
There is absolutely no free product to keep, or compensation received for reviewing this product.
The opinions expressed here are my own, but some of the wording has been taken directly from the Amega Global websites where they either sell the product or hype the product to get people to become distributors of these products.

---

June 12, 2010

A blogger friend in emergency need of help.

I've spoken about my friend Mindy here many, many times, about how her and her family are just really great people, any time that I've needed help, a ride, or to be taken to the hospital, there they are, ready and willing to help me.

Well now Mindy and her family need my help, your help, our help.
Her post explains in detail what is happening, but if they don't get some help, Mindy and her family, husband Chris, son Jeff, and daughter Katie, they will be homeless.

Things have not been good recently around here.
Chris and I just recently found out that our landlords must sell the house that we have been renting since October of 2008. It wouldn't be such a big deal because normally tenants are allowed to stay until the house does sell.
Not in this case.
They have asked us to leave by the end of this month.
They are in the midst of a foreclosure and are wanting to sell asap and the easiest way to do that is get rid of the occupants so that it will be a smoother transaction for all parties involved.
Except of course, US.

We may have first months rent but nothing more. We have been looking and most renters now are required to pay security deposit, first and last months rent up front. That is a lot of money to come up with in just a few weeks. A goal that we will not be able to make on our own.
Our parents are all retired. They receive their social security and are budgeted to that alone. They are willing to help as much as they can but the reality is, it will not be enough. My biggest fear is that if we do not come up with enough funds that we need, we will be homeless.

Mindy and her family need our help, whatever you can spare, even if it's just $1, they need our help to come up with a security deposit, first, and last.

Mindy has always been there for me, they never ask anyone for help, they are always the ones helping others, but this time, they really need help.
If you can help, please, please, please, go to Mindy's blog and click on the PayPal donate button and give whatever you can.
And please, spread the word, link to her post on your blogs, Twitter, Facebook, wherever.
Mindy and her family need our help, I am begging for help for them.
They are really great people, so kind, loving, and generous, always helping everyone else.

---

June 10, 2010

Jamba All Natural Smoothies product review.

I was recently given the opportunity to try the new make-at-home Jamba Juice All Natural Fruit Smoothies, I was sent a freezer pack containing the 3 all new make-at-home flavors.
There's Mango-a-go-go, Razzmatazz, and Strawberries Wild.

We've tried all 3 flavors, well the teens have, because I'm allergic to some different fruits, namely, strawberries.
The teens really liked them, and they were so so easy to make!
All you do is tear open the pouch, and dump it in your blender with just one cup of apple juice, and blend!

The first one that I made is the Razzmatazz, which is strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries, and non-fat yogurt, and it's real fruit, chunks of real fruit, whole blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, you can actually see the real fruit, it's not a blended-up pouch of mush like some other make-at-home smoothies that I've tried, but actual fruit pieces!
I was very pleasantly surprised!
Once blended, each pouch makes 2 eight ounce servings, only 120 calories or less in each glass, so it was just enough for the teens to each have one big glass of a yummy and healthy smoothie.
The teens loved it!

I know that I am allergic to strawberries, I know they make me break out in hives, but something possessed me to get a straw and take just a few small sips out of Mark's smoothie.
A few hours later, I was completely covered in hives.
Head to toe.
Everywhere.
But the smoothie was really super tasty, I wish that I had been able to drink more of it, it was awesome tasting, but even just a few small sips, and BAM! super itchy hives. Hahaha!

But the important thing is that the teens loved them, they are really good for them, lots of healthy ingredients, and not bad on the price.
They retail anywhere from $2.99 to $3.29, and can be found in the frozen juice section at the grocery store.
I've already seen them on the shelves at Publix, and they are priced at $2.99, so I know that I can buy more of them for the teens.
If you like smoothies, or just want your kids to get more real fruit and antioxidants, and a full 100% daily dose of vitamin C, you can pick these up and make them for your kids.
I promise that they will love them and so will you, they are really super great tasting.

---

June 10, 2010

He can buy his own.

Now that Mark has a job, (he likes it!) he already has plans for his paychecks, (haha!) and he's going to save up his money so that he can buy himself an Alienware gaming computer.
He likes the one they have now, but he wants a super awesome gaming pc.
Hey, it's his money, he an do what he wants.
But this also means that when they break things, or the things just die every 2 years from constant use, he can now buy his own xbox 360 gaming headsets.

If I had known that Buy.com was going to have that headset on sale for just $10, I would have waited and bought that one instead of the one that I just bought for $20.
The one that I just bought is the same kind that we've been buying, and they break every two years or so.
It's cheaply made, damn, I wish I would have waited because the one that is now on sale for just $10, is a totally kick ass headset.
I am kicking myself for not waiting just one more week, if I had waited, the teens would have had an amazing headset instead of the one that is guaranteed to break in two years, and it's now too late to return it because we've already opened it, destroyed the packaging, and been using it for a week.
Ugh.

---

June 8, 2010

Nervously waiting.

Today is Mark's first day on the job, and I'm sitting here all nervous waiting on him to get done and come home.
I'm anxious to hear how it went, if he likes it, and how his back held up being on his feet all day long and stocking shelves etc.
He has his medicine with him, only one dose to get him through his shift, but he's not used to standing on his feet all day, lifting things, I'm nervous/worried that he's in a lot of pain right now and just trying to deal with it until it's time to clock out and come home.
He's usually sitting in a chair playing video games, or watching movies with me, not standing up and walking around for 8+ hours, not lifting 12 packs and stocking the shelves, so yeah, a nervous and worried mom because I know that pain he's dealing with, I used to have to work through that kind of pain.
*bites nails waiting*

In other news, the teen's father and I actually had the most pleasant, polite, and cordial conversation that we've had in 17 years, this morning.
He called because he didn't actually buy the ticket yet, or send the money order yet, he was calling to get full name, date of birth, and address, so that he could purchase the plane tickets today.
He called close to 10am, he asked for the information, I gave it, we politely talked about the cost of tickets and fees that airlines charge for minors flying alone.
Jet Blue considers minors to be 13 and under, and the airline that he was going with says that minors are 17 and under, so he was being charged extra fees for Sebastian flying alone.

I swear, I was really, truly polite, I wasn't biting or sarcastic, I held my tongue because this is something that Sebastian wants, and I want him to be happy, I want him to do this, to have this experience, so when he, their father, asked me for Sebastian's birth date, he didn't know it, he knew it was like a week or so ago, but he didn't know the date, and that really pissed me off, but I held, I held.
I know he has six kids, I know it must be hard to remember all of their birth dates, but to me, this is something he wants too, he wants Sebastian there, he should at least have tried to know the date, Great-Gram knows it, his sister, Aunt Heather, knows it, he could have asked them for the date if he didn't know it.
Know what I mean?
Am I wrong?
Am I asking too much by feeling that him not knowing his son's birth date, is just really wrong?
I didn't yell when I got off the phone, I was still being all calm, cool, and collected on the outside, but inside, I was frothing because of him not knowing Sebastian's birth date.
A parent should just know their child's birth dates, even if they haven't been a part of that child's life for many years, they should just know it, they should know the birth dates of all of the kids that they created.
In my opinion, it's what I think, and I could be wrong, and if I'm wrong, if people tell me that I'm wrong or asking too much, I'll admit it, but really, it hurt.
It hurt to know that he didn't know his birthday.

Today was a rough one for me because of the heat, it was just wicked hot out, I couldn't get cooled off even inside with the AC, even a shower didn't help me.
I needed to go to the store, so we just walked up when Mark had to go at 1pm, got what we needed and came home, but that whole walk, it felt like my heart was gonna beat right outta my chest.
I felt dizzy and light-headed the whole way there and back, and when we got back, I kicked off my sandals and laid on the couch for nearly 2 hours just trying to cool down, relax, and get my heart to stop beating so damn fast.
The store owner, Moe, said that I didn't look well when I got there, and I'm sure I didn't, I was sweating like I was a faucet and hose, my skin was all clammy, and I felt faint, so I'm sure that I looked un-well.
I really am hoping that the summer doesn't get too much hotter than it is, or I'll be spending the entire summer indoors.
The walk, it's just an eight minute walk there, eight minute walk back, but it felt like an eternity, I felt like I was going to pass out the whole walk back home.
I told Sebastian that if I started to go down, to push me toward the grass so I didn't hit my head on the cement sidewalk, I knew that there's no way he could catch me from falling, so I told him to push me toward the grass yards and at least it wouldn't hurt too bad.
Since being back home in the AC and it's night, it's cooled off a few degrees, I feel much better, but I need to remind myself to take my blood pressure meds every day, and I need to drink much more fluids.
I know that I don't ever drink enough water, and after today's experience, I know that I need to drink much more so it doesn't happen again.

Tell me if I'm wrong, if I'm wrong, I'll admit it, I'll say that I'm wrong, but it just really hurt my heart quite a bit because I love Sebastian so much, and his birthday is always important to him, he doesn't ever ask for anything, he just wants to know that people remember his birthday, he doesn't want to be forgotten, and so yeah, it hurt my heart, but if I'm wrong, I'll admit it.

---

June 7, 2010

He's got a job! He's got a job!

Mark got a job!
He will now be working up at the corner store, starts tomorrow at 1pm.
I am so happy for him to have a job!
He'll have spending money of his own, he'll be able to help contribute to the family food bill, and he'll be doing something useful with his time instead of sitting around here doing nothing but video game playing all summer until he starts classes in the fall.
This is totally awesome.
I helped him get the job, the store owner and I are friends, and he had to fire his last employee because he was stealing, so the owner asked me how old Mark was, if he was honest and hard working, and I said yes, he's a great kid, and he said ok, bring him here at 1pm tomorrow.
Yay!!

Also, can cats get hemorrhoids?
And if so, do they make hemorrhoid treatments for cats?
For any animals?
I'm asking because Nova the fat cat, keeps licking at her butt-hole and meowing loud like she's in pain.
I really don't feel like taking a closer look, but I think I'm going to have to.
I don't wanna.
Looking at a cat's butt is really, truly, absolutely, horrifyingly disgusting.

---

June 3, 2010

Letting him go.

DISCLAIMER
Before anyone asks or decides to make a judgment about me blogging too much information about my kids and their lives, Mark who is 18, and Sebastian who is 17, have read this post and both have agreed that it could published.
It was edited to their wishes which I have always respected when it comes to blogging about them.

Stress is a hell of a fat burner I tell you.
This is probably one of the biggest reasons that I am so stressed out and not sleeping well, having blood pressure issues constantly, etc.
It's killing me.

Remember how I posted about Sebastian spending a month with the teens father this summer?
After a lot of talking, arguing, crying, and more talking, I've decided to let him go.
It was not an easy decision at all, it's been extremely hard on Mark and I to even talk to Sebastian about it, but after a lot of talking not just with the teens, but with many family members and friends, it was decided that letting him go would be the best thing, for him.
He needs to go and see his father and learn for himself who his father is and get the answers to any and all questions that he may have about him, about things that happened, and maybe he'll get the truth, and maybe he won't.
Sadly, my money is on him not getting 100% truth.

The ticket has been bought and stuck in the mail, it's a round trip ticket, or supposed to be, and it should be in the mailbox sometime soon, by the middle of next week at the latest.
There are rules, lots and lots of rules, some of which are no drinking, no smoking, no drugs, no piercings, no tattoos, to be allowed to visit with his Ninny and Pop-pop, (his grandparents/my parents) and that he is NOT a babysitter there to take care of his little half-sister Sixx.
If a sitter is needed, someone else needs to do it, a different family member, or hire someone.
Sebastian is there to be with his father and be able to visit with his other relatives, he is not there as a free babysitter.
These rules and others, will be written down and given to him to give his father, if he comes back and I discover that any of them have been violated, there will be hell to pay.
I have full, legal custody, he only has visitation for 6 hours on Saturdays, he's lucky that I am letting Sebastian go, so my rules will be followed or there will be trouble.

Do I sound angry?
I am, but this is something that Sebastian has to do, I know that, it just kills me to let him go.

---

June 3, 2010

Ambition and adventure!

Now that I finally took the super awesome Radeon HD 5770 graphics card and the 4GB of memory out of the teens old computer and put them into mine, I can finally play my Sims 3 again.
It looks totally amazing too, no lag at all, crisp clear lines, excellent detail, and I can finally turn on reflections so when they are looking in a mirror or even just near a mirror, you can see the reflections.
I am so very happy that I finally made the swap, I have not been able to play in ages, and playing is not only fun, but a huge stress reliever for me because if I am stressed out or angry, I can kill off a Sim in very bad ways and it makes me feel tons better.
But now that I have made the swap and my computer can totally handle the Sims 3 and even some stuff to download made by other people, (the old graphics card prevented items and hair from being visible in the game) I can now get some of the expansion packs that are out.

I will only buy them if they are on sale, and if I have the extra money, which I don't have at all right now, but that's ok, I can wait.
But eventually I would like to get both Ambitions and World Adventures.

In Ambitions, you decide whether your Sim will be the brave town hero or cause loads of mischief among their neighbors. Make your Sim save the day as a brave firefighter, change the town as a leading architect, or live on the edge as a tattoo artist. Will your Sim find success as a billionaire high-tech inventor or eke out a living as a bumbling mad scientist?

In World Adventures, there are travel opportunities available to your sims, which allow for everything from pleasant family vacations, all the way to an adventure-filled, possibly even dangerous Indiana Jones like adventures. Along the way your sims can accumulate unique skills and abilities, learn about new cultures, enjoy a unique soundtrack of real songs recorded in Simlish.

Simlish is really kind of cool, they take real songs, even some of the newer songs that are popular right now, and they translate them to Simlish, and sometimes, the real artist sings their song but now in Simlish.
This is Matt and Kim singling their song "Daylight" in Simlish.

---

June 1, 2010

My baby turned 17.

Sebastian, my baby, turned 17 today.
He had to go to school today, it's the last week, the last day is Friday, so when I woke him up at 6am, I gently called out his name, I gently rubbed his back, he opened his eyes a little bit, and I sang happy birthday to him very quietly.
He let me sing the whole way through, all the while he was smiling, and when I finished, he sat up in his bed, thanked me, and then told me that he loved me.

His day at school went OK, some of his teachers remembered that it was his birthday and they gave him some special treats, a HUGE candy bar from one teacher, a free pass from another teacher to not have to do any of the last days of school grunt work some teachers like to do, (1 teacher had the students write out multiplication tables, another had them copy down 100 words from different letters of the dictionary, etc) and another teacher just let him play on the computer through the whole class.

When he came home, my sister called and had decided to take them all out to dinner and then do some video game shopping.
I did not go because A) there is not enough room in my sister's new car for her, me, both boys, and both of my nieces, and B) because I am on bed rest for blood clots in my ankles and feet again.
It started on Sunday night, and I thought if I rested, kept them elevated, that it would go away, but it did not, so I called my doc this morning, and he puts me on bed rest and to keep my feet elevated.
They are elevated right now too.
When I sit in my chair, I have this little table that is like thigh-high, it is like a small side table, and I use it as a foot stool when I am sitting here.
I sit like this all the time, my feet are always elevated when I am at my desk, my keyboard on my lap, it is a totally comfy position.
I am really hoping that the swelling goes down soon, and it should, the new blood pressure medicine, Triamterene, 37.5mg, has me peeing so much, that I will probably drop another 10lbs using it instead of any diet supplements.

Anyway, they went out to eat and then to Best Buy for a new video game.
He got Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce for their Xbox 360, from my sister, and then when I get paid later this week, I will be buying him Dynasty Warriors 6: Empires.
Both of the boys love those Dynasty Warriors games, they have played every single one except for these last two which Sebastian will now have this week.
They came home from eating out and shopping, and both Sebastian and Mark sat down and cracked open the new game and played right until Sebastian had to go to bed.

Tomorrow is the last full day of school, and then Thursday and Friday are half days, and I am really hoping that by then, all the swelling will be gone so that I can take Sebastian out for his birthday.
He told me he wants to go to Taco Smell to eat, and I will buy him the other Dynasty Warriors game, we will have a chocolate layer cake, and he will be a totally happy kid, excuse me, a totally happy young man.
Hard to believe, Sebastian is now 17 and Mark turns 19 on August 15th.
The time just flew by didn't it?
I started this blog when we moved here, Sebastian had just turned five years old when we moved here on June 3rd 1997.
He was just a small, wiggly five year old kid, and here he is now, a really tall deep-voiced 17 year old young man.
Time just flew right by me.

---

May 28, 2010

My teens are the awesome.

Ever since like last Thursday, not yesterday, but like Thursday the 20th, I've been sick and battling health issues again.
I'm not going into it all over again, you can read about it at KatScan if you want to, but I'm sorta starting to finally mend from that, but now tonight it's raining and so my back is killing me and my ankles are swelling up from blood clots again.
When they said, 'when it rains, it pours', they really must have meant that saying for me, because it's just been 1 thing after another since last week.
I'm like beyond fed up with my body at this point.

So anyway, I've been home all week now, mostly laying on the couch watching tv and movies, resting as much as I could stand to do like all of my doctors have all told me to do, and then my tv started acting all funky.
First, while watching a movie on Tuesday evening, Empire Records, the colors started fading in and out, black and white, then all funky and stripey during the brownie Gwar scene, so I checked a few other channels and they seemed to be ok, so I just chalked it up to being either the movie being old, or an error with the movie channel.
Then later that same day on another channel, it happened again.
And it kept happening until my tv set was showing absolutely nothing at all but black and white on every single channel.
*sigh*
I do have another tv set, it's the one that I was using before my sister had brought over this one that is now faded, and so I knew that I was going to need to go get it from my bedroom, haul it out here, and make the switch, but I physically just couldn't do it, so I just decided to deal with the black and white until I could do it later on when I felt like I could do it.

Here it is now Friday evening, and I still hadn't done it, I had just gotten to the point of I don't really care anymore because it has just been 1 of those weeks in my life where when I dared the made-up gods to just go ahead and send me just 1 more damn thing that they felt like throwing at me, and *poof*, my big 26inch tv went *poof*. ha ha

I decided to go and take a long, hot shower, hoping that it would at least calm me down, soothe me if it did absolutely nothing else at all, and so I went in there to stand in the hottest water that I could possibly stand, even allowing the tub to fill up over my ankles because they've started to swell up now too this evening, and I just stayed in there for oh, maybe 20 minutes or so.
I stayed in there until no matter how hot I turned the water, it was no longer getting hotter, but colder.
When I came out, I went to other other room, threw on some comfy clothes, and came back to sit in my chair.
That's when I looked up and noticed that my now all black and white 26inch tv was gone, and now in it's place, was Mark's Vizio 26inch widescreen LCD HDTV that he got for graduating last year.
I asked the teens, who were sitting here smiling, why they did that, it was their tv for playing their video games on, I have another tv in the other room.
They said they knew, and they went and got that one and hooked it up in their room to play video games on.
I asked them again why they did that, why didn't they just put my old tv out here and keep theirs, and Mark said that it was his tv to do with what he wanted, and he felt wicked bad for me because of the really super crappy week that I had, because all of my docs yelled at me and told me that I need to stay laying down as much as possible, and because I never sleep, because all I can do when I have insomnia and I'm being forced to lay down and behave myself, is to lay on the couch and watch tv and movies, so he decided that he wanted me to be able to watch tv and movies on a wicked nice tv for a change, that I deserved to have at least 1 nice thing this week, so he and Sebastian swapped out the tvs while I was in the shower.
I do have to admit, it is a really super nice tv to watch movies on.
My old tv worked really good for like the last 10 years, great picture and color quality, I never complained once about a movie looking bad on it, but yeah, this is a really super nice tv.

Mark told me that he'd rather I just keep it out here from now on too, as this is the room where we all watch movies together, and the other tv set is actually much better for playing video games on, he says.
I don't buy that at all.
Not for a single second.
I've seen him play Gears of War 2 and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, on the Vizio, and there's a big, massive, HUGE difference when playing video games on an old standard television set, and on one of the new LCD HDTV flat panel sets.
BIG DIFFERENCE.
I tried talking to him about it, tried talking him into swapping it back, it's his tv that he got as a present for graduating high school last May, it was given to him specifically so that when he played his video games, that they would look so super cool on it, and he said that he knows and agrees, games do look really super cool on it, but he said that he wanted me to have a really wicked nice tv to watch movies on for the next week or however long the doctors tell me to stay laying down and resting because I had such a really bad, totally sucky week.
He said I deserved to see all of the super gory details of a fave horror movie if one comes on that I liked, in the most awesome picture quality, that I should at least be able to enjoy myself a little bit while my docs force me to rest 24-7 even though they still haven't got a single clue as to why I should be being forced to rest.
He said that even though his back totally sucks too, he's going to see if the owner of the corner store up the street needs to hire anyone, and he'll get a job to try and help out financially around here, and if the owner says yes, he'll work his butt off for the guy.
He said that he's old enough to work any of the shifts alone too, because you only have to be 18 to legally ring up cig and alcohol sales.
He really wants to start pitching in financially around here, to help make it easier on me because he knows how difficult it is for me sometimes to do the work that I have to do, and because he sees just how hard I work to not just make sure that the bills are paid, but so that I can pay for all of the things that make them happy.
He said that he really wants to get a job, start helping to pay the bills, and then return all of the love and generosity that I give to them when I pay for their video games, game subscriptions, and all of the little tiny stuff like bottles of soda and bags of hot fries whenever I go to the corner store, and so he wants to be able to buy me my own LCD HD flat panel tv on sale some one of the days he earns enough pay.

You know, sometimes, teenagers can be real jerks, they can say things that really hurt your heart, they can shoot you the most painful looks, and they can say 90 million times that they will clean the cat's litter boxes and not do it, and then watch you do it like you should have been doing it yourself all along.
They can do and say a lot of things that make you wish they would age from toddler to adult in less than a year because the teen years are the hardest years that you'll ever face when you decide to have a kid, but then sometimes, they do something as simple as swapping out your old crappy box tv set for their nice one that they rightfully don't have to share with you at all, and it can be the nicest thing that's been done for you all month long.
And then they can just say that they want to get a job and pitch in on paying the bills, and that they want to help pay for all of the hundreds of dollars worth of food that they inhale every week, and that they want to buy you your own really nice tv set, and even if it doesn't ever happen, even if they do get a job but never buy that tv set, it's the fact that they said they wanted to do it, and because they said that you deserve it, that makes you feel like you got the best damn kids in the world.

Yeah, I know, this is all stupid and mushy sounding, and it's like wicked way long, but really, just swapping out the tv sets to surprise me while I was taking a shower, really made me happy after the week that I've had.
It's just like, wicked nice to know that they've been paying attention, they saw how hurt and upset I am, and they were at least trying to understand how this week has made me feel and they wanted to do something nice for me to try and make me feel better, and it did, it has.
It's been a very lonely and scary week, and they did one of the nicest and coolest things for me.

---

May 18, 2010

Take 2 and sleep late.

Sebastian came home from school today, went straight to his room, and on his way through, he asked for his migraine meds.
I met him in his room, gave him his meds, something to wash it down with, and then tucked him in.
He's been in bed ever since, just sleeping off his migraine.
Well, he did get up for about 2 hours or so, ate something, got another dose, and headed back to bed about 20 minutes ago.
I know it's really bad for him when he gets like that, tears in his eyes because it hurts so bad, and all he wants to do is lay in bed and sleep it off.

I've had a headache myself for the last hour or so, it's because I didn't get any sleep at all last night, and now I've been up all day and night, I'm totally wiped out and need to try and get some sleep soon before my headache turns into a migraine.
I've just got a couple more things to take care of around the house, and then make sure that Mark is ok, and then I can try to get some sleep.
I hope that when I do try, that I do actually get some sleep, it's impossible to keep functioning normally for days on end without any sleep.
Plus, I'd like to look somewhat rested, I have a doc appointment in the morning, and I know that if I go in with huge bags under my eyes, he's gonna make me go to the lab for blood tests to check my white cell counts again.
The last time I had a battle with insomnia like this and went to see him, even though I explained why I was so tired and looked so crappy, he made me go to the lab anyway, he called ahead and told them to expect me so I didn't even have a choice.
I hate going to the lab like that because it's the middle of the day, and there's usually a half dozen or more people in there waiting, and the techs go so so slow.
It's a big pain in the butt.
I don't even want to get into the hassle it becomes when my blood tests come back.
Ugh.

---

May 18, 2010

My gift to myself in 2010 will be...

This EdgeStar Portable Countertop dishwasher.

I've once again been awake all night long, insomnia, it's just 1 of the things that I have to deal with, but I sometimes feel like I'm going crazy because of it.
I actually caught myself talking to myself in great detail late last night over the dishes.
So, I was up all night, and every time I walked into the kitchen to get a drink or something to snack on to help me get through the super long night time hours of total quiet in the house, I saw the sink.
Both sides of my kitchen sink are once again full of dishes.
Cups, silverware, bowls.
We use paper plates because I hate doing the dishes, so we use paper plates for all meals that need to be plated, but that still leaves all of the cups, silverware, and bowls, that need to be washed by hand.
I'm sick of doing the dishes.
I do the damn dishes every single day, and there are always more.
It seems like I just get them all done, and there's already more piled up in the sink again.
So in between all of my trips to get drinks, use the bathroom, and yell at myself about the dishes, I decided that this year I'm getting myself a dishwasher at some point during the remainder of 2010.

I need one of these portable countertop dishwashers because our kitchen is really small and there's really no room for 1 of the bigger models on wheels to be moved in and out of the kitchen, so I started hunting online around 2 or 3am and doing comparison shopping, and I found this 1 on Buy.com, and even though it's not on sale, it's regular price is totally doable.
At some point this year.
$268.00 which includes the shipping price, is really totally doable.
I could just put all of the cups, silverware, and bowls, into it and run it instead of me standing at the sink for 20-30 minutes and ending up with my back hurting from leaning over the sink washing them all by hand.

The teens do their part, they do the dishes when I ask, but after all of these years of washing the dishes by hand, I just can't take it anymore!!
I do not want to have to keep washing dishes by hand, ever again!
I will have this dishwasher before the end of the year, I will.
It will be mine and I will never wash a dish by hand again!

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May 17, 2010

Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post is a scam.

Jenn at Blogging Girl is asking bloggers to help spread the word about what a bunch of scammers Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post are.

You can read Jenn's post for all of the details, but basically, Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post, get bloggers to do work and then they don't pay for it.
Basically, Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post are a bunch of scammers.
To quote some of Jenn's post,

Well over a year ago I signed up for Blog Advertising Store, though at that time they were calling themselves Paying Post. Between then and this past February I have written $109.00 worth of opportunities. I followed the instructions on each opportunity, included the required links, wrote relevant, high quality content, and submitted each opportunity on time. Every opportunity that I did was approved, and as of April 2010 I was eligible to receive payment, as my balance had rolled over $100 (that is Blog Advertising Store's / Paying Post's minimum payout amount).

Only...I didn't receive a payment in April. I didn't receive one in May, either, despite Blog Advertising Store's / Paying Post's dashboard stating that I would be paid $109 on May 1st, 2010.

She followed all of their directions on how to receive her payment, and has sent them emails requesting her payment, and they still haven't done it.
She even sent them an email about how she had heard from other bloggers about their business practices and their handling of payouts, and they still did not reply to her or pay her.

I have been a bit wary completing posts for your company, as in the past I have read some unsavory things about your business practices and the handling of payouts. Please ease my anxieties and compensate me with the money I am rightfully owed. Again, the balance due is $109.00, and my PayPal account is x@jenn.nu.

She has sent them an email every single day requesting her payment of $109.00 for the work she completed and was approved to be paid for.

I forwarded the May 11th email to them on May 12th, May 13th, May 14th, May 15th, May 16th, and May 17th.

The situation has now gotten even worse.
Not only have they still not paid her, but they have now locked her out of her account on Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post, they have blocked her emails, and they have banned her home ip address so she cannot access the site at all.

Seriously, y'all need to go read Jenn's post about how Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post are scammers, and help spread the word.
If you are a blogger who is working for them, you may want to seriously reconsider that, and if you have a blogging friend who said they were thinking about signing up to work for them, send them the link to Jenn's post.
Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post are scammers, plain and simple.
DO NOT work for them.
Blog about this, post about this to Twitter, (to make it simple, you can use this to Twitter it; Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post is a scam! http://bit.ly/basppscam #paidblogging #scam) and post it to Facebook, everywhere.
Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post are scammers and they need to pay bloggers for the work completed.

They need to pay Jenn the $109.00 she rightfully earned and was approved to be paid.
They are being totally unprofessional by blocking her emails, banning her ip address, and refusing to acknowledge that they owe her this money.
Blog Advertising Store AKA Paying Post are scammers and they need to pay Jenn and all of the bloggers who work for them, the money they have earned.

Continue Reading �

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May 16, 2010

BJ's Wholesale Club, a review.

On Friday evening, my sister and I went to BJ's Wholesale Club as part of a promotion to help increase people's awareness of BJ's and help to increase memberships.
I was given two $25 gift cards to use, 1 for myself and 1 for my sister, to use to purchase anything that we wanted.

When we arrived, I went straight to the service desk to explain why we were there and to be able to use our free 60-day memberships so that we could use our gift cards.
The customer service agent called over a manager because part of what I was asked to do while there, was to take some pictures of the store, the items, and prices of the items.
The manager took my letter that explained what I was doing there, and went and spoke to another manager.
She came back and said that they had no problem with what I was doing which is a review of BJ's, but because they had not been notified that this sort of thing was going to be happening, they could not allow me to take any pictures.
She said that if they had been notified, she would have gladly allowed me to take pictures.
I said that it wasn't a problem, I didn't want to be in any trouble, and I didn't want to cause any trouble.
The manager asked me to further explain to her what I was doing, going to be doing, the whole purpose of my trip to BJ's that day.
I explained to them that this was a promotion that BJ's was doing on some blogs to help gain interest in membership, and it worked right away, because my sister bought her membership (she had a membership years ago but it expired) while I was at the desk talking to the manager about why I was there, what I was doing, and that I would be posting my experience to my blog to help promote BJ's and get new memberships, and the kinds of things that I would be posting, such as all the forms of payment that BJ's accepts including EBT (food stamps), and all of the promotions when memberships are bought.
If you purchase a membership, they offer an immediate $10 coupon to use on that days purchase or a future purchase, and instead of a 12-month year long membership for $45, it's a 14-month long membership that is fully refundable if at any time during those 14 months the customer wants to cancel their membership.

My sister had no idea all the good changes that had been made to BJ's since her membership expired quite a few years ago, so she decided to buy another membership right on the spot for $45 with the $10 coupon available to use right that day.
Getting her membership was super easy too, it took less time for her to get it than it did for me to talk to the manager about what I was doing there, like less than 7 minutes!

We spent about an hour browsing up and down the aisles, both of us finding several things that we could really use.
I bought the teens a case of Gatorade Powerade, $10.99
I bought a package of 660 paper plates, (I hate doing dishes, no dishwasher) for just $6.99.
Paper plates at the local grocery store are 300 of them for $6.99, so I got 360 more for the same price as the grocery store, same exact brand of plates too.
I bought a HUGE, like half gallon bottle size, of the most awesome hair conditioner for just $4.99
My sister bought a 3 piece Oneida frying pan set for just $19.99
My sister also bought a package of 460 Glad sandwich bags (she packs all of the girls lunches every single day) for $7.99, and a package of 20 Oral B replacement heads for their families electric toothbrushes for just $14.99
I think that was all we got, and it came to $65.94, then subtract the additional $10.00 instant coupon they gave her for buying a membership, so our total out of pocket was around $5.94+tax.

We got some really great deals on what we bought, and had we had more time, I'm sure that we would have found a million more things that we wanted to get, but she had to be back home to pick up her daughters from the sitters house by no later than 7:30pm.
But we browsed up and down every aisle, we saw a million things that we want and will be back to get, especially the food items!
BJ's accepts every major credit card, they also take debit cards, EBT cards, (food stamps) and EBT cash benefits can be used to purchase a membership.

They also take ALL manufacturer coupons which help you save even more money on grocery items, PLUS they have their own coupons, PLUS you can use both at the same time!
That's right!
If you find an item that you want and you have a BJ's coupon for it and a manufacturer coupon for the same item, you can use BOTH coupons to help save you double the money!

* Savings of MORE than 30%** off supermarket prices
* MORE products in family-friendly supermarket sizes
* Even MORE savings with manufacturers' coupons -- BJ's is the only
major wholesale club that accepts them all
* MORE ways to pay: cash, checks, major credit and debit cards -- plus EBT

In these tough economic times, you have to find all sorts of ways to be creative and save money but still keep your family fed and dressed, (Yes! they even sell clothes and shoes, tires, home improvement items, all kinds of stuff!) so why not go check out BJ's Wholesale Club using the free 60-day membership, (the free membership offer expires on 7/5/2010, so hurry!) and bring your coupons with you, I guarantee that you will find all of the same stuff that you buy at your fave grocery store for way less money and be able to save even more money on them using BJ's coupons and your manufacturer coupons, and then consider buying a membership.
Memberships cost just $45, they give you a $10 coupon right on the spot to use that day or a future purchase, and I know that I will be back myself to get a membership so that I don't always have to go shopping with my sister, I can get a friend to bring me and my friend will be able to shop with me that day as well.
I really can't wait to be able to go back and do some serious grocery shopping.
I always use coupons, so being able to double up on my savings on groceries will be totally awesome.

We had a really good time at BJ's, and Sebastian went with us and saw a million things that he wants to get too.
He spent some time browsing their electronics department, they sell tvs, ipods, computers, laptops, DVDs and Blu Ray, and video games, so yeah, he had a good time looking at everything they sell too.
We will definitely be back to BJ's Wholesale Club, and I would highly recommend that you print out that free 60-day membership and go check them out for yourself.
We all have to find ways to save money, and because of all the payment forms they accept and the fact that they double coupons, it's definitely a great way to get everything that you need and save money doing it.

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May 14, 2010

Bug season.

Yup, it's bug season here in Florida, for all kinds of bugs.
We have cats, so we have to deal with flea season which is really bad so far this year.
I've had to treat all 4 cats every single month with the strongest flea killer that I could find, Carmine had to be bathed and treated twice it was so bad for him.
It's also spider season, and worst of all, roach season.
Specifically, German roaches.
These guys.

Once summer hits, these little suckers come out in force and you have to get forceful right back at them to keep them from overtaking your house.
See, they will increase their activity as the temperature increases, and decrease it as the temperature decreases, so once it gets hot outside and inside, the more active they get.
And they love to feed.
Foods that have high levels of sugar, starch or grease seem to be preferred.
They love pet food too, so it's highly recommended that you remove your pets food dishes as soon as your pets are done eating.
These nasty critters are big eaters and will gorge themselves routinely every 24 hours.

I've already had to buy a huge pack of Raid roach baits because I spotted one, and where there's one, there's many, many more.
I will be stocking up on them every chance I get to get us through the whole summer.
I've checked out the prices in stores and online, and even though Buy.com doesn't have a lot of roach killer products yet, I even checked to see if they had any on sale, and while they don't, I'll keep checking over the summer months to see if I can get any good deals.

I'm going shopping at one of those big warehouse stores later today with my sister, and I'm going to see if they have any roach killer there, and what the prices are, and if the prices are good, I'll be picking some up.
Like I said, if you see one, it means that there are many more that you haven't seen, so you have to take action quickly or they will breed and multiply, and before you know it, your entire house is totally overrun with them.

---

May 13, 2010

Here in my car, where the image breaks down .

I've been up all night again, insomnia is just sooo much fun, I totally recommend that everyone try it at least once. /sarcasm>

The only good thing about having insomnia is that I'm wide awake when Sebastian gets up for school, I'm not all tired and wanting to go back to bed after waking him up, which makes him feel lonely and stuff.
It gives the 2 of us some mommy/Sebastian time even if it is only about 35-45 minutes, it's really nice to spend the time with him and talking about whatever is on his mind.
I promised him a few days ago that I would go through all of the emails that he's sent me from school, from his digital design class, save all of the pictures, art, that he's made, and then post my favorite ones to my blog to show everyone.
I'm going to try and do that today, no guarantees that I will get that post done because I've got a wicked lot to do, but I will try.
But here's one of my faves that he made this year, and the painting that he did in the 4th grade that I still have framed and hanging in my dining room.
Both of these are clickable for bigger.

I LOVE that painting!
To think, if I hadn't gone to school that afternoon to pick him up, it would have ended up in the trash.
The teacher was throwing away all of the stuff that the students hadn't taken home, and he didn't bring it home because he didn't think that I would like it.
I loved it the second that I saw it, it's huge too, poster size, so I brought it home and put it in an awesome frame, and it's been hanging in my dining room ever since.

Anyway, he's off to school and not too happy about it.
He and I had to do some homework last night for one of his classes, I can't even recall the name of it, some theory of living, or economics of living, something something of living, and we had to get together a list of all a person's expenses when they first move out on their own.
They had to be realistic about it, base it on their life and what they think they will be earning, how much they will be able to afford for everything, and so we had to make lists of apartments that he could afford, how much his utilities would be, and get a list of car insurance companies, pick the kind of car he wants to be able to drive, figure out how much his car payments will be, and then figure out how much his insurance might be, and which company to go with, all kinds of stuff.
We worked on it for quite awhile, like 2 and half hours, just making the lists, budgeting, it drove him absolutely nuts, and that's when he said he wasn't moving out until he graduated college and had a really, really god job and could afford everything, because looking at how much everything was going to cost, was just way too much so he was gonna stay with me.
Maybe even forever. Hahaha

I think we did a really good job on his homework, I can't wait to find out what grade he (we) got.
We worked hard on it looking everything up, having to figure out the price of utilities and everything based on apartment size, amount of water used, all that stuff, all the stuff I do every month when I budget the bills, and so he should get a good grade, I based a lot of it on what we actually use.
The only stuff I was guessing at was car payments and insurance costs because I don't have either of those.

Continue Reading �

---

May 13, 2010

Went better than expected.

The meeting with the truancy officer and the social worker that is.

Before they got here, I vac'd the rugs like I said I was going to, and I straightened out all of the stuff on my coffee table, the place-mats, magazines, some candles, and I also placed my camera on top of the small picture printer that I have, it prints 4x6 pictures, it's about the same size as one of these epson tm-t88iv receipt printers, so it just looked like my camera was docked on it's printer/charging station.
I checked it's positioning before they got here by setting it up and having it on the self-timer to snap a picture every 5 seconds.
Then I checked the pictures to see if I had it positioned perfectly to video capture both my sofa and love seat no matter where they sat.
It did.
I had the blinds open so that I could see when they pulled in, and once they did, I pressed the button to start recording the entire meeting, and then I answered the door and invited them to sit down.

The social worker sat on the love seat near me, and the truancy officer sat on the sofa.
The social worker started off by asking me how she could help me, and I was totally confused by this, I had absolutely no idea why there was even a social worker involved, why she was in my house.
The truancy worker I could sorta see, although like I said, a little late in the year to be talking to me about truancy issues with just 15 days left of school for the year.
So I asked her why she was here, why was she asking me how she could help me, I totally didn't understand why she was here.
She said that they know that I'm a disabled parent, struggling, and so they wanted to know if I would like help getting back and forth to the Senior Friendship Center so that I could have some social interaction, not be so alone, take advantage of the services that they offer, get meals on wheels, that kind of thing, ad I asked her, quite offended I might add, "Just how old do you think I am?!"
She said, "Well you're disabled and receiving SSDI, and so you're in your mid-to-late 50s, and we think that..."
I stopped her and said really offended now, "50's?! You think JUST because I'm disabled and receiving SSDI, that I must be in my 50s?! Do I LOOK like I'm in my 50s?! Seriously?! Seriously. Enough, just stop. Now."

I asked her if there was any other reason that she was here, told her that I do not need any services that the Senior Friendship Center has to offer, what other reason is she here.
She said that she's a social worker and because of Sebastian's truancy, that obviously, there are problems at home, perhaps there's not enough food to eat, that the bills are struggling to be paid, that there are organizations which can help me cover the cost of my medications, bring meals on wheels, and free counseling services for the family so that we can deal with our family issues, and also, most importantly, free counseling for me, because being a disabled and single parent can be extremely difficult and stressful, and so rather than take out my issues on my sons and jeopardizing Sebastian's education, I could talk to someone about it, all free of course.

Mark was sitting on the arm of the sofa near the door end of it, and he had started to laugh, he could see the look on my face, he knew that I was about to lose it.
I told her that I did not need any of those services, that my sons did not need any of those services, we did not need counseling, meals on wheels, that I have insurance to pay for my medications, it's always a struggle to pay the bills but they do get paid every month, and that Sebastian's truancy issues are mostly due to the school seriously messing up his record, and just since Monday, the vice principal has found 47 instances of where he was marked absent incorrectly, and she was still working on it, so no, no, I did not want or need any of the services that she was offering.
She sat there, mouth sort of agape, and then turned to Mark and asked him if he felt that he needed or wanted counseling to deal with our family issues, and did he feel "safe" living at home with me.
Mark started laughing, loudly, and then he said to her, "Seriously?!"
Man, he's so my kid. haha
He told her, "No, I do not need or want any counseling, and yes, I feel very safe living at home with my disabled and single mother who has been raising me and my brother by herself for the last 17 years. She does struggle from time to time, like EVERYBODY DOES, but the lights, phone, water, and internet are all on, there's plenty of food in the fridge, we have clean clothes, and she takes really good care of us. And by the way, for your records, seeing as you're writing things down. She's 40, just turned 40 in March."

She then said that she had nothing else to discuss with me, she guessed, so she asked the truancy worker to talk to me about what he needed to.
He started in about Sebastian's absences, and I asked him if the school had notified him of those 47 instances of where he was marked absent incorrectly and still looking at all of the rest of the dates.
He said that he hadn't, so I said well maybe you should catch up on what page we're on, and then you can come back and talk to me about it.
He said that even though things are being found, Sebastian still needs to not miss a single day for the rest of the year, and I said that I knew that, anything else?
He said no, he guessed not, and so I said, well then, thanks for coming by, and he said to me that I really should take advantage of the services being offered by the social worker, that it sounds like I have some issues that need to be dealt with.
I told him that of course it sounds like I have issues.
The school said that he was absent 80 out of the 156 days passed in the school year, they threatened him with expulsion, people, including him, had called me a liar when I told them that those numbers were absolutely incorrect, and the school has now found that 47 of those absences were incorrect, about all of the trouble we've had in trying to get the school to allow Sebastian to take his medication for his migraines, and that right now, there's a social worker sitting in my house telling me that I'm a mid-50s-aged woman who is depressed, disabled, and a single mother, who needs counseling because I'm taking my problems out on my sons, and a truancy officer with incorrect information about my son's absences from school. Wouldn't HE be upset if this was happening to him in his living room?!?

He said yes, he could totally see my point, sorry for not having updated information, sorry to have insulted me, she apologized for insulting me, and then they said that they would be leaving now.
I said good, thank you, Sebastian will be there for the remainder of the year, migraine or not, and if he does have one, the nurse will be excusing him for home for the rest of the day, a legal and valid excuse that will NOT be held against him, I have the principals word on that, thanks for coming, good-bye, and I escorted them out the door.

Mark busted out laughing before I even finished closing the door.
It did go better than expected, but seriously?!
I mean, come on!
That was just absolutely, just wow.

---

May 12, 2010

This should be fun.

The truancy worker and a social worker are coming to my house today at 1pm.
There are 15 days of school left for the year, and the truancy worker is just now coming to my house to discuss Sebastian's absences.
This is the same guy who on the phone, was extremely rude to me and called me a liar on the phone on Thursday May 6th.
If he starts talking to me like that in my own home, he will be escorted out by the police.

I'm going to go vac the rugs, they need it.
I'll let you know how it goes.

---

May 11, 2010

Growing old before my own eyes.

I didn't blog on Monday, I was tired, and not just tired, but exhausted tired.
I'm not sleeping well again, insomnia, restless sleep when I do sleep, gray hairs are sprouting up every single time that I look, and I'm finally starting to look as old as my body feels.
I actually sat here on Monday afternoon reading up on sybervision wrinkle cream reviews.
I read about 7 reviews on that page, I read a bunch on another page, I read about products on their own actual websites, just tons and tons of reading about wrinkle creams because I am not enjoying all these new wrinkles around my eyes and the ones on my forehead.
I must have stared at my face for an hour or so in the bathroom in the early morning hours yesterday, from every angle, scrunching and un-scrunching my face, thinking how much I've physically aged in the last few months.
I'm not liking it.

I spent close to an hour on the phone with the vice principal this morning, didn't really get that far but some of the absences were looked at and investigated, and found to have been marked wrong, incorrectly, just as I had stated they were over and over.
Just knowing that I felt better, but there is still so much they have to fix in these last 17 or so days of school left for the year.
I still don't have answer what I'm supposed to do when he has a severe migraine attack, they are still trying to figure out what to do.
I told them to hurry up, there's not too many days of school left, and if gets one soon, there needs to be an answer.
They said they know and are trying to figure that out.

---

May 9, 2010

Messy feet and a blind kitty?

Ever since my feet and ankles have been swelling up as bad as they do from the blood clots, my feet are a total mess.
When the swelling starts, the skin gets all stretched out, red, tight, and the more they swell, the worse it gets, and then the skin starts cracking.
Once the swelling goes down, my feet are in even worse shape if you can imagine.
The skin is totally dried out, cracked, and peeling, it's so gross.
I've tried to prevent this by using different lotions which are supposed to retain the moisture in the skin, I do this at the very first sign of the swelling, and even though it hurts like crazy to even touch my feet, I continue to put lotion on during the whole terrible time.
None of the lotions that I've tried have worked, and I've used quite a few.
Cocoa butter, shea butter, lotions with aloe vera, vitamin E, all kinds of stuff, and nothing at all has worked.
My feet are totally disgusting.

So next time I get a few extra bucks to spare, I'm going to see if Buy.com puts the as-seen-on-tv stuff, Heel Tastic, on sale.

Heel Tastic is supposed to really heal the dry cracked skin on heels and feet.
It's supposed to totally fix this dry, cracked-skin problem on people with chronic dry, cracked-skin, and have had the problem for a long time, and nothing else has ever worked.
People like me.

So after I get some extra money and I buy it, I'll use it and review it.
I really hope that it works.
I cannot stand my feet anymore, I cannot stand looking at them, feeling them, it's so so gross!
_______________________________

**Note. NOT a recent picture of Kali.

Does anyone know if old kitty cats can go blind?
I'm really starting to think that Kali is going blind.
Her eyes look kind of cloudy, sorta foggy looking, and she's been over-the-top starving for affection and attention.
She is following all of us around 24-7, trying to sit and lay on us, on our keyboards, she is never more than 2 feet away from these days.
And for a cat that never made a single sound during her first 10 years of life, (she's 13 now) and then when she did, it was this tiny little barely audible mew, she is now meowing all of the time, loudly.
I love her and am very concerned for her health and well being, and I'm afraid that she's going blind, maybe even a combination of blind and deaf, because of how loudly she's meowing these days.
I have felt her all over, there's no lumps indicating any type of noticeable tumors or anything, so I really think this whole starving for attention and affection thing is because she's losing her sight and maybe even her hearing.
Right now, she is on the arm of the couch after I refused to let her lay on my lap while i sit here and try to type, and she keeps rubbing her head on my arm, and meowing at me.

Does anyone have any experience with a blind, possibly blind and deaf, cat or other pet?

---

May 8, 2010

Playing a mean game of catch-up!

As I've said, my life has been in a state of 'what the hell' for about a week and a half now, give or take a few days, probably give rather than take.
I have so much to do, so much to take care of, and I need to be very careful as I have some health issues that could be affected by too much stress, and I need to watch what I eat, and I know that I definitely won't need to take any fat burners because I've barely been eating anything at all during this whole mess of stuff going on in my life, but I do need to eat, and eat a little better.
I'm trying here and that's all that I can do at the moment.

I had a a missing friend/suicide scare, and I'm dealing with Mark's ever progressing genetic spine deformities which may be getting resolved, because Mark's friend Jeff's Grandparents are very close personal friends with Congressman Vern Buchanan, and they've personally spoken with him regarding the situation with Mark, Medicaid, the doctors, all of the problems, and he asked for my phone number, they gave it to him, and he's going to call me directly and speak with me about it and what I need to have happen to help my son.
Not getting my hopes up, but taking a deep breath. *inhale/exhale deeply*

And then all of the school crap with Sebastian, which will be resolved on Monday, hopefully.
As I said, I called and spoke to the vice principal, she threatened Sebastian with expulsion, me with court for failure to provide him an education, and she said that she was going to call me back, but she did not call me back.
That was on Thursday morning when we spoke, 11:34am to be exact, so when I didn't get a call back, I emailed her later on that night at 5:26pm.
I figured that she'd get my email on Friday morning, and either email me back or call me back.
She did neither, so I decided to step it up a bit and I emailed her again, and this time, I CC'd the principal and the superintendent.
I included the principal, because I'm pretty damn sure that the vice principal cannot decide completely on her own to expel a student and take a parent to court.
I'm pretty sure that the principal has to be involved in the decision, and even though I know that the principal already hates me because of all of the problems that we had with Mark being able to graduate with his class last year, I'm feeling pretty positive that she has absolutely no idea what's going on in regards to Sebastian and this threat of expulsion.
And I included the superintendent because of the way that the truancy worker spoke to me, she's his boss, they both work out of the school board building up at The Landings, she really needed to be made aware of how the truancy worker speaks with parents, and also, she needed to be made aware of what was happening with the vice principal and the threats made against Sebastian and myself.

I sent off that very detailed email last night, Friday, May 7, 2010 at 11:43 PM, and I explained every single thing that I know about Sebastian's absences, about the teacher who kept marking him as absent/skipping a class he was no longer even registered in since December, about the dates that we were in Maine where the principal herself had verbally told me in a call that I made to her a week before we left, that she would personally excuse those dates as long as I sent in a detailed letter explaining when we were leaving, returning, and the reason for our trip, which I wrote that same night that I had called and spoke with her and Sebastian took it in the very next day and personally handed it to her, and I wrote out in great detail, the situation with the zero tolerance policy and Sebastian's migraine medications, and everything that I had done to try and get the school to allow him to take his medications at school and was denied every single time.
I wrote out in great detail what happens when Sebastian suffers from 1 of his severe migraine attacks, what happens when he takes his medications on schedule, and what happens to him if he doesn't.
I ended my email by repeating the vice principal's words to me, "If Sebastian misses even 1 more day this year, he will be expelled immediately and you will be taken to court for failure to make sure that your child gets an education", and again, I asked for someone, now 1 of the 3 of them, to tell me exactly what I am supposed to do if Sebastian gets a severe migraine attack on 1 of the last days of school because of the threat of expulsion.

The vice principal couldn't be bothered to call me back on Thursday, and she couldn't be bothered to answer my first email that I sent on Thursday at 5:26pm, but she is obviously very upset about the email that I sent on Friday night to her, the principal, and the superintendent, because at 7:02am today, she finally replied to me, to the email to the 3 of them, with this very upset and almost threatening sounding statement,
"This information regarding my involvement is not entirely accurate! I will make contact on Monday.
Please be aware that all mail sent to and from Sarasota County Schools is subject to the public records law of Florida."
She sent that reply to all of us, and I sent back the following reply to all,
"I am fully aware that all emails sent to and from Sarasota County Schools are subject to the public records law of Florida.
When I did not receive a call back, as promised by you, I felt that I needed to get in contact with you again, and include others, as this is a very important issue that needs to be addressed immediately as school ends on June 4, 2010, and if he suffers another severe migraine attack, I need to know what I am supposed to do."

I'm not afraid of the public records law of Florida, but obviously she is.
I'm going to make sure that on Monday, I have a way to record or document the entire conversation when she calls, and I'm going to let her know that I'm recording or documenting it.
I can put the phone on speaker, and I'm a hella fast typer, I'll just type out everything she says to me word for word so that she can't say that she never said something.
I mean, she's trying to say that her involvement in this is "not entirely accurate!", but what she doesn't know is that as soon as she threatened Sebastian with expulsion the 1st time, I began typing out everything that she said after that, I knew that I needed to document what she saying, so I did.
I had my email open and I just began composing a new email, and when the call was over, I emailed it to myself.
What I posted, is exactly what she said because I had copied it from the email that I composed while on the phone with her.

I don't type in shorthand, but I can type 80 to 95 words per minute, and maybe some of you have guessed that at the sometimes long entries that I type. (like this one, sorry)
I just get going sometimes and just keep going, plus, I've worked in a customer service position for Georgia Power and Gas, (yup, GP&G customer service is located in Sarasota, Florida) where we had to be able to type 35 wpm minimum in order to even get hired for the job.
I filled out the application and was taken over to a computer to take the typing test where several others were also taking it.
Each person was given just 2 tries to meet the 35 wpm minimum.
I heard a few people start cussing, someone slam their chair and and then storm out, and then I sat down to take my test.
We had a piece of paper with about 3 paragraphs of something typed on it, (can't recall after all these years) and we had to type out the entire thing as fast as we could with a minimum of 4 typos and spelling mistakes.
I got myself into a good seating position, got my hands and arms comfy, (knuckles cracked) and I clicked the start button.
I typed out the 3 paragraphs in just under 1.5 minutes, only 2 spelling mistakes, and my speed was clocked at 84 wpm.
I was hired on the spot, so yeah, typing what someone is saying word for word, is something I can easily do and will always do if I feel that I may need to have proof of something said at a later date.

"Not entirely accurate!"
Yeah, that ain't gonna fly with me.
You said it, you meant it, now deal with the consequences of what you so courageously yelled at me.

---

May 8, 2010

Despite all the bad, there were some moments of good.

I've had quite a really bad time for the last week, week and a half, I still have 2 posts in draft that honestly, I don't even know if I'm going to publish now.
They are things that I wanted to say, but after some thought, I'm just not so sure now that I want to say them anymore.
Anyway.

I am always entering contests on a lot of my friends blogs that I read, and I won a few of those contests sometime last week.

First, Jenn, aka Five Dollar Shake, had a contest to win a t-shirt from Crazy Dog t-shirts.
I won, and then chose a shirt that, well, just really does suit me.
I think you'll agree. *wink*
I received the shirt and absolutely love it, so thank you Jenn and Crazy Dog T-shirts!
Click here to follow Crazy Dog T-shirts on Twitter, and click here to follow Five Dollar Shake on Twitter.

Then Jenn at In My Bag, had a giveaway for a Tungsten ring from Tungsten Rings Online, valued at $120, and I won that too!
I chose this Womens Tungsten 6mm Dome Wedding Ring, yeah yeah, wedding ring, blah blah, I just like the way that ring looks.
It's very clean, simple, and it's both catch and scratch resistant, meaning it will never snag on a sweater or any kind of fabric, and it will never get scratched during all of the sometimes really crazy things that I do with my hands.
It also comes with a Lifetime Warranty which is fantastic because of all of the sometimes really crazy things that I do with my hands. Hahahaha!
Thank you to both Jenn and Tungsten Rings Online so much for this giveaway, and once I get the ring, I will happily post a pic and a review of it!
Click here to follow Jenn on Twitter.
Tungsten Rings Online does not have a Twitter account, yet.

Sebastian was surfing around the net on their computer one day last week, and he found a contest to win some pull up bars like this one, the contest is now closed, but because you had to be 18 to enter it, he asked me and I entered on his behalf.
He's hoping that my good luck at winning contests will rub off and he'll win it, he really wants to start building up his upper body strength after what happened.

---

May 6, 2010

Sarasota County school system can kiss my ass.

I was writing up my post last night, I kept getting interrupted, it's in draft, it's ok, trust me, a post in draft is probably the best damn thing going at the minute.

Because of Sarasota County's Zero Tolerance Policy against drugs, what you see above which includes OTC drugs of any kind including Tylenol, Advil, and oh heaven forbid, a prescription medication for migraines.
Sebastian has missed some school, but I have sent him with a note the very next day, as the school tells us to do, every single time he has a migraine and has had to miss a day here and there for it.
We went through this last year, and seriously debated doing the ol' cough and swallow so he wouldn't miss any days of school at all.

In yesterday's mail, I received a letter from the truancy officer for Sarasota County.
The letter states that Sebastian has missed 87 days of school this year.
He has not.
From the first day back in January after Christmas break, until about 3-4 weeks ago, a certain teacher was intentionally marking him as skipping her 7th period class.
He wasn't skipping her class, he transferred out of it before Christmas break, but apparently, no one notified the teacher, so she marked him as absent from her class every single day, and those missed classes got marked as unexcused, and those absences now count against his absences for the year, so for a total of 87 FULL DAYS MISSED, out of 156 full-time class days.

I called the school, spoke to Dr. Moore, the vice principal in charge of attendance, and she said if Sebastian misses even 1 more day, she's expelling him and making sure that I go to court for failure to make my child get an education.
I asked her what I am supposed to do if he has a severe migraine and because of the zero tolerance policy, he cannot take his prescription meds every 4 hours as prescribed, nor can he have any Tylenol or Advil to even try to fight the migraine off so he doesn't miss school, what am I supposed to do Dr. Moore? Tell me what I'm supposed to do? Send him to school suffering with a migraine that blinds him and every sound makes him feel as though his head is going to explode, please tell me what I'm supposed to do, what would you like me to do Dr. Moore?
Her answer to me was "I have other important things to deal with, but if he misses even 1 more day, he's expelled, and you will be going to court."
Click.
She hung up.

I am so so upset right now, I can barely breathe.
I've been crying non-stop since this morning being called a liar, (the liar thing has to do with this as well, but it's a long story, and I am so fucking upset I just don't even want to type anymore right now) and my blood pressure is through the roof.
My friend showed up here when she called just to say hi, and I could barely even speak, so she brought over her cuff and my BP is 162 over 101, probably the highest it's been in months, and I'm so fucking upset, I can't get myself calmed down, this situation is a huge mess, they won't correct the wrong amount of days absent, they are making threats, and last night, my ankles and feet started to swell up bad, but now they are like swollen to super size and are extremely painful because they are blood clots, and because my BP is up racing, the blood clots are just building up even more rapidly than normal.
I'm so lost on what the fucking hell I'm supposed to do!
What the fuck am I supposed to do!!!

---

May 1, 2010

His fears and worries.

Mark sent me an email around 4am this morning when he couldn't sleep.
I asked if I could post his email, he shrugged his shoulders, said yeah.

"Hey Mom, we don't talk much about things that bother us. It's just the way we are.
I'm worried about you and me.
For every passing day I get further scared of what is coming and what is not.
I am scared that even If I did college, even if I did find some sort of employment, and whatever else, it would be for nothing. The doctor refuses to respond to us and with my back in pain the way it is, it's a constant reminder of what my life is, and watching you, what my life forever will be.
I'm really sorry if this email upsets you, but I just wanted to get this off of my chest.
I love you Mom.
I love how much you are fighting for me.
I love that no matter how much pain you are in, you are fighting for me anyway, and then I worry about you and how much you're hurting.
This whole thing scares me Mom, all of it.
I just needed to tell you this.
I just needed to tell you that I love you and I'm so proud of you for all of it, for all that you do and try to do.
I so wish that I could make it easier for you, for me, for all of us, I hate seeing how hard you work at this, at fighting for me to get a doctor to help me, and they don't, and then I hear you cry, and I know that I can't do anything at all to help you.
I just need you to know that it matters to me, it matters so much Mom.
I don't always say thank you or I love you, but I do, I love you and I just wanted you to know that, to know I love you and thank you for all of it."

I think I cried for about an hour reading that this morning.
I went in Sebastian's room after he left for school, buried my head in his pillows, and just cried.
I wish I could fix Mark, I wish I could take it all away from him, his pain, his fear, his worries.
I wish so much that I could make it all better.
He thanks me?
He thanks me??
I'm the one who thanks him, I'm the one who has every ounce of pride the world over to have him as my son, he's far too awesome for me to even put into words.

---

April 25, 2010

Big boys and aerobeds.

I still haven't posted much about our trip to Maine to visit all of the relatives, and I was just checking out what Buy.com has on sale this week, when it totally reminded me of what happened at Great-Gram's house.

Great-Gram lives in a seniors only apartment complex, they are all 1 bedroom - 1 bathroom -1 floor, side by side apartments, with 4 apartments to a row, about 16 total apartments up in Standish Maine.
Whenever we go to stay with her, Great-Gram insists on taking the couch, I always tell her that I'll take the couch, I actually sleep better on her couch than her bed, but she insists on me taking her bed, and the teens each take an air mattress with 1 of them in the bedroom with me, and the other in the living room with her.
Great-Gram doesn't get a lot of people staying with her as much anymore, the kids and grandkids are all mostly grown up, so it had been a long time since anyone has needed to sleep on the air mattresses.
When Great-Gram and the teens got the air mattresses out of her closet and had begun to blow them up that first night, neither of them would inflate.
Great-Gram and the teens tried for about an hour to get either of them to inflate and when they wouldn't, she called her daughter Sherri, and then Aunt Sherri sent Uncle Jimmy down to Standish with their air mattress.
Their air mattress wouldn't inflate either, and so Sebastian slept in the queen-sized bed with me, and Great-Gram and Mark got every single blanket that they could find in her closet and piled them up 1 on top of each other on the floor in an attempt to make it as comfortable as possible for Mark to sleep on. (he didn't want to sleep in the bed with me because he's a kicker and he didn't want to kick and hurt me)
The next morning after we had all woken up and had breakfast (except Mark) and made ourselves look presentable, Great-Gram had us all pile in the car and head on down to North Windham to go to Wal*Mart and buy a new air mattress.
We only needed to buy 1 new air mattress because Heather and Kristina (Heather's fiance) have an air mattress that they were going to let us borrow for the week.
Kristina was going to bring it down in the afternoon after Sullivan got off the school bus sometime around 3pm or later, so off we went to Wal*Mart.
Great-Gram found a nice big air mattress kind of like this Aerobed, but a twin sized one.

We also picked up some extra D-cell batteries because the pump that the air mattress comes with uses batteries and Great-Gram wasn't sure that she had enough of them, or if the ones that she did have were any good anymore.
Then Great-Gram insisted that we go to McDonald's for lunch, it was about 11am and time for lunch, and Mark never eats breakfast so he was definitely hungry, so we all went to McDonald's and then to Hannaford's so that Great-Gram could buy more food that I kept telling her not to buy because while the teens do have big appetites, there was already quite a bit of leftovers in the fridge that needed to be eaten.
Both Great-Gram and my Mom bought a ton of food and cooked enough food for an army, and the teens and I tried to eat as much of the leftovers as we possibly could so that nothing went to waste, (I hate wasting food because wasting food is wasting money) and by doing that, we all put on some weight.

We went back home to Great-Gram's house, put all of the groceries away, and then tested out the new air mattress to make sure that we didn't need to turn around and take it back for another one.
It inflated in about 2 minutes, yay!
In the afternoon, Kristina came over with Sullivan and their air mattress, we tested to make sure that 1 still worked, it did, and then they stayed and hung out with us until Heather got done at work, and then they all stayed and we got to have a nice visit until about dinner time.

Neither of the teens is playing with Sullivan and the action figures in this picture, and that's because as soon as they saw my camera, they both jumped up and sat on the couch so there wouldn't be any evidence of them playing with the action figures.
Ya know, they are 16 and 18, they don't want to be seen playing with the "little kid toys", but trust me, they were both down on the floor playing with Sullivan.
Sullivan loves to play with his cousins and the action figures, it's all he could talk about since Heather told him that we were coming up for a long visit, when would he be allowed to go play with his cousins, he even asked if he could he have a day off of school to play with his cousins because of how rarely we go up for a visit.
He (Sullivan) loves Mark and Sebastian, he tries so much to be like them, like the big boy cousins, he's only 8 years old, but he wants to be just like the big boys.
On the Friday night before we were heading back to my parents house for the next week until it was time to fly home on Easter Sunday, we all went out to eat at this awesome restaurant in Cornish called Stone Ridge.
Sullivan wants to be like the big boys so much that when they ordered the never-ending ribs plate, Sullivan ordered it too.
The ribs the teens got were huge, and they got a lot of them on the first plate.
Mark was the only 1 who finished his first plate and got the 2nd plate, but the waitress was really nice and gave each of the boys, including Sullivan, another order of the ribs in take-out boxes to take home.
Sullivan thought he was so cool getting take-home ribs just like the boys, he talked about it all the way home.

I do have a few more things to post about our trip to Maine, I'll get to them as the days go by.

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April 23, 2010

Dropping the weight we put on while in Maine.

When we went home to Maine to visit everyone, both Great-Gram and my Mom, fed us huge meals every single day, there were leftovers on top of leftovers stacked up in both of their refrigerators.
Now don't get me wrong, we totally loved every single thing that they cooked for us, but oh man, we were so stuffed after every single meal.
All 3 of us put on quite a few pounds while we were there, I put on about 12 pounds.
Yikes!!
But since being back at home, we've all started getting back to our normal eating habits and losing the weight we put on.
I've managed to lose the whole 12 pounds that I put on and another 7 pounds without having to use my usual diet supplement that I used to take to help me lose weight.
It really works too, I absolutely love it and when my friend Shell emailed me about it the other night, I gave her the name of it and told her how she should take it, and that it works if you remember to take it every day.
I used to buy it at my old pain doctor's office, he highly recommended it to his overweight patients because being overweight can cause your back to hurt more because you're carrying around all of that weight which just puts stress on your back.
I did notice that once I started dropping some weight, that my back didn't hurt quite as much as it normally does, but the pain never truly went away.
I was just happy that some of the pain was gone and that I was losing my belly fat.
_______________________________________

The movie Avatar came out on DVD today and I want it.
I absolutely loved seeing it in the theater in digital 3-D, and I know that the DVD won't be in 3-D, but that's ok, it's still stunning to look at.

I've added it to my wish list so that I remember to buy it when I have some extra money to get us a new movie.
I like to buy us a new movie that we all really loved when I can so that we can watch it over and over again.
The teens have certain movies that they've watched like a gazillion times like The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and Evolution which they watched every single night that I was in the hospital, both times that I was in the hospital.
I asked them why they watched it every night both of the times that I was in the hospital, and they told me that it just comforted them, it took their minds off of me being gone, and it took away their worries about me while they watched it.
I found it interesting that that particular movie is what comforted them.
I honestly don't know why, I've watched that movie and I cannot figure it out.

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April 23, 2010

Mugged for a few cans of iced tea.

Yesterday afternoon, the teens went to Publix to get some subs, soda, and some snacks.
On their way back home, 4 teenagers, 3 white and 1 hispanic, stopped the boys up at the apartment complex right up the street, and asked them for a couple cans out of the 12 pack of the Brisk iced tea the teens bought.
Mark said no, told them to go buy some themselves.
The hispanic teen told the teens that they were homeless and thirsty, so Mark replied to go get a job and stay at the homeless shelter.
2 of the teenage thugs walked away, they wanted no part of it, and then the white teen punched Sebastian in the stomach area, and then saw the ace bandage that Sebastian has been wearing on his knee because he pulled a muscle in it from slipping and falling a few days ago.
The white teen then kicked him right in that knee, and Sebastian dropped to the ground.
The hispanic then grabbed the 12 pack of iced tea, Sebastian grabbed it back and it ripped open, and then the hispanic grabbed 4 cans of the tea while Mark was pulling the white kid off of Sebastian.
The hispanic teen told Mark "Stay out of it, don't you dare hit my boy or I'll cut you", and he patted his right front pocket to show Mark that he had a knife.
A teenager in a house across the street came out and said that he was going to call the cops, and so the teenage thugs took off with 4 cans of ice tea, then my teens picked up the rest of the cans and came home.

They walked in the door and Mark said "We got mugged for our iced tea, I'm calling the cops."
The cops came and took my teens names and dates of birth, and their statements.
Suddenly there were 6 cop cars in front of my house because 3 other people had called it in, they were witnesses willing to give statements, and all of them said that what happened was not the fault of my teens, the teen thugs are the ones who stopped my teens, threw punches and kicked Sebastian, and all of them said that Mark never threw a single punch, he simply pulled the white teen off of Sebastian.
Sebastian knows the teenage thugs, he goes to school with them, and so the cops rode Mark and Sebastian up to the apartment complex and started asking people where the 2 thugs lived.
The 2 white teens who were not involved immediately gave up the other 2 who actually attacked my teens.
The cops found the hispanic teen, he answered the door of his apartment holding and drinking 1 of the cans of iced tea.
The cops asked him where he got the can of iced tea, he was all "um, uh, I found it".
The cops asked if he really found it, or did he take it off of 2 teenagers walking home from the store.
He hummed and hawed again, and the cops took that as a yes, he took it from the teens, so they cuffed him and put him in the back of the cruiser.
What he did was now his third strike in a state that has a 3 strikes you're out law.
He's screwed.
The white teen who hit and kicked Sebastian, is now on his third strike as well, so he's screwed too.
That teen took off running, but like I said, there were 6 cops here for this, and he was found and cuffed and stuck in a cruiser too.
The cops then asked Mark and Sebastian to say yes or no when he rolled the window down so that my teens could identify them.
They identified the white teen, and they identified the hispanic teen, and when they identified him, he started crying immediately because he knows he's going down big time.

The district attorney called today, they need my teens to go down to the DA's office on Wednesday to give their official statements so this can go to court.
Because Mark is 18, he can legally press charges on the 2 teen thugs who mugged them, so the DA didn't even want to talk to me today, but I do have to go on Wednesday because Sebastian is still a minor.
The DA is pressing charges and asking for the max because both of the teen thugs are on their third strike, they are both going down big.
The 2 teen thugs are both 17, so they will go to juvenile jail until they turn 18, and then they will go to the big house.
Because the hispanic teen threatened Mark and indicated that he had a knife, he's being charged with a felony assault in the first degree, and conspiracy to commit murder in the first degree.
Even if he didn't have a knife in his pocket, he's getting charged with both of those because even threatening to stab someone is a felony, he's so totally screwed over a couple cans of iced tea.

It's just mind blowing that they did that over a couple cans of iced tea.
My boys are not being charged with anything at all because in Florida, if you're attacked, you are allowed to defend yourself by any means necessary.
Mark didn't hit either of them, but Sebastian did elbow the white kid in the head when he was struggling to get the 12 pack back.

I'm still shocked that they did that over a couple cans of iced tea.
They both knew that if they did any kind of crime that they would be on their third strike, yet they attacked my sons over a couple cans of iced tea.
How freaking stupid do you have to be to physically attack someone for a couple cans of iced tea?

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April 21, 2010

They're lucky they're my kids.

This is probably a TMI (too much information) post, but my sons are funny.

Due to my spine being what it is, and all the titanium in there, I'm on pain meds, 1 pill 8 times per day.
And that 1 pill 8 times per day constipates me severely.
And I once again forgot to pick up some stool softeners, so I just happened to mention it to the boys as I passed the room where they were playing WoW and some other video game.
And then Mark says really loud, "Mom, you better not try and push too hard or you'll end up popping a vein or something and need one of those hemorrhoids treatment things the commercials talk about with all of the warnings."
Then the 2 of them busted out laughing and started saying all of the warnings with all of the various drugs that are on the market and you should ask your doctor for.
Like if you're depressed, ask your doctor for such and such drug, but be warned! If you are a senior citizen and seriously depressed, taking this medication could cause sudden death or make you suicidal!
The teens laugh about that one all of the time, an antidepressant that makes you more depressed and possibly suicidal, or it could kill you, but they must have rattled off the names and warnings for at least a half dozen or so drugs, and they kept telling me to be careful if my doctor gives me a certain one, it could cause me to have a sped up heart rate, some stomach issues are possible like painful cramping, constipation or diarrhea, and lose my sex drive, but dag nabbit! I'll be happy about it! ha haha

They must have teased me for a good 20 minutes before they finally dropped it.
That will teach me to mention any of my health issues to them again.

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April 20, 2010

Migraines and food.

I felt like total suck all day today.
It started with a blinding and mega painful migraine that I couldn't shake off no matter what I did, so I spent the majority of the day just laying on the couch just watching tv and movies.
The migraine finally decided to leave me about an hour ago.
Looking at bright lights still hurts a little but the migraine is ending.
My lower back started to hurt really bad around noon, so I took my meds and then took a long hot shower.
I just stand there hunched over with my hands on the wall so the hot water can hit is directly.
I wish that I had one of those walk in bath tubs though so I could just sit in a tub full of hot water for as long as I want to.
I miss being able to take baths because I can't bend able.
Oh well.
But I'm feeling well enough to eat something, so I've got 4 of these Barber stuffed chicken breasts with broccoli and cheese, in the oven right now, should be done soon so that I can actually east something today.
I would have cooked them in the NuWave, but I didn't wash it yet from making BBQ chicken legs in it the other day.
I'm cooking all 4 of them (2 per package) because the teens want some too even though they ate huge foot long subs for dinner about 3 hours ago.
I don't mind sharing because I know that they will eat it all, but I hate making something and then they don't eat it all.
I store leftovers for a max of 3 days before tossing it, but the teens won't even touch some of the leftovers if they didn't like it the first time around.
I try to make foods that I know they will like and eat, but sometimes the on;y person who likes it is me.
Ok, gotta go check the chicken and then sit down and eat it, later days.

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April 18, 2010

Can't wait to eat it!!

I've had a pot roast, potatoes, carrots, and onions, slow cooking in the crock pot since about 9am this morning, it will be ready to eat in about an hour.
The house smells sooo good!!
The pot roast looks sooo good too!

It's been cooking in a Rival stainless steel 5-Quart Countdown Slow Cooking Crock Pot, which I absolutely love!
This is the exact one that I have!

Crock pots are great because you just throw the food in, set it, turn it on and walk away.
Cooking is easy because it's all in one pot, and cleanup is easy for the same reason, it's just one pot to wash!

I love cooking with it for so many reasons, 1 of them being that it doesn't heat up the whole house like the oven would do if I was cooking this roast in it.
The whole house would be hot by now, and that would totally suck because I hate cooking in a really hot kitchen, it just makes you feel miserable.

I've cooked so many different and amazing tasting meals in my crock pot, and I just love making chicken dishes in it.
The chicken stays so juicy and tender, and because you just set it and walk away, the flavors stay in, and whatever meat you're cooking, it soaks up whatever spices and flavors you throw in.
For my roast, I have the potatoes, carrots, and onions, which have and add some great flavors to the meat themselves, but I also added in just a pinch of garlic, some celery, salt, pepper, a bay leaf, and a pinch of thyme too.
It really smells so amazing in my house.
I took the lid off to check the whole red baby potatoes, and waved some of smell out and into the house, and the teens opened up the door to the game room and were like "OMG, is it ready? Can we eat it now?"
Almost guys, almost.

I think that cooking with a crock pot is like the easiest way to cook, ever, it's really hard to screw up something cooked in a crock pot, so if you don't have one, get one.
I swear, they are a cooking appliance that should be in everyone's kitchen.
Buy.com has the exact same one that I have on sale for $44.95 with free shipping.
It's normally $60, so that's a savings of $15, and because the shipping is free, it's a really great bargain.
It can be used to cook so many different things, even deserts.
Yes, I've even made a cake in my crock pot, and it came out awesome.
My next cake in a crock pot adventure will be a cheesecake.
I love cheesecake but I have a really hard time making one in a traditional spring form pan, so I'm going to do one in the crock pot and see how it comes out.

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April 16, 2010

Ripping my family apart.

Before anyone asks or decides to make a judgment about me blogging too much information about my kids and their lives, Mark who is 18, and Sebastian who is 16, have read this post and both have agreed that it could published.
It was edited to their wishes which I have always respected when it comes to blogging about them.

I can't go into many details about what is happening because there are certain people who read my blog, and because some of the details are too emotionally painful.

When we were in Maine, we spent a week with Great-Gram who is 82.
She is their father's grandmother, and she said to the both of them on our very 1st day with her, that she will probably be dead by the next time we can go back up, we only go up to Maine about once every 5 years, that's all I can afford to do, but anyway, she said that she'll probably be dead by the time we get up there next, so her dying wish was for the teens to make peace with their father.
The teens have not spoken to their father in many years, and not for a lack of trying either.
We have lived at the same address since 1998, have had the same phone number since then, have told their father he could even call collect to talk to them if he couldn't afford it, the teens have emailed him from their own accounts, and in the past 12 years, he has only called them once, has only sent one letter and package which contained some of his band's swag, t-shirts, a cd, and bumper stickers.
They only received Christmas presents once, and they weren't even signed by him, his girlfriend at the time and mother of his 6th child, a daughter named Sixx, was the one who signed the gift tags "Love Dad", it was clearly not his handwriting and his sons knew it because they read the letter he sent with the band swag.
When he did reply to their emails which was not often, he often accused them of being me, so he called me names and spoke to me the way he always does.

So when Great-Gram asked the teens to make peace with him, Mark apologized to her, but said no, he will not ever forgive his father for all of his wrong-doings against them, that he will never forget any of the things that he did and said to them.
Sebastian, always the people pleaser, said yes, so she set up some visits with their father.
Sebastian has no memories of what happened to him as a baby, he doesn't remember the abuse done to him at his father's hand, and he wants to get to know his for father himself instead of all of the stories from Mark and other family members including Great-Gram.

The visits went well, he said that his father has totally changed, has all of his kid's names (6 kids in total) tattooed on his hands, has their pictures everywhere in his apartment, and tells everyone how much he loves all of his kids.
The visits went so well that Sebastian and his father discussed Sebastian going to stay with him for a month this summer.
His father said he would pay for everything including the plane tickets.
This is a man who can't pay the child support amount of $59 every week, but somehow he's going to come up with the money for a round-trip plane ticket.

Sebastian says that he wants to go, he wants to learn who is father is for himself, and he wants to meet and spend time with all of his half-siblings.
Mark is absolutely furious that Sebastian wants to do this because of all that they went through when they were little, because their father has never paid any attention to them for 12 years, but suddenly, now, now he wants to be "Dad" and love them, now he wants to spend time with them, now that they are all grown up and the hard work of raising them is over, now he wants to be a part of their lives.
Mark wants absolutely nothing at all to do with him ever, except to take his father to court and sue him for all of the back due child support owed to them, but other than that, he doesn't want anything to do with their father.
Mark said that any old asshole can make a baby and be called a father, but a real man, a man who is there for his kids all of the time no matter what the relationship with the mother is, is a man who has earned the title of "Dad", and the man who made him is not his "Dad" and never will be, he hasn't done a thing to earn that title.

The teens argue about this trip constantly, if they aren't bickering over the video games, they are at each others throats over Sebastian wanting to spend a month with their father.
Mark is so angry about it, irate over it, that he told Sebastian that if he goes through with it and spends a month with their father this summer, that when he gets home, he will no longer have a brother in him, that he will disown Sebastian, he will be dead to Mark.

Since coming home, this has been a constant source of stress for me, for all of us, it's ripping my family apart.
There has been hours and hours of yelling and screaming, crying, begging, pleading, more yelling and crying, and silent treatments too.
We went to the grocery store late this afternoon, and something set them off in the store, something was said, I missed it, but it started them at each others throats again.
No matter how many times I told them to stop it, to stop bickering about it, save it till we get back home, they kept at each other with snarky little comments back and forth through the entire store and the whole walk home.
When we got home, they gave each other the silent treatment for about 3 and a half hours.
Every single day since getting back from Maine, there has been some sort of argument between them over this.

I am at a total loss of what to do about all of this.
I have tried talking to them about it, but they are both dead set on their side of this issue.
I have my own very valid concerns about Sebastian going, things which I have discussed with him, told him to be very aware of if he does go, but other than telling him my concerns if he does go, there's not much that I can do because he told me that if I love him, if I really loved him as much as I say that I do, I'll let him go.
I love him far more than he will ever know, but I know that if I put my foot down and say no, that he will be angry at me and resent me for a very long time.
I don't want that, my heart couldn't take it if he ended up resenting or hating me because I don't want him to go spend a month with their father, but all I am trying to do is to protect him.
I can't give you the details on why I want to protect him so much, but there are very real, very valid reasons why I am trying to protect him.

I really am at a total loss of what to do here, if I let him go and he goes, Mark will disown him as his brother and things will never be the same or ok between them ever again.
If I don't let him go, he will end up hating and resenting me.
In the meantime, my sons are at each others throats, this is really ripping our little family apart and I don't know what to do.

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April 15, 2010

Maybe some throw rugs?

We ended up not ripping the carpet out today like we had planned, Mindy had a wicked migraine.
I had the house all ready, I didn't move the furniture of course, but I did clean everything up including the table of death, so that when we did need to move the furniture around to pull up the carpet, we didn't have to deal with all my crap first.
When Mindy and Chris didn't get here by 3:30pm, I knew something was up but figured I'd give them a little more time before I called.
When I called at 4pm, I could tell right away that she wasn't ok, it was just the way she answered the phone, and when she told me that she laid down to take a nap to try and kill off a migraine and woke up when she heard the phone ring, she looked at the clock and knew right away what she had totally forgotten to do today.
I told her it was no big deal at all, it can be done another day, so she said that on Saturday after they get done with the yard sale, they'll come over and do it.
She said that her son Jeff doesn't have to work that day, so we'll have an extra able-bodied person to help with it.

Sitting here tonight with my freshly vacuumed carpet, nothing crunching under foot, (chip or cookie crumbs from the teens) and completely clutter-free, I now don't want to be completely without some sort of carpeting.
Terrazzo flooring gets really cold in the winter, and while it does stay cool in the summer, if it gets really humid outside, it tends to sweat a little.
It always has a slightly wet look and feel to it in the summer months, so I always have to throw a towel down on the floor in front of the kitchen sink while I do dishes so I don't slip and fall.

I'd absolutely love to buy another Bissel carpet cleaner, but I really don't know if it would work on getting all of the stains and pee smell out after so much time has passed.
I suppose that I could wait a few more weeks before ripping the carpet out and rent a carpet cleaner from Publix to see if it would, but if it doesn't work, I will have wasted money renting it to clean a carpet that I'm just going to rip out.
A dilemma to ponder, but I only have a few days to ponder it before the 2nd planned rip-out party.
Or I could just go ahead and rip it out as planned and then start saving some money up to buy some throw rugs for in front of my chair and the 2 couches, or maybe a big 8x10 for the living room that would fit in front of both couches, and then get a smaller matching throw rug for in front of my chair.

This hand tufted wool rug is really pretty, and it would match the colors in my living room really nicely.
Click for bigger on both images.

This hand tufted wool rug from India would also perfectly match my home nicely too.

I can't afford either of them at their prices, and they would have to be on a very serious sale for me to afford either, but I do like them, the 2nd one more then the 1st.
I just like the pebble-stone look of the 2nd one, it's just a really unique and pretty rug pattern.
I'm going to keep looking through all of the different rugs, throw rugs, and runners that Buy.com has, they have a pretty big selection, and maybe I can find that same pattern in a smaller rug and if they do, I can start saving up to buy a few of them, I think that 4 would do it.
One for in front of each couch, a throw in front of the kitchen sink, and maybe another small throw in front of my chair.

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April 15, 2010

Ripping it out today!

I have a lot to do today to get the house ready for when Mindy and her husband Chris come over after 3pm.
They are coming over to help me rip out the carpet from the living room.
It seems that while we were away, a cat, or several cats, peed on the living room carpet.
You can buy all that stuff, all of those different sprays that will get rid of the urine smell, but they only get the surface pee stain and smell, it doesn't get the urine down in and under the carpet pad, so we're ripping out the carpet and cleaning up the terrazzo flooring, and that's what I'll have for flooring from now on.
Then we're going to clean up a few more things and dig out some stuff for them to take home and sell at their yard sale on Saturday.
My 35 gallon octagon fish tank is one of those things, it has to go.
There's been no fish in it for like the last 3 years, I've just been running it so the water doesn't mildew and stuff, but it's just taking up space, so yeah, good riddance.
I'm going to go and get all the stuff out of my closet to sell too.
I even have some brand new outdoor patio cushions in the closet for the patio set that George gave us, but the chairs all got ruined by the rain.
They were apparently not meant to be outdoors uncovered, but more like on a covered patio or lanai, not out in direct weather, so they got all mildewed and yucky, so I don't need the cushions anymore.
I have a ton of other stuff to get rid of too, a headboard, a printer, a walker, all kinds of stuff that either sells at the yard sale or the garbage man can take it.

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April 12, 2010

Just how many forms are they going to send me??

Before we left for Maine, I received my official U.S. Census form, I filled it out, (much to my disgust) and mailed it back in.
When I got home, I had another one waiting for me (with a warning letter attached this time) that said they had not received my census form, that it's (printed in bold on both the envelope and the letter) required by law, and I must fill it out and send it back immediately or a census worker will be contacting me.
If I had already filled it out and returned it, to please disregard this one.

I thought nothing of it, considered it a done deal.
Then I got another one of the warning letter census forms.
Then another.
And another.
It feels like that summer a few years ago when I had 5 different friends all having babies around the same time, and I got all of their baby shower invitations in the same exact week, and they had all picked dates within just a few days of each other.
That was a rough time on my wallet.
We've been home for exactly one week as of today, and including the one that I got today, I've now received a total of 9 census forms.
What the hell?
I understand that they want to try and get an accurate head count, and it is required by the U.S. Constitution, but come on man, our country is in massive debt, and here they are wasting a ton of paper, time, resources, and most importantly, money, mailing these things out to people multiple times.
It is estimated that the census is going to cost us (the taxpayers) nearly $100 Million to mail the letter announcing we'd be getting the census, then the actual census, and the postage-paid envelope included in the census.
Then you can add a few more million to that for all of the people that will be receiving, or have already received it, multiple times.
I know other people have gotten a few of these too.
My parents had also received and mailed back the first official one, and then they got the second one with the warning letter attached while we were there, and another friend of mine has also received 3 of them.
Just how many of these are they going to keep sending to us?

They can fine you up to $100 for refusing to answer the form or the in-person census taker, and if you knowingly provide false information, they can fine you up to $500.
The in-person census takers will be going out starting on May 1st, and working until July, to get the answers to the census.
If you're not home but your kids are, as long as the kid is at least 15, the census taker can make them answer the questions, and will assist them in providing the information.
It's been a really long time since they fined anyone for not answering the census, the last one was in 1960, 50 years ago, and in 1970, a court decision from Delaware holding that there is a separate violation for each question you don't answer.
Basically, on the 2010 Census form, it has 10 questions, you could be fined anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 if you refuse to answer a question, or give false answers to any questions.

Scammers love to try and take advantage of people, and census time is prime-time for them to try, so there's a list of things on Privacy Rights.org, that will help protect you and your information from scammers posing as census workers.

I have this feeling that because they keep sending me the damn thing, that I will be visited by one of these census workers, so that's why I went looking for information on it and figured that I'd share what I found out.
If you're not going to be home during the day but your kids are, (the census workers are out from May 1st through July, summer vacation for kids) and you have any kids that are at least age 15, make sure they know what to look for in regards to scammers posing as a census worker, too.
You don't want your kids accidentally giving away private information to anyone either.

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April 12, 2010

The FCAT sucks and serious disappointment.

I will get to writing about our vacation and something really seriously important that I need all you divorced and single parents advice and help with, but I promised to help Sebastian with a project that he has to do.
He emailed me the things he needs from me to help him with a green study that he has to do for part of his project.
My part doesn't look too complicated, his does, but mine is just gathering up some containers and some other supplies, most of which I already have around the house.

That damn FCAT test really sucks.
Remember that Sebastian applied to go to Suncoast Polytechnical High School?
In Saturday's mail, we got a letter and he was so excited, he was shaking as he opened it up, and then he started crying, handed me the letter and ran to his room and cried on his bed.
Because of the FCAT test, because he was off by ONE POINT on the FCAT reading portion of the test, he was not accepted into Suncoast Poly-tech.
ONE. FREAKING. POINT.

He's absolutely crushed, he really wanted to go there so bad, he did amazing on his tests and essays for the application, he got letters of reference from his teachers, but the damn FCAT and one stupid point is keeping him out of that great school.
ONE POINT!!!
It's so not fair.

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April 11, 2010

Johnson's Buddies Easy-Grip sudzing bar.

I have so many things to blog about our trip to Maine to visit all of our family and a few of my friends, and I'll slowly be posting all of the stories now that my internet is back on and working correctly, but I just have to tell you this one thing!
It's probably a totally silly thing to most people, but it's something that I love so I want to tell you about it. haha ha!

At my Mom and Dad's house, they have this soap in the bathroom, it's called Johnson's Buddies Easy-Grip Sudzing Bar, and it's about $1 per bar.
It's made for small kids and toddlers to help teach them good hygiene practices by helping them wash their hands with a bar soap that won't slip out of their hands.
The soap comes in a non-slip pouch, you get it wet, and then lather up, and it will not slip out of your hands.
The soap also comes in a fun and bright color to attract kids, and it also comes in a great scent, yummy watermelon.
And when I say a great scent, I mean it, the smell of this soap is fantastic, intoxicating, and addicting.
I have taken a couple showers with it since coming home with a few bars that mom bought for me after I kept coming out of her bathroom smelling my hands and raving about it.
"Mmmm, Mom, I loooove that soap, what is it called, I want it, it smells sooo good!"
This is what the soap looks like.

The soap is allergy tested so I won't get any hives from using it, and the non-slip pouch is really perfect for me because sometimes my finger joints get really stiff, and so trying to pick up and hold onto a bar of soap can be rather difficult.
This is also why my Mom and Dad use it, they both have gripping issues due to arthritis, so the Johnson's Buddies soap is really perfect for people who may have that disease, or a neurological problem that causes them to have trouble holding onto things.
The non-slip pouch is also great for taking showers, if it can't slip out of your hands, you won't be dropping it in the shower and having to bend down to try and pick it up, and then keep losing your grip on it, which is another reason I really like it.
I can't bend down in the shower to pick up a bar of soap because I don't bend so well, so this bar is really awesome in the shower for people with arthritis, neurological gripping issues, or people who can't move so well any more.
I can totally see this bar being used by more than just kids and toddlers, I can see seniors, people who use a shower chair, people who have mobility issues, all kinds of people for all kinds of reasons, the non-slip grip is really perfect for a lot of people, not just kids.

As I said above, the Johnson's Buddies Easy-grip sudzing bar is only about $1 per bar at most stores, and can be found in the baby goods aisle, and it can also be bought online.
I went and looked, and found out that Buy.com sells it, (they really are becoming more than just an electronics e-tailer!) and they are temporarily out of stock on the single bars right now, but I'm hoping that they will get more in stock, and also start carrying and put on sale the 24-packs of it too.
A 24-pack is only about $25-$27, and because of that price, the shipping is usually free.
Most regular bar soaps average around $3 per bar, and that's just a normal bar of soap, not a no-slip one, so to get a full size bar of soap that won't slip out of your hands at the sink or in the shower, is allergy tested, and smells absolutely incredible, for about $1 per bar, you can't beat it.
I know this post probably sounded kinda silly to most of you, but I just had to share because I love it so much!

Continue Reading �

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March 17, 2010

Up, up, and away.

I've been awake all night, just wasting time really, I didn't feel like sleeping, but I made the teens get some sleep.
Well, Mark slept and Sebastian tried to stay awake but finally passed out from being so tired.
We have just a few more things to take care of before we leave, little things, but they still need to be done.
I finished all of the dishes, cleaned out the litter boxes, and set the timers for the lights and tv too.
I have the tv and lights set on timers so the cats will sorta feel ok.
If the tv is on, at least they will have sounds, people talking, voices, music, stuff, so maybe they won't be horribly lonely.
I know they will be lonely anyway, but between the tv sounds and Mindy and her daughter Katie coming over everyday to feed and pet them, they will be a little bit better.
I hope.
I am worried about them, especially Kali and Carmine, but I know that Mindy will take great care of them.

Ok, I gotta go get dressed and zip up the suitcases, and finish the last minute stuff.
Later days!

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March 16, 2010

Aspirin, shaving, hair dye, and packing.

Every morning I wake up and take all of my medications.
I take my pain medicines, my muscle relaxer, my joint supplements, my cal/mag/zinc, my blood pressure medicine, and for the last week and a half, since going to both the ER and my doctor, an aspirin a day for blood clots.
Aspirin thins your blood out so that you don't get as many blood clots, and it also helps to break up some of the larger already formed blood clots.

Today I decided to do some things to make myself look and feel a little better before we leave tomorrow for our trip.
I colored my hair for the first time in a year, plucked my eyebrows, and shaved my legs.
I don't shave my legs all that often, like maybe once a week.
I just don't see the need to do it often as I have no one to be looking at my legs, or rubbing my legs, so I let it grow and then shave it once a week or so.
Yeah, maybe people consider that kinda gross, but meh, shaving my legs is a total pain in the butt and I usually use Veet, but I didn't feel like doing that today.
I now wish that I had used the Veet though, and from now on I will.

When shaving your legs and taking an aspirin a day, if you cut yourself, you bleed and bleed and bleed.
Holy crap do you bleed.
I didn't even realize that I had cut the skin near my ankle bone, I lose feeling in my lower legs and feet from time to time, so I didn't feel the cut.
I didn't notice that I had cut myself until I looked down into the tub and saw that the water was tinged with red.
I looked all over both of my legs for the cut, and that's when I saw it right on the ankle bone, and it was just gushing.
I finished up my shower and got out making sure to stay standing on a towel so I didn't bleed on the floor, but I still didn't know how bad the bleeding was going to be.
I dried off my legs really good, cleaned and dried my ankle, and by the time I got done opening the first aid kit, opening the box of band-aids, and opening a band-aid, there was blood just gushing out of the cut, my foot was covered in blood, it had soaked through the towel and was starting to stain the terrazzo floor.
I cleaned off the cut again and put the band-aid on.
I got dressed and looked down, it had bled through the band-aid and was running down my foot again.
I took that band-aid off and put on a new one, it bled through that one in a matter of minutes too, so I got out a gauze pad, folded it up, and taped it to my ankle.
10 minutes later, it had soaked through that too.
I changed that one out, and it bled through the new one in about 20 minutes, so the bleeding was slowing down, but it was still bleeding too much.
I put on another new gauze pad and tape, and this time it finally stopped bleeding enough after a good 2 and half hours that I could put a regular band-aid back on it.
It was really scary that way it just kept bleeding, the boys were joking about how I was going to bleed to death from shaving, but I didn't think it was all that funny considering how much it was bleeding, it really scared me.

After I finally got to stop bleeding, I went and finished packing my stuff up, well most of it.
There's some things that I can't put in my suitcase and carry-on until we are actually ready to leave in the morning, but it's mostly packed right now.
The boys are all packed up too, I think there's just a few more pieces of clothing for each of us in the dryer to pack up after it stops.
We're heading over to Mindy's house for dinner tonight, then coming home, trying to get some sleep, and then leaving here around 4:45am to head to TIA (Tampa International Airport) to fly Jet Blue to Maine.
Everyone is so excited for our trip, we're excited to be going, and family and friends are excited to see us.
It's going to be a very good trip.

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March 15, 2010

Allergies, cats, and a sorely needed vacation.

I woke Sebastian up at 6am for school, and then went back to sleep.
When I woke up again at 8am, I had been hit by another allergy attack.
My left eye was completely swollen shut, and my lips were swollen to a size like a combination of Mick Jagger and Angelina Jolie.
Huge.
Enormous.
Like those wax lips we had when we were kids, but 3 times bigger.
My lips were so swollen and painful, I thought if they got any bigger that they were going to explode.
I've already taken 4 doses of Benadryl and it's just now starting to go down.
A little.
It looks really, really bad.
This happened on the 12th too, I took a picture of it that time, but I am so not taking a picture of it this time.
No way, not this time, I look absolutely horrible.

Other than allergy attacks which are preventing me from getting some stuff done, the teens and I are just getting things ready to leave for our trip to Maine.
I've been needing a vacation for so long now, it's been almost 5 years since we last went home to Maine, since we had a vacation, and I've been saying for a long time now that I need to get away, just go home to my family and friends, I need a break away from here, so I'm very excited to be going.
We've almost gotten all of our clothes and things ready, stuff we need to take, and making sure that everything is ok here at the house for Mindy to take care of the cats and stuff.
I went to the store on Saturday and bought 8 bags of cat litter and 4 bags of cat food.
I dumped 2 bags of the food in the bucket with some that was already in there, and stuck the other 2 bags in the fridge so that it won't get chewed at and opened by the cats if I were to place it under the cabinet where I keep the bucket of cat food.

Mindy is going to come over everyday and feed them, clean their litter boxes, and collect our mail for us.
Her daughter Katie is going to help because the cats are going to be so lonely with no one to pet them and talk to them, so while Mindy is cleaning the litter boxes and feeding them and grabbing the mail, Katie is going to pet and talk to the kitties to let them know that they are still loved, that they are ok, and that we'll be home eventually.
Poor Kali is going to lick the fur off of her belly anyway, but maybe having someone come here everyday and lay down on the couch with her and pet her, will make her a little less anxious and she won't lick so much of her fur off.

Right now the teens are at Publix grabbing some dinner and snacks for all of us, there's no way that I was going to go anywhere looking like this.
I look like I got beat up because my left eye and lips are so swollen, I don't want anyone to ask me what happened, and I don't want to have to explain that I'm allergic to something yet I don't know what it is.
I really have no idea what is causing this.
It's not the laundry stuff, I got rid of that quite awhile ago.
I don't eat peaches or strawberries, I know I'm allergic to those.
And it's definitely not pollen as I'm not having any other symptoms of a pollen allergy.

Anyway, I have some dishes to do to make sure that the house is mostly clean when we leave.
I told Mindy that she didn't need to clean my house, but she said she was going to clean the house anyway, that she thought we'd like to come home to a clean house.
It's true, it's always nice coming home to a clean house, but she doesn't have to do it is what I'm saying, I didn't ask her to, and even if I say no, she said she was going to do it anyway.
So I'm going to do all of the dishes and as much general cleaning as I can so that there isn't too much for her to do.

Ok, off to get some more stuff done and hoping that the swelling goes down soon, I look terrible and it's really kind of painful too.
Later days.

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March 13, 2010

Checking off the to-do and take-with lists.

This morning I had the teens get the big blue suitcase out of the closet for them to pack their clothes in, they'll use that one for just them and their stuff, and I'll use the smaller roller suitcase for my clothes and stuff.
On my list of things to take with me and carry in my backpack as my carry-on are:
Cell phones and chargers
mp3 player and USB charge cord
camera and USB charge cord
mini-netbook and power cord
batteries for the camera
e-cigs and USB charger (will tell you all about this later today!)
medicines in purse
hair brush and makeup bag
flip-flops and slipper shoes
and anything else I haven't thought of yet.

I wish I had taken the time and forethought to get a Micro SD card like this one that Buy.com has on sale this week, for my camera.
They have a Kingston 8GB Micro SDHC Card with Adapters and USB Reader on sale for just $19.83 with free shipping, down from $40.00, so over $20 in savings.

I only have a 1GB card in there right now, and because we're going to be gone for so long, and I'm sure that I'll take a lot of pictures, I'm going to end up having to dump some of them on the mini0netbook for storage until I get back home, and then do like a USB transfer to get them all to my pc.
If I had gotten an 8GB card, i wouldn't have to do any of that, they could all just stay right on the camera until we get back.
Oh well, maybe if we get to go on another trip sometime, I'll have already bought a bigger memory card for the camera.

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March 11, 2010

Trying to get ready to go.

There's so much to do and take care of before we can go on Wednesday, and I'm stressing out big time.
I am going through my clothes trying to find warm enough clothes to bring with me, and so I was going through my pants and instead of finding my jeans, (I can't find my damn jeans!) all I found were an old pair of jogging pants that look like tuxedo pants, they have like these satin white stripes going down the sides.
I don't want to have to wear those while there.
I want my jeans.
Things are just slowly falling apart too.
My ride to the airport on Wednesday morning bailed on us, their car now has to be used by their son, so yeah, no ride to the airport unless I come up with money to pay for car service.
Yeah, no pants, no ride.
Way wicked stressed the hell out.

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March 9, 2010

Late to the Glee party.

Tonight the teens and I watched Zombieland, and we thought it was absolutely hysterical.
We love zombie movies anyway, one of our fave funny zombie flicks is Shaun of the Dead, and Zombieland is like the American version of that in my opinion.
The 32 rules for how to survive a zombie invasion were so funny, they were things that fans of zombie flicks have talked for as long as there have been zombie flicks, things you need to do just in case there ever really is a zombie invasion.

Rule #1:
Cardio.
If you're out of shape and can't outrun a zombie, you're going to get eaten.
Rule #2:
Beware of bathrooms.
Zombies tend to attack when you're most vulnerable, and really, "dropping the kids off at the pool", is probably the most vulnerable any of us ever are.
Rule #19:
Blend in.
Zombies don't eat other zombies, so try to blend in with a little cornstarch on your face, some berry jam dribbling out of your mouth, you'll fit right in.

Bill Murray had a cameo in the movie as himself, one of the last survivors in Hollywood, he made himself blend in using the makeup techniques mentioned above, and was able to go play a few rounds of golf because zombies don't eat zombies.
Tallahassee, played by Woody Harrelson, talks Murray into playing a trick on Columbus, played by Jesse Eisenberg, as he's sitting watching some of the classic Bill Murray movies in Murray's own home theater seating, but Columbus mistakes Murray's makeup for being a real zombie, and takes out Murray zombie.
Ooops!
But there's so many fabulous and wicked funny scenes in Zombieland, there's all of the awesome 'Kill of the week' scenes, it's just a great movie and I highly recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

After it went off, the teens went off to play, and I had some stuff to look up online, so I just left it on Fox 13, the channel it was on before I popped the movie in, and I listened and watched parts of American Idol.
Some of them were actually pretty good, and some of the girls really just sucked.
If you just can't hit the notes in "Smile", it doesn't matter how much you love the song, loving the song isn't going to help you sing it awesome, so just don't even try, pick something that you can actually sing considering that tonight's round was to pick the top 12.
End of the line for you, sucks for you, oh well.

Then I just left it on that channel again and watched Glee.
Everyone is always raving about Glee, and I think I watched the first 2 episodes or so, and then found other things to watch on Tuesday nights, but now I can totally see why people love the show and why I should have probably watched the third and fourth episodes before I gave up on it.
I really like the kid in the wheelchair's version of Dancing With Myself, it's just a very cool version.
I'll probably watch it again sometime if I can't find other stuff to watch.

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March 5, 2010

Update on Sebastian's arm.

I took Sebastian to the doctor on Monday to have his arm checked out because of the pain he's been dealing with for almost 2 weeks now.
The doc is his primary care doc, a pediatrician, and not the pediatrician that Sebastian was seeing at the time that his arm was broken.
So basically, he didn't quite know what to do, so he gave him a referral to the orthopedic doc right next door, Sarasota Orthopedics.
I am trying to get him an appointment scheduled, but it's not going very well.
They keep giving me dates and times that I simply cannot get him there.
Times like 7:45am.
Um, I do not have any way or any one to give us a ride at that hour or the day.
Dates and times like RIGHT NOW.
The scheduler asked me if I could get there in the next 20 minutes.
Um, no.
How many times have I repeatedly told her in just this 1 phone call, I do NOT have a car, and I am not allowed to drive, and everyone I know who could give us a ride, is at work right now.

Yeah, this is how it was going so I told her that I would call her back.
I had to get off of the phone, she was totally frustrating me.

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March 3, 2010

Almost killed by an elderly driver today. Seriously.

I had my regularly monthly appointment with my pain doc today, it went well, and then I talked to him about my swollen feet issue that I've had for the last 5 days.

On Saturday night around 6pm or so, I noticed that on my left calf, there was this weird red patch, it was hot and painful to the touch.
By later that night, around 9pm, the red and painful patch had grown, started to swell, and moved down into my left foot, and my foot had also swollen up.
I went to bed and when I woke up Sunday morning, my right foot was swollen as well, and my right calf was also swollen, red, and hot to the touch just like my left.
By Monday morning, both feet, calves, and all of the way up to my knees, were swollen, red, hot, and extremely painful to the touch, just trying to walk to the bathroom was agonizing.
My ankles and feet were the worst, they just kept getting bigger and bigger, but they were not soft, the skin was rock hard when I touched it, which I tried to avoid doing because the slightest touch sent waves of pain through my feet and legs.
My toes were huge, they looked like if they got any more swollen, that they would just explode, and the toe ring I wear on my right foot, had to be taken off on Tuesday night because it was starting to cut off circulation.
I took this picture of my feet right before that, and in it, you can see how swollen up my feet, ankles, and toes were, and you can see the red areas too.
Click the pic for biggie size.

So I showed the doc my feet, he touched them which hurt so bad I thought that I was going to cry, and just walking from my house to the car, the car to the elevator at the doc office building, basically, everywhere I have walked has made it hurt so much that I have had to use my cane which I haven't used since my last surgery.
My doc told me that I absolutely needed to go see my primary care doc tomorrow, or go to the ER if I can't get in to see her, or he's going to call and send an ambulance to take me and have me admitted to the hospital.
The reason is that he believes that it may be a blood clot problem, and even though I have a Vena Cava filter, a blood clot filter, the filter may not be stopping all of the blood clots.
He said that the Vena Cava stops large blood clots, and breaks them up, but if a small blood clot passes through, it will get to my heart and lungs and possibly cause a pulmonary embolism.
He said that I absolutely need to get to either my primary care doc or the ER, tomorrow, and if I don't go tomorrow, he will call an ambulance and have me admitted even if I don't want to, he can order it and there will be nothing I can do, the hospital will not release me until he says so, so I will be seeing my primary care doc tomorrow, no problem, I do not want to be forced to stay in the hospital against my will.

Now this is when I was almost killed by an elderly driver.

After I left his office, I went to the pharmacy that I always go to, it's just a couple of blocks away from his office, they are really quick, and there's other stores in the plaza so that I can go get a soda to wash down my meds after I get them.
I made a very crude drawing of the pharmacy and stuff so that you can sorta see the layout and what happened a bit better.
But what happened was that I was almost in one of those videos where a car goes crashing through the front windows of a store.

This is my very badly drawn picture of the pharmacy, and I had dropped off my script at the drop off window and was sitting in 1 of the 8 chairs that are lined up against the windows.
The windows are very large, they go almost floor to ceiling, and my friend Nic had just left to go back out the the truck to have a smoke and call back her friend who had called while we were in the doc's office.

Just 10 seconds after she walked out, a young man about age 20 or so, who was sitting next to me, grabbed his girlfriend and threw her toward the pick up window, then grabbed my left arm shirt sleeve and yelled at me, "GET UP AND MOVE!! NOW!!!"
I got up as quickly as I could and ran toward the drop off and pick up windows where the young couple had moved to, I turned around just in time to see 1 car coming at us sorta sideways, and it was being pushed by a silver SUV that was being driven by an elderly man who we found out after the cops came, was age 87.
He had tried to park in a space in the parking lot directly across from our windows, and instead of hitting the break, he hit the gas.
His SUV went up over the median and cement curb, and hit a car that was illegally parked along the side of the road, but if that car hadn't been illegally parked there, the old man's SUV would have definitely come straight through those windows, no doubt about it, he was going very, very fast.

The illegally parked car was pushed sideways up onto the sidewalk bending the passenger side wheel almost down flat, and it was pushed up against this huge rubber trash can that squished completely up against the pharmacy glass windows.
The windows cracked, all of the chairs where we had just been sitting, were pushed about 3 feet into the pharmacy lobby, 1 of them was pushed up against the legs of the young man who yelled at me to move, his girlfriend was screaming and trying to squeeze herself up against the wall and pick up window as much as she could.
I was standing there up against the wall in complete shock, I don't know if I screamed, spoke, or if I even made any sound at all, but I do know that when I saw those cars coming at us, I saw the smiling faces of my sons flash before my eyes.

Lucky for us, both cars stopped before coming through the windows.
We are so damn lucky that they stopped, there was absolutely no where for us to go, no door to run through, no counters to jump up on, and the drop off and pick up windows are very small, only big enough to pass through the prescription bags, payments, hands, and the rest of the area of those drop off/pick up windows are covered in thick Plexiglas so that no one can try to jump over the counters and steal medicine.
We were trapped basically, if those cars had come through, we would have been totally trapped with nowhere to go, nowhere to move to, and we absolutely would have been and probably killed by one or both of those cars.
My picture makes the lobby look kind of big, but it's not at all, there's probably a total of 8 feet from the row of chairs to the drop off and pick up windows, that's it, the lobby isn't even big enough to fit 1 car to park it, never mind 2 cars coming fast into it.

After the cars stopped moving, the old man got out of his SUV and looked at the other car and said, "Everybody looks ok", and he got back in his car and tried to drive off.
3 or 4 people started yelling for people to dial 911 and for him to not leave, 1 guy reached through the old man's window and yanked the keys out, he was just going to leave!!
The pharmacy clerk called 911, said there was an accident, a bad one, we needed and ambulance too, and fire and rescue was there within minutes, less than 7 minutes, they were very fast.
The passenger in the car that had been hit and pushed, in the front passenger seat, was trapped inside the car, the dashboard and steering wheel was squished into him.
The driver of that car was using the ATM next door, she saw the whole thing.
She watched as her car was 100% totaled and her 2 passengers, her own elderly father in the front seat, and her son in the back seat, were both injured.
Her son was wearing his seat belt, but the car had been hit so violently from the left side, that he was whipped side to side and his head hit the window on the right passenger side, and his head was bleeding.
Her elderly father was trapped as I said, and he was bleeding from his head also, and he was yelling out in pain about his left leg and he said that his ribs hurt too.
Fire and rescue got the son out first and then worked on the elderly father while the woman was frantically going back and forth between her son and her father, face as white as a sheet, crying, screaming, and the old man who caused all of this, was out of his car and looking at the damage he caused to her car, he picked up part of the radiator grill off of the sidewalk and placed it on what was left of the hood.
There was glass and pieces of the car all over the sidewalk.

Nic came running, from where the truck was parked, she saw the accident but couldn't see if the car had gone through the pharmacy windows or not because of a cement pillar, she didn't know if the car came through and I was hurt or not.
She had to tell the police that she had a friend inside the store, she needed to get in and make sure that I was ok, I heard her yell at the cop who was trying to stop her, "MY friend is in there! She is a disabled single mother! I need to make sure she's ok! Her sons! OMG her sons! You HAVE to let me in there!! NOW!!"
I'm not big on people touching me, I very rarely hug anyone except my own kids and very close relatives like my parents, my sisters, my best friend Shell, etc, but when Nic came in and threw her arms around me, I was never so happy to have someone to hug as when she did that moment.
I was so scared, I was shaking, I felt nauseous, my whole body was shaking uncontrollably, and I started to cry a little bit.
The young couple were hugging each other, the girl was crying very loudly, the pharmacist was also very upset and she just kept asking us if we were all ok, it was like a broken record, she just kept repeating it over and over, "Are you all ok? Are you all ok?"
We were, thankfully both cars had stopped coming, if they had come in, we would probably not even be able to answer her, heck, she might not have even been able to ask that question.

It was a very terrible, absolutely horrifying, experience.
I have never been in a car accident, I have never come close to being hurt or dying from an accident like that.
I have had my heart stop twice during my last surgery, so I have been close to death before, but I have never been that close to almost being seriously hurt or killed in a car accident.
The medics and police did everything they needed to do out there, the pharmacist hurried and filled the scripts of the young couple and myself so that we could get out of there.

We asked the police if they needed statements from us, they didn't, but they did get our names and phone numbers in case they need to talk to us later, and after I finished giving the cop my info, I yelled very loudly that allowing the elderly to renew their license by mail is so fucking wrong because of shit like this.
There are so many accidents in Sarasota that are caused by the elderly, I've posted about it many times before, about all of the accidents that happen every year during season because of how the elderly drive, or should I say, because of how the elderly CAN'T fucking drive, and it pisses me the hell off that they are allowed to renew their drivers licenses by mail every year, that they don't have to be road tested, it's not right.

The elderly should have to be road tested every year after a certain age, they should have to be road tested every single year after the age of retirement, if they take the road test and fail, their license gets revoked.
If this was made into a law, there would be far less accidents every year because a lot of the elderly would have their licenses revoked, I just know it, I see so many elderly people driving around who clearly shouldn't be.
There are so many of them who should not be driving for so many reasons.
Their vision is horribly bad, their reflexes are bad, the medications that they take, they drink and drive all of the time, but the medical reasons alone would probably cause a good majority of them to have their licenses revoked.
I know that this subject gets brought up every couple of years in the state senate, but it needs to come up every year until they actually do something about it.
The elderly absolutely should have to be road tested every single year past the age of retirement.
I'm sick and tired of watching the news and seeing about another accident, watching them cause or nearly cause accidents while I'm out on the road myself, or like today, almost being killed by 1 of them.

Something has to be done, a couple of people, me included, almost died today because another elderly person hit the gas instead of the brake, again.

---

March 1, 2010

Sebastian is off to the doc today for pain in the broken bone area.

Sebastian has been having some pain in his left arm where it was very badly broken in 2003 by a teenager in our neighborhood, when Sebastian was just 9.
The doctors told me back then that he would be needing surgery when he got older, because he wasn't done growing yet, the bones were going to keep growing, and then when he was done growing in his late teens, he will need surgery to correct the probable rotation issues, and to also shave off the excess bone growth in that area of the arm.
For those of you new to my blog and the story of The Teen™ and Sebastian's broken arm, just click that link up there or here, and read the long entry to get caught up.
That entry is so long because the original post about that day was on my old host and when I was using Word Press, so I had to copy/paste it from all of my saved and exported blog entries.

Anyway, for about the last week or so, Sebastian has been waking up in the morning with pain right at the break site, it's hurting at the break site when he carries his books around school, when he carries his backpack home, and when he sits at the computer for too long because their desk chair is a little bit too low.
Even though I knew that the day would come when his arm would start giving him problems, I always hoped that it just wouldn't.
I always had this small hope in the back of my mind that the orthopedic doctors who treated him in 2003, were wrong, that they couldn't predict the future.
He was just this small, skinny kid who weighed barely 70lbs, always active, running around and playing, and all of that running around playing is what got him the broken arm on the afternoon of January 12th, 2003.
That was the day that The Teen™ picked up my skinny, barely weighing 70lbs kid, and flung him to the concrete driveway like he was a ragdoll, causing a level 4 out of 5 break in his left arm right at the growth plate. (the x-ray of that break is in that entry)

The orthopedic doctor on call for the emergency room that night, told me that he would be needing surgery when he grew up, the orthopedic surgeon at All Childrens Hospital, told me that he would be needing surgery when he got older, it was just a matter of waiting until he grew up to start seeing the problems.

This just sucks, I was so hoping that the doctors were wrong, I wanted them to be wrong, I wanted them to be so damn wrong about this!
We have an appointment at 3pm to get his arm looked at, he'll have to go get x-rays I'm sure, and then we'll learn if he really is going to need surgery like the 2 orthopedic surgeons said 7 years ago.

---

February 27, 2010

Window shopping and dinner out.

I was really hoping to be able to find a desktop gaming pc on sale at Buy.com a little sooner, but it hasn't turned out that way.
Did I mention in the post that we are wanting a gaming pc?
I didn't?
Well yeah, seeing as the teens really only use the computer for playing WoW and other video games, Sebastian does all of his digital design stuff on the mini-netbook, they use the desktop to play WoW and do a few other things, but mostly gaming.

Buy.com does have a couple of refurbished desktops on sale this week, an HP, and a Dell, but they really aren't built for what we are needing, so we're going to do a look in-store later this afternoon and see what we can find, check out prices, and then I'll probably come back to Buy.com and see if they have a good gaming pc in stock to get.

They do have some other great stuff on sale though, like a Kingston 4GB microSDHC Card, for just $12 bucks with free shipping, which I could use either in my camera or in my cell phone.
I did buy myself a new cell phone today, I bought a Kyocera X-tc, I bought it for my birthday present to myself on Monday.
It was totally on sale too, just $59 down from $129, so yeah, I got a really great deal on a birthday present for myself.
They also have the hard rubberized cases for the X-tc, I want the purple one, but it's currently not in stock in that color, so I'll add it to my wish list to get later on.
Those are only $6.55 including the shipping, so yeah, I'll add that for a later date purchase.

What?
How old will I be turning?
40.
Yuh.
The big 4-0.
I feel like I'm 80 today, the cold and rain are kicking my butt, but after we get done doing some window shopping for the pc and go out to eat with sis and Susan, I'm going to come home, take a long hot shower, and bundle up under some warm blankets for the rest of the day and night, maybe curl up on the couch with my blankets and use the netbook from there for awhile.

Ok, this soon-to-be 40 year old needs to go get myself ready to go, hair brushed, teeth, clean clothes, ha ha.
Later days!

---

February 22, 2010

Verizon nickel and dimes it's customers.

I got this bill emailed to me on Friday night, and I started going over every single inch of it like I always do, and I was like, mouth agape at how they nickel and dime their customers.
Just take a look at all of those things, (it pops up for biggie size) just look at it.
.34cents for federal excise tax, negative -.32cents for state tax, $1.86 for local communications services tax, $8.26 for state communications services tax, $6.58 for another local communications services tax, etc etc.
They get as much money as they can out of every single one of their customers.

I do wonder why they even put the negatives on there though.
State tax is negative -.32cents, sales tax is negative -.02cents.
Why even put those on the bill?
It just frustrates me, my OCD kind of goes nuts when I see things like that, it just annoys me to no end.
It's a negative charge, so why put it on the bill of charges that need to be paid?
I would also like to know how they got their late payment charges figured out.
I was late paying the bill last month by like 2 days, so they charged me $7.00 in late payment charges.
Is that like a percentage of the total bill?
Or is that what they charge everyone who pays their bill late, like a standard late fee?

I go over every single bill from them because a few months ago, I found some charges on the bill that were definitely not mine.
It was so obvious that it wasn't mine because the telephone number that the calls were made from, dialed from, are not mine.
It was an 813 area code, which is Tampa.
The calls were dialed from a Tampa number and all of the calls that were made were going to Tampa, so how did they get on my bill?
The customer service rep had nothing to say other than "I don't know how that happened, let me get a supervisor."
The supervisor wasn't even sure how they got on my bill, but she removed them all, 37 charges in total, so yeah, I check my bill with a fine tooth comb before paying it every single month.
I refuse to pay charges that don't belong to me.

---

February 22, 2010

Before I plan our trip to Maine.

I'll be getting a decent sized refund from the IRS this year, and once I have it, I'll start planning our trip to Maine to visit the family, all of them.
I have a totally enormous family to try and visit, so we may have to take a full 2 weeks in order to visit with everyone.
It's going to be hard trying to fit everyone in, but I'll figure it out when the time comes.
But one of the things that I want to do is to get the teens a better pc.
The one they have is ok, but ever since it had to be repaired over a year ago, it just hasn't run quite the same, it doesn't run well at all is what I mean.
It's constantly lagging on the simplest of things, it takes forever for stuff to load and start up, so yeah, I want to get them a better pc.
They really have earned it, the teens do so much to help me, they do a ton of things to help out around here, they never go out with friends or anything, every once in awhile they do, but they really have earned it by being here and doing so much.
So I'll be looking to see what Buy.com has on sale for the next few weeks while I wait on my refund to be direct deposited.

They don't have any desktop computers on sale this week, and that is what I want to get them, not a laptop, so I'll keep looking every week to see if one gets added.
They do, however, have a ton of stuff on sale this week like a SanDisk Sansa Clip 1GB MP3 Player for $14.99, it's the one that I have and absolutely love it!
They also have a VIZIO 19" Widescreen LCD HDTV, refurbished, for just $149.99, a savings of $80.00!

My tv out here is good, it works just fine, nothing at all wrong with it, but Mark has a Vizio LCD HDTV in his room, the game room, that he got from sis for his graduation present, and it's truly an awesome looking tv.
I am totally jealous of how incredible the tv in there looks on video games and movies.
If I could physically stand being in the room for longer than 20 minutes, I would totally watch all of my shows and movies in there.

Anyway, before I plan our trip to Maine and buy the tickets, I need to pay a few bills like the rent for March, pay back 2 loans, and buy a lot of cat food and litter so that whoever comes to feed them while we're gone, won't have to worry about the cats running out of food.
I don't plan on being gone for very long, a max of 2 weeks, so yeah, someone will need to come by either every day, or every other day, and feed the cats and clean the litter boxes out.
I have 2 pet feeders, one for food, one for water, they look exactly like this but in pink, but the way the cats eat if there's a lot of food in the feeder, (especially Carmine) they will eat it until it's gone.
They don't stop eating, so if I fill the food feeder dish, all of the cats will chow down until they are totally bloated and ready to burst.
I don't understand how they can just eat and eat, do you think that animals do that, eat whatever is in front of them until it's gone, because they fear being without food?
I think that may be part of it, afraid that the food will run out and they will starve or something.

Anyway, I have a lot of things to do before I can go to bed again.
I posted about what happened on Thursday and the whole weekend on KatScan.

---

February 18, 2010

First Communion coming up.

My friend Nic is Catholic, she knows that I am an atheist, and we both respect each others views on the topic of religion, so much so, that Nic has asked me to help her pick out Communion cards for her daughter Leonna's First communion.

When we went grocery shopping the other night, this is one of the things that we talked about as we shopped.
She asked for my help because I am always on the internet and my computer works.
Her computer is totally messed up, one of these days when she has an afternoon off, I'm going to go over and do a fresh install of WinXp, and clean up her entire pc, it really is a mess, but anyway...

Leonna's communion is coming up within the next few months, I think she said it was going to be in May, (or was it June?) so she has plenty of time to find just the right Communion invitations and Communion thank you cards, and then get them ordered and shipped to her in plenty of time to get them all sent out to her family and friends.

I started looking at different card websites tonight to try and help her find just the right ones, and the best site that I found with the nicest selection of invitations was Storkie.com.
Their prices per card with the personalized customizations already included in the price per card, was by far better than any of the other sites that I looked at, and I looked at close to a dozen of them before going back to Storkie again because of the selection and pricing.
Their site was also the easiest to navigate.
Nic said that she didn't mind if she could only get gender neutral cards, but Storkie does them all kinds of ways, by gender, gender neutral, photo cards, magnetic cards, they even do customized napkins and cookies which I thought was pretty cool.
I've only been to a few communions for friends before, so I never really knew just how much went into the planning and finding of just the right kinds of invitations and party favors before tonight.
There are so many things that can be done for the event, and it is a pretty big deal in the kid's life, so getting things done up right is really pretty important.

Anyway, I really liked the cards that can be personalized with pictures and your own text as well.
I think a style like this is way better than a generic card with pre-printed generic writing on it.

They also have the matching thank you cards to go with each particular design too, so the one that I just posted above, has a matching thank you card to send out to family and friends after the communion party is over.

I've bookmarked Storkie so that I can show it to her when she has some time to come by this weekend to start picking out what she wants.
I've also picked out some of my favorite ones so that I can show her what I like, what I think would be perfect for Leonna.
I like the black and white, simple, crisp, and clean, but I also know what colors Leonna likes, so I'm going to go through and find a few styles in colors close to what she likes to show to Nic as well as the black and white from above, and hopefully she will be able to find just the right ones so she can get busy ordering them in time for the communion.

---

February 17, 2010

Nothing better happen to their identities.

Remember the class action against the school and the Princeton Review?
The letters about the settlement must have come while I was down sick and the teens didn't want to bother me with them then, but Sebastian just handed me the letters that they both got concerning the class action suit.

It's been settled and so the teens will each get some credit protection.
Students under the age of 18 at the time of the settlement, will get 2 years of enrollment in Child Scan from Debix.
Students over the age of 18 will get 2 years of OnCall credit monitoring from Debix.
All members of the class will also get $25,000 of Identity Theft Insurance Coverage, as well as a $1million dollar Service Guarantee for the 2 year service period.
If either or both of the teens do become victims of identity theft during the 2 year service period, they will be given an additional year of service at no cost.
_________________

If they become victims of identity theft during the 2 year service period, obviously the service is not reliable and sucks.
If it does happen, if either of their identities get stolen and their credit gets ruined, the monitoring of their credit during the 2 years will be like trying to use lip balm to cure herpes simplex instead of using an actual treatment.

I have to sign the teens up for this, I have to opt-in for the monitoring, and believe me, I am going to, and I am also going to see what kind of credit clean-up Debix is going to provide if their identities and credit DO get messed up.

This whole thing still infuriates me to no end.
I have gone out-of-my-way-crazy to protect their identities and social security numbers.
Whenever the teens have any kind of appointment and I get asked for their SS numbers, I always ask why they are needed.
If the reason is simply "for their records", I don't provide it.
I will be furious if anything actually does happen to their credit and identities.

Knowing what it's like to try and fix after having my own information stolen and used by my ex-mother-in-law, I know exactly how hard it is to try and sort out, to just try to clean up.
I had to prove to several utility companies out in Utah, that I had never lived there, ever.
I had to send them proof of my residence during the years that she, my ex-mother-in-law, had rented apartments and set up utilities in my name.
I had to send them 5 years of my own utility bills from living here in Florida, I had to call both FPL and the Sarasota County water, and have them send me 5 years of billing and payment history, to prove that I could not have possibly lived and had utilities in 2 different states at the same time.
I also had to send them proof of residence in other ways, other mail that I received during those 5 years, "official" mail, not just letters or cards from friends, but bills or official government mail.
I managed to get all of the utility bills cleared up, I am not responsible for the ones in Utah, but I am still fighting with 3 other states where she moved around to (probably after getting caught) and the utility companies she set up with, to prove that it wasn't me.
I have only lived in 2 states my entire life, Maine and Florida, so just having to try to prove that I have never lived in Utah, New Hampshire, California, and Texas, is aggravating.
She even got credit cards in a few of those places she lived, in my name, and then ran up those credit cards and never paid them off.
My credit is so ruined and I've been trying to clean it up for years, ever since I learned what she had done to me.
She had done it to her own daughter too, to Aunt Heather.
When Heather was just 6 years old, she put a phone in Heather's name so when Heather grew up and tried to get her own phone in Maine, she had to prove that she was just 6 years old at the time her mother ran up a $5,000 phone bill, that she was far too young to ever even consent to getting phone service.
Heather and Great-Gram had to go to the phone company in person, bring her birth certificate and school records from kindergarten, to prove she was just a little 6 year old girl and unable to get a phone.
And what she's done to us is just the tip of the iceberg.
There are many other family members on their side who have strange occurrences on their credit reports, too, that they have also been trying to clear up for years.
Sheila made a huge mess for a lot of us that we've been trying to fix ever since we learned about what she had done.

I will be so freaking angry if anything like what has happened to me happens to the teens identities.
I have worked so hard to protect it.

---

February 16, 2010

Food, allergies, and hopefully, a vacation.

Things have just been so mega crappy for me lately, and I know, I complain way too much on my blogs, but eh, they're my blogs and I'll whine if I want to.
The cold weather is freaking killing me, every single joint aches so bad from the cold and my arthritis, it's just been miserably painful, so I haven't been online much at all, haven't done any work, or done much of anything really.
I did go to the store yesterday to buy some food for the teens to eat, I haven't felt like eating much lately, but while there, I must have touched something that had some peach stuff on it.
I'm seriously allergic to peaches, so within an hour of getting home, my hands and lips, and parts of my face had started to swell up and be painful.
And of course, I didn't know that I had come in contact with any peaches, so I didn't buy any Benadryl or anything to combat the allergy attack.
Then the hives started to form all over my whole body.
Arms, legs, torso, hands, and face.
By 11pm, it looked as though I had just gone through a round of acne scar removal therapy, my face had huge red puffy hives all over it, eyelids swollen, cheeks puffed up and red, it looked bad.
I'm glad that I really don't go anywhere or have to look good for anyone, because I looked really, really bad.

I will be getting my income tax refund back sometime next week, direct deposited to my Amscot account, and I am hoping that after I pay a few bills and things off, that the teens and I can go to Maine to visit everyone.
Visit my parents, the teens Great-Gram and Aunt Heather, and then all of my newly found bio-siblings and families.
The teens and I would love to go up, we haven't been back home to Maine in like 4-5 years, and now, with all of my newly found bio-siblings, I have so many people to try and visit in just 1 week of vacation time.
I seriously need a vacation, and even though it will be wicked busy visiting everyone, I still need to get up and go home, go away from here, go see my best friend Shell and sister Joanne, everyone.
I think a huge part of my lack of focus and drive, my lack of motivation, and even part of my depression, for the last few months, is because I am so far away from everyone that I love, I am away from them, alone, and it really bothers me sometimes to not be able to just go hang out with my best friend, or now that I found her, be able to go talk to my big sister Joanne.
I really hope that I can find some good ticket prices so that we can afford to go, I need it in a bad way.
Keep your fingers crossed for me to find good prices from either Sarasota or Tampa, to Portland Maine, ok?

I have so much to do still, so much work to catch up on, I have laundry piled up, I still need to go get the actual groceries too.
I just bought simple and easy stuff yesterday, just what Sebastian and I could carry home, so later this evening, my friend Nic and I are going to go do the real grocery shopping, so I need to make sure my list is complete, get my coupons together, and then just wait for Nic to be ready to go.
I'm going to attempt to get as much stuff done as I can in the meantime though.

---

February 12, 2010

Slowly coming back to life.

All I can say is please let this sickness finally be over, please.
I have been so sick for going on almost 3 and a half weeks now, it's been horrible, and I certainly have absolutely no need for any kind of diet supplements right now or probably anywhere in the near to see future.
I haven't been able to eat anything, cook anything, not even look at any kind of food, or else I have ended up running to the bathroom to hurl up nothing but stomach bile.
Tonight, my friend Nic was out running some errands and called to ask me if the teens had eaten dinner yet.
I said no, not really, they had some cereal I think, I couldn't be sure as I was in laying down on Sebastian's bed with all of the kitties, so she said she'd bring them back something to eat.
About an hour or so later, she knocked and then just came on in, (friends are allowed to just walk in) and she had brought the teens some burgers and fries from Checkers.
She just grabbed them each 2 cheeseburgers, 2 fries, and a drink each, off of their dollar menu.
The teens were thrilled and started chowing down almost before she set the bags down.
I was eternally grateful because there was simply no way that I could cook anything at all.

On top of being sick, it's been cold here for the last 2 days, and then it rained all day today, so I was sick and in horrid pain all over my entire body.
I'm just now able to really sit up and do anything at all.
I tried to combat the pain and stiffness from the weather, and took a Soma.
Bad idea.
It's not nicknamed the Soma Coma for nothing.
I'm glad that it started to wear off though, I couldn't take it much longer, I was so out of it.
I was like a walking zombie.
I couldn't see straight, think straight, walk straight, very bad idea.

In bio-family news.
My bio-brother Randy sent me an envelope full of pictures
It was pics of all of us from when we went to NYC.
I thought that was cool, Randy and I don't get many opportunities to talk or anything, he's always so busy working.
I will text him tomorrow and say thanks, hope he texts back.
We play cell phone tag more than we actually talk to each other.
Anyway, I'll have to scan some of the pics and post them, they are really nice, there's one of just he and I.
I don't even recall that one being taken, everything that happened was such a blur that morning, but now I have one of just my brother and I.
I really miss them.
That time we spent together was simply not long enough, not at all.
I want to get together and hang out, talk, spend time getting to know each other.
It's so hard, me down here in South-west Florida, and all of them up in Northern Maine.
It's very hard to learn that you have these siblings, this family that you never even knew that you had, and never get to see them.

---

February 8, 2010

For faster, easier control while gaming, and school, Mom.

Sebastian found a mouse that he wants, and now Mark wants it after seeing it, too, to be able to do everything much faster while playing their pc video games like WoW.
They want a Kensington SlimBlade Trackball.
This trackball has a lot of features that can be used to control much more than just navigational like clicking the cursor and scrolling, and it can be all be done with a few spins of the trackball, and a few clicks of some buttons that my trackball doesn't have.

The multi-function ball navigates through music, videos, pictures, and documents, using media and document mode.
It can also control cursor and scrolling, volume control, play/pause, stop, and next; zoom in/out, and pan, all with the ball, all of it right at your fingertips.
The teens both said that this would make playing WoW much easier, they could be faster at stuff in game, and then Sebastian said it would also come in very handy for his digital stuff that he does for school.
Got me.

What didn't get me was the price of it.
Some online e-tailers have it for as much as $199.99.
Ouch.

I found it slightly cheaper at one for $149.99, and then Buy.com, which has become one of my most favorite places to shop, has it for just $129.99 all of the time.
This week, they have it on sale for just $75.99 and free shipping.
*sigh*
I would love to get it for them this week, especially since it's priced so low, but I can't do it this week.
I just got done paying an outrageous electric bill for their once every 3 years security deposit updates, and my website/domain hosting is due next week, so this will have to wait for awhile, like maybe for an upcoming birthday, or maybe when I get my income taxes back, (after I file them of course) or maybe for an upcoming holiday or something like that.
At $129.99 all of the time, that's not too too bad for a price, and can be do-able if I plan for it far enough in advance.

---

February 8, 2010

The neighborhood is getting worse.

When I first moved into this duplex, the neighborhood was great, a lot of single family homes, kids playing safely, riding bikes, neighbors actually talking to each other, a really nice place to live.
Over the last few years, it has gone downhill big time.
I keep saying that I need to get a gun for home protection due to almost attempted break-ins, and low-lifes stealing things right out of my carport.
I want to get some home insurance, or renters insurance, not really sure how that works if you rent a house, do you get home insurance or renters insurance?

Anyway, it's getting worse, as I said.
Saturday night, it wasn't late, maybe 8:30pm, the teens wanted to walk up to 7-eleven to get some snacks for themselves, I was still feeling sick, and they had just gone out the door when they came right back in not even 10 seconds later.
There was a really drunk man, looked to be late 20s- early 30s, walking down the sidewalk screaming at anyone else who was outside, that he was "going to get them".
I opened the door a crack so I could hear him and see him, and there he was, walking really fast down the sidewalk trying to catch up to 2 other teenagers, 2 boys looked about Sebastian's age, maybe 15-16 years old, who were trying to get home.
The guy was screaming, staggering around, but looked really angry, fists clenched up, and the 2 teens were trying to walk as fast as they could to get away from him, and he kept yelling.
The neighbor guy next door went out to see what was going on, the 2 teens were by his mailbox now, and he asked them what was going on.
They asked him for help, they told him the guy was following them, had followed them all the way down the street, they asked him to please help, to call the cops.
The neighbor didn't go in and call the cops, instead he tried to talk to the drunk guy.
Tried.
The drunk took a swing, that's when I told Sebastian to get me the phone, I called the cops and told them what was going on, and they said they were sending 2 units out.
Lucky they were close by, they got here in about 1 minute, so they must have been just down Ashton road by the post office or something,
The neighbor was not fighting with the guy, not swinging back, but he did get hit a few times, the 2 teens were practically hiding behind the neighbor's SUV, they were still scared, being quiet, 1 of them yelled to the drunk guy to leave him alone because the drunk kept swinging at and connecting about 1 out of every 4 swings, to the neighbor.
The cops just grabbed the guy, didn't even try talking to calm him down, just grabbed him because he was being violent.
They cuffed him and put him in the cruiser and then got statements from the neighbor and the 2 teens, and then came and took our statements, then they hauled him off to jail.
We were in the house, the teens watching out the windows, and I out the cracked door, none of us were going to go out there, no way.
I'm getting really annoyed with the kinds of people who have moved into the neighborhood man.
I'm just tired of the attempted break-ins, thieves, and now, the belligerent drunks trying to beat up teenagers.

---

January 28, 2010

May need to pick this up for next winter.

Buy.com has a Lasko Ceramic Heater on sale right now for just $19.99.
It was unusually cold here this winter and I only have one little space heater, so getting another one for next winter may be a really good idea.

It was really cold here this winter, and it's technically not over yet, it's not even February yet, so we could still get another wicked cold front or two between now and the end of March.
Having another small space heater would be very useful and helpful.
The one that I have now was only able to heat up just this one room, so yeah, having another one would be a good idea.
Then I could put the other heater in the dining room or kitchen hallway, and that way the boys bedrooms would get some heat on those cold winter nights that we had.

The Lasko ceramic heater has an adjustable thermostat just like the heater I have now, and it has an automatic overheat protector just like the one I have now, so that there's no risk of fire.
You would be amazed just how many people try to use things like bbq grills and stuff INSIDE their homes here during the winter and then die of carbon monoxide poisoning and stuff, it's really kind of crazy just how many people do really stupid things to get their house warm when it gets cold.
I'd rather just have a couple of portable heaters than to do something so stupid like bring a grill inside the house, and really, for $19.99 or even the regular price of $29.99, is a small enough price to pay to stay warm and not have any accidents.

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January 28, 2010

I am so proud of Sebastian.

I haven't been feeling very well at all since last Thursday, I have an intestinal thing, that's all anyone really needs to know as I'm sure if you've ever had some sort of intestinal thing, you know all too well what I'm dealing with.

Anyway, Sebastian is doing so well in his digital design class and in his technology class, that a teacher has helped him prepare for something greater than where he's at right now.
There is a special high school here in town called Suncoast Polytechnical High School, that specializes in technology based programs.
You can read a bit more about them at that link, but their mission is as follows;

The mission of Suncoast Polytechnical High School is
to provide a highly personalized educational experience where students master a rigorous career and technology driven curriculum within a thematic, analytical, and interactive teaching and learning environment.

Vision
It is the Vision of Suncoast Polytechnical High School to be recognized for providing a world-class technical education.

This specialized high school is where Sebastian wants to go for next year, his career goal is to work in computer technology, digital design, video games, etc.
The classes are very focused, detail oriented, driven, so that when the student graduates, not only will they have the knowledge and the skills to gain employment immediately, but also the certification needed to get the career they want, or go on to post-secondary school for even further technology education and training.

Not only do the students have to adhere to some very strict classes and rules to stay in the school or be dropped back to their regular district high school, but the parents also have to do certain things to help their student stay at SPHS.
Parents have to volunteer 15 hours per year in the booster program or in the classroom, they have to check their students work every single week and sign-off on it, they have to be able to provide a computer and high speed internet connection, and they have to make sure their student attends every single day.
Any mistakes in following the rules by either the student or parent, results in the student being dropped back to their regular district high school.

Part of the admission process is to write an entrance essay explaining why they want to attend SPHS, and tonight Sebastian had me read his entrance essay.
I was absolutely blown away by how amazingly articulate he has become, what he stated as his career goals, and some of the reasons why he wants to work in the technology field, what he excels at, what he wants to excel at, and what his future employment plans are after attending SPHS and post-secondary school.
He also stated that he wants to improve his life, to not have to struggle to make ends meet like his mother has for so many years.
He explained in his essay about me and my work ethics before my body quit on me, the surgeries which completely changed my life and theirs, and how during the last surgery, I died twice on the table, had my lung collapse, and ended up in a medical coma for 4 days.
He explained that almost losing the only parent that has ever been there for him, that has worked so hard to provide for him and his brother, and still tries to provide the best that I can for my children, but struggles every day to make ends meet, to give them everything that they need, that he wants to be the absolute best that he can be at a career that he absolutely loves to do, so that once he's made it and providing well for himself, that he will be able to take care of me when I'm older and on my own.
He said,

"My mom has always been there for me, she provided not only my needs, but also provided me with all of the love, support, and encouragement, that has enabled me to have the courage to follow my dream career. I could not do any of this without her, even with all of her own physical limitations and problems, she has never once told me that I couldn't do anything that I wanted to do. My mom has always told me that if I want it, go get it, fight for it, be the absolute best that you can be, and that you will have the career of your dreams, the life of your dreams, and be able to stand up and be equal to any other person applying for those dream technology New York jobs where I want to live and work. Once I make it there, once I make my dream job come true through attending SPHS and any further education that I want to pursue, I want to be able to give back to the woman who has stood by me my entire life, loved me, supported me, and encouraged me to reach for this and to never let it go. If you allow me to attend SPHS, I will work hard for you, I will give you my all, and my mother will be here for the parents portion of enrollment, and then you will see where I learned to go after my dreams.
Thank you for your consideration in allowing me to attend SPHS for the 2011- 2012 school year. "

I barely made it through his essay without bawling my eyes out.
Kids don't often vocalize how they feel about us, and sometimes when they do, it's anger and I hate yous, but this essay was his true heart showing there on that typed and printed piece of paper.
It was how he really feels about me, how much he loves me, and it had me crying with every sentence that I read.
We have to go in person to SPHS and drop off the application packet, I am hoping to be able to do that no later than the end of the week.
This school does not cost anything extra, it's a Sarasota county school, so he can go there without having to pay any tuition or anything, he just has to apply and be accepted.
I am so hopeful that he gets accepted, he deserves to get accepted, he's so smart, so good at computers and design, I will do all of the parenting requirements without fail if he gets accepted, I will do whatever it takes to help him achieve his dream career goals, whatever it takes.
He makes me so proud to be his mother every single day.
________________________________________________

The giveaway for the book Bubble Gum and Hula Hoops will close at midnight tonight, Thursday the 28th, and the 5 winners will be drawn.
So far, only 5 people have entered, so if no one else enters, all 5 of them will automatically win a copy of it.
So if you'd like a chance to win a copy, you have until midnight tonight to get your entries in.

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January 24, 2010

Ugh so gross! Make it stop!

Ok, so I seriously need some adult acne treatments that really do work, work well, won't make the skin become dependent on having to use it every single day for life or anything, because the zits be getting out of hand around here.

The teens just came home from my friend Mindy's son Jeff's birthday party, and after he eats his dinner, he sits down on the couch and a few minutes later announces that he "just popped a big huge zit and it shot across the room Mom! Holy crap!"

Yes, that is so what I want to hear being said while I'm eating some ice cream and trying to relax after my long afternoon in the ER with intestinal issues, 3 bags of fluid pumped into me, 2 injections of some stomach meds, and 2 injections of dilaudid for the back pain and muscle spasms that I was battling for the last 3 days.
Yup, sure did want to hear that now somewhere on a wall close by the couch, is a giant wad of zit juice.
This kind of grossness really needs to stop, and it will stop when we make the zits disappear.

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January 22, 2010

Clogged again.

The bathroom tub is clogged again.
I hate it when it gets clogged, it takes forever to get rid of the clog.
In the past, I've used de-cloggng stuff like Liquid Plumr, the plunger, I've even used a straightened coat hanger to try and snake down there when all else failed.
I've spent countless hours at times trying to unclog that drain, and like after a good 2-3 days of working on it off and on for hours at a time, I finally get the clog to go away using a combination of de-clogging tools.
It hurts, too, being hunched over like that for hours and hours trying to get rid of the clog, every single muscle in my body aches, oh man, it sucks.
I feel like I'm getting a super workout on my arms, legs, and lower back muscles when I do it, I feel like if I was using a supplement like super pump 250, I'd probably get really ripping biceps just de-clogging the tub drain. haha
This is a very old house, it was built in 1976, and I think it still has all of the original plumbing fixtures in it, and it's still on septic even though the city has been promising to get us on the city sewer system for the entire 11 and a half years that I've been living in this house.
I really wish they would just get this sewer system project started at least, then at least I would know, or have some kind of time-line on when we may finally get some free flowing drainage going on.
Septic is so hard to deal with when it gets clogged, and sometimes when plunging, you end up plunging some super funky smells because of how old the septic system is.
Those super funky smells are soooo not pleasant, not at all.

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January 19, 2010

I think it's broken.

My thermometer that is.
I tried to take my temperature this weekend when I was sick, but it wasn't registering correctly.
I know that I had a fever, but the thermometer said that I was barely breathing.
It said my temp was only 94.3!
So yeah, I think I need a new one and Buy.com has a Q3 ThermoHAWK 220 Infrared Thermometer on sale for just $19.99 with free shipping too!

I'm not sure that you can use it on people, but it's touchless so you aren't spreading germs, so that makes me think that you can use it on people.
You just point it at the object or person's head, press the button, and it tells you the temperature instantly with a 1 second response time.
That's pretty damn fast!
Our current thermometer takes about 1 minute or so, so yeah, having an accurate temp in about 1 second is pretty awesome.
It has an accuracy reading of +/-2.5% and a measurement range of -33C-100C.
It's small enough to fit in a pocket or purse, or my stuffed first aid kit box.
I'm really pretty positive that our thermometer is broken and I really should have bought a new one quite a long time ago.
I think my thermometer is about 8 or 9 years old, so yeah, it's definitely time to get a new one.
It lasted a good long time though, so I really can't complain about it being broken now.

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January 19, 2010

Tired of getting sick so easy.

Remember how I said that I felt like I was coming down with something?
Well I did come down with something, I've been sick for the last 4 days or so.
Blah.
And on top of being sick, I got a few pimples.
What the hell?
I haven't had any pimples in years, but now I have some, so while I'm still searching for the best acne treatment for the teens, I'm now searching for one for myself too.

I haven't been able to sleep much at all, so yeah, it really sucks when I get sick because all I want to do is sleep, try to get some rest, and my body just won't cooperate.
I've had less than 6 hours of sleep for the last few days, I just lay in my bed and toss and turn all damn night.
My brain is in a fog, my hands are all shaky, I just feel like total crap.
I really hope that I can get some sleep tonight, I need it bad.

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January 12, 2010

Dragging butt and coming down.

I haven't felt like myself over the last few days, not at all.
I'm not sure if I'm coming down with something, or just in a total funk.
All I know is I don't feel right, I feel off center of myself, out of place, out of whack.
I know something is wrong because normally, a few days after the holidays are over, I take down all of the xmas decorations.
Nope, they are all still up.
The teens don't care, they said just leave them up year round, I'm all like no, people will think I'm totally nuts if I leave them up all year long, so they told me to take them down if I don't want to be called nuts.
Problem is, I can't seem to take them down.
I look at them, tell myself to take them down, yet I can't, I just have no motivation at all to take them down, box them all up, and put them all away.
I dunno.
Maybe it's the after holidays blues kicking in and kicking me hard, I'm down and dragging butt, just want to lay on the couch and sleep with the kitties.
I am waking Sebastian up for school every day, that's a plus, and I am talking to Mark about school, there's another, yet I can't seem to motivate myself to put the damn decorations away.
A friend of Mark's is also talking to him about school, so maybe he will decide to do it soon.
He needs to do something other than sleep and play video games, and feel bad about stuff.

Oh, and enter my contest to win 1 of 5 copies of Bubble Gum and Hula Hoops, or at least spread the word on your blog and Twitter, please and thanks.

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January 9, 2010

Girls' night out in Tampa this Thursday!

This Thursday night, the 14th, Mindy and I will be having a girls' night out in Tampa, to go see the movie Extraordinary Measures.

Synopsis

"Extraordinary Measures" is inspired by the true story of John Crowley, a man who defied conventional wisdom and great odds, and risked his family's future to pursue a cure for his children's life threatening disease. From his working class roots, John Crowley (Brendan Fraser) has finally begun to taste success in corporate America. Supported by his beautiful wife Aileen (Keri Russell) and their three children, John is on the fast track. But just as his career is taking off, Crowley walks away from it all when his two youngest children, Megan and Patrick, are diagnosed with a fatal disease. With Aileen by his side, harnessing all of his skill and determination, Crowley teams up with a brilliant, but unappreciated and unconventional scientist, Dr. Robert Stonehill. (Harrison Ford) Together they form a bio-tech company focused on developing a life-saving drug. One driven to prove himself and his theories, the other by a chance to save his children, this unlikely alliance eventually develops into mutual respect as they battle the medical and business establishments in a fight against the system - and time.

I know, not your typical girls' night out, no partying at a nightclub until dawn, but it's a night away from home and family, no kids to tend to, no cooking, no cleaning or dishes, but a night out to see a what looks to be a good movie, with a friend.

Now when I went and saw Avatar 2 weeks ago, I loved it, it was a fantastic movie, but sitting through the movie was very difficult on me.
I may have wide hips and a bit of a belly, but I have a very bony ass.
And not just my bony ass, but I also have two 4 inch titanium screws in my hips, and the titanium rods from my spine fusions that go all of the way down to the bottom of my tail bone.
Even though the theater chairs are very well cushioned, having a bony ass and that titanium in my tail bone, made sitting for almost 3 hours, extremely difficult.
Not even at the halfway mark, I could feel my tail bone in my butt, I could feel the titanium in my butt, and I kept trying to shift side to side to make it a little more comfortable.
When I'm sitting here at my desk, I do have a great office chair, it's very cushioned, but I have to have a pillow on it to help, and I still can feel my tail bone and the titanium after a few hours.

What am I getting at here?
Well, when I go see the movie this Thursday night, I'm going to have to bring a pillow with me to sit on, but I would honestly pay $20 for a movie ticket if there was at least 1 specialized movie theater.
What kind of special theater?
Well, one with good and comfy, home style seating.
Maybe some super plush but contemporary sofas, some big and squishy recliners, super long and soft sofas, furniture like people have at home.
I would totally pay $20 per movie ticket to be able to either kick all of the way back with my legs and feet up in a super soft recliner, or lay down on a big and soft sofa.
I would totally love it.
Heck, a big movie theater could makeover just 1 of the many theater rooms they already have, into the special theater room, and play the top movie release of the week, maybe change out the movie in that 1 theater every day or something, but charge $20 a ticket and see if people would buy tickets.
I know that I would, my sons would love it too, so I would pay for them to be in the theater with me on a big sofa or in recliners.
Those of you who have a home theater in your house, you know that it's awesome.
You have all of the benefits of surround sound, a really great and big HDTV, but with the total comfort of home.

I think a special theater would be really cool and totally work, and so if a theater made-over 1 theater room to have the super comfort of home, would you pay more for a ticket to be in there?

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January 8, 2010

Almost got whacked in the parking lot!

My friend Nic and I went to the dollar store early this afternoon, I needed to grab some cat food and stuff, and when we got out of the car to walk to the store entrance, we almost got whacked by not 1, but 2, going way too fast in a parking lot, high risk drivers of the blue haired senior variety.
We almost got run over by 2 blue-haired seniors who obviously couldn't see where they were going because A) they were driving way too fast, and B) because they think they have the right to do whatever they want to whenever they want to, and C) because they probably didn't even see us!
They didn't use their blinkers either, and 1 of them parked in the handicapped space and did not have the thing on their license plate or the plaque hanging from their rear-view mirror either, there was absolutely no handicapped sign anywhere on their car, and neither of them appeared to be handicapped.
Being old is not a disability, it's just being old.
I know that not all disabilities are visible, I know this better than anyone as my disability is not visible, but if there is no handicap sign somewhere on their car, they should not be parking in those spaces no matter how old they are, as I said, old age is not a disability.
When they got out of their cars, Nic yelled at them to watch where they're going next time, and 1 of the old ladies turned around and told us to leave them alone or they were going to call the cops.
WTH?
Call the cops because we told them to watch where they were going?
Seriously, I absolutely hate season, hate it with a passion kind of hate because of all of the out-of-state seniors who are here and driving so dangerously, thinking they own the roads, thinking that they can do whatever they want, and just being incredibly rude.

Moving on!
The dollar store had a really good deal on the kind of cat food that I buy, The Goodlife Recipe.
At Publix, it's $4.99 for a 2.7lb bag, and the dollar store had it for just $3.29 for the 2.7lb bag.
I saved $1.70 per bag, so I might just have to go buy the kitties cat food from there from now on.
I also got a box of Arm & Hammer carpet powder to not only get rid of odors, but I found that it also helps pull all of the cat hairs out of the carpet.
With 4 cats, there's always a ton of cat hairs in the rug, and I end up dumping a ton of dirt and hairs out of the bagless vac normally, even more if I use the carpet powder.
I also picked up some night time cold medicine for Mark because he ends up coughing a lot from his cold when he's trying to sleep.
He's coughing a lot, but he coughs even more at night.
I think I may get some of that Mucinex and see if that helps him, I know that it worked good for me when I tried it, so hopefully it will work good for him so that he can get some sleep.
The poor kid had huge bags under his eyes when he got up today from not getting much sleep.
I'll try to remember to pick some up when I go to Publix tomorrow to do the grocery shopping.

PLEASE check out and enter the giveaway below!
It's to win 1 of 5 copies of a really fun and interesting book!

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January 7, 2010

Bubble Gum and Hula Hoops review and 5 book giveaway!

I received a free copy of the manuscript for Bubble Gum and Hula Hoops: The Origins of Objects In Our Everyday Lives, about a month ago to read and review here on my blog.

It's a really fascinating and funny look at why certain things got invented, and why they were named what they were.
Take the bra for an example, a lot of people believe that it was invented and named after someone named brassiere, not true.
It's kind of a long story, but all the way back in 2500bc in Minoan Crete, they were using pieces of fabric strapped around the chest to support the bosoms, it probably resembled a sports bra of today because it was wrapped so tightly.
Corsets had been around since the 16th century, but it was in 1893 when American socialite Mary Jacobs was dressing for an evening event when she got really upset about her whalebone corset.
She took 2 hankies tied together with ribbon, and used them to keep her breasts looking the way she wanted them too under her tight party dress.
She was so pleased with it, that she patented the design and began selling them as "Caresse Crosby" bras but with very limited success.
Eventually she sold the design rights to the Warner Brothers Corset Company, and they went on to make a huge fortune from Mary's idea.
By the 1920's, they were in wide circulation, and now today, we have a huge assortment of over the shoulder boulder holders that flatten, tighten, plump, support, volumize, and of course, push up!

There are a ton of very interesting stories in this book about all kinds of products like the breathalyzer, the condom, toothpaste, cigarettes, bubble wrap, paper clips, bar codes, the camera, lipstick, the airbag, the GPS, parking meters, aluminum foil, canned food and carbonated drinks.
There so many things in this book that I'm sure you've heard a story about how they were made and it's probably wrong, so this book tells how and why things were made and why they were named what they were.

It was a really fun book to read, I learned a lot and laughed a lot along the way, so I want to share the learning and laughs with 5 lucky readers.
Do you want to win a copy of Bubble Gum and Hula Hoops for yourself?
Or maybe you know someone who enjoys learning about why things were invented?
If so, all you have to do is follow the rules below.

Here's how!
Rules:
The giveaway is open to United States, (including Alaska and Hawaii) and Canada!
This giveaway is open to all, not just bloggers, but rules must be followed.
Only 1 entry per person/family/household.
Only 1 person per IP address can enter the giveaway and complete the required entry and extra entries.
No entering on behalf of others, using extra identities or others identities, no automated program entries, etc.
I can check and verify IP addresses and email addresses. *wink*
If you are caught cheating, you will be banned from this giveaway and any future giveaways on my blogs.
This giveaway is only open to those ages 18+ only.
All entries must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Thursday January 28, 2010.
I will pick the 5 winners randomly using random.org on Friday January 29th, 2010, email the winners, and they will have 48 hours to claim their prize.
If I do not get a reply within 48 hours, I will pick a new winner using random.org again.

How to enter:
The required entry:
This is mandatory, if this one entry is not done, you will not qualify for the giveaway.
For a chance to win, leave me a comment telling me what you would have named any current product/invention, and why you would have named it that.

For extra entries:
The following are all for 1 additional entry each, and you must leave a separate comment for each 1 that you do.
If you bundle entries in 1 comment, the comment will be deleted and disqualified.

1.
Post a new comment telling me what you would like to see invented.

2.
Blog about this on your blog, and leave a separate comment with the url to your post.
The post must remain on your blog for the duration of the contest.

3.
Post about this giveaway with a link back to this post on Twitter, and then leave a comment on this post with the link to your Twitter post about this contest.
You can use this link in your Twitter post to tweet and tell others about this giveaway! http://tinyurl.com/yb4zlw3

4.
Follow me on Twitter.

5.
Post about this on Facebook and give me the link to your Facebook profile so I can verify it!

That's it!

***There are 5 books in total, they will be shipped directly to the winners from the publisher, so you will need to leave me a valid email address when you enter, and if you win, I will contact you for your mailing address which will only be given to the publisher, and only for the purpose of sending you the book.
None of your information posted like full name, email address, or mailing address which you have given for contest entries, will ever be given or sold to any person or company, it will only be used for the purpose of contacting you, if you win, to send you the book.***

Good luck!!

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January 7, 2010

Yesterday. Oy vey!

I didn't post yesterday because I just didn't feel like it.
Hey, just being totally honest.

At 3:15pm yesterday afternoon, I had my monthly appointment with my pain doctor to do a check-in.
Check-ins usually all go the same way, him asking me a bunch of questions like, tell him on the 1-10 pain scale, where my pain was at right at that moment, what it was for the last couple of days, how the new medicine is working since my last appointment, have I had any new or unusual symptoms, any news on whether or not my surgeon has been able to come up with a way to fix my head, any more visits to the ER for itching, rashes, welts and hives, and do I have any questions for him.
The whole thing probably takes less than 10 minutes, in, out, see ya in 30 days, but because there was an emergency with a patient at the hospital, he was running about 45 minutes to an hour behind.

My 3:15pm appointment didn't actually happen until 4:27pm.

My pain on the scale yesterday was a 10 due to the freezing cold temperature.
My pain on the scale for the last few days has been bobbing back and forth between 9 and 10 because of the freezing cold temperatures too.
The new pain medicine works pretty good, not as long as the old one did, but that's because they were ERs, (extended release) these are immediate release, and they just do not last as long.
I'm supposed to take 1 every 4 to 6 hours as needed for pain, so between 4-6 pills per day depending on the amount of pain that I'm in.
It's been terribly cold as you you know, (I've been complaining about it enough) so the rods are frozen which causes a lot of pain, so I'm on the higher end of the dosing.
Nope, no new or unusual symptoms.
Nope, my surgeon has not found a way to fix my head yet.
Nope, I didn't have any more trips to the ER that he didn't know about, and nope, I didn't have any questions for him.

I left from his appointment around 4:35, then me and my friend Nic, who had driven me to my appointment, drove over to the pharmacy to pick up my scripts.
We waited about 10 minutes and they call me to the window to pick them up and pay, and their merchant services machine goes down.
Great.
I have to leave there and go find an ATM.
The shopping plaza the pharmacy is in, is like the only one in Sarasota that doesn't have a single ATM machine, so we have to drive over to the Hess station across Bee Ridge Road.
I use the ATM, grab the cash, and drive back across the street.
I go back to the pharmacy, the girl tells me the machine is still not working, so I pay in cash, get my scripts, and we leave.
From there, we start heading home but we both need to run to the store to grab something to feed our families for dinner.
We run into the Publix closest to our house, she runs 1 way, and I run to the frozen pizza.
Hey, I'm tired and cold, the teens can eat frozen pizza and love it, and they did, moving on!
I use my debit cards all of the time, I rarely ever use cash anymore, so when I went to pay, I instinctively swiped my debit card.
Declined.
What. the. hell?
Swipe again.
Declined.
Ergh, what the hell is wrong?!
Please tell me not another machine is down!
Swipe again.
Declined!
*smacks forehead*
D'oh!
I don't have enough money in my account for this purchase because I used my debit card to pay for my doctor appointment which ended up costing me less than the appointment girl told me when she called me Tuesday afternoon to remind me about my appointment, and I had to withdraw some cash earlier to pay for my prescriptions.
D'oh!
ATMs only let you withdraw in multiples of $20, so I had to draw out more than my scripts actually cost, but it also wiped out my balance down to like $4.89, the pizza that I was trying to pay for was $12.50.
I totally forgot that I had the remaining cash in my wallet.
So I looked like a totally broke fool at the register while a growing line of people stood behind me making it vocally clear *ahem* *cough* *ahem* that they wanted my dumb butt to just pay for my stuff or get the hell out of the way!

I swear, I can be just an absolute idiot sometimes, but honestly, when you get so used to using only 1 form of payment all of the time for everything, shopping, paying the bills, gas, take-out food, whatever, it can be very easy to forget that you have other forms of payment available to you like I did.

By the time I got back home a little after 5:30, my toes were completely frozen because of how cold it was outside and because I still can't wear regular shoes, only sandals, and because there's no heat in Nic's car, so the 2 of us drove all over the place and back home yesterday afternoon freezing our butts and toes off, I came in, changed and got into comfy clothes, and then aimed the portable heater at my chair and my feet for probably over an hour.
After they finally warmed up around 7pm, I got up and made dinner.
I made some home made General Tso and home made teriyaki chicken strips, I cleaned up from dinner, and then I was so tired and started to get cold again, so I laid on the couch, watched some tv, and then got my second wind which has now, kept me awake the entire night and the entire day. .
I'm so tired right now, I don't even remember if I got any sleep on Tuesday night.
I think I did, but I honestly don't remember if I did.

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January 5, 2010

Good memories.

I was going to post a book review and giveaway for 5 lucky readers to get 1 copy of the book each, but not tonight.

My Aunt Lorraine has passed away after a very long battle with cancer, so I just don't feel like I should post a fun giveaway tonight.
Aunt Lorraine is my Mom's sister, and my Mom is very upset this evening, which is perfectly ok for her to be sad and upset, grieving for the loss of her sister.

I remember Aunt Lorraine as being a really wonderful woman, a fun aunt who used to let us stay up late and watch scary movies while we laid in sleeping bags on the living room floor.
She was just a happy and fun person from what I recall of my memories and trips to Pennsylvania for family vacations.

She always found the most unusual but beautiful dolls to give to us girls when we were little.
I remember that she gave my sister Jo and I these dolls that said the night time prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep."

Now I lay me down to sleep,
I pray the Lord my soul to keep;
Should I die before I wake,
I pray the Lord my soul to take.

My sister Jo had a doll in a silk blue dress with brown hair, and I had a doll in a pink silk dress with blond hair, and when you "folded" their hands together, (they had snaps in their hands) it would make the dolls start reciting the prayer one time.
They were beautiful but slightly creepy dolls.
Their eyes would be open until you snapped their hands together, and they started reciting the prayer in these tiny, delicate, very girly, almost squeaky voices.
I remember that Aunt Lorraine got upset with us because we ruined our dolls, we played with them, we brushed and styled their hair, and as most little girls playing with dolls, they got dirty and she got upset when she found out.
She wasn't mad at us, just more disappointed that we didn't keep them perfectly, but it didn't stop her from giving us more dolls over the years.

I'm pretty sure that it was my Aunt Lorraine who also got me the Mattel Sunshine Family dolls and their Surrey Cycle too.
I remember at some point later on, someone got me the craft/pottery wheel for the Sunshine Family, which is discussed here as other girls remember these dolls too.
The Sunshine Family lived sort of the "hippie" lifestyle.
They wore sandals, rode a bike, made their own clothes and threw their own pottery, farmed organic produce.
You could say these dolls were living in the times, they were made in the early 1970's when people were living in communes and growing their own food, making their own clothes, and making crafts and pottery too.
I loved those dolls, I remember sitting there using the tiny little pottery wheel and making little bowls and pots and pans for them to use to cook with.
Aunt Lorraine just had this gift for finding me the most beautiful, unique, and fun to play with dolls.

I'm sad that she's gone, I'm sad to know that my Mom is sad and hurting, but at the same time, I'm relieved that Aunt Lorraine is no longer in any pain from the cancer that she had.
I'm happy to know that she had gone to Texas to be with her daughter, Toni, in the end, that she was with her grandsons and family.
I have very good memories of her and that is what is making it a little bit easier to deal with the news of her passing.

---

January 5, 2010

Even the hot water is cold.

It's taking about 1 minute to warm up the tap water in the kitchen and bathroom, and I don't want Sebastian to step into a freezing cold shower when he has to take his shower for school, so when the alarm goes off at 6am and I get up to use the bathroom before waking him, I'll turn on the shower to get it warmed up and ready for him.
The water is seriously cold coming out of the faucets.
Our hot water heater isn't inside the house, it's in a closet in the carport, like where we keep the lawn mower and and outdoor junk, so the water tank is super cold from the cold weather we're having.

That's Carmine kitty up there.
He's sound asleep on 1 of our quilts, and Sebastian covered him up in my baby blanket.
About an hour or so later I went to check on Sebastian because he's got a cold and not feeling well, and I found that Carmine had rolled around and got himself all curled up in the blanket.
It was just too cute so I had to take a picture.
I pet him and he started purring wicked loud, I know that he's happy to be inside at night.
He goes in and out all day long, and at night when you open the door and call his name, he comes running to get back in the house because he's so cold.
He gets in, runs straight for the food bowl, gets a drink, and then he finds a blanket to curl up on to try and get warm.
When he came in tonight, he laid right in front of the portable heater for about an hour, his fur was so hot, I thought to myself how could he stand it, but I guess after being outside all day long in the chilly weather, it was exactly what he needed.

But yeah, both Sebastian and Mark have colds, they are coughing, sneezing, and just plain miserable.
Sebastian had a bit of a fever before bed, so I don't even know if he's going to be able to go to school tomorrow.
The school has rules about fevers, if you have one, stay home.
That's just great huh?
He's perfectly healthy and fine for the entire Christmas vacation, and he ends up catching a wicked cold the weekend before he has to back to school.
Ugh.

---

January 3, 2010

My toes are froze.

The teens went to Publix late Saturday afternoon to grab some subs for themselves for dinner, some 4-cheese pizza Hot Pockets for me, and to pick up some laundry detergent so I could do the laundry before Sebastian has to go back to school on Monday.
I know, Hot Pockets aren't exactly good for you, some people think they are totally gross, but I actually like the taste of them.
They are all that I was able to cook for myself for weeks on end for lunches after both of my surgeries, so I got used to them and grew to really like them.
Anyway, the teens picked up a big 64 use/wash-load bottle of Tide, the biggest bottle that they could find because I had that coupon for a free bottle thanks to the Bounce Dryer Bar fiasco, and the coupon did say any size, so I made sure that they knew to grab the biggest bottle on the shelves.
If they are going to give me free product because I went for 3 whole weeks with itchy red hives, a rash, and welts, from my neck all of the way down my entire body, anywhere my clothes, towels, or blankets touched, caused me to be covered in it, you can bet your butt that I'm going to get the biggest sized product available.
I had to re-wash every. single. load. of. clothes. that I had dried with that thing in my dryer, and considering I do about 6-8 loads of laundry per week, yeah, I ran out of my Purex 3-in-1 laundry sheets really quickly.
After they came home, I started getting the laundry done, I think I just have 2 more loads of towels to do, and then I'll be done for a day or 2.

I posted to KatScan late last night about how cold it is here, and so I've been up all night long with insomnia and freezing my toes off.
I am still totally unable to put on socks and shoes, I still can't bend over to tie shoes either, so I've been wearing flip flops, actually, they are Dr. Scholl's sandals, and they are what I have been wearing since August 2008 after the kitties chewed apart my last pair.
Yup, I've been wearing the exact same sandals every single day since '08.
I've never had an issue with wearing sandals every day, that is until now.
Like I said, it's freaking cold outside!
I'm in the house, but the floor is cold, it's just cold in here, and I can't put on socks and shoes, and wearing my sandals would be like wearing nothing on my feet, so I went Amazon hunting for some slippers that I could actually get on without any problems.
I found some Dearfoams Women's Boucle Mules, and they look like they would work perfectly for me!

They are indoor/outdoor, foam cushioned, lined with faux fur, and slip on!
Perfect!

They come in my size, and they come in black!
Yeuss!!
I could wear them in the house as slippers, and I could also wear them outside to keep my feet warm when I have to go to the store and stuff.
The best part?
They're less than $20 bucks!
I am so getting a pair as soon as I pay off a few bills this month because I don't think my toes can survive the super cold weather much longer.

It's not usually this cold here at this time of year, it doesn't get really cold until around the middle to the end of February, the beginning of March, not right now or in December when we had a few cold fronts come through, so this super cold air is making my toes freeze and my titanium like an iceberg.
I've been wearing my Thera pod practically all night long.
Every single time it cooled off, I nuked it for another minute and then strapped it back on my lower back.
It didn't warm up all of the titanium, but at least my lower back was warm, that's the area that I have the most pain in, so it worked good for that at least.
I really should have turned on the portable heater much sooner than I did.
I completely forgot that I even had it, it was sitting right here in the living room though, right on the other side of my tower table on the floor, but d'oh! I didn't plug it in and turn it on until like 7am after spending the entire night with frozen toes.
I can be such an idiot sometimes, but at least it's starting to warm up so that when the teens wake up, it'll be a bit warmer in here.
I can't believe that Carmine the kitty wanted to go out so early, he was crying and meowing to go out starting around 6am, but I didn't let him go until a little after 7.
I'm going to go check and see if he wants back in yet.
Last night, he kept wanting to go out, and then we'd hear him scratching at the door just 10 minutes later because of how cold it was.
I bet anything he's either sitting right at the door, or sitting on the chair that's out there right next to the door.
It's still only 38 degrees!
Brrrrr!!

---

January 1, 2010

Happy 2010!

In just 9 days, I will have been blogging in some capacity for 13 years.
I can't believe that I've been doing this for that long, but I'm not complaining at all, no way.
I love everything about blogging, mostly the ability to connect with people.
I've made friends from around the world because of it, that's really pretty awesome.
I've seen a lot of bloggers come and go, I've seen people give up their blogs entirely to use Facebook or Twitter, and I've seen the greatness of the community of people who blog to raise money for charities and fellow blogging friends.
It's really been an awesome experience that I don't plan on ending anytime soon.
________________________

We're not doing too much of anything today, the teens are still sleeping after staying up to watch the ball drop and then a movie after that.
I'll be going grocery shopping at some point, doing the laundry at some point after that, and then I need to sweep and mop the kitchen and bathroom floor tiles as they are quite a mess.
I have no idea what got spilled on the kitchen floor, but it's a sticky mess that is making me a bit more irritated every time I have to go in there.
*stick stick stick*
Yuck.
What movie did we watch?
We watched Inglorious Basterds and it was pretty damn good.
For a fun fantasy film, it was really pretty good.

Anyway, not too much going on here right now, just me awake and waiting for the day to move a little faster.

---

December 30, 2009

I hate the cold weather.

For the last 24 hours, it has been cold and just generally yucky around here.
It was in the low to mid 30s which usually doesn't happen for the last few years, but it was super cold last night, and it will be super cold for the rest of the week too.
I really hate it when it gets cold like this, nobody wants to go out and do anything, everyone is dressed like we live in Alaska.
Seriously, I saw someone in a big thick winter coat, a scarf, and gloves.
It was cold enough to wear a winter coat, but it isn't cold enough to dress all of that on.
The weather really hurts me when it gets cold, the titanium screws get frozen, then they make me feel like I'm frozen, freezing to death from the inside out.
When it gets cold like that, I wish that I could just pack up all of the stuff we need, and then go on to find someplace warm to stay in the cold has gone away.
Rent a motor home, get the insurance and a motorhome warranty, and start driving to the lower portions of this state like Miami maybe, or even further south.
A motor home would be cool because we could all fit in it, our kitties too, pack up whatever food we have in the house, all of our sodas and stuff, and just start driving south to get to warmer weather near the equator.
Someday I will do the things that I talk about, going to the mountains, motor home, just go wherever it takes up.

---

December 27, 2009

I'm going to get a gun somehow.

The teens and I were sitting here waiting for my sister to arrive so that we could all go see Avatar, when I saw one of the teen thugs who live across the street and have tried to break in my house before, walking toward my front door with a big, long, pointy thing, like a knife, to come break my door again.
Yes, the night they came in before, they thought the door was locked and they pried the door knob latch panel open, away from the door jam.
I know this because the next day the door wouldn't shut and when I looked at it, it had been pulled away so I had to screw it back into the door jam.
Anyway, I saw him coming so I ran to the window and opened the blinds up even more, he saw me and ran back across the street to his house.
I grabbed the phone and called the cops.

My sister showed up, I explained the cops were on the way to talk to me, so I couldn't go to the movies.
Plus, I'm not going to leave my house for 3-4 hours (they are going to Best Buy after the movie) and just leave it here for them to really break in and steal something this time.
So the teens are gone and I'm sitting here with the house all locked up tight, blinds open, and if one of those two thugs come back, they may get hit with a 2x4 before I ever even dial 911.
Rotten fuckers.
I swear, they ever try to get in my house again, one of them is going to end up fucking seriously hurt.

---

December 25, 2009

Merry Christmas 2009!

Merry Christmas everyone!
I woke up this morning covered in itchy red hives, welts, and with parts of my face swollen, not exactly a pleasant way to wake up on Christmas day.
I'm thinking that I must have used a towel or something yesterday that still had some of the Bounce Dryer Bar residue still on it.

None of the stuff that I ordered for the teens for Christmas, or any of the other things that were supposed to come, have been delivered yet.
Not a single thing has come, total suck, but I still have a small bit of hope that something shows up, Jade said on Twitter that the USPS had dropped off a package a few hours ago, so maybe they will deliver something to us as well today.
The teens are not upset that their stuff hasn't come yet, they know that I ordered stuff, and they know that this time of year is the busiest time for shipping things, so they know that eventually their presents will show up.
The teens have gone to my sister's house for the night, they will be back tomorrow, and that is when we are going to celebrate.
I'm going to cook the turkey and all the rest of the food tomorrow, and hope that the mailman, UPS, and whatever other delivery methods our stuff was being shipped by, actually arrive tomorrow.
But if they don't show until Monday or Tuesday, that's ok too.
I know that they will all eventually get here.

I have been on Twitter wishing people a Merry Christmas, chatting with a few people, and I saw a tweet that made me laugh, so I said so, and then I got a few replies that just show, once again, that most believers still don't know the real history of Christmas.
I received one tweet that said that atheists are hypocrites drafting on the coat tails of religion, because we celebrate Christmas.
It's amazing that we get called hypocrites when it's believers who really don't have the slightest clue about the real history of today, of Christmas, and actually took it from us, non-believers, the pagans.
I've posted about it before when a reader of my blog spent nearly 2 weeks sending me emails calling me a hypocrite, telling me that I had no right to celebrate Christmas.
I wrote out the real history of Christmas in that post and also sent it to that person, and then never heard from him again, which is good because after 2 weeks of being insulted, I really didn't want to hear from him again.
But the real story of the holiday that everyone celebrates but for many different reasons is below.

Christians celebrate Christmas on this day because there is no evidence to actually support the day that Jesus was born, so that day was picked.
More evidence points to Jesus being born in the spring, or even possibly September, the time when the census' were actually held.
The Pagan holiday, the feast of the Son of Isis, was celebrated on December 25.
Partying, feasting, and gift giving, were traditions of this event.
We also had the Romans who called their winter holiday Saturnalia, honoring Saturn, the God of Agriculture.
This was celebrated many years before the birth of Christ.
In ancient Rome, they had people who went around costumed and singing, and dancing.
They were called the Mummers.
The tradition of caroling came from this.
The pagans of northern Europe celebrated their own winter solstice, known as Yule.
Yule was symbolic of the pagan Sun God, Mithras, being born, and was observed on the shortest day of the year.
As the Sun God grew and matured, the days became longer and warmer.
It was customary to light a candle to encourage Mithras, and the sun, to reappear next year.
What day is that?
December 25th.
In 350, Pope Julius I, declared that Christ's birth would be celebrated on December 25.
It was done so it would be as painless as possible for pagan Romans who were the majority at the time, to convert to Christianity.
They accepted this because it meant that their feasts and traditions would not be taken away from them.
The earliest recorded history of a tree being used in a Christian celebration was in 1521, in Germany.
The tree is the one symbol that unites almost all the northern European winter solstices.
Live evergreen trees were often brought into homes during the harsh winters as a reminder to inhabitants that soon their crops would grow again.
The Druids used the tree as a religious symbol, holding their sacred ceremonies, while surrounding and worshiping huge trees.
The life story of Jesus matches the exact same life stories of several other sun gods, most notably, Horus.
They are almost identical.
Horus and Jesus were both "born" on December 25th, they were teaching at age 12, they were crucified, they were buried and rose from the dead in 3 days.

If you ( general you) know anything about the sun gods, then you would know they all have the exact same origins in mythology.
They all follow the zodiac.
The bible is full of astrological symbolism based on the sun, the stars, the setting of the sun etc.
Dec 22nd through the early morning hours of Dec 25th, the sun sits still (always setting in the exact same location) directly beneath 3 stars in the northern sky. They are the longest, darkest days.
Those stars as known as the, da ta da! 3 kings!
On Dec 25th, the sun comes out of winter solstice and begins rising again shedding more light.
The birth of the sun, or as the bible says, the birth of the son.

There are so many identical things about Jesus and Horus, as well as 3 other sun gods like Mithras for example, plus all the astrological stuff in the bible, that it has been drawn, that each age has it's own version of the sun god.
We are in the zodiac age of Pisces, this is known in the bible as the age of Christ.
We will be entering the age of Aquarius on the zodiac time line soon.
Jesus said he would be with us till the end of his age, which is mistranslated in the bible as the word 'time''.
People believe, because of this mistranslation, that when Jesus said that, it meant the end of the world, of all time.
It simply meant the end of his age, his age in the zodiac time line.

So there you have it.
There was no evidence to support the real day that Jesus was born, the Romans took the holiday of the pagans, winter solstice, and gave it to everyone, calling it Christmas, and telling everyone that December 25th would be the day that everyone celebrates the birth of Jesus.
I'm not a hypocrite, I celebrate Christmas, gift giving, the traditions of both St. Nick and the pagan winter solstice.
I really wish that a before people start calling me a hypocrite and telling me that I have no right to celebrate Christmas because I don't believe in Jesus, would actually take the time to understand the real history of this day.
It doesn't belong to just Christians, it belongs to everyone, we are all free to celebrate this day for whatever reasons we choose.

I want to wish all of my readers, no matter what they believe, no matter why they believe it, a very merry Christmas.
I hope that you are having a good time with friends, family, and loved ones.

---

December 23, 2009

Go go Power Rangers!

I remember when the teens were little boys and all of the cartoons and shows they just loved to watch.
I swear we would watch the same movie a dozen or more times in a 24 hour period.
The Little Mermaid, The Fox and the Hound, and the Power Rangers.
Oh, sorry, my bad.
Sebastian told me to get it right, (he's reading over my shoulder) it's The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Duh Mom. *eyeroll*
They knew every line and every single song in The Little Mermaid and The Fox and the Hound, they knew every single line of the Power Rangers too.
How could they not know every line, song, and dance?
They watched them a million times over the course of their childhoods.
We didn't have DVD players when the teens were little, all of our movies were on VHS, so once the movie stopped, the screams to rewind would begin.
They would do this little butt-squiggle-fidget-dance on the living room carpet until the movie got done rewinding and I pressed play again, then there would be a few claps of applause and then silence while staring at the opening scenes of the movie.
They absolutely loved all of their movies, they had so many of them, still have most of them too.
I have so many kids movies on VHS still, all kinds of Disney movies, tv show episodes, cartoons, all kinds of kid movies.

I remember when the local grocery store in Maine had The Land Before Time movie on sale really cheap, for like $3.99 if you bought some other stuff with it.
I think you had to buy 2 boxes of cereal and a gallon of milk, and then you could get the movie for just $3.99, and I remember the promotion was only for 1 month, and every single time we went grocery shopping with my mom, Mark would beg for the movie.
He knew exactly what end cap the movie was on too, and he would get so excited when we got closer to that end cap aisle.
He would start doing the butt-squiggle-fidget-dance in the cart seat as we went up and down every single aisle and he'd get a glimpse of it, then down an aisle, glimpse, up an aisle, until we were at it and then he'd get this huge grin on his face, he just had to see the box for the movie, hold it in his hands.
He had absolutely no idea what the movie was about, but he saw those dinosaurs and just knew he had to see it, had to or his little 4 year old life would be over.
My mom and I had talked about getting it for him, that she wanted to do it, so I made Mark put it back on the shelf and I told him I would buy it next week, that mommy didn't need any more cereal and milk right now, we had 3 boxes and a gallon of milk at home already, and his little face just got all sad on me in an instant.
His lower lip pouted out, his big brown eyes looked down at the box one last time, and he sadly placed it back on the shelf.
My mom was right behind us and she put it in her cart, hiding it behind the boxes of cereal and gallon of milk in her cart.
The entire ride home to my apartment, Mark talked about the dinosaur movie at the store, he didn't know what it was about, he didn't know the names of the characters, but he just knew he was going to love that movie so so much, and next week mommy was going to buy it he told my mom.
I carried all of my groceries into my apartment while my mom stayed in the car with him, she told me to slip it into one of my bags and so I did.
I grabbed the last bag and unhooked him from his cart seat, he hugged "Ninny" good-bye, and we went into our house.
I put all of the groceries away with his help, he would take one item at a time out of the bags and hand them to me.
I made sure that the movie was going to be in the last bag to empty, and when we got to it, I waited for his surprised response.
He pulled out 2 boxes of spaghetti pasta, a package of sliced cheese, a box of rice, a can of soup, and then he reached in the bag and grabbed the box.
At first he thought it was another box of Rice-a-Roni until he got a really good look at it.
He almost handed it to me and then pulled his arm back staring at the box with wide-eyed awe, and then he screamed, "Mommy! The dinosaurs! The dinosaurs movie! It was in the bag! You said next time! Mommmmmmy! The dinosaurs!!!!"
I told him that Ninny bought him the dinosaurs movie because he was such a good boy helping with the shopping, and she loved him very much.
I swear he had tears of joy in those big brown 4 year old eyes.
He asked if he could watch it, I told him we had to put the rest of the food away, go potty, make some lunch, and then we could watch it together.
He did everything as quickly as he could, he helped put the rest of the food away, he helped make his sandwich for lunch and carried his plate to his little table in the living room, and I put the movie in and pressed play.
He and I sat there watching The Land Before time together and eating our lunch, not a sound came out of his mouth the entire 1 hour and 9 minutes that the movie played.
He didn't take his eyes off of the tv screen that whole time either.
When it was all over, he said that he loved Littlefoot and all of his friends, this time tears were in his eyes, and he asked to watch it again.
I re-wound the movie and while it was rewinding we cleaned up our lunch plates, and then when I pressed play, he came to the couch and curled up with me to watch it.
This time he did talk through the movie, getting all excited when it started, crying when Littlefoot and his mom got separated, happy when Littlefoot made new friends, yelling at the T-Rex when it was chasing Littlefoot and friends, he really did love that movie as much as he knew he would from just seeing the box in the grocery store.

When little brother Sebastian grew up a little bit more and they could watch movies and tv shows together, they both loved the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers.
Mark wanted to be the green ranger, Sebastian the red, they had all of the action figures and played with them non-stop.
They had sweatshirts, t-shirts, books, playing cards, little kid-sized chairs, all with the Power Rangers theme, and they loved every single one of those things.
Sebastian would cry if he spilled some juice on one of his fave Power Ranger t-shirts, Mark wouldn't be able to go to bed until he made sure that each and every action figure was safe and sound safely laid out in order of loved the most across the top of his dresser.
They still have almost every single one of those action figures too.
About a month ago, an advertiser sent us one of the new Power Ranger RPM Racing Performance Cycles with an action figure, it's the racing performance wolf cycle, the black ranger, and man, Sebastian just loves that thing.

When the UPS man knocked on the door, Sebastian got excited, he didn't even know what was in the box, he just gets excited when any kind of box or package shows up.
I opened the box up and made him stand back a few feet not letting him even get a peek inside, I read the accompanying letter, and then smiled at him before handing him the package.
Even though he's 16 years old now, his face lit up and his eyes grew huge, just like when he was a little kid getting a new Power Ranger action figure for the first time.
He went and dug out all of their old Power Ranger action figures and began playing with them all just like when he was little.

It makes me smile when I hear them playing with the toys, they are grown up, growing up, pretty soon they will be totally grown up and leaving my home, so seeing and hearing them play with their action figures, makes me think I get to keep my little boys for just a little bit longer.
Sebastian was in the room playing with those action figures tonight, I could hear him from out here at my desk, and it just made me smile and remember all of the movies and shows, all of the cute little things they did when they were little kids.

---

December 22, 2009

Perfect cookies. Yay!

At 1am I decided to make some chocolate chip cookies, and Mark thought it would be a great and fun idea to add a Hershey's Kiss to each one just like we did with the Peanut Butter Blossom cookies I made last night.
My cookies, both times now, have come out perfect.
I used to always burn cookies, no matter what I did, greased cookie sheet, un-greased, cooking spray, lower temp in the oven, whatever, I would always, always, always burn the bottoms of my cookies at least a little bit.
About a week ago, I found a recipe for some different types of cookies, and the directions said to use parchment paper to line the cookie sheet with.
I've only ever used parchment when working at the Italian bakery when making the pizza and calzone, but never when baking cookies, and they never did either, and they would make hundreds of cookies every single week.
Because I wanted to make those cookies, I bought a roll of parchment but haven't made those cookies yet.
Last night and tonight, I decided to try the parchment paper when making the cookies to see if it would really help in me not burning another batch or 2 of cookies like I always do.
It totally did!
4 batches of cookies and not a single 1 got burnt!
Maybe parchment is the secret baking tool that I just never used the right way for all of my cookie baking sessions.
I swear it really made all the difference, if I had baked them straight on the cookie sheet, they all would have been burnt or very close to burnt.
All 4 batches of cookies have come out absolutely perfect, soft baked, chewy, nice and golden brown with not a single spot of dark crispy cookie.
I'm definitely going to keep parchment on hand from now on and use it every single time that I am baking any cookies.
I can't believe that it has taken me this many years and dozens and dozens of burnt cookies to figure this out.
D'oh!

---

December 21, 2009

Happy bellies all around.

Last night around 9pm, I started cooking a pot roast in the crock pot with whole baby carrots, thick sliced onions, and whole baby potatoes, and let it cook on low all night long.
I used 1 packet of McCormick Savory Pot roast seasoning with it to give it a little bit of a flavor boost, as well as make a really nice gravy right in with it.
Mark loves to have gravy with his meat and potatoes, so using the seasoning packet meant I didn't have to cook up any extra gravy to go with it, they could just spoon out some of the very tasty gravy and pour as much of it as they wanted over their pot roast and baby potatoes.

The whole house smelled absolutely delicious all night and all day long, it was just fabulous smelling in here.
Sebastian woke up first and wanted to know right away if he could eat some of it at 10am, I said "Sure, that's why I cooked it all night long!"
I decided to cook it all night long and then keep it on warm all day long, so that whenever the teens were hungry, they could just go grab a bowl, scoop out some of the sliced up and so moist it was falling apart pot roast, potatoes, baby carrots, and onions, and eat it as they felt like all day long.
The teens ate some for breakfast around 10-11am, then they ate some more of it around 2pm, and then they went out with my sister and nieces for dinner at Chick-fil-A around 4-4:30pm, and then they ate some more of the pot roast around 8pm.
They actually finished off the entire crock pot of pot roast in one day, but that's totally fine with me.
I made enough of it to last for 3 meals, they ate it in 3 meals, it just happened to be 3 meals in 1 day instead of having to store the leftovers in the fridge and reheat it as they got hungry.
They aren't big on having to reheat leftovers, so having a full and warm crock pot of food that they could just eat from all day as they wanted to, was perfect.
I did eat some of it myself, they didn't eat it all by themselves, I had 2 helpings, 1 for breakfast and 1 for a late lunch.

Having the crock pot of warm and very tasty food to eat all day long was really just perfect.
It was a bit chilly out all day long, it's about 50 degrees right now, and will be going down to around 43 degrees overnight, so the teens totally loved being able to eat a hot meal 3 times today, they really just loved it, so they asked me to do this more often.
I'm thinking this isn't a bad idea, I can cook a huge pot of food overnight, and the teens can just serve themselves and eat whenever they get hungry the entire next day.
This is really an ideal thing for me to do, it will save me a ton of time in the kitchen, and it will save me money because I won't be having to feed them 3 different meals each and every day, they are totally happy eating the same meal 3 times in 1 day as long as it's great tasting, and they just loved the pot roast.
Cooking whole meals in the crock pot is really inexpensive, too, considering just how many meals you can get out of just 1 pot, so I'm going to hunt down all kinds of great tasting and inexpensive crock pot recipes, and do this as many times as I can all winter long.
I really enjoyed doing this because I wasn't in the kitchen all day cooking, cleaning pots and pans, doing all of the regular dishes, and trying to plan out what the next meal was going to be.
Mark is home full time now that he's graduated and not in school any longer, and Sebastian is out on Christmas break until January 4th, so I have 2 still growing and hungry teenage boys to feed for the next 2 weeks, so yeah, inexpensive and easy meals are definitely the way for me to go.

The other happy bellies around here are the kitty cats.
I wanted to update how our kitties are doing on The Good Life Recipe cat food that I have been feeding them since March of this year, so about 10 months now. (I had been feeding it to them for 5 months when I first posted about it in July)
As I said back in July, The Good Life Recipe has really made an improvement in all of the cats health and coats.
But since posting about it, the cats have gotten even better if that's possible.
None of them are gacking (puking) anymore, their poo doesn't stink as bad anymore, and so changing and cleaning the litter boxes isn't a horrible chore like it used to be.
Nova's coat has become so much softer, it's like rubbing your hands on silk, and her attitude is much better too.
She used to be nicknamed 'cranky old lady' because she was always miserable and "talking" to us all cranky if we touched her.
If you pet her before this dietary change, she would meow all cranky, she'd snipe at your hands, now she purrs very loud, she rubs her head all over your hands, and she 'talks' nicer too.
If you don't have a cat that talks, you are probably thinking that I'm nuts, but seriously, she talks when you pet her or say her name, and she used to be super cranky talking to you, but now she's super nice, so I'm extremely pleased with how this food has helped her.

Kali has also gotten so much better.
Her coat is so full and so soft, she has like a lions mane going on and it's gorgeous, I'm going to have to get a picture of her, her coat and mane is simply incredible looking.
Her health has also gotten much better.
She hasn't gacked in ages, she's not as lethargic as she used to be, and she's become even more playful which is so nice to see because she's 12 years old now, getting up there in age, and she was tired and sleeping all of the time, and now she has much more energy, she's not having as much trouble jumping up on the couch anymore, she's just doing really fantastic.

Both Shahiro and Carmine are doing great too, their coats are super soft and fluffy, they aren't gacking anymore, they are super playful all of the time and not sleeping constantly.
I love seeing the cats have a lot of energy and playing with each other and us, not having always tired cats is a good thing, they are much happier, and when our pets are happier, so are we.
Pets bring so much joy into the lives of their owners, and I really believe that the change to The Good Life Recipe cat food 10 months ago is what made all the difference in our cat's health, coats, and happiness.

The price is still really good too, it's still just $4.99 per bag, but thanks to the economy, the bags have gotten smaller just like they have for almost every single other product out there if you've been doing the grocery shopping and noticed.
The packages of pretty much everything, have gotten smaller, and the prices have stayed the same.
I'm hoping that once the economy picks back up, (if it ever does) that companies start giving us more product for the price again.
They started taking the product away little by little, ounce by ounce, keeping the packages and the prices the same, so if you weren't paying attention to the quantity you were getting, you may have not even noticed.
But I did.
The cat food used to be $4.99 for a 7 pound bag, then it went down to a 3.5 pound bag for the same price, and it's now a 2.7 pound bag for the same $4.99 price.
Not exactly fair to the consumer, in my opinion, but as I said, I hope that when and if the economy improves, companies will start giving us more bang for our buck again.
Until then, I will continue to buy the cat food with as many coupons as I can get and use.
They currently don't have any coupons in stock to give away on their site, but I did sign up for updates when they get a new supply of them in, and I still have some coupons left in my coupon binder, and my mom just sent me a new envelope of coupons the other day that I need to sort through and hope that there are a few more for this cat food in it.
If the company is going to give me less cat food for the same price, I'm going to try and save as much money on it as I possibly can.

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December 21, 2009

Acu-Life Thera Pod product review.

I was very fortunate to receive an Acu-Life Thera Pod soothing 2-in-1 therapy heating and cooling pad for my review.
I received it free of charge in exchange for my honest opinion of the product.

The Acu-Life Thera Pod provides both moist heat and cold therapy to help facilitate healing of sore and tired muscles, aches and sprains, and even migraines.
For moist heat therapy, you remove the cold pack from the Thera Pod and place it in the freezer, and place the Thera Pod on a microwave safe plate, microwave for just 1 minute, and then you place it directly on the area that needs the moist heat.
It stays in place because it comes with an adjustable velcro strap.
So you can wear it on your lower back, arm, leg, shoulder, (like in the picture) knees, ankles, anywhere that you need to use moist heat or cold therapy.
For cold therapy, you insert the cold pack and wear it where you need to.
Moist heat helps with stiffness and flexibility, and cold therapy helps with inflammation and swelling.

All 3 of us have used the Acu-Life Thera Pod since getting it.
Sebastian has used the cold pack for his migraines, and both Mark and I have used it for our sore lower backs.
It really works well too.
Both Mark and I absolutely love the moist heat therapy, just nuke it and wear it until it cools off, and by the time it has cooled off, our lower backs no longer hurt as bad, and we both had improved flexibility, we were able to bend over and stand up straight without the usual discomfort.
The other night when it was a bit chilly out and I was really hurting from the cold weather, I nuked it for 1 minute, strapped it around my lower back, and laid on the couch and watched a movie for 2 hours.
When the movie was over, my pain was drastically lessened and I was able to get off the couch without the stiffness that I usually have trying to get up off of the couch.

I've tried to use heating pads while lying on the couch before, but if you roll over or change position, the heating pad would move and I would have to readjust it over and over again.
With the Acu-Life Thera Pod, because it's strapped to my lower back, I was able to lay on the couch, change position as I needed to, roll over, and it moves with me, so it's perfect for laying down and soothing and relaxing my sore lower back.
I almost wish it was full back size, like big enough to strap around my entire back, because then it just might help with the freezing cold and stiffness from the titanium rods.
But wearing it on my lower back and laying on the couch with a blanket over me, it did help warm me up a bit on the inside, and it did help with the stiffness and pain in my lower back.

I really like the Acu-Life Thera Pod, it works very well, it can do both moist heat and cold therapy, and both are needed in soothing and relaxing sore and stiff muscles.
I'm very glad that I was given this product to try and review, I would have never known about it had I not been asked to give it a try.

Continue Reading �

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December 21, 2009

32 and dead of natural causes?

Actress Brittany Murphy died early Sunday morning of what the coroner is calling natural causes right now, until an autopsy is done.

Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said they will conduct an autopsy Monday to try to determine what killed the actress, and said her death appeared to be from natural causes. He said the reported illness could have contributed to her death, but it will be weeks before a final determination is made.

They are saying that she appeared to be suffering from flu-like symptoms in the weeks leading up to her death, that they found all kinds of prescription medications in her home for her, her husband, and her mother, and friends of hers say that they were very concerned about her health, her severe recent weight loss, in the past weeks
32 and dead of natural causes, it just doesn't seem normal for someone so young to die of natural causes, does it?

If a 32 year old can die of natural causes, then someone my age, almost 40, can die of natural causes too.
I have underlying health problem as well, I take a lot of medications, I keep getting my medications switched on me while we still try to find one that works well, but it's things like this that make me worry about my health and my life.
I'm always looking at getting a term life insurance quote, yet I still haven't gotten life insurance.
I know that I should, I know that I need to have it, but I keep not doing it.
Two things always stop me from doing it, money to pay the monthly insurance premium, and the totally irrational fear that if I do it, it will cause me to die sooner.
I know that it's totally irrational, but it's still a very real fear that I have.

So many people have died in the last few weeks, families have lost children to drowning, a mother lost her husband, 4 year old son, and a 17 month old baby this past week, only she and her step-daughter survived the fire, a blogging friend tweeted this morning that a family friend found her husband dead in the bathroom, it's just not been a good few weeks for people.
All of this has made me feel, first of all, very sad for these families, I can't even imagine, but second, even more strongly that I should get life insurance, I don't want to leave my sons and family burdened with having to pay for my funeral, which I don't want anyway, I want to be cremated and just leave it at that, but still, cremation costs money that none of my family can really afford if I were to die soon.
I don't know, I just feel very sad right now, sad for all of the losses that people have suffered.

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December 20, 2009

I love the cold but hate it too.

It's been rather chilly here all day and night now, the high today was 62, and the low is going to be somewhere between 42 and 47.
I love the cold, I really do, but my body doesn't.
I love the cold we're having right now because it makes it feel much more like Christmas, but my body is hating it.
I had to go out today and fill up another script of my pain meds because I just wasn't able to deal with the pain from the frozen rods attached to my spine.
That's the one thing that I absolutely cannot stand about the spine fusion, the freezing feeling of the rods when it gets cold or rains, it's truly an unreal feeling, people without the rods have absolutely no idea what it's like, and every person who has the rods, tells me the same thing, they freeze when it gets cold or rains.

When Sebastian and I went for our nightly walk, it was around 47 degrees, a bit on the chilly side for Florida, so we wore our new hoodies that we got from Joanne.
They are wicked nice, warm, and incredibly soft, we love them and they are perfect for the chilly weather here.
It rarely ever gets super freezing cold here, but there are times that does get chilly enough to turn on our portable electric heater to just keep it at a nice warm temperature in here.
Not so hot we're sweating, but not so cold that we have to bundle up.
The boys are more used to the weather here than I am, they were little when we moved here, so their bodies adjusted to the weather much more than me.
My body still isn't totally used to it, plus ever since my surgeries, my internal thermometer is like broken, I'm always about 10-15 degrees hotter than everyone else.
It could be 70 degrees, and to me, it will feel like it's 80-85 degrees, so when it's really super hot out in the summer, I'm sweating to death, that's why I have both the ac on and a box fan sitting about 4 feet from me blowing on me constantly when I'm sitting here at my desk.

I love my little portable heater, it does a really good job keeping us warm enough during the winter, but if I had my own house and it had a fireplace in it like most of the bigger homes here in Sarasota do, I would probably convert it to an electric fireplace to save on the cost and the mess of using real wood in a fireplace.
They make and sell a electric fireplace insert that plugs in, it looks like real wood burning, it feels like a real wood burning fireplace too.
I've been in a friend's house that has one and they love it because they don't have to buy any wood for it, and the cost of running it is about 3¢s per hour to just have the look of flame, and about 8¢s per hour to have the heat turned on.
It uses a standard electrical outlet, and provides 4700 BTUs/hr of heat, and provides supplemental heat for up to 400 sq ft, that's enough to heat up my entire house that I live in right now.
I love the look of fireplaces but hate having to chop up wood and clean up the ash and soot after the fire burns out.
Tomorrow night's low is going to be around 43, it's going to be wonderfully chilly out and if the boys ask me to turn on the heat, I will, but we usually don't have to use heat until around February.
Just check out this video that I found about electric fireplace inserts, it looks so easy to install and use, I would love to have one if I could, it would make the house look and feel so nice.

Once I started to feel a little better, I started to do some cooking and baking.
I have a pot roast cooking in the slow cooker, I'm going to let it cook on low all night long, it will be absolutely perfect to eat tomorrow, the meat will just be so moist and tender, and the carrots, onions, and baby potatoes will be perfect too.
I just got done making some peanut butter blossom cookies with Hershey's kisses on them.
They came out perfect, and tomorrow I may make some chocolate chip cookies, I love baking cookies around the holidays, they make the house smell awesome, and everyone loves to eat them.

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December 18, 2009

The best Christmas for me in years.

So far I am having one of the best Christmases that I have had in a long time, I got my broken tooth of 14 years fixed, I have received a ton of Christmas cards from friends and family, and today I got a box in the mail from Joanne, my bio-sister.
In the box were 3 huge thick and cuddly black hoodies from her and her fiance Jamie, for the teens and I.
She also sent me a photo album full of pictures of my bio-family.
I think that's the best Christmas present ever, not the pictures, but having found my bio-siblings.
I am in constant contact with Joanne, almost daily, it's been really awesome getting to know her again as sisters, not as classmates in school.
We get along so incredible, we never end an email or text, or call, without saying I love you, and we do.
Flipping through the album, I sat here crying looking at all of the pictures, these are the siblings I didn't know that I had, that I never thought I would ever have or find.
She included a picture of my bio-mom, and as I sat here looking at it, at her, some of those old feelings of anger came back up, of being abandoned at the hospital by her when I was born, but without her, I wouldn't have my bio-siblings.
All of us kids know that she wasn't well, that she had some major problems, but without her, we wouldn't be here, and we wouldn't have each other.
I am just so happy right now, to have my bio-sister in my life after all of these years, it's just such an incredible feeling.

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December 17, 2009

But I don't wanna switch plans!

It's the time of year when people on Medicare start getting bombarded with mailers, emails, phone calls, and everyone sees the commercials for the Medicare supplement plans, because now is the one time per year when you can change your plan, and every company wants you to switch to their plan.
I don't have a supplement plan, I only have a part D drug plan, and that's because all of the plans available in my area cost way too much and the co-pays actually get more expensive with some of them.
There is one that I would switch to if it was available in my area, Blue Advantage, but I can't get it here.
If I lived in Tampa I could, but not here in Sarasota, so I won't be switching to any of the other plans because I don't like having to pay $50 when I walk into the ER, that's totally ridiculous to have to pay before you can be seen in an ER in my opinion.
The other plans just don't have as much to offer me, the plans would cost a bigger monthly payment, and right now I only pay $6.30 per month for my part D plan which is good enough for me.
I just wish all of the mailings, emails, and phone calls would stop.
They're starting to drive me crazy.

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December 16, 2009

Our new netbook is here!

The netbook that I ordered for Sebastian to use at school and for his digital design projects came today!
It wasn't supposed to be here until Friday, but FedEx really kicked some major butt getting it here.
Just yesterday the 15th, it was in Anchorage Alaska, and FedEx somehow got it from there to Memphis Tennessee, and then to Tampa, and to Sarasota between 3:30pm yesterday and today at 5:21am.
That is freaking outstanding delivery time!

It's an HP Mini 110, it has 1 GB DDR2 RAM, a 160GB Hard Drive, comes with WinXP, about a 7 hour battery life, a bunch of games were installed which Sebastian just loved checking out, it all a ton of programs and features to it, it's a pretty great little netbook.
I spent some time checking it out, it's going to be really handy to have around when Sebastian isn't using for school.
I figure it will be prefect for those days when I'm not feeling well or in a lot of pain and just not able to do anything but lay on the couch, that I'll be able to use it and get my work done from the couch.
It comes setup for wireless, so I set up the wireless network connection, it searched for all available signals in the area, ours showed up in the list first, but I saw 5 of my neighbors connections in the list.
They were all secure which is nice to see, nobody can steal their wi-fi signals, but I set it all up and Sebastian then checked it out from every room of the house...hahaha

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December 15, 2009

Video games, kitty food, and front teeth.

I just ordered the video game the teens wanted for xmas, Cally of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, I got some money in sooner than expected, so I ordered it now before I got stuck having to order with 1 or 2 day expensive shipping.
I also bought the kitties a present, a food feeder, because it's been a total pain in the butt having to constantly add food to their bowl.
It matches the waterer that I have already, so I know that it's a good quality product to have.

The money order from Mom and dad came in today's mail, so I don't have to watch for the mail for that, but I still have other things coming to watch for, so tomorrow while I'm getting my tooth fixed, Mark will have to be the lookout.

I think I'm going to try and go to bed early, see if my body and brain will let me sleep or if it's going to be another night of insomnia.
Later days.

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December 14, 2009

Safeway food store $50 gift card giveaway!

Are you a blogger who grocery shops at Safeway?
You do?!
Great!
Are you a blogger who lives near a Safeway but has never shopped there?
You are?!
Great!
Why?
Because I am giving away a $50 gift card to use at Safeway food stores!

There are no Safeway stores anywhere near me, so instead of passing up the offer of the $50 gift card, I asked if I could host a giveaway for it on my blog, they said yes, so you get to have to the $50 gift card to help you pay for your family's holiday meal!
And speaking of those holiday meals, Safeway has many priced-to-please recipes for appetizers and other great tasting meals, recipes for edible gifts, some kid-friendly recipes, and recipes for leftovers to help stretch your budget.
They even have some decorating tips and a Gingerbread Man game for the kids!

If you're already a shopper of Safeway or have never tried their store before, check out their weekly specials, and you can also sign up for email savings to get coupons, recipe ideas, and the weekly sales sent right to you!

This is going to be a really super fast contest so that the winner receives the gift card in time to use it for their holiday food shopping needs.
You have from now until 11:59pm on Wednesday December 16th to enter, and I'll draw the winner on Thursday the 17th about mid-morning time.

Rules:
The giveaway is open to United States AND Canada, excluding Alaska and Hawaii. (Sorry Alaska and Hawaii!) *sad*
This giveaway is open bloggers ONLY.
Only 1 entry per person/family/household.
Only 1 person per IP address can enter the giveaway and complete the required entry.
No entering on behalf of others, using extra identities or others identities, no automated program entries, etc.
I can check and verify IP addresses and email addresses. *wink*
If you are caught cheating, you will be banned from this giveaway and any future giveaways on my blogs.
This giveaway is only open to those ages 18+ only.
All entries must be received by 11:59 pm Eastern Time on Wednesday December 16th, 2009.
I will pick the winner randomly using random.org on Thursday December 17th, and email the winner, they will have 48 hours to claim their prize.
If I do not get a reply within 48 hours, I will pick a new winner using random.org again.

How to enter:
This is mandatory, if this one entry is not done, you will not qualify for the giveaway.
For a chance to win, leave me a comment telling me how you save money on groceries, and what is the most amount of money you have ever saved in just one shopping trip!

Once the winning blogger has received their $50 gift card to Safeway and used it, they need to post to their blog within 5 days of using the card, and say that they won the $50 gift card, (You must disclose that you won the gift card to keep the FCC happy!) then tell us what you bought with it, how much money you saved on your shopping trip, and what your experience shopping at Safeway was like.
This is required of the winning blogger, and why this contest is only open to bloggers.

The winners information will only be used for this giveaway so the advertiser can send you the $50 gift card.
Your information will not be sold or given to any person or company in accordance with my privacy policy.

Good luck and happy shopping!

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December 14, 2009

Did you really take a shopping cart home from the store?

Yes, yes we did.

Yesterday when Sebastian and I went grocery shopping, we called for a taxi cab like we had planned on doing, we bought a wicked lot of groceries so we needed a ride home.
Well, the taxi cab's phone rang busy every single time that I called it.
For 20 minutes.
It usually goes to voice mail if they are busy, you leave your name and number, they call you right back and schedule you for a pick-up, so I have no idea why it kept ringing busy, but we had all of that food to get home, meats, milk, and other perishables, so we did what we had to do, the food had already been sitting in the cart in the heat for 20 minutes.
Sebastian and I did what we had to do, we walked home with the grocery cart full of groceries.
Now there's a Publix grocery cart sitting in my laundry room, I didn't want to leave it outside and have it get stolen or have the neighbors look at me funny because come on, having a grocery cart sitting in your driveway is as white trash as having an old rusted out car sitting up on cinder blocks.

All of the way home, people were looking at us like we were total white trash walking the mile long way home.
Yes, we live about 1 mile from the store and we walked home with a grocery cart, it's total white trash! Hahahaha!
At least we got all of the food home before it got ruined, I was seriously worried about the milk spoiling, it was about 80 degrees yesterday and so walking the food home, I was really worried that things would start to spoil, and then there ya go, wasted food and money.
I hate wasting food because it's wasted money.
I always store-up leftovers and when the teens tell me they are hungry, I hand them the Rubbermaid of leftovers and tell them how long to reheat it in the microwave.
I make them finish off the last quarter cup of milk in the gallon, the last slices of bread even if they are the crusted loaf ends, I don't waste any food if it can be helped, so walking the grocery cart home as fast as we could so nothing spoiled was super important to me.
Sure we looked totally silly and totally white trash, but I couldn't reach the cab company so yup, I did what I had to do.

Now I'm just sitting here waiting on the mail man again today.
I'm waiting on 3 things to be delivered this week, the money order from Mom and Dad, the netbook is supposed to be delivered by FedEx by Friday, and a review product is also supposed to be here sometime near the end of this week, so it's a full week of stalking the mailman and other delivery people.
It kind of sucks to have to just sit here with the blinds open and waiting, I have other things that I can be doing, but I don't want stuff to get stolen, and this is the time of year when things get stolen by desperate and ignorant people.

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December 13, 2009

Shopping, decorating, and no sleep.

Once again I've been up all night with insomnia, and then when Sebastian woke up on time because we had planned to go do the big grocery shopping this morning, I had started to doze off right here in my chair.
I hate it when that happens.
I'm so tired from being awake all night long with insomnia, fighting to go to sleep, being unable to sleep so I give up and play on the internet all night.
I end up either goofing off online all night doing totally stupid stuff, or like last night, I was actually checking out all of the various e-tailers looking to see who had the best deals on the video games that the teens want for Christmas, hoping that there will be a good sale when I get paid this week, and also hoping for free and super fast shipping on those video games.
I do not want to have to go into a brick and mortar store to get those games, but because I am doing the Christmas shopping so late, I just may end up having to go to a physical store.

Buy.com does have the best price for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and they do have it with free shipping, but according to their holiday ordering deadlines, if I don't get it ordered by Wednesday the 16th at noon, if I still want to order it and get it by Christmas eve, I will have to pay for 1st or 2nd day air which would cost a lot more money than I want or have to spend, so I may end up having to go to a physical store.
As of right now, the price for 2nd day air is only $4.50 more than the standard of $4.40, but that may change the closer we get to the holiday and shipping schedules get tighter or busier, or maybe that's just their really awesome super low price for 2nd day air all of the time?
Wow, I just looked, and 1 day next day air is only $6.00 more!
I know that other e-tailers charge way more than that for 1st and 2nd day air, a whole lot more.
I don't know and I'm really trying to not stress out over being able to order their games on time without having to pay crazy shipping fees, but that's just how I am, my OCD will drive me absolutely crazy every single day until I can actually place the order.
I just hope that I will be able to get it regardless of being able to order it or have to buy it in store.
I know that it's a popular game, so all I want is to definitely be able to get it.

Ok, off to do the grocery shopping now that it stopped raining and the sun actually came out, and then when we get back home, I need to decorate for Christmas.
I've been putting it off all week, and I promised Sebastian that we would definitely get it done this weekend.
Shopping and decorating on no sleep, should be totally awesome.
Not!

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December 12, 2009

Stalking the mail man from now till Christmas.

I'm sitting here with the door open waiting for the mail man because my Mom and Dad sent out a money order this past Tuesday, and it should be here any day now.
I have to sit here and stalk the mail man because of what happened this past Monday night.
I Twittered it, but forgot to blog it.

Around 8:15-20pm on Monday night, Sebastian and I went for a walk to the corner store, Mark stayed home doing his nightly raiding in WoW, so off we went closing the door but leaving it unlocked like we always do when someone is staying home.
When we got back just 10 minutes later, Sebastian and I both noticed that the screen door and main door were open, not just a little open either, but open plenty wide enough that a person could walk through it without having to turn sideways or anything.
Carmine was out and sitting in the driveway, and Kali, Nova, and Shahiro were all sitting in the doorway but looked like they were just about to walk out when we arrived.

I immediately started calling for Mark, was he outside?
Inside?
Where was he and why were the doors open?
Mark was in the house and that's when he said that just about 2 minutes before Sebastian and I got back, he had been sitting in the other room playing WoW when he heard the front door open, so to be funny and scare Sebastian and I, he yelled "Who the fuck is there?! I have a gun!"
He told us that when neither I or Sebastian replied, he yelled out for me, "Mom?!"
He got no reply again, but that's when he heard the screen door scrape on the door step, he came out of the room, didn't see anyone, saw the doors opened, and started to look around the house in case someone was inside and just not answering him, and that's when we walked up.
Someone had broken into my house, and yes, even though we left the door unlocked, it is still a break in if the home owners didn't invite the person to come in.
My cats almost got out, if anything had happened to them, the teens would have been so upset, I would have been so upset, and those kitties were most certainly thinking about going out that door too.
Whoever it was that had opened the door and come in, left as soon as they heard Mark, but we were coming down the sidewalk, so this person whoever it was, was on foot and either ran into the back yard to hide, or ran back across the street to their house.

Yup, I said their house.
I truly believe that it was one of the two teenagers who live across the street.
They moved in about 4-5 months ago with their family, and one day I caught them looking in the windows of the duplex directly to my left.
They were looking in every single window around the house, I watched them go to every window, whispering to each other, and then they went to the guy's back door, and that's when I yelled that I was calling the police.
They couldn't see me, I was inside my house, but I know they heard me because they both yelled "Shit!" and hauled ass back across the street.
I totally believe that the person who tried to come in my house on Monday was one of these two teens with a breaking and entering problem.
I didn't call the cops on Monday night, I can't prove it was them, plus my friends had shown up in a big black SUV, and when I explained to them what happened, both of my guy friends started talking really loudly about beating some ass.
We could see someone peering through the mini-blinds of that house across the street, so yeah, I'm positive that it was one of those teen thugs.

The mail came today at a little bit past 12 noon, he had a Medicare statement, a note from my doctor about what my co-pay will be in January, (new year, new co-pays) and a box with an item for me to review inside of it, but no letter with a money order from Mom and Dad.
I will be watching for the mail again on Monday, Tuesday, and Mark will have to watch for it on Wednesday as I have a dentist appointment, (Squee!) and so we will just have to stalk the mail man every day until it arrives.
When other relatives let me know that they will be sending money down for the teens for Christmas, I will have to do the same thing.
If those thugs are willing to break into my home and try to steal stuff, they are probably willing to steal my mail too.
It's sucky people like that who make me want to get a gun.
Off and on for a few years now, I have wanted to get a gun for home protection, but then I change my mind, and now I'm changing my mind again.
Jerks.

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December 12, 2009

Up, up and away

Tonight the teens and I watched the movie "Up" by Disney and Pixar.
Well, Friday night, it's now officially Saturday morning.
Once again I've been up all night, spending the entire time crying off and on, just beyond tired and stressed out, and frustrated, and angry, and all kinds of emotions all just slamming into me all night long.
It's not just one reason for this, it's many different reasons and it would all take far too long to explain so I'll just talk about the movie ok?
Ok.

The movie was really good, it was happy and cute, funny and sad, and just a truly wonderful love and friendship story.
I absolutely loved the character of Russell, I thought that kid was just downright adorable!
I wanted so much to just reach out and hug that little guy, his heart was just so open even though it was hurt and broken because his dad wasn't around any longer.
Russell just wanted so much to get it right, to earn that last Wilderness Explorer badge, the Assisting The Elderly Badge, because then maybe his dad would pay attention to him again.
Go camping again, go eat ice cream cones and count the red and blue cars while sitting on the curb, Russell just wanted so much to get those boring things (he called them boring) back.

At the same time that this cute little adventure story is going on with Russell and Carl going up and away in the balloon, we have another story, a love story that happened and is the reason for the whole house going up in balloons.
Carl and Ellie, their love, their life together, ups, downs, happiness, and extreme sadness, but through it all they remained together and on their own adventures together.

Love, friendship, adventure, belonging.
I loved every smile, every laugh, every single tear that this movie made me feel.

It's on sale right now and if I have enough money left over after getting the teens their gifts for Christmas, I might just get this for myself, I enjoyed it that much that I can totally see myself watching it on rainy Saturday afternoons while I lay on the couch with a blanket, a cat, and a few tears sliding down my cheeks.

I know I did a terrible job telling you about this movie, but this post wasn't a movie review, it was just me talking about how my Friday night was, how I'm feeling now at 5am Saturday, just a weird random post filled with all my feelings, mostly sadness.
There are several reasons that I should be happy, but I keep finding myself just totally overcome with sadness every so often these last few days.
I just keep welling up with tears, they start to fall and then I feel the reason that I started crying, it's supposed to be the other way around, feel then cry.
I think this movie just made me feel put on hold, it reminded me that I'm on hold, and I can't get off of hold.
I know that I'm not making a whole lot of sense, I'm exhausted and frustrated with things, and I just want to, actually, I have absolutely no idea what I want other than an intense need for a cigarette right now and I don't have any. hahahaha!

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December 9, 2009

I think it's the paint.

I am really starting to think that it's the paint at the high school that is causing Sebastian to keep getting migraines.
Starting the last week of November, Sebastian started a new class that he takes on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
He needs to take and pass this class to earn the required English credit for graduation.
This class is the 2nd period of the day, and every time he has this class, he ends up getting a headache that ends up turning into a migraine at some point during the day or night.
He had the class Monday, had a headache for the rest of the day, and then had the explosive migraine that night at 1am.
He had that class again today, the class starts at 8:45am, and within an hour, he had a headache.

I wasn't home for most of the day, I had my doc appointment, but he sent me this email when he got to his digital design class at 11:45am.

Hey when I get home do we have any Tylenol or Advil something like that.
I got another migraine so I want to get something when I get home.

He spent almost the entire day at school with a migraine, and then I didn't even get back home from my appointment until around 3:15-3:30pm.
I felt so bad when I got home and realized that he suffered all day at school and the afternoon waiting for me to get home.
Even though we do have Tylenol at home, it's right on the shelf of my desk, neither of the teens will take it unless I give it to them or tell them to take it.
He didn't call my cell and ask if he could take some, he said that he didn't want to bother me if I was doing something important, like if I was still at my appointment or the pharmacy, or on my way home, he just didn't know so he didn't want to interrupt me.
As soon as I got home and saw his pale face lying on the couch, I knew he was in bad shape, so I passed on the Tylenol and gave him a Hydrocodone.
That migraine needed to be knocked out quickly and there's no way that Tylenol was going to do it good and fast.

I asked him a few hours ago, after giving the medicine a chance to work, questions about that particular classroom.
Questions like, was it recently painted, does the teacher wear perfume, do any girls in class wear perfume, do any of the guys wear cologne, can he smell anything harsh like paint or a chemical?
He said his teacher says that perfumes are bad for people so she doesn't ever wear any, he does not sit near any of the girls or guys in the class because he likes to sit near the back of the room away from people because it gives him a little bit of privacy so he can concentrate better, and he said that the class always has a slight smell of paint.
Aha!
He doesn't get headaches every day, only on the days he has this class, the class is at the same time every day, and the room always smells a little bit like paint.
Smells can trigger headaches and migraines, I know this because I get perfume/scent headaches, and certain perfumes and scents cause me to have an instant migraines.
The scents that cause me to have an instant and excruciating migraine are cinnamon and vanilla.
I love cinnamon rolls, I love the taste of them, but I cannot inhale the smell of them too deeply or this food that I love to eat will give me a blinding migraine from breakfast time straight on through the entire day.
At this time of year at Publix, they sell these stupid and absolutely horrid cinnamon brooms and they place them at both store entrances and at various locations throughout the store.
I can go from the dairy aisle and take a left into the deli section and get ambushed by the scent of those brooms and have an instant migraine that makes the rest of my grocery shopping an absolute nightmare.
The vanilla perfume that causes the instant migraine is Vanilla Fields by Coty.
I know that perfume as soon as I get even the slightest whiff of it.
I first started getting migraines from it when I worked at Pier 1 Imports.
There were 3 (three!) girls who worked there that wore it, and a whole hell of a lot of it.
Ugh.
It would suck when all 3 of them worked on the same day, I would beg the manager to let me work in the stockroom all day because if I had to be on the sales floor with those 3 girls, I would be be curled up in 1 of the papasan chairs and crying by the end of the day.

Strong scents, perfumes, spices, and chemical scents, can causes headaches for almost anybody, but for people who are susceptible to migraines, those scents can turn a regular easy-to-kill with Tylenol headache, into a migraine that just makes you want to chop your own head off.
I really believe that it is the slight smell of paint in that 1 classroom that is causing Sebastian's migraines.
Last year he was getting migraines almost every single day.
Last year the school was being built, there was a ton of construction and painting going on every single day, so he was getting headaches and migraines almost every single day.
Sebastian has to take this class 3 days a week, he has to get this credit in order to graduate, and there is no other teacher in his grade level teaching this class, so he has to be in this classroom 3 days a week.
The school has the most absurd rules about stuff like Tylenol if I wanted to try and help him stave off the impending migraine, too.
No student can have or use any Tylenol or other OTC medication at or on any part of the school property, or face suspension with their zero tolerance policy concerning drugs.
Even if a student has a prescription and a letter from a doctor, they cannot have their pain medicine at school.
We went through this last year when he had to take a migraine medicine every 6 hours, they refused to let him take it at school, they wouldn't even dispense it to him in the school nurses office, it was this huge hassle and that's when I asked them about Tylenol and other OTC meds.
They had the same response, no medications, zero tolerance, but if I wanted to, I could appeal it at the school board, they would investigate the students need for the medication, I would have to give my written consent for them to contact the doctor and find out how much the medication was really needed to be taken.
It was basically a do or die kind of thing, like, was Sebastian's head going to explode if he couldn't take the medication at exactly every 6 hours?
Would he survive if he took 1 dose before he left home in the morning, and then didn't take the next dose until he got home?
He would survive?
Thank you doctor.
Sorry Ms. Cooper, Sebastian will not die if he can't take it at school, so our original decision holds, he will not be taking his medication at school, thank you, and now shut the fuck up.
There were quite a few days last year when I had him stick 2 Tylenol in his pocket before he left home, and I told him how to take them if he started getting a headache.
I told him that when the bell rang and everyone was changing classes in the hallway, to reach into his pocket, grasp the pills in his hand and when he got near a water fountain, start coughing really hard, cover his mouth with his hand so he doesn't spread the germies, pop the Tylenol into his mouth, and then get a drink at the fountain and keep on going to his next class.
If he continues to get these migraines every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, we may just have to start doing the cough and swallow trick again.
It's absolutely pathetic that we have to do that, that any student has to do that.
I know that Mindy's son Jeff had to do that when he injured his foot and was wearing 1 of those boots, they wouldn't let him take his prescription pain meds either, so Mindy did the same as us, cough and swallow.
I hate that we have to break the rules, and I know that if he gets caught doing the cough and swallow he will be suspended for a minimum of 1 week, but knowing that he is getting horrible migraines makes me feel like I have no choice but to break the rules.

His migraine was barely starting to fade away at 9pm, but he finally felt like it was easing up enough to where he could try to sleep, so he went to bed around 9:45pm, and I went and checked on him around 10:15pm, and he was asleep, so I'm hoping that the migraine goes away completely, that he won't wake up screaming later on tonight.
I'm not tired at all, so I'll keep checking on him all night until I do feel like going to bed.
Migraines are truly the suck, both for the person who suffers from them, and for the people caring for the sufferers.
I really hate seeing him hurting so much, I hate seeing the pale and pained face, I hate hearing him cry in a barely audible whisper because even crying normally makes it hurt even more.
I wish there was a safe medication that he only needed to take once a day every day, and it would make it so that migraines never happened at all, and if they did, that it would quickly disappear.
That would be awesome, but so far the only meds sort of like that have terrible side effects, and I refuse to make him end up having chronic diarrhea, chronic dry mouth, heart palpitations, urinary problems, or any of the other multitude of side effects from those medications.
Looks like it will be the ol' cough and swallow trick 3 days a week.

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December 8, 2009

Explosive migraines and shopping.

Around 1 am, Sebastian woke up screaming from an explosive migraine.
Mark was awake and playing a video game, I was out here playing around online, and we both heard him screaming, so the both of us ran in there to see what was wrong.
I turned on the light and ran to his bedside and asked what was wrong while brushing his hair out of his eyes.
He was crying and clutching his head, all he could say was "migraine, help me", so I had Mark grab a t-shirt for Sebastian and help him put it on while I ran out to the kitchen to turn on the water and let it get a little colder, and then I came to my desk where I keep my meds and I got out a Hydrocodone, and went back to the kitchen to fill his cup with cold water.
Hydrocodone is basically Vicodin, and Sebastian's doctor has put him on that before so I know it's ok to give it to him.
I had him swallow down the pill and then lay on the couch to try and relax.
I sat next him and rubbed his forehead and temples gently while having him slowly inhale deeply through his nose, and exhale deeply through his mouth.
These things, the breathing and massaging of the head while waiting for the pain pill to kick in, help migraine sufferers relax while waiting for the med to kick in.
If they don't calm down, the migraine can get much worse, especially with Sebastian.
He goes into panic mode and starts breathing really fast and hard, and then he starts crying, and then the migraine gets even bigger, so doing the breathing and massaging for about 10 minutes while waiting for the med to kick in, works extremely well in preventing the exploding migraine from getting any worse.

I suffer from migraines myself, I get about 1 or 2 per month, but I have gotten the exploding migraines in my sleep before, it's very painful, so painful that it feels like you've just been shot in the head at point blank range, like the gun was touching your head when it was fired.
It's not a migraine that comes on slowly, it just explodes in your head, all of a sudden, you have a migraine, BANG! there it is, an explosive migraine that drops you to your knees.
I feel so bad that he gets migraines so often, but at least it's not like last year where he was having 1 just about every other day, he's now only getting them about once per week.

I finally made up my mind and did it.
I bought the netbook tonight.
I won't be needing to buy any laptop memory for the netbook, it has a 160GB hard drive, and 1GB DDR2 system memory already, so that should be plenty for what Sebastian is needing it for for school.
YaY!

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December 7, 2009

Only 9 days till Christmas vacation?!

Ack!
In just 9 days Sebastian will be on Christmas vacation, or winter break as they are now calling it so as not to offend anyone.
I really wish people would get off of that battle, there are bigger things to argue about than what to say to people, either Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays, it's no big deal.
I say Merry Christmas and I'm an atheist.
Oh my! The horrors!...LoL

I will be doing the shopping for the teens Christmas gifts next week.
I know, so late, but I am waiting for a few things to go on sale.
I'm so glad the boys are older, they know and understand the financial situation, so they don't ask for a million things anymore, and they also don't ask for super expensive things anymore.
I remember when they were little, every single commercial for a toy, they wanted that toy, they had to have it.
Little kids are just naturally greedy.
They don't mean to be, they just get that way at Christmas, they get excited because they believe in Santa Claus and want everything that they can get or think Santa will bring them.
Now that they are older and know Santa is not real and know that it's me, mommy, who buys all of the gifts, they know that they cannot ask for everything they see, but they do ask for just 1 big item that they would like to have.
They both want Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for the Xbox 360, and they also want something for the World of Warcraft game.
Something about a character transfer I think, I don't know, I don't pay any attention to that game at all, it bores me to be honest, I cannot understand why people get so addicted to playing it.
All I want is some more memory for my new pc to make it really fly and also be able to handle my Sims3 game way better.
It can handle it right now, but with 4GB of memory, it will be spectacular!

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December 4, 2009

If I had a nice yard, I would so have one of these.

When Sebastian and I took our nightly walk around the neighborhood last night, we could smell a wood fire burning and coming from up the street, so we walked that way to see where and what it was.
The new people (5 months new people) were sitting outside in their nicely done yard and had 1 of these kinds of outdoor fireplaces going.

It didn't have that dome cover, theirs appeared to be just a mesh screen type cover, I picked the 1 that I posted when I went searching for them online, found that awesome looking celestial cover, and then went to see how much they were.
The price isn't too bad, it's well out of my price range of course, (that is until I win the Powerball baby!!) but I just think that it looks really nice in a nicely done up yard.
If I had a really nice yard, maybe even fenced in, a lanai perhaps, maybe with a swimming pool too, I would totally have an outdoor fireplace or pit.

The people up the street just looked so totally relaxed and happy sitting outside enjoying the fall air and talking to each other around the fire.
A few weeks ago when Mark was spending the night with his friend Jeff, Sebastian and I went and hung out with some friends of mine who have a fire pit.
They got it going really good and it was so nice to just sit there on their wooden swing with the super comfy cushions, and chat by the fireside.
I sat with my friend Jen who is a couple months pregnant, and so swinging felt really good to the both of us.
We both got into a nice rhythm going back and forth, and talking about babies and weddings and stuff while the guys sat and talked sports and video games.
Sebastian was telling the guys all kinds of ways to get stuff in WoW, that game is still totally over my head, I know absolutely nothing about it, so once anyone gets talking about it, I just tune it out completely. haha
Jen and Rusty are getting married in February, so they are starting to plan things out, just a really simple wedding at the beach with a justice of the peace.
I've often thought about becoming an ordained secular humanist clergy-type person so I can marry my atheist friends and stuff.
I'd also be able to do things like baby namings, funerals, commitment ceremonies, affirmation of love ceremonies, invocations, renewal of marriage ceremonies, and holiday ceremonies.
All I would need to do this would be to get a Notary Public license, and then bada-bing bada-boom!
I could marry atheists and other secular individuals, or just couples who don't want the traditional religious ceremony done at their wedding.
I think it would be like a pretty cool little side job to have, and if gays ever get the right to be married in Florida, I could marry them and do those weddings too.
I think it's a pretty cool idea and so did Rusty and Jen, they asked me if I could possibly become a notary by February, so I said that I would look into it.
They don't want the traditional vows done at their wedding, they want to write their own vows, they want a peaceful and friendly ceremony, so I'm looking into it.
Pretty cool huh?
Me, an ordained clergy-type person. Ha ha haha!

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December 4, 2009

Disney Christmas Tree review.

I was so very fortunate to receive a Disney Christmas tree animated/musical/light-up Christmas decoration for review and to keep from Collectibles Today.
I am seriously grateful for the opportunity to get this tree and be able to add this to my home's Christmas decorating items.
This will be a treasured and cherished decoration for many years to come.

Each and every gorgeous level, and each and every single one of over 50 Disney characters that are on it, are all hand painted with incredibly fine detail.
There are so many characters from most of the Disney movies on this tree.
It has quite a few of the princesses and their princes, Belle and Beast, Sleeping Beauty and Prince Phillip, Ariel and Prince Eric, Pocahontas and John Smith, Cinderella and Prince Charming, Snow White and her prince too!

There's Donald Duck and Daisy, Minnie and Mickey, Peter Pan, the 101 Dalmatians, the 7 Dwarfs, Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet, Simba, Bambi, Pinocchio, Tinkerbelle and so so many others on all 4 levels, it's just incredible how many of the beloved Disney characters are on this tree!

There's motion on all 4 levels too!
There is the train run by Mickey Mouse on the bottom and second level, the princesses and princes are dancing around on the third level, and on the fourth level, it's Mickey Mouse at the reins of the sleigh as 'Santa' with Pluto as the lead reindeer circling just above Cinderella's castle.

The whole tree lights up with 20 bright LED lights, and it also plays a medley of Christmas carols.
I haven't heard all of the songs as I haven't started decorating the house for Christmas yet, (Sebastian is so bugging me to do it now! He's been bugging since Thanksgiving day!...LoL) and I have only taken it out of the box to look at it a few times since getting it on November 10th.
The box the tree came in is pretty damn nifty too.
It has a perfectly sculpted styrofoam insert (top and bottom) to protect the tree all year long when not in use so the tree doesn't get damaged at all during storage.
I know, I am totally impressed by a box. Ha!
This tree is hand-numbered, mine is B4419, and has a matching certificate of authenticity as an original from Hawthorne Village.

I've shown the tree to my sister and any of my friends who have stopped over for a visit, and they all just love it, I've gotten a gazillion compliments on it!
My pictures and the video I made DO NOT do it any justice at all!
I am not quite sure where I'm going to place it for this Christmas, I am thinking about putting it dead center of my coffee table as it doesn't have to be plugged into the AC adapter to run, it can run on batteries.
It has 2 settings, you can run it with lights, movement and music, or turn the switch the other way, and it will just light up and move.
After 1 hour of continuously running, it will automatically shut off, that's a great feature because with the music off, I can totally see myself just letting it sit on the coffee table lit up and moving all day and night once I get the house decorated for the holiday like I do with our little Christmas tree.
I made a video to show it to you so you can see it lit up and moving with both music and without, and I admit that the video quality is not very good, I'll redo it tomorrow, but I just wanted to show you all how awesome it is.
I need to redo the video and pictures during the day as the lighting in my house is very low at night, I do not use really bright bulbs, I like very soft light, but soft light sucks for trying to get a good picture or make a video.
And yup, I probably sound like a total idiot gushing over the tree, but I was just so excited...hahaha!
This Disney Christmas tree is really perfect for me and my house as I am a HUGE Disney fan and have a massive collection of Disney toys from happy meals, I have a Snow White Evil Queen coffee cup and an Ursula coffee cup, an Ursula doll from the Great Villains Collection, and an awesome snow globe of all of the villains too.
I told Sebastian that after he gets home tomorrow, we will get out all of the decorations and decorate the house for Christmas this weekend, I know it will make him totally happy, he just loves Christmas and all of the trimmings.
This tree is going to look so good on my coffee table, I just love it, so thank you Collectibles Today, thank you so much!

This review is a result of a feedback campaign by Collectibles Today.
I was asked to give an honest opinion about the product I received.
Good reviews are not incentivized and poor reviews will not be censored for the opinion of the product. **

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December 2, 2009

I just realized that it's December. *blink blink*

Holy crap, it's December 2nd already?
I'm not ready for Christmas yet! No!! Not yet!!!
I'm not actually panicked about it, the teens know that they are each getting one gift with a value of just $80 bucks or less, and then all kinds of stocking stuffers from me.

They know that I cannot afford to go crazy shopping for Christmas even if stuff is on sale.
The teens are really easy to shop for though, they either want Xbox 360 games like Assassin's Creed II or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, or they want a couple of characters moved around in their WoW account.

Doing stuff in Wow is just as expensive as an in-hand video game purchase, and I will be leaving it up to them to decide exactly what they want, but they have to stay within the price range of $80 each.
That's just all that I can afford to do this year, things have been super tight with having to replace the AC twice just since February, and then having to pay a lot of out of pocket for Mark's doctor visits and meds, and transportation to and from both of our appointments, pay a lot of cash out of pocket for some of my meds not covered by my insurance, things are what they are.
But I know that I'm not the only family that is struggling this year to try and provide a half-way decent Christmas for our kids, everybody is feeling the pinch of the economy.
The teens are really great about it though, they know what's what and they are ok with it, plus they know that they will get cash from relatives so they can go buy what they want to buy themselves.
You ask them what they want from a relative for Christmas because that relative asked, both of the teens say cash. haha
They just like money, hey, who doesn't right?
They like to get cash because they then can spend it on what they want or save it for awhile.
Last year, they both managed to save the majority of the money they got all of the way into spring, I was impressed by their ability to not go crazy and spend it.
But when they do want to buy something like a video game, they hand over their money to me and I purchase it from Buy.com or wherever with my debit card.
That works out really well because I don't have to go over to teh video game store where they are just looking at everything and can't make up their minds.
Shopping online makes them have to make a decision with no dilly-dallying at all, it's definitely my preferred way to shop.

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