Planes, Trains and Automobiles

That is one way to sum up my last 10 days. I took a surprise (not to me, but to my friends) trip to California, and in order not to blow the secret, I minimized my cyber time before I left. And then I was so busy having the time of my life - not to mention I had limited internet access - that I didn't post while I was gone.

Lil Major and I are home, safe and sound. And I promise to take you back through my journey just as soon as I can see over the pile of laundry and mail.

Happy Friday, in the meantime!

My New Hobby

I have a new hobby. It's not that I NEED another thing to do, this just kinda happened. And it's good for our family, well, at least good for our budget.

Remember this story? The true one that The Colonel wrote about me almost 10 years ago now?? Well, I just thought I was frugal back then. I bought things on sale, I clipped a few coupons, I complained and got free stuff when service wasn't up to snuff.

But it was nothing like what I'm doing now. Back then, I never would have gotten all this...



for...only...$12.00!!!

Yes, I got 28 items (5 packages of TP, 3 pizzas, 10 2-liters of Coke products, bread, bananas, 2 packages of butterscotch chips, hummus, bacon, tomoatoes, croutons, pot roast seasoning, and mascara) all for TWELVE DOLLARS.

How did I do it? By watching the ads, clipping coupons (paper and online), taking advantage of store deals and brands...and by shopping smarter! All of these things are things I had to buy anyway - brands I always buy, but I just paid less, WAY less.

I don't know how it first happened. I was on a blog, and clicked on a link and clicked on another, and all of a sudden I found this whole other world. The world of coupons and freebies and discounts and spending LESS money! I've added at least 10 new blogs to my reader, all that have to do with being frugal.

Some of the things I've learned?

* Never pay for toothpaste, shampoo or toilet paper again - those 5 packages of Cottenelle I bought above? FREE - I didn't pay ONE penny for them. I had 5 $0.50 off one coupons, and my store (owned by Kroger) doubles coupons, so they were FREE! Now, I don't like using the drug store shampoo (makes my uber-expensive color fade too fast), so I'll have to suck it up and keep buying salon shampoo.

* Don't clip coupons out of the Sunday paper - save the whole insert! I used to clip coupons I thought I might use in the next few weeks, and then they'd expire before I used them. Now, I save the whole insert, watch the ads, and can buy things I might not have thought of before - but they're super cheap w/ the sale and a coupon.

*Take advantage of online coupons - you can either print out coupons online or there are a few websites where you can load coupons right to your grocery store card and the discounts come off automatically. Check out these websites for that: cellfire.com, shortcuts.com, P&G eSaver

There are tons more tips and deals and info on these blogs...which have become some of my favorites to check daily, if not more frequently.

BeCentsAble
Deal Seeking Mom
Mommy Snacks
Money Saving Mom
The Grocery Cart Challenge
It's Hip 2 Save
Stretching a Buck
The New Frugal Mom


Some of these women share ideas and post together or post very similar things (i.e. weekly store deals), but that doesn't bother me. Seeing it more than once helps it sink in or reminds me to check out a good deal.

In this economy, these ideas are really helping us save money without giving up things we're used to. And it's helping me learn how to stock up my pantry for those weeks when I don't want to spend very much at all at the store. This has made a big difference to us lately, so I thought I'd share w/ all of you. Happy Saving!!

mystery solved

I've solved the mystery. The one about why women say so many more words in a day than men do.

It's because women have to repeat themselves so many times...because men don't listen, don't acknowledge, don't answer...and women have to make sure the men heard us.

Grr!!

Falling Apart

Who said that thirty is the new twenty??? I agreed with that statement until recently...when I started falling apart.

I've taken care of my body (ok, so I've missed a few visits to the dentist, but he's SCARY!), I go to the gym, I eat veggies (to balance out the junk food), I get as much sleep as I can. I brush my teeth, go to the eye doctor, get my annual checks. So, why, please tell me, is my body giving up on me this year?

It's like turning 34 had something to do with it. Because since then? I'm a mess.

Ever since Lil Major was born, I've had problems with my back. And I'm finally getting that fixed. My twice weekly trips to the physical therapist have really helped. Yesterday she said that she could really tell a difference in my back. When I first went in, the whole area by my shoulder blade down to the middle of my back was "frozen". It wouldn't move when she rubbed on it, and it was full of knots. She's been able to massage most of those knots out, and I (almost) feel normal again. I still get weird tinglies when I work out or am tired, but the jabbing pain is gone. And the therapy? It's heaven! I start out by lying on my tummy in a dark room with a weighted hot water blanket on my back. Oh, it's my naptime, and it's heavenly! I only have 2 more sessions left, and I'm sad. I really need to step it up to find a massage therapist who my insurance approves.

Besides my back...I went to a new eye doctor last week for my annual check and to get new contacts. This time I went to an ophthalmologist. We switched insurance last year and my old doctor doesn't accept it (oh joy!), so off to the new one. She was really nice, and YOUNGER than me (see, I AM old!), and all went well in the office. My prescription hasn't changed (one good thing), she numbed my eyes for the glaucoma test and then she dilated them. I came home and went about my day. AND THEN, about 7 hours later, my eyes were on fire. I didn't think much of it, so I just went to bed. I woke up the next morning with gunk in my eyes and red in my eyes.

Oh no! I thought I had pink eye! Since it's made the rounds through my sister's house 4 times in the last couple months, I panicked. And if I had it, then I got it at the doctor's office. All of a sudden, I remembered that she hadn't washed her hands when she came in the room...and then she touched my eyes!!

After many phone calls back and forth to the office, another night of gunk in my eyes, and FINALLY a visit back to the doctor (which I'm sure I'll be charged for), we decided it was some sort of reaction to the numbing drops. A reaction that I never had BEFORE I turned 34! So, after a week of wearing my glasses and looking like a freak with red eyes, I think that's back to normal.

What's next you say? Oh yes, there is more. Lil Major got a killer cold as soon as we got back from Indiana. In fact, Captain, my mom, my dad, and ME all got the cold. Everyone is over it...except me! I haven't had a cold this bad in years. Congestion, sneezing, blowing my nose (bright yellow - have you ever seen that??), sore throat, coughing...generally, feeling like CRAP.

I'm convinced it has something to do with being 34!

Finally, I'm starting to feel better during the day. But, at night? My throat is still killing me, I cough like there's no tomorrow, and I get stuffed up. I finally called the nurse a couple days ago. After asking me a million questions, she decided that I just have a cold, and I have to wait it out. Grr!

And here's a funny thing. There was just an article in the paper about how if you get 8 hours of UNINTERRUPTED sleep, then you can usually fight off a cold more quickly or never get it in the first place. Huh. Well, then I will get every cold. I haven't had 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep in over a year!

There's more, but I won't even get into the fact that I'm still carrying baby weight - besides, that probably has more to do with my addiction to chocolate and junk food than anything. =)

If you think about it, pray for this old girl. I need it. And I NEED to get over this cold!

My Little Man

My sweet baby boy is 9 months old (and one week...so this post is a little late)! He's turning into a little boy before my eyes. He babbles and talks to me. He laughs and giggles when we wrestle and tickle. He pulls up on absolutely everything. He still loves his stuffed giraffes (two of them) and for his mama to sing to him. He is still fascinated by cords and remotes and the TV, and his newest fascination is the diaper pail (gross!) and the drawers in the kitchen. He gets stronger and smarter and cuter (is that possible??) and more lovable every day. And for all the late night wake up calls, short naps, and mischief, I love him all the more!





Lil Major got some great gifts for his first Christmas. But he loves one of them especially (thanks Mema!)...and his Mama is a little nervous about it. See, it's super cute, and he loves to play with it...but it encourages him to walk, and I'm not sure if I'm ready for that yet!

Ice Harvest

Has anyone seen that movie? Or read the book? They're both really terrible - mobs, strippers, foul language...but it takes place in Wichita, and John Cusack acted in it. Which means, at the time, it was a MUST SEE. Then I saw the book in the library this week, and checked it out to see if it was as bad as the movie...it is.

Anyway, that's not the point of my post. It just reminds me of our fateful trip we took to South Bend while we were in Indiana over Christmas. But, before I get to the story, here are some Christmas highlights.

The cousins started the tradition of opening Christmas jammies on Christmas Eve. They had a little bit of a rough start, though, as they were unsure about opening the presents. Lil Major loved the paper, and Captain just wanted to push his present around the room. But, how stinkin' cute are they???







We opened gifts in the afternoon on Christmas Day, so that my brother and SIL had time to drive down from Wisconsin. Once they got there, we ate brunch, and then hit the gifts. My sis gave me this fork...so that I can steal food from The Colonel's plate w/o getting stabbed. =)



The Colonel got a hat to match his son's...




After an afternoon of playing Wii, eating some more, and playing with new toys, we went to bed with the goal of leaving for South Bend at 7am the next day. We were heading to visit some friends from WAY back. Our moms were pregnant with us together, and we've been friends ever since. We're scattered all over the country now, so this was a treat that we were all in the same place at the same time.

Over the years, we've spent countless hours playing with their family (3 kids about the same ages as us), causing trouble, camping, hiding out in each other's cars to see how far we could get before being discovered. And we even call each other's parents Aunt and Uncle. Still. To this day!

South Bend is 150 miles from where we were. Should take about 2 1/2 hours, maybe a little longer if you stop for the babies. Wanna guess how long it took us??? Over 7 hours!! Why, you ask?? Because we hit a massive ice storm. Did anyone hear about the terrible ice in Indiana the day after Christmas? Well, we were smack dab in the middle of it.

Now, we're not idiots, we checked the weather before we left. I mean, come on, my dad WAS leading this expedition, and he's Mr. Travel Safety (except when I had to remind him to put his seat belt on, but I digress). The weather report said there could be some freezing drizzle north of where we were going. No big deal.

But, about 90 miles into the trip, we started seeing that freezing drizzle. The roads were slick, but we slowed down and were doing ok. Then we started seeing cars in the ditches.


Then I started panicking in my very small space I had in the back seat of the Accord next to Lil Major's HUGE carseat. And then we came to a standstill. For 90 minutes!

Sister was in a different car, but looks like she felt the same way I did.



We thought we were waiting for an accident to clear, but we finally found out that the highway had been closed, 4 hours earlier!! Before we even left home! There was no news about it, no signs on the road, no nothing. We all just sat there, for a LONG time. Finally, the left lane started moving, and we realized that there was an intersection up ahead where people were turning. We followed and ended up in a small town where we ate lunch at Burger King and decided our next steps. I was completely outvoted for going home. Which, was probably a good thing, because we were only 22 miles from our destination and 130 miles from home.

We mapped some side roads (thank goodness for GPS!), and headed out again. 2 1/2 hours later...we finally got there. Besides driving 25 mph, we had to stop several times for the cops to pull people out of ditches. They shut down the whole road to do this.

Are we really almost there???


FINALLY! There's the house!


Our friends were amazed that we made it. They should be, after what we went through! =) We had a wonderful visit with them for a few hours. The house was full of people, kids, laughter, yelling, food, fun, oh, and don't forget the wine (which I very much needed after my day in the car)!

We debated about spending the night in a motel, but the boys in our group vetoed, and we headed home. It had warmed up to 50 degrees while we were there so all the ice had melted. BUT, do you know what happens when ice melts b/c it warmed up to 50??? FOG! Yes, we still had to drive home going no more than 40 mph because of the fog. Grr! At least the boy and I were able to nap on the way. It was worth it, but I think my life will be shorter because of the experience.

So, what started out as this...



turned into this...



and now we're this...minus the photographer, a few kiddos in bed and a grandma who's helping the kiddos...

Trying to Breathe

Literally....I'm trying to breathe. I've caught the boy's cold. He still has it, but I think he's finally getting better (that doesn't mean the snot has stopped pouring out of his nose, but we're making progress), and now I've got it. And if he felt anything like I'm feeling, I don't care if I spoiled him when I let him sleep on my chest and cuddle as much as he wanted in the thick of it.

ANYWAY, I have a couple posts rolling around in my head that I've been wanting to get up for ages...and I just haven't done it. I'm off to take a very hot shower, and if that helps me feel better, maybe I'll start on them while I snuggle up in bed.

Don't give up on me...I will be back!

2008 - In Review

So, I haven't told you about our Christmas celebration, but I'll post about that later. I have a doozie of a story for you from our trip. But, since it's the last day of the year, I thought I'd do an end of year post.

2008 has flown by. So much has changed, so much has happened. We have experienced times of absolute joy and awe and other times of terrible sadness and loss. There was a 12 month period in 1997 and 1998 that reminds me a lot of this last year. Kinda weird that it was 10 years ago.

I felt God's presence through so much of what happened this year, and the times that I didn't feel Him? Well, I know that He was there - prodding us along, carrying us through hard times, and making sure that we didn't have more than we could handle (although it didn't seem that way at the time).

We started off the year with anticipation for the birth of Lil Major and a quiet celebration at home. Little did we know what the year would hold for us. Before January ended, I made an impromptu trip to California for my step-grandfather's funeral. The sad time turned into a very enjoyable family get together as I saw family members I hadn't seen in years.

I was able to take a quick trip back to CA in March to visit friends and family before the arrival of Lil Major. It was so much fun to hang out with everyone, including my sister and nephew, and it was the last visit before my parents moved to Kansas.

April was a crazy, exciting, beautiful, happy, scary month. We weren't expecting Lil Major to arrive until the end of the month, but my body had other plans. Just 16 hours after my parents arrived in Wichita, I was sent to the hospital, and I didn't come home until I was holding a precious baby boy 5 days later.

Just a few weeks after Lil Major arrived, tragedy found our family. We lost The Colonel's brother and his wife in a tornado west of Wichita. We spent most of the summer in shock as we grieved the loss of two special people. We learned a lot through our experiences, and The Colonel and I drew closer to each other and our new little family.

When it was time to return to work after maternity leave, I chose to quit my job (that I hated anyway) and accept an offer for part time work with a local aircraft company. The best of both worlds! I got to spend 4 days a week with my son, and still make a decent living working 3 days a week.

It was hard to get "back to normal," if that's possible, but that's what I tried to do in August as I traveled back to CA again for a family wedding a longer visit with friends. The time went by quickly, but I had so much fun. And Lil Major turned into quite the traveler!

After thinking that I would be working 3 days a week for the long haul, the economy took a dive, and I found myself without a job. The sudden change caused me some anxiety, but I'm so thankful to be able to stay home with the boy. And I'm on the lookout for some work-from-home stuff that I can do.

Before we knew it, the holidays were here...and now they've almost passed us by. The year flew by! And I know that time is not going to slow down. Lil Major is growing so fast, and we are enjoying him so much.

Some things that happened in 2008 make me want to say that I can't wait to start over in 2009. But, I will never wish 2008 away -- it's the year that made me a mom, that brought my husband and I closer together, that saw my parents move closer to all 3 of us kids, that we lost loved ones - who we will see again one day. Who knows what 2009 holds for us...I guess we'll have to see where we are in 366 days.

The year is ending in just a few hours (at least in our neck of the woods), so I'm off to enjoy the final moments with my husband...if we can make it til midnight, that is! Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

Every year, my super talented hubby writes our Christmas letter. This year, a newer member of the family took over the honors...with a little help from his Daddy. So, I bring you our family letter for 2008. Merry Christmas!




Merry Christmas, People,

I arrived early – three weeks early, they tell me. There was a lot of hullabaloo and apple polishing in the hospital, but I found out later it wasn’t for me. It was for the Jayhawks who had just prevailed in a big game. It seems as though I interrupted what was a spirited second half of a basketball game. I was nothing more than a post-game footnote. To make matters worse, my folks were shoddily prepared for my arrival; no car seat, no diapers, no nothin’ – another stick in the eye. I had a bit of a wobbly start, if you ask me. But my Dad tells me, “Don’t fret, son. At least you were born in a red state.”

I am relaxing in my quarters now. As I compose this from my crib, I am gazing up at camouflage netting hanging from my ceiling, camouflage walls, camouflage blankets. My room is dimly lit. Dad tells me it is like a war bunker, whatever that means. All my stuff is brown and green. Even the garb I am wearing. This is really alarming...is everyone’s home like this?

Only six months old and I have traveled more than Bob Hope. SuperMom has lugged me around to seven states and one ocean. Dad usually stays at home. He is already secretly advising me, ala John Madden, about air travel. He says things like “Man was not meant to fly,” and “Watch out for those left coast loonies,” whatever that means.

Sunday afternoons at my house are jam-packed with cheap entertainment. I am learning about Chiefs football. I park myself between SuperMom and Dad and watch them hurl objects at the television while shouting things like “Tackle him! Tackle him!” and “Catch the ball, you loser!” The furry schnauzers run for cover. Outstanding! Dad usually stalks from the room before the game is over, but SuperMom and I sit ‘til the bitter end.

My birth certificate reads ‘xxxxxxx,’ but nobody calls me that. They call me ‘Little Major’ or ‘Major’ or ‘Little Buddy’ or ‘Buddy’. Dad sometimes refers to me as ‘Major Minor’ or ‘The Offspring.’ At this point I will answer to just about anything – I am one befuddled baby.

I have recently learned how to growl. Like a bear. SuperMom and Dad carry me around in the library where I randomly growl at people. Dad says I must have a sixth sense – I only growl at liberals.

Lest I forget what I look like, SuperMom and Dad have installed hundreds of photos of me throughout the house. I am photographed more than Brad Pitt. Snapshots everywhere! Oh well, it worked for the Ayatollah....

People tell me I look like my Dad. Fortunately, he is already warning me of my bleak future. “Get ready for a lifetime of mockery and harassment,” he says. But what does he know? Seven months old and I already have more of a mane than him. Besides, SuperMom is always telling me I am the cutest baby in the county.


Signing off now,

Lil Major

Free Travel!

Check out Cheap O Air for more info! You've got until Dec 22 to sign up!

Christmas Feeling

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here (is that cliche enough for all of you??). It's true! On Tuesday morning, we woke up to this beautiful sight...




And it's been so cold here all week that it's all still on the ground. I'm so thankful I haven't had to drive to work this week. There were a couple days where the roads were just terrible during the morning commute. Thankfully, The Colonel didn't have any problems. Since Lil Major has been sick, he hasn't been able to taste his first snow yet, but we've ventured out for some quick errands. This is as close as the poor boy has gotten to the snow so far...



Before the snow came, we kicked off our season by visiting our Botanical Gardens. They light up the gardens with luminaries and lots of other lights. Even though it hadn't snowed yet, it was pretty stinkin' cold, so we bundled up. Lil Major was bundled up so well, even his nose wasn't cold when I pulled him out of his stroller at the end!




Our house is all decorated for Christmas, and I have to confess that I haven't taken the time this year to just sit and admire it. I've been rushing around too much. But, as I type this, I'm listening to Christmas music, smelling the yummy cookies I just made, enjoying the lights and thanking God that my boy has been napping all afternoon. I need a hot drink, but I'm too comfy to get up.

My decorations look a lot like last year...with a few exceptions. Wish you could all stop by for some coffee and a cookie...guess this will have to do for now.

Welcome to my home! Here's what you see as you walk in the front door.



MIL's 100+ year old piano looks great in the dining-room-turned-sitting-room, and it makes the perfect place for my Nativity set.




The tree and mantle look pretty much the same as years past.


Almost all of my Christmas ornaments have special meaning to me - gifts from The Colonel from our dating days, mementos of past vacations, photos of loved ones, hand made ornaments from elementary school. There are some new ornaments this year, and they're just as special to us.

Front and center on the tree this year is this one...we miss you G&K!



And a couple other new ones...




I LOVE getting all the cards, letters and photos from family and friends. For the last few years, I've been trying to figure out a good way to display all of them. I think I finally figured it out, and my good buddy Marge was my inspiration. I got the idea from a sign she made for Lil Major at my shower.



The house is decorated, 2 batches of poor man's toffee have been made and given away, a new batch of cookies are cooling in the kitchen, and our church Christmas party is this weekend. All that remains to be done to complete our pre-Christmas traditions is to watch Christmas Vacation. If I only had a few more hours in the day...

How are your preparations coming??

The Best Prescription EVER

For 8 1/2 months, ever since Lil Major came home from the hospital, I've been having problems with my back. I first noticed as I hunched over the pack and play to change the boy or to lay him down to sleep. I just figured I was compensating for a sore belly from the c-sect. At my 6 week check, I told my OB about the pain. She said it was just tired, and not to worry about it.

Well, all this time later, it still hurts...and it's SO much worse. I get numbness and tingling down the right side of my back. The only way I can sleep is flat on my back. It's much worse after a busy day of playing with the boy, picking up the house and doing countless dishes.

After complaining for months, I finally sucked it up and went to the doctor. I'd been putting off going for lots of reasons - I didn't have a regular doctor, I didn't figure they could do anything for me since I'm still nursing and can't take most meds, and I didn't want to seem like a whiny kid complaining about aches and pains.

The doc was awesome. And I'm only slightly freaked out that she's about my age (when did I get old enough to have a doctor MY age??? That's why I refuse to think about the fact that my friend's hubby is a cardiologist...and he's YOUNGER than me!). She thinks it's something muscular since it's off to the side of my back. She told me take Aleve regularly, she signed me up for some physical therapy (which will be new to me), AND she wrote me a prescription to have a massage every 2 weeks!!

Woo hoo! Can't go against doctor's orders, right? My insurance will even cover it, after a co-pay, if I can find a "preferred provider." Sounds good to me!

Mondays still suck

I haven't worked (a paying job) on a Monday in several months. And now I'm not working (a paying job) at all anymore. But, my Monday still sucked.

It actually started last night. The boy went down easily about 7:30pm. He slept GREAT...for 3 hours. As I got up from working on our Christmas letters to head to bed, I heard him...awake...crying. It took me an hour to get him settled back down and asleep in his crib. He's got a cold and an ear infection, and he's more comfortable sleeping propped up on my chest than flat in his crib. Too bad I can't sleep that way.

After that, he was up every 90 minutes! All.Night.Long! Finally, I kicked The Colonel at 5:30am and made him get up with him - I didn't care that he was working this morning...I needed to sleep!

Finally, at 7;30, I gave in to the cries coming from the nursery and dragged my butt out of bed. The morning went pretty smoothly. We ate breakfast, started some laundry, the boy took a good nap, and then we got ready to go to lunch with my old co-workers and boss. We loaded up into the car, pulled out of the garage, and I hit the button to close the garage door. And then things got crazy. The double door shut, but the single door opened. What? I didn't push that button. After punching at buttons and yelling at nothing, I pulled back into the driveway and went to investigate. I still don't know why the single door opened, but the double door had a broken opener - the chain was hanging on the ground. Great!

By the time I got all the doors properly closed, I was late to lunch. No biggie. While we waited for our food to come, I fed Lil Major his lunch (squash, mango and sweet potato). Then I let him taste a little bit of my mashed potatoes. AND THEN, the boy started coughing...and he puked his entire lunch all over himself. In true mom fashion, I caught most of the puke in my hand. What was I trying to save? I'm not exactly sure.

All of my co-workers groaned and gagged, and I swept the boy up and into the bathroom. Luckily I had a change of clothes in the diaper bag. He spent the rest of lunch cuddling with my boss, and she LOVED every minute of it. I had planned on running some errands after lunch, but due to the puking incident, we just headed home. That means that I forgot to mail the Christmas letters and bills while we were out. nice.

We came home, the boy took another nap, my Dad came over to look at the garage door, and then we had to head back out into the -9 degree windchill so the kiddo could get his flu shot.

All that to say that I wasn't in the best mood when The Colonel got home, so I didn't think it was funny when he asked me what I did all day, and why couldn't I get anything done, and why should HE get up with the kid during the night. He has to WORK all day. I know he was joking, but it was so NOT funny today. And just for that, I'll be kicking his butt out of bed every 90 minutes tonight to comfort the sicky baby.

And for listening to me rant and rave, I bring you some pictures of my super cute kid.




Oh, and I am trying to find some time to take pics of my Christmas decorations and post them. You all should do the same!!

Mail Call

I've been anxiously waiting for some things to arrive in the mail. Every day I check the box, check the front porch, but nothing is there. FINALLY, everything showed up TODAY. The UPS guy came to my house twice today. Not sure why they couldn't combine it into one trip, but whatever.

What was I waiting for? 3 different photo orders. I ordered a bunch of prints for our Christmas letter and of our family photo shoot. I ordered several photo gifts from Vista Print, and I've WAITING WAITING WAITING for my free Oprah book from Snapfish.

How exciting to get it all in one day. In a mess of cardboard, I ripped open all the boxes to check my goods out. Everything was there, and it all looked great. Of course, Snapfish screwed up and sent me double my order on the prints - but they only charged me once, so all is well.

But, something was weird in the Vista Print box. After I pulled all of my stuff out, there were still 7 calendars in the bottom of the box. And they weren't mine - it was some other family's stuff! I kinda freaked out b/c if it was my stuff that was sent to some random person and I never got it, and I didn't have it for Christmas...what would I do?

So, I called Vista Print (by the way, I've used them several times before and always been happy with their products) to tell them what happened. You'll never guess what this chick (who I think was answering the phone from the Philippines) said. She told me to THROW AWAY the calendars and that the customer would just call them in a few days when they didn't receive their order. Are you kidding me???

I said that I could tell her some info about the product and maybe she could figure out who's order it was so they could reprint and reship. She said NO, that's not our policy. We'll just wait til they call us.

I asked her if she'd rather hear from an irate customer or just fix the problem now. Again, she said, that's not their policy to try to fix it!

I asked for a supervisor. After 5 minutes, the supervisor came on and told me the same thing. I finally convinced her that it would be better to try to figure out who the order belonged to. She asked for the order # on the box. Duh! The order # is mine since it came to me! Oh, she said, well, I need a first and last name then.

Luckily, the family had their names on one of the calendars, so the supervisor was able to find the order, reprint it, and ship it out to them. I told her maybe they should re-examine their customer service policy for how to handle mis-shipments.

Can you believe companies operate like this??? I think it will all work out, and I will probably use them again (they DO have some great deals), but I'll be sure to keep an eye on my delivery dates and make sure I don't wait too long to call when I don't receive something.

What do you say?

I look forward to getting the mail during the Christmas season. I love to see everyone's family photos and read about their year. But, a card we got today made me cry. And since I'm so anxious to read all the cards, I was driving to the gym when I opened this one...it wasn't my safest driving ever.

The card was from a friend who left her husband this year. The Colonel and I met this family (mom, dad, 2 kids) when we first moved to Texas right after we got married. We love them! We spent a lot of time with them over the years - holidays, vacations, backyard BBQs.

Over the summer, The Colonel got a call from the dad. He told us that he and the mom were getting a divorce. She had found someone else. Apparently, it had been going on for a while, but the parents (our friends) decided not to tell the kids until school let out for the summer. And the dad was giving the mom some time to come to her senses.

She never did. She moved out. Now, I only know half of the story, but the card we got today was from the mom. She said the kids are doing great and they have adjusted well to their "new situation." She also said the kids are "all fine."

How in the world can the kids be all fine?? She was so nonchalant about it. I don't know how to react. I don't want to abandon her, but I don't know how to react or what to say to her. I don't want the dad to think I'm siding with her, and I don't want things to be harder on their kids....what do I do??

Bargain Hunting

5 days before Thanksgiving, the conversation when something like this...

MOM: Let's push this table into the corner so that there is more room to walk around.

ME: We can't, it's broken, it will fall apart if we move it.

MOM: Well, you need a new table then.

ME: Let's check craigslist.

Four hours later, there was a new (to me) solid maple table sitting in my breakfast nook.

I'm starting to think that The Colonel is right about his "billfold getting lighter every time mom is around." hee hee

My beloved, but broken, red ceramic pedestal table, which was also a steal as I bought the floor sample from Timeless Furnishings, has been chucked to the side...

to make room for my new, albeit smaller, table...bought at the bargain price of $30!

$500!

Wow, the giveaways in bloggy land keep getting better. check out this one for $500 to Wal Mart. I could do a TON of christmas shopping and still have some left over...Hmm...maybe toward my D-SLR!! =)

Go check it out!

Fun with Daddy

I don't know how The Colonel comes up with all these super fun things to do with Lil Major. Here is the latest...the kitchen has turned into a race track, and I love it!

Thanksgiving 2008

I can't believe Thanksgiving has come and gone. Where in the world did this year go??

We had a nice peaceful family Thanksgiving this year. Just 9 of us around the huge table we set up in the family room -- The Colonel, Lil Major, me, my parents, the 'Rents, my brother, and a friend of hubby's from work. I wanted a sit down dinner instead of a buffet line because inevitably the first person through the line is finished eating before the last person sits down. We sat down, prayed, and passed the food. And then we told silly stories about our childhood, and The Colonel tried to make his mom pass out with all the crazy scary things he's done.

Our turkey was wonderful, and we have LOTS left over from the 17+ pound bird. I got so wrapped up in the preparations that I didn't take a picture of our table, but it looked GOOD. After dinner, we chatted some more, did the dishes, gorged ourselves on pie, and THEN we made homemade cinnamon rolls. That is a tradition that usually takes place the day AFTER Thanksgiving, but my punk little sister insisted we bring some to her in KC on Friday. Spoiled sis...she got what she wanted! =) (Love you, sis!)

Here are some photos I DID take of our celebration and the day after in KC.

Mema on the piano...


The grandpa's watching TV...


My bro and Lucy...


Grammy and Lil Major...


Grandpa and Lucy, who seems to think she's a cat...


The cinnamon rolls just coming out of the oven...


Papa and his boy in their matching hats...in Costco...my mom's very favorite store.


The cousins...who were not allowed to get any closer than this, as Captain had pink eye.


Whoa! There are 4 babies now!