Sick and Tired

Sorry for neglecting my blog for the past several weeks. I know that for most of you who read my blog, it is the only source of joy and light in your entire world. I am extremely sorry for depriving you of my hilarious anecdotes and photos. Okay I'm totally kidding, but I have been neglecting my blog so I'm going to make up for it. My mom is not one to neglect her blog so I'm sure that some of you have kept up with the goings on in my life via her blog. The past couple have days have been pretty stressful. Dustin and I have been dealing with a sinus funk for a couple of weeks now and Leyland and Corey have now come down with it too. The kids went to the doctor yesterday (corey for shots, and I wanted him to check Leyland out because she has a pretty nasty cough). Corey was "the picture of health" yesterday, but Leyland got a diagnosis of Acute Sinusitis and probable RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus, Leyland was hospitalized for this in 2007). Leyland is old enough now that it will manifest as a bad cold, however Dr. Edwards warned that we need to be extra cautious that Corey doesn't get it. Last night at approximately a zillion o'clock I had to get up to pee, I had been holding Corey because he was really "figety" and just restless. I hadn't realized until I returned that he was burning up. He had a fever of 102 degrees. I gave him some Tylenol and chalked it up to the shots. Leyland also woke up shortly thereafter with a horrible coughing fit. All of us piled into the bed and hung out until everyone was feeling better. When we woke up (at an unheard of late hour of 8 am), I decided that I would call the Doctor's office just to be sure that they were aware of Corey's fever. The nurse said that 102 is a little bit higher than what they would normally attribute to shots, but as long as the fever didn't recur we shouldn't worry. She said that if he spiked another fever that we should probably bring him in. Well, low and behold about 2:30 Corey's fever returns. I took him back to the doctor's office for re-examination. He now has sad weak eyes and a runny nose and a somewhat suspicious cough. Dr. Edwards said that RSV starts in the head (like a sinus infection) and can move quickly into the chest. He wants to see Corey again on Friday. He indicated that if Corey's symptoms worsened we may be looking at a hospital stay :( I really really hope that Corey will not follow in Leyland's footsteps as far as trips to the hospital. In 2007 Leyland amassed a total of $65,000 at St. Mary's alone ( that doesn't include Regional First Care and her most recent stay which was at MCG) no, we don't have to pay all of that money out of pocket, but that is enough to by a small house. My intention was not to write a "poor us" blog, I am just trying to be informative. Hopefully next time I will have a hilarious story to tell. For now please pray that the green mucus blob men that have taken up residence in my sinuses will move out soon!

Quickie...

I don't really have time to write a long drawn out blog, but I've been neglecting my blog so I wanted to share a quick little story that brightened my day. A certain grandmother of mine ( I won't say which ) was discussing Christmas gift ideas with me for the kids. I was telling her that I was at a loss for what to get for Corey because he can't really play with anything much. I also mentioned that I knew that other people would probably get plenty for him. She also brought up that he would be able to play with a lot of Leyland's toys also because most of them are "bisexual" (meaning, of course, to say "unisex"). I almost peed my pants and thought I would pass the joy along! I'll try to do better about blogging.... peace out

A Christmas Miracle!!!!

I got it!! My Christmas miracle! GiGi and I took the kids today for their annual Christmas photos. I actually managed to get a picture of both of them!! It took some coaxing to get Leyland to cooperate, but at least we didn't end up at DEFCON 5. We actually got some really really cute individual pictures also. Unfortunately we won't have Mary again until closer to Christmas, so in order to get them back in time to give as gifts, I had to take only Leyland and Corey. Now, Corey is napping like an angel and I'm waiting for Leyland to fall asleep so I can type some Dr. F. Is it too much to wish for 2 Christmas miracles in one day?

Poor Whitney, Leyland, and Corey

So it turns out that Mary had an active case of strep throat which was adding to the size of her huge tonsils. Now, Leyland, Corey, and I also have strep throat.... yay. yesterday I felt..... dead.... I couldn't move. I was either freezing or sweating. Leyland seems to be feeling okay... Corey too. They have been on antibiotics since Monday. I didn't get mine till late last night. The gremlins took mine for a little while. We looked everywhere for them and then found them plain as day right on the table. I'm feeling about 75% better today. My body doesn't hurt and I'm not running a fever. I do still have a nasty sore throat, but it's much better than yesterday. I am hoping this trend will continue. We are not contagious anymore so we can still do the Thanksgiving thing. I'm glad of that. I'm going shopping friday even if I have to fill my pockets to the brim with throat drops. They do think that ultimately Mary's tonsils will have to come out, they are going to check her again in a month or so. Hope everyone feels better than me :)

Poor Mary

I'm pretty sure that Mary has tonsillitis. It is a very sad sight. Mom and I were in the living room last night while Mary slept. Let me preface this by saying that Mary has always been one to snore... loudly. Last night we noticed that not only was Mary snoring loudly, she was also somewhat struggling to breathe. Dr. Cathy and Dr. Whitney decided that she is going to need to have her adenoids out at some point. It was quite disturbing to see the child using every muscle in her little body just to get enough air. She mentioned something this morning about her neck hurting, so I took the flashlight and took a look in her throat. I was horrified. Her tonsils almost touch! They are all red and she has some little pus spots on them. Her uvula (the punching bag thingy) was stuck to one of her tonsils. It is so sad. Melissa (Mary's Mom) is going to get her seen ASAP. I'll keep ya posted.

My Dilemma

Okay, so I have this dilemma. I have three absolutely, adorable, photogenic, perfect in every way children. Well, that is not the dilemma. The problem is that even though they are all extremely beautiful, I can't seem to get a picture of all three of them where they are all smiling or even all looking the same direction. The only one I have of all three where no one is crying is from Halloween and they all have something in their mouths. I took them to have their pictures made in late August. I got some really cute individual shots, and a really cute one of Mary and Corey, but Leyland would not sit with them for anything. I guess I'm going to try again soon, but I will need a small miracle to get them all there without getting dirty and get them to all sit still long enough for **ONE** decent picture of the three of them. Maybe that will be my Christmas miracle.

On a completely random side note, Leyland has decided that it is a fun game to take off her pants and diaper and run around. Everytime I re-dress her she is undressed within a matter of minutes. I guess she is comfortable with her Nekkidness.

Attack Of The Chickens!!!!

The image that you see above has brought much laughter to the Bennett family Thanksgiving gatherings. If you will notice, there is a family of pilgrims surrounding an ENORMOUS pumpkin; also, there are two gargantuan chickens ready to devour the pilgrims. This display has been on my Grandmother's (Nany) table for several years. After a long day of Black Friday shopping, my Aunt, cousin, and I stopped at Nany's for a snack and a break. We were suffering from complete exhaustion and began laughing hysterically at this display on Nany's table. We began to narrate the tale of how the pilgrims were so excited to come upon this bountiful pumpkin. They would be able to feast for years. (About the time we had established this much of the story, one of the pilgrims fell over, probably because we were shaking the table with laughter) we decided that this pilgrim had fainted at the site of the gargantuan chickens. This has been a source of many comical discussions around the Thanksgiving table. The Christmas following the initial discovery of the Jurassic Park chickens, Nany gave me a kitchen timer with a chicken on it and informed me that she would be willing the giant chickens to me. I'm very excited that Thanksgiving is only about a week away so I can see the mighty chickens. These days, Nany has separated the chickens from the pilgrims, but we always move them back for Thanksgiving dinner.

Thanksgiving.... and the day after !!!!

I am very excited about Thanksgiving. Not because I love food (I do) but because I will have the chance to see all of my family in the space of a few days. Also, I've been gearing up for two months for the shopping marathon that is Black Friday. For the past five years, I've managed to get ALL my Christmas shopping done on that day. It is one of my favorite things to do, not only because you get some amazing deals, but my Mom has gone with me for the past three years, and we have a lot of fun. Last year, we were both sick with bronchitis and she made me laugh so hard I threw up.... I know it may not sound like fun, but it is. Trust me. Many people say that they wouldn't venture out of their homes on that fateful day because of the long lines and ruthless people fighting over .50 socks. I love it. I have never been in a "fight" over anything... it's more about strategizing so that you get to the item you want before it's gone. Anyway, I digress. I get to go to my Dad's parents' on Thursday, Dustin's Grandparents' Friday (after all the shopping, if I haven't "shopped till I dropped"), and then Sunday we double dip and go to my Mom's side and my step-mother's side. So we totally do 4 Thanksgiving dinners. Dustin said "I love Thanksgiving because we get to eat and eat and not cook". I just love getting to see everyone.

I'm so sorry...

I just wanted to let everyone know how sorry I am that we have the three cutest kids in the world ( and therefore, you do not). I'm only joking, kinda. I just have a second (while Leyland is entertained with her Daddy's "geetah") to post some pictures. So, here ya go...

Free Bird

If you read my mom's blog, you know that Leyland is now a free bird. I have been extremely lucky the past two years because she has been content to sit in her play yard whenever I needed her to. She would sit there so I could take a shower or clean; but most importantly she was perfectly willing to lie in there when she decided to wake up at 4am. She would be as happy as could be sitting there watching Elmo or Barney. Those days are no more. The day I was so sick last week was the day she figured out how to escape (absolutely perfect timing). Now I can plop her in there and she might be distracted long enough for me to accomplish a simple chore, but as soon as she remembers that she can get out... she's out. Now, you are more likely to find Corey in the play pen so Leyland can't get to him. She loves Corey so much, but she doesn't understand that she can't pick him up, feed him, throw him, etc... So anyway, it's a major adjustment. The living room is pretty much baby-proof... but you just can't forget about ANYTHING. She will find it. I hope everyone will have a lovely week. I guess I'll have to switch my blogging to nap-time. :)

Rock the Vote

Okay, so I am not going to fill up my blog with a bunch of political crap that you hear about all over the news and on tons of other blogs (like my mom's) but I will encourage everyone to go vote. Don't believe everything that you hear about the long lines (I'm sure some lines will be long in certain places) but since most of you live in rural areas like myself, you won't have to worry about these marathon lines. My mom and I went and voted last friday (the last day of advanced voting). There were probably 200 people at the court house annex, but the whole process only took us about 15 minutes. It was painless, and I felt really good about excersizing my political voice. I personally voted McCain/Palin, but I also encourage those of you who support Obama to vote. If you haven't been following the plans of the senators, visit their websites for an overview of their plans. Obama supporters can visit here and McCain supporters can visit here. I would also advise that if you have no information about either candidate, please DO NOT vote until you have done a little research. I mean don't vote one way or the other based on race. That means don't vote for Obama because he is black, and don't vote against him because he is black. Take the time to see who's policies you agree with most, then go Rock the vote!! I just went to the McCain website and you can click on "Job Plan" "Healthcare Plan" etc.. for a synopsis. If you live in GA pack an umbrella for tomorrow just in case the lines are long. You can do it!!!!

Trick-or-Treat (Come rub my feet !!!)

I'm absolutely exhausted (as are all the other members of the Veal/Bennett Household). We took all three kids trick-or-treating at the church. Kate ("Aunt Duck"), Jessica (Ta-Ta), Brandon (no cutsie nickname although I did just accidentally type Brandong"), and Corbin all came with us. If Kate hadn't been here we would not have made it!! First of all... My mom had the wrong time for the start of the event. She said 6:30, but it was 6:00, So we were already 30 minutes behind in prep. She was a lifesaver!!! THANK YOU AUNT DUCK!!!!! Anyway, of course our kids were by far the cutest kids there (and in the world). Leyland looked precious in her Abby Cadabby outfit. She got her hands on some suckers and that was good enough for her. She was content to stroll along with 2 suckers in her mouth. Corey was the precious boy he always is. He was sporting a dinosaur costume that was mistaken for a Marvin the Martian costume by some retard. We actually didn't stay gone very long. Everyone came back to the house for a quick supper, then Ta-Ta and Brandong were off to their various other stops and Kate also ran screaming for the hills... not really, but I wouldn't blame her if she had. I made a deal with the kids that they could trade in their buckets of who knows what candy that they trick-or-treated for and get a special halloween surprise bag. They chose the bags which had SOME candy and mostly other stuff that I knew they would like. Mary got some Hannah Montana stuff. On a side note, there is Hannah Montana EVERYTHING; in case you were wondering. Leyland got a Halloween Mr. Potato head and they both got some other crap that they love. Corey got a shirt, hat, and a crinkle book. So everyone is pretty happy. Now that everyone else is asleep I'm extremely happy to go to bed. Hope everyone had a safe, happy, melamine-free Halloween !!!!

Corey Singing

Just wanted to share a cute video of Corey talking to "It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown". Enjoy :)

Halloween

This Friday, as everyone knows, is Halloween. We are planning to pick Mary up from school so that she can do the trick-or-treat bit with us. So we are going to get everyone ready, go down to the church for the trunk-or-treat (where everyone puts their candy in their trunks and the kids walk around the parking lot instead of the house to house thing). So apparently there is a big concern about chocolate candy from China with melamine in it. So on top of the usual removal of items that are sketchy and/or choking hazards, now I have to look for melamine bars. Maybe I'll just buy a separate bag of loot for the kids and just throw out everything that they get. I mean when I was a kid you just avoided the crazy witch lady that lived across the street and threw away anything that didn't have a wrapper. That was it. Now, with all of the crazy people and horrible chemicals you have to do a complete security check on every dum dum. What makes this a million times more aggravating is that I will have a 2 y/o and a 6y/o wanting to eat everything that falls into their bucket as soon as they get it. Anyone want to come along for damage control? My step-mother wants us to come out there and trick-or-treat in their fancy pants neighborhood with my niece. Mary would love to do this, but I just don't know if I'll be able to do it. I guess I should try. I think people should just fork out cash.... when that catches on I'll be trick-or-treating with the best of them :) Have a safe and happy Halloween and seriously check out the candy. I know it's a pain in the ass, but I've seen several videos about the melamine thing. You can watch one here.

Stop the insanity!

Okay, first lemme start off by saying that I have combed the web and come up with a list of absolutely ridiculous baby products. Some of them I stole from another list created by someone else and some of them I came across on my own. More than likely you will be tempted to believe that these products are fake, but I assure you that they are real and available for purchase (with the exception of the Japanese mop idea). So let's get started :

The baby wig. Yes you are seeing a "lil kim" and a Jamaican wig for infants. I don't think that I need to express how many ways in which this is retarded.

Next, we have a baby spoon which dispenses a bite-sized portion of baby food with a squeeze. Now, this to me is just absolute laziness. It takes exactly 3.2 seconds to dip your spoon in the baby food, while it takes the baby about 10 seconds to swallow what you have given him. They should've just made an automatic swallower.
Next on the list is the Japanese design for a baby mop. I mean the kid is just crawling on the floor anyway, you might as well get your cleaning done! I think I"m going to order one of these....

This one is just sad. This is baby perfume. It is "new baby smell". So you don't even have to keep your baby clean anymore... just spritz 'em with this and they'll be good to go. I expect that this will be available in the car air freshner form soon also.

This is probably my personal favorite. Okay, so apparently if you have never heard of a play pen this is an acceptable alternative. You are seeing an infant hanging from a wall. I think this is actually for public restrooms, but I'm sure that if certain people got hold of this product their children would never be allowed down from the wall, and thus generally accepted as modern art in the home.

Let me introduce you to the Nosefrida. This product is exactly what you think it is. The woman has the end of a tube in her mouth and the other end strategically placed in her infant's nose so that she can effectively suck the snot from his nose. Now, I will say that there is a shield that prevents the snot from entering her mouth but still. EEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWW

Finally we have this. If I'm not mistaken it is called a zaky pillow. The sausage like protrusions you see on the baby's back are supposed to be fingers. I would laugh at anyone I saw using this product. This is a pillow in the shape of two hands designed to mimic the feel of the parent. ( I don't really see how it would fool a child unless you too have sausage fingers ). I guess this to make the parenting experience as "hands-off" as possible. Although, if you are going to trick you child into thinking he's being held, why not just hold him?

Well, I hope I have enlightened you to all of the "wonderful" products available for today's parents. Also, this doubles as my christmas wish list. Just in case you were wondering.

Abby Cadabby

For those of you who don't know, we (meaning Leyland) are currently obsessed with Abby Cadabby (Elmo's very cute fairy best friend). Okay, so I have to admit that I somewhat forced this obsession on her because the Abby clothes etc are far cuter than any other character out there. So for Leyland's birthday party we did Elmo/Abby it was a huge hit and thanks to my cousin Abby (purely coincidence) Leyland had an adorable dress with a custom embroidery design. Anyway, I digress. I decided that Leyland would be Abby Cadabby for halloween. We found her an Abby candy bucket and there is an Abby costume out there but in my opinion it is hideous. So since I am into making hairbows and tutus, I decided that I would just make her costume. I completed the tutu yesterday and it is absolutely precious. I still have to make her hair bows, but I don't think that will take me long once I have the time to devote to it. Mom bought Leyland some Abby PJ's and so she is just going to wear that under her tutu. I thought the "real" costume was retarded because it was sleeveless and really thin. I mean this is going to be the end of October at night, I don't want Leyland prancing around in just a flimsy little (ugly) thing. Anyway I can't wait for her to put the whole outfit on together. It's sure to be cute. Corey is going to be a dinosaur. Unfortunately, I do not yet possess the talents required to make a dinosaur costume (Dustin didn't want him to be a ballerina) so I guess I'll just have to settle with purchasing his costumes. Well, I hope everyone has a pleasant day. I am currently working on a blog that I hope you will find as funny as I do; maybe I'll finish it today. (Just so you know I am aware that I use a ridiculous amount of parentheses in my blogs...)

The Weekend

Well, the weekend was utterly exhausting as well as tons of fun. We went to pick up Mary in Gainesville about 4pm Friday. We came home and I made the girls some macaroni and cheese. Mary informed me that I am a better cook than her mother (which I appreciate since it was a box of Mac). After dinner, Mary and Leyland enjoyed a relaxing evening with a couple of good books. Saturday morning we got up with the sun to get ready to go to the fall festival. It was very very cold so everyone was bundled up. We met up with Lynn, MawMaw, and my niece, Bailey. Bailey and Mary had a blast! Lynn bought them day passes for all of the inflatable things (moonwalk, pirate ship, rocket, etc). They rode each of them about 84,000 times. So Lynn took Mary and Bailey around while Dustin and I took the little ones to get a bite to eat and look at stuff. Leyland got on the moonwalk, but refused to do anything but just lie there. After about 15 minutes, we finally convinced her to come out. We got some delicious homemade ice cream, and Leyland got to have her own bowl which thrilled her to no end. She was very careful and didn't really make too much of a mess. We met up with Lynn to retrieve Mary. They had gone to see the petting zoo and play in the corn box. Mary kept telling me that she had dried corn kernels in her pants. I figured she had a couple of pieces, but when we got home and got ready for bath she took off her pants to reveal over 100 kernels. I am not exaggerating at all. We counted to 100 and I have continued to find kernels since she went home. Mary went home Sunday after a visit to Dustin's Grandparents' house. She fell asleep approximately four seconds after we left. Leyland was asleep when we dropped Mary off and woke up about half way home and said "Where Mae?" (she has advanced from Bee to Mae). Leyland spiked a fever Sunday night and after the Doctor visit yesterday we learned that she has a virus which causes pink eye, sore throat, and fever. Corey was such a prince all weekend long! He was so chill at the Fall Festival. He was also the cutest boy there in his dinosaur outfit that Aunt Kate bought him. The weekend was busy busy and fun fun fun :)

Bowdacious Bows

Boutique Halloween Korker My presidential seal

tutu bow UGA football loopy bow Elmo Loopy Bow

My latest ambition is to be able to sell some of the hair bows that I have been making. I thought I would show some pictures here and anyone with girls (or boys.. I'm not judging) that would like to have a custom made hairbow you know where to find me. This is just a representative sample of the different styles that I can do. There are a few other varieties that I don't currently have made, but if you are curious I can make a few more to post pictures of. All colors can be interchanged as well, as objects (i.e. football or elmo). Extra charges will only acrue if I have to order something to complete your bow. Christmas colors available :)

Pinwheel bow Contrasting colors pinwheel Bitty Baby bow

I call it dookie...

Ok so this video is hilarious. Please read this before you watch it! My dad bought Leyland the Elmo Potty Time DVD for her birthday because I bought her the Elmo potty. Basically the whole DVD is funny because obviously they are talking about peeing and pooping. So this is a clip of kids describing what word they use for poop. My mom and I were watching this with Leyland the first time we played it for her. We almost had to run to the potty ourselves. Enjoy this clip and please laugh your butt off as I will not be able to be your friend if you do not. Well, I will be your friend, but I will think that your sense of humor sucks. By the way, the black bar that appears on the tv screen is not there in real life... It must have something to do with video taping a tv. sorry about that. Make sure your volume is up loud enough to appreciate :)

Pumpkin Patch

Saturday, Dustin and I took the kids to the pumpkin patch. It was actually breezy and cool, making it feel more fall-ish . Leyland looked so adorable in her Halloween outfit with matching bows that Mom and I made for her. (I gave you credit Mom, ya happy?) I had to carry Corey in my papoose thing because I forgot to bring the stroller. Mom bought a camera for me and Dustin for Christmas, but gave it to us early so that we could take some good pictures of the kids for the holidays that are coming up. Thanks Mom. Leyland had a ball at the pumpkin patch (for $8 each she better have!). She played in a huge "corn box", pet some goats, played in the dirt, and went through a hay maze with Dustin. when she reached the end of the hay maze she sat down in the dirt and wouldn't let anyone else pass. We all went on a hay ride and right before we left, we go to see a pig race. It was a pretty good day. Leyland wanted to spend the whole afternoon in the corn box, but there were bigger kids in there playing rough and a little boy putting corn in his ears. I didn't think Leyland needed anymore ideas about where to put objects (since she already puts everything she touches up her nose) so we pulled her out. That was the only melt down we had on the trip so that is amazing :) I'm including some pictures for your aesthetic pleasure.

So, I have this game

I play this game on google sometimes where I take either my name or the name of one of my friends and type something in quotations on google (i.e. "Cathy smells like") and it will pull up from somewhere on the internet that exact phrase followed by the rest of the sentence. It is especially fun for me to use my own name because usually the "Whitney" that people are referring to is Whitney Houston. So I thought I would include a few of my favorites :)

Google: "Whitney looks like"

1.Whitney looks like a clean paid crackhead that aint got to pay as much anymore because she aint sharing with bobby no more.

2. [Mount] Whitney looks like an impressive crag, but it is actually gently rounded on the west side

3.Whitney looks like she's been bonging it in the ladies room.

4.Whitney looks like her hair smells

5.Whitney looks like a dazed and confused crack-head like she always did!!!

6.Whitney looks like a crackhead in a nice dress

7.Whitney looks like a cow. Not because of her size, but her bovine face.

8.Whitney looks like the space aliens are about to beam her up into the ship.

9.Whitney looks like she was on her way to see her Grandparents

10.Whitney looks like Skeletor out of He-Man.

Leylanese

For those of you who are not fluent in Leylanese... here is a quick Leyland/English dictionary.


Bucoo- sippy cup or drink (we don't know where this came from)

pees- Pen, Crayon, Pencil any other writing utensil

Fors- Fork

Poon- Spoon

Cowey- Corey

Boon- Balloon

"Ike a Fy"- I can fly

Bardey- Barney

Toot- Stuart (as in Stuart Little the movie)

Tays- Tales (Veggie Tales)

up uh bub uh bub uh bub - " up above the world so high"

deek it- Drink it

Ma- Grandma

Bee- Mary

OCA- Oscar (The Grouch) this is usually growled

Pappy- Pacifier

Peety- Pizza

cwose- Clothes

Pitty- Pretty

Rub A Dub Dub There's A Turd in the Tub?!

Yep, you read right. First let me start by congratulating Leyland on using the potty for the first time!!! YAY!! but before that..... Leyland was having her bath this morning, playing as usual for about 20 minutes after the bathing is complete. I stepped around the corner for a moment to do something at the sink. (Leyland was in my peripheral vision). I come back around the corner to see what looks like a piece of meat loaf floating in the tub ( this would not have been unusual, because Leyland has secret hiding places everywhere and she had meat loaf for dinner Tuesday night.) I said "What is that Leyland?" She started to scream. She was terrified of the object. I got a closer look and, you guessed it, a huge turd is floating in the tub ( I am very thankful that it was an actual turd instead of the mushier variety). I immediately pulled her out of the tub and place her on the potty. Where she proceeds to pee, while I get the turd out of the tub. So Yay for Peeing in the potty, Boo on pooping in the tub. It's a work in progress, what can I say?

Sick

Leyland, Corey, Dustin, and I seem to have come down with a cold over the weekend. This really sucks because on top of being sick myself, I have to take care of 3 other people who are also sick. Leyland gets irritable and mean, Corey gets choked up when he's trying to sleep, and Dustin snores so loud (further depriving me of sleep) that I'm afraid the windows will break. Hopefully this will not last long. This is the first time I have had to deal with ALL of us being sick at once. Wish me luck (and naps) ! On a side note, I have to go and change my name on the voter registration list so that I will be able to vote for McCain/Palin come November. I can put it off no longer as today is the last day.

Debate

Okay, I love Sarah Palin as much as the next republican, but seriously can we just remove the words "maverick" and "reform" from her vocabulary for a while? Please?

Sears = frustrated Whit and Babies

SIGH.......So, My father came over yesterday to put the donut tire on my car so that I could drive to Sears to get new tires. I chose Sears because they quoted me a cheaper "drive-off" price than Wal-Mart or anywhere else for that matter. So, I arrive at Sears at approximately 1:15pm prepared to wait about an hour and a half or so. It takes about 20 minutes for someone to even help me, then another 10 minutes for me to get the point across that I had already reserved my tires and no I do not want any additional services. At this point I am becoming increasingly frustrated with the speed with which anything is happening. V-E-R-Y S-L-O-W..... Finally, they tell me to go and walk around the mall and come back in an hour. It is now approximately 2pm. 45 minutes have passed with virtually nothing accomplished. So I walk around the mall, marveling at the fact that there is a Laser Tooth Whitening kiosk as well as a ProActiv vending machine. Leyland of course, has started down the irreversible path towards a meltdown. So eventually an hour has passed so at 3 I start heading back to Sears. When I reach the entrance to the store, my phone rings. The seemingly incompetent man informs me that "there was a problem". Without meaning to be rude I accidentally said "Oh Shit" into the phone. (woops). The man proceeds to tell me that when removing the tires, they discovered that the lug nuts on the donut tire are "cross-threaded". I ask him if this will cost more money, and of course it does. So I ask him how much more and he tells me that the parts are about 20.00 and he isn't sure of the labor cost. Thinking this not too unreasonable, I told him that I would be at the counter momentarily and he could go and find out the labor cost while I walked. He agreed to do so and I continued towards the counter. Meanwhile, Leyland is getting closer and closer to the meltdown that I have been anticipating. Once we arrive at the counter I see through the window that my car is up on the lift and my original tires are simply lying on the ground next to my car. Apparently it takes an hour to accomplish this much. The man finally comes out to talk to me after I've been waiting (impatiently) at the counter for 15 minutes. He informs me that the labor to put these three lug nuts back on will be FORTY-SEVEN DOLLARS I almost fell over!! The man working on my car tells me that whomever changed my tire put the lug nuts on cross-threaded. Unfortunately I have no frame of reference for why this is such a huge problem so naturally I call my father. Now, my father has been in the automotive business for most of his adult life (although now he is a police officer). My family ran a tune-up shop for ages. Needless to say, this was not the first time he'd ever changed a tire. So I call my dad, and he tells me that there is no possible way that he cross-threaded the lug nuts for 2 reasons. 1) This cannot be done using your fingers and tightening with a lug wrench (which is exactly what he did) It can only be done with an air wrench and 2) The lug nuts threaded very easily without force. So, I tell him that they are going to charge me an extra $67.00 to correct the problem. He offers to "speak" to the man working on my car for me. So I tell another guy to get Barry (the guy working on my car) so that my father can discuss the situation with him. So screaming Leyland , screaming Corey, and I stand there on the phone with my dad for a good 10 minutes before Barry makes an appearance. Don't ask me what he was doing all this time, but he sure as hell wasn't working on my car! So he finally comes out and talks to my Dad... I listen while the tone of the call goes from polite to belligerent. I can hear my fathers voice getting louder and louder and then finally I hear Barry say " I am the manager! The lug nuts are cross-threaded now!!" So then Barry hangs up and I call my dad back. Anyway, long story....long... Dad said that they were not cross-threaded when I drove to Sears and that Barry probably accidentally cross-threaded them with the air wrench. He also said that basically they have got you by the balls and you have to pay it. It takes about another 20 minutes for them to finish my car and it sits in the parking lot for an additional 20 minutes before anyone will let me check out. The check out process took about 10 minutes and by this point Leyland and Corey are in absolute DEFCON5. So ultimately, I paid $311.00 for 4 absolute bottom of the line tires (39.00 each) and spent almost 4 hours at Sears. Aren't you jealous???

Flat Tire

So, I'm lying in bed about 6:30 this morning enjoying my time alone in the bed, when Dustin barges in telling me that I have to drive him to work this morning in Mom's car because our car has a flat tire. GREAT! So I throw Corey in his carseat, make sure Leyland is occupied with Stuart Little, and run out the door in my PJ's to make a mad dash to get Dustin to work on time. Of course we get behind the people who are just taking a leisurely drive and hit every single red light between Statham and Chase Street. We pull into the parking lot of Power Partners at 6:59. Dustin has to clock in by 7:00 at the latest to avoid getting an occurence, so I hope he made it to the time clock in under a minute. Now, I'm going to spend the rest of the morning trying to figure out where to get the best deal on tires (we were planning on getting new tires this weekend anyway... thank God). Anyway, It's 7:53am and I've already had my adventure for the day.... I hope...

Sad Day...

Okay, I just had to take a moment to write about this. So, my mother hijacked an email as the subject of her most recent blog. In said email it is proposed that if the (at the time) $85 billion bail out package was actually divided among the American people 18+, each person would recieve $425,000. My mom wanted to know what the number would be with the new proposal of $700 billion. So, being vastly more intelligent than she, I crunched the numbers for her... It only came to $3500 per person, which as I'm sure you would agree is WAY less than $425,000 so I went back and did the original calculation. The total would only actually be $425.00 per person over the age of 18. That is less than the stimulus package sent out earlier this year which obviously did nothing for our struggling economy. I am very sad to come to this revalation, but I think next time maybe the author should double check his numbers before raising everyone's hopes. I was already making a list of things to spend the money on.... **Sigh** SAD DAY!!!!

New Direction for my blog

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I'm new to this

So, I am following in the footsteps of my mother and cousin and developing a blog of my own. Hopefully, I won't embarrass myself with my lack of knowledge about politics. I don't intend to use this as a platform to voice my political views, although I'm sure it will come up occasionally. For anyone who cares, I agree with my Mom on most of her political views. That being said, just read her blogs :) Staying at home with the kids provides limited topics on which to write blogs, so this may turn into a brag page :0) Now, I'm going to go and think of something mind-blowing to write about; so as soon as I have come up with something noteworthy I'll be back. My hope is that it will be sometime before my children have left for college.