I Know When to Admit Defeat

Well, I confess, 30 Day Shred lasted about a whole 5 days. When I reached the point of not being able to sleep through the night because it hurt too much, I called it off. Previously I'd used A.C.E. Appetite Control and Energy supplement and lost about 50 pounds using it without really having to do much work. This time I had wanted to take the higher road and say that I earned the loss of those 15 pounds that I've tacked back on, but I had to face reality... Working out until I can't lift my arms above my head, well, that just isn't me. I have never cared about being toned and it appears I still don't. So I broke down and ordered it again. Oh well!

Other than that, there isn't much going on over here this week. The weekend was finally nice and quiet. We spent it watching all of Season 1 of Game of Thrones and doing laundry. My kind of weekend really. Hope all is well with you lovely ladies out there.

Would it Kill People to Be Nice?

It amazes me that in this day and age that there are still crappy customer service agents out there! I find it hard to believe that there aren't nice people out there who need a job and would love to get paid to talk to people.

A couple months ago my daughter had been to the doctor because she had a cough she couldn't shake and they sent her in for a chest x-ray. My insurance didn't cover a whole whopping $32 of it. When the accounts receivable department called to tell me about it, I asked them to send me out a bill so that I could pay for it. Mind you, it took six weeks from the appointment date to bring this to my attention to start with. For those of you have been reading, you know that my parents live about 3 blocks away from me and I've recently discovered that my mailman has been taking it upon himself to deliver all my mail to their house instead. I think he recognizes my name because I have a few pieces that have always gone their so Lena can be registered for school at their address to get off the bus to Gramma. That being said, I didn't get the bill until about 2 days ago finally and had earnestly forgotten about it in the meantime.

I called this afternoon to pay the balance and encountered a lady who clearly HATES her job. When I didn't have an account number to spare her the trouble of changing her client search field she made sure to ask for my phone number with a long drawn out sigh, as if this little click had just required her to sprint a 10 mile marathon without being able to stop for water along the way. (Sorry lady, all I wrote down this morning was the number to pay it, shame on me).  She went straight into getting my debit information without even so much as a "I'll be glad to take care of that for you today" or a "Thank you for taking care of this." I knew roughly what I owed, but wanted to verify the charge amount for my records. Again, I offended this woman by wanting to know what I was being charged and not having the bill directly in front of me so that I didn't have to take up her precious time with a silly question like, "What did I owe?"

I admit that I'm most likely the worst customer ever, because it's my job to teach people like her to be nice to people! News flash sweetheart, I'm also the customer who writes a letter to complain that you need better training when you treat me like some dead beat who doesn't pay her bills.

I concluded my phone call and ran to Wendy's really quick to get some lunch. The woman behind the counter was probably in her mid to late 40's. My guess... She had not planned on growing up to serve cheeseburgers and frosties, but I'll be damned if she didn't greet me kindly, ask how I was doing, and tell me to enjoy my weekend. This poor woman probably isn't making more than $8 an hour, while the woman at the doctor's office is probably making somewhere around $12-$13. Please tell me why the woman who makes more money can't be as kind as the lady who handed me my grilled chicken sandwich?

Hats off to Wendy's for having such nice employees!

Shedd Aquarium With Gramma

Since the girls were off school Monday, Gramma took Lena and Anne downtown for the day. 

Just sharing some photos of my girls and their new friend.

Day 1 Down - 29 To Go

After James left for work at 5am this morning I started 30 Day Shred. Yes, I know I purchased it Friday, but I may have failed to mention that I am a Class A procrastinator at times. Not to mention the fact that I don't particular want people watching me jump around the living room like a spastic Weeble. And believe me, with my glorious lack of flexibility, I certainly looked like one.

It wasn't really that difficult overall. Granted, I didn't listen as she told me I wasn't allowed to stop and do basic things like, oh I dunno BREATHE! I paused her peppy "keeping going, don't stop" and allowed myself a swig of water a couple times. I also have to say that she didn't take into account any women over a size A cup and that there should be warning label advising you that two or maybe even three sport bras must be warn at all times in order to avoid inconvenient things like black eyes or loss of one's nipples.

I'm determined to keep at this and maybe after a week or so I won't be gasping for air like Nemo laying there on the dentist's sink after Darla shook his brains around. I will however be investing in some duct tape for good measure on my way home though.

I'm Claiming Temporary Insanity

I've been claiming for months now that I'm going to do something about the weight that I've put on since taking a full time desk job. Before I was managing a restaurant, mostly office work, but also organizing banquets, hauling tables, greeting/seating guests, etc. It involved a LOT of running around, heavy lifting, and up and down stairs several times a day. Now... Not so much.

We have been planning a trip to Key Lime Cove since November, because we wanted to give the kids a trip for Christmas (who are we kidding, we wanted a vacation too). After careful research we decided what better gift than a weekend away at this water filled (most likely bacteria infested) wonderland!

We have tried to schedule a date several times over the past couple months, but life just kept getting in the way. Finally we settled on March 15th and booked it. No matter what life throws our way we're going. It set in stone. No ifs ands or buts about it!

This means, I have exactly 30 days to be bathing suit ready, which is what kicked off this whole crazy idea. I'm going to be sore and most likely resentful towards that skinny bitch Jillian Michaels, but (if I don't end up a corpse on my living room floor first) I will be thankful that I did this I'm sure.

When I get off work today I will go home and let the Wii Fit seriously massacre any self esteem I may potentially have, since it will most likely inflate my poor little Mii to cosmic proportions, so I can keep track of my progress over the next 30 days. Wish me luck!

Any Ideas??

I have spent a lot of time searching Google today looking for a free social media management tool, but have come up empty handed at this point. The #1 recommended manager out there seems to be HootSuite however, when I created my account and attempted to post a status update it repeatedly kept telling me I needed to link in my FB profile... Which I did... 10 times... Then, I gave up!

I tried a few other solutions, however, none of them offered a mobile application to go with it. One would think that in this day and age a mobile app would be a no brainier. Evidently this is not the case.

If you've read one of my earlier posts, you've learned that I originally started out here as a research activity for work. I'm in charge of managing the social sites we have and was looking to branch out a little bit in order to increase our engagement. FB does not allow businesses to interact with anyone unless they post to your page first (kinda of backwards in my opinion since engaging with people is what it's all about right?).

Either way, I have now jumped in neck deep personally and not just professionally. I've had a FB account for years and while I'm great at posting photos, I'm not so great at status updates. I seem to be far more interactive with the work page than my own (maybe because they pay me for it). However, I'm finding that I am becoming more active now that I've found a community here that holds my attention. Problem is... I'm now running two personal pages... Since I'm terrible at keeping up with one, two is more than I care to be bothered with honestly can manage effectively.

I'm on the go a lot and outside of work I don't spend a whole lot of time in front of an actual computer. I'm mobile. Currently that means in order to post to both pages (because my Blogger page is separate from my regular page) it requires that I log out of one account, then log into the other, and essentially do a double post. I don't technically have ADD, but in this case that's all I can equate it too.

Here's what I'm looking for:

1. Free (this is just for fun and I don't see any reason to pay for a non-business related dashboard).
2. The ability to upload to more than one FB page at the same time (FB is the only application I really need, seeing as how I don't Tweet and I've learned that Google+ is just a waste of time that nobody really looks at).
3. A mobile app for the iPhone. 

It appears that many of you lovely ladies have been at this for some time and have managed to build a wonderful network. I'm certain that many of you, like me, don't have an unlimited amount of time out there to spend on all this. I'm hoping that you have also found the tools to help effectively manage it. I would be grateful for any ideas or suggestions. Thanks!

What the Hell Happened to Hannah?

So I ran over to Meijer's today on the first half of my lunch break. I needed to grab a few things to make dinner tonight (Taco Bake, YUM!) and pick up Lena's Valentines for her class. As I'm standing in the checkout line, I noticed the new issue of Cosmo.

Does anyone else find it terribly disturbing that Hannah Montana now looks an awful lot like Pink?

Speaking as a mom who had a Hannah crazed daughter (I still know all the words to a good portion of her songs and sadly several episodes of the show) I'm really sad to see that she's traveled down this road...

This is not the Miley/Hannah I loved for my daughter...

This was!!

My Beautiful Princess, Little Man, & Baby Mia

I know I've been pretty much MIA all week and I'm sorry about that. I haven't had much time with everything that has been going on. It seems that every time I sat down and logged in I had to log right off again. However, now that I'm here, I can't think of much to write, so I'm just going to share a few photos instead. My daughter had the Daddy Daughter Dance Friday and that's part of the reason for all the commotion here. I just have to say, I'm so grateful for my brother in law. He's awesome and I'm glad that Lena has so many fantastic men in her life. I know that it doesn't replace the fact that her father is moron, but it certainly makes moments like these much easier to enjoy.

Oh and one more thing.... I finally had the pleasure of meeting baby Mia! My friend and I have been stuck together since we were 9 (so the last two decades). We went to his son's 4th birthday party this weekend and I finally got to meet his new baby girl (who honestly, at three months, isn't so "new" anymore).

My favorite Little Man in the whole world. Happy 4th Birthday!

I though I'd be nice and give Chris and Noelle a break. She slept in my arms all night .

HELP 2013 Dreams - Let's Make This Viral

This video  and photos were made by one of the most talented women I know. My Aunt Kim. Please share this video and help support this amazing organization that she has selflessly dedicated her time, energy, and incredible talent to.

His Holy Grail and My Heaven

I have been significantly less cranky over the past few days, which has been a blessing I'm sure. I'm still feeling down right exhausted as if I haven't slept in days (even though I'm usually in bed around 9:30-10ish). Today especially... James has been religiously checking the H&R Block app ever since he filed his taxes a couple weeks ago. 5 to 10 times a day religiously, I might add.

Last night he decided to check it around 11pm (mind you, I've been long in bed at this point...sleeping). In his overwhelming moment of pure bliss he wakes me up to tell me the glorious news that the tax return has finally arrived. It simply couldn't wait until I wasn't comatose!

It's been a nonstop topic for the past 6 months that as soon as he has it, we will become the proud owners of a 60 inch 3D TV. I appreciate sturdy high quality electronics as much as the next girl, but I think talking about this particular near future acquirement actually gets his engine going full speed ahead if you catch my drift. I simply cannot share in the same level of enthusiasm as he has (there is nothing wrong with the one we already have), which seems to put a little damper on his spirits. It will not, however, damper his purchasing power Saturday when he finally gets his hands on his version of the Holy Grail.

The girls and I have a birthday party that we're going to Saturday afternoon and will be gone most of the day. This will allow him the perfect opportunity to literally make over the entire living room to accommodate this new high tech monstrosity to his heart's content without any of us ladies getting in the way of his "man time" with his best buddy.

On the upside, it means that we can also plan our long awaited day trip to my little personal piece of heaven IKEA! We are long overdue for a dresser that can actually accommodate both of our clothes so we can abandon the little plastic dresser we added when he moved in.

I can't wait!!

I'm Venting... You've Been Warned

I must admit I'm ever so grateful this weekend is over and I'm back at work where I can get a break! I confess though, that I was a complete raging bitch crab for most of this week and it all came to a head this weekend.

Since about mid November our weekends have been filled with family obligations and I'm not exactly sure where that leaves time for our little family of five. Every weekend has been dedicated to either my family or his family, but not our family. It was building up for a while and this weekend I basically snapped.

I had plans with my sister on Saturday to take Lena dress shopping for the Daddy Daughter Dance next Friday (not that her father has been to a single one, but it's still a big event). This is year number 4, Uncle Steve is her most handsome date, and every year we make a day of going to the mall, trying on dresses, going out to lunch, picking out shoes, etc. You know, all the fun things that come with being a girl. However, Friday night it gets sprung on me that we have a dinner event that we're supposed to attend with James' parents... In Elburn... A good 2 1/2 drive away from home for us. This was pretty much the final straw for me.

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely adore his parents. They're two of the nicest people in the world you could ever hope to meet. But this game of rotating weekends has left me exhausted and feeling extremely overwhelmed at this point. I just wanted to enjoy dress shopping with my daughter. I told him that I didn't really want to go, however, turns out we were already paid for so there was simply no backing out.

We did manage to find a dress and the perfect shoes, but I still felt like I didn't get to fully enjoy the day because we had to rush and be home by 3 in order to get on the road up north. Ugh!

All and all though we did have fun at the dinner despite the fact that we didn't get home until about 11:30 which is WAY past my bedtime.

Sunday morning comes and I haven't even finished my first cup of coffee when my mother sends me a text letting me know her and dad are coming down for coffee. Oh boy! Here we go! About 10 minutes later they show up and at this point the kids are awake and starving as per usual. Sunday breakfast is kind of a big deal in our house. I love to make a big breakfast. My mom on the other hand tries to send Paige (she's James' oldest who's 18) back down to her house to fetch a bunch of microwavable breakfast sandwiches. I'm sorry, but yuck!

All three girls are looking at me pleadingly not to skip making the waffles I'd promised, so of course I had to tell my mom NO. That never goes over well. I did end up making the waffles, but of course my mom felt it was necessary to give the girls a major guilt trip about "making me cook when I didn't have to." News flash mama, I like it! But that doesn't seem to matter much I suppose.

As I'm finishing up feeding everyone (parents included) James announces that him and my dad are going to go up to Gander Mountain (he'd won a $50 gift card in the raffle the night before) which left me with all three kids and all the cleaning because I knew they would be heading straight over to their house for the Super Bowl later. They ended up returning a couple hours beforehand and he did initially plan to just go spend the day down the street. Wrong!! By the time they'd returned I was in full swing cleaning mode and had started literally pulling the house apart because I felt far too claustrophobic and it was going to be fixed now not later.

He ended up helping me gut our room, but after that I was on my own. I did however make the kids his responsibility for the evening so I could turn the stereo up to eardrum splitting level with all the Nickelback and Buckcherry I can't listen to with the kids around. I continued to clean until I wore myself out, picked up Lena (Paige and Anne had already been taken home to their mom at that point) and ended my night with Finding Nemo (incidently a truck coming down our street tore down the cable line Friday night so DVD was are only option all weekend) and a MASSIVE apology for my behavior when he finally come home.

Oops... Better luck this week I hope.

The Logic of Men

In our household we made the decision about a month ago to invest in a Sam's Club membership. We noticed that with two adults, three kids, and the consistent rotation of my family coming in and out as they please (they only live three blocks away and have a house key) that our grocery supply simply wasn't sufficient to sustain the never ending parade of stomachs we take care of.

Part of this brilliant plan was for us to pack lunches. Now, I have been doing this for years anyway, but it's a new concept for James. Before entering into a state of cohabitation with me he was always pretty carefree with his lunch choices. Either a) he'd just skip eating or b) he'd grab something along the lines of McDonald's, Taco Bell, Wendy's, etc. Since he's in the service industry he spends most of his time on the road, so a hot meal while traveling means that he better hit the drive thru. However, in the interest of cutting back on expenses he didn't mind the idea of "brown bagging it."

This is the lunch box he picked out and has been using. Evidently, when you're surrounded by a group of, shall we say robust men (he's tiny in comparison), your container holds some sort of magical phallic powers that determine just how manly you really are. This is most certainly news to me, because I was under the impression that if it held the amount of food you typically needed, well hell, it's the perfect size. Silly me!

I guess he's been getting grief from the guys for a while now, which I was unaware of until last night. When I arrived home from work I was greeted by the sight of this monstrosity.

I could not believe the size of the damn thing! As my eyes started bugging out of my head in disbelief he informs me "Now, that's a man's lunch box!" To which my response was "No, that's a beach tote that would fit a picnic for our family of five!" This is when he finally confessed all of the teasing he's received over his less than adequately sized previous one.

I know this is an argument I'm not going to win. I'm not even going to try. I will say however, that he packed THE SAME AMOUNT OF FOOD that he used to pack and there was essentially a cavern left on top when he was done. And, incidentally, it does NOT fit in our fridge very well. It took up the ENTIRE bottom shelf. So I suppose this means that we're going to have to forgo having enough food to fill it in order to accommodate the bag alone.

The logic of men is brilliant right?