Because we all need an Italian Retreat...

Castello di Carbonana

Presenting a truly rare opportunity to acquire a piece of history and make it part of your life, your family, your company, your legacy. An opportunity that is indeed priceless. This 18 hectare (44+ acres) Umbrian Estate and Castle sits nestled, as it has for centuries, in the foothills of the magnificent Medieval town of Gubbio.

Poised in a position which has dominated the valley and controlled access to ancient roads since the dawn of Christianity, this magnificent piece of Italy will be acquired along with the historic title that goes with the estate, that of "Count of Carbonana". The title was established in the year 900 and was given to one of the Castle's first owners, a distinguished Templar Knight. To this day the title remains certified with a heraldic emblem in the Italian Heraldic Encyclopedia and will pass on to the new owner, as it has for centuries.

Not to be left in the past, this rare offering also comes with the potential of complete renovation by the current owners for an additional 2.6 mill Euros. Such a renovation will include all amenities required of an international luxury estate, including tennis courts, pools, even a helipad. All the modern conveniences and top of the line appliances and systems along with refurbishment of all roofs, flooring, walls will be provided tucked behind period appropriate finishes and exteriors. There may be only a handful of people in the world who can appreciate the provenance of what exits in this historic place. We invite you to be among them and imagine yourselves legitimately as the "Count and/or Countess of Carbonana" of Umbria, Italy.

8 Million Euros present condition. 11 Million Euros Renovated

Castle Carbonana

Found this from a link on Fark.com (lord and lady bless them!)... Because, you know, I'll need to know what to spend my millions on when I win the lottery...

Oh wait... I need to PLAY the lottery before I can WIN it. Darn it. I knew there was a catch!

~M

Holy crap...

OK, so this whole thing on the octuplets… I promised myself I was going to ignore the whole situation. I promised myself that I wasn’t going to go there… But I can’t help it. There’s only so much that I can deal with regarding the situation before my own personal feelings about the situation rear up. But, then, that’s why I have a blog.

Let me get the story straight, ok? We have a young woman who, when she finds out she can’t get pregnant, she goes in to a fertility clinic to get help. I have no issue with that. Lots of women do that, and I understand why – sort of… The whole “want to actually BE pregnant” instead of adoption. OK. Let’s just run with that.

She then does this repeatedly so that she ends up with a total of six children. Now, I’m not even going to comment on the fact that she is not with the father of the children (who has remained anonymous), and that she’s neither working nor living on her own – AND the fact that she has had her mother taking care of her children so that she can go back to school.

She decides that the SIX (we did previously mention that she had SIX) children she already had weren’t enough, and decides to have the remaining eggs she had previously frozen all implanted at the same time so as “not to have them go to waste” (these were her words, from her interview, btw).

The payment for such a procedure (which is, if not illegal, definitely frowned upon by the medical community for anyone under the age of 35) is quite large – and apparently was paid for by a medical settlement she received for being injured on the job. How she has been able to make the medical bill payments for both her prenatal care and the birth, not to mention post-natal care, I do not know – but I have a feeling she has been handed quite a bit of money just for the chance at being interviewed… And I’m not even going to mention the cost of a professional PR person, whom she has hired…

She says she has no plans on being a welfare mom, and I applaud her for that. At the same time, however, I am skeptical that she will be able to fulfill her role as a provider to her children without some sort of assistance. I struggle each day to make ends meet with ONE child, and with both myself and my husband working. I cannot imagine being mother to a total of FOURTEEN children and not having some sort of state or federal assistance – which is where my own personal disgust comes in.

I feel the same way about anyone who would be so irresponsible as to have additional children, after already having difficulties providing for the ones that they would have on their own. I don’t feel that one should get pregnant just for the free stuff, or for the notoriety, or the possibility of a TV show. There are too many children in the world now who need loving homes, who need stability in their lives, and have yet to find that because they are not being adopted, or even fostered into homes that could provide them that chance.

But, we have a woman who already had SIX children! SIX!! Did we mention that she already had SIX!!!! And decides that she needs more of them… Why? Because, according to her, she grew up as an only child and all she ever wanted were children because she was so lonely as a child (insert sniffle here). I cannot feel sorry for you or your sad childhood. Many others in the world had much worse, and did not choose to do this. If you cannot provide for your children on your own, without your mother providing FREE daycare, then you should not be having more children.

~M

Long time no post...

So, it's been a while, I know. But there's been a good reason for it. Between work, migraines, panic attacks, and a birthday (my daughter's first), I've been too wrapped up in myself to write here at all.

Which is sad, because honestly, it's rather cathartic most times. I can get out what's going on and feel better about it once it's on paper. Unfortunately, I seem to have fallen victim to whatever ennui everyone else in the nation has succumbed to. The sad fact that as a couple, Fred and I make too much to qualify for EIC, which means no lump sum of cash for our taxes. That, and the state of the economy as a whole (not to mention our own personal sorry state), has just worn me down to a sore nub of a human, barely able to function from day to day.

Fred has fallen victim himself, having received his pink slip on his birthday (of all days!). This in turn forced us to let go of our beloved Jess, which saddened us greatly. We're still hoping that Fred gets back to work soon enough that we don't have to worry about getting her back. She and Logan have been so wonderful with Boo that I really hate to contemplate finding someone new...

The overall stress of all of this, along with the increased number of collection calls occuring on a daily basis is causing migraines and high amounts of indigestion. This is the first time I've had the hiccups for more than an hour, and on a daily basis at that. I'd say I needed a 2nd job, but I can't do it when I can't even make it in some days to my full-time job due to the stress. I know I need to suck it up and deal, but it's really difficult some days to just face the fact that the sun is coming up yet again.

~M

OMG... I'm going totally Librarian Poo!!!

I have a plan, though… It’s a good plan… It requires some assistance getting it together, but I have one…

I need to get rid of stuff in the house. We have SO MUCH STUFF, and so little room… It’s impossible to deal with anymore. SO… I’m getting rid of stuff.

The more valuable and/or quality items I’ll take photos of and if you want it, let me know. I’ll ship it and/or hand it over to you. Otherwise, it’s all going to Goodwill or Salvation Army.

Some of the things which will be going will include:

Feast gear
Some cooking gear
Clothing
Camping gear
Baby toys
2 DVD players
Candle Holders

Like I said - if it doesn’t get taken away within a week of me packing it up, it heads out to Goodwill or Salvation Army… I’m sick of not being able to walk in my own house. I can’t clean, I can’t find anything, I can’t do anything… It’s all too much for me to deal with, especially with Boo now being so mobile.

~M

To everything turn, turn, turn

All this month, I’ve heard that today marked a page in history. Technically speaking, every day marks a page in history – it simply depends on what level you wish to look at.

Even so, today’s inauguration does usher in a new era for the US. Never before in our history has there been a Black president (yes, I call him black – for me, African American means that they were born in Africa, moved to the US, and were naturalized. If you were born in America, you’re an American. It’s as simple as that). It shows both a change in thinking for the mass majority of voters, and possibly the start of a new age, which could promote better race relations within the US.

I have heard President Obama called a “Hollywood president” – all bling and no substance. I hope that this is not true. Whether you voted for him or not, he is now our president and deserves to have the benefit of the doubt for now, just as every new boss deserves a chance to prove themselves as a new leader in an established company.

Do not doubt that he has a difficult time ahead. Much of the country is buckling under huge debts, losing homes, jobs and dignity. 8 years of increasing difficulties will not go away within a few months, or even two years. There must be an understanding that regardless of how you feel or how you stand politically, it would be equally difficult for McCain to step into these shoes at this time, and just as long a time to try and unbury the US from its current economic state.

There are choices that need to be made now by every person. Either to reach out a hand and help out those who are in need, even if it is simply a meal to be given, or to ignore those around and let the issues get worse. Regardless of who is in office, we can look on today as the start of something new, something better – or we can continue to allow our country and those around us to flounder, throw blame around, and be generally unhelpful to our co-workers, neighbors, friends and families.

We should not need a reason to do this, but so much of the time, people need a date, a time, a symbol to look at and see that change is needed. Use today, use this inauguration, as your symbol to do something for others, and thereby help yourself.

Volunteer at a kitchen, bring lunch for the homeless man you pass by each day when you go to work, give time to the local boys and girls club, provide extra blankets to those in need. Do something, get active, and make a difference in your community, no matter how small; search Google for volunteer opportunities in your area, or use the following links:

Boys and Girls Club

Salvation Army

Goodwill

Hands on Portland

Portland Impact

Habitat for Humanity, Portland

Outside in

The Lizard is having a birthday!!!

When: Feb 7th (the day after her birthday) Where: Our house (unless we find someplace better) Time: 1pm til whenever Boo gets overly stimulated and needs to collapse into a heap of exhausted baby!

Yes, it's been a YEAR already, and so much has changed! She's gone from being a formless tadpole inside me, to a glowworm (just after she was born), to an interested crawler, and now she's dancing, walking, talking and even has 7 teeth (not to mention her amazing flying feats with papa)!

This is a potluck, and no presents are necessary. We know everyone is broke, and honestly, Boo has plenty of stuff to play with, chew on, and generally enjoy. If you'd like to get anything at all, gift certificates are always appreciated to Target. Or socks... She seems to eat socks... LOL.

We're going to supply the cake. You supply the friends, family, and cameras for Boo to pose at (and yes, she's not the least bit camera-shy!).

Please let us know if you'll be there by the 30th of Jan, so I know how big of a cake to get.

**Update**

OK - I know that I said no presents, BUT... should you feel the overwhelming urge to get something, you might try here: One Step Ahead

It's the registry I'm currently building so that eventually I'll have what Boo still needs for camping, and socks! Lots of socks!

~M

Looking for Southards!

I'm really wanting to find my father's family, if there are any on the web... If you are related to Robert Southard (from Port Townsend and Seattle Washington), please contact me. I am his youngest daughter, and am trying to reach everyone I can and set up a reunion within the next year or so...

Dealings with Drama...

Dealing with drama has never been my strong suit. This last weekend was a perfect example of why I now know that I’ve grown up, and away, from those who are part of the “non-sanctioned” SCA crew.

Fred and I had been planning for months to head to Courtesan Carnival this last weekend. For those out of the loop, it’s a non-SCA-sanctioned get-together of people who like dressing up and acting the part of pirates and courtesans (and I mean the Hollywood-ized, over-the-top version of them).

In the past, it’s been a nice diversion and something to break up the monotony of the winter months between tourney seasons. Since it’s indoors, it was a great way to show off more fancy costume techniques than you’d normally get at an outdoor event (since most times you’re in the woods otherwise, and have brambles and tree sap to deal with). In addition, since it wasn’t filled with a lot of stuffy “pointy hats”, one felt that one’s hair could be let down and a bunch of debauchery would happen throughout the course of the weekend.

First thing that happens, I-5 gets flooded in Washington, so… our plan of having my mother coming to take care of Boo was foiled. We called around and got another person to take care of her for the weekend so I wouldn’t have to stay home while S and Fred went to the event.

After handing the new person phone numbers for 3 different people to call in case of urgent matters or confusion, or if any questions arose during Boo’s care, and making sure that it was clear what she could eat, etc, AND making sure that she understands what to do in case of emergency, etc, we all took off to the event.

I was more than a little nervous, as this was the first weekend we’d left Boo with someone for the whole weekend. I wasn’t sure whether the person taking care of her would be able to do it, but hoped that with three people to call on if she had questions, it would be ok. Fred re-assured me several times that things would be fine, and we unpacked and got everything set up.

I ended up forgetting my meds, which wasn’t as horrible as it sounded – I actually didn’t have too horrible of a reaction without them. The most that happened with that was that I felt really tired and overly sensitive to sound/light the first 36 hours.

I ended up going to bed early, and wended in and out of consciousness for most of the night as we were camped in a one-room lodge with 70 other people; most of whom were loud and hadn’t seen one another in about 5 or 6 months. So, it was inevitable that they would be loud and overly cheery. Fred stayed up most of the night socializing, and spent a small portion talking an acquaintance of his down from a bout of self-deprecation.

Saturday was much the same socialization, some alcohol during the day, a barroom brawl boffer fight, and as the day wound down, we had dinner, then had the fire show, the talent contest, the tall tales contest, and the two major contests: Best rump and best boobies.

Fred won the Best Arse contest, while I didn’t win either the boobies or the talent contest (this bummed me out quite a bit, but hey – at least I entered). After everything was done with, there was a lot more drinking and revelry, and then the drama started.

I’d gone to bed around midnight or 1 in the morning. Fred said he’d be up in a bit, and sat by the fire again talking the acquaintance out of another TWO bouts of self-deprecation… *sigh* By that time (about 3am), I woke back up and went downstairs in time to hear the person running the event sobbing in her bunk. I looked over and saw her husband (still VERY drunk) pound down the stairs and out the door.

We still don’t quite know what happened, other than he got upset for some reason, attacked a good friend of his for no reason, and headed out the door with his car keys, deciding to put a few good miles between him and the situation. Except that he’s drunk… And shouldn’t drive…

Fred immediately got sober, as did the acquaintance, and they and another two guys went out after the gentleman in question. Fred launched himself onto the front of the vehicle, effectively blocking the guy’s view of the road. The guy got back out and tried to pull Fred off the hood of the car, and at that point, the acquaintance tried to bring him down and put a sleeper hold on the guy so that the car keys could get taken away. It didn’t work, and the guy managed to scrape his way out of the hold and knock Fred in the nose with his elbow.

He then got back into the car and took off down the road, stopped long enough to allow one sober person into the vehicle to talk with for about 500 ft, then booted the sober person back out of the car and took off with two other people following him in their car.

Back at the lodge, Fred stayed up another two hours – til about 5 or 5:30am, and I went back to bed. We woke up around 10-ish, and started packing out, exhausted. The gentleman still hadn’t made it back, but we’d heard from the two others who followed him that he drove about 6 miles and then turned off and passed out in his car.

After leaving the site finally around 1pm, we headed home to find that the person who had been babysitting was apparently exhausted from Boo. She told me that Boo hadn’t slept her normal schedule, had refused to eat other than formula and juice until Sunday when eggs had been made, and had generally been a handful but she didn’t know why. After she left, I found that Boo’s food hadn’t been touched at all, none of her snacks had been opened, and from the look of the sink, the only food cooked that weekend had been the eggs.

In addition, due to the high consumption of juice and formula, she had a diaper rash from hell on her poor tushy; a bad enough one that skin was missing from spots. Also, apparently she’d had a diaper blow-out at one point. I only knew this because her onesie hadn’t been changed since the blow-out and there was diarrhea everywhere on the bottom of it.

I found out from the three people whose numbers that the babysitter had, and none of them had been contacted – at all. So, even though a normally healthy, hungry baby supposedly “refused” to eat for over 24 hours, and even though a normally fairly happy baby screamed incoherently for apparently no reason, and the babysitter *didn’t know why*, she still didn’t feel it was necessary to call for assistance of any kind…

I’m utterly horrified that my daughter was treated this way. There is absolutely NO excuse for it, and I honestly never want to deal with that woman ever again – not even as a friend or acquaintance of the family. I honestly thought she would have enough common sense to see beyond her own wants and needs and take the needs and wants of a small child, less than a year old, into account. But apparently that’s beyond her.

I was told by friends of mine that I should pursue legal action – I won’t, if only because – Boo wasn’t irreparably harmed in the incident. But I won’t deal with her anymore, and am going to let her know that she has completely lost my trust in the matter.

So, that’s the drama of the weekend. I’m done with both non-sanctioned events and dramatical pirates, and am done with someone who apparently couldn’t be bothered to actually care for my daughter, other than make sure that she didn’t kill herself.

*sigh* Sometimes it’s horrible to realize that you’re one of a handful people who can be recognized as an adult – and not just because of your chronological age.

~M

Amusing things I have heard over the past few months as a switchboard operator, from people calling requesting different areas at my work (and the snarky responses I’ve WANTED to say, but have bravely restrained myself from uttering):

- I’d like the Adultery clinic REEEEAAAALLLLY….

- I need to speak with the veterinary center – my husband is an inpatient there. Hmmm. OK – what kind of dog is he?

- I’d like the hummer-tology clinic I have no response to this besides snickering. I can’t help it.

- Yeah, I need to speak with a dr. Any dr. I don’t care, just a dr… Yes, because all of our dr’s are totally cross-trained for every eventuality, so it won’t matter WHERE I put you to…

- I’d like the Rikki Lake clinic (note, we have an old clinic name that is a female’s name, but definitely NOT named after a talk-show host/actress) I beg your parden? I didn’t know she’d donated anything to us…

- Do you have dr’s there (yes, we still get this one)? Umb, no – we decided not to keep them on because the insurance was too costly – but we have people who play them on TV…

- Yeah, is the ER open (This was on both Thanksgiving AND Christmas)? Nope – we’re assuming no one is going to have an accident or get injured at all today, so the ER is not open at all – no one is here – this is just a recording…

- Is this [insert other, completely different company]? Certainly – I just gave you a completely different company greeting because I wanted to fool you.

- Yeah I’d like to speak with [insert common, generic name here]. You know him/her? Certainly, sir – we only have a few thousand employees here – I know each and every one of them by name, sight, and candy preference…

- (in response to the prior question’s obvious questioning probe and the statement that we have over 12 thousand employees here) No, I don’t know the last name! Don’t you know them (note, we have over 12 THOUSAND employees at my work…)? I know I _SAID_ that I knew them – I lied… I’m a habitual liar – in fact, I lied that we are so big… We only have about 12 people here at all to run this entire corporation…

- (in response to even further questioning probes to find out where said person might be) No, I don’t know where they are. They just told me to call you, and you’d get me to them! Ah! Oh, yes, THAT person! Of course! I know who that is now… I seem to remember getting a memo from someone that said if you were to call, we were to get you over to them… Riiiigggghhht.

- Yeah – I’d like to find out how to renew my driver’s license (our number is linked to the DMV only because of our ability to log the “donate life NW” information). Oh sure – never mind that I didn’t introduce myself as the DMV, and that the number for the DMV and at the bottom of your donate life nw brochure don’t match – I can help you with that… First, open a crackerjack box…

- Can you keep trying the (busy) number until they answer, and then call me back? Of course, because we have nothing better to do all day than to become your personal assistant. Would you like fries with that?

- I’d like the Eternal Medicine clinic… Somehow, I’m not sure how to respond to this… It sounds almost depressing… And expensive…

Pissing me off!!

Please - if you have my cell phone #, do NOT send me forwards of "pray for this person", "send this text msg to 100 people and so-and-so will donate $", or anything else similar to it. I hate them, and they aren't true.


If you're stupid enough to think that it is, that's great, but don't include me in it. All you'll do is piss me off and force me to send back a caustic response asking you to knock it off or remove me from your phone list.


Please! If you read something like that and it sounds too good to be true, check it on Snopes before you forward it along. It's stupid to waste everyone's time with something that isn't true.


Disney isn't going to give away free tickets, you aren't going to get a free lunch from Applebee's, and the phone company isn't going to give even a half-penny to any charity just because you forward on an email or a text message. It's just not going to happen. Why? Because major corporations have better things to do than try and track text messages and emails every which way.


Give it up and quit bugging me.

~M

Disturbing news...

So, I got the "new" schedule of benefits. Seems that there WERE some changes from when we were under BCBS... We didn't actually get a new booklet showing the differences, we were simply told that we wouldn't see a significant change.

Well, from what I remember, prenatal including the birth and hospital care was supposed to be an initial co-pay, and everything else covered. However, this is not the case for Aetna. We now have to pay 80% of everything. Additionally there are a few items on the list that I have no understanding of at all... Like "Family Plan Payment Limit" - is that the limit of what _I_ pay? Or is it the limit of what THEY pay... Does that mean that after I reach that point I have to pay the rest? I have no clue.

Also, under prenatal services, it says only "Payable in accordance with the type of expense incurred and the place where service is provided"... Huh?

Have I mentioned that I absolutely HATE legal-eze and the health care system? Ugh. I'm currently facing over $4000 in bills for having Boo... I can't tell whether it's only 20% of the total cost or not, and the sheer physical number of bills and statements that come in are staggering regarding this... I can't really make heads or tails of it - and to make matters worse, Boo was born in February - Aetna still hasn't settled their portion of the bill yet... It's insane.

I'm asking this of anyone who can - if you can donate to help out the bills, please do so... Even fifty cents will help...

~M

Starting the week off right...

Conversation today with a social worker in psychiatry (I promised I wouldn’t give out her name – LOL):
SW: My pager is off – is it me that has to turn it on?
Me: Well, let’s take a look – No, your pager status is “in hospital, on page”.
SW: But the pager says “Pager off”… So, do I need to turn it on?
Me: Er, yes… You’d want to physically turn the pager on.
SW: How would I do that? I mean, I have no idea…
Me: Well, there should be a big button on the right front of the pager…
SW: Big… Button… Right… Side… You mean the one with the blue dash on it?
Me: Yep. Just hold that down and it should turn on.
SW: Wow… And they let me work here… Don’t tell anyone who this is, ok?

~M

Update...

I updated my wish list here - please feel free to peruse them and, if you're feeling generous, give a tip at the jar to help us toward things...

~M

And a huge loot pile to you, too!

This morning was the divesting of hours of wrapping time, days of worrying over what to buy, and evenings of anxiety worrying about whether the choice picked was the right one... All in all, I'd say that we all got a lot of what we wanted...

Fred's loot pile included a large bit from S, who got him watercolor pencils, a dremel, a foot spa treatment pack, Red Alert 3, and a DVD of Curious George, as well as a bar of Lindt dark chocolate with orange essence. I got him 3 new t-shirts with snarky sayings, and a new video game he's currently trying to beat - we're still waiting for the big gift, which is a 500 gb Seagate external hard drive/storage drive... It's been delayed due to the weather.

S's loot pile included a small carved dragon out of St Helen's ash, a russian birch box with some hair ties inside, 2 sets of watercolor paints with brushes, and a lavendar spa set from me (and the promise of a captain's coat soon), and a large knife and a small skinning blade, and a bellydance sword with placard to hang it on from Fred.

Boo's loot pile included a new skirt and sweater, a new dress, 3 Little People Pirate figurines, a bouncy ball, 2 books, a music maker toy, and a puppet monkey - oh, and a coconut and white chocolate Lindt bar.

My loot pile was the largest by far, I think... Fred ended up getting me a food saver vacuum sealer, 3 KitchenAid attachments, a 14" skillet, a puppet hedgie, 2 triangles for quilting, pins, and rotary blade replacements. S got me a 10 qt Black & Decker food processor, a beautiful black satin box with chinese lettering in red all over it, more pins, a seam ripper, some watercolors and brushes (yes, ironic, but still...), a very small stuffed moose, a "Tide-to-go" pen (because she understands me), and a dark chocolate with chili Lindt bar.

Us girls got a bellydance DVD from Fred as well, and the household got a nice gift of munchies and apple-cran Martinelli's from Jess.

All in all, an amazing day. Boo was so excited she was vibrating, and refused to go down for her second nap, afraid that she might miss yet another unwrapping of presents. LOL. We ended up having to put her down for bed early after a relaxing bath and a sing-song in her room.


Even the cat got a little something - a triple dose of catnip on his scratcher, and tons of lovin's.

Most of all, though, I got to spend Christmas warm, surrounded by those I love, and watching the snow melt away with warmer temperatures and rain. Yay me! I hope that you were able to have a similar experience, and I wish you all the Happiest of holidays.

~M

Happy whatever 2008

I'm about done with having a white christmas... Whomever ordered the weather should be beaten, tied, and left naked in the middle of the Alaskan tundra - or Siberia...

The constant on-again, off-again snow has impeded my travels to and from work, and the roads are crazy slick. Unfortunately, Oregon doesn't apparently believe in snow plows in the lower regions, so none of the roads are cleared at all. The busses are barely running on my road, and we have to head to the nearest stop that's flat - which means it's about 3 blocks away from my house, rather than the 1 block that's normally taken. Not a HUGE deal normally, but in the snow/ice/slush that has built up on our road has made the walk particularly hazardous - between dodging slick patches with feet, and random cars deciding to kareen down the road at high speeds with no chains or other traction devices, it was an exciting morning...

After waiting for 25 minutes on the side of the road for the bus, and narrowly missing being hit by 2 cars sliding down and across the road (one doing a 45 degree spin and then straightening out and heading off again at yet faster pacing than before), the bus finally got to me and I got on. The rest of the ride was uneventful, but filled with me praying to the Gods that we make it safely into town.

We did so, and I managed to make it to work within a half hour of my clock-in time - which is great, considering I woke up this morning and it was snowing... again...

So far, work has been same-old, same-old... The calls were pretty hectic at the beginning, but calmed down mostly by around 10am. I'm staying an extra hour to help out, since we are having such limited coverage on the phones, and things are just going to get worse since tomorrow is Christmas. I'm hoping that no one calls out tomorrow - I could possibly be guilted into working a few hours if only because I didn't make it in Monday or Tuesday due to the weather... Then again, if it freezes over, I'm not going to risk my life to make it in. On the up-shot, management is buying us lunch, apparently. I'm getting a turkey club with extra mustard. Yum.

Currently, S is home with Fred doing the dishes, and Boo is watching avidly. Apparently dishes are fascinating. LOL. S apparently bought out several stores getting presents for everyone - Fred and I both feel guilty with the lack of presents, but she looked at both of us and laughed - her statement was "I like to shop! The problem is getting me to STOP shopping... LOL." That's ok, though... Fred and I are hatching a plan for Valentine's Day. Mwa ha ha!

Speaking of presents, Fred's present has not arrived yet. It was just shipped from the Chehalis office on the 23rd at 2:30am, which means that it might make it here by Saturday - if I'm lucky... I'm debating on printing out a color photo and wrapping it... Bwa ha ha.

Fred's been off work due to the winter weather this week, though they're wanting to have him try and come in Friday. This will work out since, while Jess, our fabu babysitter has unfortunately been stuck at her house due to (yet again) the weather (we did mention that the weather was bad, right?), S has Friday off. So, Fred and I will head to work, and S will stay with Boo for the day. Yay us! I'm totally hoping that everything melts down to a reasonable level by Sunday, so that Jess is able to make it to our house, and Fred and I are able to head out to work. It's amazing how much we are all reliant upon one another to make it through a day sometimes... LOL. I'm thankful that I have such wonderful people around me.

I have grave on call Saturday night - this could prove to be interesting... I'm hoping that everyone makes it in, because I'd rather not go in at all... *sigh* But, if I do, at least I'll have extra time on my paycheck.

Amusing comment made by Lil today: "I'm pretty certain I know how skiing was invented - two drunk Norse guys on top of a mountain in the cold north decide it would be a great idea to goad one another: "Hey, Ole! I bet you can't make it down this mountain here!" "Just you wait 'til I get these planks strapped to my feet, and then we'll see!"" I can so totally imagine this one...

In any case, I am just about ready to head out - only 45 minutes until I'm off work tonight, and then I don't have to be back in until Friday morning.

So, I hope that you all have the best of holidays, and that the New Year brings you such joy that you can only imagine. Most of all, may you and yours be safe, loved, warm, and happy.

Blessed be!

~M

I am amused...

December 15, 2008, South Waterfront neighborhood, Portland, Oregon.

This was posted by a gentleman apparently living down by the new OHSU building on the south waterfront... "Looking from our condo we can see cars attempting, and most failing, to climb up a hill to get out of the neighborhood. I decided to put together a montage of sliding cars. Portland had a recent snowfall and we are expecting more tomorrow."

I especially like the soundtrack - really puts it into perspective.

~M

Snow day...

The party last night was a success. We had friends and family over and had lots of food and fun. Ended up NOT going to the zoo for zoo lights, as Ms Cranky-pants decided not to sleep for most of the day, and only got a 2 hr nap out of all of it... So, she was shuffled off to bed around 7 or so, and that was the end of the discussion.

This morning, I woke up at 7, couldn't see outside (it was still VERY dark), and went back to sleep. Woke up around 9, and the first words out of my mouth were:

"Hmmm It's snowing..."

And it was. Snowed for the rest of the day, until around 4:30 or so this afternoon. The bad news, it cancelled our photo shoot with Steve. The good news, it gave us time to do all our laundry, as no one wanted to walk 150 ft to the laundry room to do anything. LOL. The following is what happens when you show Boo snow for the first time... Enjoy!

Getting ready for the Holiday Party Saturday...

To do before Saturday Afternoon:

 Put away all necessary paperwork into office area
 Put away all D&D stuff
 Put away all extraneous toys and books to Boo’s room
 Put away all sewing items, fabric and machines into sewing area
 Put away all blankets and pillows
 Put away all clothes from front room, bathroom and hallway
 Fold and put away all towels
 Do dishes and clean kitchen
 Pull table out, and re-position baby gate
 Block the underside of the table against baby invasion
 Clean up dining room area
 Vacuum everywhere
 Put up tree
 Decorate
Things to do ON Saturday:
 Take out trash in all rooms, including Boo’s room and bathroom
 Take apart baby corral and put toy basket in Boo’s room
 Place baby corral against the entertainment center/bookshelf area, and brace
 Vacuum one more time

Whee!

~M

Lack of holiday spirit?

Yes, indeed, Virginia, there is a lack of holiday spirit of late. Why? Well, with budget cuts and layoffs at my work (not to mention my management team telling us repeatedly that we aren't doing enough in our job, and we don't deserve kudos or anything else unless we can account for every second of our time and justify it), not to mention a lack of funds and general exhaustion, I'm hoarding my holiday spirit for my family only, thank-you-very-much.

I have determined that, while I used to like my job and took pride in it, I can no longer even pretend. I am here to simply pick up the paycheck anymore... I can't even feel the urge to take an overall stance of personal pride in my work because I know that no matter how much I do, and how much I give to my job, my management team will continually tell me that it's not enough, that I need to do more, and that they're not impressed with how little we all do.

The latest in the list of things that management has decided to take from us under the guise of yet more budget cuts. Inclemate weather is looming, and our call center, being "vital", had given us the option to have them pay for a cab, should we be unable to get to work any other way (i.e., busses not running and too dangerous to drive due to snow/ice). Last year we didn't use this option at all. We had no real inclemate weather to speak of, and while the weather people love to threaten us with snow, we normally have about a 7% chance of snow for the whole winter. I think, in the last 10 years that I've lived in the area, we've only had 2 years where we were "snowed in", and that was only for about 4 days tops.

So, with that said, the management team decided yesterday to announce that that unless it's pre-approved by our department manager, we simply won't have the option of having our cab paid for to get us in. This is something that she's been trying to have cut for a while - it's just handy that she has an excuse now. This is the same woman who has repeatedly told us over the past 6 months that we, quite simply, suck. We don't do enough work in the call center; we should be accounting for every minute of every day when we're at work, and we shouldn't be allowed to do anything else while we're at work because it's not good for her bottom line. We don't answer the calls fast enough, we don't send the pages quickly enough, we don't get the confirmations done well enough, and we don't handle the calls with enough diplomacy... She likened us to a car repair shop... If we were at a car repair shop, we'd want to know why we were paying for an hour's work, when we saw the worker on the phone for a good half hour, and not working on the vehicle...

*sigh* I'm sorry, but I don't think she's done our job ever - and if she has, it was over 10 years ago, which means that she's forgotton what it's like to be here on the front lines. We deal with everyone - from cranky doctors to pissed off patients - we get them all. And we don't scream back, and we don't give them lip. We thank them for their call, we offer them what we can, and we get the request processed to the best of our abilities. And instead of concentrating on an equal part of what good we've done, we get a nonstop diet of 100% "you're bad and therefore must be treated like a 3-year-old" from her.

I've just pretty much had it with management's attitude. They don't know what it's like being on the front lines day in and day out. Some of them claim to have worked at this call center - and if they did, it's been so long, and they've been so far away from us for so long, that it's no longer real to them. They've forgotten what it's like and, even if they did remember, they apparently no longer care. I've been at different call centers throughout my 11 years as a call center rep... At least the prior ones didn't tell us on one hand that we were "vital" and then tell us that we were doing a crappy job regardless of what we actually WERE doing...

Weekend of turmoil...

This last weekend was full of turmoil, but not from my family, oddly enough. No, instead, it was the baby that was surly and full of hate - at least, when it came to sleeping.

She didn't like the drive up, didn't like sleeping in the same room with mommy and daddy, didn't like sleeping in a different place altogether, and absolutely HATED the dogs. Poor thing kept getting licked by them (the 3 labs LOVE babies, and will nuzzle them whenever possible) and she'd shriek and howl in indignation at the audacity of being touched by them.

Saturday was the family portrait, which wouldn't have been so bad but for the extra hour wait and the crappy photographer. Apparently, JCPennys now does all their booking through their corporate office, and corporate sets it up for every half hour. The photography area can't get most of the photos done in that short of time, but won't tell corporate. And the photographer was so hot that she was throwing up every hour or so...

When my sister went back to view the photos, there were none of the holiday background that ended up working, and only about 6 out of the 20 or so that were taken that were any good at all... I'm going to see about having Steve do photos for us. He's been wanting to get us in again and work with Boo some more, anyway, so it should be a lot more fruitful than the ones that were done prior.

Sunday found us up and ready to head back down by 11am, and we got home by 2:30 or so, where I collapsed with a migraine after putting the baby in for a "real" nap, as she hadn't really gotten any sleep at all over the weekend.

On the plus side, I got a body massage from S and Fred, and puddled for a while, then went out and picked up diapers for Boo (she's now in a size 4!).

As of today, I'm officially FUBAR'd as far as cash goes. We are $250 short for rent, so I'll have to write the check, the bank will cover it, and then I'll have to fork over the extra bounced check fee along with the missing cash when I get paid on the 12th. I'm so over doing this. From now on, all the extra cash is going to the BofA account, and I'm not going to do this ever again. Dammit. I'm so done with my stupidity.

~M