| You Are 8% Sociopath |
 You're empathetic, loyal, and introspective. In other words, there's no way you're a sociopath... but you can spot one pretty easily! |
Thursday, May 31, 2007
Should I be worried about the 8%???
The GRE thought so too!
| You Are Incredibly Logical |
 Move over Spock - you're the new master of logic You think rationally, clearly, and quickly. A seasoned problem solver, your mind is like a computer! |
MWAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!
Okay, the evil laugh is because I no longer have to deal with html on blogger!!! Best new feature ever!!! I hated adding links because I had to wade through all sorts of mumbo jumbo that I don't understand to put them in...but now, I just click a button, and it walks me through step by step. I really did need blogger for idiots!
I'm too tired to come up with a title, so this will have to do...
So, I've been a slacker in terms of blogging recently...but this time I have a good excuse! (Just kidding...I don't need an excuse to be a slacker, it's second nature to me!)
Hubby and I have started the South Beach Diet...though I hate to use the word diet...basically it is more like we've stopped eating our usual menu of excessive amounts of carbs. Instead, I've been making excessive amounts of salads...slightly more work than my normal "cooking" but at least it keeps the kitchen cool!
We are currently in the second week of phase 1 (which is the most restrictive part of the diet) and next week we get to start adding back in grains and fruits, which I am actually a little bit nervous about...
Other than that, not much going on! Some family get togethers, lots of housework to catch up on, trying to get Charlotte out of our bed (so far we've managed one night in the cosleeper...with any luck in a few months she'll be ready to move in with Eva!) Interviews are done for the new clerk at the post office, but no word on who the job is being offered to (still in the background check/reference stage, I'm guessing) so it may be a while before hubby isn't working so much overtime, but I'm not complaining, because we are down to the last $1020 on hubby's student loan, and after that, the only debt we will owe is our mortgage! Woo hoo!!!
Hubby and I have started the South Beach Diet...though I hate to use the word diet...basically it is more like we've stopped eating our usual menu of excessive amounts of carbs. Instead, I've been making excessive amounts of salads...slightly more work than my normal "cooking" but at least it keeps the kitchen cool!
We are currently in the second week of phase 1 (which is the most restrictive part of the diet) and next week we get to start adding back in grains and fruits, which I am actually a little bit nervous about...
Other than that, not much going on! Some family get togethers, lots of housework to catch up on, trying to get Charlotte out of our bed (so far we've managed one night in the cosleeper...with any luck in a few months she'll be ready to move in with Eva!) Interviews are done for the new clerk at the post office, but no word on who the job is being offered to (still in the background check/reference stage, I'm guessing) so it may be a while before hubby isn't working so much overtime, but I'm not complaining, because we are down to the last $1020 on hubby's student loan, and after that, the only debt we will owe is our mortgage! Woo hoo!!!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
This REALLY shouldn't suprise anyone!
| Weird Al Shares Your Taste in Music |
 See his whole playlist here (iTunes required) |
"There is no emoticon for what I'm feeling!"
| Your Emoticon Is Laughing |
 You've got a wicked sense of humor. You're everyone's favorite IM buddy... at least today! |
Only 60%???
| You Are 60% Weird |
 You're so weird, you think you're *totally* normal. Right? But you wig out even the biggest of circus freaks! |
I HATE insurance companies...
Okay, so I REALLY try not to use the word hate when I really mean "strongly dislike", etc...but today I am really HATING ours!!!
Now, on the plus side...we are insured and nine times out of ten they pay claims with no difficulties...
On the minus side...if they don't pay a claim, it is a pain in the you-know-what to get them to review it...
Today I talked to some guy named Michael (since he shares a name with approximately 25% of the American male population, I feel no guilt in posting his name!) NOT HELPFUL AT ALL! See, this is a claim that we had for Charlie when we took her into the ER at the ADVICE OF THE 24 HOUR NURSE LINE THAT THE INSURANCE COMPANY HAS FOR US TO USE!!!! Fortunately, she was fine...so, it got coded as something that the insurance didn't like. The visit was in DECEMBER of 06...
I have called the insurance company AT LEAST once a month over this...I have also called the hospital at least once a month (and their billing office, and the clinic, and the medical records department, etc.) LAST MONTH the hospital told me they had sent out the information requested, so when I got a paper in the mail stating that the insurance company needed the information that was already sent to them, I called in.
Michael informed me that the information that "they" sent in was for the wrong date in October...then he got mad that I wasn't understanding what he meant since Charlotte was born in November. It was a claim for ME from a different HOSPITAL, in a different CITY, with a different BILLING OFFICE, etc. etc. etc...then he treated me like crap because I didn't have the account numbers from the hospital bills (which I have only recieved one of...) and the phone number from that paper, and instead tried to give him the hospital phone number (it is a small hospital...it has ONE main phone number...) Finally, I talked to someone higher up who was at least as unhelpful...
Then I called the hospital, and they read me back everything that had been done (every mailing, every time I called, every time they called the insurance company, etc.) and told me that they were sending out the information again tomorrow...
So, my insurance company likes to pass the buck all the time...
Nothing makes me quite as crazy as people who won't take responsiblity for their own organization's screw ups!
Now, on the plus side...we are insured and nine times out of ten they pay claims with no difficulties...
On the minus side...if they don't pay a claim, it is a pain in the you-know-what to get them to review it...
Today I talked to some guy named Michael (since he shares a name with approximately 25% of the American male population, I feel no guilt in posting his name!) NOT HELPFUL AT ALL! See, this is a claim that we had for Charlie when we took her into the ER at the ADVICE OF THE 24 HOUR NURSE LINE THAT THE INSURANCE COMPANY HAS FOR US TO USE!!!! Fortunately, she was fine...so, it got coded as something that the insurance didn't like. The visit was in DECEMBER of 06...
I have called the insurance company AT LEAST once a month over this...I have also called the hospital at least once a month (and their billing office, and the clinic, and the medical records department, etc.) LAST MONTH the hospital told me they had sent out the information requested, so when I got a paper in the mail stating that the insurance company needed the information that was already sent to them, I called in.
Michael informed me that the information that "they" sent in was for the wrong date in October...then he got mad that I wasn't understanding what he meant since Charlotte was born in November. It was a claim for ME from a different HOSPITAL, in a different CITY, with a different BILLING OFFICE, etc. etc. etc...then he treated me like crap because I didn't have the account numbers from the hospital bills (which I have only recieved one of...) and the phone number from that paper, and instead tried to give him the hospital phone number (it is a small hospital...it has ONE main phone number...) Finally, I talked to someone higher up who was at least as unhelpful...
Then I called the hospital, and they read me back everything that had been done (every mailing, every time I called, every time they called the insurance company, etc.) and told me that they were sending out the information again tomorrow...
So, my insurance company likes to pass the buck all the time...
Nothing makes me quite as crazy as people who won't take responsiblity for their own organization's screw ups!
Saturday, May 12, 2007
Movies are a wonderful thing...
So, last night I was just at wits end. You see, we had made a family trip to Colorado Springs (which is quite long enough of a drive, thank you very much) because hubby ended up having training in a small town near there (they had moved the one that was closer, but the phone service was out in our town because someone had accidentally cut a fiberoptic cable south of town, and so they didn't get the call that it was that day rather than the next!) Anyhow, that kept us out past midnight after all was said and done on Wednesday. Thursday I had bible study in the evening, and we decided to watch our movie from netflix afterwards, so we were up late then...Friday, the girls went on a napping strike, so I got no rest then. So, last night I had hubby take the girls up to the theatre to watch "Firehouse Dog" (Eva LOVED it...she has a thing about dogs...) and I got to stay home and work on OUR scrapbook for a change. So, I got Eva coming home from the hospital through Eva's baptism...(okay, so it was only about 6 weeks of her life...but still...it's an accomplishment when you are as behind as I am!)
Both kids are still free at the movie, so it wasn't even that expensive to get them out of my hair...I'm going to have to do that more often!
Both kids are still free at the movie, so it wasn't even that expensive to get them out of my hair...I'm going to have to do that more often!
Monday, May 07, 2007
Why Men Suck...
Okay, I guess more fairly, I should title this post "why the traditional distribution of labor within the family sucks!" As I sit here with my appliances all going (Thank the Lord for my appliances, or my mechanical slaves, as I call them!) I've been thinking about accomplishments. Do you ever get the feeling that you are always busy, but never actually accomplish anything? Take dishes, cooking and laundry, for instance...You wash all the dishes...then it is time to feed the family a meal, so you have to cook, when you are done cooking, you have more dishes to wash...then you have to cook another meal, ad nauseum! Same with laundry...you get up in the morning, you get dressed, you get the kids dressed, you go about your routine of cooking and doing dishes, and at the end of the day, you get undressed and into PJs, then you have to wash the laundry...and as if clothing weren't enough, there are sheets and towels and blankets and burp cloths and diapers to wash, too!
A while back our washing machine was broken (right in the middle of potty training! Yikes!!!) and the repair guy couldn't get here for four days. I just let the laundry pile up (except for the load that was in the washer when it quit working...I took those up to my MILs house when we visited to rewash and dry...) and after it was fixed, I did a ton of loads of laundry...it was almost like accomplishing something...In fact, I feel much more of a sense of accomplishment if I let my house become a pigsty and THEN clean it all up!
So, yesterday we did some work around the house. I cooked three meals, did dishes, did some laundry, played with the kiddos and used our Hoover Floormate on the tile floor in our kitchen. Today, I have more meals to cook, more dishes to do, more laundry to wash and dry and fold and put away, and of course, the kids to take care of. Yesterday, hubby worked on staining the cabinet doors for our kitchen and laundry room. Every door now has at least one side stained...and today, they are still stained!!! He also dug up a lilac bush in our front yard that was mostly dead...yes, a lot of hard work...but guess what he doesn't have to do again! (To be fair to hubby, his days at work are a lot like my days at home...he does the same things over and over again 6 days a week...)
Okay, enough whining (for now)...maybe I'll go try to accomplish something!
A while back our washing machine was broken (right in the middle of potty training! Yikes!!!) and the repair guy couldn't get here for four days. I just let the laundry pile up (except for the load that was in the washer when it quit working...I took those up to my MILs house when we visited to rewash and dry...) and after it was fixed, I did a ton of loads of laundry...it was almost like accomplishing something...In fact, I feel much more of a sense of accomplishment if I let my house become a pigsty and THEN clean it all up!
So, yesterday we did some work around the house. I cooked three meals, did dishes, did some laundry, played with the kiddos and used our Hoover Floormate on the tile floor in our kitchen. Today, I have more meals to cook, more dishes to do, more laundry to wash and dry and fold and put away, and of course, the kids to take care of. Yesterday, hubby worked on staining the cabinet doors for our kitchen and laundry room. Every door now has at least one side stained...and today, they are still stained!!! He also dug up a lilac bush in our front yard that was mostly dead...yes, a lot of hard work...but guess what he doesn't have to do again! (To be fair to hubby, his days at work are a lot like my days at home...he does the same things over and over again 6 days a week...)
Okay, enough whining (for now)...maybe I'll go try to accomplish something!
Sunday, May 06, 2007
We celebrated Mother's Day a week early...
Mostly due to the fact that hubby has three cousins graduating from high school on Mother's Day. So, hubby and Eva went out this morning to get some supplies for our never ending cabinet project, and they got my present while they were out. I am very excited about it (which probably means that I am a massive dork!) because instead of being fifteen years out of date, technologically, we are now only about five! (I figure if you can find it in our town, it has to be at least five years behind the times!)
We have two stereos in our house (I use the term loosely, of course!) one in our bedroom which is the small one that I got in high school with one tape deck, a CD player, and a AM/FM radio. All parts still function (except the tape deck can be a little finicky at times. Our other stereo was hubby's from high school. It is an old school boombox! Detachable speakers, CD player, dual tape deck with high speed dubbing, AM/FM radio with the capability to program radio stations...the problem is that the CD player on it doesn't work, and we live far enough out in the boonies to not have very good reception for any radio stations (we used to have Sirius Satalite Radio, but didn't use it enough for it to be worth it...)
Okay, total tangent here, but this is too cute not to tell...I went outside to tell the family that supper is almost ready, and Eva is singing "Father Abraham" to an earthworm her daddy found for her...Back to the original post...
So, obviously they got me a new stereo...and this one doesn't take up half my bookshelf! It only takes up one shelf. It has a CD player, AM/FM radio (no programable features, but we don't really need it, and best of all, I can hook my IPod up to it and we can all listen!
Hubby claimed the old boombox for the garage, but at least it is no longer in the house! Besides, all he wants out there is something that can pick up AM radio for sporting events while he is working out there!
We have two stereos in our house (I use the term loosely, of course!) one in our bedroom which is the small one that I got in high school with one tape deck, a CD player, and a AM/FM radio. All parts still function (except the tape deck can be a little finicky at times. Our other stereo was hubby's from high school. It is an old school boombox! Detachable speakers, CD player, dual tape deck with high speed dubbing, AM/FM radio with the capability to program radio stations...the problem is that the CD player on it doesn't work, and we live far enough out in the boonies to not have very good reception for any radio stations (we used to have Sirius Satalite Radio, but didn't use it enough for it to be worth it...)
Okay, total tangent here, but this is too cute not to tell...I went outside to tell the family that supper is almost ready, and Eva is singing "Father Abraham" to an earthworm her daddy found for her...Back to the original post...
So, obviously they got me a new stereo...and this one doesn't take up half my bookshelf! It only takes up one shelf. It has a CD player, AM/FM radio (no programable features, but we don't really need it, and best of all, I can hook my IPod up to it and we can all listen!
Hubby claimed the old boombox for the garage, but at least it is no longer in the house! Besides, all he wants out there is something that can pick up AM radio for sporting events while he is working out there!
I hate freecycle...
I may be the only person on the planet...and maybe it's just my local freecycle that sucks (but I'm guessing there are many other sucky ones, too!)
I have been on the local freecycle group for over a year (maybe closer to two) and I finally unsubscribed from it...I have made exactly two requests (one for empty beer bottles, the other for empty baby food jars) making it clear that I would be willing to travel to pick stuff up...
I have also made at least two offers (if I've made any more, they were just never responded to...) one was a bunch of pen refills that I had left over from grad school, which after about two weeks of no response, I threw them out. Naturally, about two weeks after that, someone responded that they would be interested in the pen refills if I still had them...
Second one was last week or so...I have over a dozen clean, unused cloth diapers (6 cheapy prefolds and over a dozen flats) and I don't have any use for them (as I have 3 dozen of two different sizes of good prefolds, and probably 2 dozen or more flats that I use for burp rags...) So, I offered them, and was very excited when someone said that she was interested...I e-mailed her back privately with my phone number telling her to give me a call to figure out a time she could pick them up. I also told her that we town we live in, and that we are in the city itself. Our city is in the county that the freecycle group is supposed to be for...
She e-mailed back that she was located in another city in the next county over (at least an hour drive away) and asked if we ever came to that town, and asked if we might be able to drop them off there...
I e-mailed back that we do occasionally go through that town, but that we had no plans to do so in the near future...she has never e-mailed me back...
So, apparently, I can't get anyone to even save their trash (or recyclables) for me, but people want me to DELIVER items to them in a different COUNTY???
Grrrr.....
I have been on the local freecycle group for over a year (maybe closer to two) and I finally unsubscribed from it...I have made exactly two requests (one for empty beer bottles, the other for empty baby food jars) making it clear that I would be willing to travel to pick stuff up...
I have also made at least two offers (if I've made any more, they were just never responded to...) one was a bunch of pen refills that I had left over from grad school, which after about two weeks of no response, I threw them out. Naturally, about two weeks after that, someone responded that they would be interested in the pen refills if I still had them...
Second one was last week or so...I have over a dozen clean, unused cloth diapers (6 cheapy prefolds and over a dozen flats) and I don't have any use for them (as I have 3 dozen of two different sizes of good prefolds, and probably 2 dozen or more flats that I use for burp rags...) So, I offered them, and was very excited when someone said that she was interested...I e-mailed her back privately with my phone number telling her to give me a call to figure out a time she could pick them up. I also told her that we town we live in, and that we are in the city itself. Our city is in the county that the freecycle group is supposed to be for...
She e-mailed back that she was located in another city in the next county over (at least an hour drive away) and asked if we ever came to that town, and asked if we might be able to drop them off there...
I e-mailed back that we do occasionally go through that town, but that we had no plans to do so in the near future...she has never e-mailed me back...
So, apparently, I can't get anyone to even save their trash (or recyclables) for me, but people want me to DELIVER items to them in a different COUNTY???
Grrrr.....
Whew!!! Can't imagine what my mom would say if I failed..
| You Passed 8th Grade Science |
 Congratulations, you got 6/8 correct! |
Just enough blogging...
Okay, I have to admit, I started this blog only after becoming addicted to reading blogs. At one point, I think I visited about a dozen blogs a day...now I am down to three. (The second kid definately contributed to that!) But honestly, there are lots of great bloggers out there, but there are two types that I just can't stand anymore. People who blog too much, or people who blog too little...
On the "people who blog too much" list include Amy Wellborn (whom I love to read, but since she posts a zillion things a week, I just can't handle keeping up!) and the Heart, Mind and Strength blog, which because it has half a dozen people who blog on it, just is information overload as well...
Then there are the ones that you visit, and they don't update for weeks at a time (like me for instance!) and by the time they have updated, you have visited their site a dozen times looking for more thoughts...
I think it is pretty hard to reach a happy medium in blogging...I understand the urge to put everything you find interesting on a blog...and I understand the not having time to regularly update a blog...but it is sad when only 2 of my original 12 or so blogs fit my new expectations (the 3rd I found just a couple of months ago...very funny stuff at Ask Sister Mary Martha!)
On the "people who blog too much" list include Amy Wellborn (whom I love to read, but since she posts a zillion things a week, I just can't handle keeping up!) and the Heart, Mind and Strength blog, which because it has half a dozen people who blog on it, just is information overload as well...
Then there are the ones that you visit, and they don't update for weeks at a time (like me for instance!) and by the time they have updated, you have visited their site a dozen times looking for more thoughts...
I think it is pretty hard to reach a happy medium in blogging...I understand the urge to put everything you find interesting on a blog...and I understand the not having time to regularly update a blog...but it is sad when only 2 of my original 12 or so blogs fit my new expectations (the 3rd I found just a couple of months ago...very funny stuff at Ask Sister Mary Martha!)
Saturday, May 05, 2007
What was the point???
Okay, so we were in tornado warnings last night...we saw on the TV, and kept trying to figure out if we were in the path of the tornados...however, since it was DRIZZLING in Denver, that was FAR more important than us!!! So, right about the time we finally went to bed figuring that the tornado whistle would (hopefully! We're all heavy sleepers in this house) wake us up it started to hail. We had a nice pile of pea sized hail just sheeting off of our roof, and the street was white with hail...we figured there was pretty much no chance of hearing the whistle with all the hail, and thought we'd leave our existance up to God (obviously, we were not hit by a tornado, since I am typing this...
At about 1 in the morning the phone rang...I jumped out of bed and ran to get it, worrying that it was a reverse 911 telling us that a tornado was about to wipe our town out of existence...
It was a reverse 911...to let us know that we were no longer in a tornado warning...
So, I ask you...why on EARTH did they do that at 1 am, but not call earlier in the evening to let us KNOW that we were in a tornado warning???
At about 1 in the morning the phone rang...I jumped out of bed and ran to get it, worrying that it was a reverse 911 telling us that a tornado was about to wipe our town out of existence...
It was a reverse 911...to let us know that we were no longer in a tornado warning...
So, I ask you...why on EARTH did they do that at 1 am, but not call earlier in the evening to let us KNOW that we were in a tornado warning???
Friday, May 04, 2007
Our Blessed Mother had an accident...
Okay, I've always wanted a Mary garden...but to have one, you need two things...a statue of Mary, and some sort of flower garden. I had gotten one step closer recently. My MIL let me have a statue of Mary that her ex-step-mother had given her when she lost her mind and left the Catholic church for a cult (and then divorced her husband and moved to "find Jesus" and sell "Holy Tea"...) So, we brought Mary home and placed her inside our fence until we could plant a garden underneath the bedroom windows.
Now, Eva LOVES Mary, and has several small Mary and Joseph statues that she plays with in the house. Naturally, she loved this larger, outdoor Mary. Mary rode Eva's bike with her...Mary was put down for naps on the step...Mary was carried up to the top of Eva's slide with all of Eva's other treasures (It looked like a redneck Catholic shrine...I really wish I had gotten a picture!) Mary even slid down the slide (not because I thought it was a good idea...) and she survived all of that.
Well, unfortunately today Eva apparently dropped her on our sidewalk, and broke her base into pieces...so I am waiting for hubby to get home to see if Mary is repairable...If she is, then I am sure he will have the good sense to place her OUTSIDE of our fence!
Now, Eva LOVES Mary, and has several small Mary and Joseph statues that she plays with in the house. Naturally, she loved this larger, outdoor Mary. Mary rode Eva's bike with her...Mary was put down for naps on the step...Mary was carried up to the top of Eva's slide with all of Eva's other treasures (It looked like a redneck Catholic shrine...I really wish I had gotten a picture!) Mary even slid down the slide (not because I thought it was a good idea...) and she survived all of that.
Well, unfortunately today Eva apparently dropped her on our sidewalk, and broke her base into pieces...so I am waiting for hubby to get home to see if Mary is repairable...If she is, then I am sure he will have the good sense to place her OUTSIDE of our fence!
Thursday, May 03, 2007
Wednesday, May 02, 2007
Pork Chops with Rhubarb Sauce
Okay, I was watching "Everyday Food" on PBS on Sunday, and they did this recipe...of course, I'll list what I actually did, not what they told me to do! (I enjoy the show, but those New Yorkers have no idea what is available in the supermarkets of rural America...honestly, they said that you could get rhubarb year round in the produce department...you can't even get it at the store in the summer here...maybe the farmer's market, or 95% of backyards!)
Okay, here it is!
Brown 4 (or more) pork chops in a little bit of olive oil.
In a sauce pan, cook 1/2 an onion in a little bit of olive oil
In a small bowl mix 1/2 c. dried currants (or raisins, if that's what is in your pantry) with 1/4 c. water and 1 T. balsamic vinegar
Add to sauce pan 2 c. chopped rhubarb, bowl of water, currants, etc. and 3 T. white sugar
Cook until thickened and mushy, serve over pork chops.
We had it with leftover brown rice and brussel sprouts (frozen ones, naturally!)
Okay, here it is!
Brown 4 (or more) pork chops in a little bit of olive oil.
In a sauce pan, cook 1/2 an onion in a little bit of olive oil
In a small bowl mix 1/2 c. dried currants (or raisins, if that's what is in your pantry) with 1/4 c. water and 1 T. balsamic vinegar
Add to sauce pan 2 c. chopped rhubarb, bowl of water, currants, etc. and 3 T. white sugar
Cook until thickened and mushy, serve over pork chops.
We had it with leftover brown rice and brussel sprouts (frozen ones, naturally!)
Beating a cake mix with a whisk counts as a workout, right?
Of course the subtitle of this post could be "Why I am a fat you-know-what"! I have no particular reason for baking a cake other than we had a chocolate cake mix and chocolate frosting in the pantry. I'm contemplating looking up the Saint of the day, and arguing it is a celebration in honor of that Saint...but who would I be kidding? Hubby and Eva are a-okay with me baking, to say the least.
Not much else going on here...I'm still behind on laundry and dishes (a perpetual state) and I tried a new recipe for supper, so I'll post that in a minute for anyone else with hills of rhubarb that came with their house who doesn't know what to do with rhubarb!
Not much else going on here...I'm still behind on laundry and dishes (a perpetual state) and I tried a new recipe for supper, so I'll post that in a minute for anyone else with hills of rhubarb that came with their house who doesn't know what to do with rhubarb!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
