Updates

Well we found out my poor baby's digestive system just is not ready for milk. Dr. has recommended a calcium supplement and that we can try milk again in a month or so. I still have not heard back about an appointment for the cardiologist. They said up to a week so I am giving them until Wednesday and then I'll be up their a$$.

I have a 96% at the mid-point of my wonderful Business writing class. Thank GOD it's almost over. I don't know how much more I can take of bad grammar 101.

Tonight I start my on-campus class. Since I'm attending a PRIVATE catholic university, I have to take a religion class - Catechism for Adults is the name of the text. This promises to be VERY INTERESTING. Thankfully since it's summer session the class is only 6 weeks. I hope I don't have to write some kind of paper or I might blow my top.

We were given a free pool this weekend - one of those Wal-mart quick set dealies, about 4 feet deep, 14ft diameter. They were going to throw it away so we said sure we'd take it. So now Patrick, who seems to really take to the water, has his own pool to play in. It was nice yesterday - after my husband working in the yard and wanting to cool off and I needed a break from fussy butt - they went in the pool together and had a great time.

We haven't heard anything else on the house front - they are still looking. I did find out that they paid cash for the house, so since there is no mortgage for them that increases our chances of getting in - we may be able to work out a "rent to own" deal if we can't get a mortgage. I've heard it's pretty tough right now.

Ummmm - I think that's about it.

Oh yea, anyone want some corn?

TTFN

And Now For Some Good News (well sort of)

Thanks everyone so much for the prayers and support. At this point we are not too "excited" about everything. I'm sure by the time we see the cardiologist, I will be in full on panic mode, but for now I am still OK. I believe in the power of positive thinking so I am right now telling myself it is nothing major and can be easily fixed.

Now to the (sort of) good news. My brother and his baby mama (ha - she would die if she saw that) are having another baby. And we found out today it's ANOTHER boy. So mom is now the proud grandma of THREE grandsons. They were hoping for a girl and now everyone is looking at ME for the girl. That is the sort of part. NO MORE KIDS FOR ME!!!!

At least they have lots of hand me downs. It's a good thing I've been sending all of Patrick's outgrown stuff to mom's house to live.

TTFN

Pray for Patrick

I don't know if I posted about this the first time it happened or not. My son has some kind of issue and we don't know what it is, but it's enough to warrant a referral to both a cardiologist and a neurologist.

Yesterday I was in a meeting at work and the receptionist comes in to interrupt, saying I had a phone call.

My heart stopped. I knew it could only be the daycare, and it could only be for one reason that they would interrupt me in a meeting. Patrick "passed out" again. The first time this happened was about 3 months ago. He was playing, seemed a little fussy, and then he just went limp, eyes rolled back in head, not responsive. Lasted about 15-20 seconds and they weren't able to confirm if he was breathing or not. We took him to the doc (ended up seeing the practitioner, NOT his doctor). They did blood work, the assumption being he had a blood sugar dip since he took an extra long nap that day and missed lunch. Blood work came back OK. I was concerned about seizure activity since my mom had childhood seizures. She was pretty certain it was NOT a seizure. So we chalked it up to not sure and left it alone.

Back to yesterday. I get on the phone and she says it happened again. He had just ate, and she set him on the floor to get ready to change him, and he fell over and went stiff as a board (instead of limp like last time). They still never told me if they could tell if he was breathing, but she did say his face looked a little blue. The owner sat him up and blew in his face and then he snapped out of it and started crying. She said he had a blank stare on his face and didn't really seem aware of what was going on. So I went back to the doc. Pretty much didn't give them an option, they were going to see us RIGHT NOW. Lucky for me it was towards the end of the day so they didn't have any appointments at that time. We saw HIS DOCTOR this time, not the practitioner. I again expressed my concerns about seizures. He said it was possible but he was more inclined to believe it was a heart problem. So first, to the cardiologist and if we don't find anything there, to the neurologist, and if we don't find anything there, then at least we got the big stuff ruled out.

Veggie Tales

So - that bucket of beans I mentioned - yeah..... it was about three gallon size bags. Now we have about 5 million ears of sweet corn, a large bag of zipper peas, and acre peas we still have not done yet. My god, our freezer is getting full (that would be the FREE deep freezer we got a while back that I neglected to mention - it's a stand up freezer too).

Neener Neener Neener.

Oh yea. We may have another house opportunity soon. A couple we know may be moving since the husband got a new job that's a little far for a daily commute. They've already agreed we get first dibs on the house if we can get financing - four bedroom, two bath, den, dining room, family room, bonus room on the back, screened in pool, on 7 WOODED acres - right down the street from where we are now so we could practically carry our stuff over there. It's a pre-fab home, so steel walls etc - VERY hurricane friendly - not that we get to many of those in N Central Florida. BEAUTIFUL house. HUGE - I think it's 2800 S.F. I'm not sure what the price they would ask is yet - I'm hoping somewhere around 200k based on what they paid for it in 2005. Doable people, definitely doable. Keep your fingers crossed.

TTFN

HONDA OF OCALA SUCKS

I just send this FABULOUS letter to the general manager of Honda of Ocala......By the way, I know the thing we are upset about is cheap, but it's the principal of the matter.

Good Morning,

I am writing you to hopefully get resolution to an issue I have been experiencing with the used car sales department. First off, let me say the reason we chose your dealership (even though we live closer to the Gainesville Honda) is because we heard you had the best prices and service. And we did get a great price on our car. However the service left quite a bit to be desired.

My husband and I purchased a used 2004 Accord from your lot at the beginning of May. Our sales person, (name withheld to avoid legal issues), promised us he would be replacing the Honda emblem that was missing from the trunk when we purchased the car. He stated that it had already been ordered and should arrive within two weeks, and that he would call us when it came in. He even had us sign an “IUO” from the dealership stating that Honda of Ocala did in fact owe us a trunk emblem for our car. Since we were to be traveling down to St. Petersburg in two weeks, it was
perfect timing for us to stop by and pick it up. We do not normally travel to Ocala since the cost of gas has risen so much as I’m sure you understand. However, the two weeks came and went with no call from jerk sales person. After another few days, I decided to call and inquire as to the status of our “order”. I left a message for jerk sales person that was not returned. I called again a few days later, and again, my call was not returned. My husband called two or three times. Again, no calls were returned. My husband decided to call the parts department directly and was
told they could have an emblem for us the next day. Now I’m sure you can
understand my concern since at this point it had been almost a month since our
purchase, and we still had not received the emblem we were told had already been
ordered.

At this point I decided it was useless to call Mr. jerk sales person since he seems to be unable to return phone calls. We again stopped by the dealership on our way down to St. Petersburg the following weekend thinking being there in person would get us results. We were wrong about that. We showed up around 9:15 or so (the hours of the lot according to your website are 9am to 9pm on a Saturday) thinking we would get immediate service as the lot could not be that full first thing on a Saturday. We
were told the staff was in a sales meeting, and were not able to leave the meeting to assist us even though we expressed that we had just driven 45 miles and explained our issue with getting service. I am not sure why the sales staff has their daily staff meetings during the time they are supposed to be on the lot servicing customers. If they want to have meetings at 9am, then the lot should not be open until 9:30 or whatever time the meeting is over. Someone then showed up and said they were heading over to the meeting and would ask Mr. jerk sales person about our emblem. We expressed to him that we had an appointment and could not wait more than 5-10 minutes. After 15 minutes when he had not called the secretary nor returned with news for us, we left.

I called the following Monday and insisted on speaking with someone else who could help us since Mr. jerk sales person apparently had NO INTENTION of ever returning our calls. The person I spoke to said he would look into it and call me the following morning to let me know what was going on. He did, in fact, call me the following morning to say the parts department would have to order the part. Imagine my surprise after I had been told when we bought the car that it had ALREADY BEEN ORDERED. At this point I explained to him that we would NOT be driving to Ocala again to pick up the part and that we wished it to be either sent to the Gainesville Honda to be picked up by us or mailed to our home. This was approximately two weeks ago. WE HAVE NOT HEARD FROM ANYONE AT HONDA OF OCALA SINCE THEN.

I am tired of waiting on something it seems apparent to me now your dealership never had any intention of giving me. My husband ordered an emblem from Honda of Gainesville and it came in the NEXT DAY at a cost to us of $19.40 (including
tax). We expect to receive a check from Honda of Ocala to reimburse us for
this expense. Rest assured, we will NEVER do business with you again, nor will we ever recommend you to anyone.

Regards,


Carmen - pissed off ex-customer

I Dont Gots No Bad Grammers

Holy Crap People. The class I'm taking this session is called "Essential Business Skills" but it's essentially Business Communication - how to write for business.

We have to post answers to a discussion question once a week. These people are discussing grammar, spelling etc. in their answers, BUT THEY HAVE NOT A CLUE HOW TO USE IT THEMSELVES. How did all these people get to college level? Seriously - most of the posts I read had AT LEAST one spelling error and SEVERAL grammatical errors. Not that I profess to be a genius, but at least I use spell check and make an effort to sound like an intelligent human being when I'm submitting work that others will read and comment on.

What really sucks is that most of these idiots will probably pass the class. Hell, they passed their elementary, middle, and high school English classes without a proper understanding of grammar and spelling (nor how to form complete, coherent sentences) why should college be any different? And people wonder why America is going to hell in a hand basket.

Its Nice When You Get All the Instructions Upfront

So. I got a 93 on my letter because I didn't make up letterhead with contact info for it. That kind of irritates me because 1) he didn't say anything about letterhead in the instructions, and 2) I thought about doing it but didn't. So I lost points I could have had if I decided to be less lazy.

I have been doing well on the bike riding - I've been going every other day (when it isn't raining) because my legs can't handle every day. I don't have a scale so I can't weigh myself yet, but I feel "tighter" so that is good. Through research with my mom this weekend I've determined for my body size and height that I should weigh between 130 and 140 (approximately). My goal is 135 so that equates to about 45-50 lbs I need to lose. OMG THAT IS A LOT. Oh, and according to same chart, I am not only "overweight" but borderline "obese". That is a hard pill to swallow. Especially considering I was always between 120 and 125 until about 18 when I had issues in my life (that I am still not going to disclose here because I am ashamed of them) which caused the start of my weight gain. I have definitely been getting more fruit in my diet and it definitely helps with the sweet tooth. This morning I had a banana and peanut butter milkshake (with 1% milk) for breakfast. IT WAS YUMMY! I got the recipe out of my Fitness magazine. There was also a recipe for honey whipped cottage cheese with fruit and fresh mint that I will be trying. I guess I have to grow mint in my herb garden now too!

Speaking of gardens, I have a 5 gallon bucket of green beans that I will be freezing this evening. YUMMY!! We also have red and orange peppers, white corn, zipper peas, romaine lettuce, radishes, and soon, tomatoes. Our neighbor brought us potatoes, squash, and okra. We are swimming in veggies. WOO HOO. I think we are going to try cucumbers again next year as well as brussel sprouts. We try to plant the stuff that's expensive in the store to save money. It works out really well so far.

TTFN

I Need Your Opinions Please

The class I am taking is Business Communications - basically a Business Writing course. So my first assignment is to respond to the following letter:

I see state employees driving BMWs and sports cars. These cars are a
waste of tax-payer money!

Sincerely,

Rick Shipley

Yea.....what fun. I HATE WRITING!!!!! WITH A PASSION. So I wrote a response and I'm counting on the two people who read here to give me an honest assessment of my work. Grammar and spelling count.

June 13, 2008

Mr. Rick Shipley
100 Anywhere Street
Alachua,
Florida 32615

Dear Mr. Shipley,

Thank you for your
comment regarding city employees driving luxury vehicles. The Governor
asked me to research the issue and I am happy to report that no taxpayer dollars
were spent on these vehicles!

According to the Department of Public
Safety, the vehicles you mentioned were confiscated during criminal
investigations. Rather than auction or sell the vehicles, the state has
decided to use them for their employees who need to drive as part of their
job. This allows them to refrain from purchasing new
vehicles.

In the 10 years this program has been in place, the state
has confiscated 43 vehicles – this means taxpayers in Florida have saved the
money it would cost to purchase new vehicles. The Department of Public
Safety plans on keeping this program in place and saving even more money in the
future.

The Governor’s office is always happy to receive comments
and feedback from the citizen’s of Florida; we look forward to serving you for
another
term!


Sincerely,



Carmen
Assistant to the Governor of Florida

Because I Have Nothing Better To Do

At least for the moment. I guess I'll play along with the Meme I got tagged with.

The rules:

1. Post the rules of the game at the beginning.
2. Each player answers the questions about themselves.
3. At the end of the post, the player then tags five people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they’ve been tagged and asking them to read the player’s blog.
4. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve posted your answer.

What were you doing five years ago?
Five years ago I was on the verge of wasting my life with a pathetic loser. And then I woke up.

What are five things on your to-do list for today?
1. Find something to do (ha ha just kidding)
2. Fix my POS computer
3. Complete my writing assignment for class
4. Play with the most adorable baby in the world
5. Go Biking

What are five snacks you enjoy?
1. Cheese
2. Cheese
3. Anything sweet
4. Cheese
5. Do I really have to repeat myself....?

What are five things you would do if you were a billionaire?
1. Pay off my parents house and get mom a new kitchen
2. Get my brother and GF a new house with room for the baby (so they don't have to put him/her in the bottom dresser drawer)
3. Set up college fund for my son and nephew (and the new baby too) - and a trust fund for them each to have a house when they are ready
4. Purchase about 10 wooded acres and build a custom home EXACTLY to my specifications
5. Consider having another baby since I could afford to be a stay at home mom

What are five of your bad habits?
1. SWEETS
2. Harrassing my husband all the time (in a wonderful loving manner of course)
3. Being set in my ways and unflexible
4. Being vindictive and spiteful to a-holes - oh wait - is that considered a bad habit?
5. Being Sarcastic ALL THE TIME - again, is that a bad habit?

What are five places where you have lived?
1. Florida
2. Florida
3. Florida
4. Florida
5. Florida ;P

What are five jobs you’ve had?
1. File Clerk at a doctor's office
2. Data Entry clerk at a mail order company
3. Data Entry clerk for the City
4. Accountant for a fortune 500 company
5. Accountant for a MUCH SMALLER company

And I tag....hmmm...let me think about this one.... LeeAnn and ummm.... LeeAnn, and LeeAnn again, and uh.... okay LeeAnn two more times just for fun. Or maybe it's cause she celebrated a little too much when Aunt Tammi didn't tag her. Yea ok that's it. Damn, that sarcasm habit is hard to break!

;P

Yes Virginia, There is a Hill (or two) in Florida

Let me just say - this bike riding stuff is killing me. Last night I decided to go a little further than I have been since I wasn't worn out yet. There were four or five small hills along the route (it was probably about 2 miles though I couldn't tell you for certain) and by the time I hit them coming back, I thought I was going to DIE. I probably could have walked faster than I was pedaling at one point. I kept thinking, "what if there is some crazy knife maniac hiding in the woods waiting to jump out and kill me." Yea. He probably would have killed me 'cause I don't think I could have ridden fast enough to get away. I'll be taking my phone with me from now on. And my iPod for that matter.

TTFN

Hi My Name is Carmen, And I'm Fat

And I have low self-esteem.
And I've decided to now bore you with my weight loss struggles and stories as well.

No, seriously. After reading over at Drunken Wisdom and Mountaineer Musings about their weight loss efforts I've decided that maybe it will help to "put it all out there" as they say.

So, here goes.

I know I pester Aunt Tammi all the time about saying she's fat - really and truly people she is not - but that's besides the point. I, in fact, am fat. There, I said it. I still have the mentality of the 120lb hottie I was in high school, but I have the 180lb (YES I SAID 180LBS) post-pregnancy body to go with it. Now here's my dilemma. I AM ADDICTED TO SWEETS. Plus I can't stand for anyone to watch me exercise. Not to mention that I have almost NO time to do so. Between a full time job, part time school, and trying to spend time with my son - about the only time I have left is in the evenings after he goes to bed and damn it, that's my unwind time.

So - I recently got a bicycle, and my husband finally finished fixing it and putting a new seat on it last night. I took it out for a test drive (about a quarter mile) and about died. I am seriously out of shape. I am going to try and ride in the evenings - hey - maybe it will help me unwind! I have been trying to eat healthier - at least making sure I get my fiber, though I am still working on cutting out soda and cutting down on sweets. I drink lots of water so that's not really an issue. Oh yea, and I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY want a Wii and the Fit.

And here we go again - I have done this about a thousand times and just can't seem to stick with it (just like quitting smoking which I've managed to do yet again - and add an additional 10lbs in the process). Yea, it all sounds good on paper and I've actually managed to lose 10-15lbs at a time. But then I get tired of working so hard all the damn time and slowly it all comes back, along with an additional 10lbs for good measure. Like it's god's punishment for giving up. I get to the point where I just don't want to do it anymore, yet at the same time I HATE myself for being a fat slob.

It's a sad, tiring, self depreciating process. And I'm going to jump on the band wagon yet again. let's see how long it lasts this time. I guess I better get a scale at home.

TTFN

I suck at this blogging thing....

I seriously intended to be intellectual on this blog at some point, but apparently that is not possible....my brain is mush and spit up.

Apparently all I will ever be is a place to read about my life so I guess that will have to suffice. On that note - what's new you ask?

Well - Aunt Tammi told me about ID TV - I was SORELY disappointed when Court TV changed to TRU TV since they quit showing Forensic Files and the like as often and since I loves me some Forensic Files... No seriously. I switched to Dish Network because Direct TV could not give me local channels (and cable is not an option) but I would not do it until I was assured that Court TV was available. That channel is like crack to me. Anywho, I was disappointed and when Aunt Tammi told me about the ID channel I was SURE I didn't get it. Well guess what?! I DO. I now have back my beloved crime shows, and I am HAPPY!!!

Patrick is getting bigger every day. He is now standing up on a regular basis - except our coffee table is too high for him so he does it mostly in his crib and at daycare. He has not progressed to standing without holding on, or trying to walk by himself, but I am sure it is just days away at this point. We seemed to have stopped the unending flow of teeth for now, so no more fussy baby. WOO HOO!!!! We went on Friday to get allergy testing done. I have been concerned about the possibility of allergies b/c of the constant ear infections and runny nose. They also tested for milk allergies - so once we have the results we will be stopping the formula and either switching to whole milk or soy. That is a relief since milk is still slightly cheaper than formula at this point (LOL). He actually had to get blood drawn for these tests - like an adult - with the rubber band around the arm and the needle and tube and everything. I was terrified that he would freak out, but he didn't even BLINK. It was like "hey cool, what are you doing that for?" Even after she couldn't get the vein right away cause he kept moving his fingers, he still didn't cry or anything. I was so happy about that let me tell you. The nurse was too. :)

My first class since 2006 has started this week. Can't tell you how it's going so far because we haven't had any graded assignments yet. But based on the syllabus it looks like it's going to be okay. I'll will keep you posted.

I think that's about it. Have a happy day!

TTFN