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Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Sunday, February 04, 2007
rain sucks
so the forcast for today is rain rain and more freaking rain...right now i am watching rain pour into the pool, its maybe 68 degrees outside and wet wet wet....hmmm selling my tickets for 5k doesnt sound like too bad an idea now concidering we have a large flat screen TV in our hotel room..(its not HD but beggars cant be choosers). ugg, i so dont want to go sit outside in the rain all day and all night. Plus this hotel is almost 95% full of bears fans...i am getting death stares as i sit here in my peyton manning jersey. well wish me luck on this incredibly cold and rainy day.
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Saturday, February 03, 2007
Superbowl day 2
So today is day 2 in Miami...Today we ate breakfast downstairs (38 bucks..what a ripoff...) and then and there i decided that we just cant spend that much money on semi-crappy food. Went and sat by the pool...the sun then peeked out and that was excellent...78 and sunny with an excellent breeze. We took the train and a bus to the stadium (located on Dan Marino Parkway) and went to the NFL Experience. This is a pretty neat event but really i think its geared towards kids aged 8-12. They have a lot of kids workshop type things...Dale and I did try to kick an extra point in the "kick, pass, block" tent...(For the record, Dale was about this close to getting in through, me? I kicked it directly into the arms of the guy shagging balls)...they have a TON of workshops...The coolest one was a bunch of kids doing QB camp with VINCE YOUNG helping them on their footwork.
As I said to Dale, wont this just Fuck these kids for getting QB coached for the rest of their lives? "IM sorry coach, I just cant do that. You see NFL Rookie of theYear Vince Young said that the pro's do it this way." It was nice watching him help the kids. There was also a booth where 4 NFL Player (Clinton Portis, Steven Jackson and 2 DEF guys who i didnt know) would call and talk to your friends for you on your cellphone....! As we stood in line and I called Ryan (cause who else would I call to talk to football players) but then we were told, yeah you gotta have a sprint phone. Bastards...so sorry Ryan, no Clinton Portis for you...I suck as a friend.
We picked up some swag, a picture of dale and I with tiki barber....mini footballs, pencils, magnets, two landyards for our tickets tomorrow...we also got to sit down and let a NFL Ref 9and I dont know his name, but he works with Ed Hochulis crew, talk about what a Ref sees and how they make calls. He had tape of calls that they had to review using instant replay and was having the audience try and make the call based on the 6 seconds or whatever of the play...It was pretty interesting hearing what they look for, how they make decisions, and how the NFL grades them. The coolest thing he said was that in most games when they are under the hood they dont get to see all the angles that the viewer at home sees....he also explained that certain games have more cameras than others...reg season non nationwide games, 6 cameras, national games (sunday nite) about 10, monday night football around 12-14 and superbowl upwards of 24...
It was also cool to hear him and see him show you how they decide if a catch is a "catch" vs incomplete pass, force outs, the tuck rule, fumbles etc.. I got some cool film of him explaining what each 7 man crew does in a game. Post that at home.
The other cool part (besides free doritos and milk) was that the stadium is right next to a super walmart. This means that wife (me) said to husband (dale) hey, why dont we go BUY food vs spending another 100 bucks eating tomorrow.. We hit Walmart and they were selling the exact same crap the stadium was selling except like 50% or more cheeper. I got a long sleeve grey superbowl shirt (more on that later), dale got a bright orange shirt with "one game, one dream" in SPANISH (my idea as irony for white guy winning NFL Latino) and we each got one NFL jersey. I got Manning he got Urlacher (in homage to Dylan not being here with us). Plus food for tonite (noodle bowls, and chips and salsa + a 2 ltr of orange) and breakfast (instant oatmeal) for tomorrow. We figure that the 15 bucks we spent on food was way better than the 200.00 we would have had to spend here at "Gouge um Central" (ie the hotel). So we had dinner in bed watching ESPN classic football on TV.
Back to the walmart, we bailed (and if we wouldnt have went into the garden center to see Tony Siragoosa, Moose and 2 other fox annoucers-we woulda made an earlier bus)...the bus we did catch was over 57 min late (i called the bus co to check) and thus we missed our 4:10 train...the next train after that was 6:10...by this time (4ish) it went from sunny to cold and windy and thank god i bought the long sleeve shirt! I also had a book so the 3 hours we sat outside waiting for various busses and trains was not all wasted.
Miami makes me sad as all we seem to see as we are traveling is run down auto repair, auto salvage, scrap yards, horrible small crappy houses in really poor neighborhoods, or row after row of unidentifiable buildings with tons of graffiti on them. We also seemed to encounter alot of mentally unstable people...like the kid on the bus who tried to explain to Dale that Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg saw him play football one time and he would be playing in the superbowl tomorrow because he was gonna get there with Snoop Doggs help. And the guy who was waiting for a train and kept hitting himself in the head and shooting imaginary "J's" and then hitting imaginary baseballs. Sad.
We also met some really nice people. The guy in the Wilson (official maker of NFL balls) tent who remarked "Green Bay Packers huh?" (me) "yes, Im from wisconsin" (him) "You're wearing that hat to try and get in a flight with a Bears fan arent you?" (me) "yes, yes I am."...the checkout lady at Walmart was super nice and chatty, and the nice cop (and there are about 7000000 cops out everywhere) who got out of her car to stop all traffic so dale and i could cross the street and get to our hotel (there are no cross walks anywhere!)..
Tomorrow is Game day. I think in the morning we may just sit by the pool, relax and eat oatmeal. The game is at 6:30 so i think we may get to the stadium around 3ish? I cant wait to see Billy Joel and Prince.
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As I said to Dale, wont this just Fuck these kids for getting QB coached for the rest of their lives? "IM sorry coach, I just cant do that. You see NFL Rookie of theYear Vince Young said that the pro's do it this way." It was nice watching him help the kids. There was also a booth where 4 NFL Player (Clinton Portis, Steven Jackson and 2 DEF guys who i didnt know) would call and talk to your friends for you on your cellphone....! As we stood in line and I called Ryan (cause who else would I call to talk to football players) but then we were told, yeah you gotta have a sprint phone. Bastards...so sorry Ryan, no Clinton Portis for you...I suck as a friend.
We picked up some swag, a picture of dale and I with tiki barber....mini footballs, pencils, magnets, two landyards for our tickets tomorrow...we also got to sit down and let a NFL Ref 9and I dont know his name, but he works with Ed Hochulis crew, talk about what a Ref sees and how they make calls. He had tape of calls that they had to review using instant replay and was having the audience try and make the call based on the 6 seconds or whatever of the play...It was pretty interesting hearing what they look for, how they make decisions, and how the NFL grades them. The coolest thing he said was that in most games when they are under the hood they dont get to see all the angles that the viewer at home sees....he also explained that certain games have more cameras than others...reg season non nationwide games, 6 cameras, national games (sunday nite) about 10, monday night football around 12-14 and superbowl upwards of 24...
It was also cool to hear him and see him show you how they decide if a catch is a "catch" vs incomplete pass, force outs, the tuck rule, fumbles etc.. I got some cool film of him explaining what each 7 man crew does in a game. Post that at home.
The other cool part (besides free doritos and milk) was that the stadium is right next to a super walmart. This means that wife (me) said to husband (dale) hey, why dont we go BUY food vs spending another 100 bucks eating tomorrow.. We hit Walmart and they were selling the exact same crap the stadium was selling except like 50% or more cheeper. I got a long sleeve grey superbowl shirt (more on that later), dale got a bright orange shirt with "one game, one dream" in SPANISH (my idea as irony for white guy winning NFL Latino) and we each got one NFL jersey. I got Manning he got Urlacher (in homage to Dylan not being here with us). Plus food for tonite (noodle bowls, and chips and salsa + a 2 ltr of orange) and breakfast (instant oatmeal) for tomorrow. We figure that the 15 bucks we spent on food was way better than the 200.00 we would have had to spend here at "Gouge um Central" (ie the hotel). So we had dinner in bed watching ESPN classic football on TV.
Back to the walmart, we bailed (and if we wouldnt have went into the garden center to see Tony Siragoosa, Moose and 2 other fox annoucers-we woulda made an earlier bus)...the bus we did catch was over 57 min late (i called the bus co to check) and thus we missed our 4:10 train...the next train after that was 6:10...by this time (4ish) it went from sunny to cold and windy and thank god i bought the long sleeve shirt! I also had a book so the 3 hours we sat outside waiting for various busses and trains was not all wasted.
Miami makes me sad as all we seem to see as we are traveling is run down auto repair, auto salvage, scrap yards, horrible small crappy houses in really poor neighborhoods, or row after row of unidentifiable buildings with tons of graffiti on them. We also seemed to encounter alot of mentally unstable people...like the kid on the bus who tried to explain to Dale that Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg saw him play football one time and he would be playing in the superbowl tomorrow because he was gonna get there with Snoop Doggs help. And the guy who was waiting for a train and kept hitting himself in the head and shooting imaginary "J's" and then hitting imaginary baseballs. Sad.
We also met some really nice people. The guy in the Wilson (official maker of NFL balls) tent who remarked "Green Bay Packers huh?" (me) "yes, Im from wisconsin" (him) "You're wearing that hat to try and get in a flight with a Bears fan arent you?" (me) "yes, yes I am."...the checkout lady at Walmart was super nice and chatty, and the nice cop (and there are about 7000000 cops out everywhere) who got out of her car to stop all traffic so dale and i could cross the street and get to our hotel (there are no cross walks anywhere!)..
Tomorrow is Game day. I think in the morning we may just sit by the pool, relax and eat oatmeal. The game is at 6:30 so i think we may get to the stadium around 3ish? I cant wait to see Billy Joel and Prince.
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Friday, February 02, 2007
Ah MIami! Day One.
For those who wonder: I am down in Miami...At home it is 7 above 0, here it is a cool and crisp 88 degrees :) The flight was uneventful (watched Battlestar on the ipod and was groggy due to the drugs...Checked in the beautiful Wyndham Miami Airport Hotel...ate dinner, bought two drinks at the bar (total cost 23.00 for the drinks..insane) and plan on snuggling down with Dale in our massive King Size, comfy sheets and comforter bed to celebrate our 5th anniversary (today) by watching TV and falling asleep as I am a bit jet lagged. Tomorrow we have our NFL Experience tickets....plan on being at the stadium all day...or at least part. We also have the option to head to Dolphin Mall, South Beach or (my preference) sitting by the pool next to the Tiki Bar (if I see the mighty beach house Tiki God Ill let you all know.) Right now I am buzzing on my 95% Grey Goose 2% Cranberry and 3% ice drink and Dale is sitting next to me trying to map out how we even get to the stadium using light rail and bus. watch for us on TV, we are on the Colts side of the field one section off the end zone (sec 407, row 1) we're wearing our packer hats! The crazy thing about our hotel is right behind me is an authorized NFL dealer hawking NFL merch. They had at least one booth at every airport (even detroit) with superbowl stuff..
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Thursday, February 01, 2007
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
ego boost
News of the happy: I am beyond happy with Ryan’s forceful maneuver to coerce me into Myspace. (joke). I added all the high schools in my city for my graduation year (plus Dale’s cause what the heck). I occasionally troll for people I went to high school/middle school/elementary school just to see what is up with them. Last night I found a guy I went to high school with, but only for 1 year as after that he transferred to West.So he emails, hey I don’t remember you….which made me email back my “don’t you remember our Latin field trip?”
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For those who have not heard my Latin field trip story: Once upon a time the 2 high schools (North and South) decided to have a joint field trip, overnight, to Madison for a Latin conference, or something…I have no idea what we actually did on the trip….I just remember playing Certamin in the Tripp Commons (trust me, it sounded hilarious when this one kid kept saying it over and over….I digress)…Some genius (prob. The 2 teachers Miss Cupertino who was in her late 60s early 70s and had a huge ass mole on her face and a Julius Ceasar hair cut and some other old biddy who was also in her 90s) decided to take a bunch of hormonally charged teens to Madison for the weekend and have them stay in a hotel.
Now the first mistake was giving me and my 2 female roommates Allison and Susan a room with AN ADJOINING DOOR to the room occupied by 3 boys, 1 of which I had a HUGE crush on….Long story short, many girls were sleeping with boys, many girls and boys were passed out on contraband alcohol…and Garret (the guy I have been emailing) helped a bunch of college skiers move their stuff into their rooms and they rewarded him with beer for helping…Giving a 15 year old beer=passed out 15 year old…
anyways, Garret told me in our email chat that he had a huge crush on me in High School…That pretty much made my day right there…also bummed me out in the way that I realized I was way way too into this guy I dated in high school so that I didn’t even notice someone (who I should say was a very big hottie) liked me…But as he said, it should make both our days happier…I also learned that my high school sophomore year Homecoming date is now a Priest! A Priest! As I said to Garret in my email, that’s right up there with finding out after the fact that your high school boyfriend/girlfriend was really gay. I gotta try and find out where he is a priest…I googled for him but he has a pretty common name so I keep getting listings for a musical artist not him….
Today is Great Apple Chinese day, yum Pork fry rice. Also watching The Office (again-it just gets more and more brilliant), and also planning on watching Braveheart (Dale converted it for me last night). He also has 13 episodes of Battlestar to add to the pod for the plane…plus he is redoing Rushmore, Cars, and Royal Tennenbaum’s for me (since the sound didn’t sync up the 1st time we did it.
We leave for the superbowl in 48 hours
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Monday, January 29, 2007
EAT AT JOES
Today was mostly annoying. I find its completely worthwhile to come to work, if for nothing else than to listen to my 'mo coworker Tom rant against our slacker co workers. Its very positive for me to hear at least 3 times a day "i swear you and i are the only people that do any real work here." aww... today a coworker decided her "tummy" (this while she was holding her kidney area) hurt and had to go home after being at work all of 20 minutes. Its nice how everyone abuses the system isnt it?
Anyways, I was swamped at work all day today, not so swamped that I couldnt watch, and then rewatch The Office 2 part Benihana's Christmas episode while coding files. As I wrote to Ryan, i spewed tea on my monitor trying to hold in a laugh at Dwight telling Angela to start the party. How could I not have started watching this show when Ryan told me about it, I note here for the record, I was an idiot and Ryan is way way cooler than me.
I am both excited to leave for Miami in 3 days and terribly stressed. Excited because 1: its our 5 year anniversary on friday (happy groundhog day all) and 2: we leave for Miami (via detroit) but I am stressed because I really hate to fly and get amazingly scared and overwhelmed...But I found my happy dappy pills so that + a drink (haha) should set me up for the flight. The bad part is I am not sitting next to dale on the way down so I cant hold hands with him.. blah.
I am almost 1/2 way through the great annual re-reading of all the 80+ Nero Wolfe books...not planning on taking them down to florida (as some PB are quite rare and hard to find)...planning on rereading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell, The Mojo Collection (the greatest albums of all time) and I think the Mists of Avalon during the weekend we are gone....
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Sunday, January 28, 2007
today is much better
Owen is feeling better, I am feeling better, tonight we are off to get spagetti at the church supper. yum, free food. 
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Saturday, January 27, 2007
ryan has eff'd me!
Well thanks goes to Ryan for putting the obvious out in the Universe, thus fucking me. Since we won the superbowl trip Ryan has of course shown me that the universe needs to right itself out...so I have gotten in a car accident (600.00 in "repairs" and in reality i need to spend another 3000.00 on crappy crap.), Owen woke up screaming about 1:45 this morning with a 102 temp...I was up all night holding him and whatnot...doctors office today to tell me he has a strep infection all over his body and his throat (he is a red as a beet everywhere) he went from 98.6 to 101.2 in about 25 min in the doctors office, that was pretty scary, he passed out in my arms, so i have had no sleep, got nothing accomplished today and am waiting for the other shoe to drop...(note to ryan, i have some catching up to do, i am only on vodka cranberry #1..)
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Friday, January 26, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
is it hump day already?
I have been in a totally 80s mood today (as evidenced by my go-gos shirt under my sweater) I have been watching Romy and Michelle's high school reunion on the ipod and now I am rocking out to "Just Cant Get Enough" by Depeche Mode. Today at work it has been slow. I wouldnt say I have been un-busy, I'm just demotivated so that the day is dragging...plus since Ryan is off I havent gotten my midday flurry of emails when he is on lunch....blah... The good news is we have our flight stuff for the super-de-dooper-bowl...the bummer is on the flight out dale and I dont sit next to each other. Since I am a nervous flyer this makes me not happy, I guess we have the possibility of changing seats for $15.00 if they have room to do that at the gate. Crud.
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Dale figured out how to take my DVDs and compress them onto my ipod..so tomorrow I am looking forward to more BSG and possible Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Rushmore, Cars, and The Royal Tennenbaums (its a Wes Anderson day I guess.)
If anyone out there wants in to our superbowl pool at work its $5.00 a square. Call me. I am now rocking out to Ren and Stimpy's theme....this + 3 cups of tea with honey is totally pumping me up for workin out....
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Tuesday, January 23, 2007
How bad was your day?
two things of note, yesterday as I was driving home I was behind a semi truck (a light semi) which hit the stop light turning a corner, it didnt even fucking bother to stop, just kept going...guess who followed that jerk and called the cops, me. That repair is my effing tax dollars, that guy and his company can pay for that shit not me.
plus in the how bad was your day category...dale left the office for a few hours for an interview, when he came back, they had SOLD HIS CHAIR from his desk and left him with nothing to sit on! Fantastic huh?!
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Monday, January 22, 2007
My Kid made the front page!
Three-year-old Mya Baumer, left, of Waukesha looks for an egg Saturday as Rory Fox, 2, scoops one up during the Snow Goose Egg Hunt in Waukesha’s Cutler Park. About 1,000 eggs with treats for children were scattered in the snow for kids to find.
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Happy Monday!
Well it's Monday again…I would give this weekend a 6 out of 10 on the
scale. Friday night we didn't do much with the kids. Owen had his
tubes checked (everything appears OK) Friday afternoon. For those of
you who are interested, Dale has had a job offer from a company within
his current company so at the very least, he is employed as of Feb
1st. He has some other interviews and some other things "up in the
air" so I am not exactly sure where he is planning on going. As soon
as I found this out, I started to sleep much better. I must have been
over stressing over his employment situation. I guess worrying about
money can keep you up at night.
It also snowed last week so the kids were quite excited. Saturday we
had the Winter Jamboree (which if you are a lifetime 'shaw resident,
you know either always has NO snow, or it rains and is a joke) so we
took the kids to the Snow Goose Egg hunt (basically tossing eggs in
the snow and you try to find them) at the library. The kids had a
good time…We then went to lunch at La Estacion. The kids ate large
plates of rice with chips and Mya almost fell asleep in her food. It
was also my dad's birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!). We were going to
try and get to Madison to see Robin, but she got off shift late and
slept till around 2:30, so sadly we didn't see her.
We invited Toni around for dinner since Fred has been in Florida for
weeks so I figured hey, she might be lonely on a Saturday night. It
forced me to clean the house pretty good (bathrooms and vac. Floors,
and mop kitchen, and clean kitchen). We had Fazollis-yum (three days
worth of leftovers!) and the kids were mental happy because she was
there. Saturday night I watched a bit more of "Long Way Round" (so
good), did some cross stitch, nothing special.
Sunday it snowed (a lot) and so we took the kids outside to my moms to
shovel, then went home to shovel with dale for an hour. Had Subway,
went back to parents and had birthday cake…Mya knows how to write her
name and signed the birthday card all by herself. This was a big deal
for her. The kids then went home for a 2 hour nap. Our house is a
bilevel (if you have never been) and our windows really need to be
replaced. In the basement it was 4 degrees cooler than upstairs
because of the shit windows. We built a fire in the basement (managed
to keep the kids away) and were able to raise the temp 10 degrees with
one 5 hour fire.
After dinner (more spaghetti) brought the kids outside again. Owen
had a snowsuit on and kept getting stuck in the snow piles saying
"help me up, I can\'t get up." It was like The Christmas Story. Very
funny. Last night the Bears won (yuck) and also The Colts (yippie!).
I could not watch the Colts game when the score was 21-3. I watched
the rest of Long Way Round.
The last 2 hours were especially moving for someone (like me) who has
barely ever been out of the US. The guys were riding the Road of
Bones in Siberia. For those who don\'t know: The Road of Bones is a
notorious road through far Eastern Russia. It connects Magadan and
Yakutsk. The road is 2000 km long. It was built in the Stalin era of
the USSR by political prisoners, who were often imprisoned in gulags,
or concentration camps.
The road is treated by some as a memorial, as the bones of the people
who constructed it were incorporated into the road.
The area is extremely cold during the winter. Two towns by the
highway, Tomtor and Oymyakon (in the Oymyakon region), both claim the
coldest inhabited place on earth (often referred to as -71.2°C, but
might be -67.7°C) outside of Antarctica. Some believe actual winter
temperatures reached in nearby highlands may be in the -80°Cs.
",1] ); //-->shovel, then went home to shovel with dale for an hour. Had Subway,
went back to parents and had birthday cake…Mya knows how to write her
name and signed the birthday card all by herself. This was a big deal
for her. The kids then went home for a 2 hour nap. Our house is a
bilevel (if you have never been) and our windows really need to be
replaced. In the basement it was 4 degrees cooler than upstairs
because of the shit windows. We built a fire in the basement (managed
to keep the kids away) and were able to raise the temp 10 degrees with
one 5 hour fire.
After dinner (more spaghetti) brought the kids outside again. Owen
had a snowsuit on and kept getting stuck in the snow piles saying
"help me up, I can't get up." It was like The Christmas Story. Very
funny. Last night the Bears won (yuck) and also The Colts (yippie!).
I could not watch the Colts game when the score was 21-3. I watched
the rest of Long Way Round.
The last 2 hours were especially moving for someone (like me) who has
barely ever been out of the US. The guys were riding the Road of
Bones in Siberia. For those who don't know: The Road of Bones is a
notorious road through far Eastern Russia. It connects Magadan and
Yakutsk. The road is 2000 km long. It was built in the Stalin era of
the USSR by political prisoners, who were often imprisoned in gulags,
or concentration camps.
The road is treated by some as a memorial, as the bones of the people
who constructed it were incorporated into the road.
The area is extremely cold during the winter. Two towns by the
highway, Tomtor and Oymyakon (in the Oymyakon region), both claim the
coldest inhabited place on earth (often referred to as -71.2°C, but
might be -67.7°C) outside of Antarctica. Some believe actual winter
temperatures reached in nearby highlands may be in the -80°Cs.
The road is in a state of disrepair and is not traversable by standard
road vehicles because of washed-out bridges and sections of road
reclaimed by streams. During winter, frozen water actually helps river
crossings.
Ewan and Charlie had about the most miserable time on this stretch.
They physically had to create roads on this path to Magadan because
rivers washed the roads away. Its just unbelieveable this part of the
world.
The part that hit me strongly (and also hit the guys) when they
finally got to America and could go to (for instance) a gas station
and buy gas and snack foods and crap. In Mongolia and Russia people
are few and far between, they have no real villages (maybe a hut here
and there, but the people are nomadic) and the roads (if you can call
them that) are dirt or sand or Bog (some places looked like they were
riding through the dead marshes from LOTR)-then you get here and
Canada and its just glorious.
Obviously I am sure I take things like good roads and petrol stations
for 100% granted. I am also sure that people like Laura who are in
various countries in Africa right now, find this normal to not have a
good road, or a McDonalds, or a large city next to another large city.
It really makes you think about how lucky you are to live here vs
there. That being said, Mongolia looks freaking amazing and its going
on my list of places I would like to visit someday…(if only Ulaan
Bataar).
Watched Battlestar last night. Crap so good. I can not believe I
wasn't watching this fron the start. I'm glad we have the first
seasons on DVD, I'm planning on buying a program to rip my Dvd's so I
can put them on my ipod. Want to watch all this on the plane down to
Miami and to DC.
This week is a funny week for us…Toni is in Florida again (twice this
month) so instead of paying for 5 days for each kid, it was more
economical for one of us to stay home with the kids..so Dale is home
with the girls today. It was good timing since today at 1:45 Mya has
her 1st speech therapy over at Whitter School. I think he and Malinda
are going to Kmart while Mya has her lesson. Tonight I have a facial
and brow wax at WW. Considering that I feel like Ugly Betty with
caterpillers on my brows, this is welcome…and a facial and head
massage is always a plus….and even better I am using my Christmas gift
cards so its free. The bad part is orginally I was going to have
today off with the girls so I had a hour long hot stone massage
scheduled, (which now I can not do) and I was looking forward to that
like you wouldn't believe.
I also get to bail from work tomorrow for a follow up (well oct…) appt
with my doctor, its only 3 months late, but oh well. So I have to
work extra hours to make up for time lost. I guess I could be like
other coworkers and just never punch out for breaks or lunch, but I
guess I'm just to honest for that. Stupid me.
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scale. Friday night we didn't do much with the kids. Owen had his
tubes checked (everything appears OK) Friday afternoon. For those of
you who are interested, Dale has had a job offer from a company within
his current company so at the very least, he is employed as of Feb
1st. He has some other interviews and some other things "up in the
air" so I am not exactly sure where he is planning on going. As soon
as I found this out, I started to sleep much better. I must have been
over stressing over his employment situation. I guess worrying about
money can keep you up at night.
It also snowed last week so the kids were quite excited. Saturday we
had the Winter Jamboree (which if you are a lifetime 'shaw resident,
you know either always has NO snow, or it rains and is a joke) so we
took the kids to the Snow Goose Egg hunt (basically tossing eggs in
the snow and you try to find them) at the library. The kids had a
good time…We then went to lunch at La Estacion. The kids ate large
plates of rice with chips and Mya almost fell asleep in her food. It
was also my dad's birthday (Happy Birthday Dad!). We were going to
try and get to Madison to see Robin, but she got off shift late and
slept till around 2:30, so sadly we didn't see her.
We invited Toni around for dinner since Fred has been in Florida for
weeks so I figured hey, she might be lonely on a Saturday night. It
forced me to clean the house pretty good (bathrooms and vac. Floors,
and mop kitchen, and clean kitchen). We had Fazollis-yum (three days
worth of leftovers!) and the kids were mental happy because she was
there. Saturday night I watched a bit more of "Long Way Round" (so
good), did some cross stitch, nothing special.
Sunday it snowed (a lot) and so we took the kids outside to my moms to
shovel, then went home to shovel with dale for an hour. Had Subway,
went back to parents and had birthday cake…Mya knows how to write her
name and signed the birthday card all by herself. This was a big deal
for her. The kids then went home for a 2 hour nap. Our house is a
bilevel (if you have never been) and our windows really need to be
replaced. In the basement it was 4 degrees cooler than upstairs
because of the shit windows. We built a fire in the basement (managed
to keep the kids away) and were able to raise the temp 10 degrees with
one 5 hour fire.
After dinner (more spaghetti) brought the kids outside again. Owen
had a snowsuit on and kept getting stuck in the snow piles saying
"help me up, I can\'t get up." It was like The Christmas Story. Very
funny. Last night the Bears won (yuck) and also The Colts (yippie!).
I could not watch the Colts game when the score was 21-3. I watched
the rest of Long Way Round.
The last 2 hours were especially moving for someone (like me) who has
barely ever been out of the US. The guys were riding the Road of
Bones in Siberia. For those who don\'t know: The Road of Bones is a
notorious road through far Eastern Russia. It connects Magadan and
Yakutsk. The road is 2000 km long. It was built in the Stalin era of
the USSR by political prisoners, who were often imprisoned in gulags,
or concentration camps.
The road is treated by some as a memorial, as the bones of the people
who constructed it were incorporated into the road.
The area is extremely cold during the winter. Two towns by the
highway, Tomtor and Oymyakon (in the Oymyakon region), both claim the
coldest inhabited place on earth (often referred to as -71.2°C, but
might be -67.7°C) outside of Antarctica. Some believe actual winter
temperatures reached in nearby highlands may be in the -80°Cs.
",1] ); //-->shovel, then went home to shovel with dale for an hour. Had Subway,
went back to parents and had birthday cake…Mya knows how to write her
name and signed the birthday card all by herself. This was a big deal
for her. The kids then went home for a 2 hour nap. Our house is a
bilevel (if you have never been) and our windows really need to be
replaced. In the basement it was 4 degrees cooler than upstairs
because of the shit windows. We built a fire in the basement (managed
to keep the kids away) and were able to raise the temp 10 degrees with
one 5 hour fire.
After dinner (more spaghetti) brought the kids outside again. Owen
had a snowsuit on and kept getting stuck in the snow piles saying
"help me up, I can't get up." It was like The Christmas Story. Very
funny. Last night the Bears won (yuck) and also The Colts (yippie!).
I could not watch the Colts game when the score was 21-3. I watched
the rest of Long Way Round.
The last 2 hours were especially moving for someone (like me) who has
barely ever been out of the US. The guys were riding the Road of
Bones in Siberia. For those who don't know: The Road of Bones is a
notorious road through far Eastern Russia. It connects Magadan and
Yakutsk. The road is 2000 km long. It was built in the Stalin era of
the USSR by political prisoners, who were often imprisoned in gulags,
or concentration camps.
The road is treated by some as a memorial, as the bones of the people
who constructed it were incorporated into the road.
The area is extremely cold during the winter. Two towns by the
highway, Tomtor and Oymyakon (in the Oymyakon region), both claim the
coldest inhabited place on earth (often referred to as -71.2°C, but
might be -67.7°C) outside of Antarctica. Some believe actual winter
temperatures reached in nearby highlands may be in the -80°Cs.
The road is in a state of disrepair and is not traversable by standard
road vehicles because of washed-out bridges and sections of road
reclaimed by streams. During winter, frozen water actually helps river
crossings.
Ewan and Charlie had about the most miserable time on this stretch.
They physically had to create roads on this path to Magadan because
rivers washed the roads away. Its just unbelieveable this part of the
world.
The part that hit me strongly (and also hit the guys) when they
finally got to America and could go to (for instance) a gas station
and buy gas and snack foods and crap. In Mongolia and Russia people
are few and far between, they have no real villages (maybe a hut here
and there, but the people are nomadic) and the roads (if you can call
them that) are dirt or sand or Bog (some places looked like they were
riding through the dead marshes from LOTR)-then you get here and
Canada and its just glorious.
Obviously I am sure I take things like good roads and petrol stations
for 100% granted. I am also sure that people like Laura who are in
various countries in Africa right now, find this normal to not have a
good road, or a McDonalds, or a large city next to another large city.
It really makes you think about how lucky you are to live here vs
there. That being said, Mongolia looks freaking amazing and its going
on my list of places I would like to visit someday…(if only Ulaan
Bataar).
Watched Battlestar last night. Crap so good. I can not believe I
wasn't watching this fron the start. I'm glad we have the first
seasons on DVD, I'm planning on buying a program to rip my Dvd's so I
can put them on my ipod. Want to watch all this on the plane down to
Miami and to DC.
This week is a funny week for us…Toni is in Florida again (twice this
month) so instead of paying for 5 days for each kid, it was more
economical for one of us to stay home with the kids..so Dale is home
with the girls today. It was good timing since today at 1:45 Mya has
her 1st speech therapy over at Whitter School. I think he and Malinda
are going to Kmart while Mya has her lesson. Tonight I have a facial
and brow wax at WW. Considering that I feel like Ugly Betty with
caterpillers on my brows, this is welcome…and a facial and head
massage is always a plus….and even better I am using my Christmas gift
cards so its free. The bad part is orginally I was going to have
today off with the girls so I had a hour long hot stone massage
scheduled, (which now I can not do) and I was looking forward to that
like you wouldn't believe.
I also get to bail from work tomorrow for a follow up (well oct…) appt
with my doctor, its only 3 months late, but oh well. So I have to
work extra hours to make up for time lost. I guess I could be like
other coworkers and just never punch out for breaks or lunch, but I
guess I'm just to honest for that. Stupid me.
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Saturday, January 20, 2007
So sleepy!
Malinda and the rest of the kids went to the Snow Goose Egg Hunt (part of the Winter Jamboree this weekend in the 'shaw) then out to lunch....Its about 2pm now and guess who was soo tired that they passed out on the stairs while waiting to get their boots off...too darn cute!
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Friday, January 19, 2007
Hooray for Andrea!
My LLTB (long lost twin brother) Ryan's wife Andrea is gonna be a TEE vee star!!!
Isnt her hair fab?
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Isnt her hair fab?
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Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Is it Friday Yet?
You know when does your responsibility to your company end and your responsibility to the greater good start? I am now expected to “back up” a co-worker in the event that they are out sick or on vacation. That is no problem; please do the same for me someday…cool? Cool. But this person went out drinking last night, knew they were going to get trashed, planned on it and then called in today that they are “sick” and will be in by noon (right…sure you will). But since they are out “sick” I have to cover their ass while they are gone. The kicker is that they left a voice mail for another coworker discussing how they had “too much fun” last night etc….so it’s now no secret that they are not sick, they are just too hung over to come in by 8am.
My boss knows about the 2nd voice mail and has told that employee to save them from now on. OK that’s fine too…but this is not the 1st time this has happened, this is a weekly occurrence. I think at some point you need to have a come to Jesus meeting with them and say “listen we value you as an employee and as a person and all (Blah blah blah, pandering to political correctness) but you either need to get some medical help if you are so “sick” all the time and can not do your job, or you need to quit/go part time etc… and let us find someone who is more reliable and will be here every day.” Now that I am doing this other persons stuff that means I can not get to my stuff as quickly or as much or vice versa….blah. + I know that when I am out in Feb. no one is gonna lift a finger to check my reports or my emails to make sure I am not swamped when I get back.
On a different note…I haven’t been sleeping very well lately, about the past 5 days or so. I have been doing what I normally do before bed (i.e. read) take my meds…whatever and then I pretty much stay awake for a few hours. When you are normally used to cruising on 7 hours of sleep, 5 hours really isn’t cutting it….I feel like I used to feel when the kids needed feeding every 3 hours. The main problem with lack of sleep is now I have a job where I am not “up” for the full 8 hours…I don’t have to talk on the phone constantly and now I pretty much do reporting, system work, coding etc…and I can sit here with my i-pod running 8 + hrs, I find I get really sleepy, really quick. Coffee and Tea aren’t cutting it to help me stay awake and I really am trying to drink less than 1 soda per week so I can rely on my old friend 20 oz of Mountain Dew.
I’m thinking it’s a combination of stress of the unknown (where will Dale be working as of Feb 1st?) plus the upcoming stress of flying (I really late to fly and have to take “happy pills” to get through it all) and being away from the kids for 10 days over the course of a month (which should de-stress me, but well, you always worry about your kids in the back of your mind when you aren’t around) plus the fact that I am cold (stupid crappy windows…next home project). Dale thinks it’s because I read books in bed before I turn in, I think he’s mental since I think I have been reading in bed since before I knew how to read (if I had the right photo album here I would scan in the picture of me, at 2, sleeping on a pile of books-no lie) and its never been an issue before, in fact, I get antsy if I don’t read before bed….ahhhh the whole thing just sucks, as long as I never need to get the crutch of downing a shot of Nyquil before bed I guess I can put up with aching tiredness.
In other news of the world, it appears from Laura’s blog all is well in Africa, she is back in her normal village visiting and seems to be gearing up for her next adventure, not sure which country she is visiting next, but am always interested to see what she is up to! Ryan is having a big party this weekend and even though I was honored to be invited, I think I can’t really get down to Hot-Lanta for the shin-dig…next time bro, totally promise… (oh and BTW, Tom does like both coworkers, Edward and the cute guy with the does this tee shirt make me look gay shirt) and good luck to Andrea at her professional photo shoot today…that $70.00 haircut is smokin’ you go girl….
Dylan started school yesterday. Way to fucking go Dylan! In two years he will be a rad. Tech, rock on with your bad self! You are still invited for spring break (whenever that is)…the kids want to see you…
Oh and speaking of the kids, they all appear to be doing well….Malinda and Mya are learning about dinosaurs this week which prompted Malinda telling us that “dinosaurs are extinct. That doesn’t mean they smell funny, it means they aren’t around anymore, and the people that study dinosaurs are called paleontologists, not proctologists, they poke butts, not dinosaurs.” Owen is also happy in the new daycare room with his girlfriends Maya & Lacianna and his bite buddy (about 1-2 times a week each way) Lucas. Yesterday I was treated to him screaming in the car “I like meatballs! I like soup! I loveeeee Meatballs, yeah! And soup! Yes!” Sadly we had Tatortot casserole for dinner and no meatballs or soup. This makes me a bad mom I guess….
Music on the ol’ I-pod today: Bird York “In The Deep,” Rasputina’s album “A Radical Recital” punk music done on Cello, it’s so brilliant especially “Watch TV” (I could watch forever, I could watch for hours, it gives me pleasure, it makes me better)…plus a 4 song LP of Poi Dog Pondering at Lollapalooza from last August, pretty good version of Jack Ass Ginger…..
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My boss knows about the 2nd voice mail and has told that employee to save them from now on. OK that’s fine too…but this is not the 1st time this has happened, this is a weekly occurrence. I think at some point you need to have a come to Jesus meeting with them and say “listen we value you as an employee and as a person and all (Blah blah blah, pandering to political correctness) but you either need to get some medical help if you are so “sick” all the time and can not do your job, or you need to quit/go part time etc… and let us find someone who is more reliable and will be here every day.” Now that I am doing this other persons stuff that means I can not get to my stuff as quickly or as much or vice versa….blah. + I know that when I am out in Feb. no one is gonna lift a finger to check my reports or my emails to make sure I am not swamped when I get back.
On a different note…I haven’t been sleeping very well lately, about the past 5 days or so. I have been doing what I normally do before bed (i.e. read) take my meds…whatever and then I pretty much stay awake for a few hours. When you are normally used to cruising on 7 hours of sleep, 5 hours really isn’t cutting it….I feel like I used to feel when the kids needed feeding every 3 hours. The main problem with lack of sleep is now I have a job where I am not “up” for the full 8 hours…I don’t have to talk on the phone constantly and now I pretty much do reporting, system work, coding etc…and I can sit here with my i-pod running 8 + hrs, I find I get really sleepy, really quick. Coffee and Tea aren’t cutting it to help me stay awake and I really am trying to drink less than 1 soda per week so I can rely on my old friend 20 oz of Mountain Dew.
I’m thinking it’s a combination of stress of the unknown (where will Dale be working as of Feb 1st?) plus the upcoming stress of flying (I really late to fly and have to take “happy pills” to get through it all) and being away from the kids for 10 days over the course of a month (which should de-stress me, but well, you always worry about your kids in the back of your mind when you aren’t around) plus the fact that I am cold (stupid crappy windows…next home project). Dale thinks it’s because I read books in bed before I turn in, I think he’s mental since I think I have been reading in bed since before I knew how to read (if I had the right photo album here I would scan in the picture of me, at 2, sleeping on a pile of books-no lie) and its never been an issue before, in fact, I get antsy if I don’t read before bed….ahhhh the whole thing just sucks, as long as I never need to get the crutch of downing a shot of Nyquil before bed I guess I can put up with aching tiredness.
In other news of the world, it appears from Laura’s blog all is well in Africa, she is back in her normal village visiting and seems to be gearing up for her next adventure, not sure which country she is visiting next, but am always interested to see what she is up to! Ryan is having a big party this weekend and even though I was honored to be invited, I think I can’t really get down to Hot-Lanta for the shin-dig…next time bro, totally promise… (oh and BTW, Tom does like both coworkers, Edward and the cute guy with the does this tee shirt make me look gay shirt) and good luck to Andrea at her professional photo shoot today…that $70.00 haircut is smokin’ you go girl….
Dylan started school yesterday. Way to fucking go Dylan! In two years he will be a rad. Tech, rock on with your bad self! You are still invited for spring break (whenever that is)…the kids want to see you…
Oh and speaking of the kids, they all appear to be doing well….Malinda and Mya are learning about dinosaurs this week which prompted Malinda telling us that “dinosaurs are extinct. That doesn’t mean they smell funny, it means they aren’t around anymore, and the people that study dinosaurs are called paleontologists, not proctologists, they poke butts, not dinosaurs.” Owen is also happy in the new daycare room with his girlfriends Maya & Lacianna and his bite buddy (about 1-2 times a week each way) Lucas. Yesterday I was treated to him screaming in the car “I like meatballs! I like soup! I loveeeee Meatballs, yeah! And soup! Yes!” Sadly we had Tatortot casserole for dinner and no meatballs or soup. This makes me a bad mom I guess….
Music on the ol’ I-pod today: Bird York “In The Deep,” Rasputina’s album “A Radical Recital” punk music done on Cello, it’s so brilliant especially “Watch TV” (I could watch forever, I could watch for hours, it gives me pleasure, it makes me better)…plus a 4 song LP of Poi Dog Pondering at Lollapalooza from last August, pretty good version of Jack Ass Ginger…..
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Tuesday, January 16, 2007
blah!
Bah today…..
You know I wonder again how hard it is to show up to your job every day and on time. We have someone who works here who starts at 8 am daily. This person has worked here 5-6 yrs and will freely admit that they can not get to work at 8am and have been late every day since they started. Work knows this and has specifically trained/hired people to cover that person’s job until they get to work anywhere from 5-25 min later. How can you NEVER show up for work on time? How can an employer NOT care? Does this boggle your mind?
Last night started the last “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” book. My husband mocking me inwardly for reading “chick-lit.” He can bugger off because I would list my “chick-lit” books in my library of 2k+ books to equal possibly 10 books, if that. I think I own all the SOTTP books and maybe a copy of The Devil Wears Prada and I am sure I own Legally Blonde, somewhere…maybe? I am still on my quest to reread all 90+ Nero’ Wolfe’s, plus I need to replace my copy of Gambit because it is in poor condition, but considering it’s the 1948 ed., its not half bad, just crumbly.
Music stuck in my heavy i-pod rotation: Regina Spektor, specifically Hotel Song and Fidelity…she reminds me of a young Tori Amos….Miss Saigon: Original London Recording, a few songs keep getting stuck in my head which necessitates me listening to the whole score, Lea Salonga kills me….I’m also listening to the soundtrack to “The Cider House Rules” a lot. Two reasons, it’s a wonderfully quiet and gentle score…the whole thing is akin to wrapping up in a comfy blanket and crashing asleep, plus it reminds me that it’s about that time of the year where I need to re-read The Cider House Rules and more importantly “A Prayer for Owen Meany.”
I am also gonna cop to buying a copy of Elton John’s “Mona Lisa and Mad Hatters” simply because of that damn Snicker’s bar commercial-it gave me an ear worm…
I’m desperately trying to find a copy of Chris Rock doing “No Sex (In The Champaign Room)” from Bigger and Blacker…its not on I-tunes or on Limewire…you can find the video on Youtube, but that doesn’t help me when I want to rock out with that + Everybody’s Free (to wear sunscreen) when I’m in the car now does it??/
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Monday, January 15, 2007
Monday is the best day evah!
because, today it snowed (well yesterday and most of last night and then today...) which made my kids happy....today i left work early for the dentist and Hooray I need a root canal and that will be 1000.00 and you can just pay 25% of that up front, okay sweetie poo...and we know it hurts alot but we cant get you in till march sometime...okay?
Then I get home to find out something smells funny in the sink, no idea what unidentifiable smell is or where it is coming from in sink....perhaphs the 1 day worth of every dish we have in the house being dirty?
Thankfully I have two new books "Forever in Blue" and "Plum Lovin'" plus 3 new books I got used at the gym....and Im crabby because my tooth hurts and I am trying to IM ryan on myspace and he is deadout in cyberspace...poop on his head (not really!)......
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Wednesday, January 10, 2007
How was this possible?
How did I live without this scanner? I have no idea, in the past 24 hours I have started backing up the wedding pictures, old pictures from my personal photo books and the next game plan is to nab one of the old picture albums from my mom and start doing baby and wedding pictures...this is the best 80.00 i have ever spent.
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Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Monday, January 08, 2007
More Pictures...
Uncle Chip bagged this Elk 3-4 years ago, i think he still has steaks in the freezer..it was something like 1800 lbs...
Dale's uncle Chip is a hunter...he bagged a Cayote last year...the girls liked giving their teddy bears "doggie rides" this past Sunday...
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HOLY FUCKING CHRIST WE ARE GOING TO MIAMI!
Well Dale is a big winner! He was plaing NFL Latino Fantasy Football and due to the #1 overall winner NOT being a legal US Citizen, we won a 4 day all expenses (Airfair, Hotel, Game) paid trip to Miami for superbowl 41!
More info coming tomorrow via Fed EX, all I know is we have 2 tickets, nice airfair a nice hotel and miles of sandy South Beach sand to look forward too!
Ole!
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Sunday, January 07, 2007
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
why i feel i am a good mom, part one
so as you may know if you are a long time reader 1st time caller is that my kids have wierd food things, Owen is mostly lactose intolerant (drinks soy) and the girls pretty much can't handle sugar (frosting=puking malinda) so we have asked the center to not give our kids candy, cookies, cuppycakes or pretty much anything that any parent brings in...its taken about 18 months and 6-7 fuck ups by our center to get to this point where yesterday my girls are given cuppycakes (even though they told the teacher "we cant have those.", mommy hit the roof and fired this off to kindercare corporate:
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Hello, I had previously discussed this issue with a regional manager, however I am still finding that this problem is happening. I have made it very very clear that our children (ages 3, 3, and 2) are NOT to have any desserts or sweets that have been brought into the center by parents as birthday/holiday treats, and that we would prefer that we be contacted for permission before outside food from the center is given to our kids, or sent home for us to review and dole out as we see fit.
In the past 18 months we have had this problem at least 1/2 a dozen times. The center director has assured us that she has made it very clear to her staff and on the intake sheets for our children that they can not have these items. Yesterday our girls were given cupcakes that a parent brought in to the center for a treat. My children were given these as a snack even after they informed the teacher that they could not have these cupcakes.
When my children have frosting they get ill which usually ends up in me cleaning up the vomit from my children. I did not enjoy having a sick child last night because your staff was unable to follow these instructions.
I have asked in the past to possibly review your company policy on birthday treats since even our school district prohibits such treats due to the overwhelming number of children with nut allergies, and I am posing the question again why your company would allow the liability of food being brought into the center when you do not have control over it?
I am not sure how this situation can be resolved? I have been assured and reassured by Dana that this information is on the intake sheets and that she has personally spoken to every teacher in the center that my children are NOT to have outside treats. This does not seem to have the desired effect because MY KIDS KEEP GETTING TREATS!
I am wondering what it will take for this to sink into the staff? Do you need to comp me a free day of care, a free week of care every time this happens, and pass that loss of revenue along to the staff-I don't know? Perhaps the only way this will sink in to everyone is if some sort of penalty is imposed for this instruction not being followed?
I am very glad that the worst that happens to my kids is that they throw up when they have too much refined sugar. I shudder to think what could happen to my kids if they were seriously allergic to a food that kept being given to them at the center because it appears that the written instructions and the verbal instructions are not being followed every time.
My husband and I and our children really do love KinderCare. They are happy in their classrooms, have many friends and enjoy their teachers. Overall outside of this issue we could not be more satisfied with the center and we do not want to change our childcare choice over this issue because KinderCare is the most accommodating center for our needs.
I have stated before that with the amount of paperwork I am required to fill out as a parent regarding my children's health history, eating habits, non prescription information etc... in order to comply with state licensing, with the fact that my kids can not even be given diaper cream unless I fill out a form and sign it; however parents are allowed to bring in treats and they are distributed amongst the children without parental permission or even knowledge.
If I was not called away from work to pick up my daughter the 1st time she threw up from eating chocolate cupcakes I would have never known you were feeding my children food prepared outside of the center. I find this very very unacceptable.
I am hoping that someone can contact me to discuss this problem and to see what you are going to do to compensate myself and my husband every time we now have a sick child on our hands at night because a non-parental approved treat was given to our kids?
We have been very happy to give permission to or deny Ms. Dana the request to feed our children a treat. All it has taken was an email or phone call to inform us that a treat was being provided and was it OK to give it to our children. This has worked out well, when it has been followed, and it also helps reassure us that our wishes regarding our children are being followed and observed.
The result? The center and all centers managed by the regional director are going "outside food free" starting Feb 1st...You can't bring in treats for your kids since there are so many food allergies etc... Whoopie! I feel super since its only taken the better part of 2 years to get this to happen!
The result? The center and all centers managed by the regional director are going "outside food free" starting Feb 1st...You can't bring in treats for your kids since there are so many food allergies etc... Whoopie! I feel super since its only taken the better part of 2 years to get this to happen!
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Tuesday, January 02, 2007
WEEK...BLAH
This is shaping up to be a week at work that I wish would be over today vs Friday. One of my coworkers has been out quite a bit battleing breast cancer and while I can appreciate that you need to heal yourself before you can come back and work effectively its still really inconvenient for the coworkers because you are dealing with your own work and hers, plus for about 2 weeks no one told any clients she was out and she had voice mails piling up and now we have mad angry clients calling because they dont have the information they requested. I have been yelled at twice today for things not my fault.
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Today according to my online calandar is "Friendship Appreciation Day." I am not sure there is a greeting card for that so I am blogging out my appreciation for a select and random few: my Evil Twin Ryan, he's having a rough patch right about now but its certainly appreciated that even though he no longer works for the law firm anymore, he keeps me sane by letting me vent about work....plus i'm pretty sure it flows back the same way...so I am sending good vibes out into the universe that his life gets less complicated sooner rather than later.
To Cat the world traveler: hopefully she is safe in Africa doing whatever whereever...i appreciate that I have one friend out in the world who actually gets to get out in the world, places I am sure I will never get to visit, but she always sends us back things from where ever she is (and I love the banana leaf angel for the tree!), we miss you and come home soon to visit....
Also to my other world traveler friend Derek who is coming back to the US after almost 3 years in Japan teaching and being taught, I can not wait to catch up with you when you hit the states...
Plus have to give a shout out to the wayward Dylan, godfather for our son...he's back in Tex-ass and on his way back to school to do something medical (it was late and i forgot)....its been too long since we have seen him, but when he can get here, I promise we will get V and Owen back to church and baptise him all over again since you missed him the 1st time around...a bit more water and words never hurt anyone...
and finally to my girl Vanessa...she is moved in to her new pad on the swingin' downtown scene and I am hoping for her that 2007 is a better year than a majority of 2006....I know that she has been pretty down but im also sending out good vibes into the universe that all is gonna be well this year...we have to get together again soon, take Owen shopping or something...anyways, work is almost over, i gotta run..
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Monday, January 01, 2007
Sunday, December 31, 2006
Saturday, December 30, 2006
hello
this am...scrambled eggs, coloring with the kids, gym (1/2 hour on cardio, my mom behind me on the treadmill, my dad walking laps in front of me, my husband shooting baskets below me, my kids in kids club with my brother downstairs...) lunch at Wendys (mmmm potato) and now, off to use the wireless controler on FF....tonite, bake birthday cake for Owen, ship kids off to church tomorrow am (whilst parents go back to bed-heathens though we are) and watch the Lord Football at night. Happy Freakin New Year
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Thursday, December 28, 2006
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
I am done
with Christmas finally. NO more Christmas for at least another 300+ days. I have about 8000000 things to return to Kohls as soon as the return rush dies down and I can not stress this enough people for the sake of yourselves and all living things, do not deviate from the list! I can't tell you how many people today at work complaining about "my husband got me a blender, and i told my kids grandpa not to get the purple power ranger" etc....I think I agree with Andrea, get everyone you know a gift card and save the hassle. Its also possible that after 4 christmases i am all happied out and feel drained.
We have a ROOM full of stuff down here that I dont have room for yet (kids stuff + Laundry) and have to somehow figure out where to put everything...we have an abundance of new socks and underwear (for the kids) and I think my mom feels sorry for me because this is 2 years running where she gets me new washcloths...which means I now own 300 washcloths, a majority of them scummy from endless wiping of dirty hands/faces/tables and kitty puke.
I guess I am just tired which makes this whole rant sound bitchy in the x-treme...blah...we did have the best time yesterday at Toni's house...Mya went mental over her spiderman and has talked of nothing since...
I am also sad because I didnt get to spend as much time with Ryan as I had hoped (damn that flu!), and that pony I wanted for the past 30 christmases did not arrive under the tree, I shake my fist at you santa...!
If you are wondering what this lovely picture is...it is #1 in "where is laura" recap...she is on Lamu Island in Africa..its beautiful.
Monday, December 25, 2006
Christmas #3
I survived Christmas #3, and got in a nap, and got some excellent presents from my in laws and sister in law and brother in law & talked to Dan (HI DAN) and apparantly Dylan is in Texas (call me you bastard), and made a lunch date with Ryan (anywhere but applebees...i am thinking Oscars?) and now off to play FF and let my mind rot.
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Sunday, December 24, 2006
anyways
It blows my mind that the Pedens are not in San Antonio..wonderful...and Dylan is somewhere in San Diego?? sigh...its almost impossible to keep up with everything in Dylan's life...specially since he is like the wind...god knows where it is, god knows when it will show up again, and god knows its da bomb when its around...also I'm adding this pic of Ryan and Andrea:
because Andrea looks durn cute (and Ryan has hair?!)...
because Andrea looks durn cute (and Ryan has hair?!)...The Christmas recap: Christmas #2 is over with (Vitucci/Poytinger/Anderson Christmas)...my kids went wacko..i got to see all my cousins (except Peter...he doesnt do crowds) and my cousin Matt (happy birthday..not to be confused with my brother matt) is getting married (sometime in 2008)...my uncle Mike and cousin mike (not to be confused with my dad mike) got a new black lab puppy and they (and lisa and marina) couldnt stay long, had to get back to IL to let him/her/it? out of its kennel to peepee..
My Aunt Colleen's grandma had a stroke about 3 min before they left Cedarburg for our house so she wasnt there...hope grandma is OK Colleen!
Tomorrow is Christmas #3...Baumer Christmas...around 1pm...I am hoping the kids arent too wako from lack of nap tomorrow...
Today we took kids to their 1st (well for the girls techinically 2nd, but at 8 weeks old I dont think they remember Intolerable Cruelty quite well) movie...we all saw Charlotte's Web...that effing movie always makes me cry...try explaining to your 2 year old why "momma sad?" and you are blubbering about the spider dying etc...oh hell...they were very well behaved and we had no problems...maybe we take the kids again...you know once we win the lottery since I think it was like 23$ for all of us...
Also today was a bit sad as seeing my Grandma (my last living Grandparent) was hard...Grandma is about 1 step away from assisted living since I think her Altzheimers is about at the tipping point...I guess she wasnt showering, or changing her clothes and she forgot to tell my aunt she had no toilet paper (at least this is what I gleaned from overhearing my aunt and mom talk)...its very sad since all her living brothers and sisters are just the same, or worse off...so as I said to my favorite aunt, and goddess mother...Thi s is what i have to look forward too huh?
Funny Christmas story...my mom is redoing her small bathroom and has taken up all the mirrors, light fixtures, and floor vent...my cousin Marina went in to use the bathroom..the floor vent is on the right hand side as you sit on the potty about ehhh 1 foot away from your feet...my cousin managed to drop her motorola razr down the floor vent...my mother is fishing this phone out with a plastic spoon and her arm as about 1/2 a dozen relatives look on..priceless..why didnt i grab the camera?
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oh well what the hell
SO since its Christmas I was doing my calls out to Texas to say hi to Dan...I called his girlfriend (ex) Beth and she called back, informed me Dylan and her not together, Dylan living...somewhere...his parents moved to Dallas? and god knows what else?!?
Univision Promotes Paula Peden to Senior Vice President - Central Region for Univision and Telefutura
New York, NY -- Univision Communications Inc., the leading Spanish-language media company in the United States, today announced that Paula Peden has been promoted to Senior Vice President – Central Region for Univision and TeleFutura National Sales. Peden previously served as Vice President of National Sales for Univision and TeleFutura in San Antonio. She will report to Mike Reid, Senior Vice President/Director of Sales, and will be based in Dallas, Texas.
“Paula is an exceptional media sales professional and experienced leader who has successfully managed our San Antonio office to unprecedented growth,” said Reid. “We are thrilled about Paula’s promotion and know that her leadership and management abilities will be a driving force for sales in Univision’s Central Region.”
With nearly 30 years of experience, Peden is a seasoned media sales veteran. She opened Univision’s San Antonio office 11 years ago and has a strong track record of success. Her previous national spot sales experience includes positions at CBS, Petry Television and Blair Television. She has also held various management positions, including Vice President of New Business for Petry Television and Hearst Television Group, Vice President for Torbet Radio Chicago and National Sales Manager for KSAT in San Antonio.
Peden is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh where she completed a double major in English and speech communication. She earned a masters degree from Pennsylvania State University and has taught broadcasting courses at both Penn State and Indiana State universities.
Peden and her husband Art have two sons, Dylan and Daniel.
Univision Communications Inc. is the premier Spanish-language media company in the United States. Its operations include Univision Network, the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the U.S. reaching 98% of U.S. Hispanic Households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest Spanish-language broadcast television network, which was launched in 2002 and now reaches 86% of U.S. Hispanic Households; Galavisión, the country’s leading Spanish-language cable network; Univision Television Group, which owns and operates 62 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision Radio, the leading Spanish-language radio group which owns and/or operates 69 radio stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets and 4 stations in Puerto Rico; Univision Music Group, which includes Univision Records, Fonovisa Records, La Calle Records and a 50% interest in Mexico-based Disa Records labels as well as Fonomusic and America Musical Publishing companies; and Univision Online, the premier Spanish-language Internet destination in the U.S. located at www.univision.com. Univision Communications also has a 50% interest in TuTv, a joint venture formed to broadcast Televisa’s pay television channels in the U.S., and a non-voting 14.9% interest in Entravision Communications Corporation, a public Spanish-language media company. Univision Communications is headquartered in Los Angeles with television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States.
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| 04-19-2006 |  Printable Version |
Univision Promotes Paula Peden to Senior Vice President - Central Region for Univision and Telefutura
New York, NY -- Univision Communications Inc., the leading Spanish-language media company in the United States, today announced that Paula Peden has been promoted to Senior Vice President – Central Region for Univision and TeleFutura National Sales. Peden previously served as Vice President of National Sales for Univision and TeleFutura in San Antonio. She will report to Mike Reid, Senior Vice President/Director of Sales, and will be based in Dallas, Texas.
“Paula is an exceptional media sales professional and experienced leader who has successfully managed our San Antonio office to unprecedented growth,” said Reid. “We are thrilled about Paula’s promotion and know that her leadership and management abilities will be a driving force for sales in Univision’s Central Region.”
With nearly 30 years of experience, Peden is a seasoned media sales veteran. She opened Univision’s San Antonio office 11 years ago and has a strong track record of success. Her previous national spot sales experience includes positions at CBS, Petry Television and Blair Television. She has also held various management positions, including Vice President of New Business for Petry Television and Hearst Television Group, Vice President for Torbet Radio Chicago and National Sales Manager for KSAT in San Antonio.
Peden is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh where she completed a double major in English and speech communication. She earned a masters degree from Pennsylvania State University and has taught broadcasting courses at both Penn State and Indiana State universities.
Peden and her husband Art have two sons, Dylan and Daniel.
Univision Communications Inc. is the premier Spanish-language media company in the United States. Its operations include Univision Network, the most-watched Spanish-language broadcast television network in the U.S. reaching 98% of U.S. Hispanic Households; TeleFutura Network, a general-interest Spanish-language broadcast television network, which was launched in 2002 and now reaches 86% of U.S. Hispanic Households; Galavisión, the country’s leading Spanish-language cable network; Univision Television Group, which owns and operates 62 television stations in major U.S. Hispanic markets and Puerto Rico; Univision Radio, the leading Spanish-language radio group which owns and/or operates 69 radio stations in 16 of the top 25 U.S. Hispanic markets and 4 stations in Puerto Rico; Univision Music Group, which includes Univision Records, Fonovisa Records, La Calle Records and a 50% interest in Mexico-based Disa Records labels as well as Fonomusic and America Musical Publishing companies; and Univision Online, the premier Spanish-language Internet destination in the U.S. located at www.univision.com. Univision Communications also has a 50% interest in TuTv, a joint venture formed to broadcast Televisa’s pay television channels in the U.S., and a non-voting 14.9% interest in Entravision Communications Corporation, a public Spanish-language media company. Univision Communications is headquartered in Los Angeles with television network operations in Miami and television and radio stations and sales offices in major cities throughout the United States.
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