The kids are out on Christmas vacation. Today we did our annual "day of giving". We took tons of clothing and household items to Goodwill. We donated 101 pounds of food to the food bank and Stephen gave blood. :) I do not give blood because I did it twice in my life and I fainted once and nearly fainted the second time.
I had a goal to be finished Christmas shopping by the 5th of December (some random date that I have no idea how I came up with) and I failed miserably. Most of it is done and there has not been a lot of scrambling around to get it done. I just have a few more stocking stuffers for Stephen and to get something for the mail lady. Stephen always takes care of the kids because he loves rushing around the last week and getting it all. And he loves to spoil the kids so I let him do it.
We won't be having anyone over for Christmas dinner for the first time in 10 years or so. So it will be a nice, quiet day with no mad dash to stash the opened boxes and get all of the wrapping in the recycle bin immediately. I am looking forward to having a quiet day.
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
O Tannenbaum
Christmas trees in our house always manage to be quite an ordeal. We always seem to have issues with stands and I cannot tell you the number of Christmas tree stands we have purchased in the past 10 years.
A few years ago, after our Christmas tree had fallen down, we bought one of those swivel stands which we thought was pretty great but the next year out Christmas tree was too big (the trunk was thick!) to fit in the stand so we had to buy another stand. Of course the tree fell down again that year too! I think we have had trees fall 4 or 5 times in the past 8 years!
This year we managed to have to go buy yet another stand after buying what we thought was an awesome tree. It was tall and very full with branches that swept right to the ground. Of course the trunk was thick and there was a knot in it so it did not fit in either of the two stands that we had so I ran out to buy yet another stand. We struggled and strained to get the tree up (it is 8 and a half feet tall and very heavy). Stephen kept askin if I were sure that it was straight (he was under the tree tightening the screws on the stand ) and I was staring at the top of the tree which was perfectly straight. Then it was a up - voila!
Stephen then trimmed off some of the bottom branches an I put on the tree topper the sat down on the couch to admire our lovely tree.
Then I saw it. Can you see it?
A few years ago, after our Christmas tree had fallen down, we bought one of those swivel stands which we thought was pretty great but the next year out Christmas tree was too big (the trunk was thick!) to fit in the stand so we had to buy another stand. Of course the tree fell down again that year too! I think we have had trees fall 4 or 5 times in the past 8 years!
This year we managed to have to go buy yet another stand after buying what we thought was an awesome tree. It was tall and very full with branches that swept right to the ground. Of course the trunk was thick and there was a knot in it so it did not fit in either of the two stands that we had so I ran out to buy yet another stand. We struggled and strained to get the tree up (it is 8 and a half feet tall and very heavy). Stephen kept askin if I were sure that it was straight (he was under the tree tightening the screws on the stand ) and I was staring at the top of the tree which was perfectly straight. Then it was a up - voila!
Stephen then trimmed off some of the bottom branches an I put on the tree topper the sat down on the couch to admire our lovely tree.
Then I saw it. Can you see it?
Our tree has scoliosis! OMG how could we not have seen this? Of course we had not seen it - the branches went straight to the ground and all we did was admire the height and fullness of the tree. So, this tree is balancing precaiously in the new stand. It managed to stay standing while I strung lights and while the kids and I hung the ornaments. I guess those are good signs. We hope that it does not fall over sometime over the next two weeks. Mostly I am worried about any water ruining the new wood floors but of course I am concerned about broken ornaments.
And for Christmas I have added this tree stand to my Christmas list. I hope it is the last one I will ever have to buy:
The Reveal
Here is a photo of our newly redone living room. We had the walls painted, the fireplace painted, hardwood floors installed, bought a new floor lamp, couch and chair. We also had shelving installed on either side of the fireplace. Oh and a new area rug. I am very pleased with it!
We also had a console and shelf custom made for the front hall/foyer. This hallway and the kitchen already had hardwood floors so we just had them stripped, stained and finished.
We also had a console and shelf custom made for the front hall/foyer. This hallway and the kitchen already had hardwood floors so we just had them stripped, stained and finished.
Monday, November 19, 2012
Winner!
One year ago this month I started taking a wood carving class. We carve in the "Northwest Native Style". I enjoy it although I am pretty slow at it because the perfectionist in me is so afraid of making a mistake. So I do not carve at all outside of class.
I finished my first project. A relief carving of an eagle (stained and painted as well).
Then I had to think about my second project. I loved the signs up at our city hall and I asked my instructor if he knew who had carved this great sign:
And it turns out that it was my instructor! He lives in the city too and he teaches the classes in his workshop at his home. So, I decided to carve it but instead of being a relief carving, I made it three dimensional.
It might be hard to tell in this photo but the orca's tale flips up a little bit. This piece took me 4 months to shape, carve and paint. But it was worth it because I entered it in the Northwest Wood Carvers Association show that was held last weekend and look!
I won! First Place for beginner, Best of Beginner and Best of Division! And I also won $100! What a delightful surprise!
It was nice that I won because it made me double down on the piece I am working on now. I am not in love with it so I haven't been working that diligently on it. Now I want to hurry and get it finished so I can work on my next piece.
It is great to be creating again.
I finished my first project. A relief carving of an eagle (stained and painted as well).
Then I had to think about my second project. I loved the signs up at our city hall and I asked my instructor if he knew who had carved this great sign:
It might be hard to tell in this photo but the orca's tale flips up a little bit. This piece took me 4 months to shape, carve and paint. But it was worth it because I entered it in the Northwest Wood Carvers Association show that was held last weekend and look!
It was nice that I won because it made me double down on the piece I am working on now. I am not in love with it so I haven't been working that diligently on it. Now I want to hurry and get it finished so I can work on my next piece.
It is great to be creating again.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Thank God that we have excellent health insurance. Of course it is changing in January (not quite so excellent but still very good). I had to go to the ER two weeks ago and my 2.5 hour visit was billed to our insurance company in the amount of $10477.00. Of that, after the insurance company's "adjustments", they amount paid to the hospital was $2361.35. Quite a difference. Fifty-five percent of the bill was for a CT scan!
The ER visit was during a lull in the illness that swept through the family. Dex and Cars had the fever/sore throat/cough and the day Dex was better and I sent him the school was when I got violently ill with a raging bacterial infection resulting in an inflamed colon (and and blood loss). The ER doc got excited that I might be patient 1 of a new E. coli outbreak but no pathogens were found and a huge dose of antibiotics and three days of bedrest had me good to go. Of course on the 3rd day of bedrest, DH came down with the same sickness that Dex and Cars had and he was out of commission for three days (two of them work days!!).
The month of October was a write-off and while I was happy to have lost 10 pounds in 3 days, I have gained back 5 of them already. I am fortunate that neither Jax nor I did not get the high fever illness. So far November has been a healthy month for us!
One funny thing about the whole situation was that when I got to the ER they said I was in their system but no information on why. The ER doctor was puzzled and said "I see that you are in here and it says I treated you in the ER in 2010 but there is no information". I reminded him that I was the "bat family" that had come in two years before and were sent to the regional trauma hospital for "treatment" since the rabies vaccine was only available there. We had a bit of a chuckle then he told me that they county had changed things and this hospital now had the vaccine (not that we will ever have a need for it). Anyway, you can read the post here (I wrote it but never published it until tonight: http://pezblahg.blogspot.com/2012/11/if-you-find-dying-bat.html)
The ER visit was during a lull in the illness that swept through the family. Dex and Cars had the fever/sore throat/cough and the day Dex was better and I sent him the school was when I got violently ill with a raging bacterial infection resulting in an inflamed colon (and and blood loss). The ER doc got excited that I might be patient 1 of a new E. coli outbreak but no pathogens were found and a huge dose of antibiotics and three days of bedrest had me good to go. Of course on the 3rd day of bedrest, DH came down with the same sickness that Dex and Cars had and he was out of commission for three days (two of them work days!!).
The month of October was a write-off and while I was happy to have lost 10 pounds in 3 days, I have gained back 5 of them already. I am fortunate that neither Jax nor I did not get the high fever illness. So far November has been a healthy month for us!
One funny thing about the whole situation was that when I got to the ER they said I was in their system but no information on why. The ER doctor was puzzled and said "I see that you are in here and it says I treated you in the ER in 2010 but there is no information". I reminded him that I was the "bat family" that had come in two years before and were sent to the regional trauma hospital for "treatment" since the rabies vaccine was only available there. We had a bit of a chuckle then he told me that they county had changed things and this hospital now had the vaccine (not that we will ever have a need for it). Anyway, you can read the post here (I wrote it but never published it until tonight: http://pezblahg.blogspot.com/2012/11/if-you-find-dying-bat.html)
If you find a dying bat...
***this was originally written in October 2010 but never published until November 2012 ***
...in your bathtub, you might want to get it out. You'll probably get a ziploc container to slide it into and stick it out on the porch. You'll probably look up how to dispose of the bat and will find information on your country's animal control site. The animal control site will tell you to call the county's public health department. You'll call the public health department who will be closed but will give an after hours number. If you call the after hours number, they will tell you that they only deal with bats from emergency rooms after hours. You will ask for clarification and be told that you should go to the emergency room in case the bat had rabies. If you are told that you will quickly google information about bats in houses and see that it is recommended to go to the emergency room. You will think this is over kill so you will call the nurseline provided by your insurance company.
If you call the nurseline, they will call you back after contacting a doctor. When you get a call back you will be told to go to the emergency room because they have a zero tolerance when it comes to dealing with bats and they assume they all have rabies. You will probably have to get the nurse to repeat this information to your husband who is skeptical and things you are blowing things out of proportion.
Once your husband is told by the nurse in no uncertain terms to go to emergency, you will probably have to call your friend's house to arrange to pick up your son who is planning to have a sleepover there (long overdue and emotionally charged which is another long story). You will get the rest of your family in the car and pick up said son.
You will probably drive to the closest emergency room. Once there you will have your whole family registered and be thankful that it is early on a Friday night and that this emergency room is small and in a suburban area, not the big city. Once you are checked in and triaged, a doctor will come in and explain that before we go any further, the county has taken all rabies vaccines OUT of emergency rooms with the exception of the trauma centre in downtown Seattle. He will tell you that you need to proceed to this trauma centre for treatment and promise that you will not incur any emergency bills from this ER department since they had no way of treating you.
At this point, your husband will be PISSED but you will all get back into the car and travel downtown Seattle on a Friday night. Your children will also be confused and have asked several times what they are going to do to us. You calmly tell them you don't know as this has never happened to you before (but know that vaccines are a very real possibility but do not say this so they do not freak out).
After sometime in the ER, the doctor will come up to you and explain that after consulting with several people at the health department, they think it is worth the risk that you do not get innoculated for rabies and your husband will have the health department repeat this to YOU over the telephone (since he is still pissed that you had the nurse repeat it to him to go to the ER a few hours before).
You will probably go home with the bat in the container and instructions to freeze it the FedEx it the next day (overnight!) to Oregon for rabies testing which you will have to pay for and the total for that will be about $120. A week later you will probably find out that the bat does not have rabies which is a good thing becaues if it did and you had been exposed and waited a week there is a good chance that you would have acute encephalitis by this point if you had been infected.
Then, when Halloween came around you would make yourself a bat costume and have a good laugh at it while your husband is still pissed off and won't find humour in the situation for a long time (if ever).**this last line added in November 2012
...in your bathtub, you might want to get it out. You'll probably get a ziploc container to slide it into and stick it out on the porch. You'll probably look up how to dispose of the bat and will find information on your country's animal control site. The animal control site will tell you to call the county's public health department. You'll call the public health department who will be closed but will give an after hours number. If you call the after hours number, they will tell you that they only deal with bats from emergency rooms after hours. You will ask for clarification and be told that you should go to the emergency room in case the bat had rabies. If you are told that you will quickly google information about bats in houses and see that it is recommended to go to the emergency room. You will think this is over kill so you will call the nurseline provided by your insurance company.
If you call the nurseline, they will call you back after contacting a doctor. When you get a call back you will be told to go to the emergency room because they have a zero tolerance when it comes to dealing with bats and they assume they all have rabies. You will probably have to get the nurse to repeat this information to your husband who is skeptical and things you are blowing things out of proportion.
Once your husband is told by the nurse in no uncertain terms to go to emergency, you will probably have to call your friend's house to arrange to pick up your son who is planning to have a sleepover there (long overdue and emotionally charged which is another long story). You will get the rest of your family in the car and pick up said son.
You will probably drive to the closest emergency room. Once there you will have your whole family registered and be thankful that it is early on a Friday night and that this emergency room is small and in a suburban area, not the big city. Once you are checked in and triaged, a doctor will come in and explain that before we go any further, the county has taken all rabies vaccines OUT of emergency rooms with the exception of the trauma centre in downtown Seattle. He will tell you that you need to proceed to this trauma centre for treatment and promise that you will not incur any emergency bills from this ER department since they had no way of treating you.
At this point, your husband will be PISSED but you will all get back into the car and travel downtown Seattle on a Friday night. Your children will also be confused and have asked several times what they are going to do to us. You calmly tell them you don't know as this has never happened to you before (but know that vaccines are a very real possibility but do not say this so they do not freak out).
After sometime in the ER, the doctor will come up to you and explain that after consulting with several people at the health department, they think it is worth the risk that you do not get innoculated for rabies and your husband will have the health department repeat this to YOU over the telephone (since he is still pissed that you had the nurse repeat it to him to go to the ER a few hours before).
You will probably go home with the bat in the container and instructions to freeze it the FedEx it the next day (overnight!) to Oregon for rabies testing which you will have to pay for and the total for that will be about $120. A week later you will probably find out that the bat does not have rabies which is a good thing becaues if it did and you had been exposed and waited a week there is a good chance that you would have acute encephalitis by this point if you had been infected.
Then, when Halloween came around you would make yourself a bat costume and have a good laugh at it while your husband is still pissed off and won't find humour in the situation for a long time (if ever).**this last line added in November 2012
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Cars' fever finally went away Thursday afternoon but he was too weak from not eating all week to go to school on Friday. And now Dex has a fever and sore throat. Here we go again...
Our living room is just about finished being redecorated. It has taken positively AGES. I got the call today that our area rug will be delivered the week after next. And then the console and shelves should be installed around the same time. I will finally be able to share photos! Now, what project is next?
Our living room is just about finished being redecorated. It has taken positively AGES. I got the call today that our area rug will be delivered the week after next. And then the console and shelves should be installed around the same time. I will finally be able to share photos! Now, what project is next?
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
So yeah, stress does suck. I do not handle things well when I am stressed out. I become paralyzed and I do not function. Then I get more stressed because I haven't done what I need to do. Procrastination feeds my stress. Stress paralyzes me and I procrastinate. And so on and so on without end.
The thing is, it isn't just one particular thing that has led to this particular stressful time. It is everything. And when I sit down to write about them they seem so petty and trivial and "first world problem"-atic that I then get embarrassed that I am even stressed about them. We have food. We have shelter. My family is (relatively) healthy. I do not ~have~ to work outside of the home. So what the fuck am I so stressed about? Why do I let things get to me?
Waaaay back when I worked at Big Computer Company, I took a class where you assess what kind of person you are. I remember the RED was for attention to detail and I scored a big fat 0 on that. I am not a detail person. And right now I am doing two big projects that require me to pay a lot of attention to detail and I SUCK at it. I have had sleepless nights. I have been comforting myself with food and I have been thinking of hitting the bottle of Xanax (and I do not want to touch it!). I hate this.
And the things that would make this better (eating healthier, exercise, sleep, NOT procrastinating) are not even on my radar.
And, right now when things are so overwhelming, my baby has been sick for going on 5 days (and in the morning I will call the school to let them know he will miss the 4th day of school in a row). Fever, malaise, vomiting, cough, congestion, losing his voice, etc. I missed a PT appt today and was made to feel guilty because I asked my dh to stay home this morning so I could go to my annual mammogram. Nice.
Ok, off to bed. I know I won't sleep but at least I can pretend that I might.
The thing is, it isn't just one particular thing that has led to this particular stressful time. It is everything. And when I sit down to write about them they seem so petty and trivial and "first world problem"-atic that I then get embarrassed that I am even stressed about them. We have food. We have shelter. My family is (relatively) healthy. I do not ~have~ to work outside of the home. So what the fuck am I so stressed about? Why do I let things get to me?
Waaaay back when I worked at Big Computer Company, I took a class where you assess what kind of person you are. I remember the RED was for attention to detail and I scored a big fat 0 on that. I am not a detail person. And right now I am doing two big projects that require me to pay a lot of attention to detail and I SUCK at it. I have had sleepless nights. I have been comforting myself with food and I have been thinking of hitting the bottle of Xanax (and I do not want to touch it!). I hate this.
And the things that would make this better (eating healthier, exercise, sleep, NOT procrastinating) are not even on my radar.
And, right now when things are so overwhelming, my baby has been sick for going on 5 days (and in the morning I will call the school to let them know he will miss the 4th day of school in a row). Fever, malaise, vomiting, cough, congestion, losing his voice, etc. I missed a PT appt today and was made to feel guilty because I asked my dh to stay home this morning so I could go to my annual mammogram. Nice.
Ok, off to bed. I know I won't sleep but at least I can pretend that I might.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Friday, October 05, 2012
Today we are celebrating Cars' birthday with a party at a bowling alley. Yes, his birthday was in August. Yes, this is the second year in a row that he is having a really late birthday. The kids are off school today and everyone he wanted to invite (but one) lives in our school district so it was a good day to have it. About the other kid? I just told Cars that it was too bad he had to go to school or else we could have invited him. Fortunately, it is not a super close friend. :)
I have been going to PT because I have bursitis and tendonitis in my shoulders again but this time they are also working on the Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Perhaps it is all connected anyway? The exercises are killer because I have done virtually NO arm/shoulder exercises/stretches in months and month and months due to the pain. Hopefully I will be healed soon. I have been very good about doing my PT homework.
We have had three months of almost no rain. While it has been enjoyable, I am starting to lose shrubs and even a couple of small trees. I haven't been able to keep up with the watering. Well, I could but I cannot imagine the water bills! Hopefully the rain will return soon. I need to transplant some trees to replace the plum trees I had to take out this summer.
I have been going to PT because I have bursitis and tendonitis in my shoulders again but this time they are also working on the Thoracic Outlet Syndrome. Perhaps it is all connected anyway? The exercises are killer because I have done virtually NO arm/shoulder exercises/stretches in months and month and months due to the pain. Hopefully I will be healed soon. I have been very good about doing my PT homework.
We have had three months of almost no rain. While it has been enjoyable, I am starting to lose shrubs and even a couple of small trees. I haven't been able to keep up with the watering. Well, I could but I cannot imagine the water bills! Hopefully the rain will return soon. I need to transplant some trees to replace the plum trees I had to take out this summer.
Thursday, August 30, 2012
School starts next week and I am a little out of sorts. I thought I had everything in place but I found out that Cars does NOT have school on the first day of school. School that day is for incoming freshmen/sophomores at the high school, 6th & 7th graders at the middle school (converted from junior high) and kindergartners. Why is it the first day of school then?! This not-the-first day first day has screwed up my schedule because I was to start my woodcarving class that day and Cars is still too young to stay home alone.
Also, even though Dex DOES have school that day (7th grade), he does not start school at regular time that day but 3.5 hours later than usual. It is not really clear how he will get to school - is there a bus at that weird time? When will it pick him up?
The insurance company sent me a robocall last night that they have issued me a check for the damage (less deductible) of my car (ok, I guess I did not post about this but I hit a parked car in the parking lot of the orthodontist when I took Jax in to get his braces last week. I had not entirely decided I was going to go through insurance rather just pay it myself to keep my premiums from going up (or just not repair it at all - just a (not small) scratch). Now Stephen is concerned that our premiums will skyrocket. It is not as though I was caught drunk driving or texting and caused a major accident!
And the wood floors we had installed need to be fixed a bit tomorrow (cracked boards and missed stain in a couple of places) so we need to stay out of our house overnight. More $$ that we had not anticipated paying. Part of the rush to get it done when we did was that we were on holidays and did not have to incur extra costs of staying overnight for a few days due to the fumes from the finish.
I guess it is just a busy time. We've had a (mostly) relaxing, laid-back summer so getting back on a schedule and having a lot of things going on a once seems daunting. Time to reframe my outlook and get it done. Things could be worse. We could be in New Orleans dealing with a hurricane...
Also, even though Dex DOES have school that day (7th grade), he does not start school at regular time that day but 3.5 hours later than usual. It is not really clear how he will get to school - is there a bus at that weird time? When will it pick him up?
The insurance company sent me a robocall last night that they have issued me a check for the damage (less deductible) of my car (ok, I guess I did not post about this but I hit a parked car in the parking lot of the orthodontist when I took Jax in to get his braces last week. I had not entirely decided I was going to go through insurance rather just pay it myself to keep my premiums from going up (or just not repair it at all - just a (not small) scratch). Now Stephen is concerned that our premiums will skyrocket. It is not as though I was caught drunk driving or texting and caused a major accident!
And the wood floors we had installed need to be fixed a bit tomorrow (cracked boards and missed stain in a couple of places) so we need to stay out of our house overnight. More $$ that we had not anticipated paying. Part of the rush to get it done when we did was that we were on holidays and did not have to incur extra costs of staying overnight for a few days due to the fumes from the finish.
I guess it is just a busy time. We've had a (mostly) relaxing, laid-back summer so getting back on a schedule and having a lot of things going on a once seems daunting. Time to reframe my outlook and get it done. Things could be worse. We could be in New Orleans dealing with a hurricane...
Sunday, August 26, 2012
I've just found out that a boy from Jax's grade committed suicide. He was 14 years old. I have no details and he was not a friend of Jax's (although Jax did know him) and the thought of it is so scary to me that I want to throw up. His poor parents. And poor soul for being so distraught that he thought that suicide was the answer to his problems.
I remember being so distraught over boys when I was Jax's age that I wanted "to kill myself" or so I wrote in my diary at the time. Of course me saying those and going through the actual actions of doing so were miles apart. There was one girl in school who tried to kill herself because she was gay. This was in 1980. So different from today, at least I hope so. Of course I have no idea why this boy killed himself. I pray for his soul and for peace and understanding for his parents.
I remember being so distraught over boys when I was Jax's age that I wanted "to kill myself" or so I wrote in my diary at the time. Of course me saying those and going through the actual actions of doing so were miles apart. There was one girl in school who tried to kill herself because she was gay. This was in 1980. So different from today, at least I hope so. Of course I have no idea why this boy killed himself. I pray for his soul and for peace and understanding for his parents.
Friday, August 24, 2012
Jax got braces on his teeth the other day. He is still in a bit of pain but overall it will be worth it. He has spacing issues and an overbite but overall his teeth were not ~that~ bad I guess. I think if he had my parents he would not have gotten braces. None of us had braces. None of us had perfect teeth - mostly all had spacing issues and I have an overbite. Actually, I think my youngest brother has a bit of a cross bite too but not severe enough to correct. The other thing it that my parents did not have the money to pay for braces. I guess they would have found them if we had had severe dental issues.
DH, on the other hand, had braces as did both of his brothers. DH's teeth are now very crooked from his wisdom teeth that came in a year or so after we got married. Well, the wisdom teeth ~tried~ to come in but just really pushed the other teeth around so it was off to the U of MN dental school to have surgery to remove them. Gah, we were so broke then. We paid a couple hundred dollars then had to pay in installments for the next 6 or 8 months to pay off the rest. Thank goodness we had that option! I'd like DH to consider getting invisilign or something to re-straighten his teeth but he is appalled when I bring it up. He'd rather get lasik for his eyes, I think (also a good idea as he cannot see worth a darn without his glasses).
Cars goes back to the orthodontist in October to check on the status of his lateral incisors. One is in but one stubborn one will not move. I wonder if we will find out that it is impacted. Time will tell...
DH, on the other hand, had braces as did both of his brothers. DH's teeth are now very crooked from his wisdom teeth that came in a year or so after we got married. Well, the wisdom teeth ~tried~ to come in but just really pushed the other teeth around so it was off to the U of MN dental school to have surgery to remove them. Gah, we were so broke then. We paid a couple hundred dollars then had to pay in installments for the next 6 or 8 months to pay off the rest. Thank goodness we had that option! I'd like DH to consider getting invisilign or something to re-straighten his teeth but he is appalled when I bring it up. He'd rather get lasik for his eyes, I think (also a good idea as he cannot see worth a darn without his glasses).
Cars goes back to the orthodontist in October to check on the status of his lateral incisors. One is in but one stubborn one will not move. I wonder if we will find out that it is impacted. Time will tell...
Thursday, August 23, 2012
School will be starting in less than 2 weeks and I thought I was so on top of things in the allergy department. I took the forms to the allergist early (the school emailed the forms at the end of the school year rather than snail mail paper forms so I printed them at my expense ;). I called the mail-order prescription drug service that we have to use and had new epi pens sent to us. I just need to pick up new packages of Benadryl. But when going through the cupboard I realized that I do not have any epi pens for use at home! Well, there are two in my purse but I like to have one or two in the kitchen, you know, where we eat! And I have no "extras". So I will have to wait another month before I can order another set for the boys.
Now, I know I am lucky that I have a prescription drug plan and can afford to have "extras" hanging around. I sometimes worry about when my boys are older and if they do not have a job with drug benefits and they may not have the option to have more than one epi pen if they cannot afford it. Oh, I hope that never happens. In fact, I hope they find a "cure" for food allergies so they would not even have to worry about an anaphylactic reaction. Dreaming, I guess...
Now, I know I am lucky that I have a prescription drug plan and can afford to have "extras" hanging around. I sometimes worry about when my boys are older and if they do not have a job with drug benefits and they may not have the option to have more than one epi pen if they cannot afford it. Oh, I hope that never happens. In fact, I hope they find a "cure" for food allergies so they would not even have to worry about an anaphylactic reaction. Dreaming, I guess...
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
Doing some "minor" renovations in the house (install hardwood floor, refinish existing hardwood, painting living/dining/hallway/kitchen) but it seems like it is so much more! There is so much to do and we've hired out all of the labour! Picking paint colours, stain colours, moving EVERYTHING out of the living/dining/hallway/kitchen and trying to find temporary homes for them. I will be so happy when it is all done! I will post before and after photos. :)
Wednesday, August 01, 2012
Summer o'Fun day???
This summer has been very low-key. My in-laws came for a visit and were here for our 4th of July party. We showed them how Americans party! Then we took them to Victoria BC for a couple of days as they had never been there. We walked along the inner harbour and toured The Buchart Gardens. I think they really had a good time. My FIL drives me crazy sometimes and I will admit that I did have a couple of hissy fits which was not becoming.
Cars went to Harry Potter day camp through the Boys and Girls Club with our neighbour and he had a great time! He is totally into HP which is awesome since the older two have no interest in it anymore. They did not even appreciate it yesterday when I reminded them that it was Harry Potter's birthday! ;)
Dex spent a weekend with Spy and her dh and their oldest son sailing in the San Juan Islands. He had a fabulous time. He and C really get along well. I hope their close friendship continues into middle school.
I took the kids to the dentist last week (Summer o'fun activity!) and Jax has sealants put on his new molars. Some of the etching compound that they put on the teeth to prep it for the sealants leaked out and gave him a chemical burn on his face. The dentist's office first denied it but then I took him back in again today to see the dentist who owns the practice and she admitted that is what it was (after I showed her the photo that I had taken of his face last week and after he told her exactly when it started to hurt). I think they were worried we would sue or something but I just wanted to know what the hell happened to him (at first I thought it was an allergy to latex but they are latex-free in there). The hygenist swore up and down that she did not do it and the dentist who was in the office that day said it looked like a scrape when clearly it was a burn. Anyway, we are still switching dentists. That was the final straw (other things like one of the other dentists being mean to Cars, sending my kids home with 3 tubes each of "free" (insurance-paid) $11/tube toothpaste).
Oh and I guess I should give an update on dh. He had 2 xrays, 1 MRI and 2 CT scans to determine that his back was fractured a long time ago and while that is not causing his pain right now, they could not let him start PT until they were assured that it had not broken during his fall down the stairs. So, he will start PT next week (he is "too busy", he says, until then).
I took the kids to Archie McPhee's for their annual trip. Normally we go to the locks too but I wasn't feeling it this year so we did not go. I'd like to go later in the month when there are lots of salmon in the salmon ladder.
Hope to update this blahg more. I spend too much time sharing too much on Facebook. Yes, I am one of ~those~ people. ;)
This summer has been very low-key. My in-laws came for a visit and were here for our 4th of July party. We showed them how Americans party! Then we took them to Victoria BC for a couple of days as they had never been there. We walked along the inner harbour and toured The Buchart Gardens. I think they really had a good time. My FIL drives me crazy sometimes and I will admit that I did have a couple of hissy fits which was not becoming.
Cars went to Harry Potter day camp through the Boys and Girls Club with our neighbour and he had a great time! He is totally into HP which is awesome since the older two have no interest in it anymore. They did not even appreciate it yesterday when I reminded them that it was Harry Potter's birthday! ;)
Dex spent a weekend with Spy and her dh and their oldest son sailing in the San Juan Islands. He had a fabulous time. He and C really get along well. I hope their close friendship continues into middle school.
I took the kids to the dentist last week (Summer o'fun activity!) and Jax has sealants put on his new molars. Some of the etching compound that they put on the teeth to prep it for the sealants leaked out and gave him a chemical burn on his face. The dentist's office first denied it but then I took him back in again today to see the dentist who owns the practice and she admitted that is what it was (after I showed her the photo that I had taken of his face last week and after he told her exactly when it started to hurt). I think they were worried we would sue or something but I just wanted to know what the hell happened to him (at first I thought it was an allergy to latex but they are latex-free in there). The hygenist swore up and down that she did not do it and the dentist who was in the office that day said it looked like a scrape when clearly it was a burn. Anyway, we are still switching dentists. That was the final straw (other things like one of the other dentists being mean to Cars, sending my kids home with 3 tubes each of "free" (insurance-paid) $11/tube toothpaste).
Oh and I guess I should give an update on dh. He had 2 xrays, 1 MRI and 2 CT scans to determine that his back was fractured a long time ago and while that is not causing his pain right now, they could not let him start PT until they were assured that it had not broken during his fall down the stairs. So, he will start PT next week (he is "too busy", he says, until then).
I took the kids to Archie McPhee's for their annual trip. Normally we go to the locks too but I wasn't feeling it this year so we did not go. I'd like to go later in the month when there are lots of salmon in the salmon ladder.
Hope to update this blahg more. I spend too much time sharing too much on Facebook. Yes, I am one of ~those~ people. ;)
Monday, July 02, 2012
When DH fell down the stairs and broke his hand, he also hurt his back. His hand was hurting so much more so he thought was all that he hurt. However, over the weeks, his back started hurting more and more so he went to see a back specialist. (his hand btw, is nearly healed now). He is in horrible pain when he stands and walks but is ok sitting or lying down.
Anyway, they took xrays and found out that his spine has jammed into his hip and now the muscle is tight and won't release. So he needs PT. However, they also saw something weird so he had to go for an MRI and then go back. The MRI turnedout to be inconclusive so he has to have a CT scan now. One of the little pointy things on one of his vertabrae is broken off but they cannot tell if it is something that happened when he fell or, more likely, was an injury at birth or even a birth defect. In the meantime they won't start PT until they decide when it happened. So he has been living on ibuprofen for weeks. He finally asked for some pain killers and was prescribed some muscle relaxants and was fitted for a back brace. We are going to Victoria very soon and all of the walking is going to kill him! The doctor told him the muscle relaxants will probably make him just want to sleep so they will probably be no good to us while we are gone.
So, for pain, Stephen has been chowing down on ibuprofen. And shortly thereafter his hands started getting really flaky and blistery. He often gets this in the winter when he wears gloves a lot but his hands were so bad and he thought back to when it started and it was when he started taking ibuprofen. Doh! He was having an allergic reaction to it! So now he won't take anything for the pain (and he needs to let his doctor know about this reaction).
I am leaning towards canceling our Victoria trip until he is better but he doesn't want to. Misery, here we come! Wish me luck that I survive the upcoming weeks until his back is better!
Anyway, they took xrays and found out that his spine has jammed into his hip and now the muscle is tight and won't release. So he needs PT. However, they also saw something weird so he had to go for an MRI and then go back. The MRI turnedout to be inconclusive so he has to have a CT scan now. One of the little pointy things on one of his vertabrae is broken off but they cannot tell if it is something that happened when he fell or, more likely, was an injury at birth or even a birth defect. In the meantime they won't start PT until they decide when it happened. So he has been living on ibuprofen for weeks. He finally asked for some pain killers and was prescribed some muscle relaxants and was fitted for a back brace. We are going to Victoria very soon and all of the walking is going to kill him! The doctor told him the muscle relaxants will probably make him just want to sleep so they will probably be no good to us while we are gone.
So, for pain, Stephen has been chowing down on ibuprofen. And shortly thereafter his hands started getting really flaky and blistery. He often gets this in the winter when he wears gloves a lot but his hands were so bad and he thought back to when it started and it was when he started taking ibuprofen. Doh! He was having an allergic reaction to it! So now he won't take anything for the pain (and he needs to let his doctor know about this reaction).
I am leaning towards canceling our Victoria trip until he is better but he doesn't want to. Misery, here we come! Wish me luck that I survive the upcoming weeks until his back is better!
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Summer'o'Fun Day 3
The first day of summer vacation we held Dex's 12th birthday party at a local climbing gym. Wow - the kids had such a great time and so much fun! Even Cars, who is a big chicken, climbed up the ropes. And all was well until he climbed a bit without the ropes and fell off and hurt his foot. He is still limping around but claims it does not hurt much so I did not take him to the doctor. I will if it is still hurting him after the weekend.
The second day of summer vacation was just spent doing work around the yard, Jax went to the skatepark and then to the beach (it got above 70 degrees!) and Dex walked around with some friends and hung out (read loitered) at the nearby plaza. I love that Cars has the kids next door to play with but their summer camps will start soon so the build-in playmates will end.
Today we are going to Ash's house a little later to do tie dye. Normally, I have big party and invite quite a few people over to do it but I was just not feeling it this year. We were just going to do it alone until Ash invited us over and we talked about doing it together.
I am in a bit of a funk. The weather is a HUGE part of it. Record cool temperatures this spring and while we did have a few nice weekends in a row, the cool temperatures and rain after that have depressed me. While I complain a lot about the weather, I am at a point where I would love to move away from here to actually experience a real summer. And I would not even care about snow because no doubt we'd move to a place that is prepared to deal with snow. Anyway, just something to think about.
I am also in a funk about my friend's passing. Yes, she had a chronic illness but not that you imagine you would die from. If she had cancer, this would be more expected, I think. And even though I knew she was having a flare up from Crohns and I knew she was scared, and I even *knew* she was scared of dying and I thought she might be dying, it was still a shock. Lynn is was 3 weeks older than I am. Maybe it is also my own mortality that is coming into play here. It is all a bit frightening.
Ok, off to enjoy a bit of this sunshine before it disappears behind the clouds. Maybe it will lift my spirits as well.
The second day of summer vacation was just spent doing work around the yard, Jax went to the skatepark and then to the beach (it got above 70 degrees!) and Dex walked around with some friends and hung out (read loitered) at the nearby plaza. I love that Cars has the kids next door to play with but their summer camps will start soon so the build-in playmates will end.
Today we are going to Ash's house a little later to do tie dye. Normally, I have big party and invite quite a few people over to do it but I was just not feeling it this year. We were just going to do it alone until Ash invited us over and we talked about doing it together.
I am in a bit of a funk. The weather is a HUGE part of it. Record cool temperatures this spring and while we did have a few nice weekends in a row, the cool temperatures and rain after that have depressed me. While I complain a lot about the weather, I am at a point where I would love to move away from here to actually experience a real summer. And I would not even care about snow because no doubt we'd move to a place that is prepared to deal with snow. Anyway, just something to think about.
I am also in a funk about my friend's passing. Yes, she had a chronic illness but not that you imagine you would die from. If she had cancer, this would be more expected, I think. And even though I knew she was having a flare up from Crohns and I knew she was scared, and I even *knew* she was scared of dying and I thought she might be dying, it was still a shock. Lynn is was 3 weeks older than I am. Maybe it is also my own mortality that is coming into play here. It is all a bit frightening.
Ok, off to enjoy a bit of this sunshine before it disappears behind the clouds. Maybe it will lift my spirits as well.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
Rest In Peace, Lynn
DURHAM: Lynn Parks lost her long time battle with Crohn’s disease at UNC Memorial Hospital in Chapel Hill on June 25th, 2012. Lynn was born on March 6, 1965 in Roanoke Rapids, NC. She grew up in Seaboard, NC, and had been a resident of Durham for many years.
Left to cherish her memory are her husband, Andy and son, Adam of the home. She is also survived by her mother, Claire, her sister, Sheri, a sister in law, Dawn; brother in law, Julian of New York; nieces, Allison , Michelle and Hannah ; a nephew, Ben ; and many aunts and uncles and cousins and dear friends.
It has been a rough week. Lynn was in the hospital for a week before she passed away so the emotional rollercoaster to waiting to hear information on her condition and then, when finding out that she would not get better, waiting to hear of her passing, certainly took an emotional toll on so many of Lynn's dear friends.
I am having a hard time even expressing my thoughts and feelings in words. All I can say is that I am sorry and I will miss her.
Left to cherish her memory are her husband, Andy and son, Adam of the home. She is also survived by her mother, Claire, her sister, Sheri, a sister in law, Dawn; brother in law, Julian of New York; nieces, Allison , Michelle and Hannah ; a nephew, Ben ; and many aunts and uncles and cousins and dear friends.
It has been a rough week. Lynn was in the hospital for a week before she passed away so the emotional rollercoaster to waiting to hear information on her condition and then, when finding out that she would not get better, waiting to hear of her passing, certainly took an emotional toll on so many of Lynn's dear friends.
I am having a hard time even expressing my thoughts and feelings in words. All I can say is that I am sorry and I will miss her.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Today, both Jax and Dex stayed home from school because they were sick. Dex actually missed yesterday too but hopefully he'll be going back tomorrow. They both have (had) fevers and Jax woke up this morning and started vomitting. Ugh. This is the first day of school that Jax has missed in nearly 2 years! Anyway, we'll see how he feels tomorrow and if he can go back to school.
I will be taking them out of class early tomorrow anyway so if he misses it is ok (with me). I have to take them to have their passports renewed and the children and both parents must be present so we are heading to City Hall to submit the passports. By the time we are done, no doubt it will be just about time for them to leave school (early dismissal Wednesday).
They still have another 9 days left of school. Well, the 9th is the last day and it is a 1/2 day so Jax gets out at 10:30 and the other two get out at 11:30. Also, Dex gets to take a day off next week to go to a water park with the safety patrol team and there is field day and then 6th grade promotion so really they are just passing the time until they hit 180 days of school. Kind of a waste of time it seems to me. No more homework for the rest of the year for any of them either.
And one more thing to complain about...
The school is rearranging all of the classrooms to try to get all of the classes together (all of the 2nd, 3rds, etc). Because of this, they need to paint every classroom back to neutral colours (each teacher had personalized their classrooms). So the teachers took down all of the art work, posters, notices, etc and bunched all of the desks into the middle of the room and they've been painting the classrooms during the past two weeks while the kids are in class!! WTF?! Nevermind the huge distraction but my kids are in there inhailing paint fumes? You know what the principal said when a parent contacted her to complain? "Thanks for your input". I really dislike that woman!
I will be taking them out of class early tomorrow anyway so if he misses it is ok (with me). I have to take them to have their passports renewed and the children and both parents must be present so we are heading to City Hall to submit the passports. By the time we are done, no doubt it will be just about time for them to leave school (early dismissal Wednesday).
They still have another 9 days left of school. Well, the 9th is the last day and it is a 1/2 day so Jax gets out at 10:30 and the other two get out at 11:30. Also, Dex gets to take a day off next week to go to a water park with the safety patrol team and there is field day and then 6th grade promotion so really they are just passing the time until they hit 180 days of school. Kind of a waste of time it seems to me. No more homework for the rest of the year for any of them either.
And one more thing to complain about...
The school is rearranging all of the classrooms to try to get all of the classes together (all of the 2nd, 3rds, etc). Because of this, they need to paint every classroom back to neutral colours (each teacher had personalized their classrooms). So the teachers took down all of the art work, posters, notices, etc and bunched all of the desks into the middle of the room and they've been painting the classrooms during the past two weeks while the kids are in class!! WTF?! Nevermind the huge distraction but my kids are in there inhailing paint fumes? You know what the principal said when a parent contacted her to complain? "Thanks for your input". I really dislike that woman!
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Misery Loves Company
This has been one crappy week. Everyone is miserable and taking it out on each other.
Last Sunday, Stephen fell down the stairs while carrying the vacuum and he hurt his hand. Badly. I insisted that he go to urgent care but he refused and even got quite irate with me about it. He said if he could move his fingers his hand was ok, just bruised. He would not even take any Advil for the pain and swelling which then pissed me off because he was feeling badly and taking it out on us with his crappy attitude.
On Monday his hand was no better and I suggested that he call the doctor. Nope. On Tuesday - call the doctor. Nope. Tuesday night, however, he said he needed to go to urgent care because his hand had become too painful. In the end, he held out until the morning and went to his doctor. An x-ray showed a broken bone and he left with a brace and a referral to a hand surgeon. He now has a funky brace on his hand that looks like a combination scrub brush handle and vice grip! He has to wear it for 5 weeks but goes back in 2 weeks for another x-ray to see how it is healing. Hopefully no surgery to fix it!
In the meantime, he refused pain meds (that's ok) but he also has not been taking even some Advil and he is in pain and is a miserable .... I am so sick of it! I laid down the law last night and told him that he HAD to take Advil every 8 hours because I was done dealing with his miserable attitude and he was making the whole family miserable. He agreed that he'd do it (although I am pretty sure he did not take any this afternoon).
Dex turns 12 tomorrow and his brain has become a teenage brain and therefore he has lost all sensibility. We went for a "family walk" on the weekend and he chose to wear his big high-top shoes without the laces tied and scuffed his feet for the first 1/2 mile until I bent down and tied his shoes. He forgot to turn in a permission form for a field trip and just about lost it when he realized he was past the due date on it. Of course the teacher accepted it the next morning but he was a mess the whole night and barely slept. Today he had basketball practice and ran off with his high-tops instead of his runners. Just to note, the high-tops are not basketball high-tops but the skater dude high tops. I had to drive over to the elementary school where they were practicing after Stephen called me and asked me to bring him proper shoes.
Dex also lost his cell phone yesterday. He swore he had it on the bus on the way home from school but then it disappeared. We spent almost an hour scouring the street and the yard for the phone. He claims he walked around the whole house dialing his cell phone (which was on vibrate) but to no avail. Tears, despair, angry, more tears and another sleepless night. Then this afternoon, while moving the computer chair to get to the printer, I found his phone on the floor. OMG! What has happened to him?
I have been pushing Jax to be more proactive with finding other friends at school because this summer, his bff is going to be at camps or on vacation most of the summer and it will be a long lonely summer for Jax if he doesn't connect with others. He has been hanging around with this one boy and a girl a few times. Today, after walking home from school with them and hanging out for about an hour, he came home and told me that the girl's dad was in jail for stabbing someone and he'd be in jail for another couple of years. Apparently her grandfather also stabbed someone but that person died so he was in jail for life! Blink Blink Blink Maybe I need to sign Jax up for some camps?
And Cars has become quite forgetful. I have thought in the past that he might have ADD but when I asked his 1st grade teachers about it they said no. It has presented itself more this year (claims he is always distracted by others when he cannot complete his work in class). Whatever the issue, his grades are suffering a bit because of it. He is still doing ok but just ok.
Now I have thoroughly complained about my family. I think the next post I will tell you something wonderful about all of them.
Last Sunday, Stephen fell down the stairs while carrying the vacuum and he hurt his hand. Badly. I insisted that he go to urgent care but he refused and even got quite irate with me about it. He said if he could move his fingers his hand was ok, just bruised. He would not even take any Advil for the pain and swelling which then pissed me off because he was feeling badly and taking it out on us with his crappy attitude.
On Monday his hand was no better and I suggested that he call the doctor. Nope. On Tuesday - call the doctor. Nope. Tuesday night, however, he said he needed to go to urgent care because his hand had become too painful. In the end, he held out until the morning and went to his doctor. An x-ray showed a broken bone and he left with a brace and a referral to a hand surgeon. He now has a funky brace on his hand that looks like a combination scrub brush handle and vice grip! He has to wear it for 5 weeks but goes back in 2 weeks for another x-ray to see how it is healing. Hopefully no surgery to fix it!
In the meantime, he refused pain meds (that's ok) but he also has not been taking even some Advil and he is in pain and is a miserable .... I am so sick of it! I laid down the law last night and told him that he HAD to take Advil every 8 hours because I was done dealing with his miserable attitude and he was making the whole family miserable. He agreed that he'd do it (although I am pretty sure he did not take any this afternoon).
Dex turns 12 tomorrow and his brain has become a teenage brain and therefore he has lost all sensibility. We went for a "family walk" on the weekend and he chose to wear his big high-top shoes without the laces tied and scuffed his feet for the first 1/2 mile until I bent down and tied his shoes. He forgot to turn in a permission form for a field trip and just about lost it when he realized he was past the due date on it. Of course the teacher accepted it the next morning but he was a mess the whole night and barely slept. Today he had basketball practice and ran off with his high-tops instead of his runners. Just to note, the high-tops are not basketball high-tops but the skater dude high tops. I had to drive over to the elementary school where they were practicing after Stephen called me and asked me to bring him proper shoes.
Dex also lost his cell phone yesterday. He swore he had it on the bus on the way home from school but then it disappeared. We spent almost an hour scouring the street and the yard for the phone. He claims he walked around the whole house dialing his cell phone (which was on vibrate) but to no avail. Tears, despair, angry, more tears and another sleepless night. Then this afternoon, while moving the computer chair to get to the printer, I found his phone on the floor. OMG! What has happened to him?
I have been pushing Jax to be more proactive with finding other friends at school because this summer, his bff is going to be at camps or on vacation most of the summer and it will be a long lonely summer for Jax if he doesn't connect with others. He has been hanging around with this one boy and a girl a few times. Today, after walking home from school with them and hanging out for about an hour, he came home and told me that the girl's dad was in jail for stabbing someone and he'd be in jail for another couple of years. Apparently her grandfather also stabbed someone but that person died so he was in jail for life! Blink Blink Blink Maybe I need to sign Jax up for some camps?
And Cars has become quite forgetful. I have thought in the past that he might have ADD but when I asked his 1st grade teachers about it they said no. It has presented itself more this year (claims he is always distracted by others when he cannot complete his work in class). Whatever the issue, his grades are suffering a bit because of it. He is still doing ok but just ok.
Now I have thoroughly complained about my family. I think the next post I will tell you something wonderful about all of them.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Why I Hate Wells Fargo
When we sold our old house in 2007, we needed a bridge loan for 7 days to cover the
days between the closing of this house and our old house. Through a mortgage broker, we arranged for a line of credit against the equity in our house and we got the line of credit through Wells Fargo. The line of credit was to be closed when we closed on the house. Well, the line of credit was opened up but never closed. And, on top of that, they also opened a line of credit on our new house (we did not need or want).
We wanted to close these lines of credit since they were not needed but found out that there would be a $500 charge (EACH!) to close them if they were opened for less than two years. Screw that! And on top of that, there was a $75 annual fee on these lines of credit (again, each!). So we decided to wait 2 years to close the line of credits and pay a total of $300.
Meanwhile, we refinanced our new mortgage in '09 through the mortgage broker and fortunately our mortgage was sold to Bank of America instead of WF. We paid to close the lines of credit at the same time (and lift the lien on this house).
Even though we closed the lines of credit, Wells Fargo still had a lien in our name against our old house and we found out when the new owner tried to sell it in the summer of 2011. Yes, they filed the lien on the house a week after the house was sold by us to the new owner! So we no longer owned the house or had the line of credit but the lien was still in place, applied after we had sold the house. As a result, we had to send a letter to WF, requesting that they close it immediately and then we had to pay some Wells Fargo some fees for faxing information to the title company and processing. We were charged another $50 to be rid of this damn thing!
WTF - Wells Fargo kept costing us money!
Mortgage interest rates dropped again so we refinanced our mortgage in March of 2012. Our first payment was due in April. The mortgage was sold part way through March and we found out late in March that Wells Fargo bought it (damn!). By this time, it was getting close to April 1st so I mailed WF a check with our payment since we had not received an official mortgage statement from them. I then called and arranged for automatic payments of mortgage to come out starting in May.
Stephen was paying bills on Friday night and noticed that our May mortgage payment had not come out. I called Wells Fargo and they said that we two months behind in our payments! But they cashed our check in April (March 30th actually)! How could we be 2 months behind? It seems that WF had taken the April payment and applied it to the principle instead of applying it as a mortgage payment. Then, since there was no April payment on record, the automatic payment scheduled for May was automatically canceled. Just like that! Oh, but WF did not inform us of this. That would be too easy.
So, on Saturday morning, I made the May payment over the telephone and they made arrangements to back out April's payment and reapply it as a mortgage payment. Then I again had to arrange for automatic withdrawals of our monthly mortgage payment. Oh, all of this would take up to five days to correct. Aargh!
I have felt sick about this for days even though it was their error. They told me "you are lucky it is a new loan because new loan missed payments do not get reported to the credit bureau for 90 days". Fuck! It was their fault for applying the April payment incorrectly! I did get a cursory"sorry for the mistake" over the phone.
I called once more today to ensure that all looked ok with it (it does).
Stephen and I are both educated people and Wells Fargo has completely hosed us over twice! I get so upset thinking of people who are not as educated who are getting royally screwed by companies like Wells Fargo over these kind of mistakes. Wells Fargo has not yet sent us any information that we were late on our mortgage payment although they told me over the telephone that these letters are generated automatically and had been mailed out. And I am awaiting the confirmation letter that the June payment (and further payments). Also, waiting to ensure that the June payment actually does come out.
So by refinancing to save ourselves a few thousand dollars a year in interest payments, we really just created a huge headache (and stomach ache!) for ourselves. I hate Wells Fargo and hope that my mortgage gets sold to someone else. Soon.
Editing this on June 7 to say that our mortgage did not come out automatically on the day we had set it up for, and had received a letter stating it would be taken out on that day and the same day every month thereafter. The payment came out the FOLLOWING day. Great. So now we will have be on top of this every.single.month to ensure that the payment actually comes out. This is so frustrating!
We wanted to close these lines of credit since they were not needed but found out that there would be a $500 charge (EACH!) to close them if they were opened for less than two years. Screw that! And on top of that, there was a $75 annual fee on these lines of credit (again, each!). So we decided to wait 2 years to close the line of credits and pay a total of $300.
Meanwhile, we refinanced our new mortgage in '09 through the mortgage broker and fortunately our mortgage was sold to Bank of America instead of WF. We paid to close the lines of credit at the same time (and lift the lien on this house).
Even though we closed the lines of credit, Wells Fargo still had a lien in our name against our old house and we found out when the new owner tried to sell it in the summer of 2011. Yes, they filed the lien on the house a week after the house was sold by us to the new owner! So we no longer owned the house or had the line of credit but the lien was still in place, applied after we had sold the house. As a result, we had to send a letter to WF, requesting that they close it immediately and then we had to pay some Wells Fargo some fees for faxing information to the title company and processing. We were charged another $50 to be rid of this damn thing!
WTF - Wells Fargo kept costing us money!
Mortgage interest rates dropped again so we refinanced our mortgage in March of 2012. Our first payment was due in April. The mortgage was sold part way through March and we found out late in March that Wells Fargo bought it (damn!). By this time, it was getting close to April 1st so I mailed WF a check with our payment since we had not received an official mortgage statement from them. I then called and arranged for automatic payments of mortgage to come out starting in May.
Stephen was paying bills on Friday night and noticed that our May mortgage payment had not come out. I called Wells Fargo and they said that we two months behind in our payments! But they cashed our check in April (March 30th actually)! How could we be 2 months behind? It seems that WF had taken the April payment and applied it to the principle instead of applying it as a mortgage payment. Then, since there was no April payment on record, the automatic payment scheduled for May was automatically canceled. Just like that! Oh, but WF did not inform us of this. That would be too easy.
So, on Saturday morning, I made the May payment over the telephone and they made arrangements to back out April's payment and reapply it as a mortgage payment. Then I again had to arrange for automatic withdrawals of our monthly mortgage payment. Oh, all of this would take up to five days to correct. Aargh!
I have felt sick about this for days even though it was their error. They told me "you are lucky it is a new loan because new loan missed payments do not get reported to the credit bureau for 90 days". Fuck! It was their fault for applying the April payment incorrectly! I did get a cursory"sorry for the mistake" over the phone.
I called once more today to ensure that all looked ok with it (it does).
Stephen and I are both educated people and Wells Fargo has completely hosed us over twice! I get so upset thinking of people who are not as educated who are getting royally screwed by companies like Wells Fargo over these kind of mistakes. Wells Fargo has not yet sent us any information that we were late on our mortgage payment although they told me over the telephone that these letters are generated automatically and had been mailed out. And I am awaiting the confirmation letter that the June payment (and further payments). Also, waiting to ensure that the June payment actually does come out.
So by refinancing to save ourselves a few thousand dollars a year in interest payments, we really just created a huge headache (and stomach ache!) for ourselves. I hate Wells Fargo and hope that my mortgage gets sold to someone else. Soon.
Editing this on June 7 to say that our mortgage did not come out automatically on the day we had set it up for, and had received a letter stating it would be taken out on that day and the same day every month thereafter. The payment came out the FOLLOWING day. Great. So now we will have be on top of this every.single.month to ensure that the payment actually comes out. This is so frustrating!
Saturday, May 12, 2012
We are enjoying our fourth weekend in a row of sunshine! I feel so spoilt. And this weekend it is HOT (well, hot for here). Today it was in the high 70s and it will be again tomorrow and I think Monday too. So lovely.
Dex had a basketball game today. Two minutes before the start of the game they only had 4 players and the other team had 10 and they looked all intimidating practicing while our kids stood around wondering where everyone else was. The 5th player arrived just as the buzzer rang to start the game. Then 5 minutes into the game, two more kids showed up so they at least were able to get some rotation and were not exhausted by the end of the game. They played well and they won! Hurray Blue Skulls!
Cars had a baseball game this afternoon and it was very warm sitting in the sun watching it. His team played well although at Cars' 6th time up to bat his hit a line drive and one of his best friends caught it! That kid's dad said it made up for the first inning when Cars his a ball right over his friend's head for a double. ;)
I walked home from the game (Stephen walked there while I drove then he took the car home and I walked). I am trying to make sure I get some exercise in before the 1/2 marathon next month. Hopefully I will be more prepared than last year when I basically woke up one day and walked 13.1 miles. My poor feet still haven't forgiven me.
Dex had a basketball game today. Two minutes before the start of the game they only had 4 players and the other team had 10 and they looked all intimidating practicing while our kids stood around wondering where everyone else was. The 5th player arrived just as the buzzer rang to start the game. Then 5 minutes into the game, two more kids showed up so they at least were able to get some rotation and were not exhausted by the end of the game. They played well and they won! Hurray Blue Skulls!
Cars had a baseball game this afternoon and it was very warm sitting in the sun watching it. His team played well although at Cars' 6th time up to bat his hit a line drive and one of his best friends caught it! That kid's dad said it made up for the first inning when Cars his a ball right over his friend's head for a double. ;)
I walked home from the game (Stephen walked there while I drove then he took the car home and I walked). I am trying to make sure I get some exercise in before the 1/2 marathon next month. Hopefully I will be more prepared than last year when I basically woke up one day and walked 13.1 miles. My poor feet still haven't forgiven me.
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
Friday, May 04, 2012
Today's headline was "Adam 'MCA' Yauch of the Beastie Boys dies at 47" and my first thought was "Wow, 47 is not old". It is so funny how our perception of age changes the older we get. If I read that headline when I was in my 20s or 30s I would be thinking that he had had a good run, especially for someone in the music business. However, now that *I* am 47, I think "Gone too young".
R.I.P.
R.I.P.
Monday, April 30, 2012
Today was a blustery spring day. From time to time I would look out the window and it would look like snow as the cherry blossoms would fly from the tree in our backyard. The sun is trying to shine right now but overall it was the perfect day to cuddle up with a book and a cup of tea and that is what I did.
Friday, April 27, 2012
Forget Me NOT!
I have been a little worried about my memory in the past few months. I have forgotten appointments, my address, and my pin number. And a lot of other little things. I forgot that Jax had an eye appointment on Wednesday. It has been rescheduled from earlier in the month when I had forgotten that both he and Dex had an appointment but the doctor's office happened to call to see if we could come in earlier and it was just enough time to get there for the current appointment time. Jax was at a classmate's house working on a project, Cars had a playdate here with Spy's youngest and Dex was at Spy's house with her other son. I changed the appointment to Cars and Dex (Cars' was scheduled for the following week) then packed the kids up, traded off kids and got there just in time. Meanwhile, when they released the time of Cars' appointment to put Jax's name in there, the slot was taken so we were rescheduled for this week (which I forgot). Now we are going at the end of next month. I have put two reminders on my calendar on my phone so hopefully I will not forget.
I have also forgotten about appointments scheduled the same day for my kids.
The address thing was freaky. I happened to be going to the doctor the next day and I mentioned it (along with the pin thing which had happened the week before) and she said if it happened again she wanted me to go see a neurologist. I don't know if the forgotten appointments will count. I have a physical scheduled for the beginning of June so I will just mention it then.
It freaks me out because of the person I know who had Pick's Disease. And having recently read "Still Alice"...Now after writing this it seems familiar. Have I forgotten that I've already written about this??
I have also forgotten about appointments scheduled the same day for my kids.
The address thing was freaky. I happened to be going to the doctor the next day and I mentioned it (along with the pin thing which had happened the week before) and she said if it happened again she wanted me to go see a neurologist. I don't know if the forgotten appointments will count. I have a physical scheduled for the beginning of June so I will just mention it then.
It freaks me out because of the person I know who had Pick's Disease. And having recently read "Still Alice"...Now after writing this it seems familiar. Have I forgotten that I've already written about this??
Thursday, April 26, 2012
My mom was here for a week and we had a very nice visit. Of course she drove me nuts by telling me constantly to go to bed, asking me if I really need that (when making not wise food choices), and a few other things. Mostly I let it roll off my back (getting easier to ignore it as we both age). Overall it was a lovely visit as my kids had a blast with her and she so loves them and enjoyed spending time with them.
My inlaws are planning a visit this summer and they should be booking their trip soon. Initially I thought "how nice" because that meant that we would not have go to Toronto during the summer for a visit. However, my BIL called to remind Stephen that this summer will mark his parents' 50th so now Stephen is thinking that we might go to Toronto anyway. This would be on top of our trip to the Oregon coast (which we are planning, nothing firm yet).
And speaking of summer. we had lovely summer-like weather last weekend and I am praying that we have an actual summer this year and not just a few warm days like last year. We deserve it!
My inlaws are planning a visit this summer and they should be booking their trip soon. Initially I thought "how nice" because that meant that we would not have go to Toronto during the summer for a visit. However, my BIL called to remind Stephen that this summer will mark his parents' 50th so now Stephen is thinking that we might go to Toronto anyway. This would be on top of our trip to the Oregon coast (which we are planning, nothing firm yet).
And speaking of summer. we had lovely summer-like weather last weekend and I am praying that we have an actual summer this year and not just a few warm days like last year. We deserve it!
Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Four weeks ago we went to the fundraiser auction for our kids' hockey association. I ran to the local nail place to get a pedicure the day of the event and they talked me into a manicure. Up to that point, I had only had 2 or 3 manicures in my life. I opted for the new shellac polish and my nails looked pretty good albeit short because I always keep my nails short (because I could never make them look nice and also out of habit for playing the guitar which I have not done in MONTHS). Anyway, the shellac polish lasted two weeks and then I went to another salon and had another shellac manicure so my nails would look for Disneyland (why did I think that was important??).
Anyway, here we are, almost another two weeks later and my nails are LONG and they still look nice. Although the polish is growing out, it hasn't chipped. Both times I had a pale pink put on (though this second application was a pearly pale pink). And since my nails are a little longer I don't look like I have man hands! Now I am trying to figure out when I will go back for another manicure! So impractical since it is hard to do wood carving with long nails and they were filthy after I re-potted some plants in the garden on Sunday.
Am I turning into a girlie girl at the ripe old age of 47?
Anyway, here we are, almost another two weeks later and my nails are LONG and they still look nice. Although the polish is growing out, it hasn't chipped. Both times I had a pale pink put on (though this second application was a pearly pale pink). And since my nails are a little longer I don't look like I have man hands! Now I am trying to figure out when I will go back for another manicure! So impractical since it is hard to do wood carving with long nails and they were filthy after I re-potted some plants in the garden on Sunday.
Am I turning into a girlie girl at the ripe old age of 47?
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Wow - has it really been over a month since I posted on my blahg? Sorry, faithful reader.
This past month has been a bit busy. We took a trip to Victoria, BC for Cars' hockey team (won one game and lost three). The weather was so beautiful. We took the ferry over from the Vancouver area but the Washington State ferry back to Anacortes, WA. Besides the hockey games, we walked around a bit, I took Carson to a zipline place where he refused to participate, and then we went to the Bug Zoo where this happened:
Yes, that is me holding a tarantula! A big frigging spider! Me! Holding a spider. My heart was beating very fast and I felt a little queasy bit I felt so brave to be able to do that! The thing was huge, like a small puppy. Funny thing is I was still more frightened of the giant house spider that was behind glass than I was of this thing. I am definitely not over my arachaphobia but I am much better when I see spiders. No panic attacks!
My 47th birthday also passed last month. I cannot believe I am so close to being half a hundred! I can remember teasing my dad about turning 50 and that doesn't even seem so long ago (of course it has actually been 31 years). Stephen took me, Spy and her dh and Ash and her dh out for dinner to celebrate. Our meals were all so yummy. Then we went to a karaoke bar and I sang "Brown Eyed Girl". So much fun!
Last week it was spring break and we took a family vacation to Disneyland/California Adventure Before we left, only Cars was super excited about going. I think that Jax thought it would be lame and Dex was just ambivalent. However, we all had a lot of fun. It was even fun making a game of getting Fast Passes and seeing just how long the lines really were. I was not going to go on the big roller coaster that takes you upsidedown (California Screamin') but in the end I went and just closed my eyes when we went upsidedown. I was absolutely terrified on the Mickey Fun Wheel, which actually sounds like a lot of fun. But the car we were in slide back and forth on rails and rocked and rocked while we went around. I was trembling and I think my reaction scared Jax and Cars. Dex was cool as a cucumber which is funny because he was so scared going on every other ride (until he was actually on them and he had fun).
Anyway, I think we went to Disneyland while the kids were great ages. They could all ride all of the rides, keep up with all of the walking and we could skip all of the kiddie rides. :)
The boys went back to school yesterday after spring break. There are just 12 weeks left of school. My life is whizzing by!
This past month has been a bit busy. We took a trip to Victoria, BC for Cars' hockey team (won one game and lost three). The weather was so beautiful. We took the ferry over from the Vancouver area but the Washington State ferry back to Anacortes, WA. Besides the hockey games, we walked around a bit, I took Carson to a zipline place where he refused to participate, and then we went to the Bug Zoo where this happened:
My 47th birthday also passed last month. I cannot believe I am so close to being half a hundred! I can remember teasing my dad about turning 50 and that doesn't even seem so long ago (of course it has actually been 31 years). Stephen took me, Spy and her dh and Ash and her dh out for dinner to celebrate. Our meals were all so yummy. Then we went to a karaoke bar and I sang "Brown Eyed Girl". So much fun!
Last week it was spring break and we took a family vacation to Disneyland/California Adventure Before we left, only Cars was super excited about going. I think that Jax thought it would be lame and Dex was just ambivalent. However, we all had a lot of fun. It was even fun making a game of getting Fast Passes and seeing just how long the lines really were. I was not going to go on the big roller coaster that takes you upsidedown (California Screamin') but in the end I went and just closed my eyes when we went upsidedown. I was absolutely terrified on the Mickey Fun Wheel, which actually sounds like a lot of fun. But the car we were in slide back and forth on rails and rocked and rocked while we went around. I was trembling and I think my reaction scared Jax and Cars. Dex was cool as a cucumber which is funny because he was so scared going on every other ride (until he was actually on them and he had fun).
Anyway, I think we went to Disneyland while the kids were great ages. They could all ride all of the rides, keep up with all of the walking and we could skip all of the kiddie rides. :)
The boys went back to school yesterday after spring break. There are just 12 weeks left of school. My life is whizzing by!
Monday, March 05, 2012
I finally finished my wood carving! I really enjoyed making it and I think it is so beautiful. It is the first piece that the instructor always makes his new students do. One of the women in my class has made two of them (which I did think about doing) but I have decided to make a different project. My next one is a whale but instead of being just a relief carving, it will be a little more 3-dimensional. Friday, March 02, 2012
I have been spending all of my free time lately on two things. The first is Pinterest. I have spent hours and hours pouring over all of the cool (and not so cool) things that people pin there. It has made me a bit better cook even! DH is happy with me trying new recipes (the kids are not). Pinterest is fun but definitely a time suck.
The second is the Game of Thrones book series. I just finished the third book (A Storm of Swords) and I am DYING because I do not yet have the 4th book. I do not have it because I have a book club book to read and if I had A Feast for Crows there is no way I would touch the book club book. Not that it isn't interesting but I am so wrapped up in the stories and characters in the GOT series that I just cannot put the books down. And never mind that each book is hundreds and hundreds of pages long. But they are so good. I highly recommend them.
So, these things, along with hockey and basketball games and practices, have kept me from doing things like cleaning my house, updating my blahg and exercising. Yeah, Pinterest and books are to blame for my potato-shaped body. Totally.
The second is the Game of Thrones book series. I just finished the third book (A Storm of Swords) and I am DYING because I do not yet have the 4th book. I do not have it because I have a book club book to read and if I had A Feast for Crows there is no way I would touch the book club book. Not that it isn't interesting but I am so wrapped up in the stories and characters in the GOT series that I just cannot put the books down. And never mind that each book is hundreds and hundreds of pages long. But they are so good. I highly recommend them.
So, these things, along with hockey and basketball games and practices, have kept me from doing things like cleaning my house, updating my blahg and exercising. Yeah, Pinterest and books are to blame for my potato-shaped body. Totally.
Tuesday, February 07, 2012
My dear poor neglected blahg. I have said this many times yet I continue to turn my back on you. Please forgive me.
This past month has been a busy one. The kids missed 3 days of school for snow days one week although it seemed like more because the Monday there was no school for MLK Jr. Day and then Tuesday was a late start because of the snow and then we received messages from the school district to pick up the kids early for a snow emergency so that day they were only in school 3 hours, of which 1 hour was lunch and recess!
The snow days were also ice days and the region was hit hard with an unforecasted ice storm. So the day they promised warm weather we got an ice storm which knocked out power all over. We lost it for "only" 22 hours. That is a long time when it is cold out. We had a generator but dolts like us forgot to buy gas. And of course the nearest gas station had no power and the roads were too tretcherous to drive. Our very kind and helpful neighbour helped us syphon gas so we were able to get the generator working to power up the fridge, freezer and a lamp. Later, we unplugged the freezer (it was packed FULL and in the garage so nothing was going to defrost) so we could watch a dvd on tv. Our wood stove helped keep the family room warm and we slept fine until 3am when it got a little chilly after the fire went out. I restarted it and at 5am we awoke to the sound of the computers powering back up. Hurray!
Then we had a week of catch-up since so many things were canceled due to the storms. And hockey, hockey and more hockey, of course. Plus Dex started playing basketball at the Boys and Girls Club so that has made our Saturdays a bit hectic.
I finished my first wood carving session and start up again next week. I finished carving my piece but now I have to paint it which I hope to complete shortly after our first class. Then on to my next carving which, at this point, I have no idea what to carve. Lots of thinking to be done in the next week.
Book Club is this week and I am way behind on my reading. The book has finally piqued my interest so hopefully I will find some time to plough through it in the next two days.
And now it is time to make dinner. Dear Blahg, I will write again soon. I promise.
This past month has been a busy one. The kids missed 3 days of school for snow days one week although it seemed like more because the Monday there was no school for MLK Jr. Day and then Tuesday was a late start because of the snow and then we received messages from the school district to pick up the kids early for a snow emergency so that day they were only in school 3 hours, of which 1 hour was lunch and recess!
The snow days were also ice days and the region was hit hard with an unforecasted ice storm. So the day they promised warm weather we got an ice storm which knocked out power all over. We lost it for "only" 22 hours. That is a long time when it is cold out. We had a generator but dolts like us forgot to buy gas. And of course the nearest gas station had no power and the roads were too tretcherous to drive. Our very kind and helpful neighbour helped us syphon gas so we were able to get the generator working to power up the fridge, freezer and a lamp. Later, we unplugged the freezer (it was packed FULL and in the garage so nothing was going to defrost) so we could watch a dvd on tv. Our wood stove helped keep the family room warm and we slept fine until 3am when it got a little chilly after the fire went out. I restarted it and at 5am we awoke to the sound of the computers powering back up. Hurray!
Then we had a week of catch-up since so many things were canceled due to the storms. And hockey, hockey and more hockey, of course. Plus Dex started playing basketball at the Boys and Girls Club so that has made our Saturdays a bit hectic.
I finished my first wood carving session and start up again next week. I finished carving my piece but now I have to paint it which I hope to complete shortly after our first class. Then on to my next carving which, at this point, I have no idea what to carve. Lots of thinking to be done in the next week.
Book Club is this week and I am way behind on my reading. The book has finally piqued my interest so hopefully I will find some time to plough through it in the next two days.
And now it is time to make dinner. Dear Blahg, I will write again soon. I promise.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
2011 Book List
I had a goal of reading two books per month last year and while I did not actually read two books EACH month, I did read 24 books during the year. One thing that made it easier was that I used the iBooks and Kindle apps on my iPad. I would browse some free books and download them or when I was finished with a book and needed a new one, I could easily buy it and be good to go. I do prefer hardcopy books still though.
The other thing that made it easy to read that many books was that I read some awesome books, including "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series and the first book in the "Game of Thrones" series. Great reads!
What great books did you read this year?
The other thing that made it easy to read that many books was that I read some awesome books, including "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" series and the first book in the "Game of Thrones" series. Great reads!
What great books did you read this year?
Pez's
2011 Book List
- The Art of Racing in the Rain, Garth Stein, 336 p
*also read previously
- The Book Thief, Markus Zusak, 576 p
- Rough Country, John Sandford. 400 p
- Name of the Wind, Patrick Rothfuss, 672 p *also read
previously
- Wise Man’s Fear, Patrick Rothfuss, 1008 p
- Little Bee: A
Novel, Chris Cleave, 304 p
- The People Code, Taylor Hartman, 336 p
- Middlesex, Jeffery Eugenides, 554 p
- Miss Bossypants, Tina Fey, 288 p
- The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, Alan Bradley,
416 p
- Replay, Ken Grimwood, 320 p
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Stieg Larsson, 600
p
- The Girl who Played with Fire, Stieg Larsson, 630 p
- The Girl who Kicked the Hornets Nest, Stieg Larsson,
563pp
- Marley and Me, Grogan, 320pp
- The Lion’s Game, Nelson DeMille, 448pp
- The Great Gatsby, F. Scott Fitzgerald. 192pp
- Plum Island, Nelson DeMille, 704pp
- Room, Emma
Donoghue, 321 pp
- Shanghai Girls:
A Novel, Lisa See, 336pp
- Bad Blood, John Sanford, 432 pp
- Still Alice,
Lisa Genova, 320 pp
- Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin, 864 pp
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
To Dye For Saga
For the past several years I have had someone come to my house to cut my hair and also to do foils (low lights). My grey hair saga through the years had led me not to do all over colour on my hair because it is just too grey and I just cannot keep up with it. But under A's urging that I decided a couple of years ago to start doing low lights to make me not look quite so old. A used to work in a fancy salon but stopped when she had to get a job that provided benefits. She'd come to my house usually on a Thursday or Friday (her "weekend"). It was very convenient and a very good deal for me. A few months ago A's work changed so she had the "real" weekend off so she'd come on a Saturday or Sunday. Stephen did not like her coming to the house when he was home. He told me he wanted me to go get a "real" haircut, meaning in a salon.
A few weeks ago I tried setting up an appointment with A but we just could not get our schedules to align with hockey games and her kids' things. So I decided to do what Stephen had been telling me to do for ages and I made an appointment at a fancy salon/spa for a "real" haircut. I made it at this particular salon because I had gift card for $100 that Stephen had given me two years before for a massage (but I never went!). In spite of the gift card, it was still going to be pricey but that is the price of beauty, right? I made the appointment was for 1:30 and I figured I would be there until 3pm. Stephen had the day off and would be with the kids.
When I arrived at the fancy salon, a fountain was gurgling and soft music was playing. I was offered a nice cold glass of lemon water and then I met the stylist. She was very friendly and easy to talk to and we chatted about colour and she decided to do two colours in my hair - dark brown to match what little natural colour I have left and a caramel to match the faded brown low lights that were already there. And then she got to work. Now, she did warn me that because my hair was so thick she would have to use extra product and there would be a charge for that (I figured that already so I agreed). She got to work putting in the foils and it a long time! She ran out of product and got more and kept going and going and going. Shoot! She ran out of colour again and had to yet again go get more. This was taking forever!
She checked the colour as it developed a few times and then it was time to wash it out. Nothing seemed amiss. She mentioned the curl in my hair and suggested that I wear it curly and she cut it so it would curl up more. At this point we had of course run well over the one and a half hour allotted time and since I was going to wear my hair curly, she "styled" it and put me under a heat lamp to dry. Finally it was dry enough for me to leave. I liked how curly it was but thought that my part looked a little funky - kinda a zig-zag part that is not really in style anymore. At this point I'd been there 3 hours and wanted to go because I still had Christmas shopping to do. I paid (and extra $50 in product!!!) and left. Holy crap I could not believe how expensive it was - the foils, the cut, the extra product and the tip was close to $300! Thank goodness for that gift card - but still!
After I arrived home from shopping it was late. Stephen said he liked my hair and was glad that I got a "real" haircut and colour. I was in my bathroom and decided to fix that stupid part she put in my hair but when I did I freaked out! OMG I had a diagonal strip across my head right where my part was! It looked like someone had taken a brown sharpie and drew an angled line on my hair!
The photos are a little over exposed so it is hard to see the diagonal stripe just to the side of my part - actually on my left side but on the right in the photo
I called the salon first thing the next morning and said I needed it fixed and made an appointment to go back in. Then I thought I will just part my hair on the other side so camouflage the brown line.
Again, hard to see the line in the photos but it goes diagonally across my head
Holy crap! I have ANOTHER brown line across (not down like the foils were supposed to do) my head!! On closer examination, there were *4* lines like this running across my head!
The stylist apologized to me and said she had noticed some "bleed through" when she had done it. Then why the h*ll didn't she tell me at the time?! Anyway, I was whisked into the "private room" for the "colour correction".
Sitting in fancy salon's private room which is actually usually used for Muslim women who cannot uncover their hair in the presence of men
Ok, so I had no idea what they were going to do with the colour correction. More foils evidently but I guess also some "colour lifting". A quick shampoo afterwards and guess what...
Hrmpf!
The friggin' brown line is still there!!!!! Aargh! I was not happy (as you can probably tell from my face). So she says let's try it again.
Third time's the charm?
Nope, still here
I am mad
Ok so now I am really, really pissed off but I held my temper. I made it perfectly clear that this was not acceptable and it needed to be FIXED. I was assured they could fix it but now here it is, nearly two hours of this second fancy salon visit and my hair is just as bad it it was when I walked in. The stylist said to me that she is so sorry and she will have a senior stylist come in to consult.
And I told her no that I needed to speak to a manager before I spoke to anyone else. The senior stylist came in anyway and was trying to reassure me that she could correct it and I said "I am sorry. I am sure you are very experienced and very nice but I cannot talk to you until I speak to a manager"
The manager came in and I explained that I had no more time to work on this today as I had Christmas shopping to complete. But, I needed this fixed! And OMG, I had a Christmas party to go to with brown stripes across my head!
So it was agreed that I would come in the next morning to see the senior stylist (8am on Christmas Eve). After the appointment was made I said "I will be getting my money back for this". I decided not to demand the money back for the haircut (it was a good cut) but I did get the money back for the foils, the extra product and for good measure, I even took all of the tip back. I know accidents can happen but she ~knew~ there was bleed through and she did not utter one word about it to me!
Anyway, the next morning I was up and back at the salon. The senior stylist thanked me for being so accommodating. I was thinking "what the else am I going to do? I need this fixed by someone who is not going to be passive aggressive and burn off all of my hair!". The correction ended up being putting MORE foils and colour in my hair since the colour lifting had not worked the day before. I was disappointed because I get foils to avoid the dreaded skunk line that I get from all over colour. I did tip this one because I think she did a good job and she had really been reassuring to me that my hair was not going to break off. The salon gave me this uber expen$ive conditioner to use on my hair.
Here was the final result. Seven hours in the salon and? Not perfect but much better.
Happy that my hair hasn't fallen out from being over processed! Hurray!
And in the end, I blame Stephen for insisting that I get a "real" haircut. I am looking forward to having A come over again to cut and foil my hair. In my kitchen. On the weekend. With Stephen home.
A few weeks ago I tried setting up an appointment with A but we just could not get our schedules to align with hockey games and her kids' things. So I decided to do what Stephen had been telling me to do for ages and I made an appointment at a fancy salon/spa for a "real" haircut. I made it at this particular salon because I had gift card for $100 that Stephen had given me two years before for a massage (but I never went!). In spite of the gift card, it was still going to be pricey but that is the price of beauty, right? I made the appointment was for 1:30 and I figured I would be there until 3pm. Stephen had the day off and would be with the kids.
When I arrived at the fancy salon, a fountain was gurgling and soft music was playing. I was offered a nice cold glass of lemon water and then I met the stylist. She was very friendly and easy to talk to and we chatted about colour and she decided to do two colours in my hair - dark brown to match what little natural colour I have left and a caramel to match the faded brown low lights that were already there. And then she got to work. Now, she did warn me that because my hair was so thick she would have to use extra product and there would be a charge for that (I figured that already so I agreed). She got to work putting in the foils and it a long time! She ran out of product and got more and kept going and going and going. Shoot! She ran out of colour again and had to yet again go get more. This was taking forever!
She checked the colour as it developed a few times and then it was time to wash it out. Nothing seemed amiss. She mentioned the curl in my hair and suggested that I wear it curly and she cut it so it would curl up more. At this point we had of course run well over the one and a half hour allotted time and since I was going to wear my hair curly, she "styled" it and put me under a heat lamp to dry. Finally it was dry enough for me to leave. I liked how curly it was but thought that my part looked a little funky - kinda a zig-zag part that is not really in style anymore. At this point I'd been there 3 hours and wanted to go because I still had Christmas shopping to do. I paid (and extra $50 in product!!!) and left. Holy crap I could not believe how expensive it was - the foils, the cut, the extra product and the tip was close to $300! Thank goodness for that gift card - but still!
After I arrived home from shopping it was late. Stephen said he liked my hair and was glad that I got a "real" haircut and colour. I was in my bathroom and decided to fix that stupid part she put in my hair but when I did I freaked out! OMG I had a diagonal strip across my head right where my part was! It looked like someone had taken a brown sharpie and drew an angled line on my hair!
The photos are a little over exposed so it is hard to see the diagonal stripe just to the side of my part - actually on my left side but on the right in the photo
I called the salon first thing the next morning and said I needed it fixed and made an appointment to go back in. Then I thought I will just part my hair on the other side so camouflage the brown line.
Again, hard to see the line in the photos but it goes diagonally across my head
Holy crap! I have ANOTHER brown line across (not down like the foils were supposed to do) my head!! On closer examination, there were *4* lines like this running across my head!
The stylist apologized to me and said she had noticed some "bleed through" when she had done it. Then why the h*ll didn't she tell me at the time?! Anyway, I was whisked into the "private room" for the "colour correction".
Sitting in fancy salon's private room which is actually usually used for Muslim women who cannot uncover their hair in the presence of men
Ok, so I had no idea what they were going to do with the colour correction. More foils evidently but I guess also some "colour lifting". A quick shampoo afterwards and guess what...
Hrmpf!
The friggin' brown line is still there!!!!! Aargh! I was not happy (as you can probably tell from my face). So she says let's try it again.
Third time's the charm?
Nope, still here
I am mad
Ok so now I am really, really pissed off but I held my temper. I made it perfectly clear that this was not acceptable and it needed to be FIXED. I was assured they could fix it but now here it is, nearly two hours of this second fancy salon visit and my hair is just as bad it it was when I walked in. The stylist said to me that she is so sorry and she will have a senior stylist come in to consult.
And I told her no that I needed to speak to a manager before I spoke to anyone else. The senior stylist came in anyway and was trying to reassure me that she could correct it and I said "I am sorry. I am sure you are very experienced and very nice but I cannot talk to you until I speak to a manager"
The manager came in and I explained that I had no more time to work on this today as I had Christmas shopping to complete. But, I needed this fixed! And OMG, I had a Christmas party to go to with brown stripes across my head!
So it was agreed that I would come in the next morning to see the senior stylist (8am on Christmas Eve). After the appointment was made I said "I will be getting my money back for this". I decided not to demand the money back for the haircut (it was a good cut) but I did get the money back for the foils, the extra product and for good measure, I even took all of the tip back. I know accidents can happen but she ~knew~ there was bleed through and she did not utter one word about it to me!
Anyway, the next morning I was up and back at the salon. The senior stylist thanked me for being so accommodating. I was thinking "what the else am I going to do? I need this fixed by someone who is not going to be passive aggressive and burn off all of my hair!". The correction ended up being putting MORE foils and colour in my hair since the colour lifting had not worked the day before. I was disappointed because I get foils to avoid the dreaded skunk line that I get from all over colour. I did tip this one because I think she did a good job and she had really been reassuring to me that my hair was not going to break off. The salon gave me this uber expen$ive conditioner to use on my hair.
Here was the final result. Seven hours in the salon and? Not perfect but much better.
Happy that my hair hasn't fallen out from being over processed! Hurray!
And in the end, I blame Stephen for insisting that I get a "real" haircut. I am looking forward to having A come over again to cut and foil my hair. In my kitchen. On the weekend. With Stephen home.
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