Nature's Lessons

The house was looking a little plain and bare, so we planted a few flowers out front today. Which led to ripping out a shrub. Which led to buying a new shrub, which looked weird so we bought a few more flowers to hide it while it grows. While buying the flowers, we found a bag of ladybugs. Of course, the kids loved them and had to have them and think of how nice the roses will look if we just add ladybugs.

We got home and started getting them out of the bag.

Tyler: Oh! Look how cute! There's a dad with a baby riding on it's back!
Rebi: Umm, Tyler, I think they're mating.
Tyler: They're so cute!
Rebi: Mating, like making babies.

Much hand shaking.
Tyler: Eww! Don't have babies on my hand!

Already over it?

"Look how far I can twist my arm!"


"Standing is sooo much work."


"My bed sure would feel nice about now."

Can you hold please?

What is it with the lack of training at call centers? Are they all outsourced to India now? After my 6 days on hold with Asurion to get my cell phone figured out, I noticed that nearly $200 had been charged to my credit card for Verizon. Considering that my phone was defective and therefore free for me to replace, I took a little exception to that.

Then I started calculating the time involved in getting a refund, and I'm pretty sure I make more per hour than that. Which isn't saying much.

First, customer service transferred me to some other department, who hung up on me part way through the hold process. I called CS back, got put on hold again, got transferred again, at which point I was told I need to talk to customer service. I got put on hold and transferred back to CS, only to be put on hold before I could explain myself fully. At which point the line was picked up by the other department who couldn't help me in the first place. And then they sent me back to CS, the same dept that was trying to convince me I wanted the cheapo ugly phone they shipped out in place of the defective one. And that I agreed to pay $200 for it.

After all my hair turned gray and I was hoping to find a stray caffeinated mint in the lint in my purse, I finally managed to get them to agree to refund me the $$$. An hour later, I realized I had to call the hotel we're staying at over Spring Break and adjust our reservations. Imagine my dismay when I heard, "I can't find your reservation. Can you hold please?"

Try making Baked French Toast for Easter Breakfast

Fattening, but YUMMY!
Baked French Toast

The voices in my head

I have two distinct voices in my head, the one that tells me I am constantly screwing everything up and the one that is gentle and kind and tells me how awesome I am. Well, and the one that enjoys mocking everyone and everything, but I rarely admit that one exists.

Generally, I am awesome and that voice reigns. I mean really, what's not to love? However, I would like to give them names. I want to be able to converse with the voices in my head eyeball to eyeball, woman to woman (although the one who tells me I'm screwing up seems to be consistently a male nagger), with first names. Wouldn't it be nice to be able to say, "Just shut yer yap, _____________, you nagger!" Hey, Sybil named all 16 of her "voices".

So, I'm soliciting ideas. I'm even going to figure out a prize for the winning names. On your mark, get set, vote!

P.S. I'm scared that I know how many personalities Sybil had. . .

Start Walking

With this news:
"Light, sweet crude for April delivery spiked to a record $111.42 a barrel. . .", summer beach day isn't looking so promising. Normally, we go every Wednesday, but if gas is over $4 a gallon, we won't be able to afford it every week.

A few quotes

“Fall seven times, stand up eight.” - Japanese proverb

“Worry often gives a small thing a big shadow.” - Swedish proverb

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.” - Winston Churchill