people make me so mad!

Don't worry, if you're reading this, it's not you. I still like you :) First, there was this one cashier at Jo-ann's. I was buying some things to make Brendon's birthday shirt, and had to buy some fabric paint. They were both on clearence, at 50 cents, originally $1.99 (that's important later). Of course, like any savvy shopper, I made sure to watch the prices, to make sure I got my clearance stuff-most of what I bought was sale prices. Sure enough, one of the paints didn't ring up right. I pointed it out, nicely and respectively. Of course like any money minded cashier, she went to look, to make sure I wasn't trying to fib them out of $1.49. And, just as I mentioned, they were all on clearance for 50 cents, except the fat ones, that were 97 cents. She tried to over ride it, but the machine beeped that for it to be changed more than 50%, it needed manager approval. So she called her manager over, but the lady was  busy doing something with rope or fabric or something of that sort. So I waited, for a good 5 minutes. FINALLY, it was my turn. Miss Panty Wad came over and said in a loud exasperated tone "what's the matter here" I explained what happened, that one rang up right, and one didn't. "Which one didn't?" she snapped. I *leaned over the counter* to show her, ON HER SCREEN the two paints, and that one said $.50 and one said $1.99. She stared at the screen, as if it would change or pop up the explanation to hit her forehead or something. She asked the other lady, in a loud annoying voice, that sounded very demeaning, "Did you LOOK AT EACH NUMBER to make sure THEY WERE ALL THE SAME PRICE??" and the other lady said yes, that each one was $.50, except the fat ones that were $.97. So she stared at them again, I guess in the past, the machine fixed itself if given enough time. I wanted to sit her down and have a nice chat to make sure she knew how to handle customers and their price problems. I wanted to tell her to just go look her self, to change the price. I wanted to throw it all back and say never mind, I'll go to Michael's. But I didn't. I'm much more polite than that. I told her, "if it's that much trouble, don't worry about it. I'll just take the one." I know it's only $1.49, but at the same time IT'S ONLY $1.49, LADY! What happened to pleasing the customer? I was very flomuxed at their customer non-service ideas. I'm not going to frequent Jo-ann's much, any more. Not that I was going there very often before this, but I stand on principle. (I have no clue what that really means though!)
Then, to counter the bad, there are the good. This evening, we went to D!ck's Sporting Goods for Mark, and at the check out, I passed BAM a ball to keep him occupied. He loved it; it was on of those soft vinyl ones with little bumps. He was enjoying it, so I asked the cashier to price check it for me. I was expecting about 5 bucks or so. It was $7.99! I said, "oh, well, nevermind then." and passed it over BAM's head to Mark to put away. The disappointment on BAM's face was so astonishing, that the cashier was like "oh, well, I can discount it for you!" what?! "how much do you think it's worth?" What a loaded question, huh? Can I put a price on my child's happiness? But I said "5 bucks" and she took it! Brendon was elated! He grinned and grabbed that ball and started smacking it and trying to chew on it. Not sanitary, but so cute. Thanks, cashier at D!ck's Sporting Goods store! My son enjoyed a drive home, and you got to make him smile!

When I have time, I'll go on about our Honda saga! Can I drop kick them? please??

my first successful CVSing

I'm super excited about getting into CVSing, since one opened not too far away, and it's on our way to most places! Like this morning, I stopped in there on our way home from dropping Mark off from work. I really needed formula, and they were having a special on Huggies. Here's my fruitful labor.

Huggies big box 82 ct-$22.99

• on sale $3 off
• used $3 off CVS coupon
• used $3 off manufacturer's coupon

Paid $13.99 plus tax, got back 10 ECB's

Huggies wipes 184 ct refill-$5.99

• on sale $2 off (I should have used a coupon, but in my excitement, I forgot. Hey, it's my first time!)

Huggies lil swimmers 12 ct-$8.99

• used CVS coupon $3.00 off
• used manufacturer's coupon $1.50 off

Reese's peanut butter cup (I needed a filler, again, in my excitement, grabbed the first thing I saw...*sigh* I will get better)

• $.91

Used $10 ECB's from first transaction and paid (ready?): 39 cents!

So I got diapers, wipes, swim diapers, and reese's for about $14.50!

I didn't get formula, because I couldn't find my coupon, but we have to go out again anyways, and I'll find it before we do.

Friday Fails

Man, I never really realized how many times a week I fail, until I started paying attention to blog about them. I need to not do that any more, it's getting depressing!

1. Monday, Brendon felt awful-he was so cranky, slept about 6 1/2 hours DURING THE DAY TIME, plus his regular 9-10 hours Sunday and Monday night. It's not really a fail, but I let him sleep on me, in the wrap, because he was so pitiful. But that meant that Tuesday naps wanted to be spent the same way...no such luck kiddo. Also, I "forgot" to shower. I mean, who does that?! It got to be about
2. Tuesday, I didn't go into work because I was worried he'd still be sick. Plus, Braden had come down with something, the same thing, maybe, and we didn't want them to pass it back and forth. We went to the pool and I forgot to put sunscreen on Brendon. (I did remember his hat, so that makes it only a half fail!) His arms have a little pink tint-besides the rash--more on that later.
3. Wednesday, Mark took himself to work in the morning (our van's transmission is out of comission). Brendon woke up with a rash all over his head, face and shoulders. Roseola. I feel like  failure because I couldn't keep him healthy, though I know it's not my fault.
4. Thursday-I worked, so I was perfect!
5. Friday-where do I start?! We went to go run errands after eating lunch with Mark. First, I left my wallet home. Second, I forgot to go to the bank to have money to buy groceries, twice! Third, I missed Brendon's naptime, so he slept for about an hour in the car, and that was his afternoon nap! Fourth, I forgot part of my list, so I had to do two transactions. 

I can't even bear to hold my head up---nah, I'm good. At the end of each day, the baby went to sleep with a full tummy. And I fell asleep next to his daddy. 

I guess this makes me a soggy mommy

This blog got me thinking,  in a good way. She's a soggy/cruncy mommy, and so am I, but in different areas/ratios. I own a sling and a wrap and use them both, but I used the stroller today. Brendon sleeps in his own bed, in his own room, same-room sleeping did NOT work. I introduced solids earlier, 4 months, but I'm still breastfeeding. I stopped pumping at work a few weeks ago, and as a result needed more milk that I had, so I added formula. Brendon gets my milk in the morning and at night, and a cup of milk (formula, but soon to change to milk milk) with meals. Brendon is no stranger to crying, but I only let it go so far. I use disposable diapers, because I just spent 3 days tackling Mt Laundry. I used breastmilk to help clear up Brendon's numerous colds, but now that his cough/fever have hung on for several weeks, I've turned to antibiotics. I am a believer in most medical care (more on that later), because I work and get paid from it. I gave Brendon all his recommended vaccines, but will be skipping a few for the next kid.

I know some people that have chosen to not vaccinate their kids, and a part of them (because they're knowledgeable and intelligent-yes they're different things!) have made informed, careful decisions. I'm not gonna rant about them, ok? You're safe. The ones I'm going on about are the ones that make blind statements like, vaccines cause autism, or, vaccines have so much mercury, or some nonsense like that.

We, as a nation, have pretty much eliminated some diseases, like polio and small pox, through the inventions of vaccines. Other diseases, like measles or pertussis, are well contained-diseases that are fatal to the very young and very old. Our population is living longer (if the demographics of patients at work is any indication-I usually have 2 people over the age of 80) and I'm sure they'd like to stay that way. Living, that is.

I hear all the time of people defending their choice to not vaccinate. Some of it's legit, some of it's a bunch of poo. Either way, that puts a lot of pressure on the health care system to pay attention to and report the infrequent illnesses that pop up. That puts a lot of dependence on herd immunity, something that non-vaxing-ers can't control.

Let's get out our imagination for a bit, shall we?

The decision to not vax has taken hold in a wide spread town called "Novax." It's been going on for generations. No one has been exposed to the measles, neither vaccine nor live virus. Not a single person. A family vacations there because it's adorable, and a few days later, the kids (at home) come down with the measles. They just happened to not get immune when they were vaccinated (on schedule) as infants, or their mother decided to pass on the booster shot, or they're freaks of nature. The disease sweeps through the town, sends 50% of the very young and very old the hospital. The young, due to great medical technology, are able to struggle through, but a few end up with pneumonia. A few of the older people, because they're older and more fragile, succomb to the pneumonia and die. The numerous pregnant women try to avoid the measled population, but a few catch it. One lady has a traumatic miscarriage, one lady gives birth to a severely deformed baby, and one lady manages to squeak through with no problems.

Purely hypothetical, and I made it all up. So, if I happen to have a few errors, forgive me, I'm human.

In another town "Letsvax," only two families aren't vaccinated because of severe egg allergies, or maybe they're freaks of nature. The a-fore-mentioned measles-spreading brood stopped there overnight on their way home. Two, maybe three kids at school get a mild case of it (because that's possible), and one family is lucky enough to come down with it-full-blown! Oh, all the kids go to the same one school. Aren't you glad that I chose to vaccinate my kids so that your kids don't get sick?? Your kids, the ones that aren't vaccinated, are protected through herd immunity.  Because the measles-ed kids played at the same playground as my kids, they would have probably gotten the measles and passed it on to your kids before we even knew what happened. 

Again, totally hypothetical and a "what-if" situation, mainly because I only have one kid that isn't even old enough to go to school :D

I don't mind being the one who vaccinates, and I don't mind you being the one who doesn't vaccinate. I'm just thinking through about what if not vaxing runs rampant, like homeschooling is. Just think about it. Pertussis? Polio? Diphtheria?

If I had been this serious about it all before, I probably even would have passed on the Hep B series for Brendon. I will for my next kid. And the Gardasil for HPV? I will be raising my girls in a Christian home, and pray for their early salvation and, without sexual contact, there's no need for it. When they marry someone who has kept his body to himself, why worry about a STD transmitted disease?

So why do I vaccinate? I have a medical profession. I am exposed to tons of nasty bacteria. I have received all my scheduled vaccinations (except the chicken pox, I got that immunity naturally!), the Hep B series, and the flu shots. I got the Hep B because I don't want to share some crazee's liver disease when he goes crazee and gets me stuck with his needle, or spits in my face (almost happened!). I did get stuck once, and I was 18 weeks PG, and it scared the poop outta me! I get the flu shots (now) because I have an infant at home who could DIE if I bring home some other crazee's flu bugs on me. I passed on the H1N1 because by the time I got back in to work, the number of cases in VA had dropped significantly. I also get my tetanus booster on schedule-I think I'm due for one, BTW- because, again, I don't want get hurt at work and end up with some thing nasty. Not that we have lots of rusty equipment laying around at work, but the potential is there, IV poles, O2 carriers, beds.

There's my informed decisions, and I hope you, which ever choice you made, you made it informed-ly. And to my non-vaxing friends, you're welcome for the herding :D

Wednesday Wickedness

So, I was enticed to participate in another meme. They call it Wednesday Wickedness. Ten quotes are based on famous people, the questions come from those quotes. This week, it's Frank Sinatra


1. “I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day.” How often do you drink alcohol?
I've never...on purpose, knowingly drank alcohol. The one time I did, I was hoodwinked, because the hoodwinker knew that I liked that drink, but didn't tell me that it was made with alcohol.

2. “The best revenge is massive success.” Have you ever gloated or wanted to over success?
Really? I grew up with 6 brothers and sisters, and you're asking me if I ever gloated?!

3. “You gotta love livin', baby, 'cause dyin' is a pain in the [butt].” What do enjoy most about your life?
My family! that I can wake up in the morning and be wanted

4. “I'm not one of those complicated, mixed-up cats. I'm not looking for the secret to life.... I just go on from day to day, taking what comes.” Do you ever overthink a situation in your life?
Wow, I think this is a little too over my head...I'm a simple girl

5. “I would like to be remembered as a man who had a wonderful time living life, a man who had good friends, fine family - and I don't think I could ask for anything more than that, actually.” Tell us about your best friend.
Do you want me to write a book? What a loaded question. brb, gotta get a new CSI disc. Ok, I'm back. So my best friend. Mark :) I know, I'm cheesy, but *shrugs*

6. “I like intelligent women. When you go out, it shouldn't be a staring contest.” How important is intelligence when picking (or having picked) a s/o to you?
Very, but there's different types of intelligence. there's practical and analytical, to name two. I have analytical intelligence, where I can figure things out easily, like turn word only directions into actions. Mark has practical intelligence where he just knows things from experience. We work together well like that. I can't imagine having to deal with someone just like me each day.

7. “I drink to the confusion of our enemies.” What's the closest situation that you've had to dealing with an enemy?
Well, does someone who threatens to sue you and your hospital every time you walk in his room. Then, upon his discharge, proceeds to leave a trail of crap from his bed to the bathroom and doesn't even bother to ATTEMPT to clean it up! At least, PRETEND to make an effort!!

8. “Orange is the happiest color.” What's your favorite color?
Green, hands down!

9. “Dare to wear the foolish clown face.” Are you ever a clown?
Only around Brendon. Oh, wait, that's every day!

10. “Don't get even, get mad.” Have you ever tried getting even?
Remember that question #2? Yeah, do you remember my answer? Yeah? It's the same.