Merry Christmas to all! May your day be filled with happiness, family, friends, and love!
From our family to yours,
The Andersons
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Update before Christmas
It has been insane around here lately. Dan and I are trying to get our stuff together and over to Dad's before his folks get into town for the holiday. But that's not going so well. I'd say that about 60% of the packing is done, but I still have to reorganize the storage unit, move Nana's stuff back into the condo, finish packing, finish my holiday crafty projects, and continue to care for my small child.
**Update, I wrote that first paragraph, then I was sent to bed by Dan because like and idiot I was still up at 3:30am, Saturday. Not that it did a whole lot of good, I just got off the computer and kept boxing stuff till almost 5.
Today we did an insane amount of moving. We dropped off a couple things at Suzanne's place, then got most of our bedroom furniture, all of our clothes and almost the entire kitchen moved over. Pretty much all that's left over here is the computer, and some various little odds and ends. Actually I had to dig though boxes and a suitcase right before we left Dad's place because I realized that we had no church clothes over here, and we also moved all of Nathan's stuff, including diapers and wipes! Major shout out to my aunt Patty, I don't know how much we would have gotten done without you, your CRV and your dolly.
So, I'm feeling much better about the move, but most of my crafty projects won't be done till after Christmas. But that's ok, because I'll just enlist the help of Sara and Mom. Muah ha ha...(evil laugh) that was really my master plan all along! Just kidding.
Oh, and another update that most people haven't heard about yet is my current state of employment. I got released to work by my ob, and by the Dr. that diagnosed me with the tendinitis, I spent all day getting the forms filled out, Dr's signatures, etc. Then, when I went into my meeting with the HR people, I ended up turning in my badge. Don't get me wrong, Pepsi was a great company to work for, and I've got a lot more positive to say about them than negative, but I just really would rather stay here at home with my little man. I don't want a repeat of the situation with Devon where I was really hard core, and never had any time to spend with my family. Dan was happy to hear about my decision because he's been wanting me to be able to take care of Nate, but he left the choice up to me. This does put a bit of strain on us for now, but long term it will be a lot better. I've decided to get back into school, so I'm signing up for a couple of online courses next semester. With any luck in just 18 short years I'll actually finish! Just kidding, but seriously, with the class load and schedule I've tentatively mapped out I'm looking at 6 years, minimum... :( But after that I'll have an actual career and won't have to work 14 hour days in a warehouse, and I could go faster, but I really do want to take it easy and have time to spend with the family. After all, families are forever, but jobs come and go.
On a more fun note, on Tuesday night, we all went over to Dad's to decorate the Christmas tree, and drink hot chocolate and apple cider. It was a blast! But the dog has already knocked off about half a dozen ornaments. Nate and Lilly like looking at the pretty lights. Nate likes that almost as much as he likes ceiling fans. And they are both getting so so big. I can't even imagine how much Madi has grown. And I seriously cannot wait to see everyone for Christmas. The Lines's fly in on Christmas day, but the Anderson's won't get here till the Saturday after. Oh well, as long as they're here for the baby blessing, I'll be stoked. Speaking of which, I send texts, and as I uncover more phone numbers I'll try to call and make sure everyone knows, but we're blessing Nate on the 28th at 1pm in the Keating building. Spread the news.
Nathan had his 2 month check up on Friday and he has continued in his trend of growing like a weed. He weighed in at an impressive 13.4lbs, and measured 24.5 inches! Such a big boy. He seemed to enjoy the exam, he kept smiling and cooing at the doctor, but he wasn't so thrilled with the nurse. My poor baby got his shots. And he was not a happy camper. Luckily he bounced back pretty quickly and by the time we were headed out the door, he was dozing happily.
Well, I think that pretty much catches everyone up on what we've been doing the past week or so; it's been insane. But, with much effort on my part, I believe I've handled it well. Usually in stressful situations I kinda snap and my poor husband bears the brunt of it. He made me promise that I would make an effort to stay calm and pleasant during the move, and I have been trying my hardest. I will admit that I was snappy last night and I did make some pretty snarky comments that I regret. But all in all, I think the worst I got on the evil, mean,monster, troll scale was probably about a 4.....which is awesome considering moves alone usually get me to an 8(we did 2 in a week! Ryan, then ourselves), and unfinished crafts approaching the deadline are about a 6, and having people seeing my home in a state of disarray causes a 4-5 (and we've had 3 non-family people over in as many days), not to mention that I had to get rid of both kittys. I would have expected a total system melt down by now. Just goes to show, the power of prayer! :)
**Update, I wrote that first paragraph, then I was sent to bed by Dan because like and idiot I was still up at 3:30am, Saturday. Not that it did a whole lot of good, I just got off the computer and kept boxing stuff till almost 5.
Today we did an insane amount of moving. We dropped off a couple things at Suzanne's place, then got most of our bedroom furniture, all of our clothes and almost the entire kitchen moved over. Pretty much all that's left over here is the computer, and some various little odds and ends. Actually I had to dig though boxes and a suitcase right before we left Dad's place because I realized that we had no church clothes over here, and we also moved all of Nathan's stuff, including diapers and wipes! Major shout out to my aunt Patty, I don't know how much we would have gotten done without you, your CRV and your dolly.
So, I'm feeling much better about the move, but most of my crafty projects won't be done till after Christmas. But that's ok, because I'll just enlist the help of Sara and Mom. Muah ha ha...(evil laugh) that was really my master plan all along! Just kidding.
Oh, and another update that most people haven't heard about yet is my current state of employment. I got released to work by my ob, and by the Dr. that diagnosed me with the tendinitis, I spent all day getting the forms filled out, Dr's signatures, etc. Then, when I went into my meeting with the HR people, I ended up turning in my badge. Don't get me wrong, Pepsi was a great company to work for, and I've got a lot more positive to say about them than negative, but I just really would rather stay here at home with my little man. I don't want a repeat of the situation with Devon where I was really hard core, and never had any time to spend with my family. Dan was happy to hear about my decision because he's been wanting me to be able to take care of Nate, but he left the choice up to me. This does put a bit of strain on us for now, but long term it will be a lot better. I've decided to get back into school, so I'm signing up for a couple of online courses next semester. With any luck in just 18 short years I'll actually finish! Just kidding, but seriously, with the class load and schedule I've tentatively mapped out I'm looking at 6 years, minimum... :( But after that I'll have an actual career and won't have to work 14 hour days in a warehouse, and I could go faster, but I really do want to take it easy and have time to spend with the family. After all, families are forever, but jobs come and go.
On a more fun note, on Tuesday night, we all went over to Dad's to decorate the Christmas tree, and drink hot chocolate and apple cider. It was a blast! But the dog has already knocked off about half a dozen ornaments. Nate and Lilly like looking at the pretty lights. Nate likes that almost as much as he likes ceiling fans. And they are both getting so so big. I can't even imagine how much Madi has grown. And I seriously cannot wait to see everyone for Christmas. The Lines's fly in on Christmas day, but the Anderson's won't get here till the Saturday after. Oh well, as long as they're here for the baby blessing, I'll be stoked. Speaking of which, I send texts, and as I uncover more phone numbers I'll try to call and make sure everyone knows, but we're blessing Nate on the 28th at 1pm in the Keating building. Spread the news.
Nathan had his 2 month check up on Friday and he has continued in his trend of growing like a weed. He weighed in at an impressive 13.4lbs, and measured 24.5 inches! Such a big boy. He seemed to enjoy the exam, he kept smiling and cooing at the doctor, but he wasn't so thrilled with the nurse. My poor baby got his shots. And he was not a happy camper. Luckily he bounced back pretty quickly and by the time we were headed out the door, he was dozing happily.
Well, I think that pretty much catches everyone up on what we've been doing the past week or so; it's been insane. But, with much effort on my part, I believe I've handled it well. Usually in stressful situations I kinda snap and my poor husband bears the brunt of it. He made me promise that I would make an effort to stay calm and pleasant during the move, and I have been trying my hardest. I will admit that I was snappy last night and I did make some pretty snarky comments that I regret. But all in all, I think the worst I got on the evil, mean,monster, troll scale was probably about a 4.....which is awesome considering moves alone usually get me to an 8(we did 2 in a week! Ryan, then ourselves), and unfinished crafts approaching the deadline are about a 6, and having people seeing my home in a state of disarray causes a 4-5 (and we've had 3 non-family people over in as many days), not to mention that I had to get rid of both kittys. I would have expected a total system melt down by now. Just goes to show, the power of prayer! :)
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Drama, Drama, Drama
Let me just say, to start, that I should never, never, NEVER make plans. It just doesn't work out. Like this weekend, for instance. I had planned to go to the Anderson family Christmas Gingerbread house making party/get together Saturday morning. Followed by seeing Zoolights in the evening with Suzanne, Joe and Lilly. Alas, it was not meant to be....
Late, late Friday night, as I was making a fruit salad, and washing out the pan I planned to make cinnamon rolls in for the brunch in the morning, Nate woke up. He was absolutely inconsolable until he finally fell asleep about 10 min. before Uncle Ryan called. It's actually lucky that Nate kept us up all night because otherwise we wouldn't have been awake to hear that Ryan and his roommate, Jay (a very mean boy who I've known since grade school and who threw rocks at me when I rode my bike by his house one time), had gotten into a fight and Ryan had been thrown out. So, instead of being sound asleep at 4am, Dan, Nate and I were off to Maricopa.
When we got home, with Ryan in tow, we all decided that we would spend Saturday morning packing and moving Ryan's stuff into Nana's condo (where Dan and I are staying). So, I call my dad and ask to borrow his truck, and I look up UHAUL places to see how much it will cost to rent a trailer. Dan was the first to crash. Both he and Ryan pointed out that it didn't make much sense to get the truck too much earlier than the rental place opened. Well, I spent 2 hours trying to wake Dan up so we could get an early start. At 10 am, after texting to say we couldn't make the gingerbread get together (after I had even made my own gingerbread), having my dad call to confirm that we were actually going to need his truck, and entertaining a now fully alert Nathan, I fed the boy and we both fell asleep. Needless to say, I was less than thrilled when my husband tried to rouse me a mere four hours later, citing a need to get going.
Luckily for us, Spencer was willing and able to lend a helping hand, and the 5 of us (Nate included) headed back to Maricopa, and from 3 to 6 we loaded up all Ryan's stuff. Since we didn't get back to Dad's til 6:45, I had to call and cancel Zoolights with Suzanne too. Which really sucks because I've been looking forward to that for the last two weeks, and with restarting work next week, who knows when I'll be able to make it. Oh well, que sera, sera. I will also admit to being more than a little concerned. Because we still needed the truck, and Spencer had plans with his friends, and he had already arranged with Dad to use the truck, I ended up having to swap cars with him. So he has my poor Corolla, out who knows where, doing who knows what, up till all hours of the night.
And the fun didn't stop there. Once we made it back to the condo, Dan was having way too much trouble backing the truck and trailer up, Nate was screaming and I ended up having to take over. Luckily I learned how to back up the tractor/trailers at Pepsi before going out on maternity leave. We got the truck and trailer unloaded, and then brought a load over to Dad's because Dan and I are actually in the process of moving in with him for a couple of months. You see, this summer when we were in Illinois, Nana kicked us out not once, but twice. Then promptly forgot and couldn't understand what my problem was. But, that's Nana for you. Oh well. So, we agreed to be out by the end of the year, but since we don't know if Dan's going to get the internship yet, we don't know where we'll be living. So not only can we not buy a house, we can't even really sign a lease and move into an apartment. So, we're off to Dad's.
Currently we are moving Ryan's stuff in, our stuff out, and trying to get Nana's stuff out of storage and back into the condo. Simultaneously. And if that's not stressful enough, add a 2 month old into the mix.
Sorry if I sound a little bitter, but I am! Seriously, all I wanted to do this weekend was build a gingerbread house, see some Christmas lights, and help Dad put up his Christmas decorations. So far I've missed two, and I'll miss the third because I'll either be unloading/rearranging or else I'll just be too exhausted. Either way, that tree is going to be trimmed without me. :(
Late, late Friday night, as I was making a fruit salad, and washing out the pan I planned to make cinnamon rolls in for the brunch in the morning, Nate woke up. He was absolutely inconsolable until he finally fell asleep about 10 min. before Uncle Ryan called. It's actually lucky that Nate kept us up all night because otherwise we wouldn't have been awake to hear that Ryan and his roommate, Jay (a very mean boy who I've known since grade school and who threw rocks at me when I rode my bike by his house one time), had gotten into a fight and Ryan had been thrown out. So, instead of being sound asleep at 4am, Dan, Nate and I were off to Maricopa.
When we got home, with Ryan in tow, we all decided that we would spend Saturday morning packing and moving Ryan's stuff into Nana's condo (where Dan and I are staying). So, I call my dad and ask to borrow his truck, and I look up UHAUL places to see how much it will cost to rent a trailer. Dan was the first to crash. Both he and Ryan pointed out that it didn't make much sense to get the truck too much earlier than the rental place opened. Well, I spent 2 hours trying to wake Dan up so we could get an early start. At 10 am, after texting to say we couldn't make the gingerbread get together (after I had even made my own gingerbread), having my dad call to confirm that we were actually going to need his truck, and entertaining a now fully alert Nathan, I fed the boy and we both fell asleep. Needless to say, I was less than thrilled when my husband tried to rouse me a mere four hours later, citing a need to get going.
Luckily for us, Spencer was willing and able to lend a helping hand, and the 5 of us (Nate included) headed back to Maricopa, and from 3 to 6 we loaded up all Ryan's stuff. Since we didn't get back to Dad's til 6:45, I had to call and cancel Zoolights with Suzanne too. Which really sucks because I've been looking forward to that for the last two weeks, and with restarting work next week, who knows when I'll be able to make it. Oh well, que sera, sera. I will also admit to being more than a little concerned. Because we still needed the truck, and Spencer had plans with his friends, and he had already arranged with Dad to use the truck, I ended up having to swap cars with him. So he has my poor Corolla, out who knows where, doing who knows what, up till all hours of the night.
And the fun didn't stop there. Once we made it back to the condo, Dan was having way too much trouble backing the truck and trailer up, Nate was screaming and I ended up having to take over. Luckily I learned how to back up the tractor/trailers at Pepsi before going out on maternity leave. We got the truck and trailer unloaded, and then brought a load over to Dad's because Dan and I are actually in the process of moving in with him for a couple of months. You see, this summer when we were in Illinois, Nana kicked us out not once, but twice. Then promptly forgot and couldn't understand what my problem was. But, that's Nana for you. Oh well. So, we agreed to be out by the end of the year, but since we don't know if Dan's going to get the internship yet, we don't know where we'll be living. So not only can we not buy a house, we can't even really sign a lease and move into an apartment. So, we're off to Dad's.
Currently we are moving Ryan's stuff in, our stuff out, and trying to get Nana's stuff out of storage and back into the condo. Simultaneously. And if that's not stressful enough, add a 2 month old into the mix.
Sorry if I sound a little bitter, but I am! Seriously, all I wanted to do this weekend was build a gingerbread house, see some Christmas lights, and help Dad put up his Christmas decorations. So far I've missed two, and I'll miss the third because I'll either be unloading/rearranging or else I'll just be too exhausted. Either way, that tree is going to be trimmed without me. :(
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
The annual crafty insanity
It's that time of year again. I've purchased patterns, and enough material to cover a football field. Ok, maybe not quite that much, but I do have bout 30 yards of flannel and 15 of fleece. Only to discover, after cutting two separate projects, (I cut two projects because I lacked the motivation to get up and drag the sewing machine out of the closet. Scissors and fabric were all in the same room as the TV) that my sewing machine is on the fritz. I think it will be an easy fix. I think I just put it back together wrong. I had to dissassemble it to try to get Dad's Jeep doors under so I could fix the windows. Turns out it was all for nothing becuase I couldn't get the doors to fit anyway, and I think I screwed up putting it back. At least I hope so. Because I don't have time to send it in to the repair place. Actually I think the repair place I know of closed down. Hmmmm......guess that means I'll have to figure it out myself. Or break out a yellow pages. Either way, I'm still up at 5 o'clock on a Tuesday morning.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Why I'll never shop at Charlotte Russe again!
This is definately a ranting post. Yesterday was the worst retail experience I think I have ever had. And I was at Wal-Mart on Black Friday! Suzanne and I had run all over town searching desperately for jeans that would fit. It's taken 4 years, but we finally found good jeans at Charlotte Russe. But from there on, things went steadily downhill. First of all, there was only 1 person who could do each job. But they weren't in the area near their job. So, every time Suzanne wanted to try anything on, she had to track down an employee who would call the person with the fitting room keys (who was nowhere near the fitting rooms).
That was bad enough in and of itself, but then we saw the shoes. And neither Suzanne nor I can resist the siren song of shoes. So, we had to find another employee to cal the shoe person. We each asked for 1 pair of shoes from the back. She wandered around for about 10 minutes, then walked back up to us to reconfirm what sizes we needed. 15 minutes later, she comes back with one pair of shoes. When I asked about my boots, she said they didn't ahve it in my size. So I asked for the next size down b/c the fit was a little loose, and I thought I could maybe make it work. 20 minutes later, we noticed her rearranging shoes on display. And when I asked her about my shoes, she looked at me like I was speaking Swahili. It took 3 times repeating my question, and showing her the display shoe before I saw that light of recognition in her eyes. And she told me that they didn't have the next size down either; then she walked away again. At this point, Suzanne and I have been in the store for over an hour with our two kids. The kiddos are so done, I've changed two diapers, placated a crying, starving Nathan, and I'm beginning to go out of my mind.
So we finally get to the checkout line, and when I tell the cashier about our experience (actually I just touched on the 20 min shoe search, and how she didn't bother telling me they didn't have the shoe), she smiles a big, fake smile and appolgizes, saying that we certainly deserve the highest level of customer service. I've given up at this point, and I just wanted to get out. I will admit that when she asked in her syrupy sweet voice if I wanted to donate a dollar to St. Jude's Children's hospital for a ten dollar off coupon, I snapped at her.
I may have said something to the effect of how I didn't need a coupon because I wasn't coming back. Then I thought of my little sister in line behind me, and I changed my mind. I paid the stupid dollar to save my sister ten. What can I say, I'm a giver. Dan and I took the kids toward the food court because the grown ups were just as hungry as Nate, and they're sick of the store we've been in for an hour and a half.
Thus began Suzanne's solo adventure. It turns out the coupon they sold me was only good on purchases of $50+ so she had to find something to make up the difference. It took 2 tries because the first time, her total came up to $47. After she finally made it over the $50 mark, they told her that the coupon isn't good until the 18th. And she asked to speak to a manager. Turns out they gave her the assistant manager. In an effort to explain our shopping experience, this woman patiently pointed out "well, it is a Friday." What? Excuse me, but since when does that make sense. So only 6 days of the week require good service? Friday it's every man for himself? Eventually, Suzanne got to talk to the actual manager who first offered to give her 10% off her purchase instead of the coupon. Which is a savings of $5. But it's not even that good when you take into account the extra crap she went out and found in order to hit the $50 minimum, and the fact that I paid a dollar. So, in the end, after about another half hour, Suzanne got her coupon, and got a couple bucks off a few items that the cashier had told her the wrong price for, but no appology. Jut the explination that "it is a Friday"
So, that's why I won't shop Charlotte Russe again! (which is a shame because I'm not looking forward to another search for jeans Suzanne likes)
That was bad enough in and of itself, but then we saw the shoes. And neither Suzanne nor I can resist the siren song of shoes. So, we had to find another employee to cal the shoe person. We each asked for 1 pair of shoes from the back. She wandered around for about 10 minutes, then walked back up to us to reconfirm what sizes we needed. 15 minutes later, she comes back with one pair of shoes. When I asked about my boots, she said they didn't ahve it in my size. So I asked for the next size down b/c the fit was a little loose, and I thought I could maybe make it work. 20 minutes later, we noticed her rearranging shoes on display. And when I asked her about my shoes, she looked at me like I was speaking Swahili. It took 3 times repeating my question, and showing her the display shoe before I saw that light of recognition in her eyes. And she told me that they didn't have the next size down either; then she walked away again. At this point, Suzanne and I have been in the store for over an hour with our two kids. The kiddos are so done, I've changed two diapers, placated a crying, starving Nathan, and I'm beginning to go out of my mind.
So we finally get to the checkout line, and when I tell the cashier about our experience (actually I just touched on the 20 min shoe search, and how she didn't bother telling me they didn't have the shoe), she smiles a big, fake smile and appolgizes, saying that we certainly deserve the highest level of customer service. I've given up at this point, and I just wanted to get out. I will admit that when she asked in her syrupy sweet voice if I wanted to donate a dollar to St. Jude's Children's hospital for a ten dollar off coupon, I snapped at her.
I may have said something to the effect of how I didn't need a coupon because I wasn't coming back. Then I thought of my little sister in line behind me, and I changed my mind. I paid the stupid dollar to save my sister ten. What can I say, I'm a giver. Dan and I took the kids toward the food court because the grown ups were just as hungry as Nate, and they're sick of the store we've been in for an hour and a half.
Thus began Suzanne's solo adventure. It turns out the coupon they sold me was only good on purchases of $50+ so she had to find something to make up the difference. It took 2 tries because the first time, her total came up to $47. After she finally made it over the $50 mark, they told her that the coupon isn't good until the 18th. And she asked to speak to a manager. Turns out they gave her the assistant manager. In an effort to explain our shopping experience, this woman patiently pointed out "well, it is a Friday." What? Excuse me, but since when does that make sense. So only 6 days of the week require good service? Friday it's every man for himself? Eventually, Suzanne got to talk to the actual manager who first offered to give her 10% off her purchase instead of the coupon. Which is a savings of $5. But it's not even that good when you take into account the extra crap she went out and found in order to hit the $50 minimum, and the fact that I paid a dollar. So, in the end, after about another half hour, Suzanne got her coupon, and got a couple bucks off a few items that the cashier had told her the wrong price for, but no appology. Jut the explination that "it is a Friday"
So, that's why I won't shop Charlotte Russe again! (which is a shame because I'm not looking forward to another search for jeans Suzanne likes)
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