Jen's Daily Blather

So far, I got to sleep in (yay!), got a card from my boys (yay!), played Wii with Owen (yay!), cleaned cat barf off the kitchen table (boo!), and ate pancakes and crispy bacon for breakfast (yay!). I’d say so far, I’m ahead!

I just LOVE people who think rules don’t apply to them…and they’re so brazen about it.

We were coming home from Walmart when we saw my old car! At first we weren’t quite sure, but then as we got closer, we knew it had to be—it had a temp plate…and the same ding in the bumper! What are the chances? I’m glad she found a new home.

Link: http://themommyhoodmemos.com/bloggers-for-birth-kits/

Happy Mothers Day to five new mothers who will benefit from the Clean Birth Kits I just donated…

Bloggers for Birth Kits is a simple initiative to rally bloggers to reach out and help mamas in Papua New Guinea. These women may seem very different to you… but they are mothers with the same heart—mothers who desire to deliver healthy, thriving babies just as we do.

Every minute a women dies of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Ninety-nine percent of these deaths occur in developing nations. For every woman who dies in childbirth, another 30 women incur injuries and infections, which are often preventable. (Source: World Health Organization.)

Photo from http://themommyhoodmemos.com/bloggers-for-birth-kits/

The specifics:

1. Soap (for the birth attendant to wash her hands). Use a hotel-size soap or cut a regular bar of soap into 1/8-sized pieces. (Microwave the bar of soap for 30 seconds to soften it for cutting).
2. One pair of plastic gloves (for the birth attendant to wear).
3. Five squares of gauze (to wipe the mum’s perineum and baby’s eyes). Gauze pieces should be about 10×10 centimeters or 3×3 inches.
4. One blade (to cut the cord). You can buy individually wrapped sterile blades at the pharmacist or buy utility blades (much cheaper) at the hardware store. We teach the women to boil the blades for sterilization, so utility blades work just fine.
5. Three pieces of strong string (2 for tying the cord, 1 for “just in case”). String should be about 30 centimeters or 10 inches long.
6. One plastic sheet (for a clean birthing surface). Sheet should be approximately 1×1 meter or 1×1 yard and can be purchased at your hardware or paint store.
7. One sandwich-size ziplock bag (to pack the contents).

I strongly urge you to visit the site and make a donation for yourself…and other mothers who are less fortunate than you.

I also got radishes, lettuce, green onions (which were the size of shallots), and basil to plant!

Stupid Secretary of State.

I wanted to change my registration from North Carolina to Michigan so I could use my old personalized plates. The first phone call—five weeks ago—went perfect.

I mailed in the $8 check and the necessary form (which the lady walked me through completely) and waited. And waited. And waited. And forgot about it for a bit. And waited. Then noticed that the check had been cashed—yet I was still waiting and waiting and waiting for the new registration to appear in the mailbox.

Three weeks—THREE!—after the check was cashed, and two weeks after I sent the check in, I finally called. I was ready to pitch a fit because I was POSITIVE they had mailed it to the wrong address (either address on my license), even though I know I put our current address on there.

“Oh, your husband needs to sign the form since the North Carolina registration is in his name.”

SERIOUSLY?

And it took five weeks to tell me this? Oh wait, they didn’t tell me anything, I had to call and get the information myself after waiting for FIVE WEEKS. And it obviously didn’t hamper them CASHING THE CHECK.

And why yes, of course it makes sense since the current registration was in his name…but the nice lady who originally walked me through every single box on the stupid form never once specified that he had to sign it (and stupid me, obviously, didn’t even think about it since I’d never done this before).

GRRRRRR.

I really didn’t think getting Owen in a part-time preschool would be THIS hard.

1. Our first choice (1 mile away) only offers full time child care (well, M-F mornings is their lowest option).
2. Our second choice requires potty training at age 3 plus they don’t have summer hours (it’s a church).
3. Our third choice only has summer openings (otherwise it’s a waiting list) and they strongly recommend all-day care, and it’s the same price whether you use an hour or eight.
4. Our fourth choice (another church) has an EIGHT MONTH WAITING LIST.
5. Our fifth choice doesn’t do part time preschool.
6. Our sixth choice (another branch of #5) is a 20-25 minute drive away PLUS all pre-school kids have to be potty trained.
7. Our seventh choice is the most expensive AND it’s the same price whether you leave the kid there for one or eight hours…but they handle potty training for you.

At this point, I’m out of choices… Well, there are more according to Google, but they are places I’ve heard NOTHING about or appear to be home-based (from the Google map listings).

Ah, the most annoying time of year…cool overnights/mornings so windows are open, then warm/hot afternoons that require A/C.

Yes, I realize that sounds wrong—that it actually is the perfect time of year… Except that the second floor gets about 10 degrees warmer than the first floor, so I have to run around closing windows when I turn the air on—but we don’t need air on downstairs. And I usually forget to close some windows and I always forget the close the shades early enough to keep out more of the heat…

I guess I just like the days where you can keep the windows open all day or the A/C on all day…and right now, the A/C might even win out because it would keep out all the yellow pollen (which is currently covering just about every surface in the house).

I really don’t think it’s necessary to be going 45-50mph in the 100 yards from the end of the cul-de-sac to our house. I’m always tempted to throw something in the street to freak them out. Any ideas?

I’m glad I’m not afraid of huge bumblebees because we have about 20 of them flying around our blooming bushes next to the porch. (I did initially wonder why I never noticed them in the previous five years of us living here…until I realized I always had a full-time job back then.)

Maternity pants…I AM IN YOU. Ahhhhhh!!!!

OMG. TWO HOURS FOR A FREAKING EYE APPOINTMENT. Sorry, but that is just insane.

11:32 - Arrive early for 12p appointment.

11:47 - Complete paperwork.

12:45 - Assistant does three eye tests (peripheral line wiggle, air puff, cornea measurement) in 10 minutes.

1:15 - Another assistant does basic eye exam (finds new prescription) in 10 minutes.

1:35 - Doc comes in, he decides on a contact, and checks my eyes quickly without and with contacts.

1:55 - Check out.

2:00 - Walk next door to place order for new lenses.

2:10 - On my way home.

I just dropped off our streamlined refinance docs…so in less than a month we’ll be closing and reducing our payment by just over $300. I’ll take that, thankyouverymuch.

Yes, it adds some years to our mortgage (we’re at 23 and it goes back to 30), but fingers quadruple crossed we’ll have sold the house WAAAAAAY before then…and if we don’t sell it and have to rent it, hopefully we’ll make a few bucks or break even instead of being in the hole every month. And in the meantime, it will help pay for the new car.