i need a vent

today has seriously not been my day. not that it has been bad? just annoyingly frustrating... and somewhat self-inflicted.

so kathryn has speech issues, and ever since she had her surgery to remove tonsils and adenoids, she has not been able to say the "p" sound and "b" sound. so her speech therapist really urged me (it being 5 months after surgery) to go back to the doc and make sure there isn't anything causing this speech issue.

so i scheduled an appt...we went today and of course the doc barely looked inside her mouth...(kathryn wasn't very cooperative, she was a bit scared) and said, "everything is fine, have you had her hearing tested?" "last year twice and everything was normal" "well, why don't we do it again?" i should have just said no...a 2 min test cost $125 for them to tell me what i already know..."it's fine" great... so all the doc could say is, she should grow out of it...give her time. which is what i kinda suspected, but, when you have ppl pressuring you to "make sure" there is nothing wrong... and you don't have a lot of money to begin with...well, there goes $250. geez.

so yeah, when we went to check out, somehow they said i only had to pay $75 for now, and they were billing the rest to the ins. company...works for me...but... i don't have $75 to my name... so i pull out the dreaded credit card... declined. WTH!(i know it had at least $75 available) pull out the OTHER dreaded credit card...it went through...ugh. see we have a health savings account through our insurance company...but for SOME reason, they want to be difficult, and the way OURS works is the bill goes to the ins company, they process it determine how much the patient is responsible for, then send the doc office the payment. the little twist is that we have a deductible to meet as well. so all the doc offices think we have to pay till we meet the deductible...but in actuality, we only pay towards the deductible when the HSA runs out. sigh...no office believes us and unless i pitch a fit, i usually have to pay and submit it to our FSA where we will get reimbersed from the money we have set aside... it's just annoying to spend this money you don't have and wait weeks to get reimbersed... when the health ins. should be billed and pay it from the HSA... ANYWAY!~

the other annoyance...i got a job with frito-lay, and they have the option to do direct deposit...but you have to get your first check to be able to do that...well, the checks get mailed to you, then you have to go online to set it up...i tried doing this after i got the first check and it said it couldn't process my request, the server was down...well, my brain isn't always remembering to try again soon, so i got the 2nd check mailed, and meant to go cash it then, but put it off till work the next day...then since my brain can't keep track of what i need to do (in 2 seconds it can forget why i headed down a certain road) so it never got deposited...yet. well, john and i were FINALLY sitting down to do the budget on sunday, and we found out somehow the van note came out twice...and i know i only clicked to pay it once...so i can't figure out how the 2nd payment happened (a day after the first) and i don't have time to check the account everyday, so i didn't notice it until we did the budget. well, almost $300 coming out of our account that shouldn't have REALLY threw everything off...and that is why we only have $2 in our account (when i get the check in the bank it will be better) and all our bills aren't even paid. as it stands, if we were to pay all our bills due (including tithing) we would over draw by $150! ugh!

so my goal after her appt was to get the check in the bank so we could buy groceries (we had no milk, no cereal, no oatmeal, no pancake mix that just requires water, no bread, no fruit, pretty much nothing quick) and so i go to the bank to put the check in our acct, and put on their to get some cash back, but they tell me, they can't give me $60 (what i asked for) since i don't have $60 in the acct. that i would have to wait till tomorrow for the check to clear, or cash it at the bank it is from (chase) i also had another check from my granny for dan's b-day, which i was trying to cash as well from hancocks...there was a hancocks right across the street, so pull in to the drive through, and no, i have to go inside to cash it...pulling the kids out and everything...UGH! why do they have to make it so difficult!!! just for a freakin thumb print! but what was cute is once she handed me the cash dan (who was in my arms) said in an excited voice "tan da" (thank you) so that made me smile... but we still had to go all the way to denham to cash my bigger check at chase...i pull into their drive through only for her to ask me for my acct # and i tell her i don't have one, she said "come on in and open one up" uh, no thanks, just want to cash it "well then since it's over $50 we charge a $6 fee for non-acct holders..." WTH! NO YOU MAY NOT TAKE $6 OF MY HARD EARNED DOLLARS!!! GIMME THE CHECK BACK" ok, at least that was how it went in my head. i told her forget that, i'd put it in my bank. and being as how i'm trying to conserve gas cuz our gas spending has been outrageous...it was really annoying that i had to make the trip all the way to chase in denham for nothing!! (that's about a gallon of gas right there!) so i was determined to not go home without milk and cereal (my staple for breakfast) and since all i had was the $20 from the check cashed at hancocks, i would see what that could get me at the walmart in denham. it was enough for a loaf of bread 2 boxes of cereal (gv brand), 2 gallons of milk (skim, 2%), a canister of oatmeal (the backup when cereal runs out), and a few bananas. that should hold us over till we can get the rest of the groceries... and what was sick to me was only having $20 and seeing how little it bought...the prices on even off brand cereal has jumped 50 cents or more. ugh.

well, i thought to myself, i was going to deposit the check in the capital one in denham, so i head there, and instead of pulling into the bank i was too busy looking at the walgreens on the corner and wondering when they were going to open it and when john was going to get out of that stupid store he's at now, that i passed up the bank and headed home! (the thought about walgreens was on my mind for a while) and i didn't realize my mistake until i was taking out the groceries to put inside! UGHHH and the kids were already quite done with being in the car for the last 2 hrs... and my poor garden needed watering bad... so i took a break and deposited the check after watering the garden.

and my garden....yesterday i went to water the broccoli...and there were little holes on some of the leaves... only one thing does that...besides grasshoppers, caterpillars... yep!!! all over the underside of the leaves! UGH!!! i hate bugs! so i cut the leaves that were badly damaged and plucked the rest of the stupid cabage loopers (thats the name of these caterpillars) off of my plants...took a while. well, i found more bugs today on other plants and it is really frustrating.

but i did get to harveest my first zucchini! it was 9 inches long! 2.5 in diameter! a huge one!

and this is how i found daniel this morning...keep in mind, we have no cereal oatmeal or pancake mix, so nothing quick and we didn't have much time to cook an elaborate breakfast (homemade) since we had to hurry to the doc office. so he decided to rip open a mox of mac n cheese and eat the raw noodles. wow.

the good news is, i fed the kids when we got home, and we have milk! yay. and i forgot about the GV ice cream i bought for dan's party, and so when they finished their lasagna, we all had some yummy ice cream cones.

sigh, i guess it all stems from our tax refund being delayed... see b/c we were going to claim the first home buyer tax credit, apparently this year they changed it to where you have to mail in your return. we didn't know, so we filled it out online, and we did electronic signatures but then it told us we made to print it and mail it. so we did. i was in such a hurry to get it in the mail that i forgot to sign the dumb things, and it took them 6 weeks to tell me that. so i send in the signature page, and now another 6 weeks later, we still have no refund. (it was going to be direct deposit) so if we would have gotten it 6 weeks ago, we could have paid the van off and not had to worry about the note coming out twice. ugh. we are supposed to finally have our refund by the end of may... wow, only 4 months after they recieved it.

and this weekend, my phone (which was being stupid before) suddenly decided to go wacko again, and every button pressed multiple keys or something. i would press the w and instead i would get wkt6rgt pop up...and now the track ball (i have a blackberry) doesn't work. it scrolls but doesn't press down to select anymore. ::sigh:: so it's been even harder to work with it. and i don't want to switch to a different phone cuz all the phones i have are just as bad with issues, and all my # are on the phone not the sim card. so i'm still holding out to get an iphone. i really think i have earned that much. ugh. maybe by the end of may i can have it (as a mothers day/bday gift).

oh yeah, and lets not forget the laptop that suddenly decides to not turn on. (long story short) and after trying to communicate that to the HP tech,(it WONT turn on no matter what i do) he tells me the motherboard is bad and that will be $440 to fix... ugh. its a DARN good thing i managed to figure out how to fix this pc and will know how to fix it in the future... but the laptop. i don't think it will be any cheaper to install the motherboard myself...so no biggie since i have my desktop, but still. a very expensive piece of electronics is not functioning. that's depressing.

to make a long venting short...i have decided i need to be uplifted today so i am going over to my MIL's house and we are gonna maybe talk about a conference talk or something...that's always the answer for me (the gospel/scriptures/prayer)

rambling. pictures.

funny story, yesterday morning instead of coming to tell me she woke up, kathryn decided to do something different...so i was woken up by the sound of children shouting outside my window and the hose making it's whinning noise everytime it gets sprayed...wait, what day is it? what time is it? and why are the kids outside??? it's 7:30 am, friday, kathryn has school and WHY ARE THE KIDS OUTSIDE!!! i run outside to find them in their jammies playing in the water of the hose and all the toys dumped and scattered...the door to the house is wide open of course... ah geez...at least they were in the backyard and not the front right?? so i guess all the knobs really are going to have to be childproofed...

and so this morning i decided i would make pancakes, and of course they wanted to "help" and watch, so i add all the ingredients as kathryn argues that i need 2 eggs not just one... (she helped make cookies a week ago and remembers it needed 2 eggs) and daniel is munching on some cheese nips he found...i turn around to the fridge to grab some overripe bananas to mash them and add them...and when i turned back around bananas in hand i find daniel dipping his cheese nip in the batter! hahaha!!! ew! he got it in his mouth before i could tell him no... too funny. they both thought it was funny when i stirred the batter really fast.... and couldn't wait to taste the pancakes.

so they both are sick with runny noses and a cough...and primary had a little carnival today, but i thought since they just got this sickness it would be better that we didn't spread it. so we went outside and i admired my gardens while they played in their house (that got relocated to the porch...the grass was taking it over!) and i trimmed all the tall grass around th edges that the lawnmower didn't get (i mowed the grass yesterday yay! it was getting so tall that "you could loose one of your kids back there" according to Mr. Guy) and then i went to water the gardens...of course the kids wanted to help...so they got their watering cans (thanks aunt jenni) and i filled them up with the hose while they watered the plants...it was really cool for kathryn and I (she talks and dan doesnt) cuz i showed her what all the plants were and then would tell her "the corn plants are thirsty can you give them water?" and she remembered what the corn plants looked like...then i would ask her where the cucumber plants were and she could show me. I got to show her the zucchini's we were growing and she got to touch them and said "that's really tool mommy, but i don't like them" i said "well i do!" and she said "well then you can eat them all, that will be ok" HAHA she's hillarious. and daniel was of course right behind sissy doing everything she was...watering the same plants and being gentle. that was good. i want him to show the garden respect instead of trying to destroy everything.

oh! speaking of daniel, he was evaluated this week for his speech by the speech therapist, and she was amazed at his coordination, balance, motor skills, and cognitive levels... but his speech definitely lacked... she said he knows what he wants to say and he hears and understands what we say, he just can't verbalize it for some reason. he is very precise when he was stacking blocks and made a 16" tower which in a second was knocked down (no surprise there) he made sure the block he was placing was steady before he let go...i never noticed he was like that...probably cuz he was never the one stacking only the one destroying! he jumped off the chair with both feet and landed on both feet and stayed there....(stuck landing!!!) i am amazed at that! and he drank from a cup he showed me that he wanted water by saying "wawa" and grabbing my hand pulling me to the cup basket and then back to the fridge and pointed... smart cookie. he knows which button to press to get the tv on although we don't even have cable only movies... but i'm not going to let him load movies until he can value his dvds better. like age 8...lol. anyhow...basically he should qualify for speech for sure and when he starts that, they go until age 3 then at 3 the school system takes over... and apparently they work closely so that there are no gaps... nice.

oh, i also had kathryn's IEP meeting with her teacher yesterday to see what the goals are for this coming year and the rest of this school year... they said kathryn has done so well she reached most of her goals for this year...she still needs to work on articulation although she has good language (she knows how to form sentences she just isn't understandable). the speech therapist also told me that since her tonsils and adenoids were removed, she hasn't been able to make the P and B sounds (they require the pallet to block the nasal cavity to blow air out of the mouth) and apparently she hasn't improved. her issues now are different from before. the speech therapist has recommended that the doctor look and see if there is any issues that could be causing that, like a shortened pallet...anyhow, i will definitely schedule that and see what is going on...i sure hope the doc didn't cut out more than he should or something...


oh, and before i forget, i put a movie on for the kids yesterday and told kathryn i was going to be in the backyard to mow the grass and they were not to come outside (i locked the doors to be sure of it) and i would be done soon, they could watch from the windows, and i emphasized DON'T do anything you'd get in trouble for...be good watch the movie, cuz if you're bad and make a mess, i;m gonna find out and i'm not going to be happy. i was outside for maybe 45 mins mowing the back yard (i borrowed my FIL's mower which is self-propelled but i found myself not using it...and it was intentional...is that strange? lol. it's a workout ya know?) so when i get back inside i see that daniel has brown smudges on him and kathryn is being good watching the movie...i asked kathryn what daniel had and she said "chocolate" i thought where could he have gotten chocolate from, the pantry was closed...but i remember there was a chocolate pop tarton my side of the bed that i took a bite out of and never finished...i went to see if he found it...nope, still there. i finally ask kathryn "what chocolate?" and she said "the chocolate for milk" ahhhh, chocolate syrup...wonderful...she showed me where she put the bottle when she took it away and sure enough, it was a mess...so then she showed me where he had the syrup and it was all over one of the doors to the entertainment center and subsequently on the carpet too... great. well, looks like kathryn was good, maybe i need to lecture daniel now! so after i cleaned up the door and scrubbed the carpet (i'll still have to shampoo it to get it all out) i said i was yucky i needed to take a quick shower, BE GOOD! (i should've known better right? but i was covered in sweat and grass stuff...anyhow, when i got out, i went in the kitchen to find kathryn's "noise maker" she made at school ripped apart and the beans scattered all over the floor (beans were on the inside) and also pretzel sticks broken and scattered all over the kitchen as well...geez. can't win here... but alas, this was much easier to clean up...and i made daniel help...and sweet kathryn helped.


so my job has been going really well. my efficiency has increased from 43% my first day (doing just bags of chips) to 70%. and in the go-betweens (dips, salsa, nuts, cookies) i was clocking 103%!!! i had to take a picture to prove it!

the picture sucks cuz i had to block the flash from my phone... anyhow... i really like my job and my boss is very pleased with how i'm doing. i am slowly learning the product and where it goes, how many are in a box etc. this all matters cuz SOMEONE (i will assume it is the RSR's (route drivers) that get the wrong product on their truck from someone picking the wrong thing) puts boxes/bags randomly through the warehouse and they are in spots that aren't even close to where the rest of the product is located... and it clogs up the isles having boxes randomly laying around...so now that i am getting to know things, i can put it in the right spot! the numbers of how many bags come in each box matter cuz if the cart tells you to get 38 bags of location 182, and you know there are 34 to a box, you grab a box plus 4 and go! makes it quick versus grabbing a box, having it not be enough, going back to get more etc. it's all about getting the bags in the box as fast as you can and being accurate! lol.

so i found some funny pics on my phone and wanted to share other pics while i had the chance! (to sorta catch up!)


so back when kathryn had her b-day party, and once everyone left, i made the kids chicken nuggets for dinner (kathryn asked for them) and daniel, having not had a nap, was so hungry but so tired, that he fell asleep mid- nugget...HAHA! so classic.

one of kathryn's favorite things to do when we come to lowes is play on the tractors...and of course daniel wants to do everything sisssy does, so they get to go from one to the other to the other for about 10 mins...and if i don't have the time...i make sure i don't pass the tractor area! haha.

so last friday (4-23-10) kathryn's class went to the zoo! luckily it was paid for otherwise it would've been $15! and after 25 mins of running daniel got a big blister on his foot from his shoes rubbing (right over his arch) and it busted, so after that we didn't stay much longer...i'd say we were there for maybe an hour, so $15 is a bit expensive! lol. and the zoo is something like 35 miles away from our house! one way! ANYWAY! (don't mind my cheapo self, it was for the kids enjoyment!) the kids did enjoy seeing what animals they got to see, especially daniel. he had never been to the zoo. only saw videos of animals. but he got to see just how big everyting was! and they had a new tiger exhibit that was REALLY nice... the tigers were actually coming right up to the glass it was so cool! i think they were hungry tho, they kept circling seemingly trying to figure out how to get one of the kids behind the glass...

daniel liked this bird. lol.

i love giraffees! they had one walk up to the other and they turned to look at each other then put their facees together, then another giraffee came walking fast up to them and (the male) started walking away as this new one approached! it was hillarious! it was like the 2nd one was like "get away from my woman!"

this was the tiger that kept pacing around in cirlces around this lil pond of his...

he was walking toward all the kids...

then he turned around to do it all again! he was right next to the glass! so cool

kathryn was trying to get past the fence to see the fishes (Koi) better. this was a new area and it was beautiful!!!

so this past monday was daniel's birthday and i called a party together last minute...we had pizza and i made a lego cake...somehow my battery in my camera must have died cuz i didn't get to take a picture of the cake that i did, only daniel's personal cake that he was SOO not interested in! we opened presents first... grammie got him a cool car/truck wooden jigsaw puzzle...very nice!

auntie Jenn got him a bowling pin set and some cute Dr. suess board books of which kathryn wanted to read immediately. lol. (good thing kathryn was interested in everything daniel wasnt)

a few days later he and i (while kathryn was in school) had fun putting up the pins and rolling the ball to knock them all down...

mimi got him a Cars rug

and Filmore, Ramone, and Doc Hudson die cast cars from the movie Cars...that was what captured his attention!!

this is him taking his cars mimi got him and sitting down...he was done, he didn't care what was in any of the other presents...

until kathryn opened them and showed him they had cars in there too! lol. (mimi also got him a stuffed cookie monster, elmo and big bird, and he had no interest in it at all! kathryn however was soo excited!) so my battery died before i could get a picture of him with Aunt Mel's present...nothing but more cars from Cars...he was in heaven! but then i realized i hadn't done the cake thing...haha. wrong timing mommy! he barely blew out the candles before he was back on the floor with his cars...

this is his personal lego cake... i made a big one with 8 knobs on top... but managed to not get a pic... next time i will know to freeze the cakes before icing them! i am NOT anywhere close to being good at this...so this is what happens...
i tried.

so this was daniel today all dirty playing in the house, which is on the back porch now...i cleaned up the porch finally and i think i like it here...the cars park in the "driveway" and kathryn (in the corner of the pic) is about to pull the car into the driveway...

this is my first zucchini that is growing fast! this was 2 days ago, and it is much bigger now! can you see the other 3 soon to be zucchinis? you kinda have to know what you're looking for...

week 5 cucumbers...going crazy! note to self:only plant 1 plant per foot... or two at the most...and give them their own vertical frame...they are taking over all the space!

week 5 box 3 broccoli is huge!

week 5 box 2... the zucchini has literally taken up all 4 feet of the box... time to trim back some leaves... i cut 2 so my tomato could grow...

ahhh, much better.

last week i planted onion sets (mini onions that cut out seed sprout time drastically) and they are doing well! i stuck them in between the tomato and cucumber plants...they are supposed to wart away pests...nice. they don't need the trellis so it worked well. i also planted 48 carrot seeds in box 3, they just started coming out today. but are too small to see...

look how awesome the lettuce and spinach look! week 5

that's it for now! i am needed for a game of hide-and-seek!