Transitioning

So, we've finally decided to go ahead and get the digital boxes for the TV upgrade. I'm bummed because I really wanted WAY more channels but I got out voted in the end. What a family I have. LOL So far we have two boxes hooked up. One to our old school rooftop antenna and the other to a semi junky box top antenna. Neither get as many channels as we could get from what I know and the one in my parents' room has to be turned off to get some channels. That's ridiculous. Now they're going to go out and get a "better" antenna to see how that works out. I had one of these so called enhanced antennas and it sucked. One of the antennas fell of completely and it doesn't pick up that much anyway. Talk about retarded. I had hooked up a box to our TV to see what we might get and it wasn't good. I know I'll need a new antenna but even still I'm not sure we will get much of anything. The majority of the channels that we did get were all in foriegn languages! Good grief. I'm SO not looking forward to this. OH, AND I need to get a new DVD/VCR combo because we can't hook up everything at the same time and if we can I sure as heck haven't figured it all out. Well okay, I want a new thingy anyway to eliminate clutter but still. LOL God I hope it's not going to be as bad as I think it is.

EDIT: Did I mention that there is a low buzzing or humming noise coming because of the box?! :o{

Gearing Up

I had a teacher conference last week. I was glad to know that it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Yes-Yes is coming along okay but does need some additional help as always. He's carrying his own grade so far, meaning no grading push from his teacher, which is great. I do worry about his testing though. he tends to do okay on some days and poorly on others. It's always and uneven deal with him.

I was told that sending him to an academic tutoring place would be highly beneficial but man, some of those places charge an arm and a leg. It's insane some of the numbers I've heard. There is a newer service I just found out about that sends tutors into your home. It's WAY more affordable and you can schedule the days and times to suit you. That sounds a whole lot easier than having to run around to another place. I'm thinking we may need something like this for his SAT Test Prep in a couple of years. That's one test we can't afford for him to fluctuate with for sure.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!

I TOTALLY forgot that it was Chinese New Year yesterday. Well, ok...I had remembered but that was like last week. LOL I have been cleaning like crazy which I do every year but never fast enough to make it by New Year's Day. I'm totally NOT Chinesey or auspicious in any sort of way but sometimes it's nice to at least try huh? That's evident in what we ate last night too. You are "suposed" to have all kinds of foods with some kind of meaning but instead we had...burritos! Yeah, Cinco de Mayo instead. hahaha

This year is the year of the ox which is my mom's year. Hopefully she will bring in some sort of prosperity and we can slowly climb out of our hole. Every time it's my year, I tend to have a brighter look on things and am definitely more hopeful in success. It's kind of funny because if you were to read the definition of the ox, my mother is SO not one. She's like the complete opposite! I think something's fishy there. LOL

Sewing Woes

So, I mentioned a new craft a bit ago. Well, thank God it's not sewing. I had no idea at all how incredibly bad I am at doing it. When I was younger I tried my hand at very simple embroidery which was fine but I really can't sew for the life of me. I have a simple sewing machine and I can't even use that. LOL It's mainly for hemming my pants (since I can't do it by hand) but that's about all I can do and even then I'm sure that I don't do it the right way.

I've always wanted a machine that I can program to embroider things by itself. I would love to personalize and decorate my things and things for No-No. It would even help out with DH's hats because he goes through them like nothing and can never have enough of them. What I didn't realize is that there are so many places that let you customize your own items online with preset images and you can even upload your own logo and have it totally custom embroidered . That's really cool! There's even one place that will give discounts for any order over five items and the discounts only keep going up. That would be more than perfect for the hats. Not to mention how much money it would save us. I can't wait to play around with it. ;o)

Field Trip!

We had a great last weekend. It was nice out so we decided to go out to the city and grab some food and walk around. This is our FAVORITE dim sum eatery. It is mostly take out and the prices are great and the food is worth the money. There are so many times that you go for dim sum and it's so small all you can do is stare at it in wonder. LOL We went for a walk to see what's new on Clement St. and encountered a situation where some people should have gotten arrested but got off lucky. (Another post for later) It's always fun to go into all of the grocerys and things to see what's fresh for the day. Even the fish makets didn't smell as badly of fish and bleach as usual.

After our walk we drove over to Japantown to have dinner and do a bit of window shopping. Just about everything closes early there. Dinner was great, although a little too high priced for me. Of course I had to hit the book and stationary stores. I LOVE Japanese stuff! I picked up a fun new book and a new hobby. You'll see more of that soon as it's become my new time consumer. lol

So, that's where I've been...out and about. I miss being "free". LMAO!

SHOES!!!

It is absolutely no secret that I LOVE shoes like no tomorrow. I swear I have had over 60 pairs at one time. One of my friends and I used to compare to see who ended up with the most shoes by the end of the month. LOL Working in retail really didn't help my addiction and during sale time I would always end up buying three or more pairs to add to my collection. I LOVE this "Spence" style of dani black shoes. It's SO cute. I have a lot of clothes that would go with these. the only problem is that they are really high and I have wide crummy feet and I can't go as high as the four inches that these are. :o( It's a total bummer! They would have been great for a day out when I actually felt like getting dressed and leaving the house. I do miss being in the real world sometimes. Well, to tell you the truth...I really miss shoe shopping since I haven't gotten a new pair in years.

The hardest thing for me to find was flat shoes to wear to work. Since I was on my feet every day, I couldn't wear anything but flat shoes. If they had any lift at all to them it couldn't be over an inch to an inch and a half or I'd be on fire. There were tons of girls who wore really high heels all day long like the first picture here and it always used to fascinate me. I have no idea how they did it. This pair of "Aria" shoes would have been more than perfect for work. It is a bit more conservative than something that I would wear normally but that's what we had to wear so I would pick shoes with more detail and fun things on them to make it a little less boring. I normally ended up with a few colors of the same shoe once I found one that I liked. The best part about these is that they come in black too. Those were always really hard for me to find when I needed a new pair. Too bad I'm not still working there...these are on sale! LOL!

Beans is What You Get

Ok, I'm sure you all have heard about this guy by now. If not you're in for one.

I was up WAY too early this morning and was greeted by a story on the news about this man...a doctor...a surgeon, suing his wife for her kidney. Okay, back up a bit. Dr. Batista of Long Island has been married to his wife since 1990. They have three kids together. Back in 2005 she filed for divorce and it has been going on to this day. I really don't know what the problem is but something tells me that it's his own pig-headed arrogance. Now, I have no idea what is wrong with his wife but it had to have been bad because in 2001 he donated her a kidney. According to him "there was no greater feeling on the planet" after he went through with the surgery. Apparently not because if he doesn't get her kidney he wants 1.5 million dollars.

So what lead up to all this? He claims that about 18 months after the transplant, she went out and had an affair and soon after was talking about divorce. Now, correct me if I'm wrong but there had to be some other reasons why she would want to leave him in the first place, right? I mean people just don't go through something like that and wake up one day and say hey, I hate you I want that guy over there. I'm not saying that it's not possible but not probable either.

And where does this doctor get off wanting his kidney back? Is she not the mother of his children? Does he really want her to die or face dying because she didn't want to stay married to him? My feeling is that if this man has the nerve to try to sue her for a bodily organ that would risk her life then there are a host of other reasons why she didn't want to stay with him in the first place. I mean come on! Chances are that a person with such gall would no doubt be using this as something to hang over her in efforts to make her feel as though she owed him. And why are we talking about this anyway? Supposedly taking this case public was his last resort to trying to win his battle. Are you freakin serious?! Does he think that this country is so morally degraded that the public wouldn't see him as the raving idiot?! So he was cheated on...he's not the only one. So he felt like an ass when it happened...who wouldn't? So, now he is making himself out to be a bigger ass trying to gain sympathy...from who?! It's already been said by numerous lawyers and others that there is no way he can try to get away with this one. I can't wait to hear that he got squashed in court. What a jerk. He may have felt humiliated when she left him but he's doing a pretty damn good job all on his own now if you ask me.

Get Movin!

I've ended up going MIA for a few days again. LOL *sigh* I'm not sure if I've ever truly come out of my funk or if I just need some serious antidepressants. I'm just not the same as I was even a few months ago. I'm sure it's just stress and what not but man, this really does suck.

I've been wanting to work out and do all kinds of things, which would include cleaning for the new year and stuff. I'm SO tired of living in filth! Every time I start to clean I only have time to do some and within two days it's all upside down again. Drives me crazy!

I guess I just need to face up to the fact that I am a non-functioning person no matter what. I used to have to take pills in the morning and at night when I had to work really early. I know, it's SO bad for you but it's all that's worked. Now if I can find the same results in Leptovox...that would be great!

Happy (Belated) Birthday Yes-Yes!

Okay, I know...BAD MOMMY! I wanted to get this up LAST FRIDAY when it was his actual b-day but hey, we get busy don't we?

Thirteen years ago, I was at home lying on the couch in labor with Yes-Yes. I was a week early from my due date and wasn't sure if I was actually in labor or just had some REALLY bad indigestion. LOL I remember my mom coming down the stairs wondering what I was doing. As soon as I told her she flipped her lid and immediately said let's go to the hospital. Uh, yeah right. Confine me? I don't think so. My best friend was living with me at the time and I told my mom NOT to go up and wake her up but of course, she did anyway. My friend came barreling down the stairs in a panic and I had to calm HER down. LOL I really didn't want to be tied to a bed so I took a shower quite unsuccessfully I must say. Why is it that when you're in labor and wanna get a bit of relaxation, people wanna do the friggin dishes?! *sigh* That was not the best shower I had ever had. LOL! After that I sat around for a while and around 9:30am I decided I'd had enough.

We got to the hospital which was only a few blocks away and they sat me down in a chair as they moved some poor lady out of her room and prepped it for me. I still have no idea what that was all about. I have no idea how far into labor she was but she was enormous and could barely walk. So they get me in there and right away I asked when I could have some meds. I wasn't about to sit around all day in pain. They gave me something (have no idea what it was) and I was fine. Not long after I got my epidural, by myself I might add. Everyone ran out of the room for that one. DH left and came back with a couple of our friends and by that time I was high as a kite. He didn't even say anything to me, just looked at my friend and she nodded. LOL!!!! Soon after I was pushing and the dumb nurse left me in there without telling me what to do! We were all confused and DH ran down in a football stance to catch the baby that was apparently going to come flying out like a squirrel. The delivery went fine after that, Yes-Yes was born at 1:56pm a 5.6lb baby, and I had about 15 people in and out of the hospital with me that day.

Fast forward and here we are. He's now an official teen about my height, I'm getting old, we have a toddler, and that friend of mine is no where to be found. Boy how things change. I never thought that by the time he was this old that I would be a stay at home mom again. Good lord. I would never trade either of them for the world and I'm SO happy that I am able to be their mom. Since Yes-Yes is still geeky and into Star Wars, I thought the pic was quite appropriate. Ironically he got invited to a belated party for one of his friends, so he went off laser tagging which he is totally stoked about. Happy Birthday Yes-Yes!!!

A Healthy Me

My hormones have been seriously out of whack lately. I'm not sure why but I'm thinking it is because I haven't been eating right. Hopefully it isn't some sort of thyroid problem or something. I have been really lethargic, sleepy, and highly irritated. I'm freaking out all the time and would much rather spend my day very alone. This totally does not help my family out at all. LOL

I went to see if I could find some sort of vitamins to try to help me out but there are so many I can't figure out which one to buy. I just want a multi vitamin but they will have different symptom that they are aimed at so there will be more of one thing than another. Then I'll read books that will tell me the same thing. Take this to help that and more of this to help that over there. What if I have them all and need something to clear the whole picture up? That's why I am so glad I have learned about blogs and the things they can do for you. Did you know that Whole Foods has a blog? Neither did I, although just about every one does now. LOL Anyway, they also have a supplements podcast that will help you figure out a from zinc and what is good for what. Since I don't have an ipod, I'm going to be downloading them to Yes-Yes's so I can finally get some help. Oh yeah, I should also think about going to the doctor too don't ya think? ;o)

Oh Oprah...

Okay, I'm sorry I had to put in my few cents on this. Right now Oprah is having her "best life" workshop week on her show. Why? Because she gained weight. Yeah we all noticed it at some point in time but come on! What I'm about to say may get me in some trouble by all the devout Oprahees but I watch her too so don't think I'm just bashing for no reason.

The last few years of Oprah's show have been very insightful and full of knowledge. She has brought on Dr. Oz, Suze Orman, and a host of other professionals to take our "normal people" questions that we wouldn't have access to so on a normal basis. The whole message was to live a healthier life and not focus on weight as your only indicator of living a healthy life. Especially for women and girls, this message is valuable to raising a whole new generation separated from our mothers. This is great. I loved this idea and of course it would definitely get some great ratings.

So what's my problem? Of late it seems that Oprah has really downgraded herself from grace. I still believe her to be a great human and advocate for issues taboo to our country but she hasn't been of the same caliber that she was taking on previously. She was true and honest and lately she has been having shows full of fluff and movie promotion or reproducing shows on issues already talked about on some other program. Why do I want to sit and hear about a show on the same network as her show is when I can watch that later on my own? Now we are going back to the health issues and her big reveal that she has "fallen off the wagon" and we have to go back through all of the same information that she has had before so we again can "live our best lives". I mean, is it SO necessary to relive it all as new when not much new news is revealed? Aren't there other areas to talk about within living healthily and a different way of promoting it? Wasn't that the message in the first place and now is being contradicted by Oprah's admission that she is again 200 pounds? I almost feel like she and her producers have sold out to the networks to bring in as many viewers as possible by any means because all of their other shows suck and repetitive so know her shows are doing the same thing.

Really, my whole issue with this IS that she made such a big deal out of living healthily and NOT focusing SO much on our numerical weight if we were living a healthy lifestyle. How is it that she can say that she has been living the way that she has been more than happy to keep reminding us that she was on each show on this issue and come out at the beginning of a year and say that she's fat and needs to be re-reminded? What does that say to all of the devoted followers that thought they were listening and joining someone that was supposed to be living this same way? I know that we are all human and error was a part of each of those shows. But how is it that now she can say that her weight is not part of living a healthy life? Isn't that going against the message that she touted along with Dove, a sponsor aiming at empowering the "real" woman and refocus our image of what a real woman is? I know this is supposed to be a "reminder" for us all to stay and commit to a lifestyle change but I'm feeling this is slightly overdone.

Okay, I will get off my soapbox and let you put in your two cents. What do you think about this? Do you think Oprah isn't all what she used to be? Or do you think that this makes her even more admireable in her (AGAIN) admission that she has gained weight? Remember though, I like Oprah, just not the conflicting messages that are coming out of this.

Luxury Shopping

Have you ever wanted something really expensive but have found that went you went into a store to browse around (even if you can afford it or not), you were treated as if you didn’t belong? It is kind of like the movie “Pretty Woman”. I’ve found this too. Even when I was dressed for success and went into certain stores, I immediately got the feeling that I shouldn’t be in that store. Not one person greeted or even cracked a smile in my direction. It really is probably one of the worst forms of stereotyping that I have experienced.

Things like that had made me want to buy it online as to avoid this uncomfortable feeling but once I would get on, I found that I couldn’t tell which websites were authentic and selling the actual merchandise and which weren’t. Yeah, I could have just purchased from a site that is a branch of the retail store but I would find that I would end up shopping around, wanting to price compare, and that since I was treated in such a way in person I certainly didn’t want to spend my money there. If only all websites were like Perpetual Diamonds. Because they sell authentic, high quality merchandise, they guarantee only the highest level of confidence with your purchase. All transactions go through a type of escrow service and each watch is tested, treated, and guaranteed to function properly. They really have gone through every measure necessary to ensure a comfortable transaction for each customer. Now, why is it that there isn’t this level of service when you shop in person? It’s too bad there aren’t more merchants like this out there.

No-No Turned TWO!!!

Well, I survived. LOL! Yesterday (technically it was on Monday...couldn't get this up sooner) was No-No's second birthday. We didn't have a whole big thing this year so it was kind of sad but she had her few special things and, of course, since she's so young she doesn't get it yet anyway. All day we were all telling and asking her about her birthday and she just looked at us like we were crazy. Even worse we were all talking to her holding up two fingers, so I can only assume that she thought something went weird with us as she watched us as if we'd lost our minds and joined some crazy cult while we showed her the new greeting. LOL!

We didn't have room in the freezer so I ran out to get her birthday cake a couple hours before dinner. For some reason I like getting her ice cream cakes. It's probably because that's what we all had when I was young. Especially the rainbow one (yes, I did edit out her name...that's not bad frosting you're seeing) that I ended up getting her, except ours were white. I had to laugh like crazy when DH playfully asked me if he could have the clouds. I can't even count how many times that had been said at the parties I went to followed by a cat fight about who was the birthday girl and who was the guest. *sigh* Girls. I just can't even wait for all of that to happen. LOL!

For now I will take what comes in its own chaos. I couldn't get a very good picture of her even with a faster shutter speed. Especially when she was eating...every time she looked up it was only to tell me to feed her more. And of course the night's excitement didn't end there. There were still her few presents (she loved a wooden grill set that I had picked up last year) and I had yet to know that she would go and draw all over the white wall with her red crayon. Thank God for washable!

Clutter Crazy

Since the new year started one thing that I'm sure a lot of people want to do is clean and start "fresh". I know I REALLY want to get our chaos under control but I can't seem to. Everybody has SO much crap! It's incredible. My mom has all kinds of stuff in every room, which would be fine except that she won't go through or part with anything. The same goes for my step dad except that his stuff is mostly paper and he is a "stacker" so there are piles all over the house. Even on top of the microwave he has a small stack. Yes-Yes is getting better about parting with his toys and unused things...he no longer cries (yes at 12 he still teared up). No-No is only beginning to aquire so I'm trying to keep a handle on it early and DH has a habit of bringing home all kinds of stuff people don't want. My question is, why in the world would we want it then? Maybe I should turn those efforts of his into dumpster diving for something decent. Hey, it could happen. LOL As for me I have a lot but much of it is being saved for No-No. If she doesn't want it later I can get rid of it since it's mostly my old toys and things like that. Heck, she'll probably break them all so I'd have to throw them out anyway.

I think the worst part is our garage. There is SO much in there and I even made my parents help me clean it out this summer. Where does all this stuff come from? There's even some oddly shaped shipping boxes that can't fit anything in them. I guess I can try to craigslist them and see if they will go for free. LOL *sigh* Living like this is so cramped and just plain icky. I can't wait for clean and sparkle!

Comfy?

I have had my glider for about 13 years and would really love to get another one. For those of you who don't know, a glider is like a rocking chair but doesn't have rails on the bottoms but this contraption that glides the chair. Okay, so yeah I have this chair I want to replace. The chair itself is in semi okay condition, kinda falling apart, and the cushions are terrible and totally uncomfortable. I tell DH and he says that we should get something to replace it. What can we get? We can hardly afford anything after Christmas and birthdays. What does he tell me? He wants a chair that's comfortable like home theater seating. What?! You've gotta be kidding! I couldn't believe what I was hearing. LOL! Men are so dense. How would that even come close to replacing my chair? Really. Geesh He just wants to have an excuse to get something he wants to sit in and be even lazier than he already is.

Unfriendly Skies

For those of you that fly a lot, you may find this a little interesting. My step dad has worked for United Airlines for over 20 years as a mechanic. He has certifications in many areas and does a whole lot more than just fix the planes. Untied has had MANY layoffs at SFO and we all know about all of their stupidity leading up to and even after their filing of bankruptcy. Not only has he lost most all of any retirement that he has, he has also lost his ability to retire and gain much more than a lifetime fly pass, a small amount of money, and that about sums it up. So on top of all of the stuff he pays before taxes on his paycheck, he has had so many pay cuts that he is left with such a small amount that he can't afford to pay the mortgage each month which was not the case when they bought the house ten years ago. Boy do things change.

So really it wasn't a shock but a still a slap when instead of a bonus he received this box as a Christmas gift. (He had received something similar last year.) Note the greeting on the inside flap.

And this is what was inside...

Isn't that nice? Untied felt that their employees are such important parts of their company that they decided to give them a little gift. Aside from the box, the gift wasn't anything more than a repackaged snack box that you can get during your flight of assorted crackers, cheese spread, candy, nuts, and cranberries. I thought it quite nice that they even threw in the lemon scented hand wipe. Okay, okay, the cocktail napkin and plastic knife was a nice touch too. Don't you think? I don't know, if you ask me the peppermint tea was a nice addition since all you have to do is add water. *end sarcasm*

One Goal to Go

Okay, burning eye...gone. LOL

One thing that I did want to ask you guys is if you've ever been to the Jersey Shore. I've always wanted to go but never made it there. I heard that it's tons of fun and there are even theme parks on the beach. I'd love to go for a vacation, especially right now after all the stress we've been through. Sometimes I wish we had some money to spend so we could take advantage of all the great deals that are out there. I came across one for discounted season passes to Morey's Piers waterparks. That sounds like a lot of fun. I haven't been to a waterpark in forever. I know the kids would love it if we went on a Jersey Shore beach vacation.

I would really love to go out there and travel around a bit. DH would most likely want to go fishing all the time since we'd be near water. LOL He hates going on vacations where there's no water around. Even when we went to Disneyland he was whining about wanting to go to the beach. I think he'd love the Jersey Shore and Wildwood hotels. The resorts are on the beach and there is a whole lot to do there with all the parks and restaurants, there never seems to be a dull moment. I really want to go somewhere this year and even though times are really bad, I think we can make it there if we try hard enough. All we have to do is save and budget really carefully. It is definitely on our to do list this year.

It's a New Year Baby!

WOW! I missed New Year's by a long shot. LOL I've been super busy taking pictures of all the stuff that I've been doing to show everyone. I hope everyone had a safe night though. I have become an old lady and don't go out anymore for partying. I have safe and sane holiday nights. LOL I'd love to hear what everyone's been up to, so let me know.

So, what's new...hmmm. Well, as you can see I haven't kept up too well. I think I REALLY burnt myself out through out November and once I got sick a month ago that pretty much did me in. I thought I had the flu but it may have been strep throat. I've never had that so I couldn't tell. Whatever it was it was TERRIBLE though. Since then I've just been sitting around trying to get better the best way I know how...staying in bed and sleeping it away. Sleep usually helps me get better since I don't do much of it so my body can recoop. It was really hard to fall asleep being that sick too but I managed. LOL!

I have started with the New Year's "affermations" and am trying to stick with them. You like how I did that? LOL I'm not calling them resolutions anymore since I wouldn't ever do them so I thought if I used them as daily affermations I'd have a better mind set about it. So far so good! I'll have more on those later on. Right now I have something in my eye and it's burning, so ttyl! LOL