Why I Love Language Arts

Son #1 is getting an F.  In Pre-Calc.  I'm ticked.

He's always been a smart boy....takes honors classes, catches on fairly quickly (when he applies himself), and gets mostly As with a couple Bs here and there.

Now he's getting an F.

I had a parent-teacher conference last week with this woman who is teaching Pre-Calc for the first time.  The following are words that actually came out of her mouth:
"I just don't know how to teach this."

Hmmm...  What I wanted to reply but didn't (because I'm much snarkier in my head than I am in real life) was, "Then you should not be teaching this class," or "Why are you a math teacher?" or "So my son has to suffer and struggle because you don't know what you're doing?"  But I didn't.  She also said, "I know how to do this type of math, I just don't know how to explain it."  Isn't that kind of the hard part of a teacher's job?  Knowing how to explain it to others?

The teacher also told me that anyone getting an A or a B in the class is staying after school daily for help. She suggested that Son #1 request help from another math teacher, who happens to be the chair of the math department.  She didn't even suggest that he come to her for help.

Since then, we've sought out two separate math tutors for him.  One is a college student who is currently enrolled in Calc 3.  The other is a peer who reads calculus books over summer break for pleasure.  I decided to give it just a bit more time, even though my gut told me it's already too late.  You see, in math, one concept must be mastered before a student can move on to the next concept.  Since Son #1 hasn't fully grasped the last 39 concepts, moving onto the next concept is like trying to brush your teeth while eating an Oreo cookie.

His last two test scores were 23% and 27%.  The class took a test yesterday and, according to #1, everyone failed it.  Even the kid who reads calc textbooks for fun failed the test.  So, I decided I've had it.  I called the principal.  Why should my son be the guinea pig for this teacher who is trying to figure out how to be a teacher?  This experiment of putting her into a class she can't teach has screwed up my kid's academic career.  Not only has his GPA plunged, now we're hesitant to allow him to move onto higher math for his Senior year.  If he can't get pre-calc, how is he going to get Calculus or Physics?  And move on another year or two....how is he going to grasp college level math when he never learned it properly in high school?  Mama Bear is not happy.

While I'm all riled up, I'll go ahead and let you know that the principal wasn't available and I had to leave a message.  So, I'll be a nervous wreck anticipating his return call.  I don't know what I want him to do about the situation, if anything, but I think he needs to be aware that he's employing a teacher who can't teach.

Wish me luck.  I hate confrontation more than spiders.

The Happy Ending to a Crappy Story

Something great happened to me a couple months ago and I've been dying to share it on my blog for a while now!

You may or may not remember all the problems we've had with our plumbing over the past two years.  If you scroll down for a while (or click that tag that says "irritating"), it won't take you long to find a post or two about it.  We ended up spending over $10K to fix these issues and they were never resolved.  We finally decided to pursue legal action.

We hired a new attorney, who was just setting up shop in our community.  She came recommended to me by the law director of our town (a friend of mine).  She was young, ambitious, and ready for a fight.  When I explained the circumstance to her and asked if she did this kind of work, she excitedly exclaimed, "Oh yes, I do!"  That's the attitude I wanted.  I hate it when a hired professional acts like they're doing you a favor.  This woman, Angelina, was very grateful for the work and was anxious to begin.

Angelina and I met and we discussed every detail related to the situation.  She commended my organizational skills (which is one of the best compliments a person could give me) and was ready to dive in.  She wasn't haughty and asked my opinion on how I thought things should be handled.  We agreed that she would write a letter to the head guy of the plumbing company.

A quick recap will remind you that, after the plumbers messed up the job, I called them back out.  Instead of admitting their own mistake and fixing it, they tried to charge me $5000 more to fix it.  They also charged me $400 to tell me that they were going to charge me $5000 to fix their mistake.  We declined and they got snarky.  We hired another plumber (who caught their mistake) and a contractor to gut the bathroom and fix the issues.

When Angelina wrote the letter, she requested that they pay for the new plumbing job and the contractor's bill, refund the $400 for doing nothing, pay our family for the hardships of not having a bathroom for over a year, and refund part of the money for grossly overcharging us for the initial $9000 job.  When I tried to settle with the company, I asked for $8K.  He scoffed.  He offered me $2800, I think it was.  Angelina went a little hog wild and asked for $16K in the letter!  I was almost too scared to send it.  She mailed it and they countered with something insulting.  I actually can't remember at this point.,,I think it was somewhere between $5K-$6K.  She countered back at $13K and told them we were prepared to move into court.

Are you ready for this?  They accepted!  I got a check a month later for $13,000!  I wept.  After the worst financial year in our adult lives, we were just thrown a life raft!  We paid the plumber, paid the contractor, and paid the credit cards that were carrying a balance from this mess!  But the best part is, we got a stunning new bathroom out of it!  I'm working on it a bit at a time.  It's nearly done now...I still need to find a mirror for above the sink and a ceiling light.  I'd like to hang some artwork, but I have to find or create it first.

It was a long, painful battle, but we won!  Honestly, I would have rather had the 1970s ugly bathroom we originally had if I wouldn't have had to deal with all this.  But now that it's over, let me say that I thoroughly enjoy the time I spend in there.  Can you say that about your bathroom???  Fights in our house have decreased now that two people can potty at the same time.  God has been good.

Treasure your bathroom today and consider the alternative if you find yourself perched on the throne for a while.  It's a luxury we all take for granted.  Thankfully, this story finally has a happy ending!

This is PLUMB crazy!

OMG- you won't believe what's been going on around here!  A long time ago, I wrote a couple posts about the plumbing issues we've had around our house.  Well, folks, it turns out that this problem is far from over!

Last I left you, we had decided to close down our half bath because we didn't have the $5500 necessary to fix the additional problems.  All six of us have been living with one bathroom since February.  It's been torture!  We still have not finished paying back the $9,000 we borrowed from my grandfather for the first set of plumbing issues.  We were talking to him the other day about it and he said not to worry about paying the rest of the bill right now.  He wanted us to take a break from paying and get our half bath fixed instead.  We agreed.  We're desperate for another potty around here, people!

SO- we called out a new plumber.  We didn't like the original plumber, Mr. Rooter.  They were cocky, condescending, and far too expensive.  It was like getting your house plumbed by a used car salesman.  After they left, we felt like we had been taken, but there was nothing we could do about it.  The new plumber came out and we explained our situation.  He gave us a much cheaper estimate than Mr. Rooter so we gave him the green light.  The floor was torn out of my bathroom and my back yard was dug up AGAIN.

I'll skip ahead a bit.  In the midst of the work down in the backyard hole, the plumber called out to me.  He figured out why my half bath was not working.  It was not plumbed!!!  Stop and think about that for a moment.  We paid $9,000, plus $700, plus $400 to fix the plumbing problems in our bathroom and the BATHROOM WAS NOT EVEN HOOKED UP!  The sewage came out the pipe and just flowed freely into the ground.  I'm dead serious.  This is why the bathroom was not working.  Mr. Rooter dug a huge hole in my backyard, around my patio, down the side of the house, and all the way to the street and did not tie it in to the bathroom plumbing!  Both of the new plumbers and my father believe that this act was done maliciously.  They knew my plumbing would not work and that I'd have to call them back.  They knew they would get another job out of it.  My plumbing did not work.  I did call them back.  They came back out, charged me $400 and quoted me another $5500 to fix their own mistake.  What they didn't count on was that I would hire another plumber who would catch what they did.

We left the huge hole open and called Mr. Rooter back to see what they did (or neglected to do).  They, of course, denied that it was done intentionally.  They said that they must have missed that line coming out of the bathroom.  OK, stop and think about this again.  These are licensed plumbers and they're not able to find the line coming out of the bathroom???  Yeah right.  In fact, we know that they saw the line because they CUT THE END OF THE PIPE OFF!  It was in the way of the new line they laid, so they just cut it off!  So, long story short- they are crooks.

They finally admitted that they botched up the job and asked what we wanted.  We told them we wanted the new repairs covered, including both the plumbing and renovation work to put the bathroom back together.  We also felt we should be compensated for a year and a half without the use of our bathroom.  I also asked for the $400 back that they charged us to snake our toilet the last time, when they told us it was going to be $5500 more.  He scoffed.  He said he'd give us $3200 back, which does not even cover the plumbing repairs to fix their mistake!

So, here are the facts:  they did the work incorrectly and charged me $9000.  When it didn't work, I called them back.  Instead of fixing their mistake then, they charged me $400 more and quoted me $5500 to fix what they did wrong.  Because of that, I had no bathroom for 18 months, ripped out my bathroom, and dug up my back yard.  All because they screwed me.  And they don't want to pay.

I didn't even respond.  I hired an attorney.  She is quite confident that we will get back more than I originally requested from Mr. Rooter.  They should have settled.  Now, I hope that they end up paying out way more in court.  Our attorney even suggested going after them for grossly overcharging us for the first job.  Our new plumber said he could have done it for maybe $3000.  Yikes!

Call it karma, say what goes around comes around, call it what you will, but I want Mr. Rooter to get what they deserve.  If you google their company name, websites come up of the top complaints about them.  I've talked with the inspector from our city who inspected both jobs.  He has the power to keep them from doing business in our town.  I hope he moves forward on that because I want to protect my community from being robbed like I was.

This is a national company, so please do not use them for any plumbing issues you might have.  I'm not normally one for bashing a company on social media, but I want to protect innocent, hard-working people from being scammed.

And finally, enjoy your potty today.  You don't realize how important it is until it's taken away from you!

Potty Mouth

I feel like my blog is a bit of a complaining platform.  I hate that.  I apologize for that.  However, I feel like complaining here to the wide open world helps me handle life a little better.

Remember when I talked about the horrible sewer/plumbing situations we experienced a year ago?  Certainly you should because I just managed to hit "publish" a few days ago.  Almost exactly a year ago, we forked out $9,000 to repair indoor/outdoor plumbing issues.  Actually, we didn't fork it out because we didn't have it.  We borrowed it and still have not paid it off.  It's a constant thought in my mind....I HATE being in debt.

Anyway, we've been having more plumbing issues.  These issues involve the downstairs half bath.  The toilet has given us trouble for a while now and has been totally unusable for the past two weeks or so.  Do this math, please:  we have six people in this house and one working toilet.  Yeah, it's not pretty.  If it wasn't so snowy and freezing here, I would make the fellas relieve themselves outside.

Saturday, Hubby called the plumber to come take a look at our situation.  They said they would make us the last call of the day or be there Sunday morning from 9-11.  Well, they didn't show Saturday.  That meant Hubby had to miss church.  We don't miss church.  It's just how we are.  I drag myself (and the kids) to service even when we're sick.  It's mostly because I have a zillion jobs in the church and am always needed.  Going to church sick is easier than trying to find someone to take my place.  My parents raised me that way and it's in my blood.  So, Hubby missed church.  They didn't show again.  At 11:00, he called.  They said our appointment time was 11-4.  No....that's not what you said on the phone.  Oh well....we can deal with that.  At 4:00, they called and said they were running late.  Hubby had now missed church, the family dinner at Grandpa's house, and his coveted Sunday nap.  Irritating.  We also have service on Sunday nights.  I had to be there early for choir practice so the kids and I headed out, leaving Hubby at home.  Again.  They finally showed up at 6:45.  When I got home from church, they were still there, problem unresolved.  They scheduled to come back today between 10 & 11.

They actually arrived within that window, this time bringing more skilled equipment.  They sent a camera down my toilet hole (I say hole because the toilet was sitting in my living room).  They determined that the problem was under the bathroom floor.  They announced they were going to have to rip up the bathroom floor, replace the pipe, and tap it into the sewer that they fixed last year.  The damage?  $5500!!!!  My jaw nearly hit the floor and I had to fight to keep from crying.  I told them no way.  They discussed financing options with me, asked if I could borrow from my dad, and got a little too personal for my liking.  I simply said, "Dude, we don't have it.  We haven't paid off the last project yet and cannot finance any more."  They came down in price, which still didn't help.

So, to jump ahead....they packed up and left, doing nothing.  I paid $400 for nothing.  I cried.  We're struggling to make ends meet and we need to spend $14,000 on PLUMBING!!!!!  We're going to have to make things work with only one toilet from now on.  Someday, we'll be able to fix it, but that day is not today.

Then Hubby called me.  He got his shoulder x-rayed, which he injured last week playing basketball.  He's a great athlete but doesn't seem to understand that at age 40, he can't play with the same intensity he once could.  His shoulder isn't broken but extremely messed up.  They referred him to an orthopedic surgeon.  That was just the cherry on top of a bad day.  It's more than I can handle.  How can we survive if he needs surgery and is off work for six months?  I cried again.

That's all.  That's all I have to say today.  Like I said, I hate complaining.  But it's all I got right now.  (Excuse my bad grammar.)

I must move on.  I have a youth group meeting tonight and no plans.  Plus, I have a stress headache and I really need to use the bathroom.  Guess I'll trek all the way upstairs so I can "go."  Today's deep thoughts:  treasure your toilet.

A Smelly Situation

Originally written in March of 2014, I'm going to go ahead and upload this post.  It's interesting to me to go back and read it again!

It's once again time to update all that's been going on around here.  Whew...was last week sure busy!

On Monday, 5 industrial-sized trucks crammed into my driveway (and on my tiny street) to dig up my yard and charge me a truckload of money.  The week before, Hubby and Son #1 had taken back-to-back showers.  As #1 was finishing up, I could hear Hubby yelling my name in a panic.  I flew down the stairs to find our downstairs toilet overflowing like a geyser!  It wasn't just leaking, it was pouring out in gallons.  I screamed for one kid to run to the basement for all the dirty towels while I ran upstairs to order #1 to plug up the drain.

We've had drain problems pretty much since we've moved into the house.  My kitchen sink has always gurgled when I wash laundry or when there's a heavy rain.  I don't even notice it now.  We've had the drain cleaned out a few times, trying to buy ourselves more time before replacing the sewer system.  We thought maybe we would have moved away by now.  Well, we've put a band-aid on the issue too many times and we had to get serious to correct the problem.  They dug from my back yard, around my patio, up the side yard, and all the way to the street.  They removed the old, broken pipes and replaced them.  They leveled the foundation with gravel first and mounded it all back up.  My lawn is destroyed.

I had burly men in and out of my house all day, tracking in Who Knows What.  They went into the uttermost parts of my basement (you know, the really messy parts), under my cluttered kitchen sink, and even upstairs into my main bathroom.  I asked the guy if he wanted to check out my disorganized sock drawer too.  It was an uncomfortable day as I talked to a stranger about sewage and human waste.  The job was supposed to take two days, but luckily, they finished around dinnertime.  It's a day that I would never want to relive.  The damage:  $9,000.  Goodbye everything we've been working toward.  It was a very difficult decision to make.

With Hubby's recent reduction of hours, things have been a little tight around here lately.  We were OK with that and were willing to adjust our lifestyle a bit.  I find saving money as sort of a game and I continue to look for ways to do so.  I will have to admit defeat at the game whenever I have to get a real job outside the home.  But a $9,000 bill was something we were not prepared for.  We don't do debt, but unfortunately didn't have a good savings.  We should have saved better while Hubby's salary was more comfortable.  Isn't it amazing how perfect hindsight is?  We were able to borrow the money from my grandfather and can pay back the loan at 4%.  We're quite thankful for that.

All that being said, I have been on a mission to save money.  I'm already a bit frazzled, grouchy, and stressed, but I've become like a drill sergeant around here.

Nearly a year later, the nine grand is still not paid back.  :(  But we're working hard to get rid of the debt as quickly as we can!!!

I Am the Little Red Hen

I had a difficult day yesterday that turned out to have a pretty happy ending.

The part that made it difficult was the unreliability of other people.  Do you ever feel like other people take care of your helpfulness and no one is willing to step out and help you?  The Little Red Hen would understand what I'm going through. 

The first thing to throw me was when a friend called last minute and asked me to pick up her daughter from school.  She got stuck at work and couldn't get there in time.  I absolutely didn't have time to do that, but I surely wasn't going to make her daughter stand out in the cold for 40 minutes.  So I drove her across town, which made me ten minutes late to pick up Big Sis.  That's the kind of person I am.  Yes, I ended up putting out the teacher and my daughter in the meantime, but I had to step up and help when necessary.

Last night was a big event I organize every other year.  I teach all teenage girls in my club, and their mothers, how to make homemade pies.  It's a huge ordeal and it's expensive.  I have to haul trunk loads of stuff up to the church, sterilize and cover tables, wash dishes that have been stored for two years, print recipes, and instruct the class.  Each mother is supposed to work with her daughter, listening to my instruction while helping her with technique.  Every year, there are moms who can't make it.  I get stand-in moms who come out and team up with a motherless girl.  It seems like those helpers bail out on me every time.  I ended up calling my lifelong BFF and asking her to fill in last minute.  She was a peach who jumped in to help, but I needed more help.  You would not believe the number of people who flat out told me no.  People just aren't willing to help any more.  I never did find enough help and we had to make do with what we had.

I asked Son #1 to go to the church to help me set up tables.  He pitched one of his teenage hissy fits and I was in no mood to argue with him.  I stormed out the door and did it myself.  That task resulted in me carrying 8' tables up a flight of stairs.  No fun.  Thankfully, I didn't drop any of them or hurt myself, which I thought was likely to happen.  Finally, someone gave Hubby word what I was doing and he stormed right up behind me and yelled at me for doing it myself.  He helped with the last couple tables.  I vented my frustrations to him, using a word I rarely use, "People suck," I said. 

I did have one helper show up early.  She was a tremendous help, as was one mother who was somewhat early.  The two daughters of the early mom fought and screamed at each other, which made me a nervous wreck.

The instruction went pretty well.  Of course, there were the people who didn't listen to anything I said and messed up.  We end up wasting a lot of ingredients because people don't pay attention.  When it was over, there were the people who left without cleaning up after themselves.  It blows my mind!  I found one of our bowls filled with apple chunks and juice that someone just left for other people to take care of.  There was flour and juice all over the floor.  There were Crisco covered measuring cups that no one even tried to clean.  I looked at the giant mess and almost cried.  One of my helpers stood around, watching everyone else clean up.  She spent most of the time texting.  Yes, this is an adult.  I couldn't quite figure out why she was still there....moral support, maybe? 

Then there are the angels....those who stay until the very end.  One in particular, named Elizabeth, whom I barely know, was one of those angels.  She's a woman whose daughter started coming to church and she really fought her about it.  She wouldn't attend with her and really limited the daughter's attendance to certain events.  Maybe a year ago, the mom started coming a bit.  Now, she comes every service and is nothing but a joy!  I really developed respect and appreciation for her last night.  I plan to get her a small gift and write her a note of deep thanks. 

Then the icing on top of the cake was 14-year old Abby.  As she was leaving, she turned to me and said, "Best night ever!"  It's reasons like that.  Happy ending indeed!

Bitter, Grouchy, & Grumpy

Feeling a tad grouchy today, so I'm going to share with you a list of things that are currently getting on my nerves.

• People who talk in code on Facebook.  If your situation is too private to talk about in detail, DON'T PUT IT ON FACEBOOK!
• Humidity.  Trying to run in this thick air is like trying to run a race in waist-high ocean water.  It just doesn't work.
• Marathon training.  I don't feel like I'm progressing enough.  This could partly be due to the previous irritant.
• I'm running 3 times a week, yet I don't seem to be losing any weight.  What, my friends, could be more irritating that THAT???
• Finding out that my friend's ex-fiancee is engaged.  He dumped her less that a year ago.  Moving kind of quickly now, aren't we???
• The media.  I'm to the point where I can't open a newspaper or watch any news program.  I can't take it any more.   Everything is blown out of proportion.  Nothing can be believed any more.
• People getting their feelings hurt.  I wish I had the guts to tell people to Man Up.  
• Dust.  It's all over me with this cleaning out the rooms nonsense.  As I've aged, I've developed an extreme sensitivity to dust.  It's like I'm in the midst of a full-blown winter cold.  I've gone through half a bottle of Visine.  I think I need one of these.  

• Road construction.  We have so much of it around here, it's difficult to get anywhere.  I can't even get out one end of my own road.  Going all the way around is quite frustrating.  
• Here's the biggie:  Hubby got some bad news at work.  I almost feel guilty saying this because I've heard of people all over the place losing their high profile jobs.  Thankfully, Hubby still has a job.  But something that he's been working toward for years has been denied.  The managers there kept hinting that he was going to get it.  His accountant, who works for several of the guys there, even said he heard Hubby was getting it.  WRONG!  He was informed this morning that he was not one of the six people who got it and that he shouldn't be discouraged.  Yeah right...kind of hard not to be discouraged.  I just really feel bad for him.  He is the top employee there and won employee of the month numerous times before they did away with the program.  He feels like he was kicked in the gut.  "Just keep at it," they said, "and maybe another opportunity might come along."  They want him to continue to break his back for them, going above and beyond.  Hate to break it to you guys- you've killed his spirit.  He won't be going above and beyond for you any more.  

Sorry to be a downer today.  But I guess we all have our ups and downs.  At least I'm airing my grievances anonymously on the world wide web rather than talking about them in code on Facebook.  :)

Share your grievances today, friend!  That's what the comment box if for!!!

No Short Orders, Just Short Tempers

I had a breakdown last week.  I finally had it out with being a short-order cook around here.  I've complained and complained many times over that I have a family full of picky eaters.  I'm sick and tired of it and I can't take any more!!

I grocery shop every Monday and plan the meals for the week.  We stick to them for the most part, occasionally delaying one until the next week to make a run for Chipotle or order a pizza on a busy night.  But you can bet your home that, when I announce what we're having for dinner, someone will complain.  It's as sure as the sun rising in the morning and setting in the evening.

Last Monday, we planned on grilling out.  That is one of two or three meals that makes everyone happy.  Still, it's not like I can only grill one thing.  It's got to be cheeseburgers, made 3 different ways, and hot dogs, made 2 different ways.  It still ain't easy.  I don't even care for hamburgers or hot dogs, I just go with it every week or two just so I don't have to hear the complaining.

Anyhow, it ended up raining cats and dogs last Monday.  We were planning to cook over our fire pit, which had 2" deep puddles in it.  Because of that, I decided to delay Monday's meal and cook Tuesday's tacos instead.  Tacos are definitely in my top three favorite dinners.

Someone, I won't say who, heard the news about tacos instead of burgers.  He said- well, kind of yelled, "I am NOT eating tacos!  I don't like them and you know I don't like them!  I am NOT eating them!"  I was taken off guard, but kept my cool.  "Fine," I replied.  "I'm done then.  Y'all can make what you want from now on.  I'm not cooking any more."  I stormed out of the kitchen, changed into running clothes, and fled the house.  There was a bit more drama involved, but those are the bullet points.

The kids couldn't believe it.  Mom isn't cooking any more!  I also managed to declare that no one gets the easy way out either.  No pizzas, no McDonald's, no Chipotle.  You can fix something for yourself with the groceries that are here at the house.  There was still some confusion as to what was going on in this typically happy home.  I informed my family members that they can eat grilled cheese, boxed macaroni, or frozen pizza.  There's always peanut butter in the cupboard, which is what I ended up eating.

This continued for the entire week.  I refused to cook.  I was not giving in.  Finally, on Thursday, the apology came.  It wasn't long and detailed, but it came.  I was ready for a truce.  "There are two options," I said.  "Everyone can make their own dinner every night, but there will be no going out to eat.  You're stuck with what's here.  OR, I can start cooking again.  If I cook, there are going to be some huge changes.  You're stuck with what I make.  No one is refusing to eat and going to bed without dinner.  If I make it, you're eating it.  Also, there will be no complaining.  I don't want to hear that you don't like dinner.  Sit down, shut up, and eat.  Finally, I will not be announcing what I'm making.  I'm tired of being asked that question 6 times a day and hearing complaints.  You'll see what's for dinner when you sit down at the table."

Mama's on the warpath...

Option #2 was chosen.  SO...I decided to hit it hard.  This week, I am making all brand new things that I've never made before.  They probably will not be well received, yet I am prepared.  Maybe the fam will appreciate the way it's been up to this point and will beg to have things go back to the way they were.

On Monday, I had a youth group meeting that included dinner.  I decided to give them one last day of freedom before I grew my Hitler mustache.  They ordered pizza.

The remaining nights are going to be brand new recipes (to me).  I plan on sharing them with you, along with a story of how they went over.  Stay tuned...

Complaining in the Rain

I encountered a woman yesterday who is so very bitter about her lack of "stuff" in life.  She's a woman I stand next to every day on the sidewalk of the school.  We wait together for our kids to be dismissed.  We've exchanged the basic pleasantries, but I don't even know her name.  I know she's a single mom who walks to school every day.  During bad weather, I notice she often catches a ride with a neighbor.

Yesterday, it was raining cats and dogs (and elephants and hippopotamuses).  I had to pick up Son #1 and his tuba first, then go directly to Big Sis' school.  When I parked, I realized I didn't have an umbrella.  Growling, I realized that Hubby probably had at least three in his car.  I couldn't see the pickup spot from my car to know if it was time yet.  So I threw my coat over my head and ran to the sidewalk.  I noticed The Woman had a huge umbrella and I planned to ask if I could stand underneath with her.  As soon as I approached, the wind took her umbrella and demolished it.  She cursed and threw the umbrella down.  I muttered something halfway funny about us both being in bad shape, but she wasn't amused.  Realizing that the teacher wasn't there with her class yet, I ran back to wait in my car.

When the students finally arrived, I ran back through the flooded parking lot and picked up Big Sis.  I still had to pick up my little cousin on the other side of the parking lot, so I walked Big Sis back to the car.  It was then that I saw The Woman getting ready to walk home with her daughter.  "Do you guys want a ride?" I asked.  She exuberantly accepted and I pointed out my car to her.  "Go get in my van while I pick up my cousin," I told her.  "My kids are in there."

I splish-sploshed to the other end of the line, retrieved my cousin, and ran back to the car.  The Woman was in the front while my kids sat in the back.  I knew about where The Woman lived, which was on the way to my cousin's house.  I surely didn't mind giving her a lift.

We engaged in small talk on the ride, discussing the weather and other things.  She wondered if we would get a snow day this week.  I replied that a snow day would be nice.  She said she hoped not tomorrow, because she had a work appointment.  "Oh, where do you work?" was the natural response.  "I don't work," she replied.  I said something breezy in response and then asked if she was still in school.  She mentioned school once before to me.  No, she's not in school either.  That's when my problem began.

This woman does not work.  She does not take classes.  She has one child who is in school most of the day.  Yet she complains.  She complains about her junky phone.  She complains about having to walk to school.  She complains about not having a car.  I'm not sure what she does all day, but now I know that it's not work.

Pardon me for my frankness, but I was raised with the belief that you had to lie in the bed you made for yourself.  In other words, if you don't have a job, you can't expect to have nice things.  Am I alone in this?  This woman apparently lives totally on the government.  She has no live-in boyfriend supporting her. She has a home, food, nice clothes, and a cell phone.  Who is paying for these things?  She's not disabled.

I am getting sick and tired of this lazy society that expects someone else to take care of their needs.  I will continue to be nice to The Woman, as I am a nice person.  I will offer her rides home on rainy days because I believe in lending a hand to the less fortunate.  I can't say that I'm happy with the situation though.

Maybe I'm the only one who has these thoughts and I'm sure I'll hear from those who don't share my opinion.  I'm just getting fed up and needed to vent about it.  It's my blog and I'll cry if I want to!

No Courtesy

The longer I live, the less common courtesy I see in life.  When I finally see someone go out of their way to be kind, it's a shock.  Unfortunately, I have two stories today about the lack of common courtesy.

My parents were helping me by dropping off my son at one of his after school activities.  They pulled in the driveway and stopped to let him out of the car.  While he was getting out, the car in front of them threw it in reverse and plowed into them.  My dad even tried to quickly back out of her way, but he wasn't certain where my son was and didn't want to hit him.  Afterward, he realized he should have blown his horn, but you don't always make the best decisions in a quick moment.

The driver of the other car was irate at my father.  She said he was parked where she couldn't see him.  She also said, "Didn't you know I would just be dropping off and pulling back out?"  It doesn't matter.  When you drive backwards, it's your responsibility to check behind you.  What if my son or another child would have been walking behind her car? 

My parents, not wanting to create a difficult situation for me, asked the woman what she wanted to do.  She emphasized the fact that her car was damaged much worse than theirs and that each party should pay for their own.  My parents agreed, which totally infuriated me.  They were not at fault and should not be responsible for the damage done to their Lexus.  They didn't know if this person was a friend of mine and they were trying to keep peace.

The man of the house was a witness to the accident, but was suddenly nowhere to be found when details were hashed out.  I feel like he should have come to my dad's defense rather than hiding like a coward.

No courtesy.

The second event that happened regards my other son.  He recently got into a very small altercation with a peer whom he didn't know.  My son made some poor decisions and allowed his phone to be compromised by a friend, who also made poor decisions.  The other boy was defending someone he thought my son had hurt.  My son took it as a joke and made smart comments that he thought were funny.  We found out about this by randomly checking his text messages.  After I read them and questioned him down, I realized that the other boy is the son of my friend.  I felt horrible that she may now think my kid is a hoodlum.

I emailed her and apologized for the actions of my son.  I told her we didn't condone that type of behavior and we were disappointed in his actions.  I asked that she and her son forgive my son and not judge him by this one occurrence.  Honestly, her son was just as much at fault as my son, possibly more.  Her son used very harsh words and even made fun of my kid.  BUT- I was trying to be the bigger person...something my mom told me was an important, but difficult, thing to do in life.

That was days ago.  I still have not received a response.  At first, I thought she hadn't checked her messages.  But when I went back in to check for a response, I saw that the message had been read a few hours after I sent it.

I sent another message, explaining that I found out more about the story.  Several of the texts were sent by another person, pretending to be my son.  I wanted her to know that he, although not innocent, did not say all those things.

Still nothing.

I've been on pins and needles awaiting her response.  I've checked and discovered that both messages have now been read.  Why can't she respond- even a few words to say that kids are kids and make stupid decisions?

No courtesy.

Rather than lowering myself to the levels of these two people, I'm going to continue to be the bigger person.  I'm not going to call out the bad driver and cause a scene.  I'm also not going to send another email, stating that her son was just as much at fault and should also be apologizing.  I'm going to let both incidents go and just continue being a nice person.  Well, that and try to find a way to pay back my parents for their dented fender.

Annoyed and Not Loving It

Today, I  have a special edition of Pet Peeves Eating Me Alive!  I'm not sure if I'm a bit crabby or if people are allowing their true ignorance to spew forth more than normal.  It seems like so many people are getting on my nerves lately.

(By the way, googling "Pet Peeves" comes up with some pretty funny results.  I love Google.  It is definitely not one of my pet peeves.)

Number One- people in the school pick up line.  I know all of the parents out there know who I'm talking about.  I just hope you're not one of them.  If you are, please recognize yourself from this post and change your ways!  There are rules and regulations when it comes to picking up your kid after school.  Some of them are written; some of them are just common sense.  What makes me the angriest right now is the lazy people:  those who stop their car anywhere they want to avoid walking thirty feet to the assigned pick up spot.  They don't care if they block the entire drive and no one else can get through.  They don't care if their misplaced car causes me to step into a huge snowdrift.  All they care about is sitting in their warm car, with their warm pajamas, loud music, and cigarette hanging from their bottom lip.  These people also tend to roll down the window and shout the name of their child.  Enough said- I guess I need to be thankful that I'm above that type of behavior.

Number Two- people who share far too much on Facebook.  I know you know some of these people too.  These people can be divided into a few different categories:  people crying out for help, insecure lonely people, and people just too dumb to know better.  This week, I have seen a woman pour out her soul, detailing everything that is wrong with her life.  To her, I would like to suggest journaling her feelings privately instead of displaying her plethora of problems on the world wide web.   What can come of airing your dirty laundry to 437 of your closest "friends?" 

I have also seen a woman who detailed every problem in her adult son's life.  I think that's even worse.  I had no idea this man was involved in so much drama, but thanks to his dear mom, I now know every detail.  Privacy is obviously no longer important to so many these days. 

My biggest Facebook pet peeve right now is adult bullies.  Television specials and newspaper columns are dedicated to teens to cyber bully one another through social media.  No one seems to address the ridiculous adults who do the same thing.  Also this week, I was directed to a post about my family.  It was cruel, it was public, and it was embarrassing.  The worst thing is that I'm actually linked to the person who posted it.  The post wasn't skillfully vague so that no one would know exactly who they were talking about.  It was bold, obvious, and clear to anyone who knows us.  Being the classy person I am, I did not retaliate.  I did not post something equally cruel or slimy.  I lifted my chin a little higher, brushed off the insult, and went about my life.  (Then I came here and told all of you about it.)

Getting Grouchy at Drop-Off

Few things make me grouchier than the drop-off line at school in the mornings.  Grrr...my stress level is rising just thinking about it!  People drive with such little compassion for others; it really chaps my hide! 

The first thing that set me off this morning was the chick in the gold mini-van who attempted to do a U-turn right in front of me.  Sadly, our school sits on a busy street with one no-outlet side street bordering it.  It makes traffic flow horrendous.  So, this lady decides she's going to turn around on the side street.  Ha- yeah, right!  I had to wait on the main road while she drove in a semi-circle, ran out of room, backed up, and drove forward again.  Traffic was backing up because of her.  (I believe U-turns in the middle of the road are still illegal.  Yep, they are.)

Because it was raining this morning, I decided to drop Big Sis off at the back door.  She has a shorter walk that way.  Of course, the line was at least 15 cars long.  Up ahead, I see my good friend who is third in line.  She lets her kids out right there to help keep the line moving.  I shout Bravo! in my car, even though she can't hear me.  The dude behind her doesn't follow her lead and puts his truck into park.  He gets out, opens the door for his kid, and watches as the kid walks away.  Impatience growing...

Finally, I'm second in line.  Big Sis and I always do our goodbyes while waiting in line.  She takes off her seat belt, collects her belongings, and showers Baby Girl and me with hugs and kisses.  When my car stopped, she jumped out and ran into the school, ponytail bouncing.  The car ahead of me is still stopped and that child is just getting out.  My daughter is already in the school and the car ahead of us is still wrapping up business.  Finally, the child starts walking into the school.  The mom sits there and waits for her kid to get all the way inside!  With the manly gym teacher standing right there, does she think some molester is going to come along and grab her child within five feet of the school doors?  Just drive, lady!!!

I'm back to the intersection of the side street and main street.  Drop off in front of the school is crazy, due to the late hour.  (Yeah, we were running late again.  Surprised?)  Some carefree grandma decides to stop her car right in the intersection to let her kid off.  There apparently wasn't room directly in front of the school and she didn't want to make little Johnny walk ten extra feet.  So, here I am, stopped on the side street.  I'm unable to get out onto the main road because she is out of her car, walking around it!  Little Johnny didn't close the passenger door so she had to wobble all the way around the car to close it for him.

Is it just me?  Do I need anger management or do things like this bug the snot out of you too?  I don't claim to be the best driver in the world, but I try to be very considerate.  By the time I arrived home this morning, I was steaming.  Maybe riding the bus to school in the morning isn't such a bad idea after all....

An Apology

I am sorry to all those who received a spam email from me a couple days ago.  I have no idea how it happened and had no intention to harm anyone.  I have not opened any spam myself so can't quite figure out how all my contacts were emailed from my account.  I hope no one suffered any problems because of it.  Please let me know if it ever happens again.  I will close my account if necessary.

While it happened, we were on another road trip.  I'm glad to finally be back to my own bed!  Aren't hotel pillows horrible???  Hope everyone had a restful Sunday and a beautiful weekend!

Getting Taken

Sometimes I just feel like the world is out to get me.  All the little things in life are just so hard to take care of.  For example:

• I have my own business checking account.  I barely have a business, but I occasionally take pictures of people for money.  My mom is a business banker and insisted that I open an account for my business expenses.  Well, I don't really have expenses, but opening a new account would score me $100.  Fine...free money is always good to me.  Unfortunately, I don't know how to pay my bill.  I have no clue how to do stuff like that.  When we got married, I informed Hubby that I wanted absolutely nothing to do with the financial part of our lives.  He agreed so all was peachy keen.  So now that I have my own account, I feel like I should be the one to take care of it. I received a letter this week saying that I have a $15 late fee.  Great.  Now what do I do?  I don't even know how to pay the bill, let alone the late fee.  I had to call my mom and ask her to pay my bill for me.  Thankfully, she didn't act like I was the complete moron that I am.

• My local grocery store has electronic coupons that you can load onto your store loyalty card.  I think that's pure loveliness.  This week, I decided to check my receipt to make sure I'm getting all the credit I deserve.  I had gone $7 over budget and had my panties in a wad because of it.  I don't like going over budget.  Turns out, three of the electronic coupons didn't come off my card!  I'm pretty sure you could see the steam coming out of my ears.  I'm doing all this work to save a buck and it's not working.  I called the 800 number on my card and tried to get all my problems sorted out.  The jerk on the phone said that e-coupons can't be combined with manufacturer coupons and that's why they didn't come off my receipt.  Not convinced, I went to the coupon policy on their website.  Turns out, he was exactly wrong.  E-coupons totally can be stacked with manufacturer coupons.  Dude was trying to take me!  I feel like the store invented these internet coupons just to get me to spend more money than I normally would so I sent them a letter telling them that.  I didn't need Pantene shampoo and only bought it because I thought it was fifty cents a bottle.  Now I'm out $3 just on shampoo.  I didn't go over budget after all.  The savings were there, they just weren't applied to my total.

• Our satellite receiver totally isn't working.  We're paying a fortune to watch good TV and we can't even do that.  I have called and complained time after time.  They keep resetting things and changing things but nothing helps.  Last time I called, the lady told me they're coming out with a new receiver this month.  I'm just biding my time waiting on it to come out.  If I'm going to get a new one, I might as well get the newest one.  Meanwhile, I have to hear a lot of grumbling from Hubby about how he can't watch the Broncos game.  (I could care less about the Broncos and am actually quite happy when they're not on at my house.  All evidence to the contrary.)

These things are just getting under my skin and I want them all taken care of.  Things like this really start to bug me.  Oh, I also have to call and schedule a new internet connection to be set up, install Magic Jack, and cancel our land line.  Things like this are what make me grouchy in life!  I hate spending my good money on things that I shouldn't be spending it on.  Well, it's Hubby's money...but you get the point.

What little things in life are taking you right now?

Grocery Store Etiquette

It's been a while since I've blogged about my pet peeves.  I went to Target Saturday.  So now I have quite a few more.  How many of these things bug you?

• People who stop their shopping cart right in the middle of the aisle while they study something on a shelf.  They are in another world and are totally oblivious to the fact that you need to pass by.  Even a polite "Excuse me" gets no response.  One of these days, I might be in the wrong mood and ram one of them with my cart.
• People who walk in groups (very slowly) down the aisle.  They can't follow one another in a straight line...they must all be side by side so that I, again, cannot pass by.  When I go grocery shopping, I am on a mission.  I like to speed walk, get what I need, and get out of there.  (By the way, old ladies are exempt from the slow walking rule.  When you're old, you have earned the right to walk slowly.  These aren't the people who irritate me.)
• People who leave their shopping cart messy.  Saturday, I found a half eaten, orange peanut butter cracker in my cart.   Baby Girl picked it up and showed me, saying "Ewwww!"  Sure, my kids make a mess in the cart, but I clean it up afterward.  Also, don't leave the deli paper in your cart from your sample of maple ham.  Don't leave your store ad or shopping list in there either.  Take all your trash with you when you leave.
• People who block off half the parking lot because they're waiting on a space.  If the person before you has just started loading their groceries into the trunk, you may not sit there and wait on them.  (If no one is behind you waiting, you are exempt from this rule.)  It is not proper parking lot etiquette to wait on another driver unless they are already in their car, getting ready to pull out.  (Another exemption- when it's Christmastime and there are no spots to be found anywhere in the lot, you may stalk another shopper and follow them to their car.  Sometimes ya gotta do what ya gotta do.)
• People who write checks.  Seriously.  It's 2012.  They have this little plastic card now called a debit card.  It does the exact same thing as a check, only it takes a half of second to swipe instead of the fifty-three seconds it takes you to fill out a check.  "Was that fifty-two cents or sixty-two cents, Mildred?"  Come on, join us in the 21st century and get a debit card already!

And yes, believe it or not, every one of these things happened to me during one solitary Saturday shopping trip!  I think I should write a book on Grocery Store Etiquette.  Anyone have anything else I should include in the book?

Boys are Fickle

Girls are supposed to be the fickle ones, not boys.  But I have one who is.

Over the weekend, we were shopping at a discount clothing/home furnishings store.  Son #2 is in need of some warmer shirts for school.  He's at that awkward size between medium and large.  (I seriously wish they had a M 1/2!)  New size large shirts are too big and new size medium shirts will be too small the first time I wash them.  What fits him best are his brother's hand-me-downs that have been washed several times.  But he doesn't want those. 

I picked out two shirts I thought Son #2 might like.  He's incredibly picky but I think I've learned his taste.  He liked the black and gray striped shirt but it was way too big for him.  Because it was only a few dollars, I bought it for Son #1 instead.  The other shirt was orange striped. 
"I don't like orange," was his reply. 
"You don't want this shirt because you don't like orange?"  I asked. 
"I don't like orange." 
So I put the shirt back on the rack.

Tuesday morning, he was getting dressed for school.  "Where is my new shirt?" he asked.  Being in the semi-confused state of early morning, I told him it was still in the bag.  He dug through the crinkly bag and declared it wasn't there.  I huffed down the stairs, irritated that he can never find anything.  I pulled the black and gray shirt out and handed it to him. 
"This isn't mine," he said, "it's too big." 
Oh, that's right...I ended up buying it for his brother instead.  "Well, I didn't buy you one then."
"You didn't buy that orange shirt?"
"No, you said you didn't like orange."
"So you didn't buy it?"
"No!  I thought you didn't like it!  Why would I buy something for you to wear that you don't like?"
Angry, he stomped away to look for something to wear to school.

And I thought women were supposed to be the difficult ones to read!

Things Irritating Me Right Now

To keep up the spirit of grouchiness and stressfulness started in yesterday's post, I decided to tell you all the things that are irritating me right now.  I may have to edit it down a bit...I'm pretty crabby today!

• The health insurance representative that called me at 7:14 AM this morning.  Kinda early, don't ya think?  She preceded to tell me in a snooty voice that she left me a message on Friday.  With the same attitude in check, I let her know that I heard her message and left one in response, also on Friday.  So, whatcha gonna do 'bout it now?  (No, I didn't say that last part.)
• We have 4 light bulbs burned out in a 15' radius.  Both lights in the upstairs hallway, the closet light in the hallway, and Baby Girl's bedroom light at the end of the same hallway are all done for.  It made for a very dark evening upstairs last night.  But when I have a husband who is nine inches taller than I am, why should I do projects that are up that high???
• The kids destroyed the basement again.
• I couldn't sleep last night as I was sure I could hear a mouse running around, gnawing on something.  I got up this morning and moved all the furniture around.  There were no droppings to be found so hopefully that means I have no mouse.  I'm paranoid.
• UTI
• I dropped my phone and now the hinge is not opening properly.  Just in case you were wondering, it takes 329 times of dropping your phone before it's totally destroyed.  I'm on 328.  (And you wonder why I don't have an iPhone.  That's why.)
• Cold weather
• The fits that Baby Girl has suddenly started throwing again.  And I thought we were done with the Terrible Twos!

BUT- it's supposed to be a beautiful Fall day today so that helps me feel better.  I hope you all have a great day today!  Chase away the Crabbies!

Newspapers and Coupons

We have a newspaper thief in our neighborhood.  We used to get our paper delivered right to our doorstop because we knew the delivery guy.  He tragically passed away a year or so ago so we have a new guy.  Now our paper gets delivered to our mailbox, which is at the bottom of our long, curvy, steep driveway.  It's a real pain to walk all the way down there to discover that our paper is missing.  We recently added a second Sunday paper (one local, one regional) and the dumb thieves take both. 

I was expressing my irritation about getting our paper stolen and someone mentioned to me that it was for our coupons!  That thought had never crossed my mind!  With all those extreme couponers out there, people are stealing Sunday papers for the coupons!  I find this totally despicable.  Hubby and my brother are ready to set up surveillance to catch these thugs.  More realistically, we have to get down there early to intercept our paper.

Discussing extreme couponing made me start thinking.  Sure, I clip coupons from time to time but I don't end up saving much.  I know there's an art to it and I just don't get it yet.  I've never watched the reality show and I haven't researched it at all.  But I think I might give it a try.  I know there's tons of resources out there, including blogs, so I might seek some out.  Do any of my loyal readers and cyber friends practice the art of couponing?  How much do you save on average?  How much time do you spend (weekly) clipping, printing, and saving coupons?  Has anyone else thought of trying out this trend?  I think I'll give it a serious go this week and share with your my thoughts.  I don't think I'll appear on any reality shows but I would be thrilled to save ten bucks.

Off I go on this coupon adventure!  (By the way, do you say "Q-pon" or "coo-pon?"  I'm a "Q-pon" girl.)

Chugga Chugga Choo Choo!

Yesterday, we boarded a scenic railroad for a beautiful train trip.  I guess we were gearing up for our big train trip here in a couple weeks!  My aunt organized the trip for all her "grandkids."  We had nine kids in all, three moms, one grandma, and one great-grandma.  We took along my 81-year old grandmother so my grandpa could enjoy part of the day off.

We had a beautiful ride but experienced our share of problems.  Isn't it always something?  First of all, there weren't enough seats in the regular passenger cars.  So we got stuck with a summer camp program.   We didn't mind the other children.  About five minutes into the ride, an overly flamboyant man began singing very loudly in a microphone.  He sang almost the entire ride up the tracks.  My grandma suffers from dementia and wasn't able to handle the chaos.  My aunt packed her up and moved to the next car.  She was quickly reprimanded that the car she had chosen was only for bicyclers.  She refused to move the elderly woman.  Finally, the kids disembarked so my aunt and grandma returned.

We got off the train to enjoy a beautiful picnic lunch at a park.  Of course, another summer camp group joined us.  We didn't mind too much.  After a quick break, it was time to head back to the train.  Grandma almost didn't make the quarter-mile walk back to the train.  I arrived first and asked where we should sit.  "Anywhere you want," was the reply.  So we chose seats in a car with plenty of room and no singing.  After we got situated, we were once again told we would have to move out of the biker car.  "What's so important about the bikers?" you may ask.  That's what we would like to know too.  People who bike along the trail are permitted to board the train at any stop for $2.00.  Our tickets were $17.00.  We still haven't figured out why they cater to the sweaty men with helmets and bikes.  We explained that moving grandma would prove too difficult and we planned to stay put.

Three employees and one stop later, they practically forced us to move.  We loaded up all our stuff and began walking through the train, which was moving.  I walked behind grandma who was likely to break a hip at any moment.  I practically bear-hugged her to help keep her steady through the rocking train.  Have you ever walked between moving train cars?  It's not easy, even when you have no problems walking.  We passed through the summer camp car, passed through a completely full passenger car, and entered a third car.  It had plenty of room but no air conditioning.  Glorious.  We finally settled down and, I must say, I was close to tears at this point.  My grandma is not an easy woman to handle, which is totally not her fault.

Lo and behold, a minute after we were settled, the man with the microphone returned!  He sang the same songs at the top of his lungs but he was now accompanied by a strong-winded female friend!  The look on my aunt's face was priceless.  The air conditioning was never fixed but the singing kids only rode a couple stops with us.

I am anxious to read the strongly-worded letter my cousin the counsellor with a Master's in Social Work will write.  If we don't get a free train trip to Alaska out of this, I will be slightly disappointed.


Really enjoying that scenery!



Happily posing for the camera







What Frustrates Me

This.  I can't stand it when my family members pile up dirty dishes in the sink when there's a perfectly good, empty dishwasher two feet away.  And guess where the dish brush is that I need to use to scrape off these dishes?  Underneath the pile!  So I must unload everything, retrieve the brush, and load everyone's dishes in the dishwasher.  I've tried explaining how much extra work this causes me but they just don't seem to get it.

~~~~~

Spam emails-  I am so sick of spam I can barely stand it!  I receive one spam email every few minutes.  When you're working on the computer all day, it's not so bad.  Every little while, you click over and delete them.  But when you haven't been on for a couple days, it takes a ridiculous amount of time to delete them all.  The sad thing is, a couple family members and I believe we were all sabotaged by a former friend and that's why all this spam exists.  But is it really worth changing your email and trying to let every contact (except the former friend) know your new address?  Deleting the spam is probably easier.

~~~~~

Name Droppers- I know two people who I consider to be name droppers.  You know how there are certain people that you would never call by their first name.  Well, these people do.  "Oh, well I was talking to Luke and he said..." or "Yes, I've known Travis for years."  I would never call either of these men Luke or Travis.  It's too disrespectful considering their positions.  One of the name droppers mentioned something about visiting El Salvador.  I mentioned the name of someone I know from El Salvador.  Of course, she knew her.  But the funny thing was she said, "...and she never married."  With a sly smile, I replied,"Oh yes, she's been married for years!  They have three children together!"  It was quite enjoyable to see her look uncomfortable while uttering an "Oh."

~~~~~

"What's for dinner?"  I know that might not sound like something that would frustrate you.  But when I hear that question nearly a dozen times a day, it starts to wear on me.  My three oldest children tend to ask that question several times a day.  My husband always calls from work to ask.  Lately, even my Baby Girl has started asking, "What for supper?"  I feel like answering, "Something you won't like anyway.  Just eat whatever I make."

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As I was wiping down the bathroom countertop today, Son #1 asked, "Why are you cleaning the bathroom?"  With a puzzled look, I said, "Why?  Because it's dirty."  He replied, "But you usually only do that for special occasions."  "Special occasions?!?  Uh, no!  I clean it all the time!" I exclaimed.  "You do?" he asked doubtfully.  That conversation really irritated me.  OK, I confess- I do have different levels of bathroom cleaning depending on the situation.  A regular Tuesday warrants a wipe down of the counter.  Before the weekend, I will clean the sink and toilet and maybe wipe down the floor.  The bathtub doesn't get done as often as it should.  When company is expected, I wipe everything from the ceiling to the floor.  But I definitely do it more often than On Special Occasions.

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What frustrates you today???