7 Quick Takes: 07.03.09

1. Conversations with PinkGirl.

PinkGirl: “Mom, when I’m on Broadway, I bet I can get you in to see my show for FREE!”

Me: “I’m sure you can get free tickets (because I am SURE you will be on Broadway!) but I think we would have to pay for our airplane tickets and hotel.”

PinkGirl: “Mom. I will be on BROADWAY. I will have thousands and thousands and thousands of dollars. I think I can pay for your hotel.”

Me: “Well, thanks!”

2. I Need a Replacement Pantech Breeze Cell Phone for My Dad. If you have one – or know of someone who has one and doesn’t need it anymore, let me know! He lost his cell phone yesterday. We just got it for him in January. The Breeze is marketed specfically for retired people and it was really the PERFECT phone for him. Big buttons, large font on a good size screen, good volume . . . PERFECT for him.

Unfortunately, since he’s not eligible for an upgrade yet, it’s $279 to replace, but AT&T can give me an “exception price” of $179.00. OUCH. So I look on eBay. I found 12. 12? On EBAY? And the prices are not much better than AT&T.

Me: “I can’t believe I only found 12 of these on eBay! What’s the deal with that?”

(pause)

Me: I suppose, since it’s marketed to retired folks, it makes sense. I’m thinking there are a lot of retired people out there who (first Husband chimes in) don’t know how to use eBay. arrgg.

My dad was so upset when he called me to tell me. I could tell he was feeling bad about himself for losing it, saying things like “I knew better . . . ” I kept telling him how losing and breaking cell phones is jut something that happens. To EVERYONE. FirstHusband’s Blackberry survived a ride on Space Mountain, although in 3 pieces (one of them missing). FavoriteSon let a girl “see his phone” and she dropped it from the very top row in the bleachers at a track meet. I threw my Treo at the floor once during a mom meltdown. I dropped my Centro while fumbling to answer it and broke the LCD screen two months after buying it.

Last year, after my mom left, I put my dad on my plan. We have AT&T and it’s only $10 a month to add a line, so it really helps him out because he’s on a limited income. I’m going to replace my dad’s phone for him. He feels really bad about losing it. But I don’t have an extra $179 either. So after calling the phone all day and having it go immediately to the “the AT&T customer you are trying to reach is unavailable” message, I figure one of two things. It is broken. Or it’s at a place of business where their policy is to turn off the phone and wait for someone to claim it. (Disney’s policy, by the way.)

(That second one it just not nice. I understand they are concerned about privacy and being sued and all, but seriously. Everyone knows the easiest way to return a found cell phone is to immediately look for the address book entry marked “home” and call it – or a frequently dialed number that looks like someone the owner might know well. It’s like finding a wallet and opening it to find the person’s id.)

So after a few hours of calling the phone and having it NOT ring, I suspended the number. I checked the usage online and it was 0 of 0 on data and 37 minutes on talk, so no one is using it. I’ll go to AT&T today with an old sim card and see if they can use it to get my dad’s number on FavoriteSon’s old Razr while I find my dad a new Breeze. If they can’t use the old sim card, it will cost $25 for a new one.

3. Still Decorating . . .

Finally used my $25 eBay gift certificate from Christmas! I bought this for the Laundry Room door because it is NEXT to the bathroom door downstairs and I do NOT want ANYONE who might be visiting to mistakenly open said laundry room door accidentally while looking for the bathroom door.

I bought this for the bathroom door – again to correctly steer visitors to the correct door.

This is for FavoriteSon’s room:

Notice there is no photo of the laundry room? Thank goodness I didn’t put my camera in there or you might not ever see another photo on this blog again.

4. Wearing White? The “color” I’m supposed to wear this week for Praise Team is white. WHITE. Remember when I said I had to wear PURPLE and I didn’t own any purple? Well, trust me, given my gynecological history, other than a few casual shirts, I do NOT own any WHITE.

But now, two months post-op, the fact that I can now boldly wear white is sinking in. Not sure what I’m going to do with that.

5. Macy’s Buy One Get One 50% Off! Went to Macy’s yesterday, looking for something white to wear (no luck). Standing there, sifting through the sale racks, I hear “Yes, ma’am. You buy the first bra, the second one is 50% off.”

What? What?

Last week, I wrote about my “find a new bra experience” and that I bought two. One for $34 and another for $36. I didn’t mention that I was going to go home and get a few more on eBay, cheaper. Found them on eBay for $20, plus shipping. This sale made them $25 each and since I might actually FIND something white to wear, I might need a white bra on Sunday, so I bought them – no waiting.

And as a follow-up to last week, I’m not in love with the a Bali “Passion for Comfort” Full Coverage T-shirt Bra. The elastic tends to curl inside the fabric on the sides. Still LOVE the other one, though!

6. Bought a New Mattress! FirstHusband has been complaining about our mattress for months. So yesterday, when he had the day off, I suggested that we buy a new mattress. (I think I can sleep on anything – I don’t know from good mattress to bad mattress.) Anyway.

When FirstHusband started complaining I asked him to note the mattresses he slept on while on travel. (Yes, he had to travel to get a good night’s sleep.) He liked the Serta Perfect Sleeper something or other model – at the Hampton Inn. Further research found that the Serta Perfect Sleepers sold to consumers are NOT the same sold to hotels. Hotels get double sided, FLIPPABLE mattresses. Consumers do not. You want a Serta mattress like you slept in at a hotel? You have to buy it through the hotel! Who knew?

But that requires shipping. And waiting. And I don’t even want to think about a possible return. We happen to have, in town, a mattress factory. “The Original Mattress Factory.” Their standard practice is to make double sided, flippable mattresses. And you can even sign up for their regular “It’s time to flip/turn your mattress” email list! (They even have a pretty good return policy – up to a YEAR and you pay 25% of the lowest of the mattress you pick instead. Unless you buy a more expensive mattress, in which case, you add the difference.)

I wasn’t home when FirstHusband and FavoriteSon dragged/pushed/hauled/wedged/squeezed the mattress up the stairs, but I understand it was an experience of the $10,000 AFV variety. When I got home, they were taking the old mattress and box springs to Goodwill.

I sent a text to FirstHusband: umm. I can’t get in my own bed.

FirstHusband: Get a stepstool.

HOLY BIG GIRL BED, Batman! That thing was HIGH. Last night, FirstHusband lowered the rails about 4 inches and I STILL need a stepstool – no kidding! I’m not sure if I’m going to need the rails lowered again. I wouldn’t need a stepstool, but the dust ruffle would puddle on the floor.

And you know I need a dust ruffle. There’s some serious storage under that bed.

7. 3 Day Weekend! FirstHusband is smoking ribs and chicken. We’re taking a load of meat and some dirty rice over to some friends later as they settled into their new house. They’ve been living in an RV and their kids have been sleeping in a small apartment on their property for months. We met them through FavoriteSon, his friend is their son.

They raise butterflies. Is that COOL or what? They sell mostly to weddings and schools. Here’s an interesting tidbit. Do you know how to pack butterflies for shipping? (Gently) Close their wings and slip them into an envelope. I still don’t understand why their little legs don’t break.

We went to the movies last night. PinkGirl begged us to see Ice Age. In 3D. It was painful. We even had to pay EXTRA for the glasses. Which they wanted us to “recycle” (give back) at the end of the movie. I don’t think so. We took ours home and can now throw away all the paper 3D glasses we’ve kept to watch the 3D movies we have on DVD.

I feel the need to fill boxes with stuff and go to Goodwill. After I go to our friend’s new house, I will feel this need even more.

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7 Quick Takes: 06/12/09

1. “crud.” That’s what our dishwasher is leaving behind. It is also what I am saying about the fact that our dishwasher is not washing our dishes.

Crud is NOT the word I used when I Googled my Kenmore model and found a forum with over 750 entries by owners who have problems with this dishwasher. Instead, I said, “ARRGG!” What? I love that word. Try it. “ARRGG!”

2. “EWWW!” That’s what I said when I sat down at the piano to help PinkGirl with her scales and smelled cat urine. EWWW is also the word I used when I saw the output tank of my SpotBot after cleaning the source of the stanky smell. I will spare you a photo.

3. “Dang It!” That’s what I said when I saw cat foot prints on the SpotBot track marks the next day. I need to get some Enzyme cleaner. Fast.

4. “Ow. Ow. Ow. Ow.” That’s what I said over and over again the day after using my SpotBot on said carpet stain. On my hands and knees for 15 minutes moving my arm back and forth while holding the SpotBot wand and my abs are KILLING me. I thought it would be okay, it’s six weeks post-op for cryin out loud. Ow.

5. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!” That’s what I said to FavoriteSon this week! 14 years old! When did THAT happen?

6. “Bummer.” That’s what I thought when FirstHusband sent me a text message on Wednesday night that read:

“On the ground in Birmingham. Wasn’t planning to be in Birmingham today. Always a risk flying into Atlanta.” and then “Finally . . . 4 hours late.”

He sat ON the plane, ON the runway in Birmingham for THREE HOURS waiting to fly into Atlanta on Wednesday night.

Then I said “Bummer” again on Thursday night, when I got this text:

“Plane late out of Atlanta. Currently scheduled to land in Orlando at midnight. Be home around 1am.”

And no, he wasn’t sitting in the Atlanta airport that entire time. He flew from Atlanta to somewhere else and back between Wednesday and Thursday evening. He got home around 1:45 this morning and was already at work before we got up this morning. BUM. MER.

7. “YES!” That’s what I said when I got rid of graciously mailed out FOUR, count em’ FOUR free books to other paperbackswap.com members. Let the purging continue! Want a free book? Join paperbackswap.com, list some of your unwanted books, PICK ONE from my list and I’ll send it to you FREE!

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7 Quick Takes: 06.01.09

Kristen emailed me to make sure I was okay and I realized I hadn’t blogged in over a week!

Over a week! What have I been doing?

I missed 7 Quick Takes Friday last week, but it just seems like a good way to catch up on a few things . . .

1. Still healing. Feeling pretty good. Still slow, but getting faster. FirstHusband and I went to Sam’s Club and Walmart together on Saturday and he said I wasn’t annoyingly slow, just a little slow. I leaned on pushed the basket a lot. I get really tired by the end of the day if I’m too active during the day. So. I’m still a bit of a wimp. Thankfully, I’m allowed in my dry sauna now, so that is a WONDERFUL THING. I LOVE my dry sauna.

I wish I could stretch. I mean REEAALLY stretch. Like a cat. When our cats stretch I want to throw things at them to make them stop. It’s not nice that they do that in front of me.

I wish I could sleep comfortably. I mean like I did before the surgery. Hunker down and sleep HARD comfortable, you know?

I wish could get a massage, but I’m still too afraid to lay on my stomach or let anyone even come close to touching my new scar. My back hurts all the time from wearing the compression binder all day. Four weeks down, two more weeks to go.

2. I’ve been reading C.S. Lewis. Really for the first time. I’ve read The Screwtape Letters, but that was over a decade ago and that was fiction. I’ve read excerpts and quotes, but this is the first time I’ve read an entire book by C.S. Lewis. My first pick? “The Problem of Pain.” I’m still working out my thoughts on the paradox of evil and suffering vs. a loving, all-powerful God. Learning a LOT. Making many handwritten notes. And a list of words I need to look up in the dictionary. Like “filial.”

3. Spending a lot of time writing in my prayer journal. About everything. Reading my Bible. Spending time sitting still and shutting up after writing/praying. Listening. Learning. Thinking.

4. Still praying and struggling with what to do about the praise team at my church. Thursday night at 7pm, I went to my first rehearsal since my surgery. The interim leader/director who originally asked me to sing with the group was out of town. By 7:25 p.m., the rehearsal still hadn’t begun. Then, the director of the rehearsal that night, a new full-time hire who plays guitar, started noodling and singing on his own. About 7:45 p.m., 45 minutes after the rehearsal was supposed to begin, we started to sing.

The sound was . . . significantly less than optimal. Rather than go over any parts or run through the songs again, the director moved on. In the end, I said I wasn’t ready to sing with the group on Sunday. Everyone assumed that I wasn’t feeling up to singing quite yet. True. In a way. I attended the traditional service on Sunday morning instead of the contemporary service, so people wouldn’t wonder why I was sitting out.

I’ll admit, I’m discouraged and confused about the direction of this service and what role, if any God wants me to take. There’s another new full-time hire scheduled to arrive next month, so the entire thing is still in transition. I’m taking it a week at a time. Today, I prayed that God would make it VERY CLEAR whether I should sing with the group this week.

5. Summer has begun and we are actually on track for the daily summer plan. The kids are reading a minimum of 30 minutes every day and they are both physically active every day (they are in the pool right now). FavoriteSon has been practicing the guitar nearly every day and PinkGirl had her most productive piano practice today. (I can’t play, but I do remember my scales, so that’s what I’m teaching her.) She hasn’t been consistent with her daily math, but I’m working on it. We’ve been pretty consistent with a 20 minute rotation of playing/working during the day. My oven timer is getting a serious work out.

6. The kids and I have all gone to the dentist for cleanings in the last week and (unfortunately) PinkGirl had her first filling today. She did GREAT. We go to a pediatric dentist and LOVE him.

7. We got a Wii! FavoriteSon, the family money hoarder has been saving his money for months and decided that he wanted to have a boy/girl birthday party in a few weeks and he wanted Wii to be one of the main activities. So he bought himself an early birthday present. Our family was ready for a Wii. My dad came over on Sunday afternoon after church and he even played. Just one more way to get the kids to be active during the day.

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7 Quick Takes: 05.22.09

1. We go from flames to flood here in Central Florida. For weeks, we’ve had brush fires. Now? It’s been raining for DAYS. Thankfully, we aren’t at risk for any flooding, but so many people have been driven from their homes. And in this humidity it is VERY difficult to dry out and prevent mold growth. Here’s the Doppler image from Friday afternoon:

2. I’m feeling a STRONG need to PURGE my house of stuff. Wednesday, I must have lifted more than 50 books – one at a time. I listed most of them on the FREE swap site www.paperbackswap.com and a few on Amazon and half.com! Check them out and see if you want any of my discards! I also filled two boxes to go to charity. One to our church’s annual rummage sale and another to go to a library one of the missionaries from our church is setting up in . . . I don’t remember what country. oops.

3. I’m really liking paperbackswap.com! I’ve been a member for about a year and I requested my first book today. (I’ve been more interested in getting rid of books than receiving them.) A few weeks ago, I registered with its sister websites, cdswap and dvdswap to allow transfer of credits from one to the other. I transferred two book credits to dvdswap and ordered a dvd for FavoriteSon. It arrived within days and it was in great condition.

So, check out my “bookshelf.” If you see a book you want, order it and I’ll send it right out. (more purging!) I pay the media mail postage, so it won’t cost you a thing. Each book I give away earns me 1 credit and I’m saving up credits for Christmas shopping. Now that I’m on all three sites, I can get books, cds and dvds – All FREE! Did I mention it was FREE?

4. We’re trying out another free swap site too – www.swaptree.com. This site allows trades for books, cds and dvds, but it also allows trades for video games. I’m not sure if we like this site yet. There are no credits. Every item must actually be TRADED with another person. The system matches members up when trades are identified. That means trading only happens between people who want what the other person has listed. It supposedly can handle three way trades also. Each item is valued the same – you give one item, you get one item, no matter whether it is a book, cd, dvd or video game. We’ve listed a bunch of video games and we’ve begun to put items on our “wish list” but we haven’t had a transaction yet. We’ll see.

5. I’m reading fiction. FICTION. Those who’ve been around Compendium for a while know this is a big deal. I read a lot and I buy a lot of non-fiction books (used and cheap, of course), but I keep all my fiction books at the library. Mainly because I don’t read that much fiction and also because when I do, I don’t usually re-read the book later. Well, being physically limited while recovering from surgery, I’ve been trying to REST. Since reading non-fiction equals learning and learning – for me – equals research and idea development and . . . well, NOT rest, I decided to read fiction. I had seen some books reviews for Angela Hunt on Mocha with Linda’s blog, so I got a few of her books. My personal trainer also recommended an author to me. Before my surgery, I had asked for fiction referrals, and I got quite a few, but they just didn’t click for me. When I asked my trainer, she used the adjective I was looking for. FUNNY. Although I hadn’t realized it as I was asking for referrals, I really did want something funny. The author? Janet Evanovich. I read the first one before my surgery and FirstHusband read much of the second one to me during my first few days of recovery. I had to ask him to stop a few times because laughing was painful. Why I wanted funny while recovering from abdominal surgery, I do not know.

6. First day of summer for us! We all slept in, except for FirstHusband, who had to get up and go to work as usual. But NOT as usual. He didn’t have any KID DUTY today! He was so excited about the prospect last night that he asked PinkGirl to guess the first thing he was going to do when he went downstairs this morning. She had no idea. So he showed her. It was the iCarly belly rub dance that Spencer does on Nickelodeon. Basically, you pull your shirt up to show your belly and rub it in big circles while saying “Whoo, whoo, whoooooo. It means you are carefree and happy. umm, hmm. that’s what it means.

7. Working on an overhaul for business website. I HATE the one I have up now. It’s dark and gloomy and amateur and the menu is broken and it’s too fragmented and I hate it. I bought a template from allwebco.com and I’m transferring the content from old, ugly, dark and broken to new, classic, light and functional. It will take a while because it’s summer and the kids are home and my windows of time are just that. Windows. Tiny little windows. When I get it finished I’ll be asking for objective, honest feedback.

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