Chatterbox Thread-Cmon in and Jabber! Everyone is Welcome!

[eatmypixiedust]

Kelly- glad that you got the new tires. Just remember to rotate them every 5K miles so that they last longer


Alison- I tried to follow that crazy substitute teacher but she doesn't give instructions on what to do. She just does all sorts of crazy things and expects us to follow her. I can't read minds! Sorry!


Here is a pic of a nightshirt I saw last week. It's so cute and it makes me laugh

 

[MotoXPrincess99]

Here is a pic of a nightshirt I saw last week. It's so cute and it makes me laugh

That shirt is cute! Did you see it at Disneyland?

I took a Zumba dance class at the gym last night. It was fun but I know what you mean about a teacher not telling you what to do. Most of the people knew what to do as soon as each song started but I was kind of lost. Plus I was in the back so I couldn't really see the teacher too well. I just kept moving the whole hour though and i was tired by the end.

 

[sameyeyam]

Aloha Peoples!

Guess what I learned today? Mango's are in the same family as poison ivy. I've always wondered why my hands feel funny after I pick one up at the store...now I know.

I never used to eat mangos, but not I seem to be buying them all the time with emealz.

Now that I've switched to the lowfat menu plan I'm starting to get a little concerned. I don't mind half of my meals being outside my comfort zone, but this weeks menu has me completely out of my comfort zone.

Bayou Stroganoff
Saucy Picante Chicken
Easy Cheddar Potato Chowder
Lemon Fennel Chicken
Mustard Shrimp
Citrus Burgers
Santa Fe Pizza

I'm just not sure which of them to have for dinner tonight. I can't have the Mustard Shrimp because the store was out of cilantro, so that will have to wait a day or two. I'm leaning towards the Bayou Stroganoff since it's cold, rainy day. Just not sure yet.

I'm still laughing because I actually bought a spice called Finnel. Sounds like some nerdy kid I went to school with.

 

[eatmypixiedust]

That shirt is cute! Did you see it at Disneyland?

I took a Zumba dance class at the gym last night. It was fun but I know what you mean about a teacher not telling you what to do. Most of the people knew what to do as soon as each song started but I was kind of lost. Plus I was in the back so I couldn't really see the teacher too well. I just kept moving the whole hour though and i was tired by the end.

I saw it at World of Disney I was in the back of the Zumba class too but she wasn't teaching zumba. I don't know what the heck she was doing! Even the sales guy was saying: "I don't know what that was but it wasn't zumba!!"

 

[kelmac284]

Morning and happy Friday. Not much new today. Yesterday just had a bunch of chores round here and it was nice to finally have everything done on my car. I was hoping to get my hair cut but it was the girls short day at school so I never ended up getting around to it. I went through their room instead and am slowly working on purging their rooms of a bunch of their old books, toys etc.

Anyway today I have to run in to work and nothing planned for tonight. We did rent a few videos. The kids really wanted to see diary of a wimpy kid and the last song and then I got Killers for me. So it is probably going to be a pretty laid back weekend. Shane's check is still pretty minimal cuz it was from last week when he only worked one day and on TOP of it it wasn't in the bank yet. UGH! We have DD and it is ALWAYS there on Thursdays and of course when we are short it didn't show up!! About every 5 or 6 weeks they have issues with the federal reserve and we get it late and this SO ticks me off cuz it ALWAYS seems to happen when we are tight on cash. GRRR!

Plus he did get his form for his unemployment last week and he can turn it in tomorrow so hopefully he will get that off and if we are lucky we might get 1 or 2 hundred bucks which will DEF help cuz eventhough he worked every day this week we have to pay rent and my car reg next week so it is going to take a bit to get caught up.

I was really hoping to do something this weekend but with the lack of funds it will prob either just be a drive, a bike ride or just staying home like always. We shall see.

I am just looking forward to NOT having to be anywhere!

Anyway hope you all have a good day and maybe something fun planned for the weekend!

 

[sameyeyam]

What's worse then having DH put new shocks on your car? Let me tell you, it's having DH put new shocks on and amidst all the cursing, not so politely informing me that I must have run over some road kill and now he's got to change greasy shocks that are covered with blood and fur! OK, well it's funny now...not so funny when I was listening to him last night.

Then I wake up this morning and put a load of laundry in the dryer. It has been making a strange thumping sound for about 2 weeks now. Of course it decides to die on me this morning. It still heats, but doesn't tumble. So at 6 am this morning I am out on the back porch hanging up laundry to dry. Do you know it takes 30 minutes to hang up an entire load of laundry? Of course I had no fabric softener in them, so I can only imagine how wonderful all of the towels are going to feel. I'm hoping it's just a belt problem, cuz that's about $20. Keep your fingers crossed, otherwise I believe I've just had one of the most expensive summers in history!

1 college semester $8,500
1 rv $10,000
1 set of tires for Bea $1,200
1 set of shocks for Bea $250
1 alignment for Bea (have no idea yet, need to schedule that)
1 new washer - can't remember, I think it ended up around $500
1 who knows with the generator for camping that doesn't appear to be running very good.
1 wish I had new carpet, cuz it's now 10 years old, supposed to be off white and is horrible looking.
1 hopefully new dryer belt - $20, but with my luck new dryer - $500.
1 DH needs new tires on his truck, there goes another $1,200
1 septic tank pumped $400
1 septic tank at beach lot that needs to be pumped $400
1 ice maker on fridge that started leaking. I turned the water off, but it's my guess the fridge will go soon also, since it's sounding kinda funny
1 dishwasher that could burn my house down, but hey I get $250 towards a new one. Maybe I should just have them repair it instead, but it cleans crappy so I should probably just replace anyway $400.
1 oven & stove that is now 10yo and probably needs to be replaced. 1 burner not heating real well and can barely read the digital oven temp.
1 more college semester that's due at the first of January, $8,500.

I'm so glad that I have always been a saver and lived rather frugally and tried to pay cash for big ticket items. But why does it seem like just about the time you get a little bit of money saved up...boom, everything falls apart.

Not to mention I have a mammogram scheduled in November. Should I just cancel and ignore it this year? Or do I dare go have it done?

 

[sameyeyam]

I feel much better just writing that all down.

Sometimes I just need to take a deep breath, let it out and then laugh about everything. Of course now I feel guilty for going out this week and getting haircut, color & pedi and spending $95 on myself with all of this going on. But then again, maybe that is what has allowed me to keep my sanity. Yes, I'm sure of it, nothing like smooth feet and sparkly pink toenails to brighten my day.

 

[funnygarcia]

But then again, maybe that is what has allowed me to keep my sanity. Yes, I'm sure of it, nothing like smooth feet and sparkly pink toenails to brighten my day.

 

[funnygarcia]

I'm so glad that I have always been a saver and lived rather frugally and tried to pay cash for big ticket items. But why does it seem like just about the time you get a little bit of money saved up...boom, everything falls apart.

Not to mention I have a mammogram scheduled in November. Should I just cancel and ignore it this year? Or do I dare go have it done?

BLECH!
Talk about a ton of stressors all at once!
And yep, par for the course that everything falls apart at the same time, my sis had similar issues recently with property tax, car problems and she too has the recalled dishwasher that might be better to just replace.

November is far enough way that the bad juujuu will be gone.
Time to break out the go away bad juujuu dancers.

POOF! see your troubles are ending and now only good things will come.


Oh yes, have you grown some buns of steel yet to combat the freeze dried towels? If not take heart, they will make a wonderful exfollient for glowing skin.. okay pink sandpapered skin but see no bumpiness!

 

[kelmac284]

OY that's a lot of crap!! EEK! 1200 for a set of tires! Ouch. I thought the 400 I spent was outragous!! What kind of tires do you all have to buy??? That is nuts! I hope you don't have to buy a new drier!! EEK! I had to do that a few years back but I have a nice maytage set (Washer/drier) and believe me with 3 kids and a dh in construction they get LOTS of abuse but they run like a charm!! I don't have those fancy new ones either. Mine are just plain old models like you see in a laundromat but they work great so that is all that matters! And you had one of those recalled dishwashers too? I just had them come and fix the part and that was all she wrote. My dishwasher isn't that old and works great so there was no way I was replacing it and we DID have a family on our swim team whose house burned down due to a dishwasher fire so I was ultra paranoid BUT the guy that sold us ours is a family friend and he assured me that it is not as big of a deal as they are making it out to be and MOST of them can be fixed with the part.

And I agree, go get pampered. We all need that sometimes. I just need my lousy 15 supercuts hair cut and I haven't even gotten around to that. Not even so much cuz I can't afford it but it just hasn't seemed as much of a piority with all the other crap I have had to do lately LOL.

I NEED one those as I look like a yeti! LOL

Anyway I am sitting here at work and anxious to blow this place. READY for the weekend to start!!

 

[sameyeyam]

BLECH!
Talk about a ton of stressors all at once!
And yep, par for the course that everything falls apart at the same time, my sis had similar issues recently with property tax, car problems and she too has the recalled dishwasher that might be better to just replace.

November is far enough way that the bad juujuu will be gone.
Time to break out the go away bad juujuu dancers.

POOF! see your troubles are ending and now only good things will come.


Oh yes, have you grown some buns of steel yet to combat the freeze dried towels? If not take heart, they will make a wonderful exfollient for glowing skin.. okay pink sandpapered skin but see no bumpiness!

Well we are forecast to be 76 today, so they will dry ok. We just have a lot of calcium in our water and I didn't use fabric softener, so I know they will be really rough.

OY that's a lot of crap!! EEK! 1200 for a set of tires! Ouch. I thought the 400 I spent was outragous!! What kind of tires do you all have to buy??? That is nuts! I hope you don't have to buy a new drier!! EEK! I had to do that a few years back but I have a nice maytage set (Washer/drier) and believe me with 3 kids and a dh in construction they get LOTS of abuse but they run like a charm!! I don't have those fancy new ones either. Mine are just plain old models like you see in a laundromat but they work great so that is all that matters! And you had one of those recalled dishwashers too? I just had them come and fix the part and that was all she wrote. My dishwasher isn't that old and works great so there was no way I was replacing it and we DID have a family on our swim team whose house burned down due to a dishwasher fire so I was ultra paranoid BUT the guy that sold us ours is a family friend and he assured me that it is not as big of a deal as they are making it out to be and MOST of them can be fixed with the part.

And I agree, go get pampered. We all need that sometimes. I just need my lousy 15 supercuts hair cut and I haven't even gotten around to that. Not even so much cuz I can't afford it but it just hasn't seemed as much of a piority with all the other crap I have had to do lately LOL.

I NEED one those as I look like a yeti! LOL

Anyway I am sitting here at work and anxious to blow this place. READY for the weekend to start!!

I have an Excursion, so I need big tires. Not only that, the last tires I bought were highway type tires. I live at 900' elevation. Our road goes from sea level to 900 feet in about 1 mile, it's very steep. I can't tell you how mad I was every winter having to park my suv at the bottom of the hill and call DH or my brother to come down and get me. I bought me some tires with MEAT on them! When I got home my DH said "are those Buckshot Mudders"? Nope, but close to it! So now I look like one of those idiot 4x4 20-something idiot guys that drive around with meaty tread on the side of their tires. But you know what? I WON'T be sitting at the bottom of the hill calling for a ride this winter!

My salon actually has reasonable prices, so $95 for foil color, haircut and a pedicure wasn't bad. She worked on me for 2 hours...of course about 1 hour of that was rubbing dead skin off my feet. She does a really nice job, very sanitary, she won't use those cutting tools and hack off globs of skin. She soaks, uses scrubbers, a chemical softener, more soaking. Lots of lotions and softeners and she spends a lot of the time massaging feet & legs. I've been to those places in the mall, they don't even remotely compare.

When we moved into the house 10 years ago we had a nice Maytag set. The dryer we still have (hopefully fixable), washer was replaced with a GE, now replaced with a Samsung.

 

[funnygarcia]

Guess what I learned today? Mango's are in the same family as poison ivy. I've always wondered why my hands feel funny after I pick one up at the store...now I know.

I never used to eat mangos, but not I seem to be buying them all the time with emealz.

Now that I've switched to the lowfat menu plan I'm starting to get a little concerned. I don't mind half of my meals being outside my comfort zone, but this weeks menu has me completely out of my comfort zone.

Bayou Stroganoff
Saucy Picante Chicken
Easy Cheddar Potato Chowder
Lemon Fennel Chicken
Mustard Shrimp
Citrus Burgers
Santa Fe Pizza

mmmm mango!

Did you know Avocados are related to rubber plants? If you have a latex sensitivity it is common to have a reaction to avocado and a few other fruits. Mmm yum itchy mouth guacamole anyone?

I'm liking the low fat menu, little bit more my style. Though we likely wouldn't do fennel as I don't like that licorice flavor..shiver.. ewww. And shrimp here is only the cheap salty frozen variety that tastes super icky! And I don't do pork chops. But chicken would be a good substitute for the shrimp, beef for the pork chops.. or more chicken but that means chicken for most of the meals that week which would make my dh whine.

Mostly because he needs the higher iron than an every meal of chicken can provide. When his iron stores start dipping I buy him a tiny steak at Super Target, usually have peelie mark down stickers if short dated. We overbought steak a few years ago, I got tired of eating it. Had a day of puking guts out after one and now the thought of eating steak makes me nauseous.

He had Venifer yesterday, nasty black sludgy IV push iron. He says it tastes like licorice, the nurse said it smells like salty gravy. The nephrologist said they should do a study on how other people think it tastes like.


And then broke out laughing.. because yes some dimwit WOULD do a study on something stupid like that! Ca-CHING$ anything for Davita to make a buck.

 

[sameyeyam]

mmmm mango!

Did you know Avocados are related to rubber plants? If you have a latex sensitivity it is common to have a reaction to avocado and a few other fruits. Mmm yum itchy mouth guacamole anyone?

I'm liking the low fat menu, little bit more my style. Though we likely wouldn't do fennel as I don't like that licorice flavor..shiver.. ewww. And shrimp here is only the cheap salty frozen variety that tastes super icky! And I don't do pork chops. But chicken would be a good substitute for the shrimp, beef for the pork chops.. or more chicken but that means chicken for most of the meals that week which would make my dh whine.

Mostly because he needs the higher iron than an every meal of chicken can provide. When his iron stores start dipping I buy him a tiny steak at Super Target, usually have peelie mark down stickers if short dated. We overbought steak a few years ago, I got tired of eating it. Had a day of puking guts out after one and now the thought of eating steak makes me nauseous.

He had Venifer yesterday, nasty black sludgy IV push iron. He says it tastes like licorice, the nurse said it smells like salty gravy. The nephrologist said they should do a study on how other people think it tastes like.


And then broke out laughing.. because yes some dimwit WOULD do a study on something stupid like that! Ca-CHING$ anything for Davita to make a buck.

Couldn't be any worse then the study on the Komen message board today, showing that peoples bedroom lives are worse after breast cancer. NO, REALLY?!lol. Kind of makes me wonder how much money they spent to find that out when every single woman on the Komen message board complains about that constantly. I think they could save a lot of money if they would quit doing studies and just start reading our message board. It would pretty much tell them everything about us.

BTW, I thought it couldn't get much worse today. Well it did! DD called and had lost her keys at school today. I made her backtrack her steps, check with lost & found and see if security had a slim jim to pick the lock. Nope on all three. So I had to drive over to Portland and pick her up. We have a spare key at home and she will head home in a bit to pick it up. We're thinking positive thoughts the entire rest of the day!

 

[funnygarcia]

Oh no! that sucks!!!

At least you could pick her up and have a spare to use. Hassle of the extra driving but no locksmith charges.. see thinking on the positives.

 

[sameyeyam]

Only an extra 100 miles of driving today...in my ever so economical Excursion! 10 miles to her school from my work, 10 miles back to work, 30 miles from work to home and 30 miles back to work, then another 10 back to her school and 10 from school back to my office.

Well I'm HOPING she has the extra key. She said it was in the junk drawer at home. She'll either be back at the office in an hour with the key or she'll be calling me from home crying because she can't find the key.

You know, just when they seem to be all grown up, they're not. She called me on the verge of tears when she couldn't find her keys. She had no idea what to do. I had to calm her down and make her go thru the appropriate steps. She is pretty sure that after her biology class she went back out to her car and got her book for the next class. That was the last time she seen the keys. So I have a feeling they are in the car.

She does have roadside assistance from Hyundai and from our insurance company (but of course that info. is in the glove box).

 

[sameyeyam]

She took Wednesday off work to prepare a psychology paper, so her work is piled up on her desk. Then she's an hour late due to her car keys today. I was going to make her work until 5pm, until I realized that we would have to drive over to Portland and get her car during rush hour. Heck we probably wouldn't be home until 8pm at that rate. So I sent her home now to get the keys. She should be back here by 2pm and we can zip over and get it and then get back over the bridge to Washington before 3pm and rush hour. Or at least that's my plan...we all know how my plans have been working out lately.l

 

[funnygarcia]

The confusing puzzle of SS marches on...

We knew SS had the papers because they sent statements the day it would have been received stating that boys and my benefit had ended as of Nov 2008. Part of the process to close the old case before reinstatement, someone had screwed up and hadn't closed the old case.

BUT no letter regarding E's benefits ending/ closing.

Now this week..
Got a letter regarding the overpayment due on the boys benefits.

A screw up on the part of a SS agent in CA who told E that he hadn't used up his trial months. He continued to receive benefits while working. Only to find he HAD used up his months a long time before here and there within a 5 year period, thanks to months with 3 pay periods and holiday pay when he worked as a cashier. We owe a BIG chunk of change. E arranged to pay $100 a month out of his ss benefits.

"Did you forget.. please pay $$$$ now"
umm no we didn't, we just can't pay it back. DUH!
But no letter regarding E's overpayment due.

E checks his bank account for his regular pay check and finds that SS did a direct deposit.

Followed by HUH? Head Scratching moment because:

1. never got a letter stating reinstatement
2. no clue how much he is to get per month
3. they never asked for updated direct deposit info, deposited based on the last payment two years ago. What would happen if he didn't have that account any more??
4. It was MUCH smaller than expected, about the amount we would get of one month of the boys portion. Where is the backpay for July and August? Where is E's portion?

It's all very confusing.

E thought maybe SS garnished the backpay and that is what is leftover. But that still doesn't add up to the right amount. And legally I don't think they can without informing him.

okay.. read some more.. looks like they can take it all BUT we can file a waiver and point out that we need every penny to cover living expenses. Sadly E is at work and will be going out with co workers tonight. Need about 5 hours to get thru to a live person at SS, sigh.. And they won't talk to me.. One more thing to add to the "to do" list for Monday.

 

[sameyeyam]

Welcome to our ever so efficient government! Sheesh, I'm thinking come November I'm going to fire every single one of my elected officials. Then I'm going to vote in the least competent people that are running, all the screwballs listed at the end of the voters pamphlet. They couldn't do any worse of a job.

Now, for my laughter this afternoon. My DH's aunt posts on my Facebook photo album...what a beautiful photo, this must be the wedding I missed, you are both so lovely it's hard to tell who's the bride".

OK, Aunt Margie, you are obviously old and blind. Because it's a photo of my sister and I dressed up to have dinner on the cruise ship two years ago!

The wedding she was talking about was Bruce's nephew that got married this summer. Oh well, I sure hope I do crazy old lady things like that when I'm her age!

But then again, there was that one night we got drunk out by the pool...I sorta remember a hunky latin guy...hold it....OMG....brb!

 

[sameyeyam]

OMG!!!! Our copier just broke. Chelsie was copying payrolls and it will only copy the left half and the right half is just a bunch of lines and it's making this horrible sound.

I'm scared to drive home!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[funnygarcia]

Poor Alison!
Is it too late to go back to bed and restart the day?