Being the Bad Guy....

In our family, I do the budget, manage money, and pay the bills. It has always been this way since Joe and I were dating. The reason for this is simple....Joe sucks at it!

I am very fortunate that he acknowledges this this fact quite openly, and often tells me that we would be living in a cardboard box if he were in charge of the money. We don't have money fights because whatever I say is golden. If I say we can't afford something, he is (usually) very good about accepting and moving on.

The only problem that this set-up leaves us with me always being the bad guy. Whenever we get all excited to do something, it is always me to say NO!

It leaves me feeling like the big bully of the house, the fun crusher, the kill joy, mean mommy....I hate it!

Last night in a moment of weakness combined with not wanted to be the bad guy once again, I said yes to buying Jordan an adorable pair of converse shoes with little orange flames on the side. The were 22 dollars, yes 22 dollars for a toddlers shoes seems excessive when I usually get him Payless Shoes for much much less....but I was weak and sick of being the meanie.

This morning I am having remorse of the 22 dollar shoes and am wondering if we should take them back....

Bingo!!!

In an attempt to get out of the house and do something new, I took my mom and Charis to Bingo!

I like to play, and thought that my mom would enjoy it. Honestly I thought it would be a nice relaxing thing us ladies could do once a week....I imagined us sitting around our bingo boards and snacking and having funny conversations, and occasionally winning some money might be nice. Boy was I wrong!!

We got to the Catholic Church, yes it was held at a church! This is important for later on, so hang on to that little pearl.

The cost was 14 dollars for the basic pack, plus 1.25 for a bingo dauber. I selected a beautiful teal color, it really was quite pretty. As I turned from the table where the cards were sold, and turned to look at the available seating, I knew we were in for some trouble.

There was two huge lunchroom looking auditoriums, both with huge folding tables set out. Women, the vast majority silver haired and obese, were sprawled out all over the tables. There were women hogging an entire table to themselves. Seriously some of them had 3-4 Bingo Cards each, with each card having 9 games on it!! That is 27 to to 36 games per person!!

Most women had at least 5 bingo daubers laid out. Snacks were everywhere! Most of them the obese women preferred some sort of potato chip, I notices fritos to be especially popular. The few women that were thin, had packs of cigarettes piled up. Thank goodness they had to go out to smoke!

Finally we found a spot where we could all sit together. But unfortunately we didn't know which order the games were played in. We giggled and laughed as we asked the girl sitting next to us. She had all kinds of facial piercings and looked like she might belong in a tattoo parlor rather than a bingo hall, but was fairly nice and explained stuff to us. While she was explaining, there was an extremely bitter woman sitting behind us, she said quite loudly mind you, that we had better shut up when the game starts!

Eventually we did start. When someone would win there was a flurry of conversation and curse words! My mom and I exchanged surprised looks as we were in a church!! A CHURCH!!

When one lady one, the bitter woman behind us exclaimed " I just can't stand that woman!" No attempt to hide it!!

Finally during one of the game my mom blurts out, "I never want to do this again....I feel so old!!" Then she starts laughing and snorts so loud in the middle of the near silent bingo hall!

There were angry shhhh's heard from all over the place! Those women were ready to attack! Of course the more tense the situation got, the sillier my mom got! I am surprised we all made it out of there alive!

I don't think we will be going back. My mom hated it, I didn't win anything....although we did leave soon after the snorting incident and didn't finish our games.

Next week perhaps we will try another activity! Any suggestions?

Jordan's Turning into talker!!

Jordan has learned so much in the past week!!

This week he learned to say "hot" rather than just blowing on stuff! This week he also started doing the elephant noise. He also knows what a sheep and a cow say. And now he knows the name of our dog, Pezzy, but he says what sounds like Pissy.

He also learned the word Pushing, but it sounds exactly like- and this is my personal favorite b/c it is so hilarious to hear- Pussy!! So funny! We were worried when we went to church this week and he was in the day care that we would be told he was a potty mouth when we got him back!!

That is another development...we have gone to church for the past three weeks! Shocking I know!! We hadn't been for the last four years! I think we found a church that we like. There is just one guy in the choir that irritates us, otherwise the pastor is great.

Joe built me plantar boxes for my garden this year. I am pretty excited about them, and hope I don't kill everything that I touch. Joe calls me Dr. Brown Thumb. I read a book called about Square Foot Gardening, and got inspired. They made it sound so easy....We will see how it goes.

Joe's sister Charis moved in with us in January. She is supposed to be working at Chili's starting pretty soon. She is getting pretty bored sitting around the house. I love having her here! She is so helpful with Jordy and does the dishes and cooks sometimes too!

We have been working on the house a lot! We got the living room almost all done! I got my family photo wall all done, and Joe and Charis are painting the rest of the room! I love all the colors- all earth tones!

Oh Happy Day!!

Jordan has had so many troubles talking, I was beginning to think he would be a mute! Then the past few weeks have been just wonderful!

About two weeks ago he screamed "a Tree!" when I brought our little palm tree inside to keep it from freezing outside. I was so thrilled.

Then today he said "a bike!". He also started saying "hurry".

It makes me so happy to hear his sweet little voice! I can't wait to see what he will learn tomorrow!

14 weeks and counting...

So finally my secret is officially out...Joe and I are having another monster, I mean another blessed angel. With Jordan just hitting temper tantrums and becoming more independent, I keep wondering what on earth we were thinking having another one.

We got to see the baby on ultrasound two weeks ago. It is so amazing and makes it seem real. I have been feeling well, and finally got my appetite back, as evidenced by the five pounds I gained over the past two weeks!

I am a little frustrated that everyone thinks we are dying for a girl, since we already have a boy. My dad has even started referring to his "grand daughter". It makes it seem like no one will care about this baby if it is another boy. They seem surprised that I would like to have another boy. Jordan is such a fun little guy, who wouldn't want another one?

Well we are going to find out, if not to shut up all the speculation... Hopefully by the time we have the baby in July, everyone will be settled and happy with whatever gender we are having! Funny people get so uptight about other people's children...

On Call....

I was so excited for the three day weekend, then realized I am on call. At least it is home call! I am just fielding phone calls from people who don't know how to care for themselves at home. Seriously do people not know that you don't need to see a doctor for the common cold?? I guess I shouldn't let that little pearl of wisdom out since my future income depends on the idiocy of the common man....

I guess I am a bit bitter....

2AM, can't sleep

It's 2 AM and I can't sleep.

I was so sick last week that I actually took two days off work. Now I am just plagued with a cough that strikes whenever I assume a supine position. Torture. Pure Torture.

I am so tired, but can't stop coughing. All the hot tea with honey, cough syrup, decongestants, Vicks vapor rub, and even a vaporizer has not helped. I even tried putting Vick's on my feet...yes that right, feet. Some family of ours swears it helps. It made my feet feel nice and warm, but still coughed!

So now I am up, on the computer.

With the new year coming up, I will look back at last years Resolutions and see how they went...


Work Goals:
-Become member of AAFP and read the entire journal monthly
-Renew ACLS
-Read that ER book
On these I got 2/3! I didn't finish the entire ER book, but did read a good portion of it!



Family
-Date Night at least once per month
-Find regular baby sitter for Jordy for date night
-Take Jordy to playgroup whenever I am off work
-Menu planning so that we don't waste so much food
Joe and I aren't doing very well on date night. Jordy started daycare, and I take him there everyday. Since my mom moved close to us, we have a regular sitter. The menu planning is always a work in progress...

Financial
-Do Monthly Budget & meet it!
-Start saving for Jordy for college
-Increase savings for retirement
-Save “Enough” for down payment for house in Florida (not sure how much "enough" is)
3/4 here!! I haven't started saving for Jordy's school, but honestly don't have the money to spare right now. I will open an account and start slowly adding...

Personal Enrichment
-Find masters program
-Start Masters program
-Stop Swearing!

I actually decided not to start a masters program. I am so sick of school and want to focus on other things now, like family!

Fitness
-Get Body Fat Measured
-Work out 3x per week
-Give up the fantasy that I will ever look like Giselle or Heidi Klum & love myself anyways!

Working out is always a challenge... I did get back to pre-prego weight! I am happy with what I look like now, and am doing things to maintain it!

Friends
-Call my friends and family regularly
Doing well on this one, although I use the computer more- easier to do when you have screaming children in the house!


I will have to come up with the 2010 list!

What a week!!!

This week has finally come to an end, and not a moment too soon. Jordy got sick Sunday night and had a high fever. He stayed home from day care all week, which was awful for Joe since he is trying to study for his test, which is one week away. Jordan was incredibly whiny and clingy, and couldn't be put down for a moment. No matter what we gave him, nothing would bring down his fever. By Tuesday, I was sick too. After work I just went straight to bed. Joe was exhausted from 24 hour Jordan whining. I was literally no help!

Tuesday we took Jordan to the pediatrician. He gave him some antibiotics, for what I don't know. He never really said. I think the pediatricians just hand out amoxicillin. Anyways we are giving it to him.

Thanksgiving Joe and I were both exhausted. I did manage to cook a turkey, but d/t the plague Jordan had given us, neither Joe or I could eat very much! Most of the turkey is still in the fridge. I get a little nauseated just thinking about turkey. Funny but the only thing that I have been able to eat since I got sick is fast food! I swear I am going to gain 50 pounds by the time I recover.

Because we were both sick and caring for the whiniest kid on the planet, all housework was completely neglected. I swear every dish in our house was filthy! I spent over an hour doing dishes...and I am still not done. Laundry piled up....clutter and dirty tissues everywhere...oh it wasn' pretty!

Jordan has fully recovered, I am halfway back to normal, but Joe the sickest now. On Monday I am flying to San Antonio for the week for a class. I feel awful having to leave Joe the week of his test! Thank goodness my mom is out here to help out.

Ahhh, the daily grind

So now that the excitement of moving back to the states, getting in our new house, and starting my new job have all wore off what I am left with is.....work!

At my last base I was in the ER which is a much better schedule, sure it was 12 hour days, but I only worked 15-18 days per month! Plus somedays I hardly did anything...clinic is just not the same!

So far everyday I get to work around 7AM and am pretty much busy nonstop. Fortunately I am able to make my schedule how I like, and I am taking on a 20 minute lunch so that I can leave early. I get out of there around 3.

For my entire career so far everything has had a time limit on it. During residency all our rotations were one month. In Korea it was only for one year, and that was broken down into months of either days or nights....now it is for three years!! THREE YEARS!!

Three years is a lot of of daily drudgery. I need to find stuff to make it more bearable b/c right now I am bored with doing the same crap daily!

Victory(s) for this week, and some frustrations too!

1. I got just what I wanted for my birthday, a Roomba. I am sick of sweeping my gigantic downstairs everyday, only to have the dog and Jordy run by two seconds later and ruin it! At least now I don't have to sweep!
2. Joe and I had a wonderful day together this week. We went shopping and watched a movie together, sans Jordy! It was nice to sit and enjoy each others company without chasing a 2 year old...
3. We ate at a new Chinese buffet.
4. I got to spend three days at home with Joe and Jordy this week!

Frustrations:
1. The chinese food place was terrible! I hardly could eat anything there! Then we had to pay 30 dollars!! What a waste!
2. Jordy was so difficult today! He spent 3/4 of his day in timeout!
3. I mopped the floor this week. After I was done I was rinsing out the mop and a dead lizard came out of it. I was so disgusted I nearly passed out! I got all light headed and pasty and had to sit down. I just couldn't get the image of me spreading dead lizard all over my floor...ewwww!
4. I stayed home b/c I had the flu. I was home, but felt like hell!

Victory(s) for this week!

1. Jordy completed his first week at daycare. He did really well! He even was taking long naps while he was there. Plus he is drinking out of a cup like a champ now! At home Joe insists on giving him straws b/c Joe hates cleaning spills.
2. Joe took the GRE-He improved a lot, but was 80 points shy of his goal. I am still super proud of him!
3. I completed my first week of real work at the clinic. After being out of primary care for an entire year I was really worried about how much I would remember. But it seems to be coming back pretty quickly!
4. I may be able to finagle my schedule at work so I don't have to go to the 645 PT! It is still in the works...
5. After three weeks of meaning to, I finally got to the grocery store!
6. Joe and I have been doing good on our budget!

Halloween Pics!

Finally, here are some pics of my little Superman!

Jordy was so cute when he went trick-or-treating. He hardly ever gets candy, so every time he got anything, he wanted to stop immediately to eat it! After one trip around the block he was chocolate face!

Victory(s) for this week!

I got Joe to agree to buy generic diapers and wipes.
I got Jordy signed up and ready for day care.
I actually got some documents scanned and emailed.
Applied for life insurance.
Had date night with Joe, we went out for sushi (yummy).
Planted an avocado tree in our yard.
Got the builders to remove a palm tree from our yard (it was dead).
Celebrated our 8 year anniversary!

Changes

Changes are afoot!

This Monday Jordy will be starting day care. Not because we need someone to watch him, but b/c I think it will be good for him....and Joe agreed (after much nagging and cajoling).

I was beginning to get worried about Jordan's speech, after all his is 2 and hardly says 15 words. We had him evaluated and he was diagnosed with speech delay, and if you have had the opportunity to see him with Joe you will understand why. Those two have some sort of freaky ESP thing going on. Joe will look at Jordy and say, "He's thirsty". Then hand Jordy a drink, which he will happily take. I don't know how Joe knows these things, but somehow he does! The kid doesn't need to speak while Joe is around, Joe can read his mind!!

So Monday will be his first day at daycare. He is going to go to the one on base, right across from my clinic. I hope that it is a smooth transition and that he (and Joe) can survive the separation!

Ashley's Furniture Sucks

Well, not their actual furniture. But their business practices are just awful!

This actually happened about a month ago, but since we have been busy as all heck since then I just haven't had time to write about it. Finally I have a moment, and I think others should hear about this.

We shopped around for a couch. I wanted a large sectional, in a earth toned color. We found one I loved at Rooms to Go, but it was 3000.00! Much more than I wanted to pay considering we have a messy little boy, a dog, and let's face it- I'm messy too!

We shopped around and found one that I liked, not loved, but liked enough at Ashley's Furniture. The price was 1200, which included delivery. The lady said it was not in stock, but would be delivered to us in 9 days. I paid for the couch, was give a simple hand-written receipt, and left the store.

About three days later, a fancier receipt arrived in the mail. I didn't pay much attention to it, other than it had our order number on it.

For nine days, we sat on our uncomfortable tile floor to watch tv. Finally Joe bought a bean bag and we would all pile in that. The day before the couch was to arrive, I hadn't heard from the delivery people to know my "three hour delivery window", so I called the store.

They explained the couch wasn't even in stock yet. I was irritated as the lady assured me that it would be delivered on that specific day. Plus my ass was hurting from sitting on tile!

The couch was supposed to arrive three days later, and they once again assured me that the couch would be delivered on that coming Friday.

Once again, I was all excited to get the couch...of course you can see where this is going- the damned couch didn't show up!

I called and was told that the delivery truck broke down and that the soonest the couch could be delivered now would be Tuesday. The delivery trucks were already loaded for Saturdays deliveries, and those deliveries couldn't be bumped!

Now I was livid. I called my mom to assist me in a good 'ol fashioned hell raising, and we (me, Joe, my mom, and reluctantly my father) all went to Ashley's. We were told again and again that there was no way we could get the couch on Saturday as blah, blah, blah....

My mom really came through here. I finally said I just wanted my money back and that I would buy the couch from the friendly folks at Rooms 2 Go, who had successfully managed to deliver an entertainment center to our home at the appointed time. The manager then said that to return the couch we would have to pay a 20% restocking fee.

My mom literally exploded all over this stupid manager lady! "Are you serious??" She repeatedly screamed at the woman. "You want them to pay for your inability to fulfill the obligations of the contract?"

Then the manger lady directed me to read the fine print of the receipt that was mailed to me three days after the purchase was made- in small print on the back of the receipt it explains that Ashley is not responsible for delays in shipping!!! So literally you could wait for months and months and they don't care!

Finally to get rid of us, they guaranteed delivery the next day- and they actually did it too!

Well I do enjoy the couch, it is comfy and looks great in the room. But I will never purchase a stick of their furniture again due to their poor customer service!

Okinawa

Today court got done early, so we actually got to explore a bit. We went over to Kadena AFB. They have a huge Bx- two floors. I bought a few things for the house, and a toy for Jordy.

Then we (me and two other witnesses testifying in the court case) went to a place called American Village. Kind of a touristy place. We ate a delicious tempanyaki lunch. They weren't up to trying sushi :(

Some family pics

Another thing to check off the list....

I can now check of my mental to do list of life; testify in court martial hearing, go to Japan, sit in a room for 9 hours with three total strangers and discuss nothing for the entire time.

Actually none of those things were on my to do list of life, but that is what I have done for the past two days.

After much speculation, I did indeed get called to testify. It wasn't too bad. I was really nervous, but answered the questions honestly- which is pretty easy b/c all I kept saying was "I don't recall". Really do they expect me to remember one drunk guy that I saw nearly one year ago?

In case you were wondering where your tax dollars go to, here is a brief run down of how the government wastes tons of money. My ticket cost 3500 to get me from Florida to Okinawa. Plus the cost of me not seeing patients in my own clinic, so at least 100 patients had to go off base to have their medical needs met (I have no idea how much that costs). There are 4 witnesses for the prosecution, all at least 3500 per ticket, plus lodging, per diem (food,etc). There are 7 witnesses for defense. You can see how it adds up very quickly.

Now for the ridiculous part. This is all over a DUI!!! Retarded! I don't understand why it is such a big deal?

I got here Monday, and get to leave on Sunday. I hope I get to see some of the island before I have to leave...

Here we go again....

High of the sense of accomplishment that installing the ceiling fan incited in me, I dashed back to Lowe's and bought a new stainless steel sink and faucet for the kitchen. Joe was hesitant about his ability to install such a flashy new item, so I made him watch a video on Youtube, which made the job look ridiculously simple. He agreed it wouldn't be so bad...plus Lowe's charges 450 dollars for installation of a sink and faucet...

Our sink wasn't in bad shape, it was just so shallow that one plate made it look filled to the brim. That combined with the fact that the faucet was so low, made washing anything incredibly annoying. So for the new sink I picked one that was super deep...but this created problems.

Today while on my way home from work, I called Joe to tell him to get ready to install the sink...I was on my way and we would tackle the project. Turns out he was already working. He had called my mom over to watch Jordan while he worked. Well he tried to do it without someone watching Jordan, but realized when Jordan kept stealing tools and pipes and running away laughing something had to be done.

Joe ran into many problems along the way, but fortunately after several trips to Lowe's, he got them worked out. Because the new sink was so much deeper we had to cut pipes, reroute them, and it wasn't easy. Finally around 11pm we were finished. We stood back to admire our work...then saw that damn leak!!

I went upstairs and went straight to bed. I was too tired and too frustrated to deal with all that! Joe pushed on and fixed the damn thing. Thank god for his persistance- I would have called a plumber!

Joe says this is by far the worst thing I have ever made him do...he isn't jumping up and down to do anymore home improvement projects. I may have to give him a rest for a while...

We did it!

The ceiling fan was a success! After about 4 hours we finally got it all on the wall- sure it was supposed to take less than an hour according to the box....but we were beginners!

Now I feel like we can tackle the world. I am thinking about replacing our kitchen sink. The one the house came with is about 2 inches deep! Well not that bad, but just about!