The Tennesse Blizzard

I would like to talk about my new trauma. I love sleep. I love getting eight full hours of sleep. On the weekends, I love to sleep late. To me, this is getting up between 8:30 and 9:30. Now that my girls are older, I can do this. They both know better than to wake me up. Here in the last three weeks, something dreadful has begun happening to me. I am waking up around 7:30.....ON SATURDAY. This is not like when you wake up, squint your eyes at the clock, and go back to sleep. This is the deal where your eyes pop open and you are instantly wide awake. At.7:30.AM.

One of the girls I work with gets up at 5:30 on the weekends. The horror!!!!! She is a little older and I have heard that as you get older, you tend to wake up earlier. I don't want to wake up earlier. I am not so much concerned with the getting older part. One of the thrills of the weekend, besides not having to work, is knowing that I can get up when I feel like it. I am not on board for my eyeballs popping open so early on the weekends.

Our winter blizzard came in sometime after I went to bed Friday night. This morning all the snow is melted. It's hard to believe that it looked like this just yesterday.


The DQ had a friend stay over Friday night. When the girls woke up and saw the snow, they wanted to bundle up and go outside. They each donned two pairs of pants, a couple of pairs of socks, a couple of jackets and headed outside. I peeked out the front window and saw my neighbors across the street. I watched the kids having a snowball fight. I noticed that the kids were dressed in puffy coats, toboggans, gloves, scarves, and snow boots. I thought about what The DQ had on. She left her good winter coat at school, so she layered herself in a couple of lighter coats. N0 toboggan, and her gloves were a pair of socks over her hands, no snow boots, or scarf either. She did have a hat attached to one of her jackets.

I felt bad for a minute that she wasn't dressed like an Alaskan Eskimo. I thought to myself that she looked like an orphan child. The truth of the matter is, that we are LUCKY to get any snow. The weather in Tennessee is very up and down. One day the high might be 50 degrees. The next day it could be 35 degrees. Ya just never know. Our lack of snow makes it seem like such a waste of money to buy her new snow boots, and all this other gear that she MIGHT really need one day out of the entire winter. Not to mention that it's kinda hard to find snow boots in these here parts. Or sleds either.

Sissy, Snow Panic, and Car Paranoia

I have reached a new chapter in parenthood. Sissy is now driving herself to and from school. She brought one of her friends home with her today. When I got home, she wanted to know if she could spend the night at her friend's house. I had no problem with this. Her friend's mother is pretty strict so I felt comfortable for her to go. However, I did ask her to call me from her friend's house phone to check in. The reason being that if she calls me from her cell phone, she could be anywhere. NOT that I think she is up to mischief. I just feel it's necessary to implement boundaries from the start.

If she knows she is accountable for checking in, it will be harder for her get into to trouble. She couldn't for example, tell me she is at her friend's house but really be somewhere else. She wanted to go stay with another friend for the weekend. They were going to pick her up. I told her she could go IF the weather wasn't bad. The weather center is predicting a whopping 3-6 inches of snow here. She thinks I am being ridiculous. I explained to her that with new privileges, comes new responsibilities. Which means, checking in. At MY discretion. I am after all, The Enforcer. I have a reputation to maintain.

I don't want her traveling with some inexperienced driver in the snow. It could be dangerous. As I stated in a previous blog, we don't get enough snow here for ANYONE to really know how to maneuver in bad weather.

She later confessed to me that she is feeling moody. NO WAY! I never would have guessed. (Insert sarcasm here). We are still only experiencing rain right now. It's supposed to change over to snow later tonight. The high for tomorrow is 26 degrees. Here's the kicker. I am out of bread and milk. Really. So I will have to go out and purchase said items. Not because I am suffering from snow panic, but because everyone knows you can't be out of bread and milk with kids in the house. That's absurd. So I am off to join the masses of other citizens who are suffering from snow panic.

While I resist the whole snow panic, I find myself getting paranoid about the new SUV. (If you call it that) I am scared to warm it up in the mornings. I am afraid someone will steal it. Funny, I never worried about anyone stealing the Dodge. Maybe I secretly wanted them to. Anyway, I also decided that if the roads are even slightly hazardous, I don't want to drive the new car. What if I wrecked? Or someone hit me? I also don't want to take long trips in the new car. I don't want to put the extra miles on it. I even vacuumed it out already. After owning it less than a week. Sometimes I would go two months without vacuuming out the Dodge. (Shudder)

My sister went to the doctor today. Her blood pressure is high. The doctor says if her blood pressure is high next week, he wants to schedule her to be induced.

Sissy is still maintaining her 4.0 GPA. I am so proud of her. If she keeps it up, maybe she can get a full scholarship. Well I am off to stock up on bread milk. NOT BECAUSE I HAVE SNOW PANIC. I just need it.

Da Rules

Ya know how something in your house gets to be a problem and you make "a rule"? The "rule" is devised to deal with whatever problem has arisen. For example, one of my rules is-No talking on the cell phone to non Verizon customers before 9 pm during the week. I also have a rule that says-No friends are allowed to call the house phone after 9 pm. These two rules I remember easily. The first one I remember because it has to do with money. The second one I remember because it has to do with my sanity.

I have several rules I have implemented that have, over time fallen by the wayside.

1. If you leave your stuff out, I will throw it away. (I find myself unable to throw out stuff that I have paid good money for.)

2. Bed time. (I am really struggling with this one because my schedule has been so crazy for the last three years. There have been many nights when I haven't been home at bedtime.)

3. No TV past 9pm. (This one I started because The DQ was not going to sleep. It's one of those that got flashed with the memory remover stick like the one from Men In Black)

4. No eating or drinking in the bedroom. (I have not had this one removed from my memory, however I did find Doritos in The DQ's room recently.)

I think there may be more of them, but I believe the memory remover stick (flashy thing) has been used on me. Sissy is pretty good about Da Rules, so I am sure The DQ is the culprit. Sissy has always had sort of an independent nature. She goes to bed on her own, and she gets up on her own. EVERY. SINGLE.DAY. I have only had to wake her up once in the last three years.

The DQ tends to be the rebel of the family. I think it's in her genes. You know, the ones she got from her father. I am looking forward taking the upper hand again with some of the aforementioned rules as my college experience is drawing to a close. I REALLY believe that bedtime is extremely important. Children need sleep. Luckily for my precious child, I will now be home EVERY night to ensure that she in bed at the proper time(Insert evil laugh here)

I also need to catalog some of the projects I would like to tackle once I am finished with school. If I don't make a note of them, I am afraid the flashy memory remover could be used on me. So this more for my benefit than anyone else's.

1. Go through clothes and take old clothes to Goodwill.

2. Clean ALL the drawers in the entire house i.e. computer desk, night stand, entertainment center, bathroom drawers.

3. Clean yard and pull weeds.

4. Redecorate a little.

5. Spend more time on my blog amusing the masses.

6. Organize all my pictures.

7. Get down cobwebs in rooms with vaulted ceilings.

8. Give house a thorough spring cleaning.

For entertainment only. This list is at the discretion of the author and may be deleted or edited at any time with no prior warning. This list in no way implies any written contract. It is merely a list of things that should be done. This list is not subject to change by outside parties. Only the original author retains any rights to "The List".

Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven.........

The final countdown has begun. Only two more weeks until I graduate from college. (Technically three, but I have no intention of going to class on the last night). Only two more weeks until I am on vacation for a whole week. I have never taken a whole week of vacation at once in my entire adult life. What will it be like? I have no clue. I haven't decided yet whether or not we will be doing any traveling. I would like to take The DQ down to Chattanooga so we can go to the Ripley's Aquarium.

My car is not equipped with keyless entry. I decided to spend the extra money and have it installed. I am also having the remote start feature added. I feel like I am being spoiled, but I played out this little scenario in my head. Here it is:

I am leaving Wal-Mart. It's getting late and dark. As I walk, I hear footsteps behind me. I glance around and notice that I am being followed. I walk a little faster and here the footsteps behind me begin to walk faster also. Quickly becoming afraid I break out into a full run. So does the mysterious murderer. As I reach my vehicle, my hands are shaking and I struggle to unlock the car door. I jump into the car and drop the keys. I pick them up and I am unable to find the right key. As I struggle, the murderer closes in on me and kills me.

Now, if I have a clicker and a murderer is chasing me, I at least have a sporting chance of being able to get into the car and get away.

Speaking of keys, poor Sissy. Poor, poor Sissy. Yesterday was the first day that she got to drive her car to school. I am sure it must have been exciting for her. Until she got to school. The black plastic casing with the micro chip in it broke off from the key. The key stayed in the ignition and she couldn't get it out. She called me and I told her to go ahead and lock the door and use her code to get back in. She has the number pad on the driver door to get in the car.

She did the same thing when she got home from school yesterday. This morning, she came in the bathroom while I was in the shower and told me the car wouldn't start. After I got dressed, I went outside to see if I could help her. I quickly deduced that the car wouldn't start because the black casing with the micro chip was not on the key. When the black casing comes off of your car key, your car thinks it is being stolen. So this meant that Sissy could start the car and it would start for about three seconds and then cut off. Thus we now know that the anti theft system REALLY works. Unfortunately, this means I will be forced to go the dealership and have another key made for her. I figure this will cost anywhere from 50 to 100 bucks. For one key. Need I say more? No. I think not. So Sissy will have to be ghetto and use pliers if she can't get the keys to her car.

As my final semester in school draws to a close, I find myself returning to my pre-college habits. Which translates into actually doing work in my house and not shoving it all off on Sissy and The DQ. After all there are certain things a mother just does better. School was called off last night because the professor was sick. I had started chicken and dumplings in the crock pot, so dinner was ready when I got home. I actually did several loads of laundry and cleaned the master bathroom. On a week night. Tonight I have made dinner, folded laundry, started a new load, and tackled the mess in The DQ's room.

Which brings me to my next subject matter. Guess what I found in The DQ's room? Give up? A bag of half eaten Doritos. Some of the Doritos were on the floor. In another mood, I would have snapped, my head would have spun around three times and my eyes would have turned red. Then I would have begun speaking in a language even foreign to me. However, because of my mellow state (which I believe to be brought on by the car issues being resolved) I simply got out the Dustbuster and sucked up all the Doritos.

I recently heard a couple of radio personalities dissing the Dustbuster, saying it was a piece of crap that didn't work. I beg to differ. The Dustbuster has come a long way. Mine will suck up pennies, screws, marbles and a various assortment of other items. My favorite use for the Dustbuster is to attach the little wand and clean all the cracks that the vacuum cleaner won't reach. The new model Dustbuster even has a cleanable and replaceable filter. Shame on you radio people, shame!

In typical southern fashion, the weather has gone crazy. When I left for work this morning, it was sixty degrees. When I left the office to go home, it was 38 degrees. We MAY have more snow tonight. So get your milk and bread ready.

The Short Version Of The Story

I wrote an entire blog about my car buying experience. Then I posted the pictures and accidentally deleted almost the entire blog. Which means I have to start all over again. Let's pick up where I left off. I am going to shorten the story. My appointment was for 6:30 in the evening. I didn't end up needing the cancelled check. I don't know why. I think they must have let it slide. We sat at the dealership for about three hours. We spent most of that time waiting. Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. By the time it was time to actually sign the paperwork, I was so tired and befuddled that I could hardly think straight. I feebly signed the papers that were shoved in front of me without even looking at them. I am pretty sure I signed over one of my children, I'm just not sure which one. Just when I thought we were getting ready to leave, they send us into a waiting room so they could wash the car and fill it up with gas. I feel as though I deserve AT LEAST a tank of gas after sitting up there all that time. I just don't understand why they couldn't have been doing that while the paperwork was being signed. We left at 9:30 ish that night. The sad part is that everything was so hectic on Sunday that I really didn't even get a day to just enjoy the Rav4. My Sunday consisted of helping my sister a little, taking her shopping for party supplies, dropping her off, going back to my house, taking a shower, going back to my sister's house for a birthday party, loading up kids and taking them to Chuck E Cheese, loading up kids again and taking them home. So......that's the abbreviated version of the story, and here are some pictures. They look bad because it was almost dark when I took them. Sorry about that.

I

Short and Sweet

After much suffering and gnashing of teeth, I have my new car! It has been a crazy weekend and I am going to bed now. More details to follow later.

Hell And All It's Fury Has Been Unleashed On Me

(Maybe the title is a little dramatic)I am in the fifth dimension of hell. Maybe the sixth, or seventh. I'm not sure. I THOUGHT I was going to be driving home last night in my new Toyota Rav4. Oh no. I was wrong. Once again. Everything happened really fast yesterday. CarMax called and the car that I had shipped from Mississippi had arrived. I had to pull everything together really quickly. I had to make arrangements to have my broken car towed to Nashville. From Murfreesboro. Which cost me 100 bucks. I paid 250 bucks to have the car transferred.

So. I did a Mapquest to get directions to CarMax. I called my friend to get the number of the towing company, then I called the towing company. I explained that I needed to have the car towed to Nashville blah blah blah. I asked him if he needed directions. He said, "Oh no, I have a GPS system". Great.

After work I head to Nashville. I get lost. I pass the street I am supposed to turn on. I turn around and go back the other way. Passing my street once again. I call for help. I turn back around again and find my street.

Now, I called the towing company around 4 pm. I arrive at CarMax at approximately 6 pm. My car is still not there. We can't begin the paperwork for the new car until my old car gets there. I sit. I wait. The salesman calls the towing company to see where my car is. The guy says, "I'm not sure where I'm at". Let's recap. I offered to give the guys directions, which he turned down because he has a GPS system. So much for your GPS buddy.

Now I go through all the usual crap that is involved in buying a car. Now because I have negative equity on my car, I must agree to give up my next child should I have one. Which translates into the bank is requiring all sorts of documentation. WHICH I WAS NOT TOLD BEFORE I ARRIVED. So I drove all the way to Nashville on a Friday night for basically nothing. I come home and begin gathering all the paperwork I need. I am short one document. The bank wants a cancelled check for my rent. Because I rent from a family friend, I usually pay cash.

I go online to see if I can find any checks I may have written for the rent. I find one from back in October which MAY be a rent check. I can't tell for sure because I can't actually see who the check was written to. I go to the bank and ask for a copy of the check. The teller tells me it will be 45 minutes. I go home and then go back to the bank. I get the copy of the check. Lo and behold, it's not the right check. I can't find any record within the last six months of me writing a check for the rent.

So. Maybe they will let me slide without it. Maybe not. That's not all. I haven't even seen the car yet. No test drive. No sitting in it. No walking around it. Nothing. The more I thought about it this morning, the more it ticked me off. I paid to have that car transferred. And I don't even get to see it? I think not.

I would like to go on the record as saying that the price of the vehicle is fair. The contract is very straight forward with no hidden fees or extra costs. I have not been jerked around. However, I will not sign a darn thing until I get to drive the darn car. I have been in touch with another salesman who I wanted to work with anyway. He is the father of one of The DQ's friends. He is going to do what he can to help. So as of 12:22 pm central standard time, no car yet.