Little Mermaids

Leslie and I took the kids to Nixon pool tonite. Leslie met me at my house with iced coffees and we attempted to relax and have a grown up conversation for a couple of minutes while the kids snacked. No such luck. You'd think they were completely attention deprived the way they all clamored around. By the time we left the house, Audrey was in meltdown mode because I *gasp* wanted her to wear a brand new swimsuit as opposed to her old ratty one. I was already feeling rather ghetto as I was resigned to wiggle and jiggle in my bikini (no time to buy anything more "mommy" appropriate) so I thought at least my kids could look nice. Audrey disagreed. Seriously, sometimes I question my sanity. But I finally had all three kids strapped in and ready to go.

We made it to the pool, loudly announcing our arrival in the echo-y locker room, and then all was well. I constantly counted 1-2-3 all evening but still managed to chat with Leslie. Austin eventually became brave enough to conquer the polar bear slide on his own. He's such a little chicken, so I was really impressed when I saw him go down without me even being around for moral support. I can't believe it's already the end of July and we're only just now getting to the pool for the first time. Fair week is coming up and admission is only $2/swimmer so I'm going to try to get the kids there a couple of times that week. Hopefully they'll sleep good tonite!

A Rant Post

So let me start from the beginning. A couple of months ago some of my bestest friends from high school and I decided to plan our 10 year reunion. We figured no one else was taking the initiative so we might as well and then we'd know it was getting done right. Ang called around, got some info and prices. We decided on Daryl's Downtown. Super good food, cool atmosphere and as an extra bonus~ no room charge, so there would be less expense.

Four of us each chipped in $25 and Ang and I headed to Daryl's to reserve the room and meet with the event planner to discuss the menu. Believe me, we double, even triple-checked with the planner to make sure our $100 deposit was in fact going to be put towards our final food bill for the reunion. We double, even triple-checked menu options and prices with her because we wanted to make sure no one got screwed with the final bill.

As a committee, we decided on the beef sirloin (from the $22 menu) and the stuffed chicken (from the $28 menu) because we had been told that Daryl's would price each meal (which included both a portion of the beef and chicken) as $25/person, which with tax and 20% gratuity made the grand total for each person attending approximately$31. We decided to play it safe and charge each person attending $32, so that we would have a little extra to cover additional expenses- invites, etc. Let me remind you, there was no room charge or we would have added a couple of dollars to each meal to help cover that as well. Because I was the senior class treasurer I volunteered/ was elected to collect all of the monies and pay the final bill for the evening. Several days before the reunion, I called the event planner to confirm our menu choices and give her our final count. (And, may I point out, received no objections from her.)

Fast forward to 2 Fridays ago, July 11th, the nite of the class reunion. Everything was wonderful. The food was delicious. The servers were attentive and courteous. Things were running smoothly. Then I received the bill. Problem #1: a $100 room charge. Problem #2: $28/meal charge (roughly making each meal $35 with tax and gratuity). Equaling $202.06 in extra, unexpected, surprise charges. I talked to the manager that evening, who of course couldn't do anything because he was just going by what he had been told. I had no choice but to pay. The whole bill. But I was assured that if I called the next day and talked to the event planner, then she would fix everything and make it right. I called the next day. No answer. I then called Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday leaving messages and talking to NO ONE. Ang then called and was able to talk to Daryl who assured her that if I were to call the next day at 10:30 said event planner would be available to take my call and work things out. I called. At 10:30. Event planner was unavailable. Hmmm, there's a big surprise. Was referred to person #3. Finally a real person to talk to. Told him my story. Said he would talk to Daryl and get back with me. Called back later in the day. Starts off by saying how he's really sorry that this happened (and basically implying that I am screwed). I again restate the issues. All of a sudden he "understands", says he'll talk to Daryl and get back with me. That was last Thursday.

This is now Wednesday, almost 2 weeks after the reunion. Still haven't heard anything. Call and leave a message for person #3. Return home from work tonite to hear a message from Daryl himself. I call right away and catch him as he's going out the door. I feel like telling him, "uh, sir, you could be "going" in the crapper for all I care, please resolve my issues, thank you very much." I have a 20 minute calm, but tense conversation with him in which he pretty much:

• told me he has to make a living. I almost gag at the though of poor Daryl struggling to make a living as his restaurant prices its meals well into the luxury range. Instead, I point out that our husbands entertained themselves at the bar all evening. Probably more than enough to make up for his restaurant's little mistake with our bill.
• covered for his crappy employees, because bottom line is- his employees messed up and I'm stuck paying for their mistakes. He kept telling me that they never serve entrees from 2 different menus for one price. I don't care if they never do, fact is, they DID and no one said otherwise until they tried to stick us with the higher priced bill. He also kept mentioning that they usually charge $600 for the use of the room we had and he was actually giving us a break by only charging us $100. Except we were never told that the $100 deposit was a room charge and not a credit toward the meals.
• insisted that he delivered what was promised (i.e., meals and service) so how should I possibly feel like I should be refunded any money? I tell him that it's almost 2 weeks after the fact and I'm just now being able to get this resolved because his employees who give such "great service" don't know how to return a message when a problem arises.
• mentioned several times that "my friend" (Angie) knew about the room charge and that our stories are a little mixed up. I offer to come down to the restaurant with Angie so that we can sit and chat with Daryl and his event planner as one big happy family and get things resolved once and for all, no he said, she said. He didn't want to do that.
• He finally offers to refund our room charge ($100). I tell him it's a start. I'm tempted to tell him a couple of other things and I really, REALLY want to say, "I'll have my lawyer call you" but I guess that can wait until after I get the money.

So shame on me! It never occurred to me to get a contract spelling out the charges for the evening. It should have. Lesson learned. I also never asked for final $ numbers when I called with final menu plans and count. I should have. Lesson learned again. But bigger shame on you, Daryl! If you were an honest, respectable businessman (which I thought you were) you would use your common sense, figure out we're not trying to cheat you out of a lousy $200, apologize for the time it's taken to get things settled and then graciously refund me the full $202.06.

Alas, I have to settle for his $100 offer. (I don't want to press him any more and have him get so ticked he changes his mind and I don't get anything.) So tomorrow Tom will stop by and pick up my money from the hostess stand. And it better not be on gift cards.

The Garage Sale That Wasn't, The Garage Sale That Wasn't, The Garage...

Seriously, am I beginning to sound like a broken record here? I thought this was MY weekend to get the dang thing done and over. For my husband to reclaim his man's room. For me to reclaim the sanity that comes with a neat and organized house. But for the 7th weekend in a row, it just wasn't meant to be. Perhaps I should have thrown in the towel when the paper arrived today sans the ad I shelled out $45 for (the ad that was supposed to be there). But, no, I stubbornly pressed ahead making signs for all of the intersections in a 3 mile radius of our home in hopes to bring the masses in (ok, so 3 miles is a little exaggeration).

Nope, the deal breaker came as I finally got the kids tucked into bed and headed out to do some serious set-up. My mom was on her way, Tom was cooperating (for once), and we had the whole nite ahead of us. When suddenly I thought I saw lightning. At first I brushed the thought away, but as I was talking to God about my plans for the sale, He responded with a bigger, more obvious lightning show. So I'm no dummy (just stubborn and hard headed). Tom helped me move everything back into the garage and we shut the door as the first big drops of rain started plopping down.

Even though tomorrow is supposed to be clear, I cannot set up in a hour, or even 2, and the weatherchannel.com is showing rain through 6am. I work tomorrow nite, so I won't have the time or energy to get ready for a Friday/Saturday sale. And it's too late to call the paper and have them run my ad for Thursday's paper (I feel like I really need an ad to make my sale really worth while). So this whole garage sale idea for this weekend is a wash. Literally.

The End Of An Era

... the baby era in Hosmerville, that is (at least we hope so;) Yup, it's official, Lexi is now tucked into her "big girl bed" for the second nite in a row. Goodbye crib!

I was able to get a real deal on the bed, thanks to my cuz Julie. She had heard I was looking for one and sent me a link to Jackson Swap Shop. I bought the bed for $10 off a guy named Cisco (yes, he did have a shaved head and tattoos) who delivered it to my door pronto. Nice guy, really, but that's a whole 'nother story in itself. But anyways, yesterday was the big day. The kids helped me put it together and we attempted to move the crib out. Unfortunately, the crib was too wide to fit thru the doorway so we had to squeeze around it all day until Tom could get home and dismantle it for us. Now it's sitting in my living room awaiting its fate in the BIG sale this weekend. (Yes, the garage sale that I was supposed to have, oh, 5 or 6 weeks ago.)

So Lexi is seeming to transition from her crib to toddler bed like a champ. She's fussed a little both nites at bedtime and gets attitude when I've tried to tuck her in (refusing her blanket and books). But she STAYS IN HER ROOM!!! She actually knocked on her bedroom door tonite and sat on the inside crying ~*heartbreaking*~ but so far she hasn't left her room and finds her way back to bed to fall asleep. Here's hoping this isn't the honeymoon phase.

Kid Speak

It seems as if my 22 month old is finally catching on as how to hold her own against her older 2 siblings. Audrey had some rocks this morning and Lexi snagged one and ran away. Audrey followed howling in hot pursuit. Time for some mommy intervention before things get ugly.

me: Lexi, give Audrey's rock back to her.

Lexi: (very adamant and clear) uh~uh, I got it first.

Can't argue with that!

Christmas In July

I got something in the mail on Monday. Something big. Something so big that the mere appearance of it caused me to jump up and down screaming causing the kids to consider (once again) admitting mom to the psycho ward. There was rumor that Tom & I might receive this but I refused to give into the hope or dream that I actually would until I had it in my greedy little hands. And then came Monday, the day I've been anxiously awaiting 2 looong months. As I stood with baited breath and trembling hands, I tore open the envelope and gazed at the bold print numbers before me: $2100. A very generous and VERY much appreciated gift from our lovely federal government in the form of our economic stimulus check. Wow! It's good to be American. And even better to be one with 3 little darlings!

As a loyal citizen of this beloved country I felt it my patriotic duty to go forth and "stimulate". And I promptly did. Within 2 hours, I was out the door with kids in tow. First, we picked up some flower flats at a sale to benefit JCS; I snagged 4 flats and a hanging basket for $21. Then we headed to McD's. Sensing my gleeful mood, Austin pounced and asked very sweetly for a Happy Meal. I was going to order off the dollar menu, but, what the heck, I still had $2079 hot ones to throw around. And on the pretense of being a thoughtful wife (but really just to get his John Hancock on aforementioned check), we took Tom a sweet tea at work.

Next stop, the bank. I briefly considered cashing the check, as opposed to just depositing it, and asking for all $1's so I could throw it around and roll in it naked but after considering that my actions might send a distorted message about money to my kids, I reconsidered and made a hefty deposit. Then we were on to Target to "stimulate" a little bit more. I picked up a new cordless phone and the kids each picked out new shovels for the sand box. Hey, what can I say, I'm a big spender.

Today I had a couple of small splurges: Audrey had her 3 years pics taken, the kids all got new footwear from baby GAP, I got a gourmet cup of coffee and we lunched at McD's again. Yes, it's good to be rich but alas reality is setting in and I must reign in my spending. There are bills to send out and debt to be paid off. *sigh* I hope that the $150 I did drop was enough to "stimulate" our struggling economy. What about you, have you done any recent stimulating?

Been Awhile...

Wow! I think it's been close to 2 weeks since I last posted. The fam has just been hangin' out enjoying summer. Here's a quick recap of the last week:

• Monday: Austin started basketball camp out at Columbia Central with his cousin Anna. He was so psyched! Each of the kids got their very own b-balls and a tee shirt. His illustrious path to an NBA career has begun! We grilled out and the kids played all nite in the backyard~ a classic summer evening.
  
  

• Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I worked~ blah!


• Wednesday after dropping Austin off at camp, the girls and I headed over to my grandpa and grandma's. We hung out for the morning and even scored an amazing breakfast. My grandma is an amazing cook, but this time we enjoyed my grandpa's cooking. My mom went with me to pick up Austin and we stopped at a local farm to visit with 9 adorable golden retriever puppies. The kids thought they were great!



• Thursday was the last day of b-ball camp. Austin received a trophy for being "free throw champ" of the K-2nd grade boys. He was absolutely thrilled. Can ya tell?
  

  

• Friday began the start of my 4 day weekend. This time, I was the one who was psyched! I'm trying to find a toddler bed for Lexi so I've been searching the garage sale ads. I stopped at a couple of promising sales with no luck. I did get Hungry Hippos and Don't Spill the Beans, a porcelain tea set for Audrey and Lexi, and a turtle sandbox.


• Saturday Tom and I picked up a surprise for the kids from my aunt and uncle. A full size air hockey table. The thing is a beast but we managed to wrestle it into... the dining room. So much for the Pottery Barn inspired "look" I was going for. This is only its temporary resting place, because as soon as I have my garage sale, we'll have room in Tom's man room for it.


• Sunday we went to church and enjoyed a potluck dinner. Austin and Audrey headed straight for the sandbox as soon as we got home and we ended up spending the whole day outside. Tom and I got some much needed yard work done and the kids had a blast running back and forth between their pool, swing set, and sand box. We grilled for dinner and ate on the deck so the kids didn't come in till bath time at 7:30. I put the kids to bed and headed downstairs to organize my scrapbook room (pics on that to come later=)

So that was our week in review. It feels like we're slowly starting to settle into our summer routine (as we should since July is tomorrow!)

Good News/ Bad News

The good news is we have air again- just in time for the much cooler week ahead~ hah! Turns out, the unit only needed a minor repair so we got out rather cheaply. Believe me, after not sleeping well for a whole week because the house had oven-like temperatures, I was prepared to max out the credit card to restore the air; so $200 isn't too bad.

The bad news is our dryer is now sitting in pieces in the laundry room. Tom attempted to diagnose/repair the thing and hasn't gotten very far in between his last week of class and the both of us tag-team parenting. I told him we either have to get it fixed or buy a new one/have it delivered within the next couple of days or it's gonna look like the Garden of Eden around here. *an embarrassing sidenote~ of course the ac repairman would have to go into the laundry room to look at the furnace to check the airflow, etc. and of course my pile of laundry is now more like Mt. Hosmerville, and of course he literally had to climb over it to reach the furnace.*

The worst news is I was 2 1/2 hours late for work today (actually, that wasn't so bad;) because Tom and I spent 5 hours in the ER with Austin because his asthma was attacking him. We had a rough nite last nite but to be perfectly honest the thought of spending the wee hours of the morning in an ER waiting room with a bunch of race drunks didn't seem really appealing so we didn't take him in until this morning when it became very apparent that we couldn't do anything more to ease his discomfort. He had 2 breathing treatments, his first dose of oral steroids, chest x-rays, orange popsicles, and blue Gatorade before we were finally able to get his discharge papers and head home. The good news is the x-rays showed no pneumonia and he didn't have to be admitted for an extended stay.

So now I'm trying to use the last few precious hours of the weekend to recharge for a busy week. I'm going to attempt ~once again~ to have my garage sale this weekend. The weather is looking better and I'm not feeling quite so overwhelmed now. I have 3 days off this week so I'm definitely looking forward to some quality family time. Have a great week everyone!

Three Strikes... The Electricity Is Out!

Wow what a weekend! I know it's already Thursday, but I feel as if I'm still trying to get my week started. Let's start with last Friday. I was supposed to have a mammoth garage sale. I even signed on to be a part of the neighborhood sale, but the enormity of the task proved to be a bit overwhelming. Really, I was afraid that it would start storming (which it did) and I would have nowhere to put all my crap since my spot in the garage is currently being occupied by my BIL's car~ not that I'm bitter or anything. But since my house was already on the neighborhood map, I set up a few card tables of books, dishes and maternity clothes. I also dragged out a bunch of the old yard/outside toys that my kids have lost interest in. The best sale of the day came early on. My mom and I had literally just set Austin's Little Tykes race card bed down in the drive when a lady pulled up and dropped $90 on the bed, 2 Little tykes hoops and some miscellaneous junk! I sold about $200 total, not bad for a one day haul. So my basement is still full and now I'm just waiting for a decent weekend to set up the real treasures.

Saturday nite I arrive home from work to an oven, yup, the central AC conveniently decided to conk out on the first real hot weekend of the summer. I grew up without AC but we have had it in every home we have lived in since we've been married so now I'm a bit spoiled. We put getting the unit fixed at the top of our weekly to-do list. *Update~ we STILL do not have AC, someone will be arriving tomorrow, ugh!*

So, back to Saturday nite. I started getting the kids clothes around for church the next morning and discovered that Austin has no clean shorts. This really shouldn't have came as a surprise since I neglected to do any laundry all week, instead focusing my energy on preparing for the sale that didn't happen. Anyways, by now it's midnite. I'm tired, I'm sweaty, wah, wah, wah. I decide that I'll throw a load of clothes into the washer and then dry his shorts first thing while we're getting ready in the morning so that they'll be dry by the time we leave for church. That was the plan anyways. When will I ever learn Hosmerville rule #101: things in this household never go according to plan. Because, you see, when I put the clothes in the dryer and turned it on, it started but the drum wouldn't rotate. Yup, AC and dryer are broken.

It's now 9 am, we have to leave in an hour and Austin does not have a clean pair of bottoms~ no khakis, no basketball shorts, no jeans shorts, no jeans. Nothing but corduroy pants and it's already feeling like 80* outside. I had no other choice: Austin put on his shirt, his underwear, his socks, and his shoes and we left for church. No, I didn't take him to church in his skivees. what I did do was stick his wet church shorts out the van window so they could air dry at 70 mph on the highway. For the most part they were dry by the time we got to Michigan Center and we all walked in looking clean and presentable.

Skip forward to Sunday nite. I'm heading to bed and the power goes out. What the heck! It wasn't even storming. But the power was out and stayed out. I didn't sleep well in our now very primitive dwelling~ no AC, no power~ and thinking about all our food in the fridge and freezers going bad. By 9am Monday, the fridge was on its way to warm and the ice cream in the freezer was feeling soft. I made a trip out to Brooklyn to borrow space in my grandma's fridge and freezer and to take a shower. The AC repairman wasn't called because he can't fix it if we don't have power to run it. Tom called Consumers that nite and was told we'd have power by 11pm... Wednesday nite. We made plans to stay at his parents, left the kiddies there and headed for an adult-only dinner at Outback with friends who were visiting from Dallas. We swung by the house before heading out to Clarklake and lo and behold, the power was on~ ta da!!!

So here I am Thursday morning, playing catch up from the weekend and being ever so thankful for all of our modern day conveniences. how was your weekend?

Eight years later and he's still the one! Happy anniversary, TJ, I love you!