It's Argyle Vest Season Again...

Oh, lookie! Gymboree has debuted their latest line of argyle-vest-centric boys' Easter clothes. (yawn) Can we PLEASE come up with something different for little boys for Easter? Please?

Duggars...

What's with the Duggar girls and their badly permed hair? I'm starting to think it's part of their beliefs or something because I was watching the wedding special two nights ago and the girl who married the eldest Duggar boy had the same badly permed hair.

It bothered me so much, I actually googled it and apparently they actually DO perm their hair... and doesn't that seem odd given all the things they DON'T do because they think it's wrong to be preoccupied with their outward appearances?

Anyway, it seems I am not the only one who is bothered by it because Google yielded TONS of results, blog posts, etc...

If You Are Feuding with Your Husband Over Whether or Not to Name a Boy After Him, Have Him Read This, It Just Might Help You...

Okay, so Ben is actually named Tom... you've all been around here long enough know that right? That makes his official name Thomas Benjamin G. My husband, is Thomas Douglas Davis G. On our insurance cards, Ben is T. B. and my husband is Thomas D.D. The pediatrician's office keeps him on their records as T. Benjamin. This has always worked out fine and dandy, with only some minor confusion here and there, usually involving hospital staff calling Ben "Thomas" when he is coming out of anesthesia.

Until now...

Ohmyholyheck, the people who work at our insurance company share one brain and I'm pretty sure it's on vacation. Out of nowhere, a month or so ago, I get a call from the wonderful nurse at our ped's office who just wanted to inform me that something was amiss... that the insurance company had been rejecting all claims made for Ben since March. They had checked and double checked the info against Simon's claims and resubmitted only to have them rejected over and over again saying there was "no such member." Meanwhile, all of Simon's claims have been paid like they were supposed to.

A call to the insurance company led to a paper chase that is STILL going on. THey have no record of the claims ever being submitted (yet, they responded to them and rejected them). They THINK the problem has to do with the ped's office submitting them (as printed on the INSURANCE CARDS) as T.B. and not THomas Benjamin. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Seriously? Are they THAT stupid? I know we are not the only people in the country to a) call a child by a middle name or b) have a child with the same name as his father. COME ON!

We are still sorting it out... and I just logged on to the new feature on the insurance website where I can see claims. An October 13th visit to the ped's office for Simon's flu shot? There. And paid. The same October 13th visit to the ped's office for Ben's flu mist? NOT there. (sigh) I also pulled up claims under Tom's name just out of curiousity and sure enough, there was a pediatrician visit from April under HIS name.

I'm now completely convinced that the people on the other end of all this are not actually people, they are a room full of monkeys with computers.

Add to this they have suddenly decided to deny my annual GYN visit after covering it last year, claiming it's a specialist and I needed a referral? (It's not and I don't. The "Open Access" part of our insurance plan means NO REFERRAL... SHEESH) I am pretty darn frustrated.

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr....

To Which I Replied, "Seriously?"

I was walking Ben home this afternoon and passed by my next door neighbor's house (the one who we share the side yard with). His wife was outside weeding and said hello. I said hi and then apologized once again for the mess (a necessary mess, but a mess nonetheless) in our yard.

Her reply? "Oh it's not the mess that's bothering me. It's the NOISE."

(insert record scratch sound)

OH wait, it gets better.

"My daughter and I have been up at 7 every morning for three days because of all the noise. And it's not even the hammering and banging and the big machine. It's them throwing things in the truck!"

Okay, for real? And I did not say any of the following, but I should have.

a) Do you realistically expect any kind of outside home project to be completed silently?

b) Did you not just replace your roof which I had to listen to for three full days?

c) Did you also not just replace YOUR deck last summer which I ALSO had to listen to for three full days? (not to mention, you tore up your fair share of the side yard and hill in the process?

d) Oh boo hoo. You have to be awake at 7a.m.? Wah wah wah. I was up at 6!

Instead I said, "Well, it'll be done soon and hopefully, it'll look a lot nicer for you guys too."

Here's the thing. I like these people. They've been nothing but nice to us since we moved in... but sometimes they just say things like this and I can just tell they put up a nice front most of the time, but go back inside and whine about how annoying and stupid and young we are.

My next door neighbor on the other side just had a cement patio poured a few months ago and rebuilt HIS deck last summer. YES, it's true I can't stand him... and YES, the noise and mess was annoying, but in the end, his backyard is a lot nicer to live next to. So it was worth the week of annoyance.

Also, might I add, the first two years we lived here, I heard nothing from this neighbor except how awful the guy we bought our house from was to live next to. How he threw furniture and trash bags in the yard and peed off the side of the deck and threw wild parties. Can't they just be grateful we're not him and that we're making our house look nicer?

Seriously.

Quick Rant...

Really finding myself quite annoyed at Shutterfly's new format. It is far from user-friendly. Anyone else? (I was trying to whip up a quick and cute little beach banner and it took me FOREVER to find the pic I was looking for)

Now back to our regularly scheduled vacation!

The Post Where I Make YOU Feel a Little LESS Crazy...

Those who know me well, know that I don't do confrontations often. To say never would be a lie because I do have a breaking point at which I will go postal on you if you push just the right buttons often enough. The biggest problem I have with this is that when I'm really angry and trying to express it? I cry. While this ocassionally serves me well, it mostly just makes me come across as a crazy, emotional female instead of an intelligent person who is angry and trying to make a point.

So anyway, early this afternoon, I set out to work the beginning of a very long to do list which is currently completely overwhelming me. I ran to Target for a few things and then walked a few stores down to Party City to get some things for Simon's birthday party. Simon was in the sling and half asleep. Ben was in the cart -- cranky, tired and allergy-stricken. I rushed through the store and then to the checkout. I got a very nice lady who talked to the kids and remarked that someone must be having a first birthday. I handed her my (signed) credit card and she asked for my i.d... this is where things went downhill.

When I go out with the boys, I usually grab whichever cards I'll need and shove them in my back pocket, so I don't have to carry anything extra. This particular time, I grabbed my checkcard, my credit card and my Safeway card... for whatever reason, my driver's license remained in my wallet.

I said it was in my car which was parked a million miles away and then laughed and asked if she was seriously going to make my leave my stuff, take my kids, walk all the way to the car and back (for a $28 purchase, no less)

She had to call a manager.

"She's kidding, right?" I muttered to the woman behind me. THe manager came and said that yes, she needed my license and it was store policy. The poor cashier apologized all over herself because even she could see that this was ridiculous and unreasonable, but she was powerless. I threw my bags back on the counter and pushed the cart out of the store with Ben in it and Simon hanging off of me in the sling. (and with all of them watching me struggle to get the door open, I might add) I trudged to the van, which was parked all the way at the farthest entrance to the Target.

Ten minutes later... back to the party store. The manager now has to rering my purchases. She says, "Again, I'm sorry but it's our policy." I looked around... "Is this policy posted anywhere?" "Well, no... but..." "Well my card says 'not valid unless signed', it's signed... so what's the problem?" She just keeps giving me this nonsense about it being store policy. "Then it should be posted somewhere," I said, throwing my license at her. Then I burst into tears. Yes. Welcome to crazy-ville. Population, me.

"Is everything all right?" the manager asked, now probably concerned I was going to do something really crazy. In between sobs, I think I said something incoherent about how ridiculous this was and she could see that I had my hands full with two kids, one cranky, one napping and she put me through all this for such a piddly little purchase.

And did I mention? She barely even gave my license a cursory once over.

I cried all the way to the car, I was so angry. Why can't people just be kind and merciful once in awhile? Store policy, my backside... I worked retail long enough that I know she could have just let it go.

(sigh)

Ew.

I just discovered there is an entire ant society, probably four generations worth, existing in the ficus tree in my living room. (which is now on the deck until I figure out how to exterminate it)

Also, the ant traps I have put all over the first floor for the Annual Marching Of the Ants? (presumably to join their friends in the ficus) The ants actively avoid them. Nice.

Just Plain Annoyed...

So, I'm sure you've all heard about the whole BPA and bottle/sippy cups drama, which has been around for a LONG time now (I remember hearing vague stirrings about it when Benjamin was still using bottles)... but is just now getting more serious attention. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about, here's a recent sky-is-falling blog post on the topic, as well as a more unbiased article)

Here's what I find especially annoying. WHY is it that can I still walk into Target and buy an Avent bottle? Even if there is a SMALL risk of harm, these bottles/cups etc should be off the shelves entirely! More and more I am discovering (and I know I'm probably way late to the party) that I can't trust companies to protect me or my family and that I really have to take it into my own hands-- doing the research and not just buying products blindly trusting that because it's a big company with a good reputation like Playtex, Gerber, etc that they are doing what is in the best interest of their consumers.

And now I'm in a bit of a rock/hard place situation with this. First off, both of my children used these bottles for nearly an entire year. I have microwaved them (not often, but once in awhile), I have run them through the dishwasher probably every other day AND they were stored in the attic prior to Simon getting them. So yeah, if there is PBA in them to be released into the milk, my kids have been exposed to it, no doubt! Simon is about a month or two away from being off bottles entirely, but I am still thinking I'll pitch the Avents and buy glass bottles to finish out the year and them store for the next baby.

I'm ticked. TICKED TICKED TICKED. And I'm REALLY ticked at myself for not paying any attention to the little bit of press I heard about this three years ago.

(sigh)

It's enough to make even ME a crunchy, "all natural"-everything, simpler is better advocate. Maybe I should go back to the cloth diapers too because God only knows what they are going to discover is in the Luvs and Pampers that will eventually kill us all.

Sheezy Peezy...

So I'm working on this really quite adorable little project for Ben's class for the end of the year. I'll share it with you when it's finished in May, but for now it's still a work in progress for two reasons: 1) I still have a couple upcoming events to get pictures of and 2) I have been BEGGING the other moms for pictures of their children for two months now. There are four of the other moms who actually check email and have been very helpful. The other three don't check email... I spoke to one in person and she told me she seriously has no idea how to send a picture or even get them off of her camera and that her husband will have to do it. ?! The second one, I guarantee has never touched a computer and the third has an email address which I'm waiting to see if she actually uses because she and I never seem to cross paths during pickup and dropoff.

Anyway, it's really irritating and I just don't get people who, in this day and age, don't know how to use basic email functions. I'm not saying you have to be an internet guru, but c'mon!

At any rate, I've resorted to taking pictures of their kids myself and Ben's teacher is going to take a few for me. It'll work and it will be cute in the end... but still so very ANNOYING when it could be so easy... :P

Birthday Dilemma...

Simon's first birthday falls on Mother's Day this year.

(sigh)

The implications are far reaching and most likely mean that my baby will not get a birthday celebration ON his first birthday and that makes me very sad. :(

Mother's Day is complicated at our house. Tom and I generally split up and do lunch with our respective moms and then dinner out together (Ben has always stayed with his grandparents while we do this) To pull off even the simplest birthday party for him that includes both of us is pretty much impossible. Even if we were to do a family party for him with my inlaws in lieu of Tom and I going out to dinner on Mother's Day, it's still stepping on the toes of other people.

So then you say, why not just do it the weekend before or the weekend after? Because the weekend before is his one uncle's birthday (and I kind of feel wrong celebrating a first bday BEFORE the actual date anyway) and the weekend after is his OTHER uncle's birthday... and, as I found when I was very excited to be scheduled for an induction on the latter uncle's birthday, he does not particularly want to share it.

So why not Saturday? Well, that's a possibility... but it's already a busy weekend for everyone and still, it's not my baby's actual first birthday. :(

In short, Simon really kinda gets jipped this year, on the most important of all birthdays. :( And yeah, I'm pretty bummed about it. :(

Oh Good. This Will Be Interesting...

So I was just updating my calendar, adding bdays and whatnot...

Guess what I discovered?

Simon's 1st bday? Falls on Mother's Day. Oy.

Ben's bday? Easter Monday.

Anyone want to give me some ideas on how to plan THOSE parties? (we are only doing family parties this year, by the way... so at least I don't have a crazy kids' party to worry about...)

No Longer in Luv...

I read that Southwest airlines has (effective October 7th) gotten rid of pre-boarding for families with children under 4 (or 5, depending which article you read). Now, you will either get to board with the "A" group (in numbered subgroups) if you manage to get an "A" boarding pass, or between the A and B groups if you aren't so lucky.

I am NONE to pleased about this. It's hard enough to get a baby, toddler or preschooler (and carseat, if you choose to buy the baby/toddler a seat) situated on a plane when you get to preboard... much less having to do all this with a hoard of people boarding at the same time as you.

Mad doesn't begin to describe how I feel... I wonder how long this new policy will last? Because I KNOW I am not alone in my annoyance... (I particularly liked this person's rant:

======="19. The policy will not last. Why? With 23 rows, "blue card" pre-boarders followed by 60 passengers, you might have 70+ people already on the plane before families board. What does that mean? If you are traveling with a car seat, you must put the car seat in a window seat, per FAA regulations. What are the chances there will be an open window seat? That should be fun to watch.

The policy makes no sense mostly because families are going to take the same amount of time, no matter when they board, so this does not speed up the boarding process and improve aircraft turnaround.

No, Southwest has something else up their sleeves. Perhaps getting an A boarding pass will cost a little extra in the future. ")=================

and if there aren't enough seats for all of my family to sit together? I'll tell you right now that I WILL be the one holding the plane up while they try to get everyone to move around to accomodate us. I will also be the one holding up the boarding of the rest of the line behind me while I hoist the giant carseat over and into the seats and get it buckled in. So take that Southwest.