Filed under For better or for worse …

Jul 06 2010
1 Comment
For better or for worse

Boomerang Tasks

This is a term used by the author Gretchen Rubin in her book The Happiness Project.  It’s a task you can’t seem to cross off your list of to-dos because it leads into other tasks in order to solve the overall task at hand.  I’ve been dealing with one of those for almost a month now — routine car maintenance.

Roughly three weeks ago, I took my car to the dealership to have the 60,000 mile service done.  While there, per the usual it seems, they informed me of an additional $600 worth of service items my car “needed”.  Mind you, I’d already spent $600 on the routine maintenance.  One of the additional items was to get my rear brakes done.  I knew I was getting close to due for them to be replaced but opted to have them done another time.

Then two weeks later my brakes started to make some noise. I took the car to another repair shop to have the brakes done because it was cheaper.  They informed me that the squeaking I was hearing was not from my rear brakes but from my front ones and that total (front and rear) it would cost about $1200.  They said that whoever did the front brakes put the wrong type of pads on the car and most likely the pads and the rotors would need replacing.  Ugh. 

DH and I discussed it and he remembered where we had the front brakes done which was only in January of this year.  He called the shop and found out the brake job was still under warranty.  Therefore, I had the rear ones done (they were at 3/32 and still needed replacing) at the one shop and today, took the car back to the shop which did the front brakes originally.

It was a stressful day dealing with this last repair shop.  Of course, they didn’t want to admit any wrongdoing and thus repair the car for free.  After several calls back and forth between their mechanic, my husband and their manager, they finally agreed they would at the very least replace the pads to see if that fixed the noise.  They said if it started squeaking again, they would then take care of the rotors.

So far the brakes are not making any noise.  And I’m just hoping they stay that way for another 40,000 miles thus ending this boomerang task.

May 24 2010
3 Comments
For better or for worse, Parenthood, Pregnancy, Sickness and Health

Sick of being sick

I have been dealing with a host of illnesses this past winter and spring.  On top of the morning sickness I had all through my first trimester and into the beginning of my second, I’ve had a stomach virus (during that first trimester … how did I know the difference?  pretty sure morning sickness excludes diarrhea …), a sinus infection and now TWO bouts of bronchitis.  It’s getting ridiculous.  To the point where, I’m not sure I even know what it feels like to be well.

To make things just a tad bit more difficult, DH has been traveling for work a lot this year.  And timing on my illnesses has been uncanny to say the least.  Usually on the week he’s gone or about to leave.  Wah. Wah. Wah.  I know.  But it’s been difficult to deal with a toddler (whose behavior has been challenging to say the least) and be sick and basically have no real time to rest and get better.

Today I went to see the doctor yet again who confirmed the second bout of bronchitis.  She prescribed another round of antibiotics plus the tylenol with codeine she prescribed last time.  “WHAT?!”, you may be asking yourself right now.  Apparently, it’s common to prescribe tylenol with codeine for pregnant woman who have bronchitis because believe it or not, it’s actually safer for the baby than taking cough syrup.  I found this hard to believe since it’s a Category C drug but the  doctor assured me that’s it okay for me to take a weeks worth until my throat finally feels better.  She said that if I took it a lot during the pregnancy, like months, then it might be an issue.

But she also said something else which really eased my mind and I didn’t even mention this symptom to her because it’s well, kinda embarrassing.  You see, I’ve been coughing so hard that each time I pee myself a little.  And without me even saying it, she said, “You must be feeling terrible, you poor thing.  Coughing and probably peeing yourself.”

I said, “I’m glad you said something about that because I wasn’t going to mention it.”

She said, “We’ve all been there, honey.  It will go away.”

WHEW!  I’ve been worried about this being a permanent thing and having to buy adult undergarments at this age!  So needless to say, I’m looking forward to not being sick for not just the obvious reasons but for this reason too!

Apr 29 2010
1 Comment
For better or for worse, Parenthood

In the Ghetto …

Recently, DH and I took Monkey to see Thomas the Train at the B & O Museum in Baltimore.  I thought for sure they’d just slap a face on an old train but they actually had an engine that looked like Thomas there.  The train cars where the parents and kids sat were all old MARC train cars but at least the front was authentic.

I knew where the B & O Museum was located when I chose this event for us.  It’s on the western side of Baltimore, just on the outskirts of where it gets dangerous at night.  However, I had no idea where the 25 minute train ride would take us … in the ghetto.

We got on the train and there were about 300 people on the train I’d guess.   As the train started going, we (along with other parents and kids) noticed there were Baltimore policemen on motorcycles going back and forth on either side of the train.  AND THEN, we started seeing burned out townhouses, graffiti laden buildings, trash piles … you get the idea.  It became quite obvious why the motorcade was there.  The train was a big bounty for anyone who tried to rob it.  The last thing the B&O Museum needed was an incident with this train ride.

But the whole thing was a little surreal because as we were traveling through the ghetto, the theme song to Thomas the Train was playing.

“They’re two, they’re four, they’re six, they’re eight,
Shunting trucks and hauling freight.
Red and green and brown and blue” … there’s another crackhead too!

Very surreal and several parents looked at each other with that knowing look like “Wow, this is weird”.

As we started back (the train just went forward then back), I noticed a group of small kids (ages 4-7 I’m guessing) standing at the chain link fence which separated their street from the train tracks.  It made me a little sad because their parents might not be able to afford to buy them a “Day with Thomas the Tank Engine”.

How ever surreal it might have been for DH and I, Monkey loved it and wanted to go back the next day.  I’m glad no matter how simple it was, he enjoyed it.

Feb 08 2010
4 Comments
For better or for worse, Parenthood

Schizo Boy

I need to stop using this term but it fits his behavior lately.  I’ll give you an example (this happened yesterday):

Me:  Let’s have mac and cheese for lunch.

Monkey:  I don’t WANT mac and cheese!

Me:  Well, it’s that or Peanut Butter and Jelly.

Monkey:  I don’t WANT Peanut Butter and Jelly!

Me:  Okay, mac and cheese then.

Monkey:  I don’t WANT mac and cheese.

Me:  Well, we’re having mac and cheese.

Monkey (still in the same upset tone):  I WANT mac and cheese.

Me:  You want mac and cheese?

Monkey:  I don’t WANT mac and cheese.

Me:  You don’t want mac and cheese?

Monkey:  I WANT mac and cheese.

Me:  Okay then, we’re having mac and cheese.

Monkey (still upset):  OKAY!

Does this happen to any of you who have toddlers?  This happens a LOT with different things, not just meals.  Going to the grocery store or playing with X toy instead of Y.  It’s starting to bother me and I’m wondering if it’s normal.  Need to do some research.

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Jan 24 2010
2 Comments
For better or for worse, Parenthood, Silly Shenanigans

The Little Negotiator

Today Monkey was fortunate enough to be with us as we realized that the local Disney Store is going out of business and therefore, many of the toys there are on sale.  We ended up getting him the Handy Manny toolbox which he hasn’t let go of since (including during his nap).

Then just a little bit ago, as DH and Monkey were getting ready to go the grocery store …

DH:  We can’t take the toolbox to the grocery store.

Monkey:  TAKE toolbox to the grocery store!

DH:  No, how about we take ONE tool.

Monkey:  How about we take TWO tools?!

DH:  How about ONE tool.

Monkey:  How about TWO tools!

DH (using reverse psychology?):  How about we take TWO tools?

Monkey:  OKAY!

The boy drives a hard deal.

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