A frustration cry like no other!

So I few weeks ago I started the blog back up again. And then..... I went silent again. The reason being was I was waiting for our new Ipad to arrive so that I could easily type one of these zany posts at a moment's notice instead of scheduling the computer time with the kids. It took a few weeks but the Ipad has finally arrived and I am in heaven! I have been liberated from typing all my emails from my Iphone.

So to officially start off the new season of the blog, I will tell a pointless story of my experience yesterday. It won't make a difference in anyone's lives but it was a moment for me that just made me sob.

After much discussion with my Dear Husband, we decided to try our hand at Turbo Tax again this year, even though we are filing a bit differently this year with my home business, I purchased Turbo Tax from Amazon. It arrived and I looked at the Turbo Tax software for several days with dread of having to sit down and do the taxes. (I am a the go-to one in our home for anything technical) I took the kids to school and stopped at Starbucks on the way home for a Chai Latte to rev up for the multiple hours of tax preparation I had ahead of me. I took it slow to be sure I entered everything correctly and made sure I deducted everything I could from the home business. It took about 3 hours and by that time, it was time for me to go get the kids at school. I decided to print and eFile the taxes the next morning. So yesterday, after the kiddos were nestled in at school I sat down at the computer to complete the quick process of printing and filing the taxes. Little did I know.... I didn't get back out of my chair for over 2 1/2 hours. Printing went great. Nice and quick Then the big snafu! I could not process my $19.99 payment for our state eFile. Every credit card I used, didn't work. Something was wrong with Turbo Tax. Great! I called the 800 # and finally got a live person after 20 minutes. He tried to help me for a total of two hours. Nothing he did work. He chuckled several times that my computer and Turbo Tax just don't like each other! Not funny! Nothing was wrong on my end. Everything had gone super smooth and all my other laptop work had been just fine. Then the moment came! I by mistake hung up my cell phone. The Turbo Tax guy had never taken my phone number just in case we were disconnected. I called the 800# back and sat on the automation hold for about 10 minutes and then just began to sob. And sob. And sob. I haven't had a frustrated sob in years. I've cried - yes- but not a sob because I had no other choice and was so darn frustrated. So, I pulled up my 'Big Girl Panties' and made an executive decision. I chose the option for another $29.99 + the $19.99 eFile fee to have the processing fee automatically taken out of our return. It was killing me that I had to pay a total of just about $50.00 to file my taxes. But being the resourceful one I am.... I said, "Damnit Jessica, send the software back to Amazon because clearly there is something wrong with it." So I did! I expect a full refund from Amazon which should offset the $50.00 processing fees plus a few extra dollars to treat myself to a Starbucks or two for all my troubles. I took the Turbo Tax Customer Service into my own hands and won! Interesting side note.... I know the guy at TT had my email info because we talked about it at least 5 times. He never emailed me to try to reconnect our broken call. I am sure he thought it was a godly intervention that got him off the hook with me.

Lame story but it just goes to show that you should never expect something to just take a few minutes! Then you are doomed from the beginning. Cheers!

Update: Just after I pushed the button to publish this post, I get an email from Turbo Tax stating my case is closed and please take a survey. Did they read my blog? Was that the godly intervention again! Hmmm.... The survey should be fun to take!

Tests & Trials of Pinterest

So I have been working my way thru all the great ideas on Pinterest. So far I wasted a whole day cooking Chicken Teriyaki in the crock pot which did not come out good. I actually went back to Pinterest and deleted the post. On the flip-side I made the most amazing grout cleaner of all times. I was a miracle right before my eyes. While it was processing, I went thru the storage area under my kitchen sink and throw away any and all commercial grout cleaner I had. I was just dumb-founded by the amount of dirt that raised up out of my grout. I knew it was dirty but I thought it was permanently stained for life. Oh no.... the grout came back to how it look 118 years ago when it was first installed. Amazing! That is my only words for it. Once I figure out the process, I will link the recipe from Pinterest to this post for all to share in the joy.

Yesterday I tried a great idea for ridding of ant in the kitchen. I went to the store and bought the borax and then came home and made the concoction. It's didn't work. It attracted LOTS of ants but all the ants stayed clear of the nice little cotton pads soaked in Borax and sugar, spread nicely through out my kitchen. It was a major bust so I too went back to Pinterest and deleted the post.

I will continue my Pinterest quest of finding new remedies and continue to post the results!

And here we go again!

After a two-year lapse I am back at thinking about my blog and what to do with it or where to take it. Since I find myself having plenty of time perusing Pinterest on a daily (or as my husband would say,"hourly") basis, I decided to dig out my ole' blog and fire it back up. I don't have a direction or a theme, it's just a written snapshot, at any random time, of my crazy wonderful life.

It's been 4 years since I was laid-off from my well-paying corporate job. It has taken me four years to grow comfortable with my new way of life as the primary caregiver to my kids during the day. Don't get me wrong.... I have not missed my corporate job one bit. Not one tear has ever shed. The one thing I took for granted while I was working though, was the power of a lunch break. I could run an errand by myself, make a phone call or just sit in my own space and think. I lost all that when I began to stay at home with the kids. It took me four years and my youngest to finally go to school full-time to find myself again. It is a work in progress every day but it is exciting work! I am learning to say 'no' and scheduling myself first. I am learning to embrace the time my kids are at school and not feel guilty for not signing up for every volunteer job in the classroom. I am beginning to know where I want to turn this cruise ship called, "my life" but just have to figure out the best route to take. After being college-educated and working in the corporate world, I know finally what I want to do when I grow up, other than being just a mom. Now I just have to figure out how to create the career and draw a salary from it.

Another attempt at finding the time....

I have to truely say that I love to blog but just don't find the time. I have a list of blog posts ideas running in my head (and on my Iphone) constantly. I struggle day in and day out with justifying writing this blog (nobody follows it but it is VERY theraputic for me) verses sitting at my laptop and trying to find a job. After my last therapy session and my declaration that I love to write... I was given the assignment by my therapist to get back to blogging on a weekly basis for my own mental health and creative outlet. So here I sit and type and try to get back into the groove.

I have decided that I need to find a certain day each week to dedicate to the blog (& my sanity). It would be kinda like homework for me.

Ever Hear of Fifth Disease? I hadn't either

Apparently Fifth Disease is considered a common childhood illness. It's cousins are measles, chicken pox and the mumps. It's a.k.a is Slapped Cheek Syndrome. From what I have been told, it's very, very common. I had never in my life heard of it. I must be living under a rock.

In early March Princess woke up with bright red Raggedy Ann cheeks. We kept on asking if she felt okay. She kept giving us the thumbs up that she was doing great. A few days into the bright red checks, a lace-like rash started all over her body. Against the wishes of my pediatrician, I went to the resource every mom finds reliable.. the Internet. My 'Mom' diagnosis came up with Fifth Disease. Off to the doctor I took Princess to confirm my ,which was correct. The doctor said that in a few days, Princess' cheeks and rash would clear up. As he was walking out the door, he looked over his shoulder and said that if adults get Fifths they can have chronic joint pain for up to a month. Oh okay,I respond, not thinking about it much.

Flash forward to the middle of May.... Dear Husband and I both got Fifths in the middle of March and I don't wish it on my worst enemy. It was the sickest I have ever been. Apparently it affects adults much worse and differently than kids. And... apparently the joint pain is worse for women. Let me just go on record and state that I can sympathize with every older person that suffers from arthritis. I never understood the pain, I do now. I am now 2 months into the 'joint pain' and it is awful. Though I am told it will eventually go away, I still struggle every day with the pain in my knees and hands.

The moral to this story is... if you too are living under a rock and have never heard of Fifth Disease... stay away from anyone with bright red checks.

Becoming a Backyardigan

I started this blog entry shortly before taking a break from the blog. I had saved it in my 'drafts' and think it is so cute, so here I share it now.....

Today (1/18/10) was raining cats and dogs and we took the kids to Barnes & Nobles this afternoon. They were told on the whole ride to the bookstore that they were not buying anything and only Daddy was buying something. We would "look" at the kids section though. Bad Idea!

I left Dear Husband, Princess, and Pirate in the kid's section while I went to the complete other side of the store to check on a book. The next thing I hear is Pirate screaming. (Only a mother can recognize her own child's primal scream.) I immediately head back to the other side of the store to see what could possibly be causing Pirate to have a fit. My sweet little Pirate LOVES the Backyardigans! I truly mean LOVE, LOVE, LOVE! He found every stuffed Backyardigan and had them all bundled in his arms. (There's 5 in case your not familiar: Pablo, Tasha, Uniqua, Austin, Tyrone). Dear Husband was in the process of telling Pirate that we were not buying any of them which was throwing Pirate into a panic.

Call me a softie for the little creatures (the Backyardigans, not the kids) It is very, very hard to ever find any toys that have the Backyardigans on them. We seemed to be behind the times a bit. The Backyardigans were the HOT thing a few years back. Not now, which is why it is hard to find merchandise with them on it. This was my rational when Pirate headed to the cashier at Barnes & Nobles with his arms overflowing with each Backyardigan (Ya can't just by one, they are a team!) $50.00 later we were in the car with the crew to introduce them to their new home.

Reflections at Forty

Yesterday was my 40th birthday and I had a great day. No complaints. So far, so good. I did reflect a bit on my life in between all the festivities. I decided I am exactly where I want to be in my life, minus a great career that I am passionate about. This is what brings me back to blogging.

I took several months off from blogging for a multitude of reasons. Life can, at times, get away from you. During my time away, I missed blogging but just couldn't justify the time to commit to it. During a conversation with Dear Husband this past weekend and my birthday reflection yesterday, I am going to try to commit to it again. I truly miss the creative writing that blogging allowed me. I love to write and blogging gave me the outlet to write, aside from the 'power letters' I sometimes have to compose to absentee landlords regarding their tenant, our neighbor. Or the letters I have to send to our city government about the lack of 'call to action' when it comes to an abandoned car on our street.

People say "do what you love, the money will follow". I have been thinking about that a lot lately. I want my 40's to be different that my 30's. I know, I can't complain too much. The 30's brought me a new marriage and two great kids. We have a house that we can all our 'home' and though I was laid-off a year ago, we aren't in bad shape like many Americans. (Yes, I did count my blessings yesterday too). I want my 40's to bring me the career that doesn't feel like a career. Something that is an extension of myself, that I love to do. Maybe writing, maybe photography, who knows...but I am on the quest to make my 40's be all they can be.