My turn to vent?

The boys and I had a great day today. After a bit of patience as I waited for my doctors appointment to be over, we went to lunch with Daddy. After lunch, we went to the airport park (as we call it, it's real name is Thomas A. Dixon, Jr. Observation Park), where we watched the airplanes land at BWI airport and played on the playground. All of that fun created a big thirst in all of us, so I decided to introduce the boys to a childhood memory, Slurpees.

So off to the convenience store that has numbers for a name. We walk up to the Slurpee machine. Now, I'm a traditionalist when it comes to Slurpees, I like Coke and Cherry layered in my cup, with a long straw with the spoon on the end. Little did I know, they now have Slurpees made out of energy drinks. Ok, not what you want to give a 3 and a 2 year old right before nap time. So I look, the Coke flavor is out, no biggie. I put my cup up under the Cherry flavor, and it's just liquid. Okay, no Slurpees, on to plan 2. I got a bottle of water, and 2 cups with ice for the boys.

I proceed to the check out, tell the lady that the cups just have ice, and she says "We have to charge you full price, regardless of what is in them." Excuse me? Do you seriously think I am going to pay MORE for a cup of ice than I did for the whole bottle of water? That left me with a couple of options: A. Take the cup back, and fill it with soda. B. Buy the measly 2 plastic cups with lids and a straw, and grumble about the 99 cents EACH that they were costing me. C. Tell the lady, "I'm not paying that much for an empty cup, you can throw it in the trash now." Want to take a guess what I did? Yes, option C. So instead of making $2 on me for a couple of cups, they ended up throwing away 2 cups of ice, and a cup full of watery Slurpee solution. Don't get me wrong, I have no problem paying for cups of ice, but not a dollar apiece. That is ridiculous!

So on a happy note, we went outside and drank our water. As I was buckling the boys into their carseats, a complete stranger walked up to me and said "have a happy mothers day!" So to all you moms and grandmoms out there in blog land, "Have a Happy Mothers Day!" Lets put a smile on the faces of all the moms we come into contact with, and spread the greeting!

And So the Break Continues!

Week 2 of no classes. They do finally have my transcripts, so I have been cleared to start classes again next Tuesday. Woopee! This will be a shock to my system, since I've been pretty lazy this week. Allergies got the best of me earlier this week, I've not been to the gym at all. I think the other members would appreciate my not distributing microcosms of goo from my nose all over the gym.

Other than that, there's really not much going on here right now. A very slow week.

I'm SOOOOOOO Homesick!

This was always one of my favorite times of the year in Kentucky. During April, I would go to Keeneland. The fresh air, the flowers, the horses, the excitement, the allergies (ok, not so good, but it came with it). Then came Derby festival. If you are not from Kentucky, then you have NO idea what Derby festival is like. There are constant activities, concerts, contests, a parade, races, balloon races, paddleboat races, Thunder Over Louisville. Then there's the news stories of everything going on in preparation for the Derby, so if you can't go to an activity, you certainly will see it. There's the yearly story on how they make the blanket of roses. Not to mention the stories about the horses, the jockeys, the trainers. The rest of you get a glimpse of this on the first Saturday in May, in Kentucky, you get it for 2 weeks! So on Saturday, expect me to be parked in front of the tv, with my Makers Mark and Coke (because that's the best Bourbon you can get outside the state of Kentucky, I prefer the "microdistills" you can get there). GO BABY GO!

I have a break!

Sort of! I have no school this week, because somehow the University has lost all but the first page of my transcripts. You know, the pages that actually show that I have a bachelors degree, which is kind of necessary for a Masters program! But what can I do but sit and wait while they request another copy. Which means that I will have homework to do on my vacation. Well, not REALLY a vacation, but our trip to Kentucky.

The summer trip to Kentucky is always an interesting one. Tim and one of my stepsons go to the Nascar Busch race at Kentucky Speedway every year, so we go and visit my parents for a week or so. I love my Mom, but lets just say that we "butt heads." I am a lot like my Dad, what can I say....lol. But since my parents now live on a 26 acre farm, we will have lots of fun things to do! Zachary loves Alpop, so he will be out feeding the horses every day with him, I am guessing. Nick was too small last summer, so I'm sure he will join them this year. We also plan to take a tent and do some "camping" at the farm. I know the boys will love sleeping outside, with their flashlights. Where's my Off?! But we will camp near the house, so that we can have bathroom privledges!

As for this week without school, I guess I'll have to come up with something fun for us to do. We're thinking about going to the beach the early part of next week. The Chesapeake Bay Bridge Walk is on Sunday. http://www.roadstothefuture.com/Chesa_Bay_Bridge_Walk.html
We did the walk last year, but Tim will still be in Richmond, Va on Sunday this year, and I don't know if I'll do it by myself. The walk itself would be fine, but the riding the bus with 2 kids and a wagon, not fun!

Can someone please tell me?

Can someone please tell me when I bought a yellow minivan? I distinctly remember buying a blue one. It is now covered in POLLEN! Hello Spring allergy season....Now, where's my antihistamines?

Can someone please tell me when my babies grew up? These two little boys are definitely not babies any more!

Can someone please tell me why I go into a fast food restaurant, and my brain says "order the salad" but my mouth says "I'll have a number one?"

Can it be?!

I have recently come to the conclusion that I am a cynic in my old age. Maybe it's realism, maybe it's experience, I don't know.

As you may know, I'm in a masters in Education program. The idealism I see posted by classmates amazes me. Yes, teaching is a hard job. I think a lot of people are in for some eye opening when they are in the classroom. Yes, in a perfect world, classrooms would be full of children eager to learn and teachers who are just as eager to teach them. But lets face it, this isn't a perfect world. Yes, a teacher will be teaching a future president, but almost all of us will be teaching the people who change the oil in our car, wait on us in restaurants, and give us manicures. And yes, they WILL have kids in their class that they just don't like. Hopefully our classes will address these issues in the future, otherwise, I will continue to be the black cloud in our class, with a little humor thrown in for good measure.

Update on Me

Ok, since my friend Elle asked why I haven't updated in a while, I will make time to do it!

Since starting my blog, I started working on my Masters in Education, so that I can teach elementary school when my kids start full day school in the next few years. What an adjustment! Sometimes I think I'm crazy for taking on all this extra work, but I really like studying and learning things! Not to mention that it is in an online format, where we post discussion questions on a message board. I am addicted! I have the reputation now for being the class clown, thank you very much! One student, who has been on my learning team for 2 classes now, asked if I wrote humor columns for my local paper.....lol. So I guess I need to start sharing my humor here! I promise, I'll try to find time!

The Joy of Boys!

For those of you with girls, I mean no offense, but I love having boys! While they keep me on my toes most of the time, they can sit and play in a pile of dirt for an hour! There's nothing like watching bugs on the sidewalk, or in our "recent addition"....the ladybug land and caterpillars that I bought for Zachary's preschool class. Nicholas sat and watched those caterpillars for a long time. He will be so happy to see them when they are butterflies! Hopefully I can find enough of these activities to keep them occupied so they aren't climbing the shelves in the pantry or wrestling in the living room!

That is Nick's other favorite activity, wrestling with my stepson. As soon as Ryan gets here, Nick gives him a knuckle-sandwich. I'm in for so much trouble when he starts school next year!

Whatever happened to customer service?

I'm on a rant today. I had 3 appointments scheduled for today, and 2 have been no show/no call. The 3rd did call to say he would be late. One of these appointments has been rescheduled twice already. This is for a replacement window, where they ordered the wrong grid pattern. They installed the wrong window while they waited for the correct window to be manufactured. Thank goodness I haven't had a report from our homeowners association about the window. Once they received the window, I scheduled an installation, which had to be rescheduled due to inclement weather. But here we are today, a beautiful sunny day, and no window installers.

Have our standards dropped so much that this is now acceptable? Do companies no longer care if they inconvenience their customers? I had heard this is commonplace with construction/home improvement companies, but this seems to be happening in all sectors of the service industry.

I could fund my boys college education if I received a nickel from every fast food person who has handed a cup dripping with the beverage of choice out the drive through window. These people look at me like I'm a freak when I hand it back in for them to clean the cup.

Do you have any stories to add? Or would you like to brag about some great customer service somewhere?

I'm new to this, but it looks like fun. I have 2 wild and crazy boys who will give me plenty of material, I'm sure.