AINT THEY CUTE??

THE NEXT TONY HAWK?

Finally pics of Zachary doing what he loves to do best!

HAVING THE FLU SUCKS!

I cant remember the last time I felt so horrible. It started Sunday night. I was cleaning up the kitchen and I thought "huh, I dont feel so good". An hour later I was throwing up. Every hour an a half all night. You know your really sick when your dead asleep and you wake up just to puke. Steve had to stay home from work cuz I just couldnt get out of bed. I stayed in bed for 36 hours. Sleeping for most of it. I watched a half hour show and even found that to be exhausting and went right back to bed. I was up for the day at 4:30 am this morning. I think Im over the throwing up part but I woke up achy and feverish. I really hope no one else here gets it. Ive been using lysol on everything Ive touched!

TODAYS CONVERSATION....

Went something like this...

"Hi Mrs Levine? Your car is ready..just one problem (didnt see that coming) we dont have any more keys. We have ordered one for you and the eta is about 2 1/2 weeks. We will need the car back when it comes in so we can reprogram the key".

Do you believe this crap? Against my better judgement, I didnt go off on the guy. He is from the service department and has no idea all the goings on or anything to do with the morons in sales.

Just adding this to my list. And the list is pretty damn long.

CHAMPAGNE TASTE

Thank goodness Im going back to work soon. Zachary has grown so much in the last year that nothing fits him anymore. The kid needs an entire new wardrobe! I bought him a shirt and a pair of shorts a few weeks ago and the poor kid tries to wear it at least 2x a week because he doesnt have much he fits in. He needs to stop growing! His shirts are all half shirts now that he has gotten so tall, his shorts are all mid thigh, his feet busting out of his shoes..I feel bad telling him that some things of less priority have to wait until I go back to work. There was a time when I could simply get away with "Mommy has to go to work to make money to buy lollipops".Now he is all about fashion and he isnt asking for 50 cent lollipops, its $90 sneakers. UGH. He is at the age where if your not wearing whats cool, then your going to get picked on. Poor kid. I know how it feels to be between sizes where nothing fits right. Im trying to wait on some things as long as I can, because we will soon have to take him back to school shopping over the summer. On top of that his bike got stolen from school! Lock was smashed. His bike around here is a necessity. He rides it to school and to have this happen right before summer and school letting out really sucks. His grandfather let him have one of their bikes just so he could get to and from school but he is so embarrassed to ride it that he rides it to our friends house that lives next to the school, parks it where no one can see, and then walks in so no one sees what he is riding. Its an older 10 speed with a mirror on it. The only thing its missing is a horn..lol. Not like the Haro bmx bikes he is used to! Of course it didnt help that Steve said "You dont have to worry about this bike getting stolen!" Then he realized he probably shouldnt have said that!
So, mommy must go to work asap so poor Zachary is not riding his mirrored bike this summer or going to 8th grade in his underwear!

You guessed it. Went in to the dealership to drop off my car so they can reprogram a spare key and have them scotch gaurd the seats and put a special wax on the outside. Joe the manager set up my appt and knew I was coming late due to Steve getting out of work late. The last I taked to that guy was last Wednesday when the appointment was made. I get there last night, and the service dept is closed and there is no one there that I have previously talked to , and no one has any clue that I was coming, or about the rental car they were to give me. No management there, just peons. One guy starts looking for a rental car for me and he keeps coming in and out of the office and checking this and that. I tell, him it better be big enough to fit my 3 kids. He walks by and says "still trying to find you a loaner"...Great. Finally gets me one, I sign papers, get in it and theres ZERO gas. Not a drop, the gas light is on. Morons. Go back in and it takes them another 20 min to loacte another and they come up with a piece of crap. 45 min I was there. What a waste of time for someone who has an appointment already.

ARE THEY TRYING TO PUSH ME OVER THE EDGE???

OMG. Is it ever going to end? Im really trying to let this go, but they wont let me. Another day, another lovely letter from the dealership. This time from the higher up that I spoke to. Here's some highlights. "I trust that your buying experience was pleasant and that you are completely satisfied. Here at Artioli Dodge, we pride ourselves on being #1, you cant do this without 100% satisfaction. We value our relationship and look forward to the opportunity to continue serving you." UNBELIEVABLE.

HAPPY 3RD ANNIVERSARY JEN AND DENNIS!!!

JESUS ALREADY LOVES ME THANK YOU VERY MUCH

The other day there is a knock at my (front, that we never use) door. A middle aged woman and her about 8 yr old (very smiley) son. They introduce themselves and say they live on such and such street. I assume its around the corner or something. They give me a gift bag and a plant and say they heard we had a new baby and they wanted to welcome her to the world. And Im thinking Awww, thats so sweet, what a nice lady. Apparently observant too, she pointed to a ride on toy of Ryan's and said "You must have older children". I must be naive because really, even when she slipped in a line about her church, I'm just thinking that this is a neighbor Ive not met and shes like the welcome wagon or something. I tell Steve that this lovely woman just stopped by to bring Grace a present and I leaf through the gift bag and I start to see the bigger picture. She is trying to sell me on her church. Not Jehovah's. Shes baptist. In the gift bag, there is a pair of baby socks, a knitted pair of booties and an envelope addressed with both our our (Steves and mine) full names and our address. Lots of literature on their church and beliefs. Theres a typed 4 paragraph letter from the Pastor that seems "too personal". Its says..."Dear Steve and Sally, Our church and I want to give you a heart felt congratulations on the birth of Grace. We rejoice with you over Grace's birth and hope this small gift will come in handy." It goes onto say "As caring parents I am sure that you often think of how to best meet the needs of your little one. Perhaps one thought that has crossed your mind is the need to rear Grace in a loving house of worship"...You get the picture. Once it clicked, I got a little angry that these people are using my daughter as bait to lure me into their church (thats not even in our town). Theres just something wrong with that. And not only that I felt like we were being stalked a little from the nice lady and her very smiley son. I mean, it left me wondering how they got all of our information. Our names, our last name, the fact that we had a baby, her name, our address...etc. If they read the birth announcement, it didnt have our address, they sought it out. If they drove by and saw the "its a girl" sign, they wouldnt know her name or ours. I also didnt like the way the letter seemed so personal by using our name and hers so many times. Its just creepy. I also asked Steve where the street is that she mentioned she lives on and its accross town! She made it seem like she lived in my neighborhood. Just creepy. And I feel like such a fool for thinking this was just a nice gesture from a neighbor.

GRACIE GIRL

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KmtzWBJkWh0

Check out this song. "Gracie" by Ben Folds. Listen to the words. Its about a dad singing about his daughter Gracie. The video is not of me or anyone I know, but its so sweet. Maybe Steve will dance with our Gracie at her wedding to this song! Ps, get a kleenex handy just in case.

AND TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY....

Got a letter from Rob our sales guy at Artioli today. Let me read you a snipit...

" I would like to thank you once again for the opportunity to assist you with the purchase of your 2009 Journey. By now you have undoubtedly received many positive comments about your vehicle from family and friends. Please keep us in mind for any of your future vehicles. (Oh dont you worry, I absolutely will, and I will buy elsewhere).We have one of the best Service, Parts and Autobody shops in the industry. ( They are apparently unaware that "AUTOBODY" is 2 seperate words. MORONS.) Your satisfaction is very important to me. (OH REALLY?). If there is ever anything you need, please contact me."
NEED? I NEED MY DAMN DVD PLAYER ROB. GET ON IT..Horses ass.
Oh, and included is his business card that says he will pay $50. if we refer a friend. I wouldn't refer my worst enemy. I want to take this paper and shove it down his throat. Im sure its not typed up by him but its signed by him. What an idiot. I havnt decided what if anything Im going to do with it. We have to bring the car in tomorrow for them to do the wax package we ordered and have them reprogram me a new key to replace the one they lost. Steve is supposed to be bringing it in, but I may do it myself just so I have the opportunity to make him eat his words.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!!

Cool day! I always look forward to Mothers Day because my Zachary never disappoints me. As long as he has been old enough he has always given me the coolest things and always makes my day so special. This year was no different. My day started by sleeping in late. When I got up at 9:00 am, Zachary ordered me back to my bed and brought me breakfast in bed. Scrambled eggs, toast, fresh fruit, and my favorite coffee and fresh flowers from our yard. Zachary gave me a card with "Zach's Bucks" inside. So adorable! There were 4 of them. One free day of diaper changes, One hour of free babysitting, One free car wash (exterior only- he knows me too well!) and one trip to Johnnys Market to get flowers to plant in the front yard and in the window boxes. These "bucks" were so creative. He cut out school pictures from the last few years and stuck them on. And above his name it says "In Zach we dont trust" instead of "in God we trust". LOL ..Last year I got a coupon for free diaper changes and it somehow expired prior to mothers day and I was unable to use it. Loopholes. That kid lives for loopholes. Jokes on him though, this year there is 2 hineys that need changing, and there is no expiration. Trust me, its the first thing I looked for. Now my coupons are safely tucked away so they cannot be tampered with.

Zachary and I went and got flowers together, then ran a few errands. Later on I took both boys on a short walk and then we came home and watched videos of Zachary as a toddler. His mannerisms reminded me a lot of Ryans.

Thanks Zachary for always making Mothers Day so special that I forget how sad it really is. Love you bud.

BOYCOTT ARTILOI DODGE!!!!

UGH!. Yes, I do love my new car but I now hate the dealership. This is a long read. Save it for when you have time to read it in full. So get this....Steve has been suggesting we look at a car with 3rd row seating since we cant all fit. We saw the commercials for the Dodge Journey and it seemed nice as well as affordable. Steve and I had both bought cars from Artiloi Dodge in Enfield who is known for beign a 5 star dealership. You all remember Crystal and I camping out all night for the Neon? Same place. I was not too gung ho on taking on more payments or higher payments but I agreed to look at the Journey since they had been able to work magic with the numbers before and they have a reputation for having great customer satisfaction. Steve and I had been very happy with them, this would be our 5th car bought from them. Saturday we go to look at the car. We tell the guy that we need our payments to be around the same amount as what we have on our current loan or no deal. We said we didnt HAVE to buy a car right now, so if we couldnt get the payments in the same area, then it just wasnt an option as we cant afford more. Period. Our only requirement was that we needed a 3rd row. Anything else was gravy. We started thinking a dvd player would be a good idea in years to come with 2 little kids. We found a car on the lot that had everything we wanted and more. Except a dvd. We talked about buying the car, then getting it factory installed, or having it done through our local radio dealer but financed with the car, or just finding a model in the system that has the same features as the one on the lot, but also had a dvd already in it. After much agrivation, we decided the best option was getting it included in our payments and done through Long Radio (our local stereo dealership). Everything was great. Our payments ended up being $22.00 more a month, for a car that was 4 years newer and was more suitable for our family. We were ready to seal the deal on Saturday, but thier printers were down so they ask us to come back Sunday to sign the papers. They let us take the car home with dealer plates. Meanwhile we had already put a $250 deposit down for them to hold it, which we were to get back at the time of purchase. We were pissed because that would mean either taking the 2 little kids with us back to the dealership or having Steve and I go to Enfield seperatly (both our names are on the loan so we both had to sign). Ryan was with us when we were doing this Sat. And we were there for 4 hours. He was AWESOME. But there was no way I was putting him through that again. (Grace was at Auntie Suzies and Zachary was on a trip). So fine. We will make 2 trips up to Enfield to sign the papers seperatly. So Steve goes up there and they tell him they cant find a code for his UPS discount and since it was Sunday they couldnt get a hold of anyone at Chrysler. Didnt matter that he had a computer printout of the eligibility between UPS ad Chrysler. They needed a code and count get it. So they tell us they cant do anything till Monday. Oh and by the way they have lost the spare key to the new car. Its not just a regular key. Its like a square nub and its all compter chip activated. They told us if we lost it its $180 to replace. So now they have lost that, AND we have to go back for a 3rd day, and again either bring the kids or make 2 trips. At this point Im FUMING. The dealership that strives for customer service satisfaction, is not even remotly up to par. We go back Monday. With the kids. Trying to time it perfectly because we have a pediatrition appointment and my doctor appointment both in Enfield. They have now found the code for the discount, but still no spare key. So we are going to have to bring the car back "at out convience" because they need the car to program the nub. But it was not a huge deal because we were already bringing the car back this week for them to take it to Long Radio to have the dvd installed, while they gave us a loaner. So, we sign the paper work. I sat in the car with the kids, Grace asleep, Ryan crabby and hungy and just woke up from his nap. No time to feed him before we left so I sat him in his stroller and fed him a PB&J in the parking lot. (He's not eating in my new car!!!LOL). He is in there for a half hour and comes out and its my turn. I was in there for 5 minutes. The last conversation I had was with our sales guy who tells me he will call this afternoon with a time for the Dvd instalation. Great. Done deal. Glad fot this to be over. What, did you really think it ends here? So Tuesday afternoon, Steve myslef and the kids are enjoying a lovley lunch with my father in law when Steves cell phone rings. Its the appointment guy (Ryan) about the dvd. He says the dvd was not worked into our loan and he is wondering how were going to pay for it. Cash, credit card or check? WHAT??? Due to thier oversight and lack of communication between our sales guy and the finance guy. They seem to have to contact a higher up to wipe there own asses. Seriously even during all the negotiations with the sales guy he musta dissapeard to talk to his boss about 10x for answers on things. I was starting to feel like a contestant on "Deal or No Deal" and he had to run it by the banker. This guy is not new at this. He's been at the dealership for 7 years he tells me. Anyway, now im so mad that Im actually calm if that makes any sense. So I call our sales guy "Rob" (incase your wondering) and I say (in my best Richie Buck take no ones crap tone) Rob, we got a call saying the dvd wasnt part of our loan. He tells me he is aware, does not apologize, but contiunes to ramble uncomfortably about how it "may" have happened. And then I say (calmly) "And you are going to fix it Rob and make this better by having that dvd installed free of charge due to your error". He tells me he cant do that. He can rewrite the loan to include the dvd, but obviously that will make our payments go up. Now I bring on my American Airlines supervisor tone since Richie Buck clearly wasnt working. And I say "No, that is not an option, ROB, its not my error. You quoted me my monthly payment that included the dvd. Im not paying extra for your error." He sends me to talk to a higher up (of course). Now Im talking to Chris the manager. Go through the entire thing with him. I explain that had I known that it didnt include the dvd and that if it had our payments would be higher, than we may not have chosen to get the dvd. But the bottom line is this is what I was quoted and this is what I expect. Our sales guy was also under the impression that the dvd was included. He wasnt denying that, but he wasnt helping any to make it right. Chris basically tells me the same thing as Rob but in more detail. He cant just write off the cost of a dvd player because we got such a good deal on the car they arnt making any money off us. Not my problem. Talked to that guy for a half hour. Wouldnt budge. He told me the next option is to go to a higher up (duh, didnt see that coming) but he wasnt there at the time. He would leave a message for Joe (whos also the owners nephew) to call me the next day (Wednesday). By 2pm no call. I called and was put on hold for 5 minutes and he never came to the I phone. I had to hang up and call back just to leave the guy a message. Did I mention that our $250 deposit STILL had not been refunded as we were told? Yes, add that to the list. Joe finally calls me back at 4pm. Talked to him for almost an hour. He wouldnt budge. He was trying to make deals with me like " he would call Long Radio and tell them to give us the employee discount" or we could return the car, or rewrite the loan to a higher amount , blah blah blah. Obviously Im not going to return it. Its too much hassle and leaves me still looking for another car and doing this all over again. And Im saying "We have bought 5 cars from you totalling more than 100k. Steves Dodge Ram truck loan is up next summer (although we will not be looking to trade it in, he doesnt need to know that), were in our early 30's and have lots of years of car buying left to do. Are you really willing to loose a customer over the cost of a dvd player? (approx $1,000). His response? "I dont want to part ways like this but if this is the end of the road...." WTH? Everyone I talked to acknowledge that it was their error and not ours. But no one is willing to fix it. They all tell me they cant justify eating that cost regardless of whos error it is. And Im arguing it really doesnt make sense to loose us as a customer over this. Especially given all the other mishaps and how we bent over backwards for them all weekend. Back and forth for almost an hour. It ended with he was going to call Long Radio to find out what the discount would be, and then talk to the owner to see if he could further bring down the price, but it still wouldt be free to us. While waiting for the callback, Steve and I decided no, were not paying one red cent for it. We dont want the higher payments, or the hassle and cannot come up with the money to just buy it outright from Long Radio and not go through Artioli. At this point if hes getting us an employee discount and still possibly refucing it somewhat from there, then were probably talking about a mere $700 or so for them not to loose a customer. And if there willing to lose me and my "peeps" over that amount of money, then they didnt value my business in the first place. It was more a luxury not a requirement anyway. Its not like Grace or Ryan need to watch it now, and most of the time Zachary is in the front seat and the farthest we go is Enfield. In a few years from now if we were to take a long trip we can get one then. Its not just the money now, its more the principal. I felt good about giving Joe more legwork to do. He calls back at 7pm. And says "Sorry, Long Radio was closed. Im off tomorrow and Friday, but I will leave this for Ryan or Rob, and one of them will get back to you tomorrow". Are you F-ing kidding me???? So thats it. Were walking, or running rather, away from buying cars ever again from Enfield Artioli Dodge. I had already given my brother in law the card of our sales guy and they were going to go look at the same vehicle, they wont do that anymore. Atleast not at that dealership. So its not just my business they are loosing, its theirs too. Hope everyone stays away from them! Love the Journey, hate the dealership.

LOOK WHAT I GOT!!!

As much as I loved my Vue, we quickly outgrew it. Our family of 5 could not fit all in one car with the 2 carseats. We needed something with a 3rd row. We went just to look at the new 09 Dodge Journey and came out with a new car. I love it. Its very roomy and has a lot of storage. Zachary even thinks its pretty cool! It has a dvd player, Sirrus radio, roof rack, 6 disc cd, 2 compartments in the floor of the 2nd row that can hold ice and a 6 pk of coke, and even a chilled compartment in the dash for beverages and so many other cool things!

HAPPY 3RD BIRTHDAY SIDNEY!!!!

ANNIVERSARY

Hard to believe but its been 2 years this weekend since I had a cigarette. I still cant believe I did it, I never pictured myself a "non smoker". While I dont think about it everyday I still get an occasional craving and I know its something I will battle for the rest of my life. Smoke still smells good to me. Sometimes its over powering if theres a lot of people smoking at once, but for the most part Im not bothered by it. I wish I was, it would make it a lot easier! I know I will never go back because quitting was too damn hard and I dont want to do that again. I really think that had I not gotten pregnant I would have never quit. That was my motivation. Im pretty sure Steve would have divorced me had I been smoking while pregnant. He was a motivating factor. I didnt want to disappoint him. I did it cold turkey. I slept for the first 3 days. Barley got out of bed. I figured if I was sleeping I wouldnt be craving, eating or crabby. I was also so light headed and shaky that I didnt want to get out of bed. And at the end of the 3 days I figured I had gone this long and I did not want to revisit the lightheadedness. That was the worst. So here I am 2 years later, and never cheated once! GO ME!