A penny saved....

After my last negative tasting blog, I wanted to share a tid bit with whoever reads this juicy blog that is always abundant in crucial information. Read carefully, as it can get confusing below---but trust me!--it is to your advantage to read it!

Today I called Comcast to 'downgrade' our cable and internet plan. We don't watch the channels we do have (thanks to netflix and various re-runs we have on x-box etc.) and we wanted to try the slower internet for awhile to see if we hated it or couldn't tell a difference. Here is how my call went [the short version]:

me: "I would like to downgrade my cable tv please"

woman: "ok. looks like you are paying 41.95 now since we've already taken $10 off monthly for the next 4 months (thanks to Tim calling and trying to downgrade before). So, you'd like to go to the next lower at 15.99?"

me: "yes, that is correct"

woman:"ok, hold please while I get your information"

me thinking: didn't she just pull up my information? hmmm...owell.

woman: "mam, i am just showing now that i can offer you extended cable (what we have now) for 26.99 a month for the next 12 months."

me:"what? really? we pay 41.95, which is a discounted price, for that same package now?"

woman: "yes, mam. that is correct. in a few months your price will go from 41.95 to 51.95"

me thinking: wow! i would've been paying 41.95 monthly without knowing about this great deal that just "came" to this woman in a breaking news type thing accross her computer screen at the exact time I called? So i basically just made money (ok, saved money) just making this call at all?

me: "um, yes, i would like to pay 26.99 instead of 41.95 (soon to be 51.95) for what we have now for the next year, thank you."

woman:"no problem, mam."

blah blah blah....I did downgrade internet from 41.95 (which should be 61.95, but Tim got them to take off 20 dollars with his last phone call) to 24.95 and in just a brief second she was able to downgrade my speed while talking to me! amazing! AND this time they offered me a credit for the payment i've already made for the services I currently have. last time i called they told me i have to call on the day of the billing cycle change in order to get my money's worth and not lose money. Hmmmm....interesting.

Fof those of you that think, that's a nice and swell story but too much of a hassle and not that great of savings----I wanted to illustrate it a little more....so, to really drive the point home, here is what I would have potentially spent in 12 months on cable and internet if I would have been happy with the status quo: (yes, i really did the math, my mom will tell you that I always calculate my savings on any sale...it gives me warm fuzzies)

STATUS QUO: $1,298.68 before tax

and what I will be spending now for the next 12 months..............$623.28 before tax, which is a SAVINGS of: $675.40!

I can think of a lot that I'd rather be spending that money on than getting ripped off by cable/internet company!!!! It all adds up, friends. And, I am using the new speed of internet now and notice NO difference! And note, I would be the first to be skeptical! We were only going to try this speed out, but I think I love it! She--the'woman' --said the difference is only noticed if you down load a lot of 'gaming' and 'heavy files'. I do neither. I shop, blog, surf, and email. I am happy as a clam.

moral of the story, my friends, it never hurts to call up the cable/internet company every now and then and let them know they are ripping you completely off and try, or 'threaten', to downgrade. you're just sure to end up with cheaper prices. Tim got 30 dollars off our bill just by calling and saying we weren't happy with what we were paying and wanted to downgrade a couple months ago. So, it never ever hurts. You could basically make money making this important call TODAY! Ok, ok, SAVE money not make. Sometimes, though, i like to think of it as making money :)

Happy savings!

this day that was shopping, and annoyance, and more clouds

Tim and A went to Tim's folks house for Easter. I stayed home because, unfortunately, I have to work on Easter :( I'm sad I won't get to see the Bean's face when she discovers the treats left by the Easter bunny. Though, I've already let her know that the Easter bunny has notified me that he'll be stopping through on Monday morning at our house to leave more treats for her just so mama can be part of the fun. She is very pleased about that.



So, what to do with my hubby and babe free day? I was tempted to lay around and watch Best Week Every repeats or similar shows but opted for the shower and then out to get a wedding gift and maybe some treats for myself to wear in vegas (in may). I started it out all wrong. Instead of taking 10-15 more minutes of a drive to the ritzy mall, I chose the short drive and went to the ghetto mall that only has about two stores I like and slim pick'ns in those.



Now, I am all about good customer service but one store I went into drove me NUTS! I must have had each and every sales clerk greet me with a 'sweetie', 'honey', or 'sweet heart' (and they were all younger than me, i'm sure!) and then comment on every item I held up in my hand or touched or even stood near---no where was safe. "I see you love that color as much as me this season, sweetie! it's so delicious!" one girl said to me. And I didn't know how to politely say, "NO, i actually am not a fan but this is a good freak'n deal and well, that's the only reason I'm even considering it." So instead I just said, "Oh, mmm, I just love it. very delicious (under my breathe)" And I'm not exagerating when I say EVERYTHING I looked at encouraged at least one sales person to go ga ga over it and offer to start a fitting room for me and tell me the color would be perfect for me, and point out ten other similar shirts i would just love, blah blah blah. (it's cloudy out today and so I'm crabby, i think...can you tell?) Anyway, that was that store. THen off to another store where I thought I could be in and out quickly as I just wanted to buy some much needed face lotion. Unfortunately it took longer than expected and they had ghetto fabulous rap playing RIGHT next to the counter I had to go to. Two guys were break dancing and nearly knocking me over and the music was deafening. I'm not sure what their purpse was there but I think they were wedding djs or something and just represent'n and gett'n their party on...at least that's what I overheard them tell another curious woman. The woman who was helping me at the counter talked me into trying 60 different shades of BRIGHT eye shadow and lipsticks (remember i only wanted lotion!) that just came out for spring as well as rubbing thirty different types of lotion onto my hand and forearm. I still only purchased the one tub of lotion and i could see her disappointment as I expressed my non-need of pink and purple eyeshadow and lipstick this season since I really don't wear much make up anyway...



Finally, I decided Target would be my saving grace even though it is a ghetto Target as well...turns out I was wrong again. It seemed that whole side of town wanted to be at Target as well and took their entire extended families along and wanted to see how far away they could be from one another and still hear each other in conversation. Target had failed me. It was a sad day. But I did find two big soft towels on clearance and that made me happy so all was not lost.



I'm home now and just ate a yummy tofu and veggie homemade stir fry and then spoonfuls of peanut butter layered with chocolate chips for dessert--even yummier! There is nothing on TV and I'm too lazy to drive all the way in to town to rent a movie as I'm just sure there is nothing good left on a sat eve. So, alas, I sit and blog and spew my negativity! Aren't you glad I'm spreading the joy?



Well, I think I'll go get Alex's Easter basket ready and then get in bed and read or watch Arrested Development re-runs which always brighten my mood :)

All you Arrested Development fans, lookie here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPHDUyN5W6k

Happy Easter!

I thought of something!

So, I thought of something to blog about that doesn't involve Alex!

Today I went to the Y and while I was scoping the place out to see where I might want to settle in for my work out (that I was already looking forward to cutting short since I was late getting there and had to pick A up before nap time began---hers, not mine) and there was a man on the less crowded side and he was changing a channel on one of the TV's. There was only one other person within viewing distance of these TVs so I thought, "Yes! There will be a free one that I can change to watch something NON-ESPN. So, I asked the man who had just changed one of the TVs and it turns out he says, that he was going to watch ALL four. YES! You read that correctly. He had tuned all four of them to his liking and was quite annoyed that I had requested to change the channel on ONE. You'd have thought I requested to ride tandem on the single person bike he was gearing up to work out on. It took him several minutes to decide which one he would allow me to change and I kid you not, when I tried to give him a hard time in the most joking sort of ways, he was not having it, never even cracked a smile. Nice. So, my fellow friends, rule of the day: SHARE! It's the right thing to do, especially when you have three extras of something you only really need one of, and especially if those somethings happen to be tvs all with different variations of ESPN that all cover the same thing anyway, right?!

[If only my Y would incorporate treadmills that are equiped with their own personal TV such as the ones in the picture. But remember, people, this is Batesville, IN we are talking about. I'm grateful they have treadmills from this century :) [they're not that bad, i just kid]]

And on a working out note, don't you just hate it when someone always works into conversations the fact that they just worked out, or are going to work out, or missed their daily workout, etc...you get the point. I find it rather obnoxious and I wanted to point out that I was not trying to do that here. It was just part of the story. There is a girl at work that ALWAYS works in to convos her work out for the day or the previous day, etc. You know the type of person I'm talking about, heck maybe you are that kind of person...It could be a conversation about a patient that coded and the events leading up to it and she would add in, "So, this morning I worked out before I came to work and when I got here my patient had coded" [as if the working out part had anything to do with her patient or the patient coding] So, second moral of this post: Don't be that person! :)

This is what I envision telling my work friend most of the time when she incorporates these gym excursions into nearly all her stories :)

more pics, playground fun, and "was that spanish?"

So here are some new pics. We went to the playground the other day and it was so much fun. The weather was amazing! Alex had much fun splashing and running from one thing to the next. She was also enjoying it because she was able to sport her two favorite accessories---mermaid shades, and purple hat (the one she insists on wearing nearly all the time, even to bed).

This was her silly face for me.

This was taken when I had the bright idea of making cookies. I thought it would be so much fun for us to do together...well, she enjoyed only the sprinkle licking. Sprinkle licking of every color. Eventually I gave up on trying to get her to help me with the other parts that go into cookie making. She didn't even want to eat them...she mutilated them to get every sprinkle off and didn't touch the cookie. It's okay, though, I ate enough for the both of us. Cooper enjoyed licking the falling sprinkles (note him in the pic to the right). What a glam pooch he is.

Today I was reminded that two year olds ARE little sponges that absorb everything and you never know when they will share with you what they've learned somewhere along the way.

Alex and I were watching an episode of Elmo (supposed to be her Easter prize but she saw it in the car when I picked her up from school) and we were counting the dogs on this one very exciting part (because Elmo told us to and we always do what Elmo says) and Alex started counting in Spanish! It was too funny because we (Elmo and myself) weren't even counting in Espanol but she just must have felt the urge! And to make it even sweeter I didn't even really know she KNEW HOW to speak/count in Spanish. I think I remember a while ago her saying uno or something but this time she made it all the way to six without my help. I was very impressed and it was nice to know that she IS learning in her school AND when Tim and I teach her things that seem uninteresting to her at the time.

She is also getting really good at using the pot! It's very exciting, really. She finds it especially fun to toot on the big potty. She gets very tickled and says "I tooted mama" and giggles proudly. It would be an understatement to say that I LOVE every second of mamahood. Everyday, EVERYDAY she teaches me something new or reminds me to slow down and enjoy her, enjoy life, enjoy the little moments.

One of these days I'll blog soemthing not related to her. It's just well, there's not much going on in the country area I live in, and sadly it can be lonely :( So, she and the Hubby have to keep me entertained and sane. So stay tuned, one of these days I'll have something truly exciting to report...until then---nighty night :)

The SUN, and poopy fingers

I figure it's about time for an update. I want to first post a couple pics my sister Marla took of the bean pie and Maizie. Keep in mind, getting Al to smile with camera in her face is hard! Notice the one where she is looking away from Maggie, the folks' new pup--this was basically her stance on Maggie our whole weekend in the Fort. She enjoyed playing with her only when I was there to intervene in puppy teething on her fingers, clothing, etc. She definately has body language mastered!

Today, WE SAW THE SUN! It was glorious! Al, Coopy, and myself enjoyed the evening and went for a walk around the hood. EVERYONE was outside! It was awesome! It was like the world came to life again, the life outside of the hospital I work in and people in their cars I see driving to and from work! It was awesome!

On a funny note, Alex woke me up (yes, I was napping, too--working tonight) from her nap via the baby monitor by saying, "Oh no, mama! Get up, mama! Oh no!" I hurry in to see what the problem could be and it didn't take long to figure it out. She has her hands up in the air, room smells like "poopies" and there is a mysterious brown on her fingers.

I say, "Oh no, is that poopy on your fingers?"

She replies, " No mama, no, not poopies...no poopies on fingas" whilst shaking her head "no" in a most convincing manner. She also tried to tell me there were no poopies in her pants either, though the air in my nose told a different story.

Another funny toot/poop story happened at my folk's house last weekend. It went like this:

We wake up, rather, she wakes me up by whispering, "mama, get up!" over and over. Then I reach over, grab her out of bed and put her in bed with me for some snuggle time. I notice her diaper is QUITE enlarged! Sometimes it's hard to tell if she's done a number or not. Then suddenly I hear a toot and then a giggle. So, naturally I guess there is a special package for me to change. I ask her, "did you poopy?" and she says very matter of factly, "no pee-pees, no poopies, just tootn's"! I must say, I have never heard tootn's as a noun and it was quite cute!

It seems Al has turned 39 and somehow I missed all the years in between. A few weeks ago I asked her how old she was the other day (working on using fingers to show people) and she said, plain as day, "dirty-nine" (aka 39). I laughed and then said, "no, you're two, right". she looked at me, reached over and put her hand on my arm and said, very seriously, "no mom, i'm 39". She is still 39 today.

Well, that about does it for silly stories I can think of. I'm just workin right now and trying to fight off the urge to go eat something really delicious....it shouldn't be too hard because I have nothing too delicious to eat. Only an orange. Hmmmm....I will post some more pics later, hopefully, at least some day it will happen.

On a sad note, I lost my first patient. He was a patient I worked with a lot during orientation because my preceptor had him regularly which meant I had him regularly. He was just about a year. I didn't know how I'd handle my first loss but I think I'm doing ok. I think my faith is stronger than I thought because my initial gut reaction was a feeling of peace for him and that sometimes you can't stop God's plan no matter what you do. It's not for us to decide when or how a life leaves this world. And, like everyday of my job, the experience only makes me even more grateful for EVERY second I have with my bean, my hubby, and with all my other loved ones...and with that,

Good night...