Pulled screaming into the 21st century...

My cell phone died this weekend. It was a good phone - you could make and receive calls with it - what more could one want?? While I always carry my phone with me, not many people have the number and I rarely use it. I want it so that if anyone I've given the number to as an emergency contact, like Thomas' school, can reach me when they need me. We have a pathetic plan with 100 minutes per month (that's for both mine AND Gary's phones together!) and I don't think we've ever gone above our allotted minutes!lol

Anyhow, I go in and I want the most basic flip phone I can find. It just so happens that our contract with the cell phone company had expired and if I renew it, I can get a free phone, up to a value of $250. Well, not seeing any reason why I'd leave money on the table for Megalocorp, I pick the $249 flip phone. If I can figure it out, I think this phone might cook breakfast for us!lol Really, what the heck is one supposed to do with a phone that's a camera and an MP3 player amongst other things...it has Bluetooth as well... not the slightest clue what that is except that I know our laptop has one and a car we looked at this weekend had it too!!

So, I spent a good part of my day today redoing my cell phone book and such. And you know what, picking the right song for your ringer is really quite a stressful process!!!lol Thankfully, I don't really know how to download anything other than the ringtones already on the phone so I picked from that. Being the nerd I am, when the songs I picked come on, I'm more likely to just sing along than answer the call - I'm really that dumb that it'll take a few seconds for me to realize it's my phone ringing!!lol So, what great tidbits did I pick. Well, when Gary calls me, the ever so fabulous 70s hit "Daddy Cool" will play...anyone remember that? I picked it for no other reason than I remember liking it as a kid... probably haven't heard it for 30 years until today!!lol A regular call will give you "I walk the line" in honour of my father forcing me to listen to Johnny Cash incessantly as a kid and C3PO will kindly remind me to pick up my messages... can't find anything else that appeals at the moment. I will figure out how to download songs so I can pick anything... oh, the pressure... so, what do ya'll have as a ring tone if you have a song? BTW, I'm gonna have a friend show me how to text - yeah, I've never once sent a text message to anyone...if you have my cell phone number and know how to text - send me a message!!lol Oh, one annoying thing though. Why can't these companies ever use the same type of plug/battery, etc. for more than one model? My old phone was a Samsung, so is the new one, but I had to buy a new car charger. When I bought my Nikon D80 camera, the charger wasn't compatible with my other 2 Nikon chargers...c'mon, give us folks a break, how many chargers are we supposed to keep around and figure out what to do with!!lol Yeah, kicking and screaming, I'm being pulled into this century!

How cute am I!

What a face!! :-)

Pardon me? - with update

Emma's just having breakfast - she requested pancakes for both her and Thomas this morning - and I was telling her that we're going to head off to do the groceries when she's done. Her reply: "first, Emma help mommy tidy". Ummm...excuse me, but are you telling me the house is too messy for you??lol It's funny, I was just reading a blog where another adoptive mom mentions that her daughter is very much like her. I'm not sure I could make that statement about Emma and certainly not about her love of tidying...we're going to drive her crazy when she's older because we're all messy!!lol

***UPDATE*** We really are going to drive her crazy. We just got back from running our errands and I'm carrying the groceries from the front hall to the kitchen. I call out for Emma and ask her what she's doing - "Emma get hanger" I hear... go back to the front of the house and Emma is trying to reach a hanger in the front hall closet to hang her coat - why can't she just throw it on the bench by the front door like I do??lol She kindly hung my coat up too... she definitely doesn't get that from me!lol

Emma singing!

Here's Emma singing her current fave song - can you tell what it is?lol And notice the one glove...she's doing a little bit of a Michael Jackson thing I guess...lol

Emma the tree frog!

Here's Emma, jumping like a tree frog - there's a Go Diego Go episode starring some red eyed tree frogs - Emma LOVES those frogs!lol

Let it snow!

The kids, okay, Thomas mainly, were pretty excited to see snow when they got up this morning. As soon as breakfast was over, we headed out to play in the back yard. Emma's looking a bit like the Michelin Man isn't she?lol She's not too sure about this whole snowsuit thing - actually, I quickly ran to put my camera in the house and when I came out, there was Emma in her sock feet in the snow - guess boots aren't tops on her list!lol

Random Act of Kindness

Early this afternoon, I decided to go out and run a few errands. The weather was atrocious, windy and rainy, but I needed to get out of the house. I pulled into a public parking lot. As I was walking towards the meter to get a ticket for my windshield, an older gentleman approached me and offered me his ticket for my dashboard. He said he was leaving now but his ticket was still good for a few hours if I wanted to use it. I thanked him and walked back to my car to put the ticket on the dash. When I was done shopping and leaving the lot, another couple of hours remained on the ticket and I gave it to someone who was pulling in who very gratefully accepted it. Sometimes the little things do make a difference. :-)

Photography

You might remember me mentioning a month or two ago that I got a new digital SLR camera. I pretty much know nothing about photography other than "point and shoot", but I'm learning and I'm having lots of fun. I've taken one basic photography class and a more advanced one is coming up. Today, I bought a wide angle lens... I'm really amazed at how much more it captures. Can't wait to use it on landscapes in Arizona! But in the meantime, here are a couple of test shots from my living room - taken from the same spot - notice how much more the wide angle lens can fit in! Please ignore the lack of quality in the photo taking!lol

Toby update

A couple of people have e-mailed me to ask how Toby cat is doing, further to me mentioning him being sick in a post last week. He's doing well. He's currently taking antibiotics and next week he'll go back for a bloodtest and hopefully his liver numbers will be much closer to the normal range. The vet is hoping that he has an infection and that's why the numbers are so off and after being treated with antibitics for 2 weeks, results will look better next week. In the meantime, Toby's his usual good natured self and you'd never know he was under the weather.

Trouble?

Now, does that little face look like trouble or what??lol

Algeria

Thomas came home today saying he and his friend Jordan were working on a project on Algeria at school. Algeria I ask, how did you guys pick Algeria, are you studying countries in Africa. No, says Thomas, you know, Algeria, the math with letters...ahhh...algebra you mean??lol

TV

Does anyone watch Boston Legal? A friend got me hooked on it a few months ago and I've since rented Season 1 and am now making my way through Season 2 on DVD, while watching the current season on TV. This show is so out there, it may be called Boston LEGAL but trust me, it bears no resemblance whatsoever to the reality of a law practice. As long as you understand that when you tune in and don't expect reality to interfere with entertainment, it's a totally hilarious show! I'm telling you, James Spader and William Shatner are the BEST couple on TV - and no, they're not a gay couple, just part of a really wacky friendship!lol Their characters are both completely outrageous and yet somehow loveable - well Spader more than Shatner - and they have great chemistry... check them out!!

Painting

We've found a home for our new painting, above the living room fireplace. We love it. Now we're debating whether we hang it or just let it lean on the mantel. Gary's a hanging kind of guy and I'm a let it sit kind of gal... I guess one way to get my way is to wait for Gary to hang the painting... a handyman my honey is NOT!!lol

Just stuff...

I hit upon a potty sale a couple of months back so I bought a few and have just had them lying around the bathrooms. Emma will occasionally sit on them when she comes to the washroom with us, but that's about it. We haven't officially started potty training yet. Anyhow, today, she twice asked to take off her diaper and sit on the potty and both times she peed. I'm thinking being in early potty training just around when we're heading off for Christmas vacations isn't ideal, but we'll see how it goes. I'm not one of those people who believe in training indefinitely - I admit that I just don't have the patience for it. With Thomas, he was about 3 months short of his 3rd birthday when we did the potty training. It took a weekend and beyond that, I think he maybe had 4-5 accidents and that includes nights - he was ready and it was easy. I'm honestly not sure how to go about potty training a not quite 2 year old!lol We'll see if she keeps asking or if this was just a fluke! I know a few of the girls from our travel group are already out of diapers so maybe this is happening for real!

On a different note, we were out for a walk today and Emma saw a dog and started saying "puppy" and barking. I asked her "Is Emma a dog" and the replied "No, Emma Chinese"!!lol I honestly don't know where she got that, it's not like we bring it up to her, but I guess she's heard us telling people who ask where she's from either that she's from China or she's Chinese and she's picked it up. Something else she's picked up. A few weeks ago we were in the car and someone in front of me wasn't moving and I impatiently called out "Move Lady". Well, Emma has started using that expression all the time and now. When we're out and she hears a car honk at another, she yells out "Move Lady"!!lol

It's finally here!

Well, after being held at the airport for almost a week, the painting of the kids has finally been delivered. Here's the picture it's based on and here's the painting... I simply love it!! A picture of the painting could never do it justice, as it doesn't show the texture and depth of colours, but it's the best I can do for this forum. Ya'll need to come see it in person!lol The artist, Katherine Valentine, did a great job. She named the painting "A Walk in Time" which is so appropriate. What a treasure this will be for our family. :-)

Winter style - kinda!lol

Here's Emma, moving at her usual speed, showing off some of her winter wear...she's definitely missing a few layers to complete her winter look!lol

Oh, that's nice!!

We had people over for brunch today and Emma just fell in love with Denice's super soft and furry scarf... it just so happens it matched her dress perfectly... here she is modeling her new look!lol

Emma and friends!

Here's Emma playing with her new friends... she picked a couple of stuffed animals out of Thomas' closet and now she's getting to know them better with hugs and play!lol

Talk about fog!!

This is what our street looked like when I headed out to do the groceries this morning... thank goodness for headlights, I could barely see a few feet ahead of the car!

Ever have one of those days... ***UPDATED***

I guess I should have known that any day that begins with an appointment at the car dealership from h*ll wouldn't be a good day. Even though every single appointment I've had at this garage over the last 18 months or so has been a complete disaster (let me add that in my 25 years or so of car ownership, I don't recall ever having a problem with a dealership's service department until I got to this place!), optimistic me thought this one would be different...change optimistic to plain ol' stupid!!lol The car was going in for its first tune up and a tire change - for you Southerners, many Northerners change their tires and put winter/snow tires on their cars for the season - helps keep you on the road!lol Shouldn't be complicated - right??lol Long story short, we had a H*nda van for a brief time last year - needed it to do carpool - hated the van, didn't do carpool again this year, got rid of said van and replaced with H*nda SUV. Now, when this trade happened last June, we'd already dished out 4 figures for 4 winter tires on rims for the van which the salesman repeatedly assured me would fit on the SUV... see where this is going??lol Well, sure enough, sit back and start reading my book while SUV is being taken care of and next thing you know, "oh, sorry to disturb you, but we have a problem, where did you get those tires and rims". Well, I explain, got them right here. Oh, sorry, they don't fit, you need new ones. You have got to be f*^$%$#&*ing kidding me. The one thing I made SURE of when we traded cars was that there would be no cost associated with the snow tires. I had the salesman call TWICE to confirm that the tires from the Od*ssey would fit on the SUV and there would be no extra cost. I believe I even had the salesman make a note about this in our file. Let me add, I hate confrontation. So after discussing this with various levels of service management, they agree to take some responsibility for their mistake (we're still discussing just how much, don't have the car back yet as I type, driving a little H*nda C^vic today), so I'm still arguing that one. In the meantime, oops, they don't have the right parts for the tires on the SUV and they have to be ordered. So, finally, after a couple of hours of discussion, they give me a courtesy car and off I go... still waiting to see how this ends. Now, while all this is happening, I get a call from our vet. I brought Toby the cat in yesterday because he just wasn't himself. Because he's a diabetic, I wanted to make sure his sugar levels weren't off. While Toby was there, Doc takes blood and urine samples. Today, Doc calls back, doesn't look good, seems to be some liver issues so now I have to take Toby to another clinic for an ultrasound and various other tests to see what's happening. Our poor little Toby cat - good thoughts for him appreciated. Shortly after hanging up with the vet, another call comes in. Remember that painting that's being shipped from San Francisco. Well, apparently some forms weren't filled out and while it's here in town, they won't release it to me. So, my painting is being held hostage. Not sure exactly who's supposed to give what to whom on this one, but whatever... some airport employee may end up with a painting of my kids on his/her wall. Oh, and this all happened by 11:00am... just can't wait to see what else the day holds in store!!lol Don't you just love days like this?? Not big stuff, but just one annoying thing after another... well, I hope not big stuff for our Toby...he's such a sweet cat! Will keep you posted as to whether I get a car with winter tires, a healthy cat and a painting of my kids any time soon. :-)


***Update: So, it's now 8:00pm and both SUV and cat are back home. SUV has new rims and winter tires, all of which installed at no cost. I'm glad the garage finally stood by its word, but it shouldn't take hours of discussion to get them to do it! Thankfully I was anal enough to have the salesman make a notation in the file that no cost would be incurred in switching snow tires from van to SUV. Salesman was out today, but they reached him on his cell and he confirmed my story, so I guess that took the wind out of their sails...still leaves a bad taste though... Toby's ultrasound came back with some unusual liver pics, but docs are hoping that it's just because of an infection... the $733.60 cost of today's little Toby tests makes me glad the tire thing worked out for free!!!lol Remember the "Six Million Dollar Man"... well, we may have the feline version... our "$50 donation to the animal shelter cat" is now worth a whole lot more after dealing with a year and a half of various tests and effects of diabetes... sure wish now I hadn't thought pet insurance was ridiculous and had gotten it before Toby was diagnosed with diabetes!lol As for the painting, no further word on that, it's still being held. Apparently it's a tax thing... because we don't live in California, we don't pay CA taxes on it but need to pay local taxes and apparently that has to be handled by a broker before painting is released to us...something like that... hopefully it will all be settled and painting will make its way to our house in the next couple of days. :-)