But first something that wasn't too awesome. It seems that the people at my idiot bank don't know how to count. When we first bought this house our payment was $975 a month and that included the house insurance and taxes escrowed into the payment. Well last year we got a letter saying they had taken too much out in escrow and that they were going to reduce our payment to $925 plus they sent us a check for almost $1,000. Well this year I get a letter saying that because they dropped our payment down and our taxes went up they fell well short in our escrow and would have to up our payment to $981 so they would have enough for taxes next year. BUT because they chose to reduce our payment last year instead of leaving it where it was we were $1,100 short on our taxes so the bank paid it and on top of the new $981 payment we owe them an additional $84 a month for the next 14 months to pay back the $1,100 they paid for us in taxes because they were MORONS and didn't leave the payment alone in the first place so we would have enough in escrow. Had they left the payment at $975 like it was when we first bought the house we would have maybe been $100-200 short on the taxes and paying that back would have been no big deal. Now because these simpletons can't do their job right our frickin' house payment is $1,065 a month for the next 14 months which is something we were NOT prepared for. I got a fixed rate mortgage so my payment would stay the same not jump around by a couple hundred bucks every year. I am so sick of my bank. They have been screwing us over since we decided to get this house. The thing is I really would like to drop this bank and get a different one but I don't know if I want to go through the hassle of refinancing my mortgage with another bank to do it so we just might be stuck with them, at least with the mortgage.
Ok and that was the non-awesomeness. Now for the awesomeness. I got to thinking the other day when I received my associates degree in the mail that my high school diploma was an honors diploma. How do you get an honors diploma you ask? By passing all portions of the MEAP test with a level I or II score which I did. And why is this important? Because is 1999 the State of Michigan passed a bill/law/whatever stating that students who passed all four portions of the MEAP with a level I or II would be awarded the Michigan Merit Award which is $3,000 in college money. So I figured, hey I met the requirement so why not call the Office of Scholarships and Grants and see if my name was on the list as a recipient of the Michigan Merit Award. I called today and they said yes I was on the list and that this was the last year I could use it and because I had waited so long I would only get half. Then I explained to them that the reason I haven't used it in the past 7 years was because 4.5 of those years I was active duty military. Well that happens to be an exception to the only getting half thing so now all I have to do is send in a copy of my DD214 (thats a my discharge paper to all you civilians) and a copy of my marriage license because my name has obviously changed since high school and call them back in a week and they will certify my award online and send the $3,000 to the school of my choice. So in a week or two they will be sending Baker enough money to cover my expenses for spring quarter. I also get paid two payments of $1,075 for my GI bill between now and the end of spring quarter so that will allow me to set aside the $600 I needed for my trip to Chicago, buy my books for summer and fall quarter and pay ahead on my tuition a bit. This by far has to be the easiest $3,000 I have ever made. So note to all you Michiganders who graduated class of 2000 or after and completely forgot the Michigan Merit Award existed- it might be looking into because you could have a free $,3000 sitting in the state treasury.
A smaller bit of awesomeness- allergy season is starting up and for the last week or so my sinuses have been draining and fluid has been building in my ears which really make them hurt so I've been taking Tylenol Severe Allergy to help it. I have been getting to work wide awake and an hour after I get there I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open. Well it finally dawned on me today that the barely being able to stay awake things coincided with when the allergy pills were kicking in so now that I know its the damn allergy pills that are putting me to sleep I can get something else that won't do that. I actually fell asleep at work today for about 15 - 20 minutes and luckily no one noticed but falling asleep on the job can get me fired so I'll be switching to some different meds now. Happy day.
Saturday, April 28, 2007
Wednesday, April 25, 2007
Where were you when the world stopped turning?
Recently there has been quite a bit of discussion on the boards for college about 9/11 and if it could have been an inside job. One lady posted a link to a documentary which covers this topic and it does a very good job of making you think that there is a chance that our own government was responsible for 9/11. The documentary is located at www.loosechange911.com. (Beware: this sucker runs for 90 minutes). I honestly don't know what to think about what happened on 9/11. I do know three things:
1) it affected me personally because the US deciding to go after terrorism before it hit us again sent me to a war zone for a year.
2) it made me realize that the US is not the untouchable badass that everyone thought we were
3) I will always remember where I was the day the twin towers came down.
I was on a field exercise in Camp Colburn, Korea. Myself and a few other people from my section were huddled around 1SG's laptop watching the planes hit the towers on CNN. Shortly after our Company Commander called a formation and told us that the United States had been attacked and that we had to pack up immediately and convoy back to Yongsan. Earlier that day I remember thinking how much it sucked to be away from my barracks and stuck on Camp Colbern living in tents and having to eat at a Dining Facility instead of being able to go down and get a burger somewhere. I was only 19 years old at the time and at that point in my life the world was still about me, me, me. 9/11 definitely changed that for me. When I originally joined the Army I thought there would not be a possibility that I would be going to war. I thought I could do my two years which was my original enlistment and get out and go to college with the GI Bill. I know the purpose of joining the Army is to defend the country if need be but when you're that young I think you tend to put things like that in the back of your mind in favor of the things that sound more appealing. When I joined all I could think was I am getting the hell out of Muskegon, I will get to see alot of places I probably would not have been otherwise, and I got a steady paycheck and college money. Going to war was so far down the list it wasn't even a consideration.
I remember that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach when I watched the footage of those planes hitting the towers. Its the same horrible feeling I had when we first touched down in Kuwait 15 months later because I had no idea what to expect. I remember wanting to call home and tell my family that I loved them in case I didn't get the chance again. How many people in those towers and on those planes didn't get the chance to get those last I love you's in? It is hard to believe that one day could give someone such a big dose of reality but I think it did for alot of us. I sincerely hope that the documentary is wrong and the government is not responsible for 9/11. I know the documentary is just one opinion and that different video clips and quotes can be spliced together to make any position look favorable but now that seed of doubt is there. I hope some day they find the truth and are able to punish the people that were responsible for the tragedy whether it be Osama Bin Laden or members of our own government. And I hope we never become as complacent as we once were and can avoid suffering through another 9/11.
1) it affected me personally because the US deciding to go after terrorism before it hit us again sent me to a war zone for a year.
2) it made me realize that the US is not the untouchable badass that everyone thought we were
3) I will always remember where I was the day the twin towers came down.
I was on a field exercise in Camp Colburn, Korea. Myself and a few other people from my section were huddled around 1SG's laptop watching the planes hit the towers on CNN. Shortly after our Company Commander called a formation and told us that the United States had been attacked and that we had to pack up immediately and convoy back to Yongsan. Earlier that day I remember thinking how much it sucked to be away from my barracks and stuck on Camp Colbern living in tents and having to eat at a Dining Facility instead of being able to go down and get a burger somewhere. I was only 19 years old at the time and at that point in my life the world was still about me, me, me. 9/11 definitely changed that for me. When I originally joined the Army I thought there would not be a possibility that I would be going to war. I thought I could do my two years which was my original enlistment and get out and go to college with the GI Bill. I know the purpose of joining the Army is to defend the country if need be but when you're that young I think you tend to put things like that in the back of your mind in favor of the things that sound more appealing. When I joined all I could think was I am getting the hell out of Muskegon, I will get to see alot of places I probably would not have been otherwise, and I got a steady paycheck and college money. Going to war was so far down the list it wasn't even a consideration.
I remember that horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach when I watched the footage of those planes hitting the towers. Its the same horrible feeling I had when we first touched down in Kuwait 15 months later because I had no idea what to expect. I remember wanting to call home and tell my family that I loved them in case I didn't get the chance again. How many people in those towers and on those planes didn't get the chance to get those last I love you's in? It is hard to believe that one day could give someone such a big dose of reality but I think it did for alot of us. I sincerely hope that the documentary is wrong and the government is not responsible for 9/11. I know the documentary is just one opinion and that different video clips and quotes can be spliced together to make any position look favorable but now that seed of doubt is there. I hope some day they find the truth and are able to punish the people that were responsible for the tragedy whether it be Osama Bin Laden or members of our own government. And I hope we never become as complacent as we once were and can avoid suffering through another 9/11.
Wednesday, April 18, 2007
So here's the plan...
Been considering two things lately: whether Chris and I should stay in MI or whether we should move after I'm done with school and should I go to graduate school after my bachelors and if so what for and where?
So the consensus between Chris and I is that we both don't want to stay in Michigan for the long term. As I've stated before, I thought this would be a fresh start for me and it turned out not to be. Almost everything that could possibly go wrong for us since moving here has and we both associate our time here with not so pleasant memories which is not a good thing. Add to that that I don't see my friends I do have here and the only family I have here is my dad and my sister, there is really no good reason to stay here for the long term. Now we're pondering things like when should we move. I told Chris I don't want to move until I'm done with my Bachelor's which won't be until September of next year. Since I don't want to move in the winter the earliest we would be moving would be spring of 2009. Most likely the move will be to NY but then we have to sell this house, evaluate our financial situation afterwards and see what kind of living arrangement we can come up with after that. With the housing market in the tank getting rid of this house will not be easy.
Also I mentioned this idea in passing to my dad today (not moving to NY, but just not staying here long term) and it went over like a fart in church. I pointed out that I would have no one here except Shelly after he's gone but still I can tell he's not happy that we might be moving.
The other thing is if I'm going to continue my schooling after this. I want to but not in the Business field. I have been not so seriously researching graduate schools both here and in NY, MA, CT area (basically colleges within 2 hours of Chris' family) and I've found a few I like. I would like to get my master's in history and get into teaching and eventually teach college but on top of my bachelor's I will have to take at least 18 credits (6 classes) of history before most colleges I am looking at will consider me since my BA will not be in history and most of them also have a foreign language requirement. I'm thinking after I'm done with my Bachelor's I will take the required history classes and a few french classes at MCC so I will meet the requirements to get into Grad school. I think this would be best because I can afford MCC without financial aid. Lots to think about. I can't wait until next month's memorial day weekend trip to Chicago where the only thing I'l be thinking about is what tourist attraction to visit and what kind of food I'm in the mood for. I still have a ton of math homework but luckily this instructor is pretty lenient so hopefully I'll get everything I'm missing knocked out tomorrow and be back on track for the remaining 2 weeks. I don't like Trig. It's harder than I thought it would be but I love the geography class. Off to bed I go.
So the consensus between Chris and I is that we both don't want to stay in Michigan for the long term. As I've stated before, I thought this would be a fresh start for me and it turned out not to be. Almost everything that could possibly go wrong for us since moving here has and we both associate our time here with not so pleasant memories which is not a good thing. Add to that that I don't see my friends I do have here and the only family I have here is my dad and my sister, there is really no good reason to stay here for the long term. Now we're pondering things like when should we move. I told Chris I don't want to move until I'm done with my Bachelor's which won't be until September of next year. Since I don't want to move in the winter the earliest we would be moving would be spring of 2009. Most likely the move will be to NY but then we have to sell this house, evaluate our financial situation afterwards and see what kind of living arrangement we can come up with after that. With the housing market in the tank getting rid of this house will not be easy.
Also I mentioned this idea in passing to my dad today (not moving to NY, but just not staying here long term) and it went over like a fart in church. I pointed out that I would have no one here except Shelly after he's gone but still I can tell he's not happy that we might be moving.
The other thing is if I'm going to continue my schooling after this. I want to but not in the Business field. I have been not so seriously researching graduate schools both here and in NY, MA, CT area (basically colleges within 2 hours of Chris' family) and I've found a few I like. I would like to get my master's in history and get into teaching and eventually teach college but on top of my bachelor's I will have to take at least 18 credits (6 classes) of history before most colleges I am looking at will consider me since my BA will not be in history and most of them also have a foreign language requirement. I'm thinking after I'm done with my Bachelor's I will take the required history classes and a few french classes at MCC so I will meet the requirements to get into Grad school. I think this would be best because I can afford MCC without financial aid. Lots to think about. I can't wait until next month's memorial day weekend trip to Chicago where the only thing I'l be thinking about is what tourist attraction to visit and what kind of food I'm in the mood for. I still have a ton of math homework but luckily this instructor is pretty lenient so hopefully I'll get everything I'm missing knocked out tomorrow and be back on track for the remaining 2 weeks. I don't like Trig. It's harder than I thought it would be but I love the geography class. Off to bed I go.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
you win some you lose some
The last couple of days have been interesting. Monday morning I woke up at 6 am with heartburn so bad I seriously considered the idea that I might be having a heart attack. I knew this wasn't the case because of where the pain was coming from but still, it hurt like hell. Turns out this was just the beginning of what would be an unpleasant two days. After I was awakened by the heartburn I had a really bad gas sensation in my chest. This sensation kept making me want to burp (you know, to try to relieve the sensation) but everytime I did the burp tasted and smelled like rotten eggs. I felt so horrible that I had Chris call me in sick to work. I felt crappy all day and slept most of the day. Then that night Chris starts throwing up and continues to do so all night long. He called in sick to work on tuesday. I got up and took Chucky to daycare and then since I had used my ONE sick day I had saved up on monday, I took my happy ass to work tuesday morning. I was there for a whopping two hours, still dealing with the general feeling like crap, rot gut stomach, and rotten egg gas when my boss told me to go home. I wrapped up what I was doing and came home two hours after I got to work. About an hour after I got home it was vomitus maximus which actually ended up being a good thing because as soon as I upchucked I felt alot better and the rotten egg burps went away. I still couldn't eat anything for the rest of the day. The next morning I was feeling fine but unfortunately that little episode left me unable to get out of bed much less do my homework for two and a half days so now I am way behind in one class and took some serious hits with my participation in another. I am still not caught up and if I don't turn everything I am missing in tomorrow I won't get any credit for this week's stuff at all.
Also today my dad was trying to dial his lady friend in Gaylord and called me accidentally instead and we ended up getting into it. We haven't made up yet but we've reconciled enough for him to want to come see Chucky tomorrow. Also because I missed part of tuesday I'm making my time up on saturday which sucks because there goes my weekend. My nephew is spending the night over here tomorrow night and my sister is coming to watch Chucky saturday while I go to work. So I've felt like crap all week and I have five billion tons of homework to do in the next two days. I was planning on doing some of it tonight but as of this moment I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open so that ain't gonna happen.
I did have a few things go right this week. I got a $400 refund check from my tire and wheel protection plan on the car from when I hit the pot hole and had to have the two tires I popped replaced. Chris got a raise so that will help a bit and I had a package from Baker College waiting for me when I got home today. I opened it up and inside was my diploma for my associates degree. One degree down, two more to go. And now I must put on my PJs and go to sleep before I fall asleep here, drool all over my trig book and ruin my chances of reselling it on Amazon when I'm done with it.
Also today my dad was trying to dial his lady friend in Gaylord and called me accidentally instead and we ended up getting into it. We haven't made up yet but we've reconciled enough for him to want to come see Chucky tomorrow. Also because I missed part of tuesday I'm making my time up on saturday which sucks because there goes my weekend. My nephew is spending the night over here tomorrow night and my sister is coming to watch Chucky saturday while I go to work. So I've felt like crap all week and I have five billion tons of homework to do in the next two days. I was planning on doing some of it tonight but as of this moment I am so tired I can barely keep my eyes open so that ain't gonna happen.
I did have a few things go right this week. I got a $400 refund check from my tire and wheel protection plan on the car from when I hit the pot hole and had to have the two tires I popped replaced. Chris got a raise so that will help a bit and I had a package from Baker College waiting for me when I got home today. I opened it up and inside was my diploma for my associates degree. One degree down, two more to go. And now I must put on my PJs and go to sleep before I fall asleep here, drool all over my trig book and ruin my chances of reselling it on Amazon when I'm done with it.
Sunday, April 08, 2007
Past my bedtime :)
Well its been awhile since I've posted so I figured I might as well. I only got like 5 hrs of sleep last night because I had insomnia and stayed up until 4 am watching the movie Panic Room with Jodie Foster (only saw the last half and it was okay). Then even though Chucky went to bed after 11 pm he got me up at 7:15 am. I took a nap the same time he did for about an hour or so but that didn't help because I am still really tired but plagued by the insomnia again so I'm hoping I wear myself out with this post.
Lots of things weighing on my mind lately, the latest blowout with my dad being at the forefront. Today is Easter and its the first year Chucky colored eggs and my dad missed it. Why? Because of a stupid fight where neither of us will concede that the other was in the wrong. What happened: About 2 weeks ago my dad called and asked if we wanted to go out to dinner and that he would buy because it was a couple of days before we got paid and we were out of cash. I said ok but I would have to ask Chris. He asked me to look up the # to the restaurant and call and see what time they closed. Well in between that conversation my sis and her hubby came over, Chucky got all upset (over what I can't remember). Ten minutes after I talked to my dad the 1st time he calls back. I don't answer the phone because my sis is just leaving and I have a screaming toddler I'm trying to deal with. As soon as he leaves the message on my answering machine I pick up the phone and go to call him back only being the impatient person he is, he is already gone and on his way to my house to see why I didn't answer the phone (not out of concern mind you, but because he knows I'm doing something else and can't wait the whopping five minutes it would take for me to call him back). So 10 minutes later he pulls in my drive way and does he come to the door? No. Instead he sits in my driveway and repeatedly blares his car horn until I come to the door. It took me a minute to get there because of Chucky. Well by time I get to the door I'm really pissed because 1) he never seems to understand that I'm not just going to drop whatever I'm doing to deal with him and couldn't wait the five minutes it would have taken me to call him back and 2) because him sitting in the driveway blaring on the horn was rude and embarassing. I have neighbors who already have proven they don't like us so him doing the ghetto ass horn shit in the driveway was NOT helping. So I was pretty short with him when I got to the door. I tell him I couldn't get ahold of Chris to ask him if he even wanted to go and I couldn't find the phone book to call the restaurant. He asked why I didn't answer my phone and I said it was because I was dealing with Chucky and talking to my sister. Admittedly my tone was not friendly (more annoyed than anything) so the conversation ends and he leaves. Well I have no idea anything is wrong until the next day when I realize I haven't heard from him all day and my phone rang and when I picked it up the person either hung up on me or got cut off so I called his house to see if it was him. He said it sure and the hell wasn't him and that he was sick of me being disrespectful and a few other unpleasant things and that he just wouldn't bother my ass anymore. Well not wanting to get in an even bigger argument with him we hung up and he hasn't called or come over since.
I guess on the outside looking in that argument seems like no big deal but this is a culmination of many episodes like this one since we moved up here in July of 2005. One of the main reasons I moved up here was so my dad in his advancing age and declining health would be able to spend time with his grandson while he still can. My brother and sister are older and already settled elsewhere so I wanted to move back here to be around for dad. Well the episodes like the current one started the very first day we were up here when somehow I became a major asshole for asking my dad for the key to my house back because Chris and I didn't want anyone to have a key to our house but us. He said I embarassed him in front of the family members helping us move in and made him feel like I didn't trust him. My thing with the key was that Chris and I are adults and we want our privacy and since its our house we have the right to not give anyone else a key. Well since he was so upset, even though I felt like I did nothing wrong I swallowed my pride and apologized for upsetting him about the key. Since then about every six months he gets pissed at either me or Chris for something and every time its been either me or Chris that has had to suck it up and apologize so things could go back to "normal". Well this time I don't want to have to be the one to suck it up and apologize because we were both wrong only he refuses to see that he did anything wrong at all which is how it usually is. So as usual I'm the asshole. He goes around telling everyone in the family his version and what an asshole I am and then everyone thinks I'm a big idiot. I have just reached that point where I don't want to have to be put in the position to make nice and walk on eggshells all the time just to get along. Thats not the way I want to live my life. The really horrid thing about the whole situation is that everytime he gets mad at me or chris he stops coming over to see Chucky. I told him the last time that we had an argument that this was NOT okay and that eventually Chucky would reach an age where he would be asking why his grandpa doesn't love him anymore because he stopped coming around. I never want my child to think that when things go bad it might have to do with him. He is always the one that gets the short end of the stick when these arguments happen and I'm SICK OF IT. My son will not be treated that way by anyone. Chucky has seen my dad once since the whole argument happened and he used to see him everyday. He isn't of the age where he can vocalize his feelings about why grandpa stopped coming around but I can tell he wonders about it and he asks about him all the time. I just don't get it. No matter how angry Chucky may make me I will never tell him so long, have a nice life and my dad has said that to me more times than I care to count since I've lived up here. Its my job as Chucky's mother to make sure he doesn't get hurt like that. The whole situation bothers me ALOT because I love my dad and I wish things were not like this and I am honestly at a loss for what to do in this situation. If I swallow my pride and apologize AGAIN I set myself up for the same damn thing to happen six months down the road and if I let things stand the way they are eventually one (or both of us) are going to go to our graves with all this animosity between us and with Chucky not having the chance to know his grandfather and I don't want that. I just have no clue what to do.
Well I intended that whole bit to be alot shorter than it was. In other happenings I went to Wrestlemania on April 1st and it was kind of a disappointment and definitely not what I expected. We only got turned around once on the way there and we made really good time. Parking was ridiculous ($20 to park at Ford Field WTF?) Add to that that the tickets themselves were $740 (we had floor seats 16 rows from the ring) and a soda was $6 (this was like a large from McDonalds). Beer (not that I drink it) was $8 a bottle and the merchandise was just as outrageously priced. Seated in front of us were some of the most ignorant people on the planet, of course. First we had "flag guy" who wore the American flag like a cape (I wanted to slug him in the face just for that because IMHO that is completely disrespectful. The symbol of our nation is not meant to be worn.) Several times during the first match he would untie said flag and hoist it over his head. The flag draped down past his shoulders so everytime he did this he would block the view of about 30 people seated behind him. The guy behind me went and asked him nicely to not do this during the matches because we paid good money for our seats to watch the matches, not to stare at his flag. His excuse was "Well everyone in front of me is holding signs up" Well yes, that may be true MORON but when someone holds a sign up you can still see underneath it. When you hold a flag up that falls past your shoulders the people behind you can't see anything. I didn't pay $300 a seat to watch the American flag. I see it every day, thanks. Next there was "pogo stick bimbo" seated two seats away from flag guy. They probably came together. This girl had a huge sign and during the first two matches she would constantly get up and bounce all over the damn place so everyone behind her couldn't see. (Her dumb ass was trying to get on TV). The people in the area where I was sitting screamed at her to sit down. She ignored us. Then we all screamed sit the fuck down. She ignored us. Then we all screamed sit the fuck down you dumb bitch and she ignored us so we got security to threaten to throw her out if she didn't sit her ass down because at this point me and everyone seated in front of me, in back of me, and along side me was ready to run up there, tear her sign to shreds and kick her teeth down her throat. Finally she sat her happy ass down and we were able to see. The first match was the money in the bank match which included a move gone wrong that took Jeff Hardy and Edge out of the match. Edge was carried out on a stretcher and Jeff Hardy was laying there with a big pool of blood around his head. Mr. Kennedy won that one which I didn't like because I was rooting for Matt Hardy. Next was the Kane vs Great Kahli match which Kane lost (another disapointment because I was rooting for Kane). It irritates me when Kahli wins because he has no wrestling ability at all. He just uses his size to win. The Chris Benoit vs MVP match for the US championship ended with Benoit retaining the title which is good because I'm a big rabid wolverine fan. The women's championship match went as expected with Melina retaining the title. I don't like Melina but I knew she would win because even though I like Ashley, Melina's wrestling ability is far superior and Ashley needs to put on a few lbs. You can see the girl's ribs which is nasty. Someone a couple rows in front of me had a sign that said "Ashley can't wrestle but you should see her box" alluding to her pictorial in April's issue of Playboy (she was the covergirl). Also I thought this was supposed to be a Lumber Jill match but I think one of them only got thrown out of the ring once so the only purpose of the divas outside of the ring was to stand there and look pretty until the match ended and they all had their huge catfight for no other reason than to let the male audience members see as much T & A as possible before moving on to the next match. Battle of the Billionaires was freakin' awesome. It was my first time seeing Stone Cold Steve Austin as he was the guest referee. Of course Vince tried to cheat and conveniently Stone Cold got a Samoan Spike from Umaga allowing Vince to do just that and almost get away with it. With Stone Cold out of commission, Shane McMahon inserted himself as referee, gave Bobby Lashley a coast to coast and it seemed like everything was wrapped up for Vince with a tidy little bow until two things happened: Donald Trump (my new hero) finally had enough of Vince trying to cheat, ran around the ring and clotheslined Vince to the floor and dotted him in the eye a few times and Stone Cold revived just in time to give Shane and Umaga stunners allowed Bobby Lashley (whom I think is an awesome wrestler and a former Army Sergeant) to pick up the win and Vince to get his head shaved. The BEST match of the night was the World Heavyweight Championship match between Batista and the Undertaker. I knew the Undertaker would keep his streak alive but I felt horribly bad for Batista because the crowd was really booing him. I don't think it was a dislike of Batista so much as all of wanting to see the Undertaker win. I really like Batista but seeing the Undertaker win was something special. They had an ECW Originals vs New Breed match which was the least interesting of the night to me because I don't watch ECW although I really like Bobby Lashley (because he's former Army) and Rob Van Dam (because he's from MI). The Originals won which is good because I didn't know who anyone from the new breed was and I knew every one of the originals. The main event match (John Cena vs HBK) was the hugest disappointment for me of all. First of all I was wearing a John Cena shirt to the event even though I was for HBK because the HBK shirt I have was too small and Hot Topic didn't have any HBK shirts so I already felt like a big dork wearing the shirt of the guy I wasn't rooting for. Then Cena somehow ends up putting Shawn in the STFU not once but twice and HBK ended up losing the match which the Detroit crowd was NOT happy about because like me, they were clearly pro-HBK. It was a sucky way to end the night because HBK is my favorite and I really wanted him to win. I think they didn't let him win because Triple H is coming back at Summerslam and Shawn being champ would get in the way of the whole DX angle but COME ON! Compared to other Wrestlemanias this one had to have the least number of title changes of any of them. Other good things about Wrestlemania: the Aretha Franklin opener was cool, seeing the hall of fame class of 07' (Yay for JR and the King!) was also cool and the bonus match with Flair and Carlito before the show started was a nice surprise since I had hoped they would find a way to make Ric part of Wrestlemania. What was not so good besides those things already mentioned: they said that there would be enough giant TVs that you would be able to see no matter where you were sitting. What they failed to mention was that there would be all kinds of equipment hanging above the ring that would almost completely obstruct the view of those giant monitors. If people were standing and we couldn't see the ring we had to turn around and look at the monitor behind us to see what was going on. Another thing: the seats were microscopic. We were packed in there like sardines. My husband took up his seat and half of mine because he's so big. If I am paying $300+ for a seat I expect to have enough room where I am not half in the lap of the stranger next to me (cuz he smelled like he forgot the deodorant) and those bitches were uncomfortable too (hard plastic for 6 hrs....yay.) Also I had thought we would be able to hear what the announcers were saying since we were in the arena but we couldn't hear them at all. The commentary given by the announcers is what adds life to the matches so how hard would it have been to hook up some audio so those of us in the audience could hear the announce teams. What in the hell is the point of introducing the announcers at the beginning of the show if we didn't hear one word from them for the entire thing?! The last bad thing: What was up with the entrances? In past years WWE has pulled out all the stops on the Superstar's entrances for the Wrestlemania matches. Apparently DETROIT is too much of a hole in the wall to spend the cash for some awesome entrances. With the exception of John Cena's entrance of driving into Ford Field in a souped up Mustang and crashing through a glass barrier the entrances were like the everyday crap you see on a live taping of Raw or Smackdown. Compared to past Wrestlemanias like the Cena vs Triple H match where Triple H came up through the floor in a barbarian king costume on a throne and John Cena came in with a gangster theme, the entrances this year sucked big sweaty balls and were a huge disappointment. I expected much much more. So that was Wrestlemania. Battle of the Billionaires and the World Heavyweight Championship match were the only things that made it worthwhile otherwise I would label it a complete loss and a waste of $750. We didn't end up getting back home until almost 4 am and I had to be to work at 9 that morning. Needless to say I was exhausted and trying to catch up on my sleep for the rest of the week.
Completely making up for the lackluster Wrestlemania experience was the fact that Krista was home from Mar 28th - Apr 5th and we got to hang out several times while she was here and catch up. Unfortunately since Muskegon is such a dead town we ended up going out to eat alot and we saw Meet the Robinsons which was a cute but predictable movie. I took her to my fave chinese place in GR and we ended up eating once at Johnny Carinos. On her last full day here, we picked up Kev and went to Famous India where she gave us a crash course in Indian food (looks disgusting, tastes surprisingly good although the dish I brought home to Chris he deemed disgusting and promptly tossed in the trash). I am really glad she came home because I needed to get out of the house and do things with another adult. Its so easy to forget to have "me time" when you're a parent. Also I've come to realize that true friends are the ones where you can go years without seeing them and the next time you do you can pick up where you left off like you just saw them yesterday. I count Krista among a handful of people that are true friends. Also she bought Chucky a book to keep him quiet in Meijers, and she brought me a Klingon keychain from a Trek convention which adds to her awesomeness because she didn't have to do either. Awhile back I was trying to plan a reunion for the old friend group but I didn't get much of response and different plans got in the way but I think I'm going to try this again and shoot for next summer and see if it works this time because I think we would all have a great time together. Also if I can I'm going to try to visit Krista in Philly before the end of the year so I won't have to wait another 2 yrs to see her and so I can finally meet Sarah and the cats and also because I've never been to Philly. Hopefully I can work something out where I can do this.
Obviously I shouldn't go so long between posts so they don't get this long! I started two new classes last thursday-Trigonometry and Western Geography both of which I like so far. I got a little behind in the trig class with everything going on but I'll be caught up and hopefully get a little bit ahead tomorrow (or actually later today since it is 2:30 am on Easter Sunday. We went out to eat at Applebees tonight since I got my $400 refund for my car repairs (which is half of what I paid considering the fees I paid for the rental car SUCK). Then we came home and helped Chucky color Easter Eggs for the first time. He did a really good job. I can't wait to hide them all for him after he wakes up and can't wait to see his face when he finds his Easter basket. I took a bunch of pics of him coloring eggs which I should be sending out tomorrow sometime. Well it is late and this is by far the longest post I have EVER written so I think I'm going to go to bed now. Happy Easter to all who happen across this blog.
Lots of things weighing on my mind lately, the latest blowout with my dad being at the forefront. Today is Easter and its the first year Chucky colored eggs and my dad missed it. Why? Because of a stupid fight where neither of us will concede that the other was in the wrong. What happened: About 2 weeks ago my dad called and asked if we wanted to go out to dinner and that he would buy because it was a couple of days before we got paid and we were out of cash. I said ok but I would have to ask Chris. He asked me to look up the # to the restaurant and call and see what time they closed. Well in between that conversation my sis and her hubby came over, Chucky got all upset (over what I can't remember). Ten minutes after I talked to my dad the 1st time he calls back. I don't answer the phone because my sis is just leaving and I have a screaming toddler I'm trying to deal with. As soon as he leaves the message on my answering machine I pick up the phone and go to call him back only being the impatient person he is, he is already gone and on his way to my house to see why I didn't answer the phone (not out of concern mind you, but because he knows I'm doing something else and can't wait the whopping five minutes it would take for me to call him back). So 10 minutes later he pulls in my drive way and does he come to the door? No. Instead he sits in my driveway and repeatedly blares his car horn until I come to the door. It took me a minute to get there because of Chucky. Well by time I get to the door I'm really pissed because 1) he never seems to understand that I'm not just going to drop whatever I'm doing to deal with him and couldn't wait the five minutes it would have taken me to call him back and 2) because him sitting in the driveway blaring on the horn was rude and embarassing. I have neighbors who already have proven they don't like us so him doing the ghetto ass horn shit in the driveway was NOT helping. So I was pretty short with him when I got to the door. I tell him I couldn't get ahold of Chris to ask him if he even wanted to go and I couldn't find the phone book to call the restaurant. He asked why I didn't answer my phone and I said it was because I was dealing with Chucky and talking to my sister. Admittedly my tone was not friendly (more annoyed than anything) so the conversation ends and he leaves. Well I have no idea anything is wrong until the next day when I realize I haven't heard from him all day and my phone rang and when I picked it up the person either hung up on me or got cut off so I called his house to see if it was him. He said it sure and the hell wasn't him and that he was sick of me being disrespectful and a few other unpleasant things and that he just wouldn't bother my ass anymore. Well not wanting to get in an even bigger argument with him we hung up and he hasn't called or come over since.
I guess on the outside looking in that argument seems like no big deal but this is a culmination of many episodes like this one since we moved up here in July of 2005. One of the main reasons I moved up here was so my dad in his advancing age and declining health would be able to spend time with his grandson while he still can. My brother and sister are older and already settled elsewhere so I wanted to move back here to be around for dad. Well the episodes like the current one started the very first day we were up here when somehow I became a major asshole for asking my dad for the key to my house back because Chris and I didn't want anyone to have a key to our house but us. He said I embarassed him in front of the family members helping us move in and made him feel like I didn't trust him. My thing with the key was that Chris and I are adults and we want our privacy and since its our house we have the right to not give anyone else a key. Well since he was so upset, even though I felt like I did nothing wrong I swallowed my pride and apologized for upsetting him about the key. Since then about every six months he gets pissed at either me or Chris for something and every time its been either me or Chris that has had to suck it up and apologize so things could go back to "normal". Well this time I don't want to have to be the one to suck it up and apologize because we were both wrong only he refuses to see that he did anything wrong at all which is how it usually is. So as usual I'm the asshole. He goes around telling everyone in the family his version and what an asshole I am and then everyone thinks I'm a big idiot. I have just reached that point where I don't want to have to be put in the position to make nice and walk on eggshells all the time just to get along. Thats not the way I want to live my life. The really horrid thing about the whole situation is that everytime he gets mad at me or chris he stops coming over to see Chucky. I told him the last time that we had an argument that this was NOT okay and that eventually Chucky would reach an age where he would be asking why his grandpa doesn't love him anymore because he stopped coming around. I never want my child to think that when things go bad it might have to do with him. He is always the one that gets the short end of the stick when these arguments happen and I'm SICK OF IT. My son will not be treated that way by anyone. Chucky has seen my dad once since the whole argument happened and he used to see him everyday. He isn't of the age where he can vocalize his feelings about why grandpa stopped coming around but I can tell he wonders about it and he asks about him all the time. I just don't get it. No matter how angry Chucky may make me I will never tell him so long, have a nice life and my dad has said that to me more times than I care to count since I've lived up here. Its my job as Chucky's mother to make sure he doesn't get hurt like that. The whole situation bothers me ALOT because I love my dad and I wish things were not like this and I am honestly at a loss for what to do in this situation. If I swallow my pride and apologize AGAIN I set myself up for the same damn thing to happen six months down the road and if I let things stand the way they are eventually one (or both of us) are going to go to our graves with all this animosity between us and with Chucky not having the chance to know his grandfather and I don't want that. I just have no clue what to do.
Well I intended that whole bit to be alot shorter than it was. In other happenings I went to Wrestlemania on April 1st and it was kind of a disappointment and definitely not what I expected. We only got turned around once on the way there and we made really good time. Parking was ridiculous ($20 to park at Ford Field WTF?) Add to that that the tickets themselves were $740 (we had floor seats 16 rows from the ring) and a soda was $6 (this was like a large from McDonalds). Beer (not that I drink it) was $8 a bottle and the merchandise was just as outrageously priced. Seated in front of us were some of the most ignorant people on the planet, of course. First we had "flag guy" who wore the American flag like a cape (I wanted to slug him in the face just for that because IMHO that is completely disrespectful. The symbol of our nation is not meant to be worn.) Several times during the first match he would untie said flag and hoist it over his head. The flag draped down past his shoulders so everytime he did this he would block the view of about 30 people seated behind him. The guy behind me went and asked him nicely to not do this during the matches because we paid good money for our seats to watch the matches, not to stare at his flag. His excuse was "Well everyone in front of me is holding signs up" Well yes, that may be true MORON but when someone holds a sign up you can still see underneath it. When you hold a flag up that falls past your shoulders the people behind you can't see anything. I didn't pay $300 a seat to watch the American flag. I see it every day, thanks. Next there was "pogo stick bimbo" seated two seats away from flag guy. They probably came together. This girl had a huge sign and during the first two matches she would constantly get up and bounce all over the damn place so everyone behind her couldn't see. (Her dumb ass was trying to get on TV). The people in the area where I was sitting screamed at her to sit down. She ignored us. Then we all screamed sit the fuck down. She ignored us. Then we all screamed sit the fuck down you dumb bitch and she ignored us so we got security to threaten to throw her out if she didn't sit her ass down because at this point me and everyone seated in front of me, in back of me, and along side me was ready to run up there, tear her sign to shreds and kick her teeth down her throat. Finally she sat her happy ass down and we were able to see. The first match was the money in the bank match which included a move gone wrong that took Jeff Hardy and Edge out of the match. Edge was carried out on a stretcher and Jeff Hardy was laying there with a big pool of blood around his head. Mr. Kennedy won that one which I didn't like because I was rooting for Matt Hardy. Next was the Kane vs Great Kahli match which Kane lost (another disapointment because I was rooting for Kane). It irritates me when Kahli wins because he has no wrestling ability at all. He just uses his size to win. The Chris Benoit vs MVP match for the US championship ended with Benoit retaining the title which is good because I'm a big rabid wolverine fan. The women's championship match went as expected with Melina retaining the title. I don't like Melina but I knew she would win because even though I like Ashley, Melina's wrestling ability is far superior and Ashley needs to put on a few lbs. You can see the girl's ribs which is nasty. Someone a couple rows in front of me had a sign that said "Ashley can't wrestle but you should see her box" alluding to her pictorial in April's issue of Playboy (she was the covergirl). Also I thought this was supposed to be a Lumber Jill match but I think one of them only got thrown out of the ring once so the only purpose of the divas outside of the ring was to stand there and look pretty until the match ended and they all had their huge catfight for no other reason than to let the male audience members see as much T & A as possible before moving on to the next match. Battle of the Billionaires was freakin' awesome. It was my first time seeing Stone Cold Steve Austin as he was the guest referee. Of course Vince tried to cheat and conveniently Stone Cold got a Samoan Spike from Umaga allowing Vince to do just that and almost get away with it. With Stone Cold out of commission, Shane McMahon inserted himself as referee, gave Bobby Lashley a coast to coast and it seemed like everything was wrapped up for Vince with a tidy little bow until two things happened: Donald Trump (my new hero) finally had enough of Vince trying to cheat, ran around the ring and clotheslined Vince to the floor and dotted him in the eye a few times and Stone Cold revived just in time to give Shane and Umaga stunners allowed Bobby Lashley (whom I think is an awesome wrestler and a former Army Sergeant) to pick up the win and Vince to get his head shaved. The BEST match of the night was the World Heavyweight Championship match between Batista and the Undertaker. I knew the Undertaker would keep his streak alive but I felt horribly bad for Batista because the crowd was really booing him. I don't think it was a dislike of Batista so much as all of wanting to see the Undertaker win. I really like Batista but seeing the Undertaker win was something special. They had an ECW Originals vs New Breed match which was the least interesting of the night to me because I don't watch ECW although I really like Bobby Lashley (because he's former Army) and Rob Van Dam (because he's from MI). The Originals won which is good because I didn't know who anyone from the new breed was and I knew every one of the originals. The main event match (John Cena vs HBK) was the hugest disappointment for me of all. First of all I was wearing a John Cena shirt to the event even though I was for HBK because the HBK shirt I have was too small and Hot Topic didn't have any HBK shirts so I already felt like a big dork wearing the shirt of the guy I wasn't rooting for. Then Cena somehow ends up putting Shawn in the STFU not once but twice and HBK ended up losing the match which the Detroit crowd was NOT happy about because like me, they were clearly pro-HBK. It was a sucky way to end the night because HBK is my favorite and I really wanted him to win. I think they didn't let him win because Triple H is coming back at Summerslam and Shawn being champ would get in the way of the whole DX angle but COME ON! Compared to other Wrestlemanias this one had to have the least number of title changes of any of them. Other good things about Wrestlemania: the Aretha Franklin opener was cool, seeing the hall of fame class of 07' (Yay for JR and the King!) was also cool and the bonus match with Flair and Carlito before the show started was a nice surprise since I had hoped they would find a way to make Ric part of Wrestlemania. What was not so good besides those things already mentioned: they said that there would be enough giant TVs that you would be able to see no matter where you were sitting. What they failed to mention was that there would be all kinds of equipment hanging above the ring that would almost completely obstruct the view of those giant monitors. If people were standing and we couldn't see the ring we had to turn around and look at the monitor behind us to see what was going on. Another thing: the seats were microscopic. We were packed in there like sardines. My husband took up his seat and half of mine because he's so big. If I am paying $300+ for a seat I expect to have enough room where I am not half in the lap of the stranger next to me (cuz he smelled like he forgot the deodorant) and those bitches were uncomfortable too (hard plastic for 6 hrs....yay.) Also I had thought we would be able to hear what the announcers were saying since we were in the arena but we couldn't hear them at all. The commentary given by the announcers is what adds life to the matches so how hard would it have been to hook up some audio so those of us in the audience could hear the announce teams. What in the hell is the point of introducing the announcers at the beginning of the show if we didn't hear one word from them for the entire thing?! The last bad thing: What was up with the entrances? In past years WWE has pulled out all the stops on the Superstar's entrances for the Wrestlemania matches. Apparently DETROIT is too much of a hole in the wall to spend the cash for some awesome entrances. With the exception of John Cena's entrance of driving into Ford Field in a souped up Mustang and crashing through a glass barrier the entrances were like the everyday crap you see on a live taping of Raw or Smackdown. Compared to past Wrestlemanias like the Cena vs Triple H match where Triple H came up through the floor in a barbarian king costume on a throne and John Cena came in with a gangster theme, the entrances this year sucked big sweaty balls and were a huge disappointment. I expected much much more. So that was Wrestlemania. Battle of the Billionaires and the World Heavyweight Championship match were the only things that made it worthwhile otherwise I would label it a complete loss and a waste of $750. We didn't end up getting back home until almost 4 am and I had to be to work at 9 that morning. Needless to say I was exhausted and trying to catch up on my sleep for the rest of the week.
Completely making up for the lackluster Wrestlemania experience was the fact that Krista was home from Mar 28th - Apr 5th and we got to hang out several times while she was here and catch up. Unfortunately since Muskegon is such a dead town we ended up going out to eat alot and we saw Meet the Robinsons which was a cute but predictable movie. I took her to my fave chinese place in GR and we ended up eating once at Johnny Carinos. On her last full day here, we picked up Kev and went to Famous India where she gave us a crash course in Indian food (looks disgusting, tastes surprisingly good although the dish I brought home to Chris he deemed disgusting and promptly tossed in the trash). I am really glad she came home because I needed to get out of the house and do things with another adult. Its so easy to forget to have "me time" when you're a parent. Also I've come to realize that true friends are the ones where you can go years without seeing them and the next time you do you can pick up where you left off like you just saw them yesterday. I count Krista among a handful of people that are true friends. Also she bought Chucky a book to keep him quiet in Meijers, and she brought me a Klingon keychain from a Trek convention which adds to her awesomeness because she didn't have to do either. Awhile back I was trying to plan a reunion for the old friend group but I didn't get much of response and different plans got in the way but I think I'm going to try this again and shoot for next summer and see if it works this time because I think we would all have a great time together. Also if I can I'm going to try to visit Krista in Philly before the end of the year so I won't have to wait another 2 yrs to see her and so I can finally meet Sarah and the cats and also because I've never been to Philly. Hopefully I can work something out where I can do this.
Obviously I shouldn't go so long between posts so they don't get this long! I started two new classes last thursday-Trigonometry and Western Geography both of which I like so far. I got a little behind in the trig class with everything going on but I'll be caught up and hopefully get a little bit ahead tomorrow (or actually later today since it is 2:30 am on Easter Sunday. We went out to eat at Applebees tonight since I got my $400 refund for my car repairs (which is half of what I paid considering the fees I paid for the rental car SUCK). Then we came home and helped Chucky color Easter Eggs for the first time. He did a really good job. I can't wait to hide them all for him after he wakes up and can't wait to see his face when he finds his Easter basket. I took a bunch of pics of him coloring eggs which I should be sending out tomorrow sometime. Well it is late and this is by far the longest post I have EVER written so I think I'm going to go to bed now. Happy Easter to all who happen across this blog.
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