Wednesday, June 30, 2010

rant

~I just have to post this here, as an attempt to make me (sort of) feel a little bit better...it may not work, but I'm going to me hopeful that it does...and maybe no one will comment, or heck, even read all this, it may be a bit long, but again, I'm hoping just getting it OUT will help me feel better, because right now I'm furious.

~The rant is about AT&T.

~It seems there are as many UNHAPPY AT&T customers as there are HAPPY ones....maybe it's the same way with Verizon, although I can honestly say that I don't randomly hear about unhappy Verizon customers as often as I hear of unhappy AT&T customers.

~So here's the deal...about 35 days ago, I finally ordered the iPhone...the only way I could justify the insanely high service prices was to qualify for the "text, talk, surf" discount through bundling my services. We already had home phone, internet & DISH through AT&T, so bundling was a "no-brainer".

~About 1 week later I received a confirmation statement regarding the iPhone & service costs. The $25.00 discount was missing, so I called AT&T. They reported that is was indeed in the computer system and would show up on the bill. On this same call, I was informed of AT&Ts new cable service, Uverse. Turns out that switching to Uverse from DISH would save us $40+ per month. Again, a no-brainer. We made the change.

~This is where things get tricky...it also turns out now that changing to Uverse CANCELLED OUT my $25.00 discount via the "text talk surf" plan EVEN THOUGH my services are STILL BUNDLED and STILL with AT&T. WTF? The AT&T rep DID NOT tell me this during this phone call. Does this sound shady to anyone else out there?

~On that same phone call I was also told I would be receiving a $250 gift card as "incentive" to change services and/or pay any cancellation fees with DISH. Today I was told that card is $200!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

~Now of course changing back to DISH would be a HUGE ordeal...service people have to come out, the countless phone calls etc. Just not worth it and frankly, AT&T knows most people, me included, will not do this and so ultimately I'm screwed.

~My only option to cut costs was to lower my minute plan, which I immediately did. That will reduce my bill by $20/month and I'll just have to be uber-cautious with my phone calls. By making this change, I also lose the A-list option, which is the ability to call 5 numbers (on other service providers) w/no "minute cost". This was a nice bonus since my parents are both (still) on Verizon and O's work phone is US Cellular. Ugh. In reviewing my first bill, I still have a cushion of 150 minutes before reaching the limit on my lower minute plan, so I'm thinking that this should be fine.

~I may even be able to drop down 1 step on the text messaging plan, but I'm going to hold off for now...it would save an additional $5.00/month and I would be going from  Unlimited to 1500 messages/month. I am pretty sure I don't send 1500 text messages per month, in fact, I don't think I ever have, but I will monitor it just to make sure since exceeding would likely cost me an arm & a leg.

~All that to say AT&T did NOTHING to make me a happy customer, didn't even offer a small credit for my inconvenience in having to call them, be put on hold (forever) & being transferred 3x OR for the fact that my bill is still NOT bundled when in fact it should have been bundled all along.

~If I didn't like that stupid iPhone so much, I'd just cancel everything. A-holes!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

currently

listening: James Taylor & Carole King - The Troubadour Live
eating: White Cheddar 100 calorie pack popcorn-yum!
drinking: water
wearing: khaki skirt, pink top, flip flops
feeling: bored
weather: hot. humid. hot.
wanting: to go to the pool with E.
needing: it to be 5:30pm.
thinking: only one more work day this week.
enjoying: the thought of upcoming long weekend.
wondering: what Blogger was thinking when they made some of the formatting & posting changes. yuck.

Monday, June 28, 2010

book reviews

~I have been reading a lot of books from the Holocaust-era...sort of obsessively in fact. Since I didn't pay much attention in history classes, this has been eye-opening reading (obviously I knew what happened, but this has provided additional info/detail i.e. learning).

~I just recently finished TWO excellent books from this era and wanted to share them with you...

~The first one is The Kommandant's Girl and the sequel and second book is The Diplomat's Wife



~They were both EXCELLENT books that I could hardly put down. Give them a try. You won't be dissapointed.

serves me right

~Ack! There is a standardized test I must take prior to graduation and I had planned to take it over the summer.

~I've been totally OUT of 'school-mode' so far this summer, as I selfishly enjoy reading books for fun and very little scholastic material (for now).

~Well...turns out that test is only offered one more time this year! On July 24th at 10:45am...the same morning I should be pulling out of TN and driving southbound for FL. Oh joy.

~I've also missed the regular registration date so I will have to pay a late fee!

~Things like this (never) happen(ed) to me...I'm normally "on-top" of such things...but clearly I have "checked-out" of school...at least over the last 8 weeks.

~Looking like I'll have to pay the late fee, take the test on the 24th and then hit the road around 1pm...not my preferred schedule, but serves me right I guess for not staying on top of things.

ETA: found out that my dept @ school will offer the exam in August or later so YAY for not having to take it on July 24 and paying the late fee!! I love good news!

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Goodbye Love

It's official.

Dannon Light N Fit Mixed Berry Smoothies have been DISCONTINUED!!!!

Nooooooooooo!

This has been one half of my breakfast for at least the past 3 years, maybe longer.

So sad.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Interview-Round 1

Today's interview was much more casual and laid back than I anticipated, which was fine I suppose.

I was there for 90 minutes.

I will interview again on July 1 with the principal and probably the school priest. Now that interview will make me quite nervous as I believe they will be more of the decision-makers than the guy I met with today.

On the bright side, the guy I met with today gave me numerous *pointers* or suggestions for things to talk about in the 2nd interview, so that was nice!

When I got done, I went to pick up E and we went to the neighborhood pool for an hour or so. It was fun. I am exhausted!

Monday, June 21, 2010

the one where i'm really nervous

~the interview got rescheduled...to TOMORROW!

~shopping after work.

~i'm super nervous...hope I can sleep tonight.

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

finally!

~I got the call today...for THE interview! Woot!! It is scheduled a couple weeks out, but at least it's scheduled.

~Now on to figuring out what I will wear...I currently have NO interview-suitable clothing.

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

lurkers reveal

calling all lurkers.

that means those of you who read regularly but never take a moment to leave a comment and let me know. everyone loves comments, so please let me know you have stopped by.

come on. introduce yourself. i'd love to meet you.

please. :)

Monday, June 14, 2010

randomness

~my list of things to "do", "see" and/or "eat" at WDW is getting looooong. Only 40 days to go! :)

~i called to check on the bilingual counselor job I mentioned a WHILE ago...it's still open & they still haven't started interviews, so I guess that is good news. Apparently they have other positions to fill as well & they've been working on those. I still have some hope...I'd just like to have an answer soon...the unknown is not my friend. :)

~my mom will keep E on Friday while I drive O out to Nashville & back...(6 hrs round trip)...i will really miss E's company on the road but I think he'll have more fun @ her house than stuck in his car seat for so long. the best part of the trip (besides dropping O off <---did I say that?) will be stopping at Publix & stocking up on my yogurt. Hooray! I love "2 birds w/1 stone" scenarios.

~i've been tutoring 2 days per week since last week and am loving the extra $...Disney funds!! Hooray!

~ok back to the counselor job...I really NEED this to happen...what a blessing it would be and I don't even want to think about if it doesn't work out because I know I would be devastated...not a good place to be, even though I would have NO choice but to just deal & move on. the blessings would include: better income, graduate in Dec instead of next May ...ok so that's my request for your prayers if you can fit them in. Thank you!

~running has not been my friend. i really need that to change, but I am SO not feeling it. Ugh. I ran a whopping 4 miles last week. Whoopee! the bright side is that my back is not hurting me like it had been.

~my appetite has been all over the place. I didn't go to WW last week because I didn't want to be told that I'd gained weight. I'm hoping for a better week this week.

~in more good news, i've been doing crunches & push ups EVERY night...I will reveal my totals for the month on July 1.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

the cake pop debacle

So I attempted to make these LOVELY cake pops this weekend with the intention to take them into work for all to enjoy...here's how that panned out for me.

Things started off well...the cake baked up beautiful..then I crumbled it all up into this bowl as directed...
I then mixed in the can of cream cheese frosting and rolled them into balls...this was not only EXTREMELY messy, but also a bit tedious. On the bright side, this part was at least successful.

I let them chill overnight since I didn't have the sticks and wasn't going to the store for them until today.

So onto the chocolate part...I melted the chocolate bark as instructed...no problems there. Yay!

I dipped one of the cake balls into the chocolate, let the excess drip off and then had no place to put it to dry so I ate it. They are SWEET...a bit too sweet actually.

Anyway, then I ran to the neighbors house for a piece of styrofoam (she has EVERYTHING in her garage).

The directions said to dip the sticks in the chocolate & then insert into the balls & let them sit a while before dipping the balls in chocolate. This did not turn out well for me. Here is a picture of them after having dipped the sticks in chocolate & then inserted into the cake balls.
The first one I dipped in chocolate WITHOUT dipping the stick (the one I ate) fared better than the ones where the sticks had been dipped. My conclusion: there was less "give" from the hardened chocolate around the sticks and so the cake pops started falling apart. Awesome!

After managing to dip a few and use a spoon to pour the chocolate over them & then placing them in the styrofoam, I decided they looked like complete crap and there was NO way I was taking these ridiculous things into the office tomorrow.

Here look-->
Try not to laugh too hard.

I guess it's a good thing I didn't go to Pastry School after all, probably would have flunked out...at least based on this experiment.

Wednesday, June 09, 2010

ho hum

bored.
completely & utterly bored.
out of my mind bored.

brought a book to read today which only works since the boss isn't here.
it won't work for the rest of the summer.
it's only 12pm. i have 5ish more hours to go.
i feel like i'm "doing my time" here.
so frustrating.

my reader is at ZERO.
i have ZERO emails to read.
i've even gone so far to download Words With Friends.
i started 3 games but no one has played back yet. ugh.

i could be SO productive if i was at home.
that drives me nuts.

and i typically eat when i'm bored.
the diet is not going well this week.

Tuesday, June 08, 2010

what she said

Now I only have myself to blame
for falling for your stupid games
I wish my life could be the way it was
before I saw your face.

You stole my happy, you made me cry
Took the lonely and took me for a ride
And I wanna undo it.

You had my heart, now I want it back
I'm starting to see everything you lack
Boy, you blew it, you put me through it
I wanna undo it.

Carrie Underwood - "Undo It"

Wednesday, June 02, 2010

I Want Wednesday

I want these super cute shoes/sandals...they would be perfect for Florida in July and a day at the Magic Kingdom...I CANNOT do shoes AND socks in the summer. at.all. My feet would be so happy in these.
I want these super cute shoes/sandals for E, for the very same reason mentioned above. I cannot decide which color for him though?!?! I'm leaning toward the orange simply because they would be cooler (temperature wise) What do you think? Help!

And I really want this bag, also for use the entire time we travel to Florida. I've always been a fan of the cross-body shoulder bag...they are SO convenient. My school/work bag is this same brand, but the messenger style/size (in aqua sky) and I LOVE IT. Also, I found it brand new on Ebay for supa-cheap!!
Clearly, I (only) have vacation on the brain.

Tuesday, June 01, 2010

daycare woes

~So for the past 2-3 weeks E has not been too happy about going to school/daycare.

~I drop him off around 7:30/7:45 (when we are late) and he stays in a classroom upstairs until 8am when his teachers arrive and they proceed downstairs to the Toddler/2 Year Old room.

~The issue is that he is NOT wanting to be in the upstairs room AT ALL. He sits down in the middle of the lobby floor & pouts. Today he threw his juice cup on the floor and staked out his camp by the front door; both so I could not leave & likely hoping he could escape. Not fun! And of course, he has been crying most days when I leave...like today...big time.

~The 2 teachers in that room are so sweet. I like them. One is an older woman of Indian (not Native) descent. She is very motherly and is REALLY good with distracting E. The other gal is sweet as well, she's young (early 20s) and currently pregnant w/her second child.

~This change in E came out of the blue, completely from one week to the next. He is only going to school 3 days per week right now, Monday-Wednesday while I put in my time at the university (yes, it feels sort of like a jail sentence).

~Seriously though, there is NO convincing a 2 year old to go in the room for just 15-30 minutes until his teacher arrives. It just doesn't work. I'm hoping this phase ends soon.

~On a brighter note, since I technically "lost" yesterday's child care due to the holiday, the owner is letting me take E there on Thursday which will result in a (much needed) reprieve from life for me...while I am looking forward to the alone time, I am also experiencing extreme feelings of guilt over this. They say mom's need down time and while I would agree, I also wonder why it has to make me feel so bad/guilty/sad, etc.