call or email to order. indicate any color changes you'd like.
3.29.2009
magnets galore
if you're not sure what these are all about, read previous post. :)
call or email to order. indicate any color changes you'd like.
call or email to order. indicate any color changes you'd like.
3.28.2009
Camp Cherry Valley or BUST
big E has been involved with scouting since he was 8 years old. it hasn't been easy for him, as he has parents who know nothing about scouts. he's had some spurts with great leaders that have helped him advance, and other times without. reaching the rank of eagle is something that has become very important to him. each summer, the scouts go away for a week to a scout camp and work on merit badges and advancement. when they are young, they just stay for the day. now that he's older, it's an overnight camp and he's gone day and night for the entire week. he has missed out on going for the past 2 years. this year he has his heart set on going, hoping to catch up on his badges.
his goal is to attend scout camp in california with his soon-to-be scout troop. they are going to camp cherry valley and they made reservations 3 years ago to get this camp. we have heard they are very excited. he needs to raise $500 by may and is working hard towards this. he has done a fundraiser with his scout troop here, and has made it to $270. we are so very proud of all the effort he has put forth and are confident he can finish up in time. he is selling magnets to anyone wanting to support him in this goal.
the magnets are all hand-made by him with clay and then baked. they range from 1-3 inches in size. he's a great artist and has made a variety of objects - food, animals, sports equipment, etc. there are a few pictures below of what he's done so far. i'll upload more as he makes more. or if you have a special request, just let us know. he already has orders for college letters, so i'll get pics of those up soon. they're selling for $6 each and make great gifts! he'll get to keep about $5 of each to put towards scout camp. let us know how many you would like!
his goal is to attend scout camp in california with his soon-to-be scout troop. they are going to camp cherry valley and they made reservations 3 years ago to get this camp. we have heard they are very excited. he needs to raise $500 by may and is working hard towards this. he has done a fundraiser with his scout troop here, and has made it to $270. we are so very proud of all the effort he has put forth and are confident he can finish up in time. he is selling magnets to anyone wanting to support him in this goal.
the magnets are all hand-made by him with clay and then baked. they range from 1-3 inches in size. he's a great artist and has made a variety of objects - food, animals, sports equipment, etc. there are a few pictures below of what he's done so far. i'll upload more as he makes more. or if you have a special request, just let us know. he already has orders for college letters, so i'll get pics of those up soon. they're selling for $6 each and make great gifts! he'll get to keep about $5 of each to put towards scout camp. let us know how many you would like!
i need a visual
yes, i agree, the last post would've been TONS more fun if everyone could've read it with some photos intertwined in the text. and really... did any of you believe that i went through that entire process without my camera in my hand?? i didn't think so. i got great shots of furniture lifting, carpet tearing, and staple removal. i even got some tears on a 2-year old who found a razor blade left behind by the builders; not to mention a shot of the fruit of the loom on one of the installers. and, when it came time to review all the fun stuff, my memory card was full of errors. i can preview the card and see what's on it, but for some reason i can't get the files off. but i'm working on it. hopefully there will be some eye candy soon.
3.26.2009
is there an end?
the past 2 days have been like a whirlwind. i can hardly believe they're over and in the midst of it all, it felt like it would never end. we've known for a while that we were going to replace all the carpet in the house (except for the basement). it wasn't in the best condition when we moved in, and of course, after 4 kids tear through it for 4 years, it's in worse condition. stains everywhere and parts where it was bubbling up because it was never stretched right during install. in a buyer's market it's hard to see past the cosmetic stuff. we found a great deal at home depot and went ahead with it. then everything seemed to drag on... the quote, the order, etc. we had been waiting for the call saying the carpet was in and we could schedule the install. the call came monday and the doc said he could take wednesday off to be here while it was being put in. all of the sudden the race was on. we had to pack almost all of our stuff to get it moved out of all the carpeted areas so that the furniture could somehow be jammed into non-carpeted areas. it was a process of moving furnture out of some rooms and into others, ripping up carpet and pad, then moving furniture back onto bare floors to rip up carpet and pad in other rooms. then there was the tearing out of all the staples and bits of foam padding still stuck in the floor. not to mention the piece of floor that had to be taken up in one room so a new piece could be put in its place. the kids and i packed like mad monday afternoon and most of the day tuesday. but the rest all had to be done between the hours of 5pm tuesday evening and 8am wednesday morning when the carpet installers would show up. it seemed to me like an insurmountable task. doc M figured he'd just stay up all night tuesday to get it done. but then, in came the most FABULOUS home teachers in the world. they moved boxes and furniture. they tore up carpet and pad and hauled it to the curb. they even took a food break. we had 4 bedrooms, a hallway, stairs, and 2 other rooms to do. it was all ripped up and out of the house in 3 hours. it was amazing. of course we still had all the staples to rip up, which we did stay up late to do and were still doing when the installers got here. but we would've never been able to do the rest without help. we didn't plan on getting any sleep, and we did, so that was a bonus.
then wednesday was spent tearing up staples and moving more furniture. installers would finish one room and we'd move all the stuff to the newly carpeted area so they could then carpet the next space. they left around 1pm and we looked around and saw how many areas that needed to be painted. and what better time to paint than when all the furniture is out of the room? the afternoon and evening was spent painting walls and trim in 3 rooms. 8pm rolled around and i was wondering how we were going to just throw some beds together real quick so the kids to go to sleep. i wondered how we managed to get everything done in such a short amount of hours with 4 kids running around, 3 of which are sick.
i woke up this morning with my bed in the middle of the room, surrounded by boxes and stacked furniture and an empty closet. i think of how this is the scenery i will be looking at for probably the next 6 months. i think of unpacking all the boxes i've filled the past 2 days and ask myself why i would want to do that when i just have to put it all into a moving truck in 3 months. i think of putting furniture back together, only to have to take it apart again in june. i think of all the painting that still needs to be done, along with a million other things, just to be able to take pictures and list this house; things that should've been done months ago. i think about the fact that even if everything was put away and furniture was in its proper place, there would still be laundry, dishes, dusting, vacuuming, school, bills, packing, and whatever else to do.
when someone figures out where the end is, maybe you can let me know so i can be on the lookout for it.
then wednesday was spent tearing up staples and moving more furniture. installers would finish one room and we'd move all the stuff to the newly carpeted area so they could then carpet the next space. they left around 1pm and we looked around and saw how many areas that needed to be painted. and what better time to paint than when all the furniture is out of the room? the afternoon and evening was spent painting walls and trim in 3 rooms. 8pm rolled around and i was wondering how we were going to just throw some beds together real quick so the kids to go to sleep. i wondered how we managed to get everything done in such a short amount of hours with 4 kids running around, 3 of which are sick.
i woke up this morning with my bed in the middle of the room, surrounded by boxes and stacked furniture and an empty closet. i think of how this is the scenery i will be looking at for probably the next 6 months. i think of unpacking all the boxes i've filled the past 2 days and ask myself why i would want to do that when i just have to put it all into a moving truck in 3 months. i think of putting furniture back together, only to have to take it apart again in june. i think of all the painting that still needs to be done, along with a million other things, just to be able to take pictures and list this house; things that should've been done months ago. i think about the fact that even if everything was put away and furniture was in its proper place, there would still be laundry, dishes, dusting, vacuuming, school, bills, packing, and whatever else to do.
when someone figures out where the end is, maybe you can let me know so i can be on the lookout for it.
3.24.2009
too many shirts
in wandered marz to my room early this morning to use the potty. why she walks past her own bathroom to come and use mine, i have no clue. after she's finished i tell her to put her pull-ups in the garbage and go back to her room to get her underwear and play clothes on as usual. a few minutes later she wanders back into my room with underwear on and her play shirt half on, looking like she wants to ask for help. here's where i tell her she forgot to take her pajama shirt off before trying to put her play shirt on. then she gets this huge smile on her face and with a laughing voice says, "membah when mistah bean had his pajama shirt on and 2 regulah shirts? dat was funny".
3.22.2009
show me the [lack of] money
not money in the literal, tangible, sense of dollar signs. but what it represents. well, what it represents to me... peace of mind, opportunity, ability to help others, relief of frustration and stress.
it seems that any time we need to make a decision we go through this whole ordeal of making lists and discussing pros and cons and weighing options and costs involved, trying to obtain spiritual guidance, etc., etc., etc. and it seems in the end we tend to choose the difficult route. i'm not sure if it's selfishness or greed or just plain stupidity and ignorance. perhaps my perspective is skewed or maybe it's just that i'm only analyzing recent decisions. but what i see is that our choices most oftentimes lead us down the road less traveled. instead of a road that's paved with smooth concrete and fabulous signs, we take a road full of rocks and potholes and no directional help whatsoever.
over 5 years ago, when trying to make a decision about residency, we thought we chose what was easy; what was 'sure'. instead it led to a cross-country move and this crazy place we live in. 3 years ago, when faced with unacceptable conditions regarding luigi's academic instruction and environment we thought we chose the easier option of homeschooling - which would avoid a move to another town or lots of costs in private schooling. instead it's just been full of insane other things that shouldn't even be mentioned here. as we've lived here, knowing exactly when we would resell this house, we thought we made good choices that would make life easier for selling - such as repainted and retiling. instead we haven't finished the things we've started and now we've made such a mess that the extra work is just causing pain. now we're in the process of deciding what to do with this annoying house in the middle of a recession. we interviewed 4 realtors (man that was exhausting!) all in one day. we've discussed options of renting it out, lease to own, short sale, foreclosure, conventional realtor, help-u-sell, and FSBO. our house is NOT ready to show or take pictures of for a listing and we are running out of time. after spending hours and days mulling over options and choices and variables, i'm thinking maybe i could just save myself a lot of time and stress if someone just tells me what choice is the hardest, what will cause the most trouble for us, and i'll just choose that one. it seems to be where we land anyway, given our history.
i know the very familiar saying among my church culture of 'i never said it would be easy, i only said it would be worth it'. and because of that i naturally just assume things that aren't hard, aren't worth having or experiencing. but i'm tired. i'm worn out. i'm looking for easy now. i don't care about the worth it part anymore. i just wanna catch a break! are we just looking for the wrong things? are we just working too hard for something that we shouldn't even be wanting in the first place? is the nice quiet neighborhood without broken cars parked on lawns just a sign of greed? logically we tell ourselves things like 'money isn't everything' and 'money can't buy happiness'. but then why do we also keep feeling like we're so unhappy without it? it's so contradictory. if you can't afford to send your kid to scout camp, does that make it an unrighteous desire? if what brings you peace of mind, costs more than what others are satisfied with, does that mean you're prideful and selfish and greedy and materialistic?
when fellowship is over and the 'real job' starts, the income will be 5-7 times more than san diego salary. i don't want to be defined by how many numbers are after the dollar sign on a paycheck. i don't want to change just because of our address or how many vacations we can afford. i don't think money can buy happiness. but what if i enjoy buying expensive clothes and shoes and visiting exotic places? what if i love having someone come and help around the house? what if my stress levels are lowered by living in a newer home where things don't have to be fixed all the time? if i feel relief and peace and joy when we reach that place, then what will that say about me?
it seems that any time we need to make a decision we go through this whole ordeal of making lists and discussing pros and cons and weighing options and costs involved, trying to obtain spiritual guidance, etc., etc., etc. and it seems in the end we tend to choose the difficult route. i'm not sure if it's selfishness or greed or just plain stupidity and ignorance. perhaps my perspective is skewed or maybe it's just that i'm only analyzing recent decisions. but what i see is that our choices most oftentimes lead us down the road less traveled. instead of a road that's paved with smooth concrete and fabulous signs, we take a road full of rocks and potholes and no directional help whatsoever.
over 5 years ago, when trying to make a decision about residency, we thought we chose what was easy; what was 'sure'. instead it led to a cross-country move and this crazy place we live in. 3 years ago, when faced with unacceptable conditions regarding luigi's academic instruction and environment we thought we chose the easier option of homeschooling - which would avoid a move to another town or lots of costs in private schooling. instead it's just been full of insane other things that shouldn't even be mentioned here. as we've lived here, knowing exactly when we would resell this house, we thought we made good choices that would make life easier for selling - such as repainted and retiling. instead we haven't finished the things we've started and now we've made such a mess that the extra work is just causing pain. now we're in the process of deciding what to do with this annoying house in the middle of a recession. we interviewed 4 realtors (man that was exhausting!) all in one day. we've discussed options of renting it out, lease to own, short sale, foreclosure, conventional realtor, help-u-sell, and FSBO. our house is NOT ready to show or take pictures of for a listing and we are running out of time. after spending hours and days mulling over options and choices and variables, i'm thinking maybe i could just save myself a lot of time and stress if someone just tells me what choice is the hardest, what will cause the most trouble for us, and i'll just choose that one. it seems to be where we land anyway, given our history.
i know the very familiar saying among my church culture of 'i never said it would be easy, i only said it would be worth it'. and because of that i naturally just assume things that aren't hard, aren't worth having or experiencing. but i'm tired. i'm worn out. i'm looking for easy now. i don't care about the worth it part anymore. i just wanna catch a break! are we just looking for the wrong things? are we just working too hard for something that we shouldn't even be wanting in the first place? is the nice quiet neighborhood without broken cars parked on lawns just a sign of greed? logically we tell ourselves things like 'money isn't everything' and 'money can't buy happiness'. but then why do we also keep feeling like we're so unhappy without it? it's so contradictory. if you can't afford to send your kid to scout camp, does that make it an unrighteous desire? if what brings you peace of mind, costs more than what others are satisfied with, does that mean you're prideful and selfish and greedy and materialistic?
when fellowship is over and the 'real job' starts, the income will be 5-7 times more than san diego salary. i don't want to be defined by how many numbers are after the dollar sign on a paycheck. i don't want to change just because of our address or how many vacations we can afford. i don't think money can buy happiness. but what if i enjoy buying expensive clothes and shoes and visiting exotic places? what if i love having someone come and help around the house? what if my stress levels are lowered by living in a newer home where things don't have to be fixed all the time? if i feel relief and peace and joy when we reach that place, then what will that say about me?
3.18.2009
i want my children to...
- learn how to learn, so they have the ability to acquire new knowledge anytime and anywhere all on their own
- have the confidence to try anything
- feel safe
- desire to put God above everything else in life
- be content with the here and now
- see something good in everyone
- be humble enough to feel remorse
- experience hardship and trials in life
- be strong enough to stand up to me or anyone else that gets in the way of their potential
- enjoy life
- experience all the wonders of nature on this earth
- appreciate differences in human beings
- always remember how to laugh and play
- learn how to overcome fear
- be full of gratitude for all that comes their way
- embrace their uniqueness and feel comfortable in their own skin
- use mistakes as tools for learning and not self-criticism
- turn instinctively to God in times of need
- dream big
- run and not be weary
- enjoy pride from hard work and a job well done
- know how to contribute to a team with an attitude of unselfishness
- grow to truly know and rely on their Savior
- relish the simple moments in life
- find companions that love them unconditionally
- be willing to serve the Lord in whatever capacity He requires of them, large or small
- take good care of the body they have been blessed with
- find a career they have passion for
- never stop learning
- enjoy each part of life in its own season
- not cry (or yell) over spilled milk
- know that the occasional food fight, water-balloon fight and pillow fight are healthy
3.17.2009
location, location, location
it's been almost 5 years since we left our beloved peccole ranch ward and home. we've moved 14 times in the near 14 years we've been married and it's the only place we ever wanted to stay. all the others we were happy to leave and move on from. and we even thought we were moving to a place we would half-way enjoy. it's been tougher than we thought - both in geography and job.a friend once asked us, would we live anywhere for 5 years if we were paid 1 million a year. this was 2 years into residency and we said absolutely not, with no hesitation. money has never been the motivator for us, and when we look back, it almost seems like the poverty has been more of a decision-maker. and then year 4 of residency came along, and it hit hard. we thought after we got over the internship year, that things were all downhill from there. but personal and work-related events seemed to land on us that 4th year and everything came crashing down. and with all that, the debt was really beginning to rub me the wrong way. all i started thinking about was how quickly we could get out from underneath it. the question our friend asked starting ringing in my head. and i began to answer yes. and when push came to shove, doc M began to agree. what made us change our minds? were we getting greedy in our old age? i wasn't sure, but i didn't care. i just wanted a quick fix. and instead of talking about opening our own practice, we began to talk about following the highest bidder and going wherever would allow us to pay off our debts the quickest.
we just returned from a full week in SD, scouting out neighborhoods and trying to narrow down where we would look for a new home. even with weather not as warm as we would've liked, we were in heaven. from the time we woke up that first morning, until the time we returned the rental car, we felt like it could be the last place we would ever need to call home. we loved everything about it. it's an almost indescribable feeling. then we attended church on sunday in a neighborhood we thought we might like to land in. we went back on tuesday, talked with more ward members and we were sold. and as we drove around again and again within the ward boundaries, we kept saying to each other how much it reminded us of peccole ranch in vegas. of course you can't duplicate a town or memories or people. but i guess since we had such great friends, great ward, great home, great weather and all associated with peccole. i suppose it's only natural to think that if it looks similar, maybe some of the same things will follow.
we now are back to our original line of thinking. and we know that in the end, our hearts will never choose the money over everything else. if given the opportunity to stay in SD, i think we'd take it, no matter how long it took to pay off our loans. but we'll have to cross that bridge when we come to it.
we thought we would be able to return to peccole after residency was finished. it just hasn't worked out that way. but we've found the next-best thing...and we hope to be able to make our new peccole in san diego.
3.02.2009
snow day or school?
i DISLIKE snow. ok. got that out of the way. as if i needed to tell everyone for the gazillionth time. maybe someday when i have a ton of gear and can spend a few days snowboarding without getting my floor all wet from snowy boots i'll like it a little better. but for now i'm sticking to the disliking.
we don't usually get snow so late in the 'winter'. and i don't think we've EVER gotten this much at once since we've moved here. it started last night, and it's still coming down now. of course, people around here have a big panic and call a state of emergency and cancel everything because they don't know how to deal with it. no school buses running today, but i don't like to decide school days based on what everyone else in the neighborhood is doing. and since we don't have to take a bus to school, i don't cancel school because there's snow. but by the time my eyes were ready for the day, my boys had been outside playing in it for over an hour. and in comes marz, holding her snow hat, saying she wanted to go outside and play. so then the mental dilemma begins... do i give them the day off or not? blabbers starts to get marz ready and is voicing disappointment because she wants to go too, but has work to do. so i break down and tell her to go ahead and not worry about her work.
marz is getting dressed and asks her sister to put her 'seat belts' on. i'm thinking she meant the buckles on her snow pants.
luigi decided he would have dash help him pile snow into a big mountain, and then dig a tunnel through.
all in all, the boys were out almost 3 hrs. the girls only lasted about 45 minutes. and i only lasted long enough to take pictures. that was already too much for me. the 20-30 mph winds weren't really helping matters either. of course, everyone had to have hot chocolate when they came inside...
this is luigi's mug. of course the saying suits him just perfectly.
and here's what they did while they waited for the hot chocolate to be ready. of course watching tv isn't the best brain-stimulating activity. but they ARE watching schoolhouse rock, which is sorta teaching things. this episode is the one on bones, which dash claims is his favorite.
by the time they were finished with hot chocolate, warming fingers up, and watching a couple episodes of SHR, it was still not even 10am. so we snuck in some snow time, some educational movie time, some marshmallow time, and still were able to get school done, just pushed back an hour or so. it's the beauty of homeschooling that allows for both a snow day AND school!
we don't usually get snow so late in the 'winter'. and i don't think we've EVER gotten this much at once since we've moved here. it started last night, and it's still coming down now. of course, people around here have a big panic and call a state of emergency and cancel everything because they don't know how to deal with it. no school buses running today, but i don't like to decide school days based on what everyone else in the neighborhood is doing. and since we don't have to take a bus to school, i don't cancel school because there's snow. but by the time my eyes were ready for the day, my boys had been outside playing in it for over an hour. and in comes marz, holding her snow hat, saying she wanted to go outside and play. so then the mental dilemma begins... do i give them the day off or not? blabbers starts to get marz ready and is voicing disappointment because she wants to go too, but has work to do. so i break down and tell her to go ahead and not worry about her work.
marz is getting dressed and asks her sister to put her 'seat belts' on. i'm thinking she meant the buckles on her snow pants.
all in all, the boys were out almost 3 hrs. the girls only lasted about 45 minutes. and i only lasted long enough to take pictures. that was already too much for me. the 20-30 mph winds weren't really helping matters either. of course, everyone had to have hot chocolate when they came inside...
this is luigi's mug. of course the saying suits him just perfectly.
and here's what they did while they waited for the hot chocolate to be ready. of course watching tv isn't the best brain-stimulating activity. but they ARE watching schoolhouse rock, which is sorta teaching things. this episode is the one on bones, which dash claims is his favorite.by the time they were finished with hot chocolate, warming fingers up, and watching a couple episodes of SHR, it was still not even 10am. so we snuck in some snow time, some educational movie time, some marshmallow time, and still were able to get school done, just pushed back an hour or so. it's the beauty of homeschooling that allows for both a snow day AND school!
3.01.2009
five hundred and WHAT?!
i'm supposed to be the 'family manager'... manager of schedules, manager of schoolwork, manager of meals, manager of chores, manager of shopping, manager of bills, manager of moving, and manager of all the other things i can't think of right now. it's one of the reasons doc M has called me girl friday for so long. he usually doesn't schedule anything without checking with me first. i don't really ever claim that i do much around here, but there are a few systems that have been in place forever and they just have become second-nature. but this morning i guess i was rudely proven that i'm not so good at my job. (it wouldn't be the first time)
i manage all of our bills through the bill-pay service that our credit union offers without any fees attached. it's so nice that i rarely ever have to write a check. i hated writing checks. and things just pile up on my desk and then would get paid late because they were buried by other things that didn't have any business being on my desk. now i can keep track of all the bills in one place and most of them automatically pay each month. some i just have to click a button and tell it what date to send the payment, and then i never have to think about it again. and i rarely watch the amounts because most of them are the same every month. i don't get any paper statements in the mail anymore so i don't see the amount that way either. well, i guess i need to pay closer attention to the amounts. we just sent a gigantic payment to sprint for our cell phone bill.
my bank will email me whenever electronic payments have been sent. so usually i just scan through the email to make a note of which bills just got paid and then delete the email. when the bill comes through to the bank, then i schedule the payment immediately. it doesn't pay immediately, but i schedule it immediately to pay near the due date, otherwise if i let it sit then i forget about it and it becomes late. so i schedule it and then forget about it. until the email comes through my inbox, reminding me of how much money just went out. so when i got the email this morning saying $586.83 went out, i was curious where it went to. i didn't remember sending that much out. (but, i forget a lot of things). then when i noticed it went to sprint, i got a little nervous. but i thought - perhaps i forgot to pay it last month and that was 2 months worth. which would still be high for 2 months but i was trying to make myself feel better. then i thought maybe i accidently hit the wrong numbers when i scheduled the bill to be paid. but that wouldn't make sense either since i don't even type the amount. i just click a button that tells it to pay whatever it is asking for. so i log onto sprint's website to pull the actual statement. it was not the wrong amount. and it was NOT 2 months worth. i began to panic. and, as monk would say... here's what happened:
back in january i got a new phone. because it was so much newer than the previous thing i had been using, i could no longer stay with the phone plan i had been using. so i had to change my phone plan which messed up the other 2 phones we have in the family. it meant that i could no longer have 3rd line for free. and it meant that our shared minutes would be lowered. that part didn't really matter because we weren't using all our minutes anyway. but the part about the 3rd line was HUGE. we use it to communicate with the kids whenever we're not home, so keeping it really was a matter of safety to us. so we sucked it up and said we'd pay for the 'add-on' of the 3rd line. we weren't happy about the increase but we figured we had no choice. but with that, it meant that the 3rd line now had all the same services the other 2 phones had. this was not the case before. so we told the kids that they could now txt message with no extra costs. so for 6 weeks we've been txt messaging on that phone and been charged 20 cents EVERY SINGLE TIME! well, $160 later... and of course i already missed it on part of the last bill. but the almost $600 didn't escape me this time. well, i guess it did since the payment already went. the doc said to just not pay the bill until they correct it, but unfortunately (in thinking that i had a good system in place) i already had the payment sent.
now we get to fight sprint over the phone tomorrow and hope they were recording the call where i said to add the 3rd line on. and then on top of that, we get to hope that they'll make it all retroactive and credit us back the over $400 of over charges. because not only did they leave the 3rd line off, but they didn't change the 2nd phone to the new plan either. so all the times that the doc called anyone other than me, he was charged for the minutes!
snowstorm, cleaning, packing, carpet quote, painting, school.... i REALLY didn't want ONE more thing to think about tomorrow!
i manage all of our bills through the bill-pay service that our credit union offers without any fees attached. it's so nice that i rarely ever have to write a check. i hated writing checks. and things just pile up on my desk and then would get paid late because they were buried by other things that didn't have any business being on my desk. now i can keep track of all the bills in one place and most of them automatically pay each month. some i just have to click a button and tell it what date to send the payment, and then i never have to think about it again. and i rarely watch the amounts because most of them are the same every month. i don't get any paper statements in the mail anymore so i don't see the amount that way either. well, i guess i need to pay closer attention to the amounts. we just sent a gigantic payment to sprint for our cell phone bill.
my bank will email me whenever electronic payments have been sent. so usually i just scan through the email to make a note of which bills just got paid and then delete the email. when the bill comes through to the bank, then i schedule the payment immediately. it doesn't pay immediately, but i schedule it immediately to pay near the due date, otherwise if i let it sit then i forget about it and it becomes late. so i schedule it and then forget about it. until the email comes through my inbox, reminding me of how much money just went out. so when i got the email this morning saying $586.83 went out, i was curious where it went to. i didn't remember sending that much out. (but, i forget a lot of things). then when i noticed it went to sprint, i got a little nervous. but i thought - perhaps i forgot to pay it last month and that was 2 months worth. which would still be high for 2 months but i was trying to make myself feel better. then i thought maybe i accidently hit the wrong numbers when i scheduled the bill to be paid. but that wouldn't make sense either since i don't even type the amount. i just click a button that tells it to pay whatever it is asking for. so i log onto sprint's website to pull the actual statement. it was not the wrong amount. and it was NOT 2 months worth. i began to panic. and, as monk would say... here's what happened:
back in january i got a new phone. because it was so much newer than the previous thing i had been using, i could no longer stay with the phone plan i had been using. so i had to change my phone plan which messed up the other 2 phones we have in the family. it meant that i could no longer have 3rd line for free. and it meant that our shared minutes would be lowered. that part didn't really matter because we weren't using all our minutes anyway. but the part about the 3rd line was HUGE. we use it to communicate with the kids whenever we're not home, so keeping it really was a matter of safety to us. so we sucked it up and said we'd pay for the 'add-on' of the 3rd line. we weren't happy about the increase but we figured we had no choice. but with that, it meant that the 3rd line now had all the same services the other 2 phones had. this was not the case before. so we told the kids that they could now txt message with no extra costs. so for 6 weeks we've been txt messaging on that phone and been charged 20 cents EVERY SINGLE TIME! well, $160 later... and of course i already missed it on part of the last bill. but the almost $600 didn't escape me this time. well, i guess it did since the payment already went. the doc said to just not pay the bill until they correct it, but unfortunately (in thinking that i had a good system in place) i already had the payment sent.
now we get to fight sprint over the phone tomorrow and hope they were recording the call where i said to add the 3rd line on. and then on top of that, we get to hope that they'll make it all retroactive and credit us back the over $400 of over charges. because not only did they leave the 3rd line off, but they didn't change the 2nd phone to the new plan either. so all the times that the doc called anyone other than me, he was charged for the minutes!
snowstorm, cleaning, packing, carpet quote, painting, school.... i REALLY didn't want ONE more thing to think about tomorrow!
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