Chatterbox Thread-Cmon in and Jabber! Everyone is Welcome!

[sameyeyam]

How many more days til we leave?

 

[Alex2kMommy]

How many more days til we leave?

Too many!!!

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Thought I'd pop in and say hello, since I haven't been around much this week. We had a busy evening with DS7 and I at a BINGO night at the school and DS11'playing in a soccer game.

DS11's team won their game.
DS7 and I did not win BINGO.
But it was a lot of fun anyway.

And once we got home we snuck around the neighborhood to "BOO!" two neighbors. The boys got caught leaving the basket at the first house, and my friend got a real kick out of catching them.

They managed to sneak away successfully from the other house, which has 2 boys the same age as my two, and the boys are all friends. They were acting sooo sneaky: They dashed up to the front door and heard the family inside laughing. DS7 began to panic and froze on the porch. DS11 stage-whispered to him to "Hurry up! Put it down and ring the bell!" Once he rang the bell they heard someone approaching the door and they both ran straight back to the CAR, giggling like a couple of maniacs! (They were supposed to hide until the door closed again... Ah well, nice to know they aren't too good at the sneaky stuff.)

Tomorrow we're going to a friend's new home for lunch, and then on to DS7's soccer game. After that maybe to a pumpkin patch!

Hope you all have a great weekend!

 

[MotoXPrincess99]

Hey guys!

So my DBF crashed on his street bike last Tuesday night. The doc wants to do surgery (for pins and a metal bar on the out side of his arm, external wrist fixation) some time this week. Hopefully that will help with the pain (DBF is in SO much pain!) and he will feel like doing the cruise but I guess we will see...

 

[disneegrl4eva]

OMG OMG OMG ALEX???? OMG OMG *CRIES* IVE FRICKIN MISSED YOU!!!...sheesh ok calm down Lynn...I came on here to look up Melody and thought I was going to have to dig because as Albort said, I too thought this channel had died and look what i find. Not ONLY is is alive and kickin', ALEX IS HERE....

anyway, Hiya everybody...

so one of my friends just came back from DL today and she said that overnight they have started transforming NOS into Christmas♥

 

[MotoXPrincess99]

OMG OMG OMG ALEX???? OMG OMG *CRIES* IVE FRICKIN MISSED YOU!!!...sheesh ok calm down Lynn...I came on here to look up Melody and thought I was going to have to dig because as Albort said, I too thought this channel had died and look what i find. Not ONLY is is alive and kickin', ALEX IS HERE....

anyway, Hiya everybody...

so one of my friends just came back from DL today and she said that overnight they have started transforming NOS into Christmas♥

Yep, there's snow on the castle already!

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I ♥ snow..albeit from a distance...its hecka cold here today (no snarky comments from the peanut factory please)...I cant help that I live in a climate so anything under 65 is cold for me sheesh people....the weather thingy says its 68 but i swear it feels like its 50...i coulda sworn there was a freezing smiley over here but i couldnt find it..time to bust out the sweaters and sweat pants

 

[funnygarcia]

peanuts? what??


68, man-- pull out the suncreen and pull up a chair. Time to go out enjoy! (wearing sweatshirt, and shorts)

 

[disneegrl4eva]

peanuts? what??


68, man-- pull out the suncreen and pull up a chair. Time to go out enjoy! (wearing sweatshirt, and shorts)

oh gosh no...im like wearing sweater and sweats and have heat on since yesterday...it got down to 46º last night and i would have froze my butt off if I hadnt turned it on which might not have been a bad thing but still...i HATE being cold!!

didnt they used to have a freezing smiley on here??? i cant find it

 

[sameyeyam]

I have a toasty fire going in the woodstove today, thanks in part to California! Our electric rates are going up by 18% this winter.

$9 million still owed to Cowlitz PUD for 2010‐11 wind sales. The California Public Utility Commission has delayed approval of part of the current wind power sales contract the PUD has with a CA utility. No adequate reason has been given for the CPUC’s delays. The PUD is using legal channels to pursue the funds it is owed and may be joined by other WA public utilities in a similar situation. This represents money “not in the bank” which otherwise could have helped offset some of this rate increase

If I had not already booked my Disney trip, I would totally consider not going! I can guarantee you that not another penny of mine will be spent in California until they pay up. There will be not a single souvie bought on my trip and I am going to bring along extra food so I don't contribute to their economy as much. I will not have to chop wood and rely on my woodstove because you drove up my rates by not paying your bill! All of this so you could be air-conditioned last summer and then not pay your bill. We have a word up here for that...DEADBEAT! I hope the PUD sues their butt and the State of Washington passes laws that we will no longer sell our excess power to California. Let them live with their blackouts in the summer! GRRRR!

I'm not mad at my fellow Californians, just at the idiots at the utility commission that think it's ok to not pay their bills.

 

[disneegrl4eva]

I have a toasty fire going in the woodstove today, thanks in part to California! Our electric rates are going up by 18% this winter.

$9 million still owed to Cowlitz PUD for 2010‐11 wind sales. The California Public Utility Commission has delayed approval of part of the current wind power sales contract the PUD has with a CA utility. No adequate reason has been given for the CPUC’s delays. The PUD is using legal channels to pursue the funds it is owed and may be joined by other WA public utilities in a similar situation. This represents money “not in the bank” which otherwise could have helped offset some of this rate increase

If I had not already booked my Disney trip, I would totally consider not going! I can guarantee you that not another penny of mine will be spent in California until they pay up. There will be not a single souvie bought on my trip and I am going to bring along extra food so I don't contribute to their economy as much. I will not have to chop wood and rely on my woodstove because you drove up my rates by not paying your bill! All of this so you could be air-conditioned last summer and then not pay your bill. We have a word up here for that...DEADBEAT! I hope the PUD sues their butt and the State of Washington passes laws that we will no longer sell our excess power to California. Let them live with their blackouts in the summer! GRRRR!

I'm not mad at my fellow Californians, just at the idiots at the utility commission that think it's ok to not pay their bills.

OUCH????? I agree with you 100% Alison...we are soooooooooooo in the hole right now I dont even know how Im surviving to tell the truth...and if you think you have it bad just think how bad they are treating us..the ones who live in CA

ps..I agree with everything except letting us deal with blackouts lol...honey it gets to be in the mid 100's here on a regular basis...if we didnt have air then there would be alot of dead people for sure

 

[sameyeyam]

Thanks Lynn. I'm just ranting. It just seems like the price of everything goes up and up and all of our paychecks stay the same or go down.

I hate it when governmental agencies play games and the people suffer. Our rates have gone up quite a bit the last couple of years and most of it has been due to California. I guess I do need to look at the overall picture, it's not like we aren't all on this planet together and I know there have been times in the winter when we've had bad cold snaps and California has sent power up here.

Washington state is now requiring all of our PUD's to rely less on BPA and hydroelectric power and more on green sources like wind power. So all of the PUD's built wind farms, they have way more electricity then they know what to do with, so they sell it to California. They are slowly removing dams on our rivers and eventually our demand will meet our supply. But for now all we can do is sell the surplus. I know it's a big, complicated picture. But my electric bill has gone from being about $80 a month to an estimated $200 a month in the past year. This is about our 4th rate hike this year.

 

[funnygarcia]

But my electric bill has gone from being about $80 a month to an estimated $200 a month in the past year. This is about our 4th rate hike this year.

That's awful! My dh grumbles every month paying the electric bill, it shouldn't be that much considering we have an apartment, don't pay for heat or to heat hot water. But we are home all day and various computers, chargers, eloy's machine and other necessities of the modern world all sucking away. The outlets are in not easy to reach places. Even with a power strip, we can't flip the switch without crawling under a desk, move the couch, or move his machine (full of 30 liters of fluid). So we just suck it up.

 

[sameyeyam]

That's awful! My dh grumbles every month paying the electric bill, it shouldn't be that much considering we have an apartment, don't pay for heat or to heat hot water. But we are home all day and various computers, chargers, eloy's machine and other necessities of the modern world all sucking away. The outlets are in not easy to reach places. Even with a power strip, we can't flip the switch without crawling under a desk, move the couch, or move his machine (full of 30 liters of fluid). So we just suck it up.

I know I complain about the electric bill...and we are 100% electric here. But then I look around at all of the things plugged in and realize why our bill is so much!

Can we laugh now that I turned the heat off, started the wood stove and nearly burnt the house down today!LOL. It's been over 24 hours since we started the fire last night and the bricks are still hot to the touch. I guess chimney fires can get over 2,000 degrees!

 

[funnygarcia]

See what all that ranting did for ya?

 

[staley7580]

*tired* And... Im officially out on the trip. For sure. Im super sad about it. BUT... Im starting my doula training in April, which starts with a week long trip to Oregon.. A hot springs there. There is a retreat done by a lady out of Seattle and it is about $700. and covers about all the training ill need to become a certified doula. My dh and I went over all the doula classes and settled on that one. Even though its way more hippie then Im comfortable with.. LOL! Its all vegetarian food.. For a week.. The hot springs are clothing optional... Im figuring Ill be to busy with the classes to worry about the clothing optional thing.. and my husband told me to pack some beef jerky or something in my bag.. LOL!

Anyways. Ive wanted to be a midwife for quite a while... But Im not willing to take the 7 years that it will take me to go through school away from my kids. So I settled on being a doula. Im going to take Birth doula, postpartum doula, lactation consultant, and childbirth educator classes... I can get certified in everything but lactaion consultant.. so It should give me what I need to earn a living working with preggo mommas.

Im kind of excited about the whole thing. I cant wait to start classes.. After a few years I should be making about what dh makes.. Plus Ill still be home with the kids most of the time.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Geez, I was only gone a few weeks!

Hi, Lynn! Other than sucking up all our excess wind power, how are you?

Alison, not even a spear on the trip?

Staley: Awwwww.

We're busy with soccer right now, but that wraps up in a few weeks... Umm, just before basketball starts, of course. Both boys are now in sports, so the schedule is getting a tad crazy.

I should be at the gym working out, I had time this morning; but I worked out for an hour last night until my legs felt wobbly, so I decided to pass today.

So I've recently got hooked on this TLC Cable show called the Long Island Medium. Fascinating! I'm a skeptic, but I have to say she is not only entertaining, but the way she does on-the-street messages with random strangers... And the details, GEEZ!

Last night it went something like this (an off-the-cuff moment after locating her husband at a local bike shop/garage type of place):

She: I'm a medium.
Man 1: I'm a skeptic. Amaze me.
She: Is your father passed? How long ago?
Man 1: Yes. You tell me when.
She: Ten years ago? But there was some distance between you?
Man 1: Yes, 10 years. Right, we didn't talk.
She: He's sorry he wasn't the dad you needed and he thanks you for the time you spent with him in his last five years. Those were the best years of his life.
Man 1, choked up: Yeah, we reconnected just before he died. Thank you.
She, to another guy: Who died 7 years ago?
Man 2, visibly shaken: I really don't want to talk about it.

Fascinating!

 

[PlutoRocks]

I have recently found that show too! She is amazing...I'm not a skeptic and I believe many people have the ability but don't fully realize it. Everytime I see her show on I can't turn it off...she is hysterical too and her family - very funny!

 

[MotoXPrincess99]

Drive by Hi!

We got back from our cruise yesterday. DBF had surgery the Thursday before we left and was in so much pain the whole trip.

We didn't do much, no excursions but we still had a good time. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.

 

[funnygarcia]

*tired* And... Im officially out on the trip. For sure. Im super sad about it. BUT... Im starting my doula training in April, Even though its way more hippie then Im comfortable with.. LOL! Its all vegetarian food.. For a week.. The hot springs are clothing optional... Im figuring Ill be to busy with the classes to worry about the clothing optional thing.. and my husband told me to pack some beef jerky or something in my bag..

Sniffle sniffle, wish you could come!! Things are looking dicey for me budget wise, depends on what we decide on the car. This has been just a crappy year, crappy fall.. blech....

Doula classes! That's so cool! You know veg is not all that bad. We are mostly veg now, rare occasion we have chicken and we're not super picky when eating out to make sure there isn't any meat broth used. Veg can be super tasty too. Naked hot springs.. ummmm.. not my scene either. But go all granola girl! Rock that class!!

Do the laws in your state allow lay midwives for home births? Some states are more friendly than others.. just an option to look at after you get started on being a doula. You need to log in a lot of hours at births as part of the training anyway.

Or you could go the CNMW-RN route when the kiddos are older.

Drive by Hi!

We got back from our cruise yesterday. DBF had surgery the Thursday before we left and was in so much pain the whole trip.

We didn't do much, no excursions but we still had a good time. I'll post some pictures when I get a chance.

Loved the pics on the Diva thread!! Glad you still went but ouch on the injury and surgery. Never fails, what is with guys doing semi dangerous things RIGHT before a trip or other important event?

Best man at our wedding broke his collar bone just days before the ceremony. Fell asleep on his bike, coming home from night shift.
Hubby broke his tail bone just day before we were to go to visit family. (He also got his initial diagnosis and started dialysis the weekend of a family wedding... that was hard to explain, extended family thought I was joking! uhh no, really. ) Yeesh!