Pushy & Weekend Sales Calls Don’t Work

No matter WHAT the boss says!

Recently I was introduced to a service that I "MIGHT"  be interested in and could possibly explore further - I gave the salesman my contact information and stressed to him that the afternoons after school are BAD timing around here and weekends are ultra busy!

What times has he chosen to call the whole TWO times he’s called thus far?  You guessed it!

Once was when I was getting the kids out the door, gathered into the car and I even told him we were just leaving and told the kids to be quiet for a few so I know he heard me!

Furthermore, I wrote down the best time to reach me on a paper - has he tried during that time?  Umm NO!

Here it is Saturday morning and my cell rings - it’s him! 

What interest I may have had in his product before has totally flown out the window.

Am I being too harsh do you think?

What is it with some salesmen?  Do they not realize there are some people who don’t give in to the pushy sales tactics and that by being pushy and not sticking to the times when a person requests they’re only setting themselves up for destruction?

Written by...Babe Gayla -- @ Unhinged | Comments (2)

Birthday Blues, Part Deux

My Kaden

Once again, mine and Jennifer’s minds are scarily in line with one another. This is not a new thing, mind you. It happens quite often, actually. But this time, it’s within good reason that we’d be thinking alike…our babies both turned 7. Jennifer’s Cedar, yesterday (as mentioned in her post below) and my Kaden, today.

And wow.

Here’s the thing: I’m an emotional person by nature. I’m a Cancer, and Cancers are internalizers and extremely domestic people (right Gayla?!?) So it’s no surprise that every time one of Kaden’s (or Carter’s) birthdays come around, I turn into a blubbering mess. Tears everywhere, mascara everywhere, laser red eyes and a quivering chin. But this year is killing me even more so than usual. Kaden is SEVEN. That’s HUGE! Five was shaky, six was no sweat, but 7? Oy. It just seems so old - mostly because I remember when I was seven. Detailed details of when I was seven. Will Kaden remember all this too?

As I was writing out his birthday card last night, taking the time to capture all the things that are important to him right now (like his b-day party theme, his teacher’s name, his best friends, his favorite TV show, etc), I found myself crying so hard I could barely see the words I’d just written. Why was I crying? Because in a blink my baby went from 7lbs 5oz to a 7-year-old first-grader with two grown-up teeth, a million friends and the charm of a Romeo. That fast. It’s mind boggling, isn’t it?

Aw, man. Here come the tears again…

We had his party last weekend, so today was a chill day. And it was fab. We spent way too much time in Webkinz World, setting up shop for the boys’ first virtual animals. It was such a treat to do that together (and to use the computer for something other than work!) It was the perfect way to spend a low-key birthday. And now as I sit here in the quiet, both boys in bed and hubby at work, I want to replay this day over and over, just as I’ve replayed the day of Kaden’s birth over and over in my head. I feel sad. I feel proud. I feel relieved. I feel blessed. I feel hopeful. I feel cherished. I feel needed. I feel un-needed. I feel it all.

But I guess that’s what it feels like to be a Mama…

Happy Birthday, Baby Boy!

Written by...Babe Liberty -- @ Family & Friends, Parenting | Comments (7)

Birthday Blues

Cedar turned 7 yesterday. Along with being really exciting (on his end) it’s been sort of a depressing week for me. 7 seems officially old. Way older than a baby. That makes me officially old, plus where’s that little guy?

Do all mamas feel like this? I don’t know what it is about 7; but I’m telling you, I was fine on his 6th birthday. 6 was close enough to 5 to still seem small. Now he’s so big. He has plans. He in fact, planned his whole darn party, schedule and all and keeps reminding me that, “In 365 days I’ll be 8!”

I guess he’s really just started to evolve into someone I can see as an adult; how he acts and what he tells me about his goals. 7 feels like a major milestone. It’s not sad exactly, maybe bittersweet. I’m happy he’s healthy, smart, and happy, just a little down that he’s growing up so fast.

The bright side is that he’s also the one who has been reminding me how much fun growing up is. He’s hilarious lately which has absolutely taken the bite out of this week.

I asked him if he’s feeling older and smarter. He said, “Sure, and I look good!” I swear he doesn’t get this stuff from me. He got this watch (a big watch - too big) from his grandma and while wearing it he noted, “This watch really makes me feel 7 years old… maybe, even 8.” Too funny. Plus he keeps showing people his, “7 year old arm muscles.” You’d think he was Popeye with all the flexing he’s been doing this week.

Anyhow, he’s made me take a look at my own life goals - sort of reassess so that’s good. It’s not all bad. I caught a terrible flu this week, and because he’s not small anymore we managed. He brought me water and took care of himself a lot. That was nice. I’ll live, I’ll adjust. Let’s just hope this next year crawls by slowly.

Oh, and a very happy birthday weekend to another babe’s little one too - Liberty and I have boys who were born a day apart. It’s very nice to know someone else is going through this right now.

Written by...Babe Jennifer -- @ Hopes and Dreams, Parenting | Comments (9)

Advice please?

 

I am taking opinions.

Last summer I bought our church a spot of it’’s very own on the internet.  something like 10 pages and a web address.  Then I designed it, set it up, and maintained it..because I am really nice.

They no longer want it for a couple of reasons.  SO….What do you think I should do with the 10 pages?  I own them for another 6 months.

I have a couple of choices.

• Make a site to sell our house…hopefully a big site would get more interest than a little one and someone who wants to have a bed and breakfast will see it and fall in love….
• Enlarge our farm site for a few months.. We are currently at Pecan Knoll Farm
• Figure out something to sell and put it on it.
• FIgure out something else to do
• leave it as is

Or??? Any great ideas?  I could use some money and if there is a way to make a few bucks off it I would love to.

Written by...Babe Marye -- @ General | Comments (7)

Happiness :)

My son, Chris, is 23. He is a pretty decent sort.  That is him in Iraq showing off his 5% body fat.  I think he will never get married. His views on some things are frustrating to me, but all in all Marc and I did well. He is ethical, and has a strong sense of character. That makes me happy. He is supporting himself. That makes me happy. He calls home regularly and tells Marc and I that he admires us and we are the best parents ever. That makes me very happy because this is the kid that called 911 to report me for child abuse when he was 12 and I sent him to bed with no dinner.

Chris is in the Air Force. He is a crew chief on F-16s. I don’t exactly know all that this means, other than we have not seen him since Christmas 2006 and he hates Utah.

He was in Iraq a few years ago and scheduled to go back in the next few months. I am good with that. I have a strong faith, and I believe that the safest place to be is directly in the center of the will of God. Being military myself, as well as being married to the Marine, I really don’t have issues with war. If you do, cool. We disagree.

Anyway, so Chris is getting his life in order to head for Iraq and I am not as comfortable with it as usual…so I start praying.

A few nights ago the Boy called.

Hey, Mom. I have some news.

Turns out they have pulled him from Iraq and he is heading for Japan for three years. He is going to be coming home before he goes and dropping his really cool truck off here for his dad to drive.

Three years is a long time.  I always wanted to see Japan.

Written by...Babe Marye -- @ Family & Friends | Comments (16)

What is wrong with people?

My son’s little friend is terrible. I can’t stand him. I like most kids. Not as much as my own, but mostly I like them, so for me to say I can’t stand a kid is pretty extreme. This “friend” is just mainly obnoxious and talks back all the time. I’m always sending him home.  But he’s not my main  rant. His parents on the other hand. You would not believe them. Well, maybe you would but check this out…

They allow crazy child to come over to see Cedar (at his dad’s - because I don’t let him come over anymore). But anyhow, he comes to Ben’s house at 8am on Saturday mornings and says, I need to be home by 4. WTF! 4pm. Seven hours? Cedar is only allowed to go over to one family’s home, and he has to check in at 30-40 minute durations, plus I watch him walk over and walk back. I can’t imagine just sending Cedar off for seven hours. That’s insane.

Once Ben got sick of this kid being obnoxious and sent him home around 2pm. He had been over since 9am. His dad comes over at 6pm and asks Ben if he’s seen him. So, basically this child was out for 9 hours and his parents didn’t feel it necessary to check on him. Wait, did I mention his age? This kid just turned six years old.

I swear. I don’t know what is wrong with people.

In other news (better news) we’re knee deep in birthday prep because Cedar is turning 7 next week. Now that’s nuts. It seems like he was just a baby. Cedar told me this morning that he didn’t need a present from me because the point of his birthday is, “All about the fun.”

I’m wondering where my son went. Maybe there’s some crazy 7 year old gene that’s kicked in. He has also requested “Celery” instead of birthday cake. I told him people would enjoy cake, being that it’s a birthday party, and he says, “But celery is so crunchy!” I say, well, maybe we should have some pizza or some other fun food. He says, “Fruit, like sliced apples?”

You know, when I decided to raise him vegetarian I didn’t mean to kill birthday fun. Geez. Celery? I’ve got six days, maybe I can talk him into some cake.

Written by...Babe Jennifer -- @ Parenting, Seriously Now | Comments (5)

Juggling Practice

I think…think…I have streamlined my life. Maybe. I have deleted a couple of personal blogs..I have resurrected a couple of blogs I had let slide, and I have made a plan to keep up with all of them, that is working, so far.

It is hard for me to juggle all of it, but everything I write is so specialized that I can’t just handle it all on one blog…. Continue reading »

Written by...Babe Marye -- @ Household | Comments (7)