December still had some more suckage!

Unfortunately, as the month of December wore on, we had a bit more crap to deal with. The back windshield on the other car (the minivan) was shot out as well, about a week after the first car was hit. It seemed that perhaps we were being targeted, and we worried it was for being gay. (There is also a possibility that these acts were done by a hunter who was hunting RIGHT IN OUR BACKYARD a few weeks before this all happened. He was in our yard, with his gun, not even in the woods. P went out on the deck and asked him to please not hunt in our yard, since we have animals who go outside and two little kids. He said he had an agreement with the previous owners that it was ok for him to hunt there. We told him they had sold the house. He said no problem and we thought we were done with it. We later found out from the previos owners that they had had no such agreement with anyone! So, maybe this hunter was pissed and decided to shoot out our car windows to teach us a lesson. If so, what an effing bastard!) We filed a police report, got the window replaced, and sent out a message to the neighbors. Apparently our road is known for being a place where teens from the nearby high school like to drive fast and be reckless. Several neighbors over the years have had mailboxes smashed (some several times as the boxes are replaced), car windows shot out, and other vandalism. We were encouraged to park our cars as close to the house and far away from the road as possible to prevent whatever future damage we could. We are doing this as much as possible, but it gets harder and harder as the winter goes on and the snowbanks in the driveway get bigger and bigger. Unfortunately, we felt under attack and as if we had no way to protect ourselves, since we do not have a garage. The total cost to us for the windows to be replaced was $730. Money we absolutely did not have. Hello Mr. Plastic. Ugh! We have not had any more problems since then, knock on wood, and hope to be out of the woods on this.

We have taken a few additional precautions, however, which include keeping the house and the cars locked at all times, even when we are home, and renaming this blog to remove our last names and the name of the town in which we live. It sucks to have to be so nervous and maybe even paranoid, but it is a crazy world we live in, and with two small kids, I guess we can't be too careful.

We had a lovely Christmas with Bill and his family in NY and my mom even flew in for the occasion! I will try to get some pics up from the holiday soon. Happy New Year's eve to you all. I hope 2009 is a good one and that your 2008 ended on a better note than ours did this year.

One in a million

Here's an opportunity that is free, worthwhile, and seemingly easy. Oh, and hey, wouldn't it be cool to say you were part of the research that found a cure for breast cancer?


Dr. Susan Love Research Foundation and the Avon Foundation have joined forces to launch the Love/Avon Army of Women. The goal is to recruit one million healthy women of every age and ethnicity to participate in research that will eradicate breast cancer. Nursing mothers and breastmilk is needed for some of the studies. To join the Army of Women, go to: www.armyofwomen.org. Please share this information with all the women you know. Together, we can beat breast cancer!


I signed up. Will you?

So far, December sucks!

Yesterday Penny went out to the Saturn to go to work. She opened the door, then shut the door, then heard a weird noise. Looked in the rear view, and could see out. Back windshield shattered! Got out to inspect it more. Back right quarter glass also all spider-webbed and mushy (as in you could push it in). Two smashed windows? Rocks from the snow plow perhaps? (It snowed the previous evening and the plows had been out.) An errant BB? Rocks from a passing car? Who the frig knows.

Penny called me, I came home, and we took the car to Windshield World. Our out of pocket cost for all this? $500. Insurance will cover the rest. It's all fine to have a high-ish deductible when you never have a claim. Nice to pay the lower fee each month for the insurance. But, when you have a claim, suddenly the $500 deductible seems like a sucktastic idea.

So, we were feeling a bit (understatement of the century) shitty. Big unexpected bill, recession, and all. Pinching pennies does not even begin to cover what we have been doing lately. Things are T-I-G-H-T here!

Fast forward to last night. Kids go down to bed at normal time (7 pm) and all is quite on the home front until 11 pm or so. Then Jordan wakes up screaming. Jordan has been waking up pretty much every night for the past few weeks, screaming like he is having a bad dream, and only wanting Penny (and in the process, rejecting me, by hitting my arms and saying "NO!" when I try to get him out of the crib). He has not been able to be settled back in the crib, so has been co-sleeping with one of us, either in our bed or on the air mattress in the guest room. Mostly, he has been sleeping with Penny, because, as I mentioned, during the night he has been rejecting me big time. Hurt feelings much? We have no idea what this is about.

We thought last night would be like the others. Except it wasn't. Jordan WOULD NOT SETTLE. He pretty much screamed througout the entire night! We tried water, Tylenol, walking around, taking him downstairs, rocking him, laying him down in both rooms/beds. We tried everything we could think of. Jordan slept for 10-20 minute increments and then for two hours from 1-3 am and that was it. We were pulling our hair out and bickering with one another. What was happening here? Was this a temper tantrum, coupled with being over tired? Was he sick?

This morning he seemed better. No fever. His mood was ok and he ate ok. We took him to the doctor's anyway. Double ear infections. He had been on antibiotics for the past 6 days due to a cough and his cold-induced asthma (wheezing for 4 weeks, despite using 2 inhalers every 4-6 hours). So, we thought if he did have an ear infection, those abx would have taken care of it. Not so much.

So, now our boy has double ear infections and is on another antibiotic for 10 days. He was in pain, and we were bickering with each other, wondering if this was a tantrum that we had created by indulging him with sleeping in our bed over the past few weeks. Oh the things that happen and the things you think during the middle of the night when you are sleep deprived.

So, can I have November back? Please?

(P.S. Taylor slept like a freakin' rock star last night. Did not even wake up one time during Jordan's hours and hours of screaming shenanigans. She slept in the crib from 7 pm until 6 am when we woke her up. Thank you, Taylor! You made our night!)

(P.P.S. Oh, the best part? At pick up this evening, day care told us he was just as happy as could be all day, napped great for them, and they could not even tell that he was overtired or sick. Thanks for only sharing your best side with us, Buddy! We love you!)

It's 9:07 pm on Tuesday night and I just heard Jordan start crying. Please let this be a better night.