Death! {Project 365: Day 43}

The Hubble...he's pretty cheap.

Well, HE would say that he's a minimalist. I say he's cheap.

Either way you look at it, he tends to fight me on large purchases. I mean, we all know about Bill and Peggy right???

Over the years, I have learned not to fight him on certain things. I definitely pick my battles.

So I have not really said anything about him playing on an old school, original XBox. No big deal right??

Well, within the last year, the XBox 360 has come out with the Kinect. Well I think that sucker is cool!!!

So I went back and forth, back and forth about the idea of getting an XBox 360 with Kinect. 

But you see...The Hubble is cheap! So I was worried about what he would say.

I ended up telling him I was thinking about getting one for the family for Christmas. He actually told me that I'm in charge of the money while he's gone and he trusts my judgement. 

To me, that says GO!!! LOL!!

I did some more thinking on it and finally decided to bite the bullet and get one. 

Well, dear friends. The XBox and I had 2 good months together. 

We sat down to watch a movie yesterday, we put the DVD into the XBox, it played for about a minute, then it froze.

So we reset it. When we turned it back on, this is what we saw:

You see that little light in the center of the silver button?? That light is supposed to be green. It looks amber in the picture but trust me when I tell you it is a menacing red color.

I'm totally annoyed. I've been told I need to call Microsoft and send it in for repairs.

Have I mentioned I'm annoyed???

This is why I should never buy things. Electronics hate me.

I blame Fred.

Frustrated, Incorporated

I'm going to warn you right now. You should not keep reading this post if you don't want to hear/read me complaining.

So enter at your own risk.

I usually pride myself on being an understanding wife.

When Little Butt was a couple weeks old, I had no problem with The Hubble taking off for a concert a couple hours away.

I have held down the fort for many a boy's night and I rarely get to have any time to myself.

I'm not a jealous wife. I laugh about the fact that The Hubble meets up with females whom he used to go to school with. Yes, I tease him about going out on a "date" but it's all in good fun.

I have no problem when I hear that he goes out with a group of girls. Or goes out drinking with the guys.

As you know, The Hubble is away from us right now. He's in a training program where we will only see him for a week before he deploys at the end of this year.

Now, I know it was my choice to be in Texas instead of being with him for these several months that he's in Tampa. I figured, why be stuck in Tampa alone with Little Butt and a new baby when he deploys??

Usually, I'm okay with our situation. This is what we chose right??

And like I said, I have heard all the stories of him going out. I listen to the detailed description of clubs that he goes to. The people he hangs out with.

But mornings like today just...oh my goodness. The only thing I can think to say is that mornings like today really eat my nuts.

Mornings when Little Butt wakes up from a bad dream calling for her Daddy. She cries and tells me that she wants to give him a hug and a kiss. I tell her there's nothing he wants more than to be with her and that we can call him.

So we do...

We call him.

And guess what!

He's hung over.

He can barely talk or function because he had a night of drinking last night and he has to "get the wheels going."

Then he tells me he'll call me later tonight.

Oh really?? You are going to be able to call me while you're out bar hopping???

Yes, he says. He'll call before that.

Yay! He will spare a moment for me before he goes out. How kind.

Like I said, normally, I don't care. He's a big boy and he'll figure it out.

I know how lonely and depressing it is to go back to an empty apartment and all you want to do is find something to do. So you drink away the weekends hoping they will race by in a blur.

That was me during The Hubble's first deployment. There was rarely a moment when I was home. If I wasn't at work or stopping to watch a mind numbing movie, I was on the run with friends. He was in a war zone and I was living it up.

But today is hard for me. Today is hard for Little Butt. Which makes it hard for me as her mommy.

Do I sit there and cry with her or try to get her to be strong??

All I know for sure is that I needed to rant.

I love The Hubble. He's a great father. And I know he would give anything to be here with his baby girl. But he can't.

And let's remember folks...I'm 34 weeks pregnant. Crazy. Hormonal. And tired. Blah!

Thanks for "listening."

End of rant.

A Bad Week & Little Butt's 1st Visit to the Dentist

If you hadn't noticed...it's been a bit quiet around here for the past week or so.

Sometimes in life, I just want to throw my hands up in the air and give up.

In fact, last week I did decide to give up.

I figured I had tried the whole "being an adult" thing and it wasn't working out for me so I was going to revert back to childhood.

It was a difficult and stressful week. I just wanted the world to turn off.

Instead of bombarding you guys with a bunch of  ho-hum, doom and gloom I just stayed away. I figured it was best for everyone.

But this week is going much better so I'm back.

Little Butt went to the dentist for the first time yesterday. She did so good!!

I'm so proud of her.

She was nice and listened. She opened wide when they asked her to. She has 20 teeth (they counted them). She also has no cavities and very healthy gums.

The lady who cleaned her teeth was awesome! She made it a really fun experience for Little Butt.

I'm totally jealous though because they have chocolate flavored toothpaste for kids. Why can't they have that for adults???

Little Butt even let them take pictures of her teeth. They went to do the x-ray of her teeth and Little Butt let them take the front pictures. Not the back though they weren't expecting her to let them.

She did so good that she got a balloon, a sticker and was allowed to pick a toy from the treasure box.

The only bad thing was that Little Butt cried when we had to leave.

I mean, what kid does that??? What kid cries when they have to LEAVE the dentist??

My kid I guess.

Anyway. Thanks for hanging in there with me! I know I was quiet all week, but hey, we all have our bad days/weeks don't we??

Life vs. Death: The Vue Edition

In 2004, The Hubble and I moved up to NY. We lived in Syracuse and he had to commute to Ft. Drum every day (68 miles, one way).

We made this sacrifice because I worked in Syracuse and we figured that when he deployed it would be easiest for me to be closest to work.

When we arrived in NY we owned one car. We thought we would have a little time, but come to find out we both had to be to work about a week after we moved up there.

So we ended up having to quickly purchase a vehicle for me.

It was a toss up at the time between the Honda CR-V and the Saturn Vue. Well...Saturn was open on Sunday and Honda was not. We got the Saturn Vue.

This was our first large purchase together and we were ecstatic.

We felt like we were finally adults. I mean, we purchased our own car! Without our parent's help!!

How cool is that???

The roads in Upstate NY are not kind to any vehicle. The insane amount of snow, ice and salt rusts even the most cared for and expensive vehicles.

Let's fast forward now, to 2011.

Holy wow! Have I really had this vehicle for 7 years???

Anyway.

Recently, my poor little Vue has been kind of sick.

He had arthritis and would moan, groan and creak whenever we would drive him.

The brakes kicked back at certain stops.

He had a belt in the engine that squealed in disapproval whenever we started up the Vue.

He needed an oil change and a state inspection.

So we took him to the doctor (in this case, Firestone).

They changed the belt, the oil, the brake pads, and the calipers. They told us the state inspection wouldn't pass unless we replaced the housing of the control arm. We did.

We give Firestone $1300 and drive away in my newly revamped and healthy Vue.

Or not. The brake problem was still occurring. The brakes would kick back every time we stopped.

So we call and take him back. They say the anti-lock brake sensor is going bad. They need to order the part.

They order the part on Saturday, make an appointment for us on Thursday.

The Hubble goes to the appointment on Thursday, waits an HOUR just for them to tell him that the part hasn't arrived yet. It should be there by noon so we should call back then. He calls back. They don't know if the part is in yet. He tells them to call when it arrives. We wait...

Finally, on Monday, The Hubble calls again to inquire about the part. They say it's in. We take the Vue back to them.

They call us a while later and say we can pick up the Vue. We drop another $160. I drive away. As soon as I'm a couple blocks away, the ABS light comes on. Ummm...hello??

We turn around and take it back. They reset the sensor. The Hubble drives away this time. The car is screaming like mad so we turn around again. Take it back. They say come back tomorrow.

The Hubble takes it back the next day and they tell us the ABS sensor is faulty. They need to replace it. They give us another appointment.

At this point, I refuse to go pick up the Vue. What is the point of wasting all that gas money to drive it back and forth?? They can keep it.

So they call us back yesterday. They tell us that they replaced the sensor...again. As soon as the car gets above 25mph the ABS light comes on. They don't know what's wrong. They say there is another party they may have to replace. And oh, by the way, it's another $400 for this part that may or may not fix the problem.

So now I am incredibly frustrated.

We are looking at paying for a move next month and now I'm getting stressed about paying for this damn car.

I told The Hubble that we should have taken it to the dealer (which is the only other option out here in the middle of nowhere) when Firestone made him sit for an hour to tell him they didn't have the part yet. He told me it would be crazy expensive.

Now, he's saying we should take it to the dealer!

So, do we cut our losses and take it to the dealer? Or do we keep messing around with Firestone, who doesn't seem capable of actually fixing the thing??

I'm thinking we will take it to the dealer to get a diagnostic and estimate. If they say the same thing as Firestone we will compare prices.

My older sister says I just need to get a new car. But we want to be without a car payment for at least a year and both our cars are now paid off.

GRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!

What would you do???

Do we keep trying to bring the Vue back to life? Or just let it die and move on?

I just don't know what to do at this point....

You Wanna Know What Makes Me Mad??

Photo by muffet

Military discounts...that's what.

No seriously. Wait. Let me explain.

Oh. And I should probably warn you that this is going to be a "rant post" so if you don't want to read one of those...I would advise you to walk away. ;-)

I'm not against military discounts...don't get me wrong.

I actually think they are pretty groovy.

What makes me angry is when the discount is solely for the active duty member.

Let me back up a little bit. 

On Sunday, The Hubble, Little Butt and I went out for brunch with some friends. We had a lovely time. The food was pretty good. The serving staff was phenomenal (if not a little too friendly). 

When the server was ready to ring up our tickets, she came and asked if my friend and I were military or just the men. See...they give a 15% discount at this restaurant to active duty personnel only. 

That's totally awesome!

But why wouldn't it extend to the spouse who is sitting right next to the active duty member? Especially if the active duty member is the one paying for everyone who is with him??

For the longest time, this didn't bother me at all. 

Until 2009 when The Hubble went to hang out in Afghanistan for the year. 

My stepmother and I went to a movie theater who offered military discounts. When I showed them my ID card they told me that the discount was for active duty military only. My response?? Well...he's away at war right now so he can't be here to pay for this movie ticket.

Now, again, don't get me wrong. I'm not looking for a handout. I rarely even think to ask if there is a military discount available. 

What makes me mad is when an establishment offers a military discount but does not extend it to family members. 

When we spouses are left home to take care of the children, the households, the finances and the well being of everyone who is not deployed with the soldier...it feels like a slap in the face to be told "sorry, but you don't do enough to warrant this discount. We only give it to the ones who do the actual work." 

That's all. Thanks for listening. Rant over.