The Customer Is ALWAYS Right!

Heh.
So last night I had one hell of an evening. Went for groceries, and when I got out it was sleeting freezing rain & snow all over. There was a good 3 inches of slush on the ground, and I was 20 minutes from home, and needed to pick up dinner to boot.
No problem. I am from the superiorly awesome state of Michigan, so I ignored the blaring sirens on the highway and took the backroads home.
Took me twice the time to get to McDonalds to pick up dinner for the fam.
Made the order, paid, got up to the window & was told it would just be a minute. 5 minutes later, they ask me to pull ahead and wait. It would be 2 more minutes.
2 cars pulled past me with their orders in the 10 minutes I sat there.
Patience time is over.
SO, I throw the car in reverse, back up just enough to stop up progress, PARK the car & walk in with my receipt.
The manager first raises his voice and says I cant park there (he was like a hot minute from 17 years old).
I raise my eyebrow at him with the universal symbol for 'oh really? you gonna stop me?'
He immediately asks if he can help me. I hand him the receipt, he looks it over real quick and slightly irritated  says 'how long have you been waiting?' I told him to check the damn time stamp.
He jumps and takes care of the order quickly.
The stoned out chick that was supposed to be taking care of it in the first place tries to offer up some lame excuse about the fountain machine is broken ... to which I point out I had no drinks on the order, so try again.
I thank the manager and head out the door.

NOW. A few things.
I know I didn't have to block the drive thru, but my kids were hungry and had asked for McD's, and the last time they botched an order, they tried to stiff my mom and were yelling at HER in the restaurant because they screwed up and didn't want to fix it. THIS is why I decided that I needed to be sure I had their attention.

I know plenty of folks that have worked at McDonalds at one point or another. Some even stuck around long enough to be management -- and did a FINE job of it, even in their teens.
I know teenagers (the right ones) can do a great job running that restaurant. I've seen it done. This poor kid trying to run the place had maybe 1 other person on with him that didn't have their head up their ass.
I felt bad about causing him trouble. However, the stoned out moron that literally was doing NOTHING for anyone but standing around, acting bored, not trying to help ANYONE in any way .... unacceptable.

So, the kid running the show ... you did great kid. In fact, if I ever see that one again, I'll be sure to let him know, but I was in one helluva rush to get home to the boys.
Of course, when I told Ma what went down, she laughed her arse off, as well she would seeing the trouble that particular branch has given her.

I turn on down the road, pointed to home, when I end up behind a 4x4 SUV with a teenage girl driving it.
HOO-BOY.
She's texting and driving in a snowstorm going about 5 miles an hour.

It's not that bad out.
Well, maybe it is, but if you need to text, you should pull over even when it's clear, let alone in a damn snowstorm that you CLEARLY don't know how to drive in.
So, of course, first chance I get, I pass her. In my front wheel drive. In the now near 6 inches of heavy freezing slush.

Took a few minutes extra to get home, mostly due to the chick in the 4x4, who I should note DID end up pulling over into a parking lot ... I saw it in my rear view.

When I got home, had to wake up the littlest boy who'd gotten tired and fallen asleep waiting for his nuggets.

Please, if you don't know how to drive in a Michigan winter, DON'T. Or, practice in a parking lot with an experienced driver. Don't creep down a public road at speeds where someone can walk faster. You WILL end up in an accident if you're impeding traffic just as easily as if you were speeding.

End Rant.

This Kid

This kid is getting frustrated. So far he's learned 2 or 3 different ways to multiply and because of it, he's confused. He is starting to panic when it comes to which method he's supposed to use.
It's not his fault. It's not his school's fault. I actually wish that there had been options like the ones he's got way back when I was little. Back then there was one way to do it and you damn well better learn it. FAST.
So, he's trying to hide his homework when he's done with it. In the last marking period, his grades have gone down one notch just about all across the board.
I love his little school. I just am starting to think he needs more laser focused attention than what is possible there. The problem is that there isn't anywhere else for him to go. Our local public systems that are a quicker drive are much far below the kind of attention he gets now. So that can't happen.
I could work with him more when he gets home from school, but then the poor kid is spending all the time he's at school working AND all his time at home after school until dinner time re-learning all that he didn't quite catch.
It's not that he isn't smart --- he just needs a slower approach and someone willing to try various approaches until the lesson sticks. THAT combined with someone who's stubborn enough and slick enough to realize when the little punk is trying to get you to do it for him. Clever little punk. He does that a lot.
Last night, we had to go over an english page about nouns - common and proper. He just couldn't grasp it. I did find a way for him to get it  --- I think. we'll have to see.
But right now, it looks like we need to re-approach just about everything. Like he needs a little extra push in just about the entire day in every subject.
I don't quite know what to do, but hours of tutoring after school that often ends up going on after dinner until bedtime is depressing for everyone. He's a KID for cry-eye.
He should have time to BE a KID after school. What kind of miserable existence is it for a kid that only eats, sleeps and does school work? GAH.

Some of the stuff they have to learn is a little ridiculous too. I understand the push the schools have going now for mulitculturalism, but come on. Why does that mean ONLY people that are a different shade than me and my kids?

Newsflash .... even within different areas of Europe there are vastly different cultures. Why aren't the Romani mentioned? I don't mind that my kid has a basic understanding of different cultures, but he should ALSO be able to explore his own roots and heritage.

While I'm on it ... why is there a whole month dedicated to Black History? It's spread throughout the entire year's curriculum, so why is there a month dedicated to glorification of just the one 'color'?

Why isn't there an Asian History month, or Latina History month? Why not a SCANDINAVIAN History month??

THAT one really burns me. Ask any American kid who discovered America and of the 99% that *may* answer, will all answer with Chris Columbus. Um. NO. That would be wrong, and it's been proven wrong, so why is it not taught that the  TRUE first  european to set foot on North America was Leif Ericsson?
YES. The Vikings were here long before the English or Italians or Spanish or any other european.

That's what all those freakin' cool as hell rune stones are scattered all over Canada & the UP on the way to the west coast.

Nearly ready to pull the kid out and teach him myself again. If I do, these kids have one hell of a path ahead of them. One thing I have going is that this time, I feel like I can get them into a group or two with the urging of a few kickass homeschool moms I know.

I won't do it though unless I have a solid plan in place. That was my mistake last time. Shot from the hip and had NO plan. There will be a plan next time around. And I am blessed that I know some great gals that are not afraid to direct me a little if that's what we decide on again.

GAH. Analyzing all this stuff makes my head hurt.

Just Sayin'.

To Do Sooner rather than later

So, who aside from me that is, has some unfinished projects to attend to?

If you said you don't you're a damn liar and you know it.

I know I have several. The problem is that even though there is a list about an arm's length of what needs to be finished, I keep coming up with new things that I'd like to do, then I jump into trying the new things out before I can finish the last new things that I started.

NO, I'm not ADHD. I'm artistic. That's right. You heard me ART tistic. Un-organized. Scatter brained.

I'm probably one of the most right-brained people you'll ever meet. I just attack things differently.

But I'm working on it. Trying to think a little more in the box for a change.

I have work to do for cry-eye. Important work, like, finishing the siding on the house, and making Hubster put lights up outside.
Finishing my head & foot boards (because we made our bedframe, and haven't finished it yet)
Repairing and refurbishing the barn so that the girls are more comfortable, putting in raised beds so I'm not growing out of dirtbags this year, starting the garden in my closet (we're talking veggies here, ya big stoner. I'm not that girl.), and about a hundred art projects that I have begun and left as 'work in progress' for ages.

Anyone else want to cop to what they have neglected to finish?

Feel free. I'm here for you.

DISCLAIMER:: That is not my photo. That is not my house nor my projects. I WISH my projects were that neat!!!

I'm not making any promises.

I keep saying I'm going to blog more, but then I make a liar out of myself every time.
I am NOT going to try to blog more. I am taking more pictures, cooking more, riding my horses more, playing with my kids more, snuggling my baby more and loving on my family more.

WAY more important than blogging more.
Come on, if you had a little snuggle bug like this at home, would you be thinking of BLOGGING?




Ya, me either.

The boys are pretty farkin' cute too. My problem with them is that right now, they're doing silly things when I pull out my camera and I can't seem to talk them into doing any kind of an honest portrait. Just goofiness.

So, I'll be working on that.

This blog will remain my sounding board from time to time, for whatever the hell I feel like putting up.

I started a new one for the budding business o' mine at kbollmanphoto.blogspot.com
I have a giveaway happening there right now until the 16th, and am going to try to use that as a means of conveying neat photography sites I find, tutorials on photoshop, and some general neat stuff.

I'm not saying I've got some mad skillz with my camera OR photoshop, but I know some basics and there has been a few people that have asked for some help, so I will try to share the little that I know with you, and display lots of pics in the process to make it easy.

Why don't you head on over and enter my contest? Share it ... the more the merrier, I say!

Happy Groundhog Day, folks!!

Welcome, Little Sweet One

I am VERY overdue in putting up my follow up post to the baby name game. 

I don't feel to badly over it though, as it's just NOW that I'm able to begin to get into a solid routine with my punkin's. 

I really went through the knot hole with this one, friends. 

I fought with the docs, nurses, myself ... everyone BUT little Flash. 

With some health 'problems' ... I won't get into detail, but it was a load of BS, essentially, just padding the bill for the insurance co, I am convinced. It got to the point that I fired one doc about 2 months before having  the little one, then nearly fired her replacement when he got confrontational with me without reading my chart. 

OH, you just gotta love attentive docs. 

I was *this close* to just packing up and spending the last few weeks of my pregnancy holed up in a hotel room in Escanaba waiting to go into labor and drive across town to OSF hospital for an emergency C. 

But, I did not. I tangled with the doc, gave him an ultimatum to do it as previously discussed, rather than hospitalize me for a week pre baby with no reason (other than bill padding) and off we went. 

She was born *technically* on the full Harvest moon ... the morning of October 1st, a very healthy 9# 1.8 oz., and 20.5" 'tall'. 

I was out of the hospital a day and a half later, as I was pushing to get out as soon as I could feel my feet. 

She is very healthy, thanks. Super sweet, and quite wonderful in my own opinion, seeing as she's spoiled me rotten with her sleep habits. oh yeah, she was sleeping a 5 hour stretch the first week home, and has slowly increased that. It's still just around 6 hours, but for a 6 week old, and a mom that's used to only 4 or 5 hours ANYWAY, I'm a happy girl. 

SO. Here she is. My little punkin' ... she looks very much like my baby pics, only she has LOTS of dark hair, and I was bald, then blonde, so... she's my little dark haired beauty. 

Happy Holy Deer Opener, by the way. I made it out today. Didn't see anything but a trespasser, some crows, various obnoxious birds, rabbits, a renegade squirrel, and some 3 to 4 day old deer tracks. Meh. Better luck next time, I suppose.