Monday, October 27, 2008

white rabbit

so we had a field trip last week. it was supposed to happen on thursday but since the forecast called for rain, it got postponed to friday. had to listen to some bent-out-of-shape whining from biggest & middlest who were really looking forward to a day off of school - apparently it hadn't occurred to them that they were still getting a day off, just not the same one - and that meant i had to get up at the ungodly hour of 6am 2 days in a row but i digress. (oh, and for the record, littlest usually has me up that early but for the most part is content to just lie in the bed & nurse so it's not like my brain has to function or anything)

so friday - again up at retard-o-clock, into the shower & then banging on doors to awaken children who, for all their excitement about the field trip, sure weren't moving real fast to get us there on time. remember that statement...ON TIME.

manage to make it out the door 10 minutes before take off with 3 kids, 2 backpacks - one full of diapers & the other full of sandwiches - light jackets & no toys for the bus ride. see, that's what happens when i am made to move before my brain is awake. and, oh yeah, add the phrase "light jackets" to your list of things to remember.

we made it to the pick-up point with a minute to spare. and jumped on the bus. and then we sat & waited. and waited. and waaaaiiiiittttteeeeedddd. because apparently 8am doesn't mean the same thing to everyone. like, to some people it means 8:30. nice. i wasn't really on a time constraint because i didn't have other kids to pick up from school. so it didn't much matter to me that we left 45 minutes late because i didn't have to be back any time special. hell, we could have stayed up there all day. 1 is remarkably self-sufficient when he has to be & weiner was in the bathroom so if a mess had to be made, he was in the right spot! but, alas, we were on their time schedule.

we went to the zoo. and holy hannah was it cold! so those light jackets? not so useful! windy? oh yes. the best part of the trip? the seal & dolphin show because for half an hour, we were inside! out of the wind! and there were cool seal & dolphin tricks! that zoo is so dang big, we barely saw any of it. after the show, we had lunch on a bench while freezing our tails off & the big kids got churros. mmmm, churros. and then it was time to hot foot it back to the bus so that we could make curfew. which was 1pm. and then we waited. and waited and waited some more. mind you, i didn't NEED a curfew. my kids were all with me. but to be nice & respectful of those who did need a curfew, we found our way back to the bus at the predetermined time. but no one else found their way back for another 20 minutes. sigh. good thing for a bus driver prepared for the inevitable kid boredom who found a scooby doo dvd which had all 3 kiddos transfixed for the better part of the ride. well, 2 at least. biggest is too cool for scooby doo so he plugged into his ipod & spent the ride with a jacket on his head. finally the rest of the group made their appearance (yes, the rest...we were the only ones on time! imagine that! the C____s on time! my goodness!)

as soon as we departed seoul, the cell phones made an appearance as arrangements were made for other children to be picked up and/or stashed until we made our (belated) arrival at post. um. perhaps if you had been ON TIME when told to be, you wouldn't be stressed/pressed for time now. i thought the army was supposed to teach things like that. course, these were (i believe) army spouses but you would think those core values would rub off. or something. if i, the most disorganized & scatterbrained person on the planet since gaining another child, can manage to get somewhere on time with everything i need (toys were wants, not needs...get off my back), then what excuse do they have? not to mention that the majority of them live ON POST so, what, a 5 minute walk to the pick-up point? c'mon now. get it together.

course, if people WERE to get it together, i wouldn't have anything to bitch...err...blog about, now would i?

points to anyone who gets the title reference!

Sunday, October 19, 2008

ah, yes, everything IS broken.

so. BN & G's wedding has come & gone 2 weeks ago. apparently it was wonderful & beautiful & all those other little "ful's" that a bride hopes her big day will be. hopefully pics will be available for my viewing pleasure eventually.

and anyhow...my synopsis on how, once again, everything is broken.

BN & G registered at a certain department store. they didn't have a huge registry as housekeeping has already been set up for quite sometime now. but i picked something off of it that was kind of a result of a (admittedly bad) joke i made upon the first view of the registry. but, of course, the item was marked "sold out for delivery". grrr. and if we have one of those stores around here, i've yet to find it. not to mention that with all the broken stuff around the world, they would have probably received their gift for their 5th anniversary. so i call my mama. she has one of those stores in her town so i figured that perhaps she could run down & pick one up for me. and then i discovered the option on the website allowing ME to pay for it but my MAMA to pick it up at the store. you know...the store in S_____, USA. where i'm currently not. please keep that fact in mind.

i happily punch in my options & then my info & my mama's info. meanwhile, i'm on the phone to my mama filling her in on what needs to be done on her end. in S_____, USA. after i finish my ordering, it sends me an email that the store is currently closed but that my order will be processed when it opens. which will be sometime my evening, mom's morning.

so that evening i checked my email. and, sure enough, there's an email from the store that tells me that my order has been filled & that when I, BRANDI C____, come to pick up the item from S____, USA, I must bring proper ID. um. brandi c_____ is not in S_____, USA. not in usa, period. @#$^@#%%^*$%E.

i mean, for once could something work the way it is supposed to? i mean really. how difficult is it to do what you say you are going to do? in other words, make your website perform properly? after much gnashing of teeth, pulling of hair & watching the clock to allow my mother enough time to wake up over there around the world in S_____, USA, i call her up to see what she made of the newest ridiculosity (yes, yes, i did just make that word up. wanna make something of it?). and she reminded me that she, in essence, could be "me" at the store as she has a power of attorney in my name! well, duh! how could i forget that small detail? and with that short conversation, my mind was at rest & BN & G had half of their present.

sure would have saved my nerves a little bit had the durn thing just worked the way it was supposed to, ya know? what the heck is the point of advertising a service & then it doesn't work? it seems as if most everything around the world suffers from the outright stupidity. the government, the systems, the PEOPLE. dear Lord, don't get me started on the people. just absolute stupidity., makes me wonder how we have survived for so long without blowing ourselves up. course, rate we're going? that's probably just around the corner.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

just wow.