Ramblings...

I've been dealing with WIC off and on for 15 years now, whether it's me being pregnant or my kids being under age 5. Jax is the last one. He had WIC in SC with special provisions because of his mild allergies. Since being in TN, his WIC for over 6 months has been normal because his allergies have disappeared. Since he's been on WIC, we've gone to the same store and gotten the same items. The only variations have been cereal and juice.

This past Monday, I went to the same store and grabbed the same items as usual. The Cheerioes wouldn't ring up so the new cashier was told to override it. The cheese wouldn't ring up so they brought me different cheese. When I argued over it (because I have always gotten individually wrapped slice...which IS allowed on our WIC) they brought me another kind. After being there for 20 minutes, I said whatever and went home. When I got home I noticed the cheese I was told to get was imitation cheese. That is NOT allowed on WIC. I knew the food list had changed as of October 1st, so I went online and printed out the new list. Imitation cheese was still NOT allowed. Ok aside from them making me take imitation cheese, they did NOT check my signature on the voucher against my signature on the ID card. And when I brought up the whole imitation cheese thing they got an attitude with me. For once, I held my tongue. After all, had I shown my ass, they could have reported me and gotten Jackson's WIC revoked.

Instead, Tuesday, I called the regional director's office and filed a complaint. She agreed that if a store was able to file a complaint against me, I had the same right. She had me take pics of receipt with imitation cheese package on my digicam and email them to her. (I'd already taken pics on my phone to show WIC office at Jackson's appt on the 19th.) She immediately faxed the pics I sent to the store owner. He wanted me to bring in the imitation cheese and exchange it whether they were opened or not. She told me the regional office was going to send someone to the store to properly train them on how to do WIC items.

Having been using WIC for about 15 years, it shouldn't be MY job to tell these people how to do their job. But I'm happy with the outcome. I didn't want anyone to lose their job. I just wanted them to do their job with WIC the right way.

On another note, Jax had an appt this morning with the plastic surgeon. (We saw the neuro-surgeon in July and he wants Jax to have surgery to close the gaps in his skull before he starts school next year.) So we left the house about 8:30am...had to stop for gas and then a potty break for Jax. We were 25 minutes late...hospital is an hour and 30 minutes away. By the time we saw the dr and got home, it was 2:35pm! But the dr was very nice and apologetic cause he had been running later than we had. Because Jackson's last CT scan was over a year ago, he scheduled a new one. DH told me I'd have to start driving myself to Nashville for these appointments, cause it costs him money to take a day off. I was willing to try until I got the call back saying Jackson's CT scan was scheduled for 3pm...meaning I'd have to drive home during rush hour traffic! Yeah sorry, that's not gonna happen! I'm willing to try for his follow up visit with the plastic surgeon on 12/9, cause his appt is at 9:55....and I'll be home before traffic hits. I'm hoping I don't get lost and have a panic attack. LOL

So...the day of his CT scan, I'll ride in to work with DH, Jax and I will stroll around the mall until it's time to head to the hospital. I already asked if he'll have to wear a helmet again, but the dr said he won't have any specific answers for me until he gets the results from the CT scan. His surgery isn't even scheduled yet and I'm already stressing about it!

I HATE neighbors!!!!

I'm completely convinced that having neighbors in this small town we moved to is WORSE than having neighbors in the bigger city of Charleston. Y'all have seen me complain about psycho neighbors. They actually called the police on the neighbors two doors (to the right)down because he cut their backyard! If someone cut our backyard, I'd be thanking them, not calling the damn police!

Well now to the immediate right of me is this small one bedroom "shack" where at any given time are 6-8 people staying. All young wanna be thugs that play their car stereos LOUD. Now Dh and I like our music loud, but not that loud. We remember being young and not having kids. But we respected our neighbors. The other night at around 11:30 they were out there with the stereo loud enough that every single window in our house was rattling. Dh went out and said "I have kids sleeping in here, would you mind toning it down a notch? Thanks."

Now we're having issues with them. I'm actually getting to the point of taking a page out of psycho's book and calling the cops when they're loud at night. And the thug wanna bes are NOT friendly. I see the way they watch my children as they go to the neighbors 2 doors down (to the left) to play. I'm like a Mama Bear. They better not say anything to my children.

Another surgery and whatnots

Jackson had an appointment with the new ped neurosurgeon on Monday. I was a little put off by the whole visit. In Charleston, every time we went, they weighed him, took his temp and blood pressure. Not so here. They asked for the discs we brought from SC and that was all. They did measure his head. The doctor came in, barely listened to his medical history. He felt around Jackson's head and said Jackson will need surgery to close the openings that were made in his skull. He suggested the surgery be done before Jackson starts school. Ok his doctor in Charleston did tell us the surgery may be neccessary, so that wasn't too much of a surprise. This new doctor kept saying Jackson's head is defective. WTH?! Defective? IF his head is defective it's because of the previous surgery he had where too much of his skull was taken out. What kind of doctor tells a parent her child's head is defective? Couldn't he have phrased it another way? Like I said, I was a little put off by him. But he's the only ped neurosurgeon and Vanderbilt is like MUSC.

Anyway, in December, we'll have Jackson's pediatrician do a referral with the plastic surgeon. The plastic surgeon's office handles everything else. They'll get the CT scan done and schedule the surgery. Because they're booked 3-6 months, aside from emergencies, Jimmy and I decided to start things in December so the surgery can be done in June. That way Jackson will have plenty of time to heal before school starts in August. I'll keep y'all posted, of course.

Now for the whatnot...on the way to the appointment which was an hour and 30 minutes away, Jackson got sick. We thought it was his sinuses because we all get sick from sinuses. Jimmy pulled over as quick as possible. Unfortunately it was on the left of the road. I'd brought a wet washcloth to clean his face so I was able to clean him up. As I was getting ready to get back in the car, a cop pulled up behind us. Jimmy explained to him we had a toddler with sinus problems and he'd gotten sick as we were on our way to Vanderbilt. The officer asked if we needed an ambulance. He was very nice and went on his way.

Later that afternoon, I was on my bed, grooming my toes. LOL Jackson came in, laid on the floor and said his tummy was upset. Next thing I know he's vomiting. I jumped up, grabbed him and said "Oh shit!" as I ran him to the bathroom. The foot I'd been grooming at the time was bare so I slipped in his mess as we reached the bathroom. My right foot went one way, my left another. My left foot hit the AC vent and sliced open. I didn't know at the time because I was too worried I would drop Jackson or knock his head into something. I laugh about it now cause I can see the whole thing in my head. LOL Thankfully, Jimmy and my sister do NOT have weak stomachs so they cleaned everything up while I cleaned Jackson. He was fine after that, thankfully. So that's my whatnot. LOL He's fine now. Back to his usual cuteness self. LOL

We seem to have lost our kitty...

Twice. Earlier, we couldn't find him. We searched all over. That's a HUGE task since we're in a 5 bedroom with a living room, dining room, kitchen, laundry room and two bathrooms. All of which have excellent hiding places for a small kitten. I finally found him in our couch. Sleeping with no care in the world.

Jackson hasn't quite grasped that the kitty is not an older sibling and therefore he does not need to defend himself so much. We feared he'd hurt the kitty the first time we couldn't find him. Thankfully, that was not the case.

However, just before Jackson went to bed, the kitty came running into the living room dripping wet. We surmised that Jackson had tried to give him a bath in the toilet. So I rinsed Lucky off, wrapped him in a towel and left him on the couch. He's since disappeared again. I can't blame this one on Jackson either since he was asleep by then.

I'll try not to worry about him too much. He knows where his food and milk is. He knows where his litter box is...which he's used quite well! I'm sure he'll turn up ready to play again in the morning. LOL

Our new adoptee

Friday there was a kitten stuck in a tree in our neighbor's yard. A really, really TALL tree. The poor thing was meowing for hours, according to Korinne. I called the fire department and was told, "Oh it'll only stay up there a couple of days before it comes down." @@ Asshole! So, Korinne, Jackson and I were cleaning the yard and watching the kitten. We looked up at one point and the poor thing was barely holding onto leaves. Korinne and I watched in horror as the kitten fell out of the tree. Thankfully he fell into a bush that was under the tree. We managed to get the poor thing out of the bush. He's such a tiny thing. We named him Lucky because well, he's damn lucky he landed in the bush and not the ground or we'd have had to bury him. I wasn't planning on keeping him. He is a stray kitten. But he is just too damn cute! And Jimmy's already fallen in love with him. LOL Last night Jimmy took Lucky to bed with him. LOL The kids are convinced that our cat Stormy is the Dad. Justin even suggested we have a blood test done to see. LOL He's been watching too many of my Law and Order shows. LOL On another note, Jackson is completely potty trained now. His skivvies are still a tad too big for him, but his shorts keep them from falling down. LOL Below are some pics I took of Lucky. .

Lucky sleeping on Jimmy's chest

Lucky sitting with Jimmy in the recliner

Lucky and our cat Stormy

Lucky in Korinne's lap

Ok so we're in about week 3 of actively potty training Jackson. I say about week 3, because since the accident, I seem to have lost all concept of time worrying about having three teeth pulled soon. That's another story. I digress. We're in say week three. I bought him a package of skivvies, size 2t-3t. Of course his little butt is so skinny, I have to safety pin the back. LOL I bought a potty seat we keep in the living room. He wears his skivvies and until this week would only pee in the seat. For #2, he'd wait until a diaper was put on him at naptime or bedtime. Or he'd be sneaky, take of said skivvies and #2 wherever he thought was out of Mommy's line of vision. This was usually in one of the other kids' bedrooms. Once I told him, I'd pop his butt if he pooped in a nother bedroom, I think he got the idea.

Monday, while the three older ones and I were otherwise occupied spring cleaning their rooms, he came running out of the living room with his skivvies and pants down around his ankles, yelling, "I went poopy in my potty! I went poopy in my potty!" Having heard this before, I skeptically checked said potty seat and sure enough he had gone "poopy in his potty." LOL After doing the obligatory woohoo dance, he asked for ice cream. (I'd told him last week if he pooped in his potty I'd give him ice cream.) Now this was about 15 minutes before lunchtime, so I only gave him a small scoop. Of course, the three older ones thought this was unfair because they wanted ice cream also. I quickly reminded them that when they were potty training, they too recieved special treats the first time the poopied in their potty seat. I'm sure they don't remember that though. LOL

So since Monday, he's been doing well with both aspects in his potty seat. We've even gone as far as letting him wear his skivvies during naptime. He wanted to wear them to bed tonight until I told him he could not have a cup of water beside his bed. I don't think he even drinks the water at night, it's more of a security thing, because the sippy cup is always as full as it was when I gave it to him. Fot the other stuff, the kids are on spring break this week...lucky me. LOL I've had them working cleaning their rooms. I don't mean just straightening up. Oh no, we've gone for the whole schebang! Went through every single thing in their rooms. For just Justin and Korinne, that equaled 3 lawn bags of dirty clothes they'd hidden from me. I know, you're asking, how can they hide dirty clothes from you? Don't you do their laundry? The answer is yes I do their laundry, but those two have accidents sometimes and hide it from me. Since I wash what I knew they wore the day before, I didn't think to look in closets or boxes or containers for additional dirty clothes. Unfortunately the heating element went out in my dryer a few weeks ago so I've had to depend on the weather to hang clothes outside. Normally, I'd just go to my MIL's to do laundry, but since the accident, Jimmy's been driving my car to work leaving me without transportation.

However, my in-laws wanted the two older boys this week to put them to work in their yard, so off they went today. At the insistence of my MIL, the three lawn bags of dirty clothes went as well. Her reasoning was her dryer works and the weather hasn't been all that good lately, so the clothes will get done faster. I love my MIL! I still have a huge box filled with smelly blankets though. LOL It's supposed to be nice tomorrow, so I'm hoping to knock some of those out and get them cleaned.

I have to say though, as soon as those boys left today, I was met with silence. Korinne and Jackson play well together. They're content together or playing alone. It was soooooo nice!

Update on dogs

The big dog finally got the hint and returned home. I haven't seen him in over a week. Last week I recieved a call about the little dog. She described her quite accurately so I was confortable that she was talking about the same dog. She came and picked the dog up. She'd gotten her the day before Jay found her wandering on our street. She was very thankful that we'd taken good care of Abigail...the dog's name. The day she called me she was on her way to the pound to see if Abigail had been turned in there. On her way, she happened to see one of our flyers hanging. I'm glad the little dog was claimed because I wouldn't have been able to take her to the pound, yet I know we cannot afford another pet. So it all worked out in the end. YAY!

Save me from missing/lost dogs!

Saturday, Jay came home with this teeny tiny weiner dog. Dachshund, I'm sure. She has a collar and a flea collar, but nothing else for me to go on. We tied her up in the front yard hoping someone would drive by and claim her. No luck. We brought her inside Saturday night because it was cold and she has such short hair. Our cat did NOT like that at all! LOL

Sunday I printed out pics of her and wrote a found dog message and my cell number. Jay hung them up up and down our street. So far no calls.

Meanwhile, last night another dog showed up on our porch. This one a very furry Lassie looking dog, with a collar but no way to find an owner. This one has been camped out on our porch in front of the screen door. One of my neighbors knows where Lassie dog lives but he keeps coming back to my porch. I haven't fed him, but he won't go home. As far as weiner dog, I'm going to call the local paper and have them put an ad for Wednesday's paper for found dog. Hopefully, someone will come forward. She's obviously an indoor dog so someone should be missing her.

If by the end of the week, no one claims either dog, I'm calling the dog pound. I hate to do that, but I don't want to be held responsible for either dog if one of them bites someone. I would love a dog, but I want one as a puppy so I can it and get to know it right off. Right now, Lassie looking dog is still blocking my screen door. Weinder dog is in a dog crate I borrowed from a neighbor. My cat doesn't mess on the floor, I'm not about to put up with someone else's dog messing on my floor. LOL

Psycho Neighbor pt. 3

Ok the neighbors to the right of psycho are packing up and moving to Texas. For the past month, they've had a sale...everything goes. The Friday after the swing incident, I was sitting on my porch watching an older couple load a chair into the back of their truck, get in and prepare to leave. There were several vehicles parked on the side of the road. This truck happened to be parked in front of psycho's house...not blocking a driveway or anything. Not that that would matter since neither of them drive. So I'm watching this truck wait to pull out when psycho comes running out his front door pointing and yelling at these people to move their truck. Yelled that they can't park there, they're blocking traffic. They weren't of course as the street is wide enough for cars to park on the side. They leave and he's still cussing and yelling. This car pulls up with a couple maybe in their 70s. He charges towards their car cussing and yelling at them. So I calmly walked over and told the couple they were welcome to park in my yard, or even my driveway. I wasn't going anywhere.

He turns his rage on me saying I'm just mad I won't let my brats play on his swing. I said, "My kids don't want to play on your cheap a$$ swing. You told me to keep them off. I've kept them off. You're the one that keeps bringing it up." He then says, "Tell your GD kids to stay out of my yard!" I calmly said, "My kids don't play in your yard. Keep your dog out of my yard." He says it's not his dog. The neighbors moving are giving him the dog so by this coming Friday it will be his dog. @@ So as he's yelling and cussing he steps one step to me. I put my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow, and stood my ground. By then there are witnesses outside from the yard sale. I think once he realized I'm not the type of woman to be bullied, he stepped back, pointed his finger at me and yelled, "I'm calling the law!" I snapped back, "Call the law, Steve! What are they going to do?! Not a darn thing! Because nothing has been done to you!" His girlfriend comes out and starts yelling at him telling him he needs an attitude adjustment.

It's been a couple of weeks since that last incident. He barely even looks my way. I still go about minding my own business. I know I shouldn't have said anything at the yard sale. But he was menacing these old people and the wife had such a look of terror on her face.

Oh the day of the swing incident, he yelled he was calling my landlord. As luck would have it, my landlord happened to come that evening for the rent check. Psycho knew who he was but didn't take one step towards my landlord. LOL

I've since decided I'm going to keep my camcorder charged and discreetly video tape any more outbursts so when the cops become involved, I have proof.

My kids ignore him now. Granted he doesn't say hi to them anymore. She does. She still talks to me. I don't have a problem with her. And she knows it. I've instructed my kids to stay in ours or Justin's friend's yard. Don't talk to him, don't even look at him.

Psycho Neighbor pt. 2

A few weeks ago it had warmed enough the kids were outside playing. Justin said Jay had sat on the neighbors swing. It's just a bench type swing, nothing fancy or anything. So I told Jay to stay off the swing as it's not ours. I step outside and Steve leans on our carport and says something to me. I didn't hear since I was reading a book. So I looked up and asked what he'd said. He said, "Would you please tell your kids to stay off my swing?" He was beligerent about it. I said, "Ok." And went back to my book. He got mad and slammed his front door. At that time, Korinne comes over and said Steve told them they couldn't play inthe back. We have a HUGE back yard. Jimmy comes out and I tell him what Korinne said. So we walk to the back where she, Justin and Justin's friend were playing. I asked them to show me where they were playing when Steve fussed at them. All three showed us, which was clearly in OUR back yard. So I pointed to this tree that is just on the border and I told them not to go past the tree. Steve comes out the back and starts yelling and cussing at me. Then starts yelling and cussing at Jimmy. Jimmy said, "There's no reason for you to talk to us that way. You told us to keep our kids off of your swing. They'll stay off. Not a big deal." I guess Steve didn't like that because he yelled he was going to call the law! LOL Jimmy told them to go ahead. Our kids have not been in their yard. Steve has since moved the swing to the side of the house with a sign saying $25.00. LOL No one has bought it. It's definitely not worth what he wants for it. LOL

Psycho neighbor pt. 1

Here's some background history. We moved from SC to TN last June. We lived with Dh's parents for the first month while we looked for a place to live. We found a charming 5 br, 2 bath house for $260 less than what we paid in Charleston for a 3 br apartment. The house has it's problems and the two large bedrooms are only used for storage since our kids seem to not enjoy having their own rooms. LOL But we're adjusting. To our immediate left is a very small house where two bachelors live. They have a lot of visitors that make me think there's some dealing going on. Whatever. They're friendly and don't involved us in any of their issues. The house next to them is a single mom with her 15 yr old and 8 yr old. Her 8 yr old plays with Justin. Her 15 yr old likes to experiment with hairstyles on Korinne.

Now on to the psycho neighbor...he's to the immediate right of us. The very first time we met them was when we came to look at the house. She proceeded to tell us that her two boys are in foster care, not why, just that they are. Ok red flag there. A complete stranger telling us that. But, the house was large enough for all of our kids to have their own rooms and within our budget. We've lived here since the end of July. We never had a problem with the neighbors to our right until Christmas break. Now the neighbors to our right is a heavy-weight woman that I think has health issues. She rents the house. Her boyfriend is this scrawny bean pole with no job. Aside from her telling us her boys are in foster care, I've been fine with her. She's always been nice and polite. Her boyfriend is the psycho.

During Christmas break, our cat ran outside a couple of times, played for an hour and came back. One day psycho knocks on our door with our cat in his arms, saying he brought Stormy back because they have a sick cat in their shed and they don't want our cat getting sick. I noticed a nasty scratch on his palm, but thanked him and brought Stormy inside. As I was closing the door, I saw Stormy's flea collar on the ground. I picked it up thinking it had come loose. Nope, it was broken! So then I started wondering what the hell psycho had been doing to my cat to break his flea collar and warrant the nasty scratch. Stormy puts up with a lot of rough handling from Jackson. Jackson isn't used to having something smaller than him around so he's a tad rough with the cat. Yet the only time any of us have been scratched by Stormy is when he's in a playful mood, jumping all over the furniture and we happen to walk through.

Well later that day, Jay comes in saying psycho wants to know if Stormy has had his rabies shots. We got Stormy from our landlord when he was 5 months old and she had his shots done before she gave him to us. That's what Jay told psycho. Not even an hour later when I was outside, psycho comes over and asks about the rabies shots. I said "Steve, you know Jay has already answered that. Why are you asking again?" He got pissy and walked off. And that's part 1 of 3 in psycho neighbor stuff. LOL