Is it a northern thing?

Beep, Beep, Beep - I interrupt your regularly programed blog for this important message. Okay, I can sit here quietly no longer! There are many words in the English language that are mispronounced, and I'm no English major but this one word is driving me nuts! I can handle it when you say "idear" for idea, I let that one slide. I'm sure there are others, but this one makes me cringe! And I've only noticed it since I've moved up north. People get it straight! It's - as' fawlt!! You know, the stuff used to pave roads. The word is asphalt. The 'ph' comes after the 's' sound. It is NOT ashfalt. It's 'as' like a donkey, then 'phalt' like to blame or a crack in the earth. AS-PHALT!! Got it?! Good. You may now return to your regular programing.

Bidding a Fond Farewell

It's been fun. We've had some good times and times I didn't even feel like getting out of bed, but you were still there. But all good things must come to an end. I'm finally saying goodbye.

GOODBYE WINTER!!!

I think I've finally seen the last of it! At least for the next 5-6 months. The sun is shining, trees are blossoming, flowers are blooming. Life is good!

My daughter has her car back again. It's still a little dented up, but my dear ex got it running for her. Needed a new radiator and headlight and a little pounding here and there, but it will get her to school and work. My son especially is happy because he gets the truck back and doesn't have to depend on mom and sis driving him around.

Work has been offering overtime that I am scooping up. Not sure how long it will last but because of it I may be able to afford a golf membership this year. Woo hoo!! Have a Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious week!!

When it rains, it pours!

Ironically, the title does not describe this day. It is going to be a beautiful day! Sunny and in the 60's. Spring has finally sprung. Other news is not as bright though. Yesterday it struck in 3's.
I have been struggling with my insurance company to pay some medical bills I have from my thyroid condition, hypothyroidism. It was diagnosed about 2 years ago, maybe a little less, but after my divorce I didn't have medical coverage, so didn't see the doctor for treatment. Although he didn't want to see me without the medication so he continued to extend the prescription for me. As much as I appreciated that, it seems it is coming back to haunt me. My new insurance company with the company I work for had said that it would not cover a pre-existing condition that I had seen the doctor for in the 6 months prior to my employment. Well, although I had not seen the doctor, because I am taking the medicine they consider that my pre-existing condition. I found this out yesterday. Then around noon my dautghter calls to inform me that the tuition assistance she has been receiving is only for the Fall-Winter semesters. The Spring and Summer semesters won't be covered. And to top everything off, she called me again last night after she had hit a deer in her car. It had to be towed home. She didn't get hurt, for which I am very thankful, but her car is undriveable. The fender got crunched in, one light is smashed, the bumber is bent in. Apparently the radiator got punctured so the engine was overheating. That is the only reason she couldn't drive the car home and had to have it towed. I don't know how bad the radiator is damaged. But there was a good thing that happened. Apparently where my daughter had her accident was right in front of some really nice people. They were "well-to-do", if you know what I mean. VERY nice home. Well, it seems they have AAA and used it to call the towing company and have my daughters car towed home. That was very kind of them. (By the way, the deer in the picture wasn't hurt, just got to go for a little ride) So I don't know what we are going to do about that. I don't know what I am going to do about any of this. I can't afford to keep paying for medical coverage for my thyroid condition out of my pocket. Heck, I don't know how I'm going to pay the bills I have now that the insurance company is not going to cover. My ex and I have a little set aside for the childrens education but it won't go far. Ugh. I can't help but think of my favorite quote at times like this - "I know God won't give me more than I can handle, I just wish He didn't trust me so much."

Happy Easter

Wishing each of you a Blessed Easter!


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Too harsh of a punishment?

One of the hardest things about being a parent is disciplining your children. There were times I had to take something away from my child or ground them when a special event was coming up, and it killed me to do it. But I still think they learned something. They are not perfect kids, but I think they have turned out pretty good. Anyway, this leads me to a story I heard on the radio this week. I know there may be more to this story than what was told but I was blown away none the less. It seems this 12 year old girl (barely 12) had sent some, lets say, revealing pictures of herself over the internet. She had used a friends computer. She lived with her father, her parents being seperated. Because of her inappropriate behavior the father would not sign a permission slip for the girl to attend an upcoming field trip at her school. This was something she said "was really important to her". But this was her punishment for what she did. Well it seems this child went to her mothers attorney (I don't know if the mother was involved, but I imagine she was) and turned around and sued the father. You'll never believe this, but she WON! She got to go on her field trip because it was "really important" to her. Now, what kind of a message is that sending to this child? I'm sorry, but I'm on the father's side of this. Am I the only one that feels this way? Let me know what you think.

Will the real Pat please stand up?

I'm sure most of you have heard horror stories about identity theft, well I'm living the nightmare. It all started about 15 years ago. I started receiving letters and phone calls for a Patricia Smith. It was debt collectors trying to collect their money. I would simply tell them they had the wrong person. Most of the addresses they had on file were in south Georgia or north Florida. That is also where most of these businesses were. After this went on for a short period of time I got a copy of my credit report. It seems this person had used my SS# and had applied for credit to buy a computer, jewelry, furniture, two cell phone services and other misc. items. I'm not sure but I think they acquired my SS# through a dumb fault of my own. See, the state of Georgia had this brilliant idea of using your SS# as your drivers license number so that you wouldn't have another number to remember. It is also common practise that when you purchase something by check you have to write your drivers license # on the check. Well, I'm sure you see what a HUGE mistake this was. I corrected that ASAP, but not before it was too late. Now time for damage control. I had to contact each of these places and explain the situation and I finally got that taken care of, and had a red flag put on my cedit file. This means that any time anyone tried to use my SS# and a credit report was run, a red flag would go up and I would immediately be notified and the credit report would not be released without my authorization. I remember getting one call and then no more. I figured she had finally given up since I had taken those precautionary steps. I thought that this was all behind me. Oh, was I sadly mistaken. After moving here to Michigan I gradually started getting collection letters for a Patricia Smith and the phone calls began again. One of them interesting enough was a letter about a bounced check written in Georgia. I called and explained everything to them and got that taken care of, but I have an address. I don't know if it is a legitimate one, but next time I get to Atlanta I'm going to find out! Also it seems she has changed the SS# by one digit, but why I am still getting calls I have no idea. I don't know how my Michigan telephone # ever got mixed up in all this, or my address. This morning I received a call from a debt collector for a Patricia Buggs. Well, at least she is being a little more inventive with names. I'm not a vengeful person, but I wouldn't mind seeing this person do time for the pain she has caused me. She's probably living it up better than I am! It seems the red flag I put on my credit file only lasts for 3-6 months then you have to reapply to have it done. So now I have to order reports from all 3 credit bureau's. I'm afraid to see what they will show. I know that I have been late on a few payments, but my credit shouldn't be as bad as it is. I certainly hope none of you ever experience this. It is truly a nightmare!