RIP Sammy

Sadly today I must report a death.  My dear smartphone (since dubbed Sam.  I felt he deserved a name in his passing) died a terrible death in the parking lot outside my office this morning.  I dropped him.  I feel so terrible.  I used to carry my phone in my pocket but my new fancy phone has a touch screen and I sometimes carried it in my hand. I exited my car, juggling a bag, purse, keys and phone and which item do I drop?  Sammy.  I stopped and said "Man I am going to have to be so much more careful with this thing, totally thinking it was going to be fine or maybe slightly scratched.  It was face down, so I flipped it over and the screen was totally shattered.  &%$@  I totally almost bought a case this weekend too, which might have helped my phone to be not completely destroyed, but the saleslady was a bitch.  I picked up one and wanted to see how my phone would look with it on. It was at a little kiosk in the mall, so the packages pop right open so you can do just that.  I put in part way on and started to take it off again and she snapped at me that I was going to break it and snatched it (with my phone) out of my hands. She removed the case, put it back in the package and hung it back up.  I was like, "okay I was going to buy that but since you obviously don't care to sell it to me...."  So this was a totally senseless tragedy. Here is what the little scene looked like:

This image is inspired by the genius that is Ali and her blog http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/.  I hope this doesn't come off as copying her.  It's a FABULOUS blog and you should ALL check it out.  All 5 of my readers LOL

Anyway, my phone is toast.  And I, being brain dead, did not purchase the insurance policy.  It is my first smart phone and I have only had it 3 weeks.  It still rings, but the screen is shattered.  So very sad.  And even sadder, I had to purchase a new phone at full retail price or refurbished price.  So I will not be replacing this phone with the same model.  I'm getting an older one and my mom is going to take it, then I'm going to take hers (it's just like mine).  She doesn't want or need so many features so she wants to trade.

Isn't that a sad story?  Do you know what is also sad? I'm going through serious withdrawl.  I haven't been without a working cell phone since I was 18.

Goodbye Sammy. We had some good times together...Activation, the time we spent in the marketplace, our Angry Birds rendezvous...you will be missed.  At least until my new one comes and I forget how much I had to spend to fix this.  RIP Sammy.

Mom's the word

So yesterday was Mother's Day. It's a happy day for me, ultimately, as I am Mommy to a wonderful adorable little boy that I lovelovelove to pieces!  And it was an improvement over last year. This year Tyler just had a nasty cold thing I had last week.  Last year he spent the day throwing up on me.  Strawberry flavored vomit *shudder*  He was totally into talking about how it was Mother's Day AND Gaga (my mom)'s birthday. He didn't approve of the cheesecake in place of a birthday cake though.  "He" gave me a beautiful purple butterfly necklace...because I pointed it out to daddy.  lol

Only now that it's over do I have time for a tiny bit of sadness.  My SIL had a miscarriage last week.  I think miscarriage ranks very high on my list of most horrible things that can happen.  My SIL has had 3 altogether and 2 in a row.  Yesterday must have been extremely hard for her.

And yes, I'm a little sad for me, because I want another baby so much.  I take part in a forum for Mommy's trying to conceive and I see so many women like me who struggle to get pregnant, or to come to grips with miscarriages.  I just read a story about a British actress that had a miscarriage and she was due in August.  She must have been more than 6 months pregnant, how awful to lose a baby that late in a pregnancy.  I consider myself lucky not to have had to go through that.  Maybe I'm selfish to be sad that I haven't managed to conceive yet.  We've been trying for 9 months or so, but some women try for years.  It could be much worse.

So today, I chose to be thankful for the child I have.  It would be enough even if I never manage to conceive another baby.  He's my pride and joy and I couldn't love him more.

Another year older

I am officially 29 years old as of yesterday.  On the one hand, I don't have any major hang ups about getting older or closer to 30 or whatever.  On the other hand, a part of who I have always been is "young". Does that make any sense?  I've been the young one at work for five years, but now there are younger people.  My son is 2, I have been married almost 7 years.  I'm feeling the affects of adulthood for sure. That's not a negative comment, just something rolling around in my head.  I've had to be pretty mature for my age in a lot of ways, again, not a negative thing.  It's who I am.  So here's to another year older, and hopefully wiser, and many more!

Oh and also, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TWIN!  I love you and I wouldn't be me if not for you!

Staycation

Adam and I took this week off work.  Today was a holiday at my office and he was scheduled to have Friday off, so we only had to take 4 days off, so we took advantage of the short week.  We haven't done too much, officially.   And yet, we've done a lot!

• I'm with yet another cell phone company!  I was with AT&T for less than a week.  They neglected to tell us how smartphones work, leading us to go over our data usage plans in just 3 days!  Two crappy go-rounds with customer service and four calls to the person I signed up with that were ignored led me to cancel.  Now I'm with Verizon, the preferred provider of the company I work for.  They are a little more expensive, even with my corporate discount, but I have heard lots of good things about them. I really like the phone, so I have my fingers crossed that the other shoe does not drop!  Unlimited data is bliss.
• I'm pretty proud of myself diet-wise this week.  I've managed several good workouts and I have done really well about not snacking on junk while I'm at home.  I have been eating a lot of salad and raw veggies.  I've indulged a bit here and there, but I think I've done great for being home and mere steps from the kitchen most of the week.  I have lost about 4 lbs so far, slow going, but it's progress.  Thanks always to Darcy!  And thanks to my facebook fitness group, just reading about others struggling with this gives me motivation.
• My new office should be set up with furniture when I get to work Monday! It was a rough 2 1/2 weeks of living out of boxes and moving from place to place, but I'm excited that I will finally have a workspace WITH a door!
• Visited the local Zoo this week.  The crowds sucked, but I did see an ENORMOUS porcupine, which was totally awesome.
• We also visited the park.  Tyler LOVES the park...it's absolutely priceless.  And a workout for me!

I'm out of bullet points!   Thanks always for reading! :)

I'm Henry the VIII I am!

Well I'm not, but I'll bet you are singing the song or at least thinking about that bit in "Ghost" right now!  I am, however, thanks to my mother's extensive research on Ancestry.com, related to his very last wife, Catherine Parr.  Seriously!  She had no children with him, so I'm not really related to him by any blood, but still.  She was almost beheaded, but managed to talk him out of it!  She was married to him for about 4 years before he died.  She died shortly after the King, at the ripe old age of 36, probably from complications from childbirth (she remarried 6 months after the king died...not much of a cool down period). She was married 4 times total!  She was widowed by the first 3!  Black Widow?

I have to say, I think that's kind of cool!  My mom is obsessed with Ancestry.  In fact, we're going on a little road trip next week to take pictures of the headstones of our family members.  I think it's cool to learn about people I'm related to.  Who are you related to?

Twin Talk: Russell Brand ICK

Here is a conversation had by twin and I, plus my older sister a few minutes ago.  I admit, it's pretty un-classy, so be warned. Also, explanation, Twin says the word bulbous to me randomly because it makes me giggle uncontrollably.

Twin: I'm so pissed off that they are making a new Arthur movie.

Me: I know!  There wasn't anything wrong with the original.

Twin: I even liked Liza Minelli in it.

Me: I forgot she was in that. I hate Russell Brand.  He's icky!

Twin: I know!  I look at him and I'm like, "Great! I have an STD now!"

Me: *rotflmao*

Twin:  He's like gonorrhea.

Me: He TOTALLY is!!!

Twin:  No, he's like chlamydia!

Older sister: Is he like genital warts?

Twin: No, because genital warts are hidden sometimes and Russell Brand is always up your business, burn and itching and making your cooch smell funny.

Me: *more rotflmao*

Twin: Oh and also, bulbous.

Me: *dies from laughing*

SPRINT=FAIL

I have spent the better part of a week fighting (yet again) with my cell phone provider, Sprint.  If I was ever going to go completely postal on a company it would be them!

It all started in October when I called to try to see if I could lower my bill.  We were struggling money-wise and I thought I'd check.  They discovered that I wasn't getting a discount that I was supposed to be getting and my darling husband had never noticed!  They assured me they would put in for a credit for the entire 10 months I had not been getting my discount, but that it might not be in time for the next billing cycle. 

Nearly 2 months later, I still hadn't seen it, so I called to check and see what the status was.  I was told it can take up to 3 billing cycles.  I informed them that I was not told that.  She apologized and told me that I was eligible to resign my contract and get a different credit that would show up immediately, thus allowing me to skip a payment in December.  I needed that, so I agreed.  She told me to just go to any Sprint store and I could also upgrade my phones.  A few weeks later, I did that, but left the store without buy because I wasn't sure.  I found one online for a good deal (free) and called to order.  Then I was told that I was only eligible for a PARTIAL credit, which meant I would have to pay about 50 bucks a phone to upgrade.

By now I was mad.  No one told me that.  Not even close!  I argued and this one guy said he was going to transfer me, but he'd explain everything first and he thought they could probably push that through.  Then he dumped me to the completely wrong department with no explanation.  I was livid.  The poor girl who answered could do nothing for me. She was nice, but she couldn't even transfer me anywhere.  I finally had to call back in and start all over.  At the end, I did not get the full upgrade then.  Before hanging up, I wanted to check the status of my refund. 

Then they told me that I could only get a three month refund.  No.  Not.  At.  All.  I unloaded on them, eventually getting the refund I was owed.  And being assured that on April 1st, I would be eligible for a full upgrade.

I waited a little impatiently and a few days before the first, I called to check what plans Sprint has for Smartphones.  I had my heart set on having one if we could afford it.  I talked to a girl and she explained the cheapest plan is $129.99.  She saw that I have 3 phones on my plan and a discount. She calculated my discount and estimated my bill to be $112 a month for 3 smartphones. I needed to consider this, so I thanked her and told her I'd call back with a decision after the 1st.

We talked about it and decide to indulge ourselves.  So I called on Friday to order them and all of the sudden there was an extra $19.99 charge for the third phone plus $10.00 per phone for smartphone data.  The estimated price would be over $175.  In this exchange my phone "dropped" the call twice, forcing me to call again and start over.  I got a lot of excuses about how the plan is the plan yadayada.  Eventually I talked to a guy who seemed nice and said they were going to file a complaint about the girl who misquoted me and listen to the call. If the call was as I said it was there was a "very good chance" they could work something out and get me a better price.  he would call me on Tuesday.   I went ahead and ordered the phones, so not to miss out on the deal, but when they arrived on Monday, we did not activate them. If we had to return them we'd be charged a restocking fee if we had activated them.

Tuesday at 5pm I still hadn't heard back. I called and fought with a few people before one guy was really nasty, saying he was going to make sure if I called again I would always have to talk to him because I just didn't like the answer he was giving me.  Finally though he let me talk to his boss.  She said that the guy I'd spoken to Friday had just left me a message and did I want her to hold so I could check it. I said yes and while I used my home phone to call, she HUNG UP on me.  No dropped call.  She hung up.  And there was no voicemail message. They say that's because I was on with Sprint already so it wouldn't go through.

I was PISSED.  I called again and talked to a nice guy who said he was going to try to contact the guy from Friday for me.  He actually gave me an email address so I could contact him.  No one else would do that. 

Yesterday, William (the guy from Friday) called and he said he was passing my information on to one of the higher ups at his location and she would call as soon as she'd had a chance to look it over.  Josh, the nice guy who tried to contact William also checked in.

Today, William's boss called my cell phone but he was really just seeing if he could get me to give up.  While I was on with him, William called.  I told him I was on with his supervisor and he said, "Bear with me a minute" and put me on hold.  I got off the phone with his boss Fredrick and waited.  A few minutes later I realize that he too had disconnected me.

What.

The.

Fetch.

So here I am, over a week into this, with an awesome phone I can't activate and a MAJOR headache.  Everytime I see their number on my phone, my heart races and I get sooooo anxious!  It's really making me sick!  I just want them to stand behind what their employees say.  I work in sales too, and that's what we have to do!  If we get the price wrong, we have to eat it!  And over and over I'm being told that something someone told me isn't true.  I'm basically being lied to.

I've considered canceling, and I still may.  I'm trying to see this through.  If anyone had an "in" at Sprint, I could really use one!