Last Thanksgiving in GA....

So as most of you know, we are moving once again.... This time to Maine!! That is exciting as we will be much closer to Eric's family. As I type Eric and the kids are spending Thanksgiving with his family which is fabulous. We have not spent a holiday with either family in 13 years.

Today Andrew and I spent T.G. with my friend Dawn, here in Georgia. We had a great time!! Kind of reminded me of my family, loud and boisterous... Makes me sad to be leaving here as I have made a lot of great friends. It's actually harder than I thought it would be. I thought I had protected myself from the emotional ties like what I had in Michigan but as I am realizing, I have not done as good a job as I thought of protecting myself from the pain of leaving yet another group of people... Luckily I have about 7 months to spend with my good friends here before I have to say goodbye and move on with my life. You try to not make deep connections but end up doing just that... So I am doomed to leave those I care very much about throughout my life...... WOW what a depressing entry........... LOL

It's all about the food!

My family and I are going to WA State this summer and I am so excited! Of course I am most excited about seeing my family and friends but this blog is about the food!!

It's been 8 years since I have been back to WA and there are some things I miss in the food department that I have not been able to have in the states I have lived in. Here's a list of must haves over the 2 weeks I will be there!! In no particular order.

Chinese Village Restaurant in Hoquiam! Love their BBQ Pork and Chinese mustard!! You know it's good when your eyes run!!

Jack In The Box!! I know what you are thinking, fast food??? There are no JITB in any of the areas I have lived since leaving WA. The sourdough burger was my favorite! I can feel the buttery goodness of the bread as I type! And yes I do mean "feel". You need a napkin when you are finished! On the trip from MI to GA I did see a JITB off the Interstate in Tennessee about 6 in the morning. If it had been open I would have turned around...

Bridges Restaurant in Aberdeen. I have to get a Long Island Iced Tea!! Yes you can get those anywhere but I am here to tell you, no place makes them like Bridges!! Of course my sister could just give me the recipe since she was the bartender for years...

Billy's Restaurant in Aberdeen. I HAVE to have some Rattlesnake Eggs!!! I know it sounds gross but let me tell you, they are a surprisingly good time!!!! If you like I can bring some back for you. They travel very well! A little cocktail sauce and lemon and mmm mmm good!

Blue Beacon Restaurant in South Aberdeen. The fish and chips are soooo yummy!!!

Pike Place Market Seattle! I don't know the name of the vendor but they Gyro's are the best!!!!

And last but certainly not least.

13 Coins Seatac Restaurant. This place will be visited more then once. Guaranteed... They have such a good Antipasto w/sourdough bread and that's all the entree I need even though it's not a entree. But the real reason it's my absolute favorite place is the "Fried Ice Cream" Whenever I am at a restaurant that has fried ice cream on the menu I order it, just hoping that it's comparable to the greatness of 13 Coins. But no, have not found it yet. This stuff is so delicious I can taste it now!! Eric took me here when we were dating, my first time ever having escargot and sweet breads... I knew what the snails were but had no idea what sweet breads were..... It was not horrible but I would not order it again nor would I order the snails.. But I tried them. Now if you decide to try 13 Coins, I am talking about the one in Seatac near the airport. Not the one downtown Seattle. Been there once and I prefer my Seatac location. http://www.13coins.com/index.php

It's Voting Time...

It's the first week of America voting on Idol! This is where the contestants really have to show us what they have to offer. So why oh why is it that every year they sing the worst songs during this time? Can someone explain this to me because I am baffled. I know these people have watched the show and have seen what happens during this time. You have to come out and rock that stage, it needs to be upbeat and get the voters at home clapping and going YEA!!!! Don't sing ballads people..... It's slow, boring and a great way to get your arse sent home... So here is my breakdown of the two nights.

First night is the girls. There were some that were ok but pretty much the whole night was boring. I called it a girls season this year... Right now after both nights, I am not sure anymore.

First up is Paige Miles. Did we ever see her in Hollywood? I think she can sing but she's a unknown so I would not be surprised to see her in the bottom.

Janell Wheeler I predict will be in the bottom for sure. Sorry Janell but you don't sing Heart.. Come on now.

Lilly Scott! She is so different then anyone else and she is good!!! No worries with her.

Katelyn Epperly singing "Oh Darling" I thought was really good! I love her voice, there are parts of it that remind me of Kelly Clarkson!! And Kara with the whole makeover comment, I love it when people change their looks!!

Haeley Vaughn.. She sang "I Wanna Hold Your Hand" What can I say about that performance.. WOW.. Not good at all. I agree with Simon about her smiling the entire time and she was so screechy it was painful......

Lacey Brown. Song was "Landslide" I have such high hopes for her. I really love her voice but oh my goodness it was scary Tuesday night.... I really hope she stays but I think she's going to be in the bottom.

Siobhan Magnus, not good...

Crystal, Crystal, Crystal.... She's really talented and I do hope next week she will bring something other then coffee house performances. No doubt she will be here. She has a lot of followers.

Katie Stevens was the biggest surprise for me. I was not expecting her to do much but I have to say I thought she was the best of the night!! Yes she's 17 and yes the Michael Buble song may be old for a 17 year old but so what.. She sang that song and I completely disagree with the judges. If we remember right, her audition song choice was "At Last" so maybe that's just who she is...

Ashley Rodriguez, Michelle Delamor, Didi Benami just ok. I think they will be fine.

Now onto the fellas...

After the girls I was hoping the guys were going to bring it and blow me away... Unfortunately once again that did not happen. I don't know maybe I have just watched this show to long, I find myself commenting on things such as their upper and lower registers, pitch and technical things like that... And like Simon, I am usually right... LOL So a quick run through of the the boys here.

Todrick Hall singing "Since You've Been Gone" was just weird.. Hated the arrangement, completely killed the song in a bad way. He has a good voice but with that performance and with the scandal surrounding him, I think he's leaving us soon if not tonight.

Aaron Kelly, Big Mike, Alex Lambert were good. Not much more to say.

Jermaine Sellers. Dude should not go that high....

Tim Urban, they brought him back after Chris Golightly was removed for apparently having a 2 year contract with Dream Projects Entertainment when he auditioned for Idol http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1632463/20100223/story.jhtml

Anyway back to Tim's performance.. Let's just say we will not be seeing him on the big stage unless a miracle happens..

Joe Munoz, I just did not get him..

Tyler Grady :( I was sooooo looking forward to his performance over anyone else. Way to disappoint Tyler.... Next week you need to do something drastic..

Lee Dewyze was great! One of the best of the night, unfortunately that does not say much.. LOL

John Park, I could see him in the bottom tonight.

Casey James...... Yes it's obvious he's nice to look at. He also has a great voice. So why did he come out and sing a ballad? Come on Casey, looks can only take you so far. Are you safe? Of course you are. The judges however have to cut the whole Kara thing off. It's distracting for the voters and it's distracting for Casey. It's not right to do that at this point of the competition.

Andrew Garcia, everyone loves him! But like Casey he should not have sang a ballad. I think some of these people think they have such a following that they don't need to go above and beyond to impress us... It will eventually bite you in the arse, I am here to tell you..

So basically the ones in jeopardy tonight are as follows.

Girls

Paige

Haeley

Lacey

Janell

Siobhan

Boys

Todrick

Jermaine

Tim

John

Shameful I know...

Yes I am using this blog to get myself something.. Shame on me I know. But I could not resist. Check out this site not only for the giveaway but also just because she is a fabulous photographer. Of course winning a trip to Seattle would be soooo cool to!!!

http://www.rachelthurston.com/blog/?p=1860&cpage=1#comment-3283

Is It Real Or Is It Memorex....

Aubree is a vegetarian. (well recently she has switched to Pescetarianism) If you don't know what that strange word means, don't feel bad. I had never heard it until she introduced me to it. Basically it's someone who eats dairy and fish but no land animals. The word itself sounds like a religion to me....

She's the only one in the family that is. Which means when I make meals if there is meat in the ingredients I take out her portion before adding the meat. You know like spaghetti sauce. I make the sauce and take hers out before I add the burger. She's been a veggie for over 4 years so we are pretty used to it. At first though it was a real pain... Here is last nights dinner that she has wanted to make for awhile now. It's called Vegetarian Ribs... Now that's a oxymoron if I ever heard one. We made them without telling the rest of the family what they really were... Reminds me of a time when I was a kid and we were eating at my Aunt Ruth's. We had beef along with whatever else.... After we (kids) were done eating we were informed by our mother that the beef we just ate was cows tongue..... I remember being quite grossed out by the thought. But we all grew up so I guess it did not harm us to much....

Ok I got sidetracked, back to last nights dinner.... The process of making the 'ribs' was kind of gross for Aubree. Note I said Aubree. Hey she's the veggie so any mixing of weird stuff is her job.. Once they were in the oven and I was making the risotto to accompany the 'ribs' Andrew comes upstairs and says "mmm something smells good. Smells like meatloaf." Aubs and I gave each other a look and a grin.. :) Anywhooo to make a long story short, they came out of the oven looking surprisingly good. Much better then they looked going in. We sat down to eat and Sloan my other son took a couple of bites and was like "mmmmmm" The Aubs told him they were not 'ribs ' at all. He still had two so he liked them. I thought they were good. Andrew and Eric both did not like the texture and Eric said to me this morning that he hopes we don't make those again... lol Now the Pescetarian in the family did not like them at all...... Go figure..... Here is a link to the recipe just in case you are feeling adventurous..

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vegetarian-Ribs/Detail.aspx

Only 6 ingredients so not to bad. Gluten. That's a funny word don't ya think?

Speedy Gonzales chopping the onions. No tears were shed during making of this meal!!

l

Yep this is what it looks like before the shaping of the 'ribs' Want some? I know you do......

Out of the oven and bbq sauce is applied. They do kind of look like mini meat loafs...

Here is our accompaniment to the 'ribs'

Risotto recipe is on the back of the container. It was just ok... I have made it before, using a different recipe and it was much better. I hear that my sister Jennifer's risotto is wonderful so if she makes it out here in March she can expect to be making some!!!!

Time in the kitchen.

Home cooking.. I am not talking about pulling a box of precooked preservative filled something out of the pantry or freezer. It's the flour, sugar, baking soda, real ingredients that I am referring to. Let's live in reality here for just a moment. We (my family) have been eating out of boxes and ready to cook freezer foods for years. As a matter of fact if there is nothing quick and easy to make my family get's nervous. "You mean I have to prepare my food??" Then of course it's a run to the store or drive-thru to take care of the problem.... Now it's not that I don't enjoy cooking, I really do. It's that we (I) have gotten lazy. Sooo I did not conciously make this a new years resolution but it's close to the new year and I have decided to change this issue, 'close to the new year and changing a habit' feels like a resolution......

I have been looking on the web for home cooking sites and although there are a unlimited amount them out there I have yet to find what I am looking for. I don't know what I am looking for but will know it when I find it. Of course I do have a boatload of cookbooks at my disposal. I could actually pick one up and turn the pages...... Keep your fingers crossed for our taste buds.... It's been awhile...

Yum, Yum, Yum!!!!

My daughter Aubree has discovered that she loves to bake. Her father's favorite cookie is Chocolate Chip so she made him a batch a couple of weeks ago. Basically following the recipe on the back of the Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip bag. I mean that's what we all use right?? Well as always they come out of the oven looking good but after sitting for a bit they get crunchy. If you like your cookies crunchy then forgive me. I prefer mine to stay soft!!! Not only are they tastier but they make eating while laying on the couch much easier. You know, no crumbs falling on your chest!!! Anyway... Aubs found a recipe that guaranteed soft cookies. Every review said they were the best homemade cookies ever!!! Well she went ahead and tried them and I have to say they are the best Chocolate Chip Cookies made at home I have ever had. And to test the softness staying power I left one on the counter unwrapped all night. It was still just as soft the next day!!!!!!

Forming of the dough!

Getting there. This little clump is what's left of a rather large clump. Unfortunately I did not think to take pictures before this stage.

Now I should not have to say this but just in case... Aubs pre-rolled the dough. These balls are just in storage waiting their turn to be loaded on the stone much farther apart from each other!!!

Of course if you are looking to make one GIANT cookie then by all means bake away!!!!

Baking away!! It was chilly in the house so the warmth from the oven was nice!!

Are they done?

Yes they are!!!

Cookie anyone!!!

Pant’s on the ground!!!

2nd night of Idol. It’s in Atlanta and I have to say I was not impressed…..

Bridge jumper Vanessa was better then I thought she would be. Typically Idol’s pre-story on a contestant let’s you know if they are one of the many who think they are good but are horrible. I thought the pre-story on Vanessa was on the ‘let’s make fun of this country girl’ side so I was waiting for her to be not so good. I am very glad she made it to Hollywood and I hope she does not get eaten up by the piranhas out there….

Guitar girl was good, she reminded me of Kelly Pickler, her voice that is.

Now Skiibo Ski was a shocker for me…. Very interested to see him in the big H… Will he take the judges advice and clean up his attire or will he head out west with the double ii’s???

Lauren and Carmen BFF’s for life. Will Lauren back up Carmen?? We will wait and see.... I agree with Simon, I don’t think Carmen will be gone for long… She won’t make it past the first cut in Hollywood…..

The others that I liked were Keia with the Titanic song, Jermaine the church boy who sang What If God Was One Of Us, which I happen to LOVE that song, was really good!!! Oh and the cop. He was not bad.

But over all there was no one that made me clap or go YEA tonight…… I have a feeling that most if not all of our Hollywood bound ATL contestants will be heading back this way quicker then they think…. Get a good look at the Pacific folks, it may be the last time you see it…….

Now 62 year old General Larry Platt mister “Pants On The Ground” himself will be around for awhile… I predict we will be seeing him in the final show of the season!!!!

Goodbye Atlanta... Get your windbreakers out everyone we are heading to Chicago!!!! Magnificent Mile here we come!!!!!!!!

American Idol 2010!!!!!

Hello Boston!!!!

First exciting news is Paula is gone!!!!! I know that sounds mean but really 8 years was enough. Lets be honest here, 5 was probably the max she should have been there but no one ever listens to me.....

I was surprised to see Kara as a judge. I thought she was gone and I know Ellen is stepping in for Paula, I just thought it was going back to 3 judges. Maybe Kara is only here for the audition part of the show?? I hope she is here for the entirety of it though... If I really wanted to know I could pause, open a new window, research and find out, but let's not.....

The show started off with the very energetic Janet who's name is wayyyyy to close to mine... Holy Buckets she was something..... I do believe that the American Idol Wii game has a major flaw... I loved it when she walked out after being told no and said to Ryan "they said I was bizarre" Ryan's shocked I don't know why they would think that reaction was great!! LOL

Now Maddie after Janet who sang Hallelujah was really good!!! I don't think she will make it past Hollywood but she was good

LMAO Pat the kid that wore the blue and white striped shirt who sang Womanizer was hilarious!!!! Not a good singer but he is going to be a politician or actor I think... LOL

Amadeo was GREAT!!!! Sing it boy!!!!! I bet sitting around his Italian families dinner table is a blast!!!!!

Gradgetating toward music???? Is that a new word?? Derek the blonde spiritual dude was, uh different.........

I mean really...... Do people not listen to themselves???? "Singing is my life, it's all I do" How many people have said that on this show???? It's amazing....

Clark Kent wannabe Andrew was WEIRD...... My favorite quote of the night is "I'm singing The House Of The Rising Sun, do you know that song?"

Ashley was good, the one who sang Alecia Keys "If I ain't got you" She won't make it all the way but she was good! I could be eating my words in a few weeks but I don't think so.

Tyler Grady without a doubt was my favorite of the night!!!! WOOHOO GO BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! There were some good ones but really until Tyler showed up I was just so-so. He made me clap and go YEA!!!!!! And yes I really do clap and yell out loud!!!!!! Tyler stay out of tree's dude.....

Others I liked were Katie, Justin the dude with cancer I really hope he makes it past Hollywood, I think Simon was awe struck by him actually LOL... Mike Davis Codzilla boy, second favorite quote "you wanna go out, maybe grab a steak sometime?" LOL. The last girl Leah she was definitely my favorite girl.

Of course I cannot end this without mentioning Norberto......... WOWSER........... Really?????

Goodbye Boston. Hello Atlanta!!!!

New History

Over the weekend my 7th grade son says that he needs a costume for school on Monday. His History class is doing a in class performance. No problem.. Until he tells me his costume is a member of the Taliban. That made me very uncomfortable. I thought to myself "I don't want my son dressing up as a Taliban member" But they are a part of History now whether I like it or not. My son of course states that it's not real mom don't worry about it. So I get out a couple of sheets and dress him up. Now that made me even more uncomfortable seeing the sheet wrapped around his head and face with only his eyes showing. I know it's only a production and it is part of his grade so I put away my discomfort and move on. This afternoon I go to the school to help him get dressed for class and he looks good. (which is so strange to use that word) But he does. When he walks away from me and goes into his class dressed like that, I imagined sitting in the classroom not having seen him yet and being startled by his appearance. It's not the head wrap or the draped clothes for me. It's the face being covered. I admit I do not know a lot about them and am not sure why they cover their faces, but to me it's brings terror, not unlike the K.K.K. Did we put on act's in school like that? I mean we certainly have had our share of different terrorists to choose from in History. Hitler comes to mind for me. A part of me does not want my children to be taught about the Taliban, that's the part that wants to forget about them and not give them any glory by having them in our books. But the rational part of me knows it's not possible to forget, it's something that should never be forgotten so we do have to teach, we do have to be reminded. Funny thing is when I was driving home after dressing my son like that, I was listening to a country station and the song It's America by Rodney Atkins came on. I thought that was very appropriate. :)

Why do I do this to myself???

I am not a gardener, but every spring I forget that fact. You know how we women forget the pains of childbirth so we have more. Well that's similar to my affliction with gardening. I just spent 2 hrs outside digging out these beds that the previous owners put in and they were completely overgrown when we bought the house. Last spring I cleaned them out but that was as far as I took it. So today I am doing the same thing I did last year because I did not take care of them. So all my hard work was for not. I have this grand vision of having a vegetable garden and this spot is great as it gets sun all day. So today I am cleaning it out and then going to Lowes (no I am not promoting Lowes, it just happens to be closer than the other big guy) and buying a roll of black plastic to kill everything. I know I am probably late for the area I live in but I figure after a couple of months of suffocating anything left in the beds it will be the beginning of May and maybe I can still do some planting?? Maybe I am being hopeful it will only take a couple of months with the plastic maybe not. Oh and yes I know it's not technically spring but where I live now this is what spring looks like in the north where I am from. So for me it's springtime!!!

Georgia

Georgia. The State Of to be exact. Something inside me has been stirring the past few weeks. I think I might actually be deciding to stick around here for awhile. Anyone who know's me know's that I have not found my way since moving to the south. Well I am thrilled to announce that I may have found it! I might just let my husband know that it's ok to stop looking elsewhere for employment. Now I am not saying that I plan to retire here and never live in the north again because I don't see that in my future at all... But it's good to have a more positive feeling about it. I am just getting involved in volunteering in Macon which is something I love to do. I am looking forward to meeting new people in different circles and making a life here. YEAAAA it has happened. Honestly I can see myself here now and it's not such a gloomy picture!! And it's about time...;)

Paris Pictures.

Here are a few pics of my trip to Paris.

The Eiffel Tower!!

Testing.

This is a test to see if the pics work.

Sequel to "My First Time"

It's been a year since I posted my first blog about moving and missing everything about MI. I would say it is update time.



The past year living here in GA has been a tough one. We have had issues with our teenage daughter (which I will not go into) in November I gave up my Suburban for a smaller car. That lead to a major breakdown for me. I mean MAJOR.... Who knew one could be so connected to a gas guzzling, money burning vehicle?? My husband actually considered moving us back up north because of how I reacted to that. He really did not know how to handle it and I could not help him since I was just as perplexed as him as to what the hell was happening to me.... I like my car now so I am over it. :) It took me until the first of the year to accept the fact that I was not just visiting and would be moving back to MI soon. Last Fall I did however get involved and started a Newcomers group and have made a very good friend from that. Also I am very involved in a local online mom's group and we get together often for lunches, night's out etc etc. So yes I have made friends and I am doing much better. I usually do not have a problem with making friends and putting myself out there. Just this move was so emotionally hard on me that I have noticed myself not putting in the effort. Who knows maybe it is a subconcious way of protecting me. Why make great friends, make myself part of the community just so I can go through that again when we move next time. Yes it's a morbid way of thinking and no I do not like it at all.... So the first of the year I decided to jump off the pity potty cliff and knock it off... Things have been much better, it's amazing how a positive attitude can change your outlook on things. Who would have thunk it?? Now school is starting up again next week and my plan is to become much more involved with the schools this year. I took last year off, but I am ready.

Culture to Culture.

Yea yea I know I have not posted in a long time. But as I stated in my first post I am not very good at this so you were warned....

I just got back a couple of days ago from my first overseas vacation!! Or as they call it over there my holiday. I kind of like that saying, going on holiday. Sounds very chic don't you think? I have lot's of stories but will start with this one.

My sister and I went to Paris, France for 10 days and then to Barcelona, Spain for 5 days. If you have been you will get this but if you have not here is a bit of info for you just incase you decide to go.

I knew as soon as I stepped off the plane in Paris that I was not in Kansas anymore, I don't live in Kansas but we all know what that means right? The French culture is so different. There is no sense of personal space and let me tell you if you are not moving along to wherever you are going you will get run over. They are movers, they have somewhere to be and that is what they are focused on. At first I considered this very rude as there is no excuse me or anything from anyone. But once I realized this is the way then I adapted and it worked very well. The people in Paris walk everywhere, they take the metro (which is a fabulous system) , scooters are the thing to use there, as a matter of fact I would love to get one for here. Great gas mileage and easy to find parking... It is not a wonder that I did not see any overweight people over there. Well until I looked in the mirror...:) Except of course at the museums which were full of tourists like myself... The only muffin tops I saw were in the bakeries where they belong.. When people talk about sitting at a outside cafe in Paris they are not kidding. Just about every restaurant has sections outside. Also they all have their menus posted so you just roam from one to the other checking out the menus and prices until you find the one you like. It's a great system as there have been many times that I have chosen a restaurant here, sat down and looked at the menu and realized this is not where I want to be. Do be prepared to spend time at a cafe when you go. They do not go out to eat, they go out to socialize. It is not uncommon to sit at a table for several, several minutes before a server even gets to you. Then expect about a hour for each course, so if you order entree (which is appetizer over there), a plat (main course) and a dessert you will spend on average 3 hours at dinner. To me this was very refreshing once I got over the "where is our server, why have we not been brought our drinks, what is taking so long to get our food" shock. Here in the states we tend to rush through our meals and throw a fit if we are not waited on immediately. I went to lunch with my husband yesterday and the server was apologizing for the food not being out after only 10 minutes or so of taking our orders. I found myself eating much slower while my husband plowed through his meal and was done before I had finished half. Then he and the waiter both asked if I wanted a to-go box. LOL... That is another thing you do not get in Paris is to-go boxes for leftovers. You eat what you eat and that is that. They do have take away places which I also love that term. Take Away. Something about it just feels nice.

Not everything they do works for me however. Such as ordering water. Make sure you order tap water. Other wise you will get bottled water and you will be charged. You have to ask for ice and soda's cost more than most drinks and they are usually warm... McDonalds (yes I went into one the last day or so of being there) pre-pours their sodas, so when you order a coke they just turn around and grab the one on the counter. Bleck... It is flat and warm. So get your sodas out of machines, unless of course you like warm flat Coke. If you are a Pepsi fan good luck finding it. Coke is the main soda over there. I did not see a Pepsi until I went to Spain and then only once. Luckily I am a Coke fan. The toilettes are mostly co-ed and some you have to pay to use. Usually only about 50cents. The first time I experienced the co-ed was my second day. We had lunch at a wonderful little cafe in the Latin quarter and I used the toilette. I payed my 50cents and went in. It seemed like a normal room, a sink and a stall with a door. I was the only one in there so I go into the stall, lock the door and hear someone come in. No big deal they will just wait till I am finished right??? Well I open the door and what I failed to see when I entered was right across from my stall was a room with a urinal. So as I exit my stall expecting to see someone waiting to use the stall I see a man with his back to me using the urinal...... Let's just say I was shocked and no I did not hang around to wash my hands.....lol I promptly left. I never really got used to that situation. LOL..... Overall the restaurant experiences were fabulous and if you attempt to speak in their language then they are very nice and will try to speak in your language to help you out. Learn the basics such as Bonjour, Mercy, etc and you will do just fine.

Orthodontist Nightmare!!!

I dont even know if I should write about this. I might overload the site with the rage that is seeping out of my fingers into the keyboard....


When we moved here my daughter was already wearing braces. So of course I had to get a ortho right away so she would not miss any appts. Well on our insurance there is only one ortho. So I called the office and was told I had to have her records from the other dr. Ok that's fine. I called up to MI and got them to send her records to the office here. Well after about 2 weeks of calling the office to see if they had gotten them I called the office up in MI. Just to make sure they sent them. Well of course they had. So the secretary there said she would call the office down here to find out what was going on. Now I had JUST talked to the office here before I called MI. (are you still with me? Good..) So about 15 minutes later MI calls and she cannot believe it. When she called the office here they told her that they had the records right there... So I call back to the office here and all I get is a recording. Now the recording says if you are a new patient please leave your name and # and we will get back to you. Yeah whatever... Did I hear back from them you ask? Of course not... So I had to leave and go back to MI and continued to call the office here and all I could get was this recording... Never did they call me back. By the time I got back down here I had had it. I called once again and what do you know. THEY ANSWERED!! I told them I was coming in to pick up the records and going elsewhere... In the mean time my daughter had a dentist appt and they also do ortho there so I thought I might as well check that out right? I mean get it done at the same place... Well, no. They only do the simple orthos and nothing complex so after wasting time at the dentist when I could have had a appt elsewhere the dentist refers me to another ortho and guess who?? Yeah that's right. The same one I had just walked into and took the records from. I am thinking that I will give them another try and see if getting a referral will help. So I set up a appt and finally get in there only to sit in the waiting area for a hour and a half. We finally get called back and my daughter has a broken bracket by this time. Not a big deal usually. The ortho sees her (oh and I walked into the office to make the appt and gave them back the records.) and goes through the files and asks if I have the records from her old ortho??? I said "Uh no.. I gave them to the lady when I made the appt." He calls the woman back and she says "nope we dont have them" I said "Yes you do. I gave them to you when I made the appt" So she goes to look again and of course she finds them. Then the dr says that they have to remove the braces that she has on because the material belongs to the other ortho and if something were to happen later on this dr would not be responsible since it was not his originally.. Ok whatever, just do it. So of course I have to make another appt for that... So we make a appt for last week and she goes in and the woman tells her that they will be putting bands on her and she tells the woman that she already has braces on. The woman looks at her and says "Well I dont know what you are doing here then" So out comes my daughter and tells me this. They call me up to the front desk and proceed to tell me that when they made the appt they did not realize that she had to have those removed first, so we would have to come back since it will take longer.... So they set up the appt for this morning at 8am... My daughter and I get there and no one is there.. I mean the door is locked.. So I call the office thinking they just forgot to unlock the door. Nope no one answers except that damn recording.... We sit in the parking lot till 8:25 during that time I call several times and go to the door and knock several times.... I called my husband and told him that he may be getting a call from the local sheriff sometime soon..... Because I am going to kill someone..... After waiting I called my insurance and asked them what happens if I use out of network. Well NOTHING happens with ortho. It does not matter who you use.. Why the hell would you not just say that. If it does not matter then why have it..... Needless to say I am in the process of getting a new ortho. After dropping my daughter off at school I called the office and of course still got the recording. This was at 9:00am. I told them that I had been there and waited almost a half an hour and that I have had nothing but problems with them and that I would be finding a new place. Also the moldings and xrays they took of my daughter, that I would be in to pick them up, since I paid for them, they are MINE....

Phew... I do feel better now. Thanks for listening and if you did not get through the whole thing I understand Of course if you did not you would not be reading this.. Also I never realized how many times I say so...
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My first time!!

Ok so get your head out of the gutter. (you know who you are) It's not about 'that' first time, although maybe someday it will be.

This is the 'first time' blogging on here for me.

I am not sure what I am doing on here. I feel like I want to blog but then I think, "who the hell is going to want to read my thoughts?" Know what I mean? I am starting all over with a new life so what do I write about? My old life or my new one??

My family has moved away from the place I called home and left everyone behind. Now, I have moved soooo many times in my life so this should not be a problem for me, right? Well this time it is. I really considered for the first time in my life that place home. I got involved with the community, schools and made some fantastic friends. You can go to the grocery store and most likely see someone you know and knows you back. Of course this was a downfall when I would go with bedhead, bags under the eyes and a stain on the shirt. Then you would always see someone no matter the time of day. I am sure you all can relate. Now I am in a city of 100,000 and I walk through the grocery store and think, "will I ever see a familiar face?" I have often jokingly called myself a gypsy with all the times I have moved and started over. Each time gets better but for now I am still back there in the grocery store that I recognize and recognizes me stained shirt and all.