the girl who is mellow

or at least I'm trying to be. Thanks to everyone who responded about the van. I'm still hashing it out with the insurance company and driving hubby's beater. Hopefully, I can get this resolved soon, but I'm having to prove a negative here. I have to prove I didn't take my own van, crash it and then report it stolen. Which, in theory, I understand the need for because of all the dishonest people out there. However, theory doesn't mean much when I can't put my whole family in a vehicle and roll out.

Seriously though, if I had a dollar for everytime my insurance agent told me that if it were just a straight collision case and I didn't have the theft report in there it would be so much easier...insert significant look and pause here...then I could have bought a new van already. I promise, on my children's heads, that some asswipe took my van and that I was not involved, had no knowledge before or after of the perpetrators and I am not running an elaborate insurance scam. Because really, I'm coming out the loser at the end of this anyway.

On to better things...I went to a crop last night that boasted an apearance by Rebecca from Fiskars (and won a "Leave it to Weaver" punch!) It was good to get out of the house and crop for a bit. I also have found a "must have" that might encourage me to actually use the stamps I have. Voila...the "stamp Factory!" Don't you want one?

I happened to sit at a table filed with woman making paper pieced pages for eBay. Yes, not for their own family albums, but to sell on eBay. they came equipped with hundreds of pieces of cardstock pre-cut by their cricuts to chalk and shade and piece together and an equal amount of printed examples of pages that had already sold on eBay to copy and reinterpret.

Now, I am not going to bash these women for making a living with their hobby. (or at least paying for their supplies with the profits) I know its an outlet for them just as it is for me and they certainly were having a good time. I just don't scrap that way or that style, so I felt like the Sesame Street game of "One of these things is not like the other" sitting at their table, using pre-made embellishments and letter stickers with nary a paper pieced teddy bear to be seen. It just goes to show, when it comes to art, there is no "right" or "wrong" way.

Now I'm going to quit stalling and get to work on my latest project for work: a power point presentation of our benefit plans. I've reached new levels of geekdom, now that I've discovered PowerPoint. No presentation will be safe from now on!

Happy weekend!

the girl who is super pissed

So, some idiots stole my van and then wrecked it about 100 yds away from the complex that they stole it from.

Yes, you read right. Some idiots out there stole a MINI VAN! With CAR SEATS in it. I mean really, where is human decency? It's not like its worth anything for parts and certainly worth more to me than anyone else. This is my primary mode of transportation for myself and FOUR CHILDREN. A fact they certainly could not have escaped the notice of the oh, so bright thieves as they had to unbuckle the car seats and shove them to the side to get anyone into the back. Which, apparently they did. I'm surprised they didn't just chuck them to the curb. But hey, small favors, huh?

And then, to wreck it pretty much as soon as you make the turn out of the complex? I mean, really, you can go to jail for this you know, so why not at least make it worthwhile. A hundred yard joy ride just doesn't see worth it in my book.

Then again, I'm really not socially equipped to think like a criminal. Example: let's play the super powers game shall we? You can have any super power in the world, what would it be? Well, when I play this game, inevitably, I think of ways where I could profit from said super power so I can improve my family's life. (I think that's just human nature) But it always backfires on me. Say I give myself the power of telekinesis, moving objects by sheer force of my mind. How can I get that to profit me (without revealing my superpowers to the world, of course)? Well, I could move that stack of money right out of the bank into my purse, right? Wrong. because this is where my lack of criminal savvy gets in the way. You see, I have worked enough retail and, yes, even accounting, jobs to know that when money is involved, there are always checks and balances to keep track of said money. I visualize making this undetectable little appropriation and I can't help but visualize along with it the consequences. Not for myself as I have superpowers and am, therefore, undetectable. But for the poor person who will end up taking the fall for the missing money because they just happened to be the one in charge of that till.

See? I can't consider a wrong action without thinking of how it effects other people. So I certainly can't visualize taking a mini-van loaded to the gills with car seats, knowing that this will deprive a family of needed transportation.

I mean, really, WTF?

My mother and I had a "kids these days" conversation last week, and this just really is the perfect example. So little respect for yout fellow human these days. And its not that lack of respect for humanity is really anything new, it just seems more prevelant. The mouths of some kids these days! And the scrapes (a mild term) that children get into! I mean, an 11 year-old just held up a Walgreens last night! (not kidding) What was I doing at 11? I think the extent of my mischief was riding my bike out of boundries (which were considerable) or coming home from a friends house late (and late was coming home past dusk). My kids don't have that freedom, and I regret that. But I'd rather regret their lack of childhood freedom than regret that they fell into the wrong crowd because I didn't supervise their activites enough.

My mother and I placed the blame with parents. (It always comes back to parenting) But how do you fix that? Especially when there are stories like this out there? Neglect, abuse, general apathy--all causes. And you know, the economy doesn't help. how can you be a proactive parent when you have to work 9 hours a day (or maybe more if you need to have more than one job) and your kids spend the majority of their time with daycare providers. And finding a good childcare provider generally means paying that premium, so, at the end of the day, you're working to pay your childcare bill. Or going with a less reputable (and therefore less expensive) provider and taking your chances? Is it any wonder that parents decide once their kids are in school, they don't need daycare anymore? Give them a key, tell them not to touch the stove and that's that? No supervision, no interaction, and then little Jimmy takes his bb gun to Walgreens and demands they empty the register.

Ah, but I could go on all day. It doesn't bring my van back. It doesn't pay the out of pocket expenses to go through the insurance process and, ultimately, get a check that won't pay for a vehicle, but maybe the down payment on another vehicle I can't afford anyway. All the bitching in the world won't bring back my van or my sense of "right" in the world. So I'll just leave you with pictures of what the idiots did to my car.