The Creepy Crimson Reaper

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Halloween 2007 is officially over. What a busy day! I made 3 trips to the school today. Once to drop Alex off in the morning so he didn't have to ride the bus. Once to attend the costume parade and then once to pick him up after school. I should have walked to attend the costume parade, the parking lot overflowed into the road, both sides in both directions all the way down to my street. It was quite a big production and it was nice to finally be able to attend one. The 2 photos above are from the parade. The first is Alex, the Crimson Reaper and the second photo is after the parade without the sweaty masks on. Well, George Bush left his mask on, but the Reaper and Dick Cheney removed theirs immediately.
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What a beautiful day this was. According to our local meteorologist, DE, the last 5 CNY Halloweens have all been above 60 degrees. And as high as 75. This year was about 65. It was perfect. After I picked up Alex, we went to Toys R Us. We found this nifty voice recorder gadget ($7). You can play it back and warp it too. It was so much fun in the store, we had to get one. We've been having fun with it all day. Even getting the dog involved in the fun. We highly recommend it for hours of harmless (any possibly extremely annoying) fun.
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The Trick-or-Treaters started arriving at about 6:00. We had about 45 total for the evening. Alex the Reaper brought back quite a haul. He even shared some. It was a busy, but fun-filled day off. Back to the grind tomorrow.

Back to Reality

Last night I was thrilled to be able to get to bed early and no longer be consumed with worry over whether the Red Sox would win the next game or not. Now I'm feeling major let-down that the season is over! I can't win!!

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Life does go on however. Tomorrow is Halloween and I took the day off. I've never done that before, but I figured I should. Alex is having a 1/2 day at school and a costume parade/party. I thought it would be fun to finally get to experience that with him. This is the final "elementary" year with the fun parties and such. So I thought it was long over-due that I attend a Halloween event at his school. Alex is going to be a "Crimson Reaper". He wanted to be the Grim Reaper, so he will be that, with a fun, bloody twist. The mask he found has a little rubber heart with tubes that you squeeze that sends blood gushing out into the face. It's really rather gross. I'm sure I'll have fun photos and possibly a video or two tomorrow.

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2007 World Champs!!!

Pitching with the Papelbons

How cute is this?!

3 Down, 1 to Go! - - Plus A Few More Complaints

I will start off on a very positive note. The Red Sox are up 3 games in the 2007 World Series!! Last night's game was a little stressful, but all that matters is the score in the end. And speaking of scores, this is an interesting thought. Anyone born after the 1986 World Series has never experienced the Red Sox losing a game in the World Series. Let's keep that stat going. Game 4 tonight! Go Sox!!

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Ok... a couple of "consumer complaints".

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Complaint #1: I was driving by my sons school yesterday and noticed that it said "October 26: School photo retakes". Huh? I never received his photos, so how on earth would I know if he needed retakes?? They sure cashed my check in a hurry, but I never got the photos. 2 years ago I didn't get his school photos either. Last year I opted not to get any because I was so irritated with the company. This year I tried again. How can a company operate like this? I have their number, I have sent an email and I will call first thing Monday. Give me my photos or my money back, you people suck.

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Complaint #2: I got my (Cingular, AT&T or whatever they are this week) wireless bill this morning. Last month I had a few charges that I disputed and they told me I would get a credit this month. Do you think that happened? Nope. I'm not talking about a few pennies here either, I'm talking a $10.79 charge for something I did not approve. I have since removed text messaging and internet access from my phone because of all the unwanted charges I was getting stuck with. No more. I'm not going to take it from these people! If they do not credit my account this time, I will switch to Verizon as soon as my contract is up and I will tell them that. First thing Monday, after I chew out the school photo people.

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I guess I'm officially a fed-up consumer! I'm tired of these people/companies taking advantage of us. They think we'll just sit quietly and not say anything or not complain. Well, maybe I used to be like that, but not anymore! Go me!

Complaint Department

I am just full of complaints today! I don't normally feel like I'm a complainer, but boy, lately I'm just full of them. Or maybe I'm tired of spending my hard earned money and getting crap in return. Crap products and crap service. I reached my boiling point!




My latest complaint is for the Glade Oil Scented candles. I bought 3 refills last weekend. I've bought these before and enjoyed them. I don't get them very often since they're kind of expensive for what you get. In a package, there are 3 oil scented candles. They each last about 4-5 hours. But the smell is wonderful. So I get them every so often as a treat to myself. Well, this time the entire package was full of duds. None of the 3 candles would even light for more than 15 seconds and they each burned down the wick so far they would not re-light. So they were useless. I got online and sent my complaint email to Glade (SC Johnson) and today I received a check for $3 and a nice coupon book for more of their products. (Not for the candles though, thankfully. I do not think I will buy them again.)



So, for my complaints so far today, I have "earned" $11. 63. Which would have otherwise been money down the drain. Maybe I should complain a little more often.

DHL sucks!

I'm irritated. Very, very irritated. I ordered 2 ALCS shirts for my son & I on Tuesday through mlb.com. I've ordered things through them before and had no problems. I really wanted the shirts for the World Series. That would have been fun to wear our ALCS shirts during a game or two. Since we live in NY, there are absolutely no places to buy Red Sox gear, let alone ALCS gear, anywhere in a 200 mile radius, so buying online is really my only choice other than driving to Massachusetts.

Well, here is the tracking information for one of the shirts. (My shirt. Alex's shirt was shipped a day later, and is now sitting with my shirt somewhere in E. Syracuse.)

10/23/2007 - 5:00 pm Picked Up by DHL.
10/24/2007 - 5:29 pm Depart Facility Wilmington - Clinton Field, OH
10/25/2007 - 7:40 am Arrived at DHL facility. East Syracuse, NY
10/26/2007 - 2:26 pm With delivery courier. East Syracuse, NY

So the extra money I spent to get "Guaranteed 2-day delivery" has left me with nothing. I called DHL this morning and gave them a piece of my mind. It really got me nowhere, but I managed to make some poor woman feel bad. I told her how ridiculous it was for a company to guarantee something that they cannot guarantee. And how I would NEVER use DHL again for anything. She said the package "might" be delivered on Monday. I told her that really sucked since the World Series could very well be over by then.

I also sent a very angry email to mlb.com. I told them I would never order from them again and I asked for my money back. So there's a possibility that I will never see the shirts anyway. But that's fine. I'm too irritated to even care anymore. I should have had Rebecca pick me up a couple in Boston this weekend...

The shirt I will probably never receive.

UPDATE:
After getting a "form email" returned from mlb.com, I decided to call them. I managed to get credit for the shipping, but the items are still in transit. I will receive them eventually. But I won't hold my breath.

Tax Credit: $ .64
Shipping Credit: $ 7.99
Total Credit: $ 8.63

Game 2

Go Sox!
1 down, 3 to go.

(Photo courtesy of Photoshop.)

Game 1

Go Sox!!

101 Uses for Refried Beans

With the rising price of pretty much everything in the world, we try to find ways to save a few pennies here and there. Over the weekend, Eric and I did some "warehouse" type comparison shopping. We brought the calculator and tried to find some good deals. First stop was BJs. (Eric is a member, he got a cheap membership through work.) I have a few "usual" items I always get. The first of which is a giant package of to-go coffee cups. I bring coffee with me every morning to work that I make at home. Saves about $2/day by not stopping at Dunkin Donuts. The cups are about $8 for 72 of them. That's about 10 cents a cup. Not too bad. I've also found that doggie treats are a good price there. The "big find" this time was a package of 6 cans of Old El Paso Refried Beans. I had bought a can at Target the day before for 89 cents. The price at BJs was $4.99 for 6 cans. Which was 83 cents a can. So I grabbed it. I like to make burritos and nachos, so they will be put to use. (I could probably use a few more recipes if anyone would like to share... seeing as I now have 7 cans of refried beans in my cupboard...)




Eric found a few good buys as well. 4 boxes of Little Debbie Swiss Rolls for $4.29. Which I split with him, so I ended up with 2 boxes. They usually go for about $2/box at Wegmans. They're great snacks for the kids' lunches. He also got a big package of toothbrushes (I forget the price, but it ended up being $1/toothbrush.) And he got a fun package of deodorant that also came with a razor. It was apparently a GREAT deal. (I took his word for it.)



After BJs, we stopped at Aldi's. We mostly just wanted to see what it was all about. It was a very different experience. You have to pay 25 cents for a cart, which you will then get back after you return the cart. I guess the theory is that people won't leave the carts in the parking lot, so they don't have to hire someone to bring them back. It seemed to work, I didn't see any carts other than in the cart area or in the store. You also have to bring your own bags (or use empty boxes, if you see them you can take them). The brands in the store were mostly brands we have never heard of. I felt almost like I was at a Dollar Store, but maybe a "step up". I was weary to buy anything just because I wasn't sure how it would taste. The prices seemed very good. I imagine that pasta is pasta and green beans are green beans. Neither of us bought anything however. I think we were a little nervous of the unknown. We'll have to ask around to see if anybody shops there before we dive in.

I shop at Target a lot too. They expanded the grocery area at the Target near my house. Every single item I have checked is cheaper than at Wegman's. And the "Target" brand is always very good, so I'm fine with buying their items. As far as Wegman's goes, the only things I seem to buy there anymore are fresh foods, such as milk, veggies, fruits, things like that. I will gladly go to 3 different stores if it means I will save some money. Especially since the 3 stores I tend to go to (Target, Wegmans & BJs) are all within a mile radius of my house. If they were farther away, I would probably think differently. But you have to save money where you can since prices just seem to keep going up and up...

Dance Papelbon, Dance!

We Believe, AGAIN!!
Red Sox 11-2 over the Indians in Game 7 of the 2007 ALCS.

Dustin Pedroia, Player of the Game!

All photos "borrowed" from Boston.com.

Seven and Oh

Big day for New England sports fans! Tom Brady and the Patriots just got their 7th straight win of the season. Their best start ever. Can they keep going?? We'll have to wait and see.

We're having a huge Fall Feast tonight. Mostly I'm just keeping myself busy until the Sox game at 8pm. We're having baked chicken, stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes and yummy Crescent rolls. Oh and mini-cream puffs for dessert. Eric & Kelsey should be here shortly to partake in the fabulous Fall Feast... then we'll have a Wii-fest until game time.

GO SOX!!

The Birthplace of Baseball

Today we decided we should go to the birthplace of baseball and bow to Abner Doubleday, and perhaps throw in a prayer or two for our beloved Red Sox. So we did just that. We left for Cooperstown early this morning. We only spent a few hours, but it was a fantastic time.

6 years ago, Alex and I visited the Hall of Fame and he was still a little on the fence about being a Red Sox fan. All his friends were Yankee fans and they would make fun of him. Well, he's no longer on the fence and hasn't been since 2004. He is proudly a Red Sox fan all the way!

Today we learned lots of historical facts and saw photos, hundreds of baseballs, funny looking uniforms and even a diamond studded 2004 Red Sox World Series ring. Unfortunately, we did not see the famed "bloody sock". And you can rest assured, we searched.

They had a neat scavenger hunt type thing for kids - and adults can do it too. I enjoyed finding the items in question just as much as Alex did. Did you know that in the year 2000, some man went to 30 different baseball games (in 30 different parks!) in 37 days?? He traveled over 12,000 miles. How fun would that be?! At the end of the scavenger hunt, you can turn in your results for a free deck of baseball cards. Well, the kids can anyway...

After the museum, we ate lunch at "The Homeplate: TJ's Place" where Alex lost a tooth eating an $8 hot dog. (Sorry, no photos.) We wandered around town a little bit and then headed home. You can click here to see the rest of the photos of our day. Enjoy and Good Luck Sox!!

The Sassy Pirate

Yesterday, one of the producers of our morning talk show approached me about being a "model" for their Halloween Costume Fashion Show today. I have done this in the past, well once anyway. I was a "Lady in Leather", sporting a very nice leather jacket. A Halloween costume sounded almost fun. So I agreed. However, she did not know at that time what the costumes were going to be. That made me a bit nervous, but I agreed anyway.

I arrived at work this morning and was told I was going to be a Sassy Pirate. Ok. That didn't seem too bad. I could be a pirate. I pictured black striped pants, an eye patch maybe, a fun sword, a crazy hat. You know, normal pirate stuff. Boy, I guess I was wrong! Check out the outfit the costume shop brought for me to wear. I about fell over.



I immediately panicked. There was no way I was going to wear that costume. And especially not on television!! I had not prepared for this. I needed a tan, some high heels (I was wearing boots with socks!), maybe some black tights, a padded bra?!? There was no way I was going to wear that outfit. Nope. Not going to do it. Thankfully, the costume shop brought an extra costume. And this is what I ended up wearing. A nice simple, full-length princess dress with a very tall hat.



If you'd care to see the fashion show, it is online. I would like to add (before you watch it and make total fun of me) that I was in a great deal of pain and could not turn my head to the right. With that said, here it is. No laughing!

Pain in the Neck

I have no idea what I did, but I can't turn my neck to the right. I can't turn it very far to the left either. It's kind of stuck in one position. The only thing I can even comfortably do is sit at the computer and work. Laying down hurts, walking around hurts. Sitting is ok. Except that my head is getting a little heavy. Bengay is my new friend, but my office undoubtedly smells like a nursing home. Not that anybody has noticed. Or maybe they were being nice. I wonder if the pain in the neck came from watching the Red Sox game last night. I do have to turn my head to the right to see the TV while I'm working at the computer... All the stress from the game probably made me more tense than usual. I think it's best they have the night off tonight. I think we all could use a little break!

Honesty is the Best Policy

Mom, you raised me well. You'd be proud. Or not. I'm not sure! You like to save a buck just as much as I do... What would you have done?... What would any of you have done?

Tonight Alex and I stopped at Staples because he needed some school supplies. So I thought I'd check out the wireless modems while I was there. I found one that looked like it would do the trick. And it was only $40. So I picked it up. Alex got some dry erase markers, post-it notes and a ton of index cards.

We got to the register and put our merchandise down. The clerk started scanning everything in and I got out my credit card to get ready to pay. Next thing I hear is "$16.26 please." Huh? I thought I heard incorrectly, so I looked up at the register. Indeed, that's what it said. I looked back down at the counter to see if she forgot to scan in the modem. I didn't see it anywhere, so I checked the bags. There it was. I thought maybe it was on sale. Or free maybe! I looked back at the register. And said something to the clerk about the modem being $40 and how I was confused at the price. Then she looked closer and realized she didn't scan the modem price, she only scanned the security tag. So she did the one transaction with the $16 worth of school supplies, then did an additional transaction with the $40 modem. And then she thanked me at least 5 times for being honest. She said I could easily have walked out the door with it. Or could I? Aside from being horrible at acting, I don't know if I could have done it. I would have felt guilty forever each time I looked at the modem. I would have feared the Staples Police coming after me! I think I did the right thing and I felt good about it afterwards.

Oh and mom, you can bring your laptop now when you visit, I have a working wireless network!! And it only cost me $40.

Cemetery Chicken

Mt. Adnah Cemetery in Fulton is the home of the famous "Cemetery Chicken". Ok, it isn't famous. But it should be. Every summer the cemetery has a chicken bbq to raise money for the upkeep of the cemetery. Eric's mom is involved with this and she invites us to partake in this very tasty tradition. Their bbq is usually in the summer, but this year they decided to have one during the fall as well. And today was the day. With the wonderful bbq'ed 1/2 chicken, you get a side of pasta salad, a side of baked beans, salt potatoes and a roll with butter. It is really quite good. Oh and Eric gets the credit for dubbing it "cemetery chicken".

(The photo was borrowed from somewhere on the internet... It is the correct cemetery, but I don't recall where I found it. I think that blogs are much more interesting with pictures to look at!)

The Dog Blog

We have a 13 month old Pembroke Welsh Corgi. We got her when she was 9 weeks old and named her Jenny. I have never owned a dog before, so I really had absolutely no idea what I was getting myself into. And I must say, almost a year later that my life has not been the same and I still have no idea what I've gotten myself into!

We did so much research before we got this dog, I really thought we were ready! We researched breeds and personalities. We visited pet stores to get to know different types of dogs. We played with Dachshunds, Beagles, and Basset Hounds. We knew we wanted a smaller breed because we live in a townhouse. A Golden Retriever would have been a nice fit, but they are just too big. Alex learned about the Corgi's (the Queen's dog!) and did some research on them. They seemed like the perfect fit for us. They're small, they're adorable, they're very smart and easy to train. Sounded perfect! We found a breeder in the area. And the moment we saw her at 5 weeks, we fell in love. She took to Alex and fell asleep in his lap the first time she met him. We went back a few weeks later and picked her up.

She was a bit more wild that day we brought her home. In fact, she was slightly crazy! But we chalked it up to her being a puppy. And she was just so darn cute it didn't matter!

I signed her up for "puppy school". For 8 weeks we went to PetSmart to figure out how to sit, come, stay, and be nice to strangers. The one big thing we didn't learn was how to stop barking. She barks. A lot. Corgi's (come to find out later) are the little dog with the big dog bark. Yeah. Isn't that the truth. Any little noise outside, a car going by, another dog barking, a squirrel sighting in the yard... the bark comes alive. She barks when she needs to go out, she barks when she's bored. She barks when her little toy gets stuck under the couch.

A neighbor told me about this neat contraption called a "bark control device". I immediately ran to PetSmart to pick one up. It's "PetSafe". It emits a noise when the dog barks continuously. And it makes the dog stop barking. I brought it home, set it up and within moments, we had a blessed silence that we hadn't had in months... She hated it! She barked, the little red light came on, she stopped barking. I have no idea what the sound was, but whatever it was, I loved it. Even the site of the little "bark machine" made her stop barking. I thought we had discovered the best invention since the wheel.

Well, after a couple of weeks, our blessed silence turned noisy again. She apparently got used to the noise. Now she looks at it and laughs. And barks.

Friday Indulgence

Here goes a shameless plug for Dunkin Donuts. I LOVE their Pumpkin Latte!! It's probably good they only have them during the fall, I would be broke! I'd also be more addicted to caffeine than I already am.

Looking forward to the big game tonight! Go Sox!!

Shh!!

This photo was just sent to me as a possible "calendar candidate". I love it so much I'm thinking it might be the cover of the '09 calendar! What do you think?? I even played with a layout to make it easier to imagine it as the cover... (The color is less vibrant in the example only because of how I had to save it, it would be nice and colorful like the original photo.)

Indian Bummer!

Oh... did you think I didn't have anything to say about last night's big loss for the Yankees?? I wouldn't let this opportunity pass me by. I will let the newspapers speak for me, since they often say it best:

See ya next year!

What a Gas

I left my house a little bit early this morning to go to work. I needed gas, I had less than a quarter tank and it was "Cheap Tuesday" at the Fastrack. So I figured I'd dart into the gas station on my way and be done with it. Well... things rarely go as planned in my world. Or so it seems. I get to the Fastrack and un-do my gas tank and cover. Then I turn around to slide my debit card in. Only to watch the "See attendant" words flashing in my face. Now I'm positive I had enough to cover a mere tank of gas in my checking account, but maybe something was wrong with the card. So I tried my credit card. Nope. "See attendant" flashing again. Ok... so it wasn't me or my faulty credit/debit cards. (Which there really was no way it could have been other than a bank error.) So I glance inside the store and see about 15 people in line. I only left a little early, not a lot, so there was no way I would have time to stand in that line and still be on-time for work. So I put my cards away and drove off, very irritated. With an almost-empty gas tank. About a mile down the road I look out at my side window and notice the gas tank cover flapping in the wind..... with nowhere for me to pull over to close it. I drove all the way to work, down the interstate, 15miles... with my gas tank cover flipping and flapping around....

Easy as 1-2-3!

Sox sweep the Angels and advance to the
American League Championship Series!!

Schilling still has it... minus the bloody sock!

Go Cleveland?

A Wii Bit Surprised

Someone was a "wii" bit surprised on his birthday when he opened what he thought for sure was going to be a Game Cube! He never imagined he would get a Nintendo Wii. Boy was he thrilled!! And how fun is a Wii!?! Baseball is SOO cool!!

He also raked in a serious amount of cash...
We assume he'll be begging to go to "Game Stop" tomorrow.

Grandma & Grandpa came down from NH for Alex's birthday.
We went to Pier 57 for dinner. Great food!
Alex got a 12 oz. Prime Rib! None of us could move when dinner was over.
We had to waddle to the car. (Bloat.)

I love October!

Manny Ramirez hit a three-run walkoff home run in the
bottom of the ninth inning to win Game 2 of the ALDS.

Red Sox 6, Angels 3

Alex Rodriguez tosses his bat after striking
out to end the top of the ninth inning in Game 2 of an
ALDS baseball game against the Cleveland Indians.

Indians 2, Yankees 1

11 Years Ago Today...

My little Alex was born! Happy Birthday Alex!!
XOXOXOXO

One Down

Josh Beckett was awesome last night!!
That's all that I really have to say!

I would also like to share this website that I read daily: RedSox Chick.
Love it!!

Surmising the Sox

Ok. The MLB post-season starts this evening. The Red Sox ended up with the best record in baseball. I read somewhere (espn.com) that only once (since 1990) has the team with the best record won the World Series. (Yeah, it was the stupid Yankees in '98). So it's not an impossible task for them to win the whole thing, right? Well, I wanted to see what the experts had to say. At least about the upcoming series with the Angels. One step at a time, right? Well, this is what I found:

ESPN Experts:
9 out of 10 pick Red Sox to win series.

Yahoo Sports says:
Sox have strong pitching and long-ball prowess. Home field is big here. Boston in five.

MSN guy says:
I probably would pick the Red Sox even if the Angels were whole. Good as the Angels are, their various physical and performance concerns make this an easy call. Prediction: Red Sox in 4

Dan Shaughnessy:
Red Sox over Angels in 4: Papelbon in Riverdance II and another rally at City Hall.

And then I had to see what they were saying about the Yankees...

Yahoo Sports on the Yankees:
Toss-up series will be determined by how Yankees handle Sabathia.

ESPN Experts:
7 say Indians will win, 3 say Yankees.

Well, I love what Dan Shaughnessy had to say. And yes, I too would like to see Papelbon celebrate again! (Um, where are his pants??)

Please Stay in Your Shoes for the Remainder of the Show

We went to the Phantom of the Opera last night. (One of the biggest perks for working where I do, we very often get treated to free tickets to lots of neat events!) I had never been to the Phantom of the Opera and was very impressed by the quality of the show. The set changes were amazing. For such a small stage, the crew of this show has to be commended. The detail of the set pieces and the quick changes of giant staircases. And how did they make it look like that little boat was floating through water?? Wow. I was in awe.

There was a major downside to the show however. It was the large man sitting behind us. Please tell me, who in there right mind would think it would be ok to take off their shoes for an entire musical, while sitting in such close quarters?? Poor Eric had his face buried in his shirt for much of the first half of the show. Thankfully the odor didn't hit me until the second half. But my goodness, I was gagging by the end of the show. It was truly horrendous.