Saturday, January 31, 2009
Welcome Tater!
Kotah has wanted a certain pet for a very long time. So yesterday her wish finally came true. We went to the pet store and she got Tater - a Russian tortoise.
Tater is a land turtle and boy was she expensive. And by expensive I mean $120 expensive. I said that I wasn't going to spend that kind of money on a turtle but I did. And yes I know I'm a sucker. But after weighing the options between an aquatic turtle and a land turtle the costly land turtle won out.
I figured all you needed for an aquatic turtle was a tank with some water and a rock for it to climb onto. Yeah well I was wrong. The tank had to be at least 40 gallons. It needed a heat and light lamp and a water filtration system becuase they poop so much. Even with the filter the water had to be changed a few times a week. And their diet? Crickets! The cost of an aquatic turtle - approximately $20/$25. It's housing about $350. The cost of the turtle was great. It was the rest of it that bothered me.
Even though the land turtle was costly everything else was a better deal. Smaller tank,no water filter,no crickets. They basically have to have a heat and light source,food and water dishes and a log to hide in. Bark is used for their bedding. Their diet consists of fruits and vegetables. And the tank is only 20 gallons.
Tater is a girl - supposedly. How do you really tell? Kotah thought she knew and said she was a boy but the guy at the pet store said it was a girl. Whatever! Kotah has played with her all day today. She has brought her out a few times to roam around the livingroom. I thought that turtles moved very slowly but apparently no one told that to Tater. She can move! Kotah loves her. She's so happy to finally have her and I am happy that I was able to get her for Kotah.Labels: kids
Sunday, January 25, 2009
No More Buick
We recently lost a member of our family....my car! And before I go any further I want to clear something up for those of you who automatically thought that it was my fault. It wasn't! My hubby did it!!! Give me the benefit of the doubt please!
My hub had been driving my car for a while because his was shall we say illegal. The inspection ran out on it in October and we figured he could drive it until the beginning of the year when the sticker color changed. It didn't make it that long. The whole muffler system fell apart one day and that was the end of it. Let me back up and say that we didn't get it inspected because it needed an expensive brake booster put on and we were going to trade it in when we got our taxes and put it towards our new van. Therefore I didn't want to spend the money on it.
On January 4th he was on his way home form work. We had had an ice storm and the roads were literally sheets of ice. He was 2 streets away from home when it happened. He was coming down a small hill and the car started to slide. There was someone coming from the opposite direction and they were sliding around trying to get uo the hill. He couldn't get the car to turn and they hit - head on. The two driver's sides collided.
The other vehicle was a Ford F-150 and needless to say it won the showdown. Neither of them were hurt. Ironically the driver of the truck was a friend of his. Go figure right? He called me and I went over to check things out. I knew as soon as I saw my car that there was no hope for it. The truck only had a flat tire and minimal bumper damage.
We had it towed down the road to a garage to the tune of $145. Talk about a rip off! But at least I got the insurance to pay for it. And that's about all that they did. When I called them the next morning all they wanted to tell me was what they couldn't do for me. We didn't have collision on it because the car wasn't worth it so we were screwed there. I ended up giving it to the garage for scrap metal.
Now comes the fun with my insurance company. I turned my plates in and the same day went to them to have the car removed from my policy. I went in and told them why I was there. The agent was a total bitch. She took the paper from me and asked if I was going to add another car within the next 30 days. Uh not unless you want to give me one! So she set the paper on a stack of other papers and said she would take care of it and walked away. Strike 1. Like two days later I get a letter from them asking me if I was going to surrender the plates and remove the car from the policy or if was going to get it fixed. Seriously?! I was just there two days before to remove it! Strike 2. I had a bill that was due and I wasn't going to pay for a car that wasn't insured anymore so I called to find out how much I had to pay. She didn't know and said she would find out and DEFINITELY call me later that day. 5 days later I was still waiting. And while I was waiting I received the renewal policy for that car! Strikes 3 and 4. You are so out!
I had State Farm for over 10 years and never had any problems until now. But they really pissed me off so I went looking for a new company. I went with Allstate. The agent is an awesome guy. He spent an hour and a half talking with me and explaining things to me - something State Farm never did. I have to pay $5 more a month with them - due to the accident and my hubby's tickets - but I am willing to do it. The service is so much better. And his wife works with my kids at their school!
I guess when all is said a done it ended up being a bad situation turned good - for lack of a better word. Although his car is still here and it looks like it's staying. I have always hated his car and was so looking forward to seeing it go. It has become the bane of my exsistence!Labels: misc
Saturday, January 24, 2009
And......I'm Back!
Yes ladies and gentlemen I have returned! Apparently I have been missed :) After a few of my girls dropped hints to me I figured it was time to come back to blogland.
I guess I don't really have any one big reason for being gone so long. But I do have a bunch of little ones! Let's see if I can remember them all... birthdays, holidays,
anniversary, sick kids, sick me, crazy family members - none on my side of the gene pool, a totaled car and all the bs that goes along with that and people that suck at parenting - guess that's half my fault. I think that about covers it.
I must say that it felt nice to be missed. I promise I won't go away like that again. There has just been a lot on my plate these past few months. I will post some of the things you guys have missed within the next few days to kind of catch you up.
It's good to be back.....Labels: misc
