Really… Skye says “hi” now and waves. It’s really cute!
And, she’s getting in two more teeth up top and has finally started eating food with a little texture to it. I’m going to dabble with the food processor at some point to try and whiz up some culinary creations.
We went with the “potluck” theme again for Thanksgiving this year… it’s a genius idea really. Our oven is still unpredictable (AKA broken), so making a turkey or anything requiring some time behind it is almost impossible. We divided up the meal to create a massive feast of gluttonous proportions. Of course, I managed to over cook the Dinner Done pecan pie that I was told would be “so simple”… lol. And, the corn casserole was more like corn toast when it came out. Fortunately, we had so much other food it didn’t really matter.
So, Greta and Garry appear to be doing very well… Greta’s recent neck/back laser surgery seemed to really be helping her out. And, Oma joined us this year with my folks and they are all doing well too. Kelly and Lance even joined us this year, which was a very nice addition. Aidan felt really special to have his former teacher over… he’s such a ham!
Oh, Aidan and I actually made the napkin rings and centerpiece leaves this year. It really turned out pretty cute. When asked what he was most thankful for so we could write it on the back of the leaves, he responded “birthdays, nature & the sun, family and the house.” Of course, Skye supervised the process.
Time with spent with family and friends always seems to be an adventure, which makes Thanksgiving up there as a holiday favorite.
Poor Aidan was once again called to the operation table… only this time it was to remove his tonsils and adenoids.
It’s been a couple of years since our pediatrician started warning of his enlarged tonsils, and I admit that the poor kid always seemed to have a runny nose and cough. Sinus infections get nasty and require weeks of antibiotics, not to mention the x-ray of his head to confirm the diagnosis.
The Pediatric Surgery Center we went to was so much better than the hospital environment we dealt with before. It’s no surprise that Luke and I were dreading the whole thing because of what happened last time. Holding Aidan down to get his temperature and doping him up just to get him into the room would make anyone sweat! But, we were pleasantly surprised by our little man’s bravery. He went in without any protest and handled everything like a pro. In fact, the whole procedure only took two hours from start to finish. We were there at 2pm and home by 4:30pm.
Dr. Orabello confirmed that his tonsils and adenoids were both very large. So, we expect some dramatic improvements once we get through recovery. Who knew that adenoids grew back though?… strange!
The days that followed have not been pleasant. Aidan has been reluctant to drink or eat anything and has become seriously constipated from the codeine. He was supposed to drink 6-8 8oz glasses of fluid each day and we’ve been lucky to get a few sips out of him. Once he gets the codeine, he’s so doped up that he pretty much just sits on the couch like a zombie watching television. If I never see Magic Schoolbus again, it will be too soon!
There was a little ray of hope this evening when he hate some dinner and drank a glass of Gatorade. And, we resolved the poop problem quickly with a pediatric laxative suppository. Surprisingly, Aidan didn’t put a fight over the whole suppository installation!
Anyway, I’m ready for Aidan to start bouncing off walls and talking non-stop again. It’s just been too weird with him laying on the couch all puffy eyed and pitiful!
Well, this is my attempt at finally posting something to our new site. It seems I’ve been caught up with Twitter updates and all of the other chaotic stuff that comes with life as a full-time mom that works too. If it weren’t for my iPhone, I probably would go insane.
Anyway, so what’s going on with the Stepniowski family? Halloween, one of our top picks for holidays, came and went. Skye kind of got the shaft because of her quirky need to get to bed by 7pm. We got a few pics of her in a pumpkin shirt and that was about it! As for Aidan, he was supposed to be a clone trooper but later changed his mind after we had purchased the costume. How could I resist him making a special request for me to make him a pirate? We trimmed up some jeans and a white shirt, ironed on some patches, applied tattoos, an eye patch and some fake cuts and scratches and were ready to go. It turned out quite cute, if I do say so myself. Aidan and I scoured the entire neighborhood and scored a whole bag full of candy that will probably still be sitting in our food closet come next year. But, it sure was fun collecting it. We stationed Luke outside so no one would wake up Skye. We both came to the same conclusion that our neighbors aren’t the friendliest of folk, but whatever. We usually go down to Gulfport to see my friend Karen and her family, so hanging out in our hood was somewhat of a change.
Speaking of Skye, she is growing at warp speed. Much unlike Aidan, she gets into absolutely everything and can’t sit still for a moment. I’m glad Aidan is such a cuddler because we’re not getting any cuddle time from her anytime soon. It’s all go, go go. At ten months, she’s not walking but she is scooting across the furniture. It won’t be long before she gets the courage to let go. And, then all hell officially breaks loose!
As for Aidan, he’s still doing very well in school and seems to have all of the teachers wrapped around his little finger. One of them stopped me the other day just to say how lucky I was to have such a smart and sweet little kid… ha ha. Another one calls him the “Mayor of Hunter’s Green” because he personally greets everyone and hugs the teachers. I won’t bring up the debacle at the HGE Hoe Down here because it would certainly change the tone. I’ll just say that the night ended with Aidan screaming about how much hates me on his hands and knees through the school. Fortunately, the teachers didn’t notice and only the moms caught sight. I can’t tell you how excited I am to see them all again tomorrow at the Pow Wow… woo hoo.
Hmmm… as for Luke and I, same old stuff I guess. But, there’s no complaining there. The same old stuff is pretty good if you ask me. 
I attended Aidan’s first parent-teacher conference at Hunter’s Green Elementary last night and was very pleased to discover that Aidan is perfect (at school).
It appears that the focus and hyperactivity issues we were having in pre-school are no longer a problem. Ms. Cosentino says he sits still and is a careful listener. She also said he is passionate about learning and seems to enjoy all of the subject areas. And, of course, she said that he is very sociable. In fact, her comment on my feedback report was that “Aidan’s behavior is great”. Way to go buddy! We are so proud of you.
The quarterly testing they do for reading and comprehension seems to be going well as well. Of all the problems presented, he missed very few and seems to be picking up on the material quickly. Despite my issues with the public education system, I have to admit that I’ve seen Aidan increase his skill set very quickly since he’s started kindergarten.
Last spring, I came across a pretty cool publication that included a lot of different project ideas for kids. A subscription was only $10, so I went ahead and gave it a try. And, I even went as far as recommending it to a few friends.
The first issue took a while to get here, and it was about a month behind. I could understand that. I did like that you received a PDF version as well. But, there hasn’t been any consistency between when you get the PDF and when you get the original. Sometimes I even get double copies of the same issue. Whatever.
The real problems with Disney Family Fun only started recently. First, I decided to go ahead and fork out the extra $10 for the special Halloween issue. So far, many weeks later after ordering online, I still don’t have it. And, I’ve communicated with them via direct message on Twitter and also tried emailing them. Still, no Halloween issue and Halloween is next week. If I see the “Have you seen…” tweet regarding this issue one more time, I’m going to scream.
Then, I notice a charge of $14.99 on my Amex. OK… my subscription isn’t due for renewal until next year and I don’t think it’s appropriate for them to go ahead and assume they can charge my credit card. The first email reply I got on this was that a credit would be issued. OK… and when is that going to happen? The charge is still there. Then, I go to the website and send another email asking about both the Halloween issue and the bogus renewal charge and I get this reply:
Hello,
Thank you for your letter. Please visit the following URL and click “Subscription Help” to contact FamilyFun Magazine: http://familyfun.go.com/magazine/
Regards,
Sharon
Disney Family.com
www.family.com
So, do you think maybe they could have just forwarded it? I mean, the email that I sent to was in fact the one from the website @ FamilyFun.com Support <support@familyfun.com>. You would think this would be the right place. Of course, I couldn’t find an actual phone number to call.
And, yesterday was the icing on the cake… I got a package from the post office including a soaked October issue of the magazine. Now, that’s not the special Halloween issue I’m waiting for. That’s just my subscription copy that I’m not sure what the post office expects me to do with. Would they like me to sit it outside to dry so I can wade through the crinkly pages?
I really wanted to be patient about all of this because the magazine itself is actually pretty good. But, enough is enough. I can’t tolerate incompetence when it comes to service and support regardless of how much I like something. At this point, I’m just trying to get the bogus subscription charge cleared up and am crossing my fingers they don’t renew me next spring.
Microsoft announced that it will be offering Windows 7 Home Premium upgrades at a discounted price of $30.00 for a limited time to students. To take advantage of the discount you simply must have a .edu email address and make your way over to the Windows 7 Online Store. Once purchased you are immediately able to download Window 7. At purchase there is an option for physical media for an additional $15.00 fee. The part that isn’t clear is that the downloadable upgrade installer does not provide you with a disk image as you might expect, but instead the installation is started from your running XP/Vista installation. I’m sure this is a perfectly fine upgrade solution but one might prefer to have a bootable installation disk and not wait for a unnecessary $15.00 DVD to be mailed. I suspect the situation regarding the lack of bootable media will not be limited to the student discount but all downloadable upgrade purchases.
* The above steps assume C:\ for simplicity sake.
Update: Perform a Clean installation of Windows 7 on a clean system using Upgrade Media / License:
Update #2:
I can now confirm that the above steps worked perfectly without a single hitch. I created the ISO and installed on a totally clean system and successfully activated the “upgrade” license I purchased. I really have to wonder why can’t Microsoft (and other companies) refuse to make things painless out of the box? I really wouldn’t mind paying full price for quality products if they aren’t wrapped up so tightly in suck.
Well, let me tell you that life within the public education system is much different than expected. And, my expectations weren’t really set that high to start with. The whole experience so far has been somewhat surprising because I felt we were somehow going to be exempt from all of these problems going to a “Blue Ribbon” school and all. I was mistaken. A few issues I’ve noticed during our first three months include:
Funding
My first issue with the education system is the lack of funding and consistent budget issues that are going on. Each day, it seems they require additional money, supplies or volunteers to supplement their lack of resources. Honestly, I would have had no idea based on the tax bill I pay each year. And, I do wonder where the money is going if the teachers aren’t getting it and there’s nothing left for basic classroom supplies. Why am I left supplying snacks, toys, project supplies, time to make copies for them, etc.? Where is the money going? And, why is education always the first thing on the chopping block when it comes time to save? If we can’t educate our children, what the hell is our future going to look like? And, how are they going to figure out the financial mess we’re leaving them with?
Our school, Hunter’s Green Elementary, even goes as far as partnering with local businesses such as Dominos and Dairy Queen to have special fundraising nights. On these days, our kids go home with stickers on their shirts and are told during the morning show that they should “remind” their parents to purchase pizza or ice cream so that a certain percentage of proceeds can go back to the school. Now, I actually think this is an excellent idea and wouldn’t mind this if it occurred every once and a while, but it seems like there’s some kind of fundraising thing going on ALL the time. You just can’t escape it.
Early Release
Don’t even get me started on “early release” days. About every other Wednesday, I’ve got to pick up Aidan at 12:15pm so the teachers have more time for “planning” and such. Really? By the time I get him there it’s time to turn around and pick him up. WTF? I do get that the teachers have to plan and I also respect that they’ve got a lot of administrative type of stuff to get through and need non-class time to deal with everything. But, they also have assistants, parent volunteers and planning periods during the day. I’m thinking this is also another way to cut costs and it’s certainly another way to inconvenience me. Why not just take a full day off every once and a while instead of teasing us with a few hours here and there? It’s like they have zero respect for our time.
Parental Involvement
One would think that parents would want to be as involved as possible in their child’s education. But, I’m finding that to be overwhelming untrue. As “homeroom mom”, I was tasked with organizing volunteer opportunities and getting people involved in reading with the kids, making copies for the teacher, donating supplies for projects and helping out with special events and such. I actually thought my biggest issue would be fitting everyone in. But, it seems that other than two or three moms, no one else will even give me the courtesy of a reply. I’ve emailed, sent home letters and called. But, it seems they have zero interest in being involved. And, that kind of makes me sad. Don’t get me wrong… I totally understand that people have to work. And, I do too. I just happen to have a very flexible schedule. Actually, it’s all the volunteer crap I do that takes up most of my time! But, there are still opportunities available to participate for those that work the typical 8-5 schedule. At least they could reply.
I will admit to not getting off to the best start with some of the moms that are offering to help out. It’s even gone so far as having an altercation with one of them at the Fall Centers event today. But, I’ll take snobby bitches any day over people that won’t even reply! At least they realize the impact of their participation on their children’s overall educational success. And, I can handle “fake nice” any day of the week.
If I could offer a piece of advice to parents, it would be that it’s not solely the school’s responsibility to teach our children. We have to work with them and show them that we think learning is important. We have to set examples for our children and not expect them just to turn out OK based on their experiences at these learning factories we call schools. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that the teachers in these institutions are over burdened with too many kids and not enough time or money to do the job they way they would like to. They EXPECT us to supplement at home so that they can do more in class!
And… I think that’s enough ranting for now. As I write this, I’ve received a voice message for me to call a number and complete a survey for the school. I’m supposed to call Parent Link to complete this. LMAO
Skye’s nine month check-up was actually last week, but I’ve been spending too much time updating Twitter to focus on Majjix posts…lol
But, seriously, it’s so hard to believe that my little girl is almost a year old. And, she seems to be perfect in every way. She’s crawling around, waving hello, clapping, lifting herself up and getting into as much trouble as she possible can. The “trouble” part was inevitable considering her genetic make-up. Neither Skye nor Aidan were going to be able to escape that one!
At nine months, Skye weighs 17.5lbs, which puts her in the 50th percentile. She’s also 28″, which puts her in the 90th percentile for height. Of course, they can’t really predict height until they’re two but she is getting pretty up there.
I’ve got some video that I’m hoping to post soon. And, I admit we have been slacking on the updated photos. It seems so much easier to snap shots with the iPhone rather than lug around a hefty camera all the time! Since Skye isn’t big on strollers and still insists on being held, taking photos is especially difficult.
As for life in general with Skye, it’s getting much easier. We tried taking her off the Zantac but ended up going back on it. It seems she’s still got some reflux issues. And, she’s getting up once a night which is mostly my fault. I could let her soothe herself back to sleep, but I know she’ll want to wake up for real around 4am and that’s just not cool. I’m already addicted to Benadryl just to get 4-5 hours a sleep a night so I don’t need to be waking up that early!
Wherever we take her, she’s just as well behaved as she could be… I mean, that’s much different from Aidan who used to be a real screamer. But, Aidan never went for socket plugs and stereo equipment either so it’s a toss-up as to which one is preferred.
All in all, she’s a keeper… And, I can’t wait for her birthday! She really is our little princess, even though I said I would never say that and dress her in pink all the time.
OK, having gone through a number of cell phone providers through work and such, I realize that they all kind of suck when it comes down to it. Either your reception sucks, the customer service sucks, etc. But, I’ve reached a new level of disappointment in my latest interaction with AT&T Wireless.
In order to get the iPhone, we of course had to get AT&T service and sign a contract in order to get a “reasonable” deal. Don’t even get me started on the shmuck fee you pay just because you have an iPhone! I will be the first to admit that I love my phone, so I pushed the petty details of service to the back of my mind in order to savor my shiny little treasure.
But, since I’ve had the phone, text messages keep coming in from an unknown phone number (352-999-8399). It started innocently enough with a text every now and then saying “hello”, “hi” or “hola”. I just ignored it and then responded back saying that they had the wrong number. When that didn’t resolve the problem, I finally played along and had a little conversation with the individual regarding “how much Neil is weird” and “how much we both like the Jabbaockeez masks”. And, again, I reminded the person that I don’t know who they are or really what they are talking about.
So, all this wouldn’t be a big deal but I only get 200 messages a month in my plan and he/she is starting to really dent that. Luke called AT&T and was told we would have to PAY for a service that would allow me to block people… why would I have to PAY to block people from using the text messages that I pay for? Incoming and outgoing messages count, and there seems to be nothing I can do to communicate directly with the person to cease and desist. For that, AT&T, you are on my “you suck” list! You make enough money off of us and everyone else to do little things like allow us to block unwanted calls that we’re paying for – FREE! Get over your giant corporate attitude and respect your customers a little. God damn it, if I didn’t have to use AT&T to have my iPhone, I’d say screw you all the way out of my contract. But, it seems I’m stuck and can only complain online and to others.
The Pixies... Before Frank Black lost it... Definitely deserve #MusicMonday props... #mm Waiting at Cobb to see Alice... Didn't do 3D this time... Heard this one was better old school style. I'm not proud of myself tonight... I had a crabby attitude with a friend and should have just kept my mouth shut & smiled. OK... Hit Brass Tap and didn't realize there's only beer and wine... The guy playing the guitar was actually pretty good! | |||
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