Monday, March 31, 2008

Latta's vs. Dish Network - The Rematch

And it appears that the Latta's....have triumphed!  
On a tip from Jay and Mom, I called their Dish guy directly, and he came by today to see if he could help.  He confirmed that Dish installed a receiver and a satellite that would not read my local channels unless I paid for them.  He spent over an hour at my house - talking about ways we might be able to save money, and how to get someone at Dish Network that can actually help me!  Plus, he said he could fix something that the dumb Dish guy didn't do right, told me how to call it into his company so that I wouldn't be charged for another serviceman to come out (he was off the clock and couldn't do the work without charging me.)  Trace, you rock man!  

So the trick to getting good customer service from Dish Network?  When the reading-from-script person answers, tell them immediately that you need to speak to an Account Specialist.  They'll ask why.  I told them "Because I'm furious with Dish Network and want to cancel my service if someone doesn't help me!"  I was transferred immediately!

I will admit that I was on the phone for over an hour - not easy when you have a two year old running around.  Sean - and everything else - was neglected the whole time.  However, at the end of the call......

We are NO LONGER paying $5 a month for not having a phone line hooked up to our receiver.  All she had to hear was that we are a cellphone household and we didn't have a phone line to plug in.  I was already happy!

On Weds., between 12-5pm, another technician is coming to install the satellite that will actually read my local channels over the air.  This antenna should work, and I should not have to subscribe to the local channels to get programming info.  AND....I'm not paying for it!  No additional $59 out of pocket!  Samantha brought tears to my eyes once again, but this time out of joy, not frustration!

I feel good.  I feel happy.  While the amount of time and energy I have  put into this is ridiculous, I am getting exactly what I want at the price I feel is fair.  The Ram is at peace!

Sunday, March 30, 2008

From STRESS to Spa....AAAHHHH!

I was still a bit frustrated when I woke up Saturday morning.  The Aries in me can't handle the feeling of knowing I'm being screwed - it makes me twitchy!

Serendipitously, the spa day I scheduled over a month ago for my mom and I was also on Saturday!  By 10am, we were at Salon de Christe, ready to be pampered in serene calmness.  Oh, it was so lovely!  First we stripped down to our waffle-weaved body wraps, robes and slippers.  Mom was off to the facial room, while I headed over to the message room.  An hour of full body message.  With heated, herb-infused body wraps.  Heaven!

After an hour, I was off to the facial room, while mom was off to the wet-room for her body polish.  Facials are almost as relaxing as messages, except when they use that torturous extractor on your face.  Alas, they have to remove the nasties from your face somehow.  Either way, my face glowed when I was done!

Then we got dressed and had a quiet lunch, catered by St. Louis Bread Co.  Yummy Asian Sesame Chicken Salad!  Mom had a Chicken Caesar Salad, though she didn't scarf hers down quite the same way I did!

Our last treat was a manicure for mom and a pedicure for me.  I didn't realize mine was a special pedicure, and I was treated to more herb-infused relaxation as Charity earned her money scraping my feet into oblivion.  The only bummer was the fact that it was in the forties outside, and my feet were freakin' cold heading home in my flip-flops.  And of course, today, they are back in shoes and socks.....

Regardless, the day was lovely, the relaxation much-needed, and it was a fabulous was to spend a few hours with Mom!  Thanks to Dad and GiGi for the gift certificate - and thanks to Mom for living so close by that we can do things like this together!

Friday, March 28, 2008

How I've gone from Love to Hate for Dish Network

Ever been Nickel 'n' Dimed?  Felt like you're getting bent over a barrel?  Pretty much how I'm feeling right now!  I've gone from loving Dish Network to loathing them with my every being....all in less than a week.

After seven years of loyal servitude, Trey and I decided to join the DVR revolution!  That was the high point of the week.  After talking to three different customer service agents over the weekend - all speaking from the same script - I finally committed, getting our upgrade at a discounted price of $70; adding to our existing bill $11 a month, including a new fee for not having a phone line.  We haven't had a phone line in four years, now they're charging us for that?  Hmmm...it's still cheaper than an actual phone line.

Weds. comes and the dumbest Dish subcontractor in St. Louis shows up.  I had to tell him three times which receiver went where.  Because I had company over - safety in numbers for the stay-home mom! - it was a bit chaotic around the house when Dish Guy said that everything was good to go.  It wasn't until two hours later that I tried to turn up the sound, only to find we had none!  Two hours after that - including a phone call to Dish Guy who said maybe the "Mute" button was on - I give up, and sit down on the couch.  Which gives me the perfect angle to see the audio cables lying on the glass shelf, as opposed to being plugged in!  What a friggin' genius!  

But it gets better - later that night, I set up the DVR to pull in our local channels - which we get over the air on a rockin' antenna, giving us more local stations, in HD, than we could pay Dish for.  For FREE!  It worked like a charm on our regular HD receiver, which now resides in our bedroom.  But to my dismay, there was no programming info once I added the locals - I have no idea what's on, it just says "Digital Service" on every local channel.  Which completely defeats the purpose of recording my favorite shows with the DVR!  But we got programming info on the old receiver, so I thought I'd give it over night.  At this point, Trey points out the dent in the wall from Dish Guy moving our dresser to install the receiver in the bedroom.  Here's where the weariness over our supposedly-awesome upgrade starts to set in!

Next day, still no programming.  Oh, maybe I have to reset the whole thing.  No problem, can do!  Hmm..still no information.  Must it needs another night.

By Friday afternoon, I started thinking....Dish is screwing me, aren't they?  I do a some Googling, and find some forums that say the new DVR does not read the programming - so that Dish can screw us out of more money.  I decide to call to confirm, and thus began my most painful conversation yet with Dish no-customer service.  Even though I explained my situation in full from the beginning, it took the agent a full seven minutes to understand I don't subscribe to locals.  Ahem.  From there, her only solution, no matter which angle I took - even as far as, "But you're screwing me out of my money!" - was "to add local channels."  That must be what her script said, cuz that's all I heard.  She also told me that I could not manually set a timer, but I could record anything just by hitting the record button!  Which, again, defeats the whole DVR concept!  Of course, I could always just add local channels.  I almost felt bad for her, as I had lost most of my manners by this point.

A little more research, I found out I can use Zap2It to find out what was on, and I can, in fact, manually set a timer (though all the shows recorded this way would all be called "Manual Timer"), I was feeling not great, but not lost.  Then reality set in - recording shows like this is work - researching, planning ahead, dealing with 15 shows all called "Manual Timer."  Didn't I just spend $70, plus $11 a month, to make my life easier?  I decided that adding local channels wouldn't kill me.  

So I called back.  Talking to the fifth Dish service agent in a week, and keeping India's economy running strong, I order local channels.  Only to be told that the dish that was just installed on Weds. doesn't have the antenna necessary for local channels, and for the discounted rate of only $59, they would upgrade my dish and send a technician out next week!  Between the thought of another Dish Guy and the slow milking of even more of our money...

I actually started crying.  To a woman in India speaking very rehearsed English.  Who just kept telling me that it was only $59, and she'd be happy to help me today.  

Somehow, I have not resorted to drinking.  

EDITED TO ADD:  I believe I have resolved all of this!  Check it out!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

The Madness that was Easter Weekend

I'm not sure when Easter became the scheduling nightmare that Christmas is, but this year definitely wore both Trey and I out!  We had a FULL Easter Weekend!
    
Sean and I started on Friday, with an Easter Brunch and Egg Hunt with a friend who is moving soon.  We had a great meal, before heading outside in the wonderfully mild weather.  This was Sean's first real Easter egg hunt, and he had a great time!  

 
We woke up Easter Eve to bitter cold and howling winds - perfect weather for an outside Easter Egg Hunt up at the St. Peters City Centre!  Trey, Sean and Grandma and I stopped by and I believe our total time there was no more than 10 minutes - including egg hunt, prize pick up, grabbing a few hot dogs and a balloon.  

Then we headed home for our Easter lunch with my family - Grandma and Papa Z, Grandpa and Miss Annie, and GiGi all came over for an amazing (catered) lunch from St. Louis Rotisserie.  Sean had fun playing with Grandpa while the rest of us sat around and visited.  

Afterwards, Trey, Sean and I headed up to Hannibal and spent the evening visiting with Grammy & Terry and Aunt Mandy & Uncle Nick.

 
 
Sean colored Easter eggs for the first time, completely in awe of the white egg coming out different colors.  Nick worked quite diligently on each of his amazing works of art.  In the end, we had lots of eggs for the Easter Bunny to hide!  After Sean headed to bed, we played Mad Gab, which is a really fun game, once you get your violent tendencies out in the open.  Ahem.

On Easter morning, we got up and went to Easter Services at Trinity Episcopal Church, the church that Trey's mom and uncles grew up in.  The service was uplifting and wonderful, and Sean enjoyed it as well....as he bellowed "wwooaaahhh" throughout the sermon!

After we changed, we headed over to Aunt Jan and Uncle's John's for lunch.  


Oh, and we had a mini-birthday party for Baby Chase!  Chase turned two on March 19th, and he shared his dead-on impression of the Tipping Tractors from the Cars movie while opening presents!


Then we got pictures of the youngest Latta cousins - that's Sean, Mason and Chase - and then all the cousins (photo coming as soon as I can steal it from Mandy's blog!)

 
 
Sean had fun playing with Aunt Mandy, eating candy with Dad, playing with Uncle John, and eating more candy with Grammy!


After Aunt Jan's, we headed over to Poppa Latta's house for an Easter Egg Hunt for everyone!  That's Trey in the red hat holding Sean, Isabella in the dress and black jacket.  


In the end, we were all pooped....but at least Sean slept on the ride home!

Friday, March 21, 2008

Purina Farms....it's supposed to be fun.

Yesterday AM, the little boo and I headed out to Purina Farms, an interactive farm (owned by Nestle Purina) about 45 minutes away.  It was an adventure from the get-go.  We went with our MOPS group, and caravanned with Mandy & Jane from my table.  I set off without a change of clothes for Sean or lunch for either of us.  On my way to our meeting point, Jane calls in a panic wondering if I remembered directions.  Uh, apparently I forgot those too!  So Jane says she'll be a bit late while she reprints her.  

I continue to our rendevous point, a commuter lot at 94 & 40.  I'm shocked that Mandy isn't waiting for us, but wasn't smart enough to have her cell phone number on me.  After 15 minutes and still no Jane or Mandy, I step out of the van, and realize that there's another commuter lot across the Hwy!  I call Jane, and she informs me that she cruised right by the 94 exit and is already across the river in Chesterfield.  So she pulls over, and I head over to the other lot, where I find Mandy patiently waiting!  We're like The Three Stooges!  Eventually, we all get together and head out for the long drive.  

Once there, we're armed with our strollers, ready to have some fun!  And so was every school not on Spring Break, plus half of St. Louis that was on Spring Break.  The place is packed.  And we have strollers.....navigating the crowds.....on a farm.  Sean and Emma (Mandy's 17 month old) are cranky, and Jane's 3 year old, Sam, is running everywhere but where we are.  OMG, all three of us almost lost it ten times each.  At one point, I'm holding Sean, pushing the stroller, when I feel a warm wetness hit my side.  Sean has peed out of his diaper.  Remember the lack of extra clothes?  Yeah, that was important.  

So then I have a kid who I have to change out in the open, and put wet jeans back on him.  Oh, he was not pleased!  We avoided what was probably a very fun performance with the farm's show dogs, and decided to grab some lunch at the snack bar.  At least Sean enjoyed that.  We then finished the day with a wagon ride, which Sean was insisting he wouldn't like, but once we got going, he didn't cry or fuss - and at that point, I really didn't care if he liked it or not!  I know...Bad Mom!    

It was a day.  An exhausting day.  We thought the only way we could top it off was to head over to the Zoo after that, maybe finish the day at the Butterfly House.  But we headed home instead, where I fell asleep on the couch while Sean stayed up the rest of the day!  

 
Here's Sean in the Easter Village, checking out the baby chicks.  He thought all the animals were very cool, but wouldn't pet any of them.  He did expand his repertoire of animal sounds!

Monday, March 17, 2008

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Hope you all had a fun St. Pat's!  Love of love from the Latta's!

Sunday, March 16, 2008

February pics finally added!

Finally added all our pics from February to our Shutterfly site! You can always see our family photos by checking out the Shutterfly Photos link on the right, or check out the site right here!

Still working on updating the YouTube videos. Trying to get used to the iMovie program that came with the new Mac. It's does cool stuff - I just haven't figured it all out yet!

Thursday, March 13, 2008

Feelin' like a Real Housewife

Dealing with a difficult pregnancy, my hair stylist has cut back on her hours, and I suddenly found myself with three months worth of grey-infested, grown out roots.  Given that Ann won't be up to banging out some hair for me until the fall, I decided to try someone knew today rather than get mistaken for Emmilou Harris and Cousin Itt's love child.  What I didn't expect was that I would walk in a soccer mom with somewhat stringy, frizzed out off-color hair and walk out a Real Housewife.  As in Orange County.

Realize that my hair had fallen quite a bit by the time I got home and Sean and I preened in front of the webcam.  But you can still see that my hair is quite flippity....and multicolored....




I should also probably note that those last two are mostly to show off my cute-as-heck kid.  I know...you're jealous....

Wednesday, March 12, 2008

Proud Big Sis!

Yes, there's a proud big sis around these parts, but it's not Isabella - It's ME!

First off, I found out this week that my own kid sis, Jessica, is graduating from college this May Magna Cum Laude.  She graduates May 3rd with a Political Science degree from the University of Memphis, and I pretty much already knew she was a dork.  And now she's officially smarter than I am, since I only graduated Cum Laude...way too many years ago...

And the other kid sis in our lives, Mandy, found out that she is giving us a Neice this July!  Mandy and Nick are expecting Addison to arrive sometime in late July.  That'll mean a girl cousin for Sean and Isabella - and another princess in the family!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Long and stressful week

This past week has not been one of my favorites. It's been long and stressful, with drama entering my life from every angle, and me really not wanting to care, but someone now able to get over my compulsive need to please everyone. But there were glimpses of really fun family life over the past few days, so here we go....


Last Weds. night was Sean's first tumbling class. What a hoot! I was too in awe of it all to get any halfway decent photos, but here's Sean enjoying one of his two new favorites, walking on the balance beam.  He also loved the trampoline.  Actually, he loved it all, the little ham!


Saturday, we were up in Hannibal for Isabella's basketball game.  All that hard work for a tie, but we had fun cheering them on!


Here we are on Sunday at my Grandma's 80th birthday party.  GiGi, you look awesome and we love you!


Isn't this kid just too cute?  Don't mind the half naked girl in the background.....she decided she didn't want to be a princess anymore.  And yes, that's family friend Nate next to her, dressed as Tinkerbell.  Really, the photo's about my gorgeous kid, but there is some 'splainin' to do!

And tonight, Trey finished these awesome storage shelves in the part of our basement that will remain unfinished.  There's the little guy giving Daddy a hand!

And here's hoping that the next week kicks butt, rather than kicks my butt.

Thursday, March 6, 2008

Needing a Little Inspiration?

I received an email today from a very good friend, and not a friend who tends to get sappy! So when Renee says here's something amazing, I know it really must be!

This may be the most inspirational thing I've ever seen. If you are a regular Oprah watcher, you have probably already seen this.

NOTE: This is 11 1/2 minutes long. Set aside the time to watch - it is worth it.
Randy Pausch reprising his "Last Lecture"

Tuesday, March 4, 2008

When Life Gives You Lemons...

So two years ago this week, I was fired from my job. That's right, fired - not laid off or downsized. I was told I was not good at my job and that I was not needed anymore. Any shred of Ego I might have had was gone at that point. Also seven months pregnant, I felt like the rug had been pulled out from under me in more ways than one.

But had it really? My work life had gone increasingly downhill since I had been promoted the summer before. Longer hours, significantly more stress, no direction and mixed signals from my supervisor, plus the realization that I was going to be a mom working 50+ hours a week. As the pregnancy progressed, I went from "Yeah, I can do this" to "Well, maybe" to "There's NO Way!" But how would Trey and I survive on one income?

Isn't it amazing how God answers prayers? I was let go with three months severance, plus I could claim unemployment. That allowed me to not worry about any of that until after Sean was born. And when that miracle showed up on May 16, all of my previous concerns were gone. I didn't know how we were going to do it, but I knew that we could.

And the job I was fired from? Well, I may have heard that there may have been an admission that I may have been missed. While I knew it wasn't me, it did feel good to hear that they knew it wasn't all me either.

And rather than busting my ass for an underappreciative boss who underpays me, I get to spend my days like this.....



Watching Sean marvel in one of the first Spring days of the year, taking in the grass, the sun, the wind, the airplanes. Running through the yard and playing ball. No paycheck is worth missing this.

Saturday, March 1, 2008

A Mom's Friday Night

Remember when Friday nights were about going out at 10pm, pre-drinking before you went out to the bars, dancing, and saying "Woo Hoo!" a lot?  

Well, my Friday's have definitely changed.  Take last night for instance.  Sean, Trey and I loaded into the van and headed across the bridge into West County to deliver a dog crate we sold on Craigslist to a very excited dog owner.  After that, we headed over to Sweet Tomatoes, an awesome soup and salad buffet (am I aging myself just saying that?).  Sean was quite finicky about dinner, turning down all of his normal favorites for a plate of oyster crackers.  Then it was dessert time, and much to my dismay, the soft serve ice cream machine was broken!  Ack!  What's an ice cream lover to do?

So I decided to introduce my boy to Jello.  As he sat on Daddy's lap, Sean delighted at the sight of it as I brought it back to the table.  We got a big "Yum!" when he tasted it, and spent the next 20 minutes watching Sean enjoy Jello for the first time, trying to figure out how to get it on the spoon, and once it was on the spoon, how to keep it on until it was in his mouth.  Completely new experience for Sean and just delightful to watch as a parent.

This is my new Friday night experience.  And I wouldn't trade it in for the old days for anything!

p.s. I would have loved to have captured a photo of this moment, however, I have been carrying a camera around with a dead battery most of this week.  I'm charging the battery now!

Presidential Respect

So my very opinionated, yet very loved, younger sister posted this rant on her Here's What Happened blog this week.  And while there are many things we don't agree on (including presidential candidates this year), she and I definitely agree on this.

Long story short.....forwarded chain emails are not the source we should turn to for news and information on this year's (or any year's) crop of presidential candidates.  They are inflammatory at best and downright lies at worst, and should be deleted, not sent on to all our friends.  No matter your politics, all four candidates deserve much more respect than that.