identity theft

Apparently, I have been the victim of identity theft. Someone decided to deposit two bad checks in my account and then immediately take a withdrawl.

They also tried to open a Wal-mart credit card in my name but they were rejected. I am trying to imagine what they might have been eyeing at Wal-mart when they decided to open the said line of credit.

Perhaps one of these:

The toothbrush that puts hit music in your mouth. I don't know about you but my kids just love them!

I feel a little bad to have spoiled someones fabulous shopping spree with that fraud alert on my credit report. With the money they stole from my checking acount they won't be able to get the 50" Pioneer plasma but they might be able to swing the 42". Happy viewing identity theif. Just know that the singing toothbrush will not be on me.

Tagged

I was recently tagged by Denise. Thank You. Here it goes. Five things people might not know about me:

1. I am a closet perfectionist but not a great organizer. I had to bury my perfectionist tendencies years ago because of small apartments and small children.


2. If you count all the steps and halfs, I actually have nine siblings.


3. In high school I won a state-wide short story contest with a tale about a dead cat.


4. I love animals but I'm allergic to dogs and cats. I especially like rabbits and little chubby birds.


5. I have a quirky sense of humor.

"There is nothing as inherently unequal as the equal treatment of unequals." — Thomas Jefferson

Harlem Globetrotters

We enjoyed a fast-paced game last night at The Garden. The favorite team won a close game against the New York Nationals. Some of our favorite plays were the "steal the purse from the lady on the front row," and "throw the bucket of confetti on the crowd."

We had great half-court seats. Emily thought the seats would be better under the basket (I suspect she wanted to get hit with confetti.

This is three kids hopped up on cotton candy at 10:00 at night. I hope sugar doesn't effect memory or all these excursions will be blotted from their minds.

I don't know that they will be able to view a regular game the same again. I don't think you could take kids to NBA games if they mic'd the players to hear the game dialogue. And I'm not sure a player could stay in the game after spanking the ref with a powdery hand or stealing his whistle to make his own calls.

Some tips if you plan to take in a game on the National Tour.

• Arrive on time. The game does not take as long as a regulation game and if you miss the first quarter, you've missed a quarter of the fun.
• Don't buy the cotton candy with the Knicks hat attached. The kids in front of us were wearing them and Emily had a hard time seeing past them. Besides if you buy the regular cotton candy you can share a bag and have some to spare. If you buy the one with the hat you have to buy one for each child. Is that really necessary?
• Be prepared to explain the difference between an exhibition game and a regulation game to your child who wonders why they don't use trampolines to dunk in the NBA.
• Have a great time. It's a fun show.

Reward Board Follow-up

We are on week two of the reward board and the novelty has not worn off. I thought I'd add a few chore ideas that have been working for us.

• empty dishwasher
• load dishwasher
• take out garbage
• take out recycling
• make bed
• brush hair (it requires points to make it more exciting)
• brush teeth
• homework
• dusting
• exercises
• practice violin
• tongue depresser (Hunter has to use it for his underbite, if he can fix it himself with the tongue depresser then we can use the money we would have spent on orthodontics to take a nice vacation! Orthodontists idea, not mine)
• get ready for tomorrow (includes laying out weather appropriate clothing, making sure you can find hat and mittens, packing backpack and taking lunch box to kitchen.)

There is also a section that autopays allowance once a week. It has a section to put a savings goal. Samuel decided to save for a candy bar. He exceeded his goal after the first week. I think I'm going to save for my dream home. So at $3.00 per week, how long will it take me to save a nice down payment?

Hunter has now entered the blog world. I put a link to his site if anyone is interested. So far it is all about the books that have become the air he breathes.

My Reward Board

I found this great new software to motivate kids to do their chores. We are still trying the free trial but so far it works great!

Bah Humbug

Every Christmas when all the lovely cards and brag letters start rolling in I spend about three days in a minor depression. Maybe depression is too strong, more of a funk, a little blue. I look at other people's idealized lives and I examine my own and I am admittedly, a little harsh. It takes the said three days to finally talk it over with my loving and understanding husband who inevitably debunks the mystery and convinces me that everyone else's life sucks just as much as mine and then I feel infinitely better.

Do you ever have days when you just are a little down. A little critical of yourself?

Yea, me either.

blog challenged

I am blog impaired. Honestly, I am trying. I used to think I was computer savvy. Not anymore. I think I might wait a few years and just have my kids do it for me. That would probably be faster. Is this a trial and error thing or do you all know about a tutorial that I don't?