The Convience of Shopping Online

So this is my story of Site to Store shopping to the Seminole OK Walmart as we know the entire point of online shopping is the convience:

I am more than a little frustrated at this point.  It took 2 trips to pick up my new purple crock pot as the lady at site to store told me it wasn't in the first time.  I then called back and another person told me it was in.  So, we return to the store the next day (it's about 25 miles round trip for us) to be told it wasn't there again.  I insisted that they double check.  Sure enough, it was there.  Finally get it home, and guess what?  It's damaged.  One of the rivets on the foot is broken off already.  That means repacking it and a 3rd 25 mile trip and an alternate plan for dinner tonight as I crock pot cook a lot! 

Also, when I picked up the climber for the kids the day before, there was a large hole in the side of the box. I am hoping that nothing fell out and the item is complete (as assembly is required). Plus, the stocker that helped take the climber to the car was dressed in a tshirt that read "I'm pretty good at drinking beer". I'm sure that is just the corporate image Walmart wants to project!

This is not the first issue I have had with site to store at this location.  It is extremely frustrating to deal with!  At Christmas, my sister ordered a swing for my children and had it shipped site to store as well.  When I arrived to pick it up, it couldn't be found.  They said the only thing they could do was refund the money to my sister and let her reorder.  Instead I had my sister send us a gift card for the purchase price and the kids got a picture of a gift for Christmas because thanks to the Seminole OK store, there was no swing.  

 Every time I try to pick something up at this location it takes forever!  I have been told under no circumstances am I to order anything else to the Seminole store.  This is so ridiculous!  The next closest store is in Shawnee and about 40 miles round trip for us! I thought shopping online and picking up in store was supposed to make buying from Walmart easier.  I have found it to be anything but.  Very disappointing!

Following Promptings

I have done so poorly about updating my blog lately!  I better get better at this.  Let's start with some updates:


Houston is a potty training champ!  He is even staying dry at night.  Our biggest obstacle has been learning not to tinkle on ourselves when we use the regular potty.  Last night we had our first victory at that!  I haven't even approached the stand and aim idea yet, but he does super good sitting.

I have felt prompted to make getting completely our of debt a top priority.  It will mean some sacrifices, but I know that in the end it will be well worth it!  Currently, we have no mortgage on the house, but we have a huge amount of credit card debt, and a note on our van.  We believe that with some hard work, we can be debt free in 3 years.  So, that is our new goal.  Our first hurdle will be taking our tax refund and using it to pay off some debt instead of as play money.  And, we will also be tightening our budget and trying to put some into savings every month.  This is something we have never done!   I will try to keep you updated on our progress.  Perhaps that will help keep me on track?

Veggie Heaven

We have discovered Indian food!  I know a lot of people eat it but I never had.  We had looked for places that ranked well in the vegetarian community and tried the top rated one on the list.  I completely see the appeal!  There was a lot of spice and new flavors.  I must admit before this experience I was really having my doubts as to whether or not we could do this.  But, through this experience I was able to see that vegetarian cuisine could be more than fruit and salad.  I am so excited.  Can't wait to see what else we discover along this journey!

Jumping In Both Feet

Well, so much for the take it slow and easy transition route.  We have de-meated the house.  We gave away around 25 bags of groceries to our friends including 15 bags just from our freezer!  I didn't realize how much stock we had.  My freezer now looks pitifully bare.  Oh well, now I know exactly how much space I have to refill.  It only took about 6 months the first time so I am hopeful that we can do it even faster this time.  An empty freezer and light cabinets make me nervous.

So, we have been totally free of eating beef, pork, and poultry for 3 days now.  I know it doesn't sound like a lot now, but it's a great start.  I am really excited to see how this progresses.

Houston is Sharing...

Everything!  He is getting the little brother he wants.  Well, at least he wants him now, it may be a different story once he is here, lol.  They said Rex looks good, but they didn't get as good of pictures of his heart as they would have liked (more on that in a moment), so I go in for a repeat ultrasound in 4 weeks.

On the down side of today, I met one of the rudest doctors I have ever encountered.  He was the "high-risk doctor for the diagnosics center (they do all the ultrasounds)Ugh!  According to him, since this will be my 4th c-section, it should be my last.  Is this based on something he saw in the ultrasound, some medically based concern for me, Albrecht, or a future baby?  Nope, it's based totally on his view that 4 c-sections is too many.  Oh, and that I'm fat.  According to him, the only way they could have gotten good pictures of the heart "based on how far along [I am] and [my] size" is if the baby had been laying flat on his back face up toward my belly button with his arms spread out.  Okay, I know I'm not a doctor, but I have had an ultrasound or 2, lol.  I have never been told there was a problem seeing anything because of my size, and I have been bigger.  And, as far as how far along I was, his office knew my due date, and they are the ones that scheduled the appointment based on a recommendation from my own OB.

I pointed out to Dr. Rude that would discuss whether or not I could safely have more with my doctor. He stated that any church that advocated the continuation of procreation at the risk of fetal or maternal injury should be ashamed and anyone who belonged to such a religion should find a new church. Let me first point out that although we believe in the commandment to be fruitful and multiply, I have never found anyone in the Church that feels that means to the detriment of mother and/or child. In fact I have heard just the opposite over and over again.

I would like to say that I have already talked to my doctor about this very concern.  His opinion (and this is the one I will follow!) is that we should watch this pregnancy progress, see if there are any problems as we move forward, and assess whether future children would be safe as we near the end of the pregnancy.  He says that for some women 2 is too many, but he has seen women have 6 or more with no issues.

Anyway, there was more to our conversation that I will not go into, the end result being that he's a rude jerk, thinks no one should ever have more than 3 csections, and perhaps fat women should not be allowed to get pregnant at all.  Of course, I'm summarizing. 

Oh well, it can't all be sunshine and rainbows I guess.  And the important thing for today, is that I currently have a healthy looking baby and everything looks good with me so far.  I'll try to just smile and be patient when I have to deal with Dr. Rude (remember repeat ultrasound in 4 weeks), ignore him and continue to listen to the doctor I respect and trust!