Laden with Thoughts

It’s officially January 19, 2008. My boy is 2 years old today.

His Auntie Kelly recently asked him, “Liam, why are you so cute?” His answer: “Da Momma is cute!”

I love you, my monkey, my boy. Happy Birthday.

Liam, walking into the kitchen where I am cooking, with two crackers in his hands: “I have two crackers!”

Me: “Yes, you do. Good counting.”

Liam studies the crackers. After a moment, looks up and asks: “Honey, do you want a bite?”

Success! Today I earned a wink from a male who was touring our office building.

AND I WASN’T EVEN WEARING A GIRDLE.

Nope, just good ol’ control top panty hose.

Panty hose: 1
Girdle: 0

Tonight I was feeling motivated to cook (which is rare now that the kids keep me busy) but we don’t have much in the house food-wise. I rummaged in the freezer and found some small chuck steaks, and in the crisper was an unopened package of baby carrots. Victory! The result was actually pretty tasty, and it only took about 20 minutes to prepare and cook.

Broiled Steaks:

4 small chuck steaks
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp kosher salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp italian seasoning

Turn on broiler. Place steaks on an aluminum foil covered broiling pan. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and italian seasoning evenly over steaks. Drizzle on the olive oil and worcestershire sauce. Broil for 5-10 minutes depending on thickness of steaks and desired pinkness.

Honey-Glazed Baby Carrots:

1 bag baby carrots
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp honey
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

In a steamer over boiling water, steam baby carrots for 8-10 minutes (or until tender). In a pan, melt butter and honey together. Add salt and pepper. Once sauce is warm, add steamed carrots and stir until carrots are coated evenly and heated through.

Edited to add: Please note the lack of starch in this meal. I don’t want to be wearing a girdle forever, you know.

This just in:

Girdles don’t protect you when you slip and fall on icy cement steps.

Ice: 1
Girdle: 0

Tonight I was intending to write out a long, philosphical essay about my recent thoughts on life. Now that I’m here though… I don’t know what to say.

Life makes me tired. And I’m confused about things I’ve always thought myself to be sure of. We’re wasting our time down here, you know? We could be doing so much good. Taking so many chances. Trusting solely in God and leaving our foolish doubts and ideas behind.

Of course, when I say “we”, I mean “I”. I’m ashamed.

But that doesn’t mean I’m going to do anything about it.

Every summer I look forward to the beginning of one of my favorite television shows in eager anticipation: BIG BROTHER!

Who else watches this show? (Geof, you don’t need to answer that. Hehe.) There’s something so interesting about locking 13 or 14 people into a house for an entire summer and watching them interact, create and destroy relationships, and basically try their best to function as if they are living in a completely normal situation. And of course, there’s the added drama of asking these “houseguests” to vote out one of their own each week.

This year, I went the extra step and subscribed to the 24/7 online Big Brother feed. I am actually quite ashamed, yet I can’t stop watching. One thing I’ve discovered: a creepy feeling comes over me while I’m watching these people do normal things, like fold clothes or get ready for bed. While I know that’s the point of the whole show, to watch these people live their lives, and while I know they know they’re being watched at all times… I still feel like a gross person.

But… I can’t look away! This morning while feeding Maeve (5:30am my time, 2:30am Big Brother time) I watched the houseguests go to sleep (in my defense, several of them were whispering about strategy after the lights were out) while Evil Dick was outside in the courtyard, chainsmoking and playing croquet. He was also unabashedly farting and burping.

Yep, folks, that’s what I’ll pay $14.99 to see. A 40-something year old rocker farting and talking to himself while playing croquet in an Alice in Wonderland themed courtyard. I am a creepy stalker.

And proud of it.

A good friend of mine (my maid of honor, actually) had a baby girl in April. She sent me an email today about the joys of being a mother… including the first time her daughter laughed.

When Liam laughed for the first time it was the best noise I had ever heard. It’s so amazing to see them learning and experiencing the fun things in life. For example, yesterday Liam and I spent an hour watching a housefly buzz around the living room. Liam was ENTHRALLED. He chased it around, pointing and shouting, “DA BUGGIE! DA BUGGIE! IT’S DA BUGGIE!” Seriously… it was the best part of my day.

I got an email from www.babiesrus.com today regarding my refund. They are going to process a credit to my account… for the wrong amount (about $40 less than I’m due).

:SWEARWORDS:

Damnit. I’ll take what I can get, and get the rest later through the BBB.

Apparently my tale of woe was noticed by the illustrious BuzzCustomer.com site. I got a mention in their latest blog entry.

Here is a transcript of the complaint I filed this weekend with the Better Business Bureau. I will never, ever, buy anything from www.babiesrus.com again.

At the end of August 2006 I ordered a child carseat for my 8 month old son from www.babiesrus.com. I paid $269.99 plus tax and shipping and handling charges. On September 7th I received a package from www.babiesrus.com containing a carseat, but it was not the seat I had ordered. My husband and I drove to the nearest Babies R Us store (Shopper’s World in Framingham, MA) to return the seat but were told that because the store didn’t carry that seat they were unable to take it and we would have to call the customer service number. We went home and I immediately called the customer service line (800-TOYSRUS) and explained the situation. The girl I spoke with told me I had to place a second order for the correct seat and in the meantime ship back the incorrect seat and when they received it back I would be refunded my initial money. I placed a second order for the seat I wanted and asked when it would arrive. She told me I would receive it October 3rd. I asked to speak with a supervisor so that the seat could be expedited to me as I wasn’t willing to wait a month when it was their error in the first place. After about 25 minutes of discussion they agreed to overnight the seat. I had to pay for the extra shipping but they told me I would be credited back the shipping cost. I received the carseat on September 11th but I had not yet received credit for the shipping cost. I called the customer service line again to ask why I had not received my credit. I was told a supervisor would look into it and call me back. I waited for a day and received no phone call. I called again that evening and was told no one remembered speaking to me. After much discussion they finally agreed to send an inquiry to the credit department about my shipping credit. The credit was finally given to me a week later.

Meanwhile we had shipped the incorrect carseat back to Babies R Us on September 9th, but as of September 27th had not received our refund for the initial purchase. My husband called that evening and asked why we had not been credited, they told him they would look into it and call him right back. We received no phone call. After waiting several days and hearing nothing, I called back on Monday Oct 2nd and demanded to know why we hadn’t heard anything. The girl I spoke to (Fran) was very kind and researched our order. She told me the carseat was received back at their warehouse on Sept 13th. I asked why we had not received our credit yet (over $300!). She said she would send a “reminder email” to the credit department for us and gave us a confirmation number. She said we would receive an email from the credit department by Friday afternoon (Oct 6th). It is now the night of Oct. 5th and we have heard nothing.

We are SO FRUSTRATED with this company, their return/refund policies, and their very poor customer service practices. We are expecting that we will not receive any word from Babies R Us by tomorrow evening and will have to call AGAIN. Why do we have to suffer because of their error? When I initially called to tell them of their error they should have apologized (which no one did) and immediately sent us the seat we wanted in the first place. If that had happened, everything would have been resolved as of September 13th.

After I filed this complaint, I actually called the customer service line one last time on Oct. 6th to inform them that I had given up hope and was attempting to get my money back through the Better Business Bureau. The girl on the line said, “Oh yeah, I totally understand, do what you have to do!”. Uh huh, thanks lady, I will. She looked into why I hadn’t received an email yet and told me that the reason it was taking so long was because it was a large dollar item, so certain people had to approve the refund before it went through. I told her I knew it was a lot of money which is why I WOULD LIKE IT BACK. She said she knew the person who had to approve the refund and she would track him/her down and have her take care of it right away. She told me I would receive my email confirming my refund over the weekend.

I still have heard nothing.