Remember that Prius we went on the waiting list for back in July? Well, we had one false start about 3 weeks ago when they told us our car was in. However, when we got there, it was the wrong car completely! Needless to say, we were not happy campers. However, there really wasn’t much we could do besides complain. Well, we got a phone call today (after we noticed the missing mailbox — see post below), and guess what they said? No, it wasn’t for discount furniture. Our new car was in! I was still a little nervous that it was going to be the wrong one again. However, it was the right one! Though things weren’t as smooth as it seemed. The car actually came in yesterday, but our sales guy doesn’t work on Fridays. When they logged the car into the system, they actually mixed up our car with another blue Prius that came in today. Now, our sales guy called and said it was here quite early this morning. I was out and had to come back home. We then fed the kids breakfast, and took them over to Grandma’s house. In the meantime, the dealership was looking for our missing car. From the sounds of things, they had found it shortly before we got there. I can only imagine how bad our salesguy was freaking out. All in all though – we got the car we wanted with the package we wanted. We are happy campers. It was too darn cold to take pictures today, so hopefully I will get a chance to get it up tomorrow.
Posts Tagged ‘call’
Good week, good times, New York Times
Monday, November 17th, 2008Last week was a pretty good week. My week started off with an email from a New York Times reporter wanted to interview regarding a post I wrote about Amazon’s frustration free packaging. Once I picked myself up off the floor, I emailed him back and told him it was okay to call. I had a great conversation with their technology reporter, and I went on my merry way. Seriously, my heart was beating about 400 miles an hour while this was going on. I asked for him to let me know when it gets printed, and I thought that was the end of it.
On Thursday, I was super surprised to get a call from the New York Times again! This time they wanted to send a photographer to my house to get pictures of me and my kids! I ended up with 2 hours to get me and the kids ready and clean the house. It went well, I think, and I hope to find out soon when the article will get printed.
I feel incredibly blessed right now even though my mom is teasing about when Oprah is going to be calling. 
The Power Of Parents
Friday, November 14th, 2008
It is amazing that we are given this little gift of life without a handbook. We try our best to keep them safe. However, there are some things as parents we should know. I was lucky enough to be invited onto a phone call with the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children and learned a lot of information about keeping my kids safe. My goal is let you know what I have learned, so your children don’t become a statistic.
Did you know that most abduction attempts occur after school? It is usually between the hours of 2 pm – 7 pm. Almost half of nonfamily abduction attempts happen when a child is walking to or from school (or some related school activity).
Did you know that the majority of children affected by abduction attempts are girls between 10 – 14?
Did you know that only 58% of parents have talked to their children about this?
This is scary information. I remember when I was a kid, and I could go play outside myself. Now, I would never let my kids outside by themselves! I am so glad to see that Duracell and The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) have teamed together to give us parents a handbook to start a conversation with our children. Best of all, this is free of charge! The Child Safety Handbook can be downloaded right from the linked site.
Now, we were able to ask questions and mine revolved around what to tell my 4 year old daughter. I don’t want to scare her, but I also don’t want to not have this conversation with her. The advice I was given for her age is that we really need to get away from “stranger danger”. The problem with stranger danger is that it portrays strangers as these scary bad people, and that is not what strangers look like. We need to talk about the situations that have been tried and are effective — like the puppy trick. We need to teach our children that it is okay to say no to stranger and that if an adult needs help, they will ask another adult, not a child. Our response cannot be fear based, and we must also reassure our children.
I highly recommend downloading that handbook. You will find a ton of helpful information no matter how old your child is. The Power of Parents Child Safety Handbook provides safety tips from the experts at NCMEC for four age groups: infant to toddler, ages 4-6, ages 7-11, and ages 12-17. The handbook outlines age-appropriate tips and scenarios that parents need to be aware of, as well as some outside influences that may be impacting their child’s actions. If reading this handbook could potentially save your child, it is well worth taking the time to download and read it.
Alzheimer’s Memory Walk
Tuesday, July 22nd, 2008
As many of you may know, the Alzheimer Association is a cause that is near and dear to my heart. I know too many people that have had such a horrible disease. It truly steals who you are right out from underneath you. My mom figures that her dad (my grandfather) had it. I have several great aunt and uncles that have had it also. More recently, Bill’s grandmother had it. Bill and I have been together 12 years, and I never got to know her before she got Alzheimer’s. She passed away about a year or so ago, but I missed out on meeting one remarkable lady. She was blind; yet, she didn’t let it stop her. She had 5 children and she ran the Chicago division of the Guild For The Blind. She wrote many books too. I also have an uncle now that they aren’t sure if it’s Alzheimer’s or dementia that he has. His kids (my cousins) had to put him in a nursing home since he can no longer stay by himself. As you can see, this is a disease that certainly has hit close to home here.
Again, this year, the Alzheimer’s Association will be having their Memory Walk. This is the nation’s largest event to raise awareness and funds for Alzheimer care, support and research. They are putting the call out for people to walk and be team captains this year. The Alzheimer’s Memory Walk should be taking place in the fall somewhere close to you (they have walks scheduled all over the nation — 600 communities total). The walk is about 2-3 miles.
Please consider being a captain or a walker for such a great cause. If you are unable to do that, please consider donating to a walker who is walking for such a great cause!
