“Mommy Blogging” Equals Mommy Spring Break? Shame on You Wall Street Journal

April 26, 2013 By 5 Comments

Wall Street Journal Mommy Blogger Article

My fellow “mommy bloggers” and I just returned from LA after covering one of the most amazing movie premiere events this season. Yes, we chatted with Hollywood A-Listers, ate delicious food, and enjoy getting glammed up, but the number one priority was doing our job!

Why am I sharing this? Well, I came home today after an amazing trip for mom bloggers, and read an AWFUL article by the Wall Street Journal entitled “The Mommy Business Trip.” This article describes mom bloggers and the conferences we attend each year as part of our business as mommy spring break! (I use “describes” very loosely)

Wall Street Journal Mommy Blogger Article

The author, Katherine Rosman, equates blogging conferences that focus around women as one step above the spring breaks we all used to love when we were in college. There is even an amazingly distasteful graphic depicting mom bloggers sleeping in, raiding mini bars, and acting like mommy bloggers gone wild.

The irony of this article is that on our way home some of my mom blog friends and I were talking about just this subject. Why is it that so many outlets seem to use “mommy blogger” as a bad word? So many wonderful public relations firms seem to realize the passion and drive behind women whom blog, while others seem to think we are a group of women that have no lives or ideas outside of our children or families. To some it seems that we use blogging as a way to get free swag, trips, and attention.

Because of this connotation I didn’t like identifying myself with the “mommy blogger” title. Crunchy Frugalista is an amazing community that I have spent thousands of hours writing, researching, networking, and building up over the last few years. It’s not just some whim for my family and I to get free swag. Yes, I consider it my fourth child, but that’s because each and every day I give birth to the inspiration and ideas that grace the pages of this community.

Yes, I am a mother. Yes, I am a blogger, and neither of those should be looked upon as a bad thing. Because I work from home, I am excellent in time management, priorities, goal setting among a slew of other skills that would be highly praised in the corporate world.

Through meeting other amazing women, I have been able to develop my networking skills and have built a powerful network of friends of talented women. This networking has made my community, my business, stronger and stronger every day. If I were a man with my own business, this would be considered a shrewd business skill. Why is it because I am a woman and have children that I am discounted as a mini bar raider and a mooch looking for a free vacation away from my kids?

The Wall Street Journal should be ashamed of themselves, as a top business periodical, pushing stereotypes and making insinuations that are judgemental and not true.

This “mommy blogger” is 100% PROUD to accept the title of mom blogger and am thankful every day for the amazing opportunities that I have created for myself and my family that the corporate world could not offer me. We are a strong, powerful business and marketing force that should be praised for our ingenuity and our perseverance despite extremely busy lives. Shame on you Wall Street Journal for inaccurately portraying an amazingly talented population of women, and I hope that you are never in need of our services one day as you don’t deserve the talent that we possess.

Mom Bloggers Out There: How Do You Feel About this Article? Women Readers: What Do You Think About Moms Being Discounted by WSJ?

 

As a matter of principle, I am not linking back to the Wall Street Journal. Feel free to Google the title if you would like to read it for reference.

Filed Under: Rants

Do You Think It’s Fair to Pay What You Weigh When You Fly?

April 23, 2013 By 2 Comments
Pay What You Weigh on Airlines

There have been a lot of rumors circulating about airlines starting to charge customers by their weight due to the increased cost of airline fuel. With the increased costs, I get the fact that airlines are trying to find any and every way to turn a profit, but THIS idea (or even the fact it is an idea) has by FAR gone TOO far!

Our culture is already obsessed with being thin! We are reminded of our inadequacies on every newstand, every fashion show, and every talk show telling us 15 ways to lose 20 pounds in 2 days. As a woman with some junk in the trunk, I find it completely APPALLING that airlines are thinking about stooping to this new low.

Pay What You Weigh on Airlines

According to Yahoo News, Samoan Airlines has already started to charge passengers by their weight. Customers are required to guesstimate their weight and the weight of their bags. Then upon arriving at the airport they and their luggage are weighed to confirm their estimate! Granted this is an airline in Samoa, but rumors of this being tossed around by US airlines has been circulating the airwaves for the past few years.

Can you imagine it in the United States? You walk up to the airport they ask you for your tickets, if you are checking any bags, and if you can stand on that nifty little scale right next to the check in counter? This is one woman that would definitely NOT be happy!

I wouldn’t be happy because at the moment I am a bigger gal.  I would be angry because of the inferences that it would be saying to larger passengers. By charging more expensive fairs for heavier passengers it would push even more travelers out of the market (meaning they couldn’t afford to fly), and I don’t know about you but that would tell me that they don’t care if they get my business or not.

It would be the indirect way for airlines to say “lose some weight fatty” if you want to be able to travel this year! How could you not take that personally. It’s already uncomfortable sitting in super small seats that only people with a size six butt fits in comfortably. (which for the record, I am sitting in right now as I write this post)

So, Crunchy readers what are your thoughts? For clarification we are talking about paying what you weigh when you still fit in your own seat, not buying an extra seat if you are a size that requires two seats to fit you.

Would you be comfortable jumping on a scale during the check in process of your next flight? Would you rather pay a little bit extra per ticket to avoid the pay what you weight some airlines are considering?

 

Filed Under: Rants Tagged With:

Why You Should Be Ticked About the Passage of the Monsanto Protection Act!

March 28, 2013 By 2 Comments
Monsanto Protection Act

Normally we don’t cover political topics here at Crunchy Frugalista, but this is a topic that you should really know about. You need to know why you should be TICKED about the new law: The Monsanto Protection Act!

First, a little background. For those that don’t know Monsanto is a huge company that helped to bring about genetically modified food, aka GMOs. GMOs are these really nasty critters that basically have built in pesticides in their DNA. (over simplified, but it’s the just of these nasty hybrids)

Monsanto Protection act

No Known Risks?

While the FDA, is telling us

“The agency is not aware of any information showing that foods derived by these new methods differ from other foods in any meaningful or uniform way.” In contrast, an internal FDA report stated, “The processes of genetic engineering and traditional breeding are different and according to the technical experts in the agency, they lead to different risks.”

Governments in Europe have BANNED the sale and growth of genetically modified foods. They realize the dangers that these crops pose not only to our health, but to cross contaminating our “organic” crops as well. If Europe gets it, why don’t we?

What the Monsanto Protection Act Protects? Guess What It’s Not YOU!

Yesterday, the Agricultural Appropriations Bill was signed into law. In this great new law is a section some are calling “Monsanto Protection Act”. Basically it takes away our right to sue companies, like Monsanto, that make genetically modified seeds if we become sick because of their products or other products that have been cross contaminated by GMOs. 

According to RT.com:

The rider, which is officially known as the Farmer Assurance Provision, has been derided by opponents of biotech lobbying as the “Monsanto Protection Act,” as it would strip federal courts of the authority to immediately halt the planting and sale of genetically modified (GMO) seed crop regardless of any consumer health concerns.

That means that even if they find that health problems are occurring, the federal courts don’t have the right to immediately stop the sale or making of GMO seeds! There is already so much junk in our food from lobbyists with legislators in their pockets that it is even more terrifying that we may have no recourse if these awful seeds make our families sick.

As a mom, I am beyond TICKED that this bill slipped silently through Congress. My daughter has severe food allergies, and it’s sickening that we can’t even trust our government to protect our children. As she has gotten sicker, her allergies are getting worse, and if we as parents can’t tell what’s in our food how can we keep our kids healthy?

The part that bites my buns is the fact that the government is taking away our CHOICE! I choose to know what is in my foods. Parents should have the right to CHOOSE healthy products for our kids. Because no labeling is required on GMOs, and we can’t stop the making of them they are binding our hands as parents!

Organics Might Be a Thing of the Past?!

Right now we choose to eat more organically because we know that they have to be regulated to get that label. With the widespread pandemic of cross-contamination of GMO seeds even organic farms might one day be a thing of the past, and this crunchy mama is NOT happy about it! It’s becoming harder and harder to find products in our food supply that haven’t eaten, been grown around, or contaminated by genetically modified crops.

Food Democracy

Crunchy Calls YOU to Stand Up

If you are as peeved as I am about this, please take the time to join Food Democracy Now, and sign a petition letting our legislators know we are fed up!

You can sign the petition on the Food Democracy Website. You can also copy a letter there, and send it to your own representative for your state!

What do you think about the passing of the Monsanto Protection Act?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

http://rt.com/usa/monsanto-congress-silently-slips-830/

http://action.fooddemocracynow.org/sign/stop_the_monsanto_protection_act/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/priya-advani/effects-of-genetically-modified-food_b_967667.html

Filed Under: Green Living, Rants Tagged With: ,

Instagram: Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife, Hide Your Photos?

December 18, 2012 By 6 Comments
Hide Your Kids

In the world of social media, you know you have to protect your information. Well, as much as you can anyway. As someone that uses social media religiously, you get used to the CONSTANT changes, a la Facebook, across the social media platforms. What I wasn’t prepared for was for them to tell me they were going to start stealing my images. (It makes it all better if they tell me they are stealing them right?)

Hide Your Kids

Hide Your Kids, Hide Your Wife, Hide Your Photos?

What the heck am I talking about, you ask yourself? According to Cnet.com, unless current Instagram users delete their photos BEFORE 1/17/13, users are giving permission for Instagram to sell your photos for commercial work. That’s right they are going to SELL YOUR PHOTOS! The worst part is if you don’t delete your photos before the deadline, there is NO WAY that you can NOT give permission. As of 1/17/13, your photos are their photos as far as Instagram and Facebook are concerned!

Think it just affects bloggers and social media mavens? Think this is just something that affects bloggers? WRONG! Just think about all those cute family photos in your account. How would you feel if Susie became the new poster child for her favorite cereal brand, WITHOUT EVEN KNOWING IT. Yup, your kids mug slapped all over merchandise across the country and you were never asked permission. Don’t know about you, but that creeps me out.

Your Pictures for All the World to See?

What about that uber cute picture of Sally on her 3rd birthday or those pictures of your trip to Hawaii? Yep, they are ALL going to be fair game for the commercial world to use. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want my children’s pictures available for the world to pay for. (See above creepy remark)

This whole thing is really sad, because it’s no longer about the user experience. It’s about the bottom line; the almighty dollar! Ever since Facebook became a publicly offered company, their user experience has gone downhill. Now with their acquisition of Instagram, they are going to have more people jump ship than the R.M.S Titanic.

Instagram was the neat place that people  could share just a snippet of their lives. A place that with little effort you could share amazingly inspiring photos. It was a great way to instantly share your photos with friends and family that followed you. It alleviated the obligation to email everyone those photos of little Jimmy’s birthday.

Abandon Ship, and Save Those Photos

Well, I have to say that I am one of those Instagram users that will be heading for the life boats, and this gal is taking her photos with her! Have lots of photos that you LOVE on Instagram? Here is a step by step method to make sure you get copies of these photos before you delete them off of your account.

1. Head to the Instagram app on your phone.

Instagram is going to sell your photos

2. Hit the picture that looks like an index card (mine is in the bottom bar in the far right corner).

 

3. Once in your profile, hit the individual picture.

4. In the lower right corner, hit the elipses (three dots).;

5. Click share.

Instagram

6. Then share your picture to yourself. I suggest email or messaging it to your phone. That way you know it’s not going to get used on Facebook etc.

7. Repeat until all your pictures are stored, and then delete away.

If that doesn’t work, you can always opt to share to Facebook, click on the actual photo, then right click and save to your PC.

Remember the deadline is 1/17/13! Make sure to delete your photos before then.

How do you feel about this change? Will you be deleting your photos?

Filed Under: Rants Tagged With: , ,

10 Ways a Physical Therapist is Like a Terrorist

December 13, 2012 By 20 Comments
Physical Therapy

During my long route to recovery, I must’ve missed the memo that physical therapist really stood for personal terrorist. Being all cooped up in the house over the last six months must’ve kept me out of the loop! Well, I definitely learned that message with first hand experience today with my first trip to physical therapy. Let us begin explaining this fun trip by looking at the definition of the word terrorist.

 

ter·ror·ist
/ˈterərist/
Noun
A person who terrorizes or frightens others.

Physical Therapy
Though my therapist was an awesome guy, with a wicked sense of humor I can assure the thought of a physical therapist does in fact frighten me. Let’s see exactly what 10 ways a physical therapist is like a terrorist.

1. They are experts in using the Vulcan death grip, and  then expect you to talk.

2. You follow their demands or they make you pay for it later.

3. They pretend to be your friend and then hit you where it hurts.

4. Just the sight of them causes instant fear and panic.

Physical Therapy is Like Terrorism

5. If demands aren’t met, they aren’t afraid to take hostages.

6. You never see the same one twice, to keep their identities safe.

7. They both tell you if you want what’s good for you, you will do as you are told.

8. You hate them both at first, but spend enough time with them and you begin to suffer from Stockholm Syndrome.

9.  After the pain subsides, they both leave you begging for mercy.

10. And finally, after you give them what they want, they still expect you to pay them.

 

 

What’s the difference between a therapist and a terrorist?
You can negotiate with a terrorist
~~ Rob the therapist

 

 

Filed Under: Rants Tagged With: , , ,

What do you do when your doctor rocks, but their billing department STINKS?!

December 5, 2012 By 16 Comments
Problems with billing office

Ever since moving to Indiana, my family has been blessed with an awesome family physician. She’s kind, caring, and understanding. Her entire office staff is absolutely amazing. She’s one of those doctors that you don’t mind spilling your dirty little health secrets too for fear of being judged. Yep, she’s that awesome!

Money Down the Toilet

We Heart our Doctor

We have been seeing her off and on for about three years now, and everything has been great. That was until recently. Don’t get me wrong, I still LOVE our family physician. Where my problem lies is with their billing department. They are the WORST people I have ever had to work with, and no that’s not because they want my money. It’s because they want the money that I DON’T OWE THEM. Let’s paint a hypothecial scenario to help you understand. Bear with me.

Crunchy sees the doctor three times in 2011. Crunchy’s medical plan says she owes about $50 for all three visits. Crunchy gets a bill for Dr. Y for almost $400 and asked to agree to a payment plan. Crunchy is in the middle of moving, so she figures the billing office must know what they are doing, right?! WRONG!

Billing Department = Spawn of Satan?

For fear of boring you to tears, that is the jist of the problem. I made over $225 worth of payments to this doctor’s office, when in reality I only owed them $50.45. My insurance company understands that. I understand that, but the only people that don’t seem to understand that is the billing office. EVERY SINGLE TIME I call, I am cut off or not listened too. All they keep telling me is that “we don’t see a credit owed.”

Problems with billing office

One time they told me the amount owed was due to deductible, which is why I believed their lie. Next time, they had no record of my calling at all. Then I was told that the claims got kicked back because they didn’t have a current copy of insurance card. Yet another rep told me they NEVER send claims with copies of the insurance cards.

Just writing this post, my blood pressure is starting to rise. Here’s a little background on me. I used to work for a health insurance company. It’s not like I don’t know the lingo or understand how claims processing works. That’s why I am so adamant on making sure I don’t pay more than I owe. (Granted this time I made a big booboo)

My Insurance Company ROCKS!

On  a positive note, I am so lucky that my husband’s insurance company is great. He has union insurance, and they have made countless phone calls to try and get this settled for me. They are always amazingly polite, and go the extra mile. Those folks all deserve raises. I  love it when my insurance department is willing to go three rounds with this stupid doctor’s office.

You want to know the funny part though? The doctor’s billing office was even rude to the insurance company! They cut her off and wouldn’t even let her to compare dates of service. All they kept saying was “we don’t see a credit owed.” (Well, there’s your problem genius!)

Insurance Company Fights

Now I am in a pickle. I absolutely love our doctor, and good doctors are really hard to come by. What do I do now? Do I try to find a new doctor because her billing department is rude and uncouth or do I suck it up and continue to fight to get my money back, but just keep better records of my explanation of benefits and payments?

Have you ever had a dispute with your billing that seemed to take years off your life. What would you do if you were in my situation?

 

 

 
Photo credit: Thomas Hawk / Foter / CC BY-NC

Filed Under: Rants Tagged With: , ,

Tis the Season for Pain in the Butt Bad Neighbors

December 1, 2012 By 10 Comments
Bad Neighbors

You guys know my neighbors are not my favorite people in the world, aside from one of my next door neighbors on the left. Well, the two to the right of me seem to be drinking the same kool-aid. I’ve already told you guys about the great adventure we had with the bully, the cops, and the animal control officer. (That’s sounds like a bad soap opera). Today I found out today that my neighbor RIGHT next to me thinks it’s ok to use his golf cart to cut through part of my yard and use the end of my driveway to access the road.

No Cranky Sally Here

First off, I am not one of those property line crazies that yells at random kids and pets if they set a foot on my property. I am usually pretty easy going. Where I get my panties in a wad is when my neighbors are either rude to my family and I or they go out of their way to ignore us. I get really cranky when on top of all that they  think it’s ok to use my property as a short cut. This guy almost has to go out of his way to get to my driveway. To show you my point, let’s reference my bad ass drawing skills below.

Bad Neighbors

As you can see by my AWESOME diagram, my neighbor has many ways that he can get to the road other than cutting across part of my yard and my driveway. Sure it’s a straight shot from his barn to the road the way he is going, but turning just 5 degrees to the right he could stay on HIS property.

In all honestly, it’s probably more the fact they have been jerk faces since we moved in a year ago that bugs me. Or maybe it’s the complete lack of consideration that irks me.  I like to the think the average adult wouldn’t think it is ok to cut across someone’s property in a golf cart, but hey maybe that’s just me.

My Momma Raised Me Right

I have cut through a yard or two in my life, but my momma raised me right. There is no way I would cut through a yard on a bicycle let alone at GOLF CART. That doesn’t even count the fact this guy is an ADULT not a kid just being silly cutting through a yard. Grrrr. I just wonder why these people seem to feel so entitled. They call it “their” cul-de-sac and tell my kids to go inside when they play. Now is it “their” portion of my driveway too? When does it end?

FORGIVE AND FORGET OR GET CRAFTY?

So help me out here Crunchy peeps.Talking to my neighbors does nothing, been there done that. Do I suck it up and be the better person or do I strategically plant some great looking garden statues laced with nails to convince this guy my driveway is not free road access?

Have you ever had a tiff with your neighbors? How did you handle it? What do you think I should do?

Filed Under: Rants Tagged With: , ,

When your school won’t stop bullying?! A Call to Arms!

November 16, 2012 By Leave a Comment
School lets bullying happen

You guys know that we have had problems with bullying in our neighborhood. Thank goodness for us it seems that it has died down for the time being, but I was really sad to hear my friend Sadie at Slapdash Mom was having similar problems.

The school year started off ok for her daughter, but very quickly so began having problems with bullies. Before the first quarter of the school year, Sadie had had a few visits to the principals office after NUMEROUS phone calls to plead for help. You know what she got? A big fat nothing!

We can’t prove it happened. No one else saw it. This is the blatant bull shit that she was fed by the school system. Anywhere her daughter turned she was getting bullied because, guess what, the bullies figured out they could get away with it.

Maybe when kids “snap” it’s not because they are “weak” and can’t handle it. It’s because the school system chooses to ignore the symptoms of bullying, sounds like my neighbors down the street.

As if it ignoring it wasn’t bad enough, Sadie’s daughter had an incident on the playground. Her and another child got into a verbal argument, and then end result was a swift kick in the nuts. You may not think it was the “right” thing for her to do, but you know what if I had dealt with everything that kid has I probably would have done it too!

School lets bullying happen

So what happened? She rode off doing a victory dance? Nope! The school system WROTE HER UP! Not only did they write her up, but they classified it as “sexual assault”. Let’s visit our dear friend Webster for a minute:

Illegal sexual contact that usually involves force upon a person without consent or is inflicted upon a person who is incapable of giving consent.

 

I am not a lawyer, but the whole intent about “sexual” assault is the nature in which someone is touched, not where. What if the bully had punched her, and the swift kick was the only means of escape. She wasn’t try to make an advance at the kid she would be trying to get away!

After a two second investiagtion they took the word of a gaggle of bullies, that she kicked him unprovoked, and now she is going to be disciplined. From my experience with my own kids, most bullies are VERY sly and cunning. It’s honest kids like ours that get caught because they just don’t think that way. Her only mistake was letting her feelings out on the playground in front of a lot of witnesses.

What would you do if your school failed to protect your child? Have you had problems like this before?

Let’s join forces and let the school superintendent know that bullying is NOT acceptable whether it’s in plain sight or behind closed doors!

 

 

Filed Under: Parenting, Rants Tagged With: , ,

Colorado Batman Shooting: What Is WRONG With this World?

July 20, 2012 By 3 Comments
Batman Shooting

Batman Shooting

A HORRIBLY SAD DAY IN COLORADO

Sometimes I wonder what is WRONG with this world! Last night during the premier of the new Batman movie a masked gunman threw tear gas and began shooting movie goers at a Aurora, Colorado theater. 12 people were killed and more were injured.

“She saw the exit door open and something was thrown across the screen, and then shooting started,” she told local NBC affiliate 9News television. “It was chaos.”

MOVIE TURNS INTO CHAOS

To add to the confusion, the gunman started shooting during a shooting scene during the film which further added to the confusion. This is truly a tragic event, and I am not sure what the heck people are turning into.

“Shortly after that we heard people screaming. Then they came on PA system and said everyone needed to get out,” the witness said.

I will admit I am a bit naive when it comes to violence, and such, but it is really terrifying that you might just lose your life for things like going to the movies. There are already so many ways that people die every day, why do some violent idiots have to make every day activities no longer safe?

THINKING OF THE VICTIMS AND THEIR LOVED ONES

My heart is just saddened at this travesty, and I my sympathy is with all the loved ones of those that were killed or injured. Please take a moment and leave a comment for the loved ones of those killed in today’s awful killings. Let’s keep them in our thoughts while they are trying to process the horrid thing that happened today.

Source: Reuters

Filed Under: Rants Tagged With: ,

Let’s Talk Serious about Women’s Underwear

June 25, 2012 By 11 Comments
bigbutt

Now that title has your attention, I have to tell you that there is a severe malady plaguing our local departments stores. It’s called big buttasaurus syndrome . It’s caused by too many nights out on the town, too little exercise, and too big of booties to fit in the regular department store underwear! I have to sadly admit that I suffer from big buttasaurus syndrome. Yesterday I found this out, and I was devestated!

Ok, so I am being a little dramatic, but shopping for underwear really made me think. Why the heck does any woman of size have to shop at Lane Bryant (don’t get me wrong love their stuff), while a lot of stores carry XXXXL men’s underwear? What the snuff is up with that? Before I go on, let’s look at a few figures.

According to WebMd:

  • The average American woman wears a size 12-14 dress size
  • Current Fashion Models are an average size ZERO
  • 50 years ago the average American woman wore a size 8
  • A size 8 50 years ago is a size 4 or less today

Let’s paint a picture for you. There I am in the lingerie department looking for new skivvies. I know the scale made me cry a few months back, but I am just a curvy girl. Shouldn’t be a problem finding cute undies? WRONG!!! As I cruise the aisles, I look for some cute designs and find that I fit in the measurements for 3XL underwear. Begrudgingly I grab a pack and try them on. My jaw hit the floor with they didn’t FIT!!!! I mean come on. I have put on a few pounds, but I don’t wear a XXXL in anything. Heck, I dont wear a XXL in anything! You know how embarrassing it was to have to go to the mall to get undies because my butt was too big?

What I don’t get is that society seems to be ok with men getting bigger and bigger, but if a woman is little bigger she has to make the walk of shame to the big girl store.  I am only 2 sizes bigger than the “average” American woman. So why is it that a man that is almost 3 TIMES the size of the average man can still shop for undies in a regular department store. How is this not crazy???

Those figures from WebMd  should really open your eyes. As we are making things smaller and smaller, our population gets bigger. Hmmmm, is there maybe a connection? I don’t think it’s just the super sized meals that are making our butts grow. How many of you head for the fridge when you feel bad? (Raises hand) Maybe because we spend less time loving who we are RIGHT NOW, we end up feeding our emotions and thus getting bigger!

So all you ladies out there that suffer from big buttasaurus like I do, we need to stand up and revolt! Do you suffer from it or you rock it? I plan on rocking it, and showing those small panties how they can kiss my butt!

Filed Under: Rants Tagged With:

***RANT*** Collection Vultures: Even When You Pay On Time It’s Not Good Enough

June 14, 2012 By 10 Comments
madwoman

******WARNING THIS IS A RANT AND MAY CONTAIN SWEAR WORDS**********

Words cannot even describe the anger and frustration I am feeling right now. I take that back there is a word, PISSED OFF! I don’t use that word lightly when I am writing, but that is the only thing I can come up with.

Let me tell you a little story to help you understand why I am seeing red right now!

About 3 years ago, almost right after my family moved to Indiana for a job, my husband was laid off. I had just had knee surgery, with $3000 worth of co-pays. We had some credit card debt, cell phone bills, and other bills that we could no longer pay. In attempts to survive, several bills went unpaid because at that point we were just hoping to have a roof over our heads.

I didn’t have a job at the time, because we had recently decided I would come back home to be with the kids. There we sat with absolutely NO income! It took weeks for unemployment to kick in, and it was from the mere kindness of friends and family that we survived those first few months. Our credit took a horrible hit over the 12 months that my husband was unemployed.

Fast forward a year later. My husband was able to get a job, and we started assessing the damage. We called EVERY SINGLE CREDITOR that we owed money to and started making payments. I won’t lie we did contemplate bankruptcy, but being the stubborn woman I am I didn’t want to go that route. If it took me $5 bucks a month to each bill we were going to pay it all back.

EVERY payment arrangement we made that year we have kept! Slowly but surely we have been able to pay off medical bills, credit cards, and other bad debts. That is why today I was so extremely ticked when I found out some aggravating news.

I had a cell phone bill with Verizon Wireless that went bad during this time. My bill was over $1000 ($700 of that was from disconnect line fees), and off it went to collections. I made arrangements with the collections agency to pay this bill, and they have been drafting the agreed upon payment STRAIGHT FROM MY CHECKING ACCOUNT for over 2 years!!!!!!! When my payment didn’t come out this month, I found it a little odd and decided to give the collections agency a call.

My jaw hit the floor and my blood pressure began to rise when the collector told me that Verizon Wireless had recalled the debt, EVEN THOUGH I PAID ON TIME AND PAID OVER 85% of the balance, and that I needed to call Verizon.

Off I set to call Verizon ready to do battle, when the news got worse. Not only had Verizon Wireless recalled my debt, they sent it to ANOTHER collection agency that charged me MORE COLLECTION FEES!!!! That is total and utter bull shit! Like I told the operator, I could have very easily have filed bankruptcy on the debt and just walked away. They wouldn’t have gotten a penny, but I didn’t! My husband and I have stuck it out and plugged away at the balance.

I know these companies are in the line of making money, but where exactly do they get off. When exactly does paying your payment arrangements on time mean it’s STILL NOT GOOD ENOUGH. It is no wonder that millions of American file bankruptcy every year. We couldn’t help that my husband lost his job, but we still took responsibility for our obligations when we were able. Yet we are still getting punished by corporations like VERIZON WIRELESS.

Even though the vultures wanted more money, I am  happy to say that the story does have a happy ending. The agent I spoke with, Ashley, was actually extremely helpful. When I told her what had happened, and the fact that I could pay the remaining $100 TODAY she was happy to help me. She’s even sending me a paid in full letter.

The best part is that the collection agencies lost over $300 in collection fees! All I had to do was pay the balance owed to Verizon. Take that vultures!

A giant shame, shame to large corporations like VERIZON WIRELESS that squash the little guy and decide that even when you are paying your collections on time that is not good enough.

Have you ever had this happen to you? How would this make you feel? Leave comments so the corporations can see how people feel about their collections practices.

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Parenting Rant: Just because I don’t have a PhD doesn’t mean I am an idiot!

June 5, 2012 By 16 Comments
Parenting
Parenting
The three Crunchy kids!

Being a homeschooling mom, I spend a lot of time on the Internet researching information on schooling and parenting. I can’t tell you how much it infuriates me every time some “expert” writes articles that basically state because I don’t have a Ph.D. that I am a complete idiot. No, I don’t have a Ph.D. Heck, for that matter I didn’t even pursue a Master’s degree, but you know what I am an “expert” when it comes to my children.

HOMESCHOOLING ANARCHISTS?

Recently I read an article called “The Case for Cinderblocks.” Basically it’s an article written by a former teacher, that states that any parent that decides to unschool their children or even pull their children out of public schools are “anarchist[s] [whom believe] that if public schools don’t work for you, you should stop going. Burn them down. Refuse to pay taxes. ”  So, let me get this straight not only are parents that choose to homeschool incompetant, but we are anarchists that are looking to pull down the entire country? Wow, that’s beyond a bit extreme.

Deciding to pull your children out of school and homeschool is a really big decision. It’s something that parents should have support for, not something that they should be considered to be pariahs of society. Most homeschool parents second guess if they are doing the right thing on a daily basis, but that’s because they care not because they are inept.

OUR HOMESCHOOLING JOURNEY

We have been homeschooling for three years now. All three of my children have some form of special needs, and regular public school was just becoming absurd. It was a daily battle to get the kids to school and keep them engaged. Let alone actually learn anything.

Our eldest daughter, Keiran, was the first to leave. She had already failed a grade due to her hearing loss, of which the schools REFUSED to give her an IEP to assist her, and was having health issues. Instead of helping us educate our daughter, the school system sent us threatening letters because of her absence even though it was due to documented illness!

About 2 months after Keiran left, we asked if our other two were home as well. My son was failing reading. Even though he had special reading classes he still wasn’t making progress and not once did the school mention an IEP for his ADHD. They just contineud to throw their hands up in the air and let him fail.

My youngest daughter, got the same threatening letters for her absences. It didn’t matter that they were for doctor’s appointments, and the school was quite aware of her medical problems as well.

CRUNCHY FAMILY FIGHTS THE PUBLIC EDUCATION SYSTEM

Leaving public schools was probably the BEST decision my family has ever made for our children. No, it doesn’t mean I am going to torch the local elementary school, but it does mean that I am not afraid to stand up and advocate for my children. The public school systems failed our family.  I spent YEARS of my life trying to work with the system and follow the “experts’” rules, but after all that talking all I was was hoarse.

Ever since our children have left public school, they have done nothing but learn. My son, whom used to read two grade levels below, is now working on The Wizard of Oz. My youngest daughter that used to hate “learning,” now can’t stop documenting all of the amazing animals she sees in a self-made nature journal. Keiran, our eldest, whom couldn’t even hear the letter “P” let alone pronounce it, now wants to study Italian and travel to Italy.

It’s about time that we take back our place as parents. There are too many experts telling parents every day that we aren’t “qualified” to make educational, and even sometimes medical, decisions for our families. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

I could really care less what the experts say. As far as I am concerned, if allowing my children to prosper and devour subjects that interests them makes me an idiot, then I must be a fricking idiot!

 

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What’s wrong with your face?

June 1, 2012 By 60 Comments
Blog Pics 001

“What’s wrong with your face?”

“Did someone get into the poison ivy?”

“Oh no, what happenned?”

Sounds like something some uncouth kid might say, right? Nope, these are questions asked by grown adults. These questions were asked by adults about a child, my child, right in front of her face.

While helping me at the farmer’s market today, my daughter, Bayla, had three “adults” ask her about her face and then again when we went to pick up pizza at Little Caesars. What in the heck were these people thinking? Could you imagine walking up to an adult and asking them what’s “wrong” with their face? In some twisted way, I am sure these people meant to come from a place of concern, but when does satisfying your morbid curiosity become more important than honoring feelings of a child.

My beautiful daughter Bayla has been suffering from severe skin conditions all of her life. Unfortunately, in October of last year, her skin went from bad to worse when she developed psoriasis. Her skin is hot, inflamed and itchy everywhere. There are some days she can’t even manage to pull herself out of bed because she scratched all night and didn’t sleep. Almost every day of her life is full of pain, and once a week that pain includes shots in her tummy to try and get her skin to feel better. She musters all of her strength to get through it all and not feel sorry for herself.

She is the most beautiful little soul in the world, and most people couldn’t imagine the pain she lives with on a daily basis. So why should she have to worry about going out in public and getting teased.

Because her condition is on her face, we have talked about kids saying mean things. I have to admit that she was ill prepared for the questions she faced today. It didn’t even cross my mind that adults would be stupid enough to say the awful things that she heard today. Frankly, I was speechless that not one but FOUR people asked her this over the course of the day.

Each time Bayla was asked about her face she very calmly explained that she has psoriasis and that there is nothing wrong with her face. I was very proud, but it’s rather pathetic that a 9 year old can handle herself with more grace than people that are old enough to know better.

After a long hard day she had today, Bayla turned to me and said, “Mommy, you know what? I know what I am going to say next time someone asks me what is wrong with my face. I will say I have psoriasis and the doctor is going to fix my face, but you can’t fix stupid.”

Oh, out of the mouth of babes!

 

 

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New York Mayor bans large drinks, but still approves of milkshakes

May 31, 2012 By 9 Comments
New York Mayor Bans Soda

New York Mayor Bans Soda

Update: I am sad to share that this ridiculousness has actually become law in the Big Apple. Restriction has never been a healthy weight loss option. The cup may be smaller but they aren’t limiting the quantity that people can buy. This is absolutely absurd, and though we need to win the battle of the bulge I think it will do very little for the expanding waist line of New York City. If you hadn’t read this story before, read the original story below to see what it’s all about!
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has set out on his crusade against soda. Concerned with the ever growing waistline of the New York population, he has declared the era of the over sized soda is coming to an end.

The New York mayor bans soda to help save New Yorkers everywhere. At least his will if his plan passes to get rid of any sodas over 16 ounces in the big apple. Goodbye Big Gulp, bye bye Bubba Keg. Their sugar reign may be coming to an end, but wait what about all the other super high calories drinks on the market? Well, let’s just take a look!

This new anti-soda crusade doesn’t include things like alcoholic beverages, 100% fruit juice drinks, or products made with 51% milk products. (Hello, milkshakes) Soda is bad, but uber sized milkshakes are ok, really??!! Something is definitely wrong with this picture. Let’s just see how they  measure up!

McDonald’s McCafe Chocolate Shake (22 oz) 870 calories
McDonald’s Large Coca-Cola (21 oz) 210 calories
100% Welch’s Grape Juice (22 oz) 1132 calories
Absolute Vodka Dirty Martini (21 oz) 1330 calories

When we compare apples to apples, soda is the LEAST of New York City’s problems. Of course soda is empty calories, but so are alcoholic bevarages. Don’t see Mayor Bloomberg going for another era of prohibition in the name sake of weight loss. Someone would have to drink four times the amount of soda in order to equal the calories in one milkshake! Even though juice is “healthy” you would have to drink almost six times as many glasses of soda to equal the calories in a 22 ounce glass of juice. Crazy, right?!?

What do you guys think? Do you think NYC is picking on soda or do you think it’s time that something was done? What would you ban in addition to soda if you were Mayor?

 

Sources:
New York Times
McDonald’s
Reuter’s
My Fitness Pal

 

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6 year old in a tanning bed…WTF!

May 3, 2012 By 4 Comments
Six year old in the tanning bed.

Did you guys hear about the mom in New Jersey that is on trial for letting her six year old daughter use a tanning bed??? I have heard of some really off the wall crap, especially since shows like Toddlers and Tiaras, but this is ridiculous.

Six year old in the tanning bed.

Ok, someone needs to give this mom some serious counselling!

Being fair skinned, maybe I don’t get it. Maybe I am just jealous of my inability to tan, but I no one thing for sure. At the rate this mom’s going she’s gonna look like this in a few years!

Grandma you look like a leather purse

With all the skin cancer that is abound today because of tanning or lots of sun exposure, it BLOWS MY MIND. Yet she calls herself a “good mom.” She might really love her daughter, but I wouldn’t classify her teaching these bad habits as a good thing.

I think Anderson Cooper said it best! There is a “small line between SPF and WTF!”

What do you guys think about this? Would you let your child tan?

Filed Under: Rants