PMS killed the radio star

I have absolutely no idea what I feel like writing about today. But I feel like writing something.
There are lots of little things and big things bouncing around my head. I could probably benefit from talking about some of the big things but I just don’t feel like it.
That is how I deal with things……suppress, pray, work it out in my own head then move on.

It’s probably not good, but none the less…..

Since I don’t really feel like talking about anything important I guess I’ll just post something that actually happened about a week ago……
I listen to this certain radio station pretty much all day long. It’s called MAXX FM. The station makes its own commercials and announcements etc., and recently they added a female announcer with the most annoying radio voice I’ve ever heard. Because I listen to this station so much I hear those commercials over and over ALL day. Did I mention the girl’s voice is annoying? Well… I was “riding the crimson wave” so to speak and therefore I was a little touchy. I admit that. Freely. I could feel it coming. Then I heard the commercial with that voice one more time…..........SNAP!
Below are the actual emails between myself and the radio station manager:

Maxx, I love the music. The variety and rotation is fabulous!

However, I am having a problem with some of your advertisements. I do not know
who the young woman voicing a large part of your commercials is, but she is in
serious need of further voice training. Her voice is not fit for radio. It is muddled, flat, lifeless, and generally displeasing. She reminds me of a child fooling around with a tape recorder. She is the voice of Brenda for the Maysville Auto Sales ad. Frankly I can think of no reason why she is even allowed to record the commercials to be played for your station except maybe a family relation of some sort.
This is the bottom line....I love your station, but the commercials this woman has recorded are driving me away. I stopped listening a few days ago, and just tuned back in. I heard the same commercial and had to turn it again. This is not just myself but other max listeners have voiced the same opinion. I miss this station.
For the love of God, Please do something about this woman. She is horrible.

Thank you
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Tuesday, February 10, 2009 2:14 PM
To: Charmaine Watson
Subject: RE: Feedback

We want to thank you for taking the time to respond with your comments.
I will pass this along to our programming department. I also want to let you know that our advertisers who PAY for their commercials also request talent to read them... Just as if your company purchased advertisement for their commercials, you would also have the right to choose who voices your commercials... At this current time, the advertiser is happy with their spot for which they paid for..
I will put the request in to update the spot.. WE thank you
again for your comments and for taking the time to listen to MAX FM....

KEEP LISTENING AND ALSO DON'T' FORGET TO REGISTER TO WIN 1
YEARS WORTH OF FREE TANNING FROM TAN ONE IN HAMILTON.

Thank You,
Heather C. Frye
97.7 & 99.5 MAX FM
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Heather,
I understand advertisment is paid for, and therefore the advertiser would
approve or disapprove of the finished product. Obviously, these ads have been
approved since they are airing. Thank you for actually reading and responding
to my message. You never know if these things are actually being seen by
someone. I will check back in with Max periodically.
Thank you
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THEN a week and a half later I got this email from her…….

Charmaine,

I just wanted to let you know we DID change the copy... :) lol
Thank You,
Heather C. Frye
97.7 & 99.5 MAX FM
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One small victory for all of us who loose our minds once a month and simply can't be tolerant anymore. :)

~Char

My fun weekend

So this was a fun weekend!

It actually started Thursday night. Riley started throwing up in the pre –dawn hours. He finally settled down and fell asleep about 4:45 am. Even though I was tired, I was wide awake. So I went on to work only to have Scott call me around 9:00 and say Riley had started the other end! So I left work a half a day.
Saturday everyone was fine to start. Brian’s crew stopped by, and Ethan wanted to stay. Liv went home with them. We went out to eat, and headed to Lowe’s to check out the reduced tables for stuff for the house. We ended up w/ the light fixtures for the kid’s bathrooms, and the exterior garage lights!
That night all you know what broke loose! Tanner started coughing & barking like a dog because his asthma was so bad. Riley still didn’t feel well, and started coughing also. Scott started to get sick and retreated downstairs to the couch. In the middle of all this fun, Ethan was sleep walking! Poor thing. At least that gave me a chuckle in the middle of my puked on, pooped on, coughed in my face, sleep deprived state. In the morning Scott started with the vomiting, and passed out from it. I called Brian and told him what was going on and he better come get Ethan. After they left I took the boys to Urgent Care and left Scott to fend for himself because he refused to come. WHATEVER.
Of course, I had to see an old friend at urgent care. It wasn’t too bad though because since her daughter was also sick she wasn’t looking so pretty either.
Riley’s got a respitory infection, -which is doctor speak for a chest cold. Tanner has bronchitis, which at this point I can feel myself getting also. NICE.
I dropped them off, ran to get the antibiotics, and came home to start disinfecting and doing laundry. Good times people, good times.
That night grandma and grandpa brought Alivia home only to tell me she probably has an uti. OF COURSE SHE DOES.
Monday was my scheduled day off this week – good thing. So I put the boys on the bus since they were much better after a couple doses of medication, and me and Liv headed to Children’s hospital – our home away from home- to see about the presumed uti.
She was feeling pretty perky on our way back so we stopped by the thrift store – yeah!
We could only stay a minute though before she got tired.
Back home Scott’s bug had simmered down a bit, but headed south. Our water bill will probably be huge next month thanks to all the toilet flushing!
Can I just say that men KILL me? They are such wimps when they’re sick! I mean I KNOW you’re sick, but for the love of Pete you aren’t dying. This too shall pass.
Give me a break. ~this is me rolling my eyes~.
I spent the rest of the afternoon disinfecting everything with bleach, pine-sol, and Lysol. The hospital called to say Liv’s meds were called in so I ran back out to pick them up. It wasn’t until I got out of my car that I realized I had changed to sweat pants when I came home earlier. I had not, however, changed my shirt. So I was wearing sweats and a nice shirt. PLUS I reeked of pine and bleach. FABULOUS. I’m sure my old high school boyfriend will be in the store.
I came home and the sterile smell just about knocked me down. The boys came home, and Riley has a slight fever. I fixed supper, we ate, including Scott for the first time, and then I sat on the couch and snuggled with Riley. My poor little peanut.
I put everybody to bed, and informed Scott that come h-e-l-l or high water I was going to work today! I must get out of here!
So here I am. I can’t breathe b/c my chest is so congested, but at least I’m not throwing up. Bonus!!!

A day in the life

Last night was the boys teacher conferences. Always a fun night. -that's called sarcasm-
Riley's teacher said the usual....he's on target level....maybe needs a little help w/ subtraction, but nothing to worry about..... He loves to draw....he's a bit of a class clown - no big suprise there!
It was a little funny to sit and listen to her describe him. It's always strange to hear how other people describe how your kids act when you're not around. Tanner's teacher said pretty much what I expected. He's still way below with his reading. I agree that he still needs lots of help. I disagree with their tests that say he's only at a kindergarden level. He's better than that. He just doesn't like school. Even they can see that. They said he loves to talk about music, and playing the guitar or working with his dad, but shuts down when they go back to school work. The teacher said she's seen alot of kids with that attitude of disinterest, but has met her match with Tanner. OF COURSE. He's soooo much like Scott it's ridiculous. She said it was like he's depressed at school.....I had to set her straight on the use of that word. 'Nuff said. :)
Scott and I have to get it through his head how important it is he does this. They were talking about retaining him, and that is the LAST thing I want for him. I think it would devistate him.
So I left with that wonderful feeling in the pit of my stomach like I'm somehow a failure as a mother because my kid's not the best one in his class. Not because I THINK THAT, but that's how these stupid conferences make you feel.
Anyway......
Riley wasn't feeling good when I put him to bed. Around 1:30- 2ish he came and got in my bed saying his belly was really hurting. Poor baby, it was just like when he was a baby. Crying, tossing and turning, grabbing his stomach, and jerking like he got punched in the stomach. I felt so completely helpless. I HATE THAT. It's been along time since this happened. I sat there in the dark trying to comfort him feeling horrible that he MUST have somehow ate something he shouldn't. I have no idea what. Mommys are supposed to keep this from happening. ugh! All I could do was try to rub his tummy. He didn't want me to do that so I started patting his leg....to which he said "mommy quit beating me". :)
Finally, around 4:00 he threw up. He felt better and was able to go to sleep. I went ahead and came in to work at 6:00 - nice dark circles under my eyes. - sigh- such is a mommy's life.

I would also like to say that this Ohio weather is driving me nuts! 2 days ago it was 50 degrees. Today it is 20. The weekend weather report is calling for 1-2" of snow. Are you kidding me?! It's almost the end of February, and I am sooooooo ready for spring. That stupid groundhog is dead to me!!!

Teacher conferences

The kids have parent/teacher conferences tomorrow night. I got a letter in their backpacks asking parents to sign up to bring a covered dish or beverage to feed the teachers throughout the night.
I have absolutely nothing against teachers.
---HOWEVER---
They work 9 months of the year. They are off almost every day the kids are off – which definitely gives them a lot more days off during those 9 months than the rest of us working stiffs. They work 8 hours a day 5 days a week.
Conferences are twice a year. Am I to believe that this part of their job is really such a hardship that I should feel sorry for them? And provide free food for them? Why? Because it’s so hard to remember to bring yourself something to eat for dinner? Isn’t school over at 3 something? Conferences start around 5:00 so…..you can’t go grab a bite to eat, get your papers together, and be ready for the conferences in 2 hours?
Come on!
I should also say that I realize this may be all the schools idea with the teachers simply going along for the ride. So if you are a teacher reading this….don’t get your panties in a wad!
It still bugs me though. Maybe Tanner's teacher will be hungry...so maybe I shouldn't eat either....then we'll both be edgy and we can rumble.....
All right, that’s all I have to say about that.

Tuesday, February 17, 2009

What's been going on? hmmm...let's see...
Scott and I went out for Valentine’s Day a little early. The weekend before to be exact. I feel the need to clarify the preceding sentence because it sounds so casual. Like we always go out for this holiday, or any other reason for that matter. So here’s the clarification: we don’t. As a matter of fact I can’t even remember the last time we went out just the two of us. I can’t even remember the last time (prior to this) we were in the same room alone…..other than being asleep at night, but unconsciousness doesn’t count. Anyway, we splurged on a hotel room for the night and went out to eat. It was nice. Just the two of us. When we got in the car to leave the restaurant I had a split second panic attack before I remembered we weren’t missing the children, they were just not with US. The funniest thing is where we ended up….Lowe’s. Ha! We just wanted to look around by ourselves. :)
THIS past weekend -actual Valentine's weekend- we went to dinner with a group from church. Again, let me clarify. When I say group I mean Scott and I and our children, and about 30 senior citizens. Seriously. The age gap was at least 30 years. Don't get me wrong, I love seniors. They can be fun to be around, etc. It's just that it always seems to turn out this way. Me and Scott and a bunch of buckeye cards. Eating at 4:30 in the afternoon. We ate dinner, talked and then they made us play the Not-so- newlywed game....clever huh? Good times people. Good times.
I can hold a conversation with just about anybody, and being raised an "only child" who spent 95% of my time with my parents and their friends, I am comfortable around older people. Scott however, is more than comfortable. They are his peeps. I have often said he has an "old soul". He can hang with 'em. I have no idea what this means for his future. or mine. What will this mean when WE are senior citizens? Will he fall into a parallel universe? Only time will tell.

So....I like to laugh. Love it actually. Laughter's good for the soul. I'm easily amused so it works out nicely. I must admit one way I get some laughs is by scaring my kids. Well, little Riley got ME good last night. I emptied the garbage, and asked him to put a new bag in the can while I put the garbage outside. When I came back in the lights we out, and I walked over to open the fridge. The fridge light lit up the kitchen and I saw him....he was standing IN the garbage can. He yelled BOO! and I screamed!
It was fantastic!!!!! We cracked up and I grabbed him for a big hug. Aw, my little peanut is growing up....it's a proud moment for this twisted mama. sniff sniff
Speaking of growing up- I ran over to my sister's yesterday. It's been maybe a month since I've physically laid eyes on her and my nephew. I walked in and almost didn't recognize my nephew! I mean MY GOODNESS! WHAT is that child eating???? He's sooo tall, and he has a mustache!!! His voice is changing big time. Like Peter Brady in that one episode? you know the one..."it's time to change, time to rearrange...." he's been big for a few years....so much that I nicknamed him Gigantor. (pronounced Ji- gan- tor ) Get it? It's like saying gigantic? Like he's a big giant robot? Named Gigantor? you know, cause he's BIG? Aren't I clever? :)
I digress.......so this was a real shock. wow. -sigh- they grow up so fast.

Speaking of growing up fast....Liv came home Friday and tells me -oh so causually- that a boy at school asked her to the dance that night. Excuse me? You are 11. In the 6th grade. Really, it was pretty cute. I asked her what she told him....."That I wasn't going."
I guess that took care of that. ........................and so it begins.........

The White Death

They don’t call it the white death for no reason.
I’m talking about snow. It’s so pretty ,and peaceful looking. But that’s all a disguise. It turns people into raving lunatics! And Ohio apparently, has no idea how to handle it.
It started last week. We got close to a foot, and school was closed all week. Ok, fine. Dandy. We all got a good case of cabin fever, but over the weekend things warmed up to close to 40 and it wasn’t so hard to get around. Roads were clear.
Then it started again yesterday…….

I left work around 4:30.
It’s not too bad. I mean it’s not good, but people are moving.
Wait a minute. What’s the deal? Ok, we’re stopping….ok we’re creeping.
45 minutes later I was only a few feet ahead. I’m really aggravated!!!! Why is it just the direction I am going? The other way seems fine.
I turn around and go back towards work.
Ok, this is good. We’re crawling along….good….good…
I’m half way home now!
What’s that!??? A train!!!???? Are you kidding me? Don’t you know it’s snowing? Go back to the station!!! Wait. Wait. Ok, it’s gone, now I’m moving again. Good. Good.
I see the intersection up ahead. It’s congested. Is it moving?
I can’t see for all this white fluff swirling around
It’s slow because nobody knows how to MERGE! Come on people!
Allrighty, I’ll go straight. Straight is good. There goes the bridge, but I’ll just go up here and cross the bridge downtown to get home. I’m trucking along.
Turn the curve
Ah! STOP! Where did all these people come from?
I’m at a complete stop.
I have now been in the car for an hour. I have only moved a few feet.
As an added bonus my feet and bottom of my pants are soaking wet. I didn’t know it was supposed to snow today so I wore my brown slip on shoes—FYI...not good for scraping snow from around your car
We are bumper to bumper. Side by side. There is a scrappy little piss ant of a boy in a old beat up Tracker next to me that keeps coming close to hitting me.
Don't mess with me boy! I WILL beat you down!
I am fuming!!!!!
A snow plow comes down an alley. Hmmmm
Me & a truck whip over to that alley…..turn onto the street…stop! Ok, I’m a bit further ahead though!
Wait
Wait
Wait
One at a time
Wait, wait, wait, wait,
Is that my sister I see up ahead?! That's her I know it is!
My suffering is eased just a bit to know I'm not alone in this madness!
BUT - she's AHEAD of me --grrrrr
I’m finally up to the intersection waiting to turn onto the main road, and the bridge.
I have now crossed over from mad & irritated to slap happy
I look over and see a church sign that says…. “ snowflakes are kisses from heaven”
No they aren’t! what moron decided to put that sign up? I’m sure it was a man!
I’m on the bridge now!!!!!
My friend calls me to check progress….. “hello, thank you for calling crazy town. How may I direct your call?”
I AM ACROSS THE BRIDGE! FINALLY!
“Over the river and across the bridge, almost to home I go!”
I pull onto my road…oh I’m in the home stretch!
My house! I can see my house!
I walk in the door, and the kids run to give me hugs
“I’m home my children! I have traveled from afar, and now I am home.”
What’s that smell? Supper! Scott has cooked!!!! God bless his pea pickin’ heart!
Ahhhhh… I’m home.
I have fought the white death, and won.
:)

~Char