Ever do something so completely irritating that was an entire waste of time that you then sit down and call a friend to tell them about it, wasting even MORE time than if you'd just completed the task and gone about your day?

Yeah, well, that was me yesterday. And what am I doing now? Blogging about it! I guess I'm not over it yet.

In lieu of not wasting any more time on the subject at hand, I will say in the Reader's Digest version that I spent nearly 2 full hours on the phone, calling several different numbers, being put on hold and transferred to several different departments, trying to order a $2.19 piece of plastic for my Hoover vacuum, which is still under warranty. However, if I wanted to use the warranty, I'd have to bring my vacuum to Scottsbluff so that they could mail it to Denver and get the piece fixed and sent back. Estimated time is one month, but "Jr", the guy at the other end of the line told me it wasn't worth it, b/c it was almost never back in one month and sometimes they sent you a different vacuum back. I don't somebody else's I want mine. I like mine. We're friends by now.

And What Mother of three small children would willingly send her $250.00 vacuum away for over a month? I finally had them convinced that I could fix the part myself if they would send me the piece. (OK, I was sure that my husband could fix it). I was then transferred to another, higher than the first 'higher' department to get this taken care of. After 10 minutes of discussion, I read off the number on my receipt.

The answer I got was, "oh, we don't honor Wal-mart receipts".

AHHHHH!!

Can I pay for the piece myself?
Of course you can.
Ok.
That will be $2.19 plus $8.99 in shipping and handling. Expedited delivery is available for an additional $14.00.

You've GOT to be kidding me???

Anyway, I've got it out of my system and I am expecting a UPS shipment of one very small plastic piece to fit a Hoover Vac. Of which I love.

On to other news, Elia is crawling. Sort of. She does the 'right knee/left big toe' and it gets her where she needs to go. She is so completely normal, too, and follows along the baby books rule book by eating everything that comes in contact with her hands. My other two didn't do this b/c they had a paci in their mouth for the first full year. Not so with Elia, she would rather eat plants and left over bits of food that drop from Eden and Lars' bar stools.

Since two teeth have come in and no more are on their way at the moment, combined with the fact that she is now mobile has helped mommy considerably. She is very content to crawl around and explore, with no fear of heights, as long as her siblings leave her alone.

She pulled herself up onto daddy's brief case last week and I nearly collapsed with fear. "KNOCK HER DOWN" I shouted, "I'M NOT READY FOR STANDING!"

Lars has had a better week, but not my leaps and bounds. We are working on new strategies to help him figure out how he's feeling at that moment and deal with it before he loses it all together. His speech therapist is helping us find resources, and for that we are eternally grateful. He will also begin OT and PT once a week over at a sensory room in SB, in addition to his home care OT and PT. He slept all through the night last night, which was a good sign for me. Unfortunately, Elia joined me at 12:15 and never left.

Eden, what can I say, she is a rock and doesn't yet know it. Though she clamors for our attention, she does remarkably well being the older sister. She will go far in life.

The preacher and I are taking the afternoon to go to lunch, a car ride, and who knows what else? I'll be ready for our kids when I get back, though, for this I am sure. Maybe I can get a chapter read in my book before we go??