Saying Goodbye Sucks!

Well, he's gone. It was bad. Even worse than I thought it would be. I was trying to be strong, but I caved. I cried. I bawled like a baby. He cried. I felt sorry for him. The kids really cried. Baby ~M~ knows there is something seriously wrong going on, but can't really understand. Poor ~G~ didn't know what hit him! He's only 4 and he was still thinking in terms of "daddy's going to work and he'll be back later," until he saw all of us bawling. Poor little guy. He was crying and crying and saying, "Daddy, come back! Daddy, come back!" It was so sad. Our oldest, ~L~ is having the hardest time. He cried off and on for the 2 hours after daddy left. He seems to be doing better tonight, but I doubt it's over. School will help I think. It will keep him occupied, anyway!

Be careful, Big Daddy. We all need you...... We are going to miss you.

Good Friends RULE!!!!

To say goodbye to Big Daddy and to reduce our stress level....my good friend "Susan" and her hubby "Dan" had us over for dinner. It was really nice. In fact, it's only the 2nd time we've been to someone's house for dinner in Savannah and last time, it was their house, too. The difference was, it was summer and we had a cookout! But, it was still fun!

Susan and Dan have recently moved into their "dream" house. And it's beautiful!!! I am soooo happy for them. It took all year to get it built, but I'm glad they made it in before Christmas. Anyway, it was really sweet. I only wished we weren't in such a rush to get home and pack Big Daddy for his move and clean the house for our showing at 10am tomorrow.

When we were leaving, hubby thanked Susan for dinner (which was delicious!) and Dan wished him good luck. Very, very nice.

Then, he turned to Susan and said, "Thanks for being such a good friend to Roxann." That's it. I lost it. I officially cried. I have been in such denial.... I'm gonna miss people so badly. Well, some people, and Susan is definately one of those people!!!

Susan is one of the nicest people I have ever met in my whole life! She's smart, funny, kind, generous and a terrific friend! She's there for you at the drop of a hat and she'd do anything to help a friend. She's quiet, but when you get to know her....she's not quiet. She's a really good mother....and her 3 boys love her so much! I love watching her interact with her boys. It's so sweet!!!

We've had so much fun stampin' and scrappin' the night away on many numerous occassions. In fact, we were permanent fixtures in each other's homes almost every night all summer long!!!! I am so happy she finally has her very own scraproom that isn't the dining room!!!! I can't wait to see the creating she does in there!!!! I only wish I was going to be here to do it with her!!! So, someone take care of her when I'm gone....but leave a place for Rachel in her heart!!

~names of the people in this post have been changed......mainly because Dan can't remember my name....but also because this IS the internet, people!!!!!~

Does anyone really sleep the night before a big change?

That's my question for today. It's 2:07am and in 6 hours we'll be up, loading my hubby's car for him to move to Kansas without us. It's a 17 hour drive and he starts his new job on Jan. 2nd. Therefore, he has to go.

I hate it, I don't want him to go. I think it sucks! I want him here with me. I know, I know. It's selfish, but that's what I want. I don't want our kids to be sad. I don't want to be scared when I hear a noise at night. I don't want to have to catch the spiders and kill them. I don't want to have to change the cat litterbox.

The reality of it all is sinking in. I can't believe I am gonna single-mom 4 kids for a month! And have to keep the house perfect for selling! And I have to do everything alone. And I have to pack the entire house in less than a month!!! Yikes!!!! I am stressed, I am scared, I am freaking out! I don't want to do it. But, I will. And I'll be fine. But, you may have to listen to me whine!!! Just humor me! And help me when you can!!!!

Bottom line, I just want him to be here with us....or I want to go with him. But living 4 kids in a hotel....ummm, not my idea of fun! So, for now, we'll let him go. But, it doesn't mean we have to LIKE IT!!!

A Stinkin' Great Birthday Party!!

Happy Birthday Little Stinker!!! You're birthday was fantastic! We had a terrific time! Mommy planned a "skunk" party for you because I call you my little skunky girl. All the decorations were hot pink and black and it was super fun!

I ordered you a special cake....it was pink and black, with sweet little flowers. Your cupcakes were black with a white stripe down the middle, just like a skunk! It was very cute! You even tried to blow out your candles, but ended up needing a little help from mommy, daddy and brothers. When you got the candles blown out, you were quite proud of yourself and you smiled and clapped. (Since you don't understand the make a wish part, mommy made a wish for you....it's a secret, though, so I can't tell you what it is! I can only tell you it's good!)




And I think we can say from observing this "finger lickin' good" picture that you much enjoyed your birthday cake!

Here's a pic of your 2nd piece of cake....what exactly did you do to this poor piece of cake?? It looks like you had fun eating!


Your family and friends were very sweet and generous with their gifts! You are a very lucky girl! But, really, I feel like the lucky one...to be your mom and to get to spend everyday with you! Happy 2nd Birthday Darling!

A note to the Birthday Girl...

Happy Birthday, Sweet Pea! You are two years old now. It seems like just yesterday I was still pregnant, anticipating your arrival. Now, you're not a baby anymore! You're a big girl, a smart girl, a beautiful girl!

You are a joy to your daddy and me and your big brothers love you so much! You will never know how much you mean to this family! This family wasn't whole, until you came along!

Everyday, I see you growing and learning. You are really a happy girl and so funny, too! You are talking so much! It amazes me how much more talking you do than your brothers did at this age. You amaze us with all your words. And when the words don't come to you as quickly as you need them to, you make us marvel at your cuteness when you jibber-jabber so fast and so serious! It's so cute!

Welcome to the life of a Two-year old! I know you continue to amaze all of us as you make your way to 3!

All my love,
Mommy

"Oh, my!"

"Oh, my!"

These are the absolutely wonderful words uttered by birthday girl ~M~ at her party as she opened each and every gift. I just about cried because those words make her sound so grown up.....like she knew just what she should say to make each of her guests feel like they had purchased just the perfect gift for her. She seemed so surprised by each gift she opened and responded each time with, "Oh, my!"

"Oh, my!" is right, her mommy is not ready for her to be THIS big!! I often refer to her as my baby girl but in my defense, she IS my baby girl! But it's days like this when I am reminded how big she really is and how much she has learned and how much she's grown. And it makes my heart happy to see my little princess develop into the sweet little girl she is.

Happy Birthday Princess! You mommy loves you more than you could ever know!!

P.S. It's Christmas Eve and time is tight....more birthday pics/thoughts to follow in the next post!

100 Random Facts about ME!

1. I hate watermelon. It's a texture thing and they and any other kind of melon squeebs me out! Yuk! I hate angel flake coconut for the same reason. You couldn't pay me enough money to eat one of those Mounds bars. I know what you're thinking....if I gave you a million dollars, you'd eat it. Well, nope, I probably wouldn't. I would throw up, for sure!!

2. I never get my hair cut. Like once a year, maybe. I just don't have time or take the time to do it. Everytime I get some trendy cut and like 3 weeks later, I'm back to my ponytail/hairclips! I just suck at being trendy!

3. I love doing cross-stitch. I did a huge 11x17 cross-stitch for my mom while I was in college and I haven't finished a project since! I have tons of half-finished projects for when my kids leave home!

4. I love to dance. I miss it. I used to go dancing about 5 or 6 nights a week in college. I am convinced that's how I kept so slim in college.

5. My favorite color is purple, but lately I'm really fond of pink. All shades of pink. I think it must have to do with having a daughter. Light pink and Chocolate Brown. Hot Pink and Black.

6. I've been married for almost 15 years. Man, does that seem like a long time to anyone but me?!?!

7. I almost never eat breakfast. It's a really bad habit. I know I should, but most of the time, I just don't. Who has the time for that?!

8. I suck at video games.

9. I love getting real mail....snail mail! It's so retro!

10. I love movies, but it's hard for me to get time to watch them.

11. The same thing goes for books. I love, love, love to read, but I don't get to read nearly as often as I'd like to!

12. I HATE getting my nails done. I think it's the sanding and the vibrations. Oooohhh. It's everything I can do to sit in that chair and let them do their job. But I hate it the entire time!

13. I LOVE how my nails looked when I had acrylics. They were always so beautiful.

14. I have a terrible habit of biting and picking at my cuticles and the only thing that keeps me from doing it is having my nails done.

15. I have a degree in Early Childhood Education.

16. I miss teaching.

17. I don't think I'll ever go back to teaching, even when my kids are all in school. Now that I am a mom, I feel like I'd be giving my best to the kids in my class and be so sick of kids....I'd be a bad mommy at night. So, instead, I think I'll get a job that makes me happy, like at the scrapbook store, and then I'll be a good mommy.

18. I love caramel. Any kind.

19. My favorite food is Mexican. I could eat it every single day!

20. I love Coca-Cola. I'd drink it every single day, if it wasn't so fattening.

21. I love Napolean Dynamite. And I don't understand how some people don't think this is a terrific and hilarious movie!!! Love it! Love it! Love it! (Gimme some of your tots!!!)

22. Secretly, I'd love to have another baby. But realistically, I know I shouldn't. But the thought of never going thru the whole process makes me so, so sad.

23. I am completely frightened that my husbands vasectomy will fail us and I'll end up pregnant at 40.

24. I think I have adult ADD/ADHD. At least I have serious attention issues.

25. I hate smoking. Seriously. Secretly, I don't like people who smoke and I think they are stupid. Forget smokers rights and all that crap. Chances are, if you are smoking outside, anywhere near my children....you will get the dirtiest look from me, guaranteed!

26. I still think about my mom every single day. I miss her so much!

27. I am a firm believe in "better living thru pharmaceuticals!" CVS here I come!!!!

28. I hate horror movies. Seriously, they scare the crap out of me! (and Ike loves to scare me the few times he's talked me into watching one by grabbing me in the sides during a super scary part. Big meanie!)

29. I love unusual colored/types of roses! Lavender, Fire and Ice, Melon colored, even Yellow!

30. I've never done any drugs. I never would. I never will. Drugs scare me. I've seen firsthand how drugs can ruin a life and there is nothing sadder than this, except death.

31. I'm extremely gullible. Look in the dictionary, under gullible...you'll find my picture!

32. My husband takes advantage of fact#31 and tells me all kinds of crazy crap....and 9 times out of 10 I believe him, until he starts laughing his butt off at me. (Just ask him the story of blowing out the phone lines to clean them!)

33. Music makes me happy. Inspires me. Makes me cry.

34. My husband inspires me. He's so smart and fearless. He makes everything in life look so easy. I wish I could be like him.....

35. My kids make me so proud.

36. Sometimes my kids disappoint me.

37. Sometimes I dissapoint them.

38. I have a huge fear of failure!

39. It holds me back from doing alot of things I'd like to do.

40. I love Little House on the Prairie. I've read all the books and I've seen every episode numerous times!

41. I am a serious procrastinator. It's a real problem. But, I often do my best work under extreme pressure.

42. I love my name. I'm so glad it's unique.

43. I love to go to the movies, the whole experience of it, but I rarely ever go. It just costs too much.

44. I worry every day that I will fail my kids as a mother.

45. I'm a homebody. I love staying at home. I'd rather do that than anything else!

46. I love lights. Like Christmas lights, emergency vehicle lights, any kind of colored, fancy, dancing lights! I think they are so cool to look at. I used to want a police lightbar for my bedroom. (I know I'm weird.)

47. I am afraid of being victimized again. It's a struggle for me everyday.

48. I am really naive.

49. I can't drink coffee. The only thing I can do is girly, blended coffee drinks. Bring on the Starbucks!!

50. For number 50, I saved an obvious one. I LOVE scrapbooking. I would do nothing else if I could. I wish I could do it everyday. I love the preparation, the process, the result. It makes me feel artistic.

51. Somedays I'd like to be published. (Inspired by A.W.)

52. Most days it seems like too big of a hassle to even attempt it.

53. Most days I don't believe I have the slightest chance of actually being published, even though, there are people who encourage me on and try to convince me I could win.

54. I've been to Hawaii twice and I'd love to go again someday.

55. I lost one of my diamond earrings at Memorial Hospital when baby ~M~ was born. I was so upset. I was crawling around in the labor/delivery room on my hands and knees as soon as I realized it was missing. I had only given birth about 9 hours earlier. I never found it. I was heartbroken (and clearly, nuts!) But now I have a plan to reset the remaining diamond earring into a necklace and we'll give it to baby ~m~ when she turns 16.

56. I am still a little angry my mom died.

57. Sometimes, my life exhausts me.

58. I like doing laundry, just not folding it! There is something satisfying to finding some little boy shirt with a ooky stain on it and working all my laundry magic and getting it out!

59. I hate mice. They gross me out. (but, who doesn't?!) When we found that we had a mouse in Broken Arrow, I turned into a crazed, psycho mouse killer! (ask me about my mouse catching skills....i rock!)

60. I am terrified of snakes! The last time I saw one, it was by our doorway. And although, I'm a little ashamed to admit it. I hit it with a hammer. Repeatedly. And I was shaking like you have never seen a person shake the whole time. (I love Steve Irwin the croc hunter, but I think the guy was a serious psycho playing with snakes and crocs all the time!)

61. I cannot clean out the cat litterbox. It grosses me out so bad. I puke every single time I have to do it!

62. I can clean up kid poop and it doesn't phase me. (Seriously, what's the difference?! Aren't all poos created equal?! I know, I'm weird.)

63. I do not do tampons. I think it comes from growing up in a time where everyone was terrified of Toxic Shock Syndrome. The few times I attempted this, well, let's just say, it went badly. Just ask me about the first time I attempted this in college. (Sorry for the TMI - it's just a fact of life to a girl, though!)

64. I LOVE the show Dirty Jobs with Mike Rowe. And I think Mike Rowe is so sexy in this "dirty" way.

65. I actually like going to the doctor. I grew up being taught to have the highest repect for doctors. You know, things like take a bath and put on clean underwear before going to the doctor... (The clean underwear thing strikes me as so silly, since most of the time they don't see your underwear, unless your going to the OBGYN, and even then, you are taking it off and hiding it under your clothes before the doctor comes in. I am convinced that's some sort of spin-off from your mom telling you to put on clean underwear everyday, just in case you are in an accident!) Anyway, I am amazed at how smart they are and how much knowledge they have. I always learn something when I go to the doctor!

66. I hate going to the dentist. It gives me the heebie jeebies. I'm always afraid they are gonna bust my chops for only using dental floss once or twice a week. And they usually do.

67. Moving to Topeka doesn't scare me at all. It's all the in-between stuff that scares me. (being left in Savannah alone to take care of everything)

68. I love my job at Savannah Scrapbooking.

69. I'm so sad I have to quit. I'm gonna miss everyone so much!

70. I'm gonna miss Savannah, in some ways. In other ways, not so much.

71. I grew up on sweet tea, but now that I live in the South, I can't stand it. Give me my tea unsweetened w/lemon and with a side of Sweet-n-Low.

72. I love Chick-Fil-A tea.

73. For that matter, I love Chick-Fil-A. Everything about it. Give me a CFA sandwich, waffle fries and Polynesian sauce. Mmmm, mmm good!

74. When I moved to Savannah, I used to hang out a Chick-Fil-A because it made me feel less lonely. (I know...I'm weird.)

75. Sometimes I am still shocked I have FOUR kids!

76. I have serious insomnia issues. I am often up till 3 or 4 am.

77. I have a serious scrapbooking supply addiction. And I love it!

78. I love stamping, as well. I love creating. I seeing a design in my head and bringing it to fruition on a card for someone I love.

79. I am not prejudiced, but living in the South has really made it harder for me to continue to say this.

80. I love Christmas baking. I love to make all this really cool, delicious food and sharing it with people. (It stinks I couldn't do it this year with the house on the market. I am way too messy of a baker to do that this year!)

81. I have a love/hate relationship with my computer. If it's going well, I love it. If it's not, I hate it.

82. I'm afraid I'm going to unknowingly do something that blows up my computer! Ike swears to me over and over that I can't hurt it, but I am always worried that I will!

83. I'm a serious 80's girl! I love 80's music and movies! (Come over and we'll watch one!)

84. I wish my mother-in-law would accept me once and for all.

85. I'm afraid of dissapointing my husband.

86. I love giving people gifts. I love making them happy.

87. I wish I could count on my dad.

88. I miss my brother and his family so much. I can't wait to be closer to them.

89. I have really terrific friends. Most of them would do ANYTHING for me if I asked them to.

90. I wish I wasn't so short. I've always wanted to be taller.

91. I won 1st place in the 1969 Tulsa Baby Beauty Pageant. I have 2 trophys and some certificates.

92. I go overboard on my kids birthday parties. I make sure everything matches the theme and I tend to overachieve a little bit.

Fact, ~m's~ 2nd b-day is today and I have altered stuffed skunks to make them match her birthday colors, hand-stamped her invitations, 100 napkins and the wrapping paper on her gifts and sewed 16 fabric bags for candy! Yep, clearly, I am insane.

93. I love Grey's Anatomy and I've been watching it since the first episode, before everyone in America was addicted to this show.

And in the McDreamy vs. McSteamy debate...it's McDreamy all the way!!! (remember I'm an 80's girl....I thought Patrick Dempsy was cute back in his earlier, more embarrassing movies, such as Can't Buy Me Love)

94. Sometimes I say really stupid things that I wish I could take back.

95. Technology scares me. (intimidates me, really.)

96. I love to watch my children sleep.

97. I love celebrity gossip. I love People magazine, but I refuse to order it because it's just too expensive!

98. I love my family so much, sometimes I feel like my heart will burst!!

99. I wish I was a better mother.

100. I am so sick and freaking tired of this list. It was harder than I thought it would be to come up with 100 things!!!!

Is my baby really TWO?!?!

Well, my baby is turning "2" officially in about 15 hours! I really can't believe it! I often still refer to her as my "baby girl," but she's really not a baby at all. She's a big girl. A fun girl. A happy girl. A smart girl. A pure joy to all of us! She's the best gift that Savannah, GA ever gave us!!

Thinking about the journey we've been on with baby ~M~ it reminds me of her pregnancy and birth. You see, I'm not a very good pregnant person. No one thought we'd have another child after our first, because no one thought I'd be willing to go thru the hell I have to go thru to become a mother. But, alas, I did it again, and again, and again.....well, you get the point.

But actually, baby ~M~ was a surprise, more like a shock, really. We had only been in Savannah a few weeks when I found myself hyperventalating over the two lines on the pregnancy test. I COULD NOT BELIEVE MY EYES!!!!! (In this pic, it's so hard to see both lines, but trust me, it was there!)

I walked back and forth, crying and sitting on the toilet to put my head between my legs to attempt to breathe. We had just moved 1050 miles from home and we didn't know anyone here! I wasn't even sure our insurance was in effect yet! Believe me there was no sightings of our boys all in cutesy "big brother" t-shirts, no lunch w/ a restaurant bill that says only..."You're gonna be a Daddy!" Instead my hubby was blessed with a frantic phone call from his hyperventalating wife during his afternoon editoral meeting. ( a really bad time to call )

So, fast forward a few weeks and 5 pregnancy tests later, and I began to accept things. Yep, I kept taking the tests wondering if just one would read negative. It never happened. (seriously, who takes 5 home pregnancy tests and 1 at the doctor?!?!) By then, the pregnancy troubles has started, as well. Horrible morning sickness, high blood pressure, migraine headaches and I was trying to get in to the doctor here in GA. They don't generally see you until 12 weeks here, but because of my miscarriage history, I needed medical guidance immediately.

I made an appointment with a doctor in our town and I went to see the doctor. When I began to fill out the paperwork, it was as follows:

Name______________ Address___________________ Phone #______________

Last date of Menstrual Period___________________

Is the father of this baby related to you, cousins or closer? Check yes or no.

If yes, what is your relation to the father of this baby?_____________________________

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!?! WHERE THE HECK AM I?!?!

I could not believe it! Turns out the doctor was a quack and refused to see me because of my pregnancy history......and although I was sobbing in the parking lot....looking back, I'm glad!

So, my pregnancy was tons of fun..... non-stop nausea and vomiting, pre-eclampsia, RH- (so I had to take Rhogam shots,) I had weekly and bi-weekly monitering for the last 10 weeks of my pregnancy and I was Group B Strep positive. We had a scare at 34 weeks that we might be giving birth that day. Turns out we had a sleepy baby and she was fine. Ah, memories.....

When I had my mid-pregnancy Level 2 ultrasound, we were told we were having a girl. I could not believe it. I didn't believe it until 4 0r 5 ultrasounds later. But then, we sure had fun going girly! Pink was sure fun to buy for a change!!

If you can believe it, at 38 1/2 weeks, my bi-weekly biophysical profiles and ultrasounds revealed that I was low on amniotic fluid. Turns out, that's bad. So, my doctor tried to get me into the hospital, but there were NO beds. So, I had to wait over 24 hours and report to the hospital at 5:30pm the following day. So, we did.

When we got to the hospital they gave me the internal cervix-softening medication, Cervadil. Now THAT was fun! There is nothing like having a doctor climb halfway up your hoo haw to apply some medicine to your cervix. That's almost as fun as an enema!!! Within an hour or so, I was having pretty regular, hard contractions....all night long! I got about 2 hours of sleep total. I was exhausted by morning.

But by 5:30am, they were in and hooking me up to the DEVIL'S DRUG.....Pitocin! Man is that stuff evil!! I spent an enjoyable day on Pitocin (ha....NOT!) and didn't progress at all. I kept begging them to break my water so I could give birth, but the intern doctor barely checked on me, let alone, listened to what I had to say about my previous birth experiences. By late afternoon, I was exhausted emotionally and physically and extremely frustrated!! When they finally did check me, I had still made no progress and I was so discouraged. All that pain and no progress. I was very upset and my hubby was pretty angry, as well. So he complained to the intern doctor and she got mad and called my Perinatologist. Well, I don't know what she said to him, but he blew into my room about 25 minutes later and announced he was going to break my water right then! I freaked out!!! I began crying and freaking out. I told him there was no way he could do it now, for I was too exhausted from no sleep and being in labor since the night before. He finally calmed down and agreed to wait until the following day. So, he gave me orders for a steak dinner, a hot bath, more Cervadil and a sleeping pill. What else could a girl ask for?!?! I was elated.

So the next morning at 6am, they came in and we started all over again! By lunchtime, I was still making little progress. I was really starting to fear a C-Section. I was really getting emotionally worn out, a little scared and a lot frustrated. At only 3 centimeters, I couldn't get an epidural and they kept insisting they couldn't break my water. But I kept begging them to do it. I insisted if they would, I would give birth.

Finally, right around noon, they agreed to try to break my water. Now, I'm sure they were right because when they went looking for that bag of water....I thought I was gonna die!!! It hurt so bad! I had a nurse pushing on top of the baby trying to bulge out the bag so they could reach it thru my slightly dialated cervix and just about when I was crying and screamed STOP....my water broke and went everywhere! Immediately it started. The white hot labor pains that would bring my daughter into this world! I was moaning, crying and begging for the epidural. I kept saying, if you don't call him...I won't get one. It will be too late!! No one believed me. And 35 minutes later...although the anesthesiologist did get the epidural in, it was too late to do any good for me.....I gave birth to the most beautiful - 6lb, 13oz. baby girl you have ever seen!!

And now she's turning TWO!! Happy Birthday Baby Girl!!!

Big Daddy rules!!!

Sassy Girl.....



Look at these eyes!!

The coolest 5th grader around!

What a cutie!!!

So, guess what I got for Christmas! Big daddy sprang the big bucks (I've found that a new job makes people in a really great mood and very generous!) He bought me a kick-butt Christmas present, which I have already received early. It's so awesome! It's a.......(drum roll, please!) Canon D40 DSLR camera and it's AWESOME!! I had so much taking pics of the kids the night I received and I'm majorly looking forward to getting better at photography!!

You know you're too busy, when you don't even have time to be MAD!!

Well, it's official. I don't have time to be MAD!!! The incident which pushed me over the edge and into blogging....is over for me. I was so, so mad in the beginning, but I don't even have time to deal with it.

I still feel incredibly cheated, but I'm a firm believer in kharma. Or in their case, bad kharma! What goes around comes around and they'll get theirs. But, I just don't have the time or energy to fight with them!

In the meantime, if you're looking for a housecleaning company in Richmond Hill, Georgia.....let me know and I'll tell you who NOT to hire!!! Word of mouth is often mightier in the sword!!!!

no response to the letter....

Well, to update....the weasels at the cleaning company haven't responded at all to my email, so I guess they will be hearing from my hubby about this matter. I feel sorry for them.......I'll keep everyone posted....

Roxann

THE letter....so far, no response

To Xxxxx Xxxxxxxx'x Cleaning Service,

I want to call you, but honestly, I am too angry and disappointed to do so. I’m afraid of what I might say to you.

I thought the house looked good when I first walked in, but upon further inspection, I did not get $120 worth of work. NOT EVEN CLOSE!!!!!

There were specific things I asked to be done in the kitchen, things you “wrote down” and agreed to do….and some of these things WERE NOT DONE. Specifically, wiping out the inside of the oven. I had run the Self-cleaning cycle and all that’s left in there is the ash….that needs to be wiped out. It was the first thing I mentioned to you on the phone. THIS IS NOT A HARD JOB, but I’m exhausted and I thought I could count on you to do it! But, for whatever reason….you DID NOT DO IT.

The second thing was the dusting in the kitchen. I know the fan blades were done prior to your arrival by my husband, but he could not reach the top of the fan from the floor. He didn’t get the ladder and do it because he KNEW you were coming and we were paying you to clean the kitchen, including the dusting. Ha! Not hardly! The actual motor of the fan that he could not reach is still COATED with dust. There is no way you even touched it! Ixx noticed it as soon as he came home last night.

In addition to that, I told you that I needed the items on top of the cabinets dusted, along with the cabinets. Well, it appears that you dusted things on top of the cabinets, because you moved everything around and even left some of my things down on the kitchen table, but ALL of it, minus the large picture are displaced. Just thrown back up there wherever. It looks TERRIBLE!!!!!!

Now, I couldn’t even let the real estate agent take her interior pictures yesterday because of the MESS YOU LEFT in my kitchen. So now, I have to climb up on the ladder today and do the job of replacing my things on top of the cabinets. This is a job for 2 people and I have to do it by myself. So, I drag the ladder in and climb up, only to find that there are LAYERS of dust on top of the cabinets. Come on over today and I’ll show you the dust on my finger! This is COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE!!!!!! This job was maybe half-attempted, but certainly not done with the care and depth that you promised me. I AM VERY DISSAPOINTED and quite frankly, I feel ripped off and lied to.

As far as the kitchen goes, I did most of the work, prior to your arrival. I scrubbed the fronts of all the cabinets myself. I washed the walls. I scrubbed the baseboard. I scrubbed and cleaned the grout and the ceramic tile. I even attempted to vacuum the cabinet tops from the floor, which I admitted to you, did not work well. You assured me you would take care of it.

When I was ready to come home before the allotted time you asked for, I assumed you would still be here cleaning. I thought I’d just drive around until you were done. However, I was surprised to find you had already loaded up and gone in such a short period of time. Now I know why………

I hired you to make my life easier, but it didn’t. In fact, it’s given me more stress and I’m pissed I paid you so much for a BAD JOB.

In my opinion, it’s bad business to require someone to pay, until they have had the opportunity to inspect your work. I suppose since I am moving out of state, you looked at me as an easy way to get money and it won’t matter because I won’t be staying here. Bad assumption on your part, because I’m sure I’ll still be here thru the closing of our house when it sells.

Unfortunately for you, you won’t be getting my return business. Unfortunately for you, you won’t be getting my friend’s business. Unfortunately for you, I have a big mouth and I have a lot of friends in this town.

Unbelievable!

In many situations like this, you should do the job again. But, in this case, I no longer trust you and I’m not sure that I want you in my home!

You should be ashamed of your work and your work ethics!

If you did the right thing, you’d refund my money to me……..



A very, very, very disappointed customer,

Roxann Xxxxxx

Be assured I’ll be calling the Better Business Bureau and the Chamber of Commerce to make sure this doesn’t happen to other people in Richmond Hill.


***As of Noon on Thursday, I have received no response from them......big mistake. Now, they have to deal with ~I~ who is just as mad as I am.***

Does it say "sucker" on my forehead?! aka Who knew that housekeepers could be so DIRTY?!?!!

Seriously? Does it? Quick, someone get me a mirror, ASAP, so I can check!

So, were trying to get our house ready to sell so we can move. What a total pain in the bohunkus! It is SO much work! We've been working night and day and day and night, big daddy's parents have been helping, we were going to pay a friend of mine to help us, but my MIL freaked out and said she'd do it so we didn't have to pay to have it done. But, it didn't change the fact that we are all EXHAUSTED!!!!

Well, my MIL, God Bless Her, she really tried. But, her cleaning services were not great. (which I don't understand because her house is always spotless!) Maybe she was just too tired, which could very well be the case. I do appreciate her effort, though.

(Now before I go any farther, I'd like to say....my bonus mom does housecleaning for a living. It's hard, hard work and I have all the respect for her and others in this field. In no way does this post intend to hurt or offend her or anyone else. I am speaking specifically about the housekeeping company alluded to during this post.)

So, we decided to hire this housecleaning service here in the Hill and naively, I assumed that because they are "bonded and insured," i.e. Professional, that I can trust them to clean my house. At least the small list I asked them to do.

My 3 main reasons I decided to pay someone were:
#1 - I was exhausted and I pulled a muscle scrubbing the scuz from big daddy's and my tub. OUCH! (I still can't breathe normally without feeling like I am having a heart attack and it's been 2 days!)

#2 - This stinkin' wood laminate floor is giving me fits. You see, until about 6 days ago, we had the majority of it covered with a big rug, which we mistakenly thought was cleaner than just having the plain wood floor. Wrong! Guess again! When we moved the furniture off that thing to roll it up and really clean the wood floor, I about puked when I saw the underside of that carpet! GAG!!! So, anyway, because I couldn't really move it, I would just sweep around it and sweep under the edges that I could reach and call it a day. I would also vacuum the top of the rug. Turns out, that apparenly wasn't enough. So, the rug had to go!!!! You know, this floor is really beautiful! But, I haven't yet figured out the right formula for getting it clean and keeping it clean. I consulted my good friend *Google* who referred me to some other new friends who recommended just plain water or water w/ vinegar or the Sw----r Wet Jet for Wood Floors. Well, in my experience this week, none of these is really effective long term. And by long term, I mean the boys came in from school....fast forward about 14 minutes and the floor was a mess again! This really sucks! So, stupidly, I think...."I'll call a professional! They'll know what to do!!" In the case of these people....wrong again! The floor looks exactly the same as the 3 times I've mopped it this week.

#3 - I am done. Just done. I don't want to look at another thing of bleach, another antibacterial anything, no more paper towels, no more Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (which is, btw, the best invention evah!) All I have to say is dust and dirt can kiss my booty! I'm just done. But really, as far as the kitchen goes, I have scrubbed the ceramic tile, cleaned the grout, washed the walls, scrubbed the baseboards, ran the self-cleaning cycle on the oven, washed the cabinet fronts, dusted up high w/ my static duster and big daddy even vacuumed the bottom of the fan blades. (are you bored yet? sorry, i do have a point....) So, anyway, when I called the house cleaners I was very specific on what I still needed done....the wood floor, wiping the ash from the inside of the oven, dusting the cabinet tops and all the decorative items sitting on the cabinet tops, cleaning the outside and specifically the bottom grate of the refrigerator, dust the ceiling fan and general cleaning of the kitchen.

So, originally, I was put on their schedule for late last week when I called to get their prices. I made the appointment just in case I needed it. I had scheduled the deep clean for $150, meaning they were to clean everything, top to bottom, in the entire house. It's meant to get your house ready to go on the market. For all that, I felt like $150 was reasonable. But the following morning they were supposed to call and confirm if they were supposed to come...but they called and left a message that said they (husband/wife cleaning team) were sick and they needed to reschedule. Honestly, I got the impression they were being untruthful about being sick, but I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I seriously almost cried. I was so exhausted and overwhelmed, I just wanted to pay them to do it and be done with it. They said they would give me their first opening which was on Tuesday. Honestly, I had hoped we would have all the repair work and cleaning finished by then. But, with 4 kiddos underfoot, everything takes longer!!!

On Monday, ~A~ (my good friend) came and helped me scrub bathtubs. Now that was a job!! Between my elbow bothering me and pulling some muscle in my chest....I was rendered basically useless. Poor ~A~ did a BUNCH of the work on her own. And she didn't complain. (In hindsight, I'm so glad I was paying her, it helped me with some of the guilt I was feeling. But, I was so thankful for her help! She probably doesn't even know how much she blessed me! We have a cat and she's allergic to them, but she stayed anyway.)

Monday night, the cleaners called to see if I needed an appointment for Tuesday. I knew I couldn't even ask ~A~ to subject herself to my cat again, so I said yes, although I thought it was too expensive. I explained to her all the work we had done and she dropped the price to $120. I still thought it was a little high, considering how much work we had already done, but I was feeling desperate, so I did it anyway. We set a time and I really kicked into overdrive trying to get things picked up for them to clean. I was still working when they arrived (late, mind you.) So, they decided to go to the BK drive-thru for lunch. During the 15 minutes they were gone, I finished cleaning up all the stuff, took a shower, got dressed, got ~G~ dressed and changed ~M~'s diaper. (yep, I'm the mother of four I can really MOVE IT when I need to!) So, when they returned, I was trying to finish getting ready and dress ~M~ so we could leave (which is what they requested.) They also "required" pre-payment for the services rendered. (I know you are thinking that I really am an idiot about now, but give me a break, exhaustion and desperation causes you to think crazy things are normal!)

When I left they had been here about 30 minutes. I asked how long I should give them before I returned. She said, you better give us at least 2 hours. So, we went to eat lunch, then to the CVS drive-thru to pick up my prescription I had ordered 6 days before and hadn't made it 1 mile to pick up! (How sad am I? I didn't even leave my house this past week - not once!) After doing this, it had been about 1 1/2 hours, but I went back anyway....I figure I can drive around and research other houses in my neighborhood, if they weren't done. So, imagine my surprise to find them already all packed up and gone!! (the reason becomes clear later....)

So, I enter the house and I am gagged by the super piney freshness. I almost can't breathe and I eventually develop a headache from the overwhelming fumes. Believe me, those windows came open to air out, even though it's a little cool outside. It was absolutely The floor looked fine, but not any better than the 3 times I did it in the last week. But I figure "the professional" job will last longer. Nope. Wrong again!

I walk into the kitchen and the first thing I notice is all my cabinet decorations are dishoveled and some things are even down on the kitchen table, rather than put back in their place. I'm irritated, but I figure the husband has to be responsible for this.....since men don't place importance in decorating and I'm sure if he did the dusting up there, she must have been busy cleaning my oven, right?! WRONG AGAIN!!!!! My irritation grew when I opened the oven to find it coated in ash....now I am really getting upset. I'm still taking it in stride, but it's really getting on my nerves the more I think about it.

The realtor comes over to list our house a few hours later....and I am embarrassed because of the mess in the kitchen and she can't take her pics until I fix it. So much for the cleaner's promise to help with the stress and make my life easier. Ha! Yeah, right! (so giving me more work to do is gonna make my life easier?!?!)

By Wednesday morning....I'm basically over it. I can't continue to worry about it.

So, I move on....that is until I climb on the ladder to attempt to clean up this now unorganized mess. So, I climb up to the top wrung on a 6 ft. ladder while a toddler and preschooler shake the ladder and what do I see.......yep, you guessed it. Dust! Not just a little dust, THICK DUST! Dust with streaks thru it. Streaks that I put up there with my attempt to vacuum the dust about 5 days earlier. The items have dust in the crevices, although, I am sure they were dusted around the perimeter, they were not carefully DEEP cleaned, as promised. I am so mad....I feel like such a SUCKER!! They took my $120 in cash and proceded to screw me over! Can you believe that?! I guess since I'm moving, I am expendable to them. They know I'm not "long term" so they thought they could do a sub-standard job.

I was so mad, I knew better than to call them. I'm tired, AF is in town and they have taken advantage of my trust. I wrote them a pretty "matter of fact" email and called and left a message that they needed to check their email. You can read it in a later post....I'm just waiting to see if they respond.

I don't get furious very often, but if I do.....you better watch out!!

In the meantime, if you live in the Hill and you need a housecleaner.....call me first for references....I'll tell you who NOT to hire!!!