WIN A TRIP TO PARIS!!

In 2008 my mom and sister were in a car accident. An older woman pulled out in front of them and hit them head on. My mom received three torn discs in her back, which won't heal even though she's done everything her doctor's said and is a very health conscious person, like the perfect patient. The woman's insurance refused to pay for anything.

You see, that insurance company is Allstate.

If you don't know anything about insurance companies, there are a few you REALLY don't want to have, the worst being Allstate, and others like Nationwide, State Farm and AIG.

If you read up on any of these companies you would be appalled. Despite the fact that its what their company is paid to do, they will do anything not to help when its needed. They want to pay NOTHING out, they want to keep all the money.

My mom wouldn't accept that, so she pushed the issue and they sent her to arbitration. The arbitrator said he would award my mom the highest amount he could ($50,000) and would give her more if he could. Of course, Allstate wouldn't accept that, so they took it to court.

Here's the thing, while in court, no one can say anything about Allstate or the arbitration. They made it look like my mom was suing the little old lady that hit her. Who was a police officer. Yeah. They also had their doctor do an "exam" (where he ignored what my mom said, didn't even look at her MRI and basically didn't do a dang thing), even though my mom had FIVE doctors saying what she had, this guy came in, lied and the jury believed him. What have we come to in America? Where our courts protect the wrong and make the people out to be liars. The doctor they used was kicked out of another state for malpractice, works for L&I and was being sued from a previous case for making an injury out to be less than it was, but none of that was allowed to be said in court. WHY? The lawyer for Allstate lied his freaking head off and then had the nerve to go up to my mom and say "No hard feelings huh?" afterward. I don't know how people sleep at night.

And my mom, who is the most honest person I know was called a liar and irresponsible and ripped to pieces. And now has thousands of dollars of court fees, besides the medical fees she'll have for the rest of her life. Its sickening.

You should know: don't support Allstate--they will NOT support you. Think about it, if you bought a shirt from a store, but they refused to actually give you the shirt, would you sit back and be okay with it? I don't understand how an insurance company can refuse to do their job and then be PROTECTED in court about it.

Okay, I think I got some of it out, but I'm still so mad about it. Its just wrong.

Now I think there was something about Paris in the title? I know, that was way tricky. But 'Oh Happy Day' is having a contest to win a trip for two to Paris. Amazing. If I won, I would take my mom. :)

NOW NOW NOW!

So I'm back again, how's it going? For me? Its going....well, its going.

I was making a menu for the month, and realized I only have two weeks before my husband leaves for basic training and then he'll be gone for five months. Ugh. It hit me not well.

I've been having a recurring thought lately. It just keeps popping up. Maybe its on my mind because everyone's making resolutions and goals and its making me reflect. Maybe not. Who knows?

So what I've been thinking about is all these things I'd like to have and do and be. As in, I would love to sew quilts, and paint and craft. I'd also love to buy a house and decorate it. I would also love to go on a REAL vacation, you know, a really AWESOME one. And while I think its great (and necessary) to have goals and look to the future, I also think we're very much a generation of NOW. We can't be satisfied with SOMEDAY. We can't be happy until we are perfect and have everything we dream of RIGHT THIS SECOND.

I'm trying really hard to tell myself, its okay to not have those things right this second. You can work towards those things later. You don't have to know how to sew and quilt and craft right now, you have years and years and years to do those things. You can be a world famous author when you're fifty, why do you have to have it now?

Right now, you're life is raising children. Improving the things in yourself you can control. Not wasting every minute wishing and dreaming for something you can't have! I need to find joy in the moments and be happy with what I have. All the while I can still make goals and want things, I'm not saying thats bad, I'm not saying we should be complacent and give up hope for better things.

I think it comes down to being thankful and finding joy in what you do have.

Its hard though, really hard. How do you guys do it?

Red Hot Pokers aren't ALL bad right?

Okay, I hurried and did the last post for Sue's carnival (although once again I buckled under the pressure, and came up with "mildly humorous", if that.). But I did have other things to post about as well, so here goes.

So this week has been a little depressing for me. Not because of anything in my personal life, for the most part, but because I keep watching/reading these really really sad love stories. Really sad.

Like The Notebook. Have you guys seen that movie?! Its incredibly heart-wrenching and just sad! Even my husband cried during it. Well, I read the book this week and although the movie and book are a little different, it still made me bawl my little eyes out!

Then last night we watched Becoming Jane. Also, very, very sad! And it's just made me wonder why the world is so dang rude! You know?!

Why do they come up with these "perfect" men?! Why do they throw it in our faces and act like that's what everyone should expect? I think truly there are a lot of good men out there, but I don't know anyone who can be a Mr. Darcy, an Edward or Noah Calhoun. It just doesn't happen.

Take for instance, my husband. Good man, of course. But he has his flaws. I think this is a much more realistic picture of what men, even good men, are like:

Yesterday, I was super sick. Like really yucky kind of sick. As in, I woke up with horrible pains in my stomach, feeling nauseous and really couldn't quite move off the bathroom floor. I was freaking out just a little because I had to go to work (I called in of course), but I didn't know how I was going to take care of the baby that was clinging to my side screaming while I ralphed in the toilet, and the other two kids that live here and also pick one up from school, when I couldn't even stand up straight. My husband was getting ready for work and just wasn't really helping. He took the approach of 'there's nothing I can do, so I won't'. Which only makes me hate him more. I got "thing's" taken care of after awhile to where I could actually move and function, although the shooting pains in my stomach remained all day. Husband called three times. The first time he was polite enough to ask if I was feeling better. Oh, so sweet isn't he? Whatever. It was completely obligatory. Then after he talked about whatever they'd done at work, he had the nerve to ask me what our plans were for the night. Um, hello?! I'M SICK. And therefore evil. Second phone call comes. "Hey honey, I can't help it, but I have to work tonight about an hour late. Another guy had to go early and since I didn't have anything I said I'd stay." You mean 'anything' like a sick wife at home?! Retard. Third phone call. "Hey, Dufus (name changed to protect the stupid) said if I worked until NINE for him, he would give me Jazz tickets. What do you think?" At this point I may have ripped his head off through the phone. I can't recall the exact phrase but I did tell him if the freakin Jazz game was more important than me than GO FOR IT. The idiot.

Don't get me wrong, I love my husband. But there are days where I seriously wonder how many times he was dropped as a child. The thing is, when he's sick, the whole world ends. What happens when Mom's sick? He wants to go to a Jazz game. How does he not see that this isn't okay? It doesn't take a rocket scientist people.

Really I'm okay now, I understand that men are stupid and selfish, and I'm over it--mostly. Here's the lesson that all men need to learn (I will definitely teach this to my son, he will be perfect.):

Women just want you to THINK about them and then tell them! Simple as that. THINK about us, miss us, wonder how we're doing, CARE.
example: When your wife is sick, dote on her! idiot
example: You work late, call her up and say you miss her--and mean it!
example: LISTEN to what she says, like if she's told you for months what she wants for her birthday, BUY that! And not the freakin day before either.

Whew. I feel so much better. I'm not trying to be bitter or mean. Just realistic. I know all of us have things our husband's do that drive us crazy, and sometimes it just feels so good to get it out. I know I do things that bug him too. Its part of life. And marriage.

Now I'm going to go take those red hot pokers out from under his pillow. See how blogging is good for a marriage? I might have done something I would regret later...
The sooner he realizes the world revolves around ME, the better.