The MomGate MG1

This is the time of year I love the most. Crisp weather, leaves changing color... and of course soup season. For me soup season is awesome - not only because we get all the free bread we want to go with the soup, but because soup on average is a cheap filling meal. During the summer, who wants to eat hot soup? But during the fall and winter... I can eat soup practically every day, and a pot of soup lasts for more then on meal!

So this week I decided to only plan for three dishes. Two of which are soups and one is a thrifty hearty meal. So we are going to be having:

Taco Bean Soup
Creamy Potato Cheese and Leek Soup
Enchiladas

All of these make quite a large amount of food, so it will keep us sated through the week. Thinking of maybe cooking some in the crock pot this week.

Now onto WoW news... I hate Tuesdays in general. This is the day the kids sleep in without fail... and yet WoW servers are down for maintence. i swear its a conspiracy =) I'll cope of course, hopefully get some beads glazed to be strung. Friend of mine is a nurse and requested one to hang her badge on. So maybe if the other nurses like it they will put in orders. I can hope right? Anyway... back to WoW since I digress.

I got my paladin to 70 last night, and sure there are millions of people who can level faster then I can, but hey I have other things to do >.>. I admit I am addicted to the silly game, but where else can you find cheaper entertainment? And even more so since some WONDERFUL friends gave me a year game subscription card for Christmas last year (and I still have until I think June on it!) So now I am trying to decide whether I should stay in Outlands to level until I finish the last 3 zones, or if I should just head off to Northrend with everyone else to trya nd level as fast as possible. GRanted I only work on him when he has rested exp (which is dwindling at this point) but I bounce between him and my shaman. She just reached 65 and still has a level and a half worth of rested on her.

I made Chal mainly so I could have a tank, I have never played a melee class in WoW past level 18 (not including the druid I powerleveled with Chal) so I think I am lacking in some understanding on how tanks work. That and well, I like to know how other classes work for when I raid lead, if I ever get back to it since my last one failed due to extensive absences.

I have some good friends willing to help me out at least =) but I dont know if I wanna just jump into Northrend... maybe I should, because then I can tank for PuGs and not feel bad when I suck miserably. Of course first I have to finish leveling my blacksmithing. So I won't be leaving Outlands until I mine enough Adamantine to be able to use the Cobalt that is prevelant in Northrend.

Lucky for me, friends of mine bombarded Vegonna, my engineer 65 shammy, with materials to get her engineering and jewelcrafting past the magical 350 point. So I dont have to worry about her too much, once she reaches 70 - Northrend is her destination =)

So anyway... I guess I shall return to real life. Sounds like Cait is up and ready to start her day, which means Gabe will be bouncing off the walls as well shortly.

Well if you have been following my blog, or my Facebook you know how things have been really rough lately. Between losing our health insurance, summer time slump for Shawn's job, and of course the teething and random sickness in the family. However today things really were starting to look up.

Not only am I going to be doing some freelance web design for a church, but also one of our assistance requests to the State has also gone through. So at least I dont have to worry about a week of just eating ramen again! I have also been working on finding a new home for our dog Sebastian.

I am going to miss him, and so is Gabe, but he is just too rambunctious for a toddler. Poor Gabe cant run in the backyard with Sebby loose, Sebby just runs him down. He doesnt do it to be malicious, but because he wants to play. That matched with the fact you cant really leave him off a chain (when he doesnt BReAK said chain) because he barrels through or jumps over our fence. He isnt motivated by food because I have been trying to teach him for a year now.

So I hope that works out as well... he needs a better home then we are giving him right now.

Okay... so its Patch Day on WOW... and big surprise... the servers are messed up... frustrating since computer time is my zen time... and today was a loooooooong day.

Cait had her 6month today.. and Shawn didnt get home in time to watch Gabe... so yeah... had to take both of them. And unfortunatly the doctor that we go to is nowhere NEAR punctual with appointments. We had an appointment at 12:15 and we didnt leave until almost 2:30. Which is worse because they scheduled the appointment during nap time.

Rough. Well Gabe did behave, he was playing with a little girl in the waiting room. Then the ticklemonster was chasing him through the exam room. Cait of course was a little angel =) until she got her 3 shots... oh that still breaks my heart. Yet she still was easier to calm down then Gabe used to be.

So we stop at McDonalds for chickies onthe ride home, and Gabe was happy =)

I take Cait up to try to get her to nap a little, and when I come back downstairs, Shawn and Gabe are passed out on the couch cuddling each other. Oh boy I wish I had my camera handy. It was sooooooo cute!

But then I sit down to play some Warcraft... and OMG the lag is just horrible... if you can even get on. I am so tempted to just turn off the computer and go get a bottle of wine and read some novels... but yeah... the addiction is strong. I will sit in Vent and wait for the raid to be called >.> even tho I am a backup - at least I am reliable!

Alright, so I love my UI addons... and I have too many. It was bogging down my play and making raiding difficult. Now since I am a member of a raiding guild, and I am on the backup roster for DPS I really have to make sure I am at the peak of my game every night. One of the raid's two mages is being deployed within 2 months, at least there is a 80% probability of that, and I know the DPS lead likes having a second mage along for Focus Magic.

Now I have been a frost mage for 90% of my career on WoW as a mage... and that is going on 4 years... I spent a year alliance but we won't go into that... yet a couple of months ago I decided, with the urging of Verissi, to give fire a try. For a raiding standpoint... fire is OMG. Seeing huge crit numbers flash across my screen is just awesome. So I was corrupted. Yet I am still not playing fire to the peak of my ability. Frost is easymode IMHO, very little in the way of rotations, pretty much just point and shoot. Fire takes a bit more to maximize DPS.

Luckily, V is the type of person who will help you when you ask. And asking I have been. He has run simulations on my gear to better min/max everything. He even helps me with my gemming choices. So right now, my gear is gemmed and enchanted to the best of my ability and I want to improve even more.

So I decided to purge my UI and start trying to use keybindings for everything. Now I use keybindings when I am healing, but honestly never really got into the habit of it for my DPS classes. ANd I think that accounts for some of my piddly DPS. Of course Piddly DPS is about 4.5k raid buffed... yet I am closer to the bottom of the damage meters... not the last but not as high as I COULD be.

So I purged my UI... instead of having buttons for everylittle thing I am going to try and make due with less, hoping this increases my FPS in game as well. We shall see!

Well I am going to rant right now... because goodness knows I REALLY need to... And please don't judge me =p

Alright, so Shawn doesnt get healthcare through his work, because to cover all of us would actually take up about 1/3 - 1/2 of his paycheck every week. We simply cannot afford that. Luckily, the State of Connecticut offers a health insurance for low income families like ours. Husky A. We've been on Husky since I was pregnant with Gabe. And I have filled out the forms, sent in the paystubs and kept it up to date.

Well in April, apparently we were sent a redetermination form. I never laid eyes on this. One of three things could have happened, Shawn opened the mail and since it wasnt a bill threw it out( My favorite), It never got delivered, I got it but filed it away. Sure that IS a possibility, but when it comes to the healthcare why would I suddenly NOT fill out a form after I'd been filling out the forms and sending the stuff in for the past 2 1/2 years. So I get a letter saying our healthcare will be terminated unless I send it in.

Okay... so I call up my worker. Voicemail. Typical. Okay so I leave a message asking for a new form. A week goes by. I call up again. Voicemail. Leave another message saying I NEED that form or I am going to lose my Husky. Get a letter in the mail saying I have 10 days before it is terminated so I log on the website, print out the referral form, fill it out and send it in.

about 2 weeks later (all the while I am STILL trying to get ahold of the worker) I get a letter in the mail saying I am denied for Husky B because I am already enrolled in Husky A. Now I am just confused. I never applied for Husky B. Okay fine, I call up the worker again to ask about this, leave more messages.

FINALLY today I get ahold of the worker. And she confirms my Husky was discontinued in JUNE. I've been trying to get ahold of her since late April. Filled out every form that was sent to me and didnt get ANY of the answers I asked for. So I am fully frustrated because I already have the Child Welfare breathing down my neck because I can't afford to get vaccinations for my kids right now. They will get them, when I either get the money or get my healthcare reinstated.

While I admit not sending in the FIRST packet is my fault, I have been trying and trying and trying to get ahold of SOMEONE to help me. So back to the drawing board I have to reapply from scratch and of course fight tooth and nail because current paycheck stubs, they base eligibility off a month of pay, is going to imply we make more then we do for a year. What they fail to realize is Shawn works on COMMISSION. And the first two weeks of school really increase his pay, then it goes back down to normal.

So yes I am frustrated, irritated and ready to call the State Department and tell them if their workers can't help the people on the current case load then maybe they need to consider opening more positions, because trying every other day for 2 months and not having ANY help is unacceptable.

Well apparently I couldnt beat the sickness that is going around... Shawn has been sick for a week now - and the kidlets have been having minor cold symptoms as well. I, like usual, have been fighting it with taking my vitamins, drinking more water, and washing my hands lots and lots. Getting more rest then usual is out of the question... but hey, doing what I can. Two days ago I finally felt my body sucumbing. Started with a sore throat, then moved to body aches and last night... or rather 3am this morning the nausea. Vomitting, Schlotzkis, dry heaves... yeah not fun. Of course Cait was up at 2:30 wanting to play. Kat, in his half awake state, griped at me for staying up to play WoW. As if that is the reason I am sick, he's the one who brought this home ><

Anyway, no fever thank goodness, but man... anything I put into my stomach doesnt stay there long. And no, I am not pregnant again =p Seems like everytime I feel run down or sick that is the first question people ask!

Well if Cait doesnt nap today I am planning on working on some more glazed beads, getting the hang of using this melting pot. Plenty of room for improvement tho, I shall post some pictures later to show folks the difference in the beads. Hoping to try a few new techniques this weekend but we shall see how long this virus takes to run it's course. I am so lucky that my constitution improved immensly when I was pregnant with Gabe... Mommy's can't afford to be sick!

So Cait hasnt been crawling yet... but she is VERY close... and she is teething, the two front bottom teeth are starting to show where they will show their pretty whiteness... but unfortunatly, what I am guessing is a combination of all three, she has been waking up at 3am ready to play. Of course when I am not ready to play she isnt happy and voices it... loudly. SO none of us have gotten much sleep. I am to the point that I cant fall asleep because I am so tired... maybe I should see if my MIL would bring over her corkscrew (since mine vanished.... ::glare Shawn::) and I cant open the wine bottle I have in the fridge. WHo cares if it is a good wine... maybe a nice glass will calm both me and Cait down.

On top of that, poor Gabe has been kept up as well. Well that and he still seems to want to fall asleep on the floor at the foot of his bed. Go figure. Anyway, this week has been crazy with Labor Day parties... so yes I know bad me for going without another menu... Blech. Anyway, tomorrow I am hoping to get some salsa made and canned for later. Yes I know I can get pretty much as many as I want from my friends who work for Frito Lay, but man I love my own fresh made stuph. We will see if the kidlets will allow it this time. I managed to get some seconds tomatoes from a local farmer today, I just hope he didnt sell me a bunch of rotten ones (at the bottom of the bushel)

I also splurged a little this week on my grocery shopping, I got a pack of stew meat, 11 dollars, but I know my beef stew will feed us for at least 3 days. Of course I make a HUGE crock pot filled with it. I love this time of the year, soups and stews in abundance... and they are usually relatively inexpensive to make.

So anyway...

Thursday: Beef Stew
Friday: Tuna Casserole
Saturday: Beef Stew Leftovers (better the second day!)

So a couple WoW friends and I decided to make our attempts at The Glory of the Hero meta achievment. What it basically is, is doing certain things (or not doing certain things) in the heroic dungeons of Wrath. And for a reward you get a very tasty Red Proto Drake. Now since I have never been able to obtain the special mounts like the Amani War Bear, the Plagued Protodrake or the Rusted Protodrake (or the 25 man special mounts) I figured I'd at least try really really hard for this one. Since you in essence only need 5 people. Well some of these achievements are REALLY difficult. And we dont run with the 'typical' group.

It is Me (Frost or Fire Mage)
Verissi (Fire mage)
Kieranna (Marksman Hunter)
Lomar (Prot Warrior)
Kalea (Healy Shaman)

Of everyone here, Kalea and I are the best gear with pretty much all Ulduar ranking loot. Lomar has spatterings of Ulduar gear and Verissi and Kier have spatterings of Naxx and what we have gotten from badge vendors and the heroics we run. So not the 'optimal' group, but where we might lack in gear, we have lots of experience with our classes. Verissi (author OMGL2PLAYNOOB) has to be the most experienced WoW player I know, with practically an 80 of every class.

So every week we try to knock out one achievement, we have limited time to play together due to raiding schedules but we try =) and we are past the halfway point. Well last night since my raid was cancelled we decided to try one of the harder ones. And let me tell you, it was AWFUL.

We went to Ajol'Nerub to do Watch him Die and the other two in there. Which are both mainly DPS races. This one just sucked. We wiped countless times trying out strategies of all sorts. Hunter kite, Mage Kite, Flat out Zerg, Kite one group, kill all the mini adds, kill only the skirmisher mini add... despawning the boss and trying to kill him from behind... yeah we were trying everything. Finally we decided to kill the mini adds then try to all out zerg the boss. Unfortunatly there is a high RNG aspect to this fight as there are stuns and webwraps that really impinge on your DPS and or healing. LUCKILY, at about 2 hours into our attempts RNG was in our favor. My mirror images were the ones getting webwrapped as I laid into the boss.

Our tank went down at about 10%, I nuked the best I could and popped a living bomb on him just as the adds came to eat my face. Luckily I was far away from the other group members so the mobs had to run to them, and by the time the rest of the party went down, the Boss was dead. I know I wasnt the only one to shriek on TS that we got it. And boy was it a sense of accomplishment.

Alright... this is going to be a flat out rant. Because this seems to happen all the time to me as well as my friends.

So I go out of my way to help someone, work my arse off to help. Turn my back for a minute and a dagger goes flying into it. Person I am helping turns his/her back on me, sometimes quietly other times in very very nasty ways, and moves on thinking that throughtheir own stamina, their own willpower and work is what got them through it.

People around me snicker behind my back or embrace the person and then start to help them out. When I grumble about it I get labeled as inconsiderate, jealous, mean spirited or a flat out liar. Okay fine. I dont talk about it. But then don't ASK me about it if you dont want to hear my gripes. I move on, but goodness knows I am not going to go out of my way to help said person ever again. And my close friends know that I will attempt to move mountains for the few close friends I have.

The incident is forgotten, by everyone else other then me because I can hold one helluva grudge, and all seems well. Then guess what, it happens again to the new person. People who pu-pued me about my reaction and brushed me off as any of the acronyms above are suddenly up in arms and highly offended that said person could possibly do that to someone! All because they are involved with the betrayal of the person whom had already backstabbed me.

Sounds a bit funny doesn't it? Yet it happens over and over... by my count 5 times since Jr. High. Sometimes I wonder why I even try to help people out.

So yes I have been a bad meal planning momma for the past week. No Blog entries, no menus for those of us who are on a very limited budget... but it has been quite the hectic week. Yes we did do the Ramen recipes and yes they were surprisingly delicious and cheap! Although next time around I will definitely do more in the flavor department. But when you really have to pinch, ramen noodles are a filling and tasty way to stretch the budget... oh and they are VERY kid friendly. My son just adores 'oodles.

So one of the reasons this past week has been rough is because Gabe decided that he didnt want to be in his crib anymore. Ever. He was crawling out of the crib and making a ruckus during nap and bedtimes. That wasnt what worried me... what worried me was the fact he had some pretty impressive bruises from his climbing escapes. So we made the decision it was time to move him to a toddler bed. Man it is hard to accept that your baby boy is growing up... and I was worried about a lot more. Gabe has NEVER been a good sleeper, from the moment we brought him home fromt he hospital he was little caffeine baby. (And to think I barely drank any caffeine while I was pregnant or breastfeeding) So how would he handle sleeping when he wasnt confined. Las Vegas made me cringe... he barely slept at all that whole week. But his safety was first concern.

SO I was happy enough just making his crib into the toddler bed, but then we'd have to buy a crib for Cait... so It was either buy a crib or buy a toddler bed. Toddler bed it was. I researched a bunch of beds and figured we'd just get a little wooden one like my parents have.

Enter Linda.

Now my mother-in-law is a very generous and loving person... but she is a bit scattered and VERY impulsive. Thats for another post... she decided that she wanted to buy the toddler bed. Which was good news to me since we are still VERY strapped for money... so she went to Toys R Us and looked at the toddler beds... and she picked out the two that she wanted to pick from. A car shaped bed or a Thomas the Tank Engine bed...

Now Gabe LOVES cars and trains... but trains are his favorite. Everytime he visits my parents he immediatly upon entering the house takes Gaggee by the hand and leads him to the basement door. My father has a train setup down there.

Since MIL was picking up the tab... we went for the Thomas bed. This was Friday night, I didnt want to wait too long because of risk of injury to Gabe... but we got home from the store too late on Friday to put it together immediatly. Gabe was crushed. I made the mistake of bringing the boxes in on Friday so Gabe saw the picture. First thing Saturday morning he ran to the box and hugged it. He was so excited. My siblings warned me that a 'play' bed was not a wise decision and I was very skeptical about it, but hey... maybe this would make him WANT to sleep? (okay my brother corrected me... they warned me it was impractical ;) )

So after Shawn put the bed together we brought Gabe up to see it... the entire time Shawn was piecing the bed together Gabe was chanting Daddy Datata (which is his word for train, think the train sound) We brought him upstairs and his face lit up. He practically squealed and ran to hug his Thomas bed. He collected all his favorite stuffed animals and even ran downstairs to grab Froggie. He spent a good hour playing on his bed before I made him come downstairs for dinner. He was not pleased.


Bedtime we brought him upstairs and did his normal routine. It took him a long while to settle down, but we let him have his freedom. About an hour later we checked on him, he was passed out on the floor next to the bed. We giggled then put him back in bed. The morning dawned with Gabe tearing apart his room and finding everything we thought we took out... think qtips with the cotton ripped off.

Naptime... we were dreading it. He is a terror when he doesnt nap. So we do the usual routine and then put him in his room for quiet time. We placed a child knob lock on the inside of his door. We have VERY steep stairs and worry about him falling down. We left him a sippy and a couple of books, not to mention the trains he has in his room. He actually took about an hour nap! Sure it wasnt as much as he needed, but he actually took a nap in his bed!


Yesterday he took almost a 3 hour nap in his bigboy bed without us having to take his toys away! And last night he actually fell asleep *IN* the bed instead of on the floor. I think maybe this transition was harder for me then for him. I went in this morning and there he was, playing on his bed with his stuffed animals, no clothing ripped from the drawers, although there was chalk drawings all over Thomas and his wall.. but whats a little chalk for peace of mind that your son is safe!