Send Help: I’ve Fallen in Love with Children’s Furniture

Money, Opinion, The Real Live Boy, The Real Live Girl No Responses »
May 182010

Really.

You see, as we contemplate how to fit our family into various houses that we have attempted to buy or are considering buying, we’ve also been contemplating furniture changes — some critical, some needed, some we’d like to make.

At one point, a bunk bed for the kids was on the table.

Somehow in the course of my internet research, I found this breathtaking fantasy bunk bed from CedarWorks. (This is not paid advertising, my only material relationship with CedarWorks is that they sent me a catalog in the mail. After I asked for one online.)

I needed the catalog because the web site doesn’t have any prices. You can design your own fantasy playset or bed and ask them to send you a quote by email, but you can’t actually see that an adorable bubble shelf wall-panel for your bunk bed costs $175. (Not for the bunk bed; for one of the panels that makes it kind of a bunk-bed playhouse. That’s a heckuva lot more.) (CedarWorks? Please come join the 21st Century; it’s very nice here! Let us see the prices online. Please. We can handle the truth. And if you’d like some help communicating with Mommybloggers or other social media, we should talk.)

That’s also my only complaint about their web site. They have the coolest online design tool ever, where you can configure a playset or loft bed or the bunk bed of your dreams.

Do not ask how much time I spent playing with that tool. Or how many imaginary beds I saved, or whether or not they were REALLY for Noah & Josie. (Or for 9 year old bookworm Liza.)

Seriously. My new lottery-winning fantasy involves these CedarWorks Rhapsody “playbeds” for both children. Ahem. Maybe they will let me play or read in there with them.

For Noah, I’m daydreaming about the fire pole exit, a climbing wall panel, and a nice private nook area where he can go when he needs his “Don’t look at me!” space.

For Josie, my fantasy involves a slide exit with a hiding nook underneath, flowers you can peek through, and those adorable bubble-shelves I mentioned above.

Possibly both of them get chalkboard panels in this fantasy. If I could make it look nice.

Nine year old Liza would have been all about the reading nooks, with as much hiding ability as possible.

I’ll let you know if I win the lottery and can move these daydreams into reality. But even if that never happens, I’m enjoying my children’s furniture fantasy quite a bit.

Posted by Liza at 9:13 pm Tagged with: , , , , , , ,

Shoes

Money, poverty party 3 Responses »
May 142009

One of the bonuses of leaving the world of DC lawyer-lobbyist for the Internet side of corporate America was the clothing. Gone were high-maintenance suits, heels, and hose; replaced with shirts & nice pants, and later, giant maternity dresses.

In short, I no longer have much in the way of “lawyer clothes” and what I do have, 90% was purchased before 2003, and long before my two pregnancies.

So there are some wardrobe challenges facing the new job.

But even more than wardrobe challenges, there are shoe challenges.

We can’t find our shoes.

That’s a slight exaggeration, but not a lot. Both Jill and I put some shoes in our “everyday luggage” when we moved, but nearly all of our shoes got packed in the “get the house ready to sell” phase of packing. Unfortunately, the people who did that packing for us didn’t label any of the boxes. Determining which of those…50?…boxes contains our shoes requires opening all of them until we find them.

And frankly, at least for me, it might not be worth the effort.

I’m pretty sure that if I put my mind to it, I could count all of the shoes I’ve purchased since I was pregnant with Noah: black super-flat mary janes, dark red loafers, white athletic shoes, tevas, nike teva-type sandals, super-casual funky keds-type slip ons, rain boots, snow boots, and dress boots. Oh and some black patent leather sandals that I wore to work last summer, and maybe another pair of shoes I bought online last spring.

I think it averages to 2 pair of shoes per year, and of those, I wore 2 pair of those to work 90% of the time, and another 3 at home or after work/weekends for 90% of that time, over the last 4 years.

My “work shoes” wardrobe was in even worse shape than my “work clothes” wardrobe, that’s my only point with all that.

So perhaps I can be forgiven for buying 4 pair of shoes at DSW today. FOUR. Four pair of pumps with heels!

I hope I can still remember how to walk in this kind of shoe.

Now, I would not be admitting to the whole entire Internet how crazy I went today if I hadn’t gotten great deals. I spent a grand total of $103. And I now have:

  • Black, patent-leather Bandolinos, discounted 40%
  • Funky black Mary Jane pumps, discounted 50%
  • Red, faux snakeskin Bandolinos, discounted 30%
  • Brown, suade & patent slingback Franco Sartos, discounted 70%

And none of them are open-toed, so I can continue to ignore any stray thoughts of getting a pedicure. You know, in my spare time. With my spare money.

I also bought a suit this week, for $70. I think that between the few that are still salvageable from my previous career plus what Jill took to Texas plus this plus borrowing from Mom will get me through the summer. (Maybe I can even return Mom’s shoes.)

And HOPEFULLY by the end of the summer, the economy and my employment will be on their way to long-term good health.

Posted by Liza at 11:29 pm

Decisions, Decisions

Money, Opinion, Writing 5 Responses »
Apr 022009

You may notice that over there on the right, the BlogHer Ad sidebar deal isn’t running any ads.

They got upset about my 23andMe post. I knew that I wasn’t allowed to do paid reviews or run other ads above or parallel to theirs, but I didn’t realize that I couldn’t cross post things from a place I’m paid to blog to this blog. (I don’t plan to do that often — cross posting seems boring to me.)

They gave me 24 hours to sort out getting the post to an ad-free page. There were instructions on how to do it in a wordpress blog, but seriously, my technical skills are inadequate. I might be able to make the changes they want, but not in 24 hours.

But I’m kind of annoyed.

I don’t know if I’m going to make the changes. I don’t really like someone telling me what I can’t talk about here.

While I like the company and the ads — by and large, they make it easy — the money more or less covers paying for the blog, but not a whole lot more. On the other hand, am I going to spend the time and energy finding advertisers on my own? Not really.

Anyway. That’s what I’ve been thinking about for the last day or so.

That, and I’ve been cursing bureaucracy in the form of challenges communicating between the Wisconsin and Georgia departments of Labor. I *think* I understand what I’m supposed to do to get unemployment compensation. Unfortunately, I can’t test that theory for another 48 hours.

Posted by Liza at 10:15 pm

Open Letter to AT&T

Money, Moving, Opinion 2 Responses »
Jan 022009

Dear AT&T:

You called me this morning around 11:40 am. It is now 1:08 pm.

You called to tell me that I hadn’t activated my DSL service. I knew that; I’ve been trying to cancel it for about 10 days now. Cable, not that I love them either, offers me more than twice the speed for about $10/month more. So I picked them instead.

When you called, I pressed the “talk to someone” button, and was immediately transferred to tech support in India. (Guessing from the accent.)

When I told “Jody” that I wanted to cancel the service, she transferred me to someone who sounded like they were in the US. Hold time was about 5 minutes. That person thought I was trying to cancel a business account, but I don’t have a business account. After much back and forth over the fact that I don’t know my new land line number and HEY DIDN’T YOU PEOPLE CALL ME? DON’T YOU KNOW WHAT ACCOUNT THE COMPUTER CALLED ME TO DISCUSS??? she eventually transferred me to what she said was 800-228-2020.

Since being on hold with that transfer, I have pumped 9 oz of breast milk, plugged in my cell phone so that the battery won’t die — it is still trying to — had an argument with my wife about our new banking plans in our new city, resolved the argument, researched 2 banks and 3 credit unions, read lots of updates on Facebook, bought long underwear online, had a hormonal roller-coaster & stress driven meltdown, complete with tears and door slamming, and resolved that too. Oh and made and eaten lunch.

I’m still on hold.

You’re never going to let me cancel that DSL service, are you?

After we go open up our new savings account, I have another priority errand, but either late this afternoon, or next Monday, I’m going to be calling and leaving a message for some nice paralegal in your legal department, asking them to help me cancel the account so that I don’t have to take the issue to small claims court.

You see, even though I am currently a stay at home mom, I still have better things to do with my time than spend more than 2 hours on hold to try to cancel an account. ESPECIALLY since, may I remind you, YOU CALLED ME.

Oh yeah, and this is the second time I’ve danced this exact dance with you. You called last week, but I gave up being on hold when I got to the grocery store — only 10 minutes after you called.
Total time spent connected to AT&T that produced exactly zero results: 1:42:31.

Hi, Vonage? I still need a landline for Jill’s work, maybe you can help?

Posted by Liza at 1:24 pm

Business as Usual

Money, Moving, Personal 1 Response »
Dec 292008

I could write a sad and mopey post about how Jill left yesterday and we all miss her and I hate this business about living apart. And I could tell stories about how Noah woke up this morning and immediately went running through the house calling “This Mommy! This Mommy!”

But it sucks enough without reliving it for the Internet to share.

Instead, I’m going to have a bitch moment and a “yay me!” moment.

First, the bitch moment: My plan today was to get my car registered and get a new driver’s license, go grocery shopping, and deal with computer/network issues. Then if I had time before I have to pick up the kids, I could also blog.

The Wisconsin DMV web site has a great deal of information on it, none of which can be found associated with any other piece of necessary information. It looks nice and there are lots of hyperlinks, but as far as actual functionality is concerned, I give it a D+.

I tried first to get the emissions test done, since in Georgia, you have to do that first, and in Wisconsin, there’s no information available about what you have to do first.

Nope. The guy managing the line told me that I needed to go inside to get my paperwork. So much for benefiting from the nice short line. Inside, the line was also short, but slow. The woman disuaded me from getting the emissions test done, as it would be free after I got the car registered in Wisconsin. (Huh?) But she couldn’t do the registration part.

(Amusingly, the web site asserts that you can get a “driver license” with an out-of-state license online. Fortunately, I assumed that was only included in the “Online services – save yourself a trip” section as a joke.)

The site is also confusingly organized, such that I thought the downtown office was a full-service DMV center, when it actually only deals with drivers licensing, and even that, not if you have to take the test.

Imagine my surprise when I arrived and figured out that I could only get the driver’s license there, not the vehicle registration. However, given that it took more than an hour to get from the person with line ticket number 4 to line ticket number 19, me, I think it is safe to say they could not handle additional work. Incidentally, 4 of the people between #4 and #19 had given up and left, so they only actually spoke with 10 customers while I was waiting.

Look for a future post here, outlining what you need to do and in what order, if you are moving to Wisconsin with your car. After I figure it out.

On the “yay me!” front, I am feeling like Ms Smart Shopper. Last week, I joined the local food coop. I love food coops, and the big local one here has a large branch in the best local grocery shopping area that I’ve found so far.

One of the member benefits they gave me was a book of “try this for free” coupons. When I looked at the coupons on Saturday, I noticed that they all expire on 12/31/2008. So I went to spend them today.

Total value: $49.87, including Seventh Generation all purpose cleaner, Cascadian Farms frozen vegetable of my choice, Traditional Medicinals box o tea, quart o soy milk, 2 different non-dairy fake ice cream products, and a number of other items. Some I would have bought anyway, some I would have bought a cheaper substitute, and some I would probably not have otherwise purchased. Still, for $0.62, I am well satisfied. (That’s the tax, which I still had to pay.)

My real total was $3.50 higher, since I did also buy a gallon of skim milk. But either way, that’s thirteen cents shy of 2 years worth of ownership fees, already saved. And I saved about $11 in owner sale pricing on my first trip. It may not be as cheap as the big box food store, but since it already paid for itself, I’m very satisfied.

Posted by Liza at 4:29 pm

Calendar of Chaos

Money, Personal, The Real Live Boy, The Real Live Girl, The Rest of the Fam 7 Responses »
Oct 202008

Here’s what’s on deck for us during the coming months:

  • October 20:  Liza & Josie go to Milwaukee to find an apartment
  • October 23:  Liza and Josie return from Milwaukee
  • November 7:  Mommies close on the sale of their house
  • November 9:  Josie’s baptism
  • November 22-24:  Finish packing the house and have movers come to move everything to Milwaukee (exact date still TBD)
  • November 25:  Liza’s birthday
  • November 27:  Thanksgiving
  • November 30:  Last date that we can be in the house
  • December 1:  Liza, Noah & Josie move into an apartment in Milwaukee

On this last point, we’re still finalizing. But since Jill’s job won’t transfer with benefits or her car, we’d basically be spending her entire new income on COBRA for her and the kids plus a car so she could do the job. So we are about 85% sure that we’re going to have her stay here for December and the early part of January. February is still up for debate.

  • December 18:  Adoption Hearing
  • December 25:  Christmas
  • December 31:  NYE
  • January 1:  Happy New Years
  • January 9:  Liza’s last severance check
  • January 17:  Probable first day that Jill would need to be in Tampa to work the SuperBowl
  • January 21-22:  Possible unbloggable trip Liza needs to take; possible that Josie could travel too
  • February 1:  The SuperBowl
  • February 3:  Probable first day that Jill could leave Tampa after working the SuperBowl and join the rest of the family in Milwaukee
  • February 10:  Noah turns 3 

Ahem.

Hello? Calling the villiage! It looks like we’re going to really need you over the next few months. We need a place for Jill to stay for a couple of months, cheap enough that it is less than the cost of COBRA and a car rental in Milwaukee. We need help for me to manage as a single parent for a couple of months, while also looking for a full time job.

In the mean time, I’m also looking for more ways to earn money writing, which, of course, is a lot harder when Noah and Josie are around and I’m responsible for them. (Not impossible, just unpredictable. Right now, Noah is eating breakfast and Josie is sleeping, while I’m blogging and Jill is in the shower. But this blog obviously has no deadlines.)

I’m still working that election post. It’s coming — hopefully this week while Grandma is eagerly snuggling baby Josie.

Posted by Liza at 7:12 am

The High Cost of Infertility Treatment

Money, Personal, Pregnancy, TMI, TTC 14 Responses »
Nov 142007

Did you know that last week was National Infertility Awareness Week? Or that infertility affects 12.5% of the US population? I saw a few blog posts about it, but didn’t get organized to add my $.02 until now.

I hesitate to declare myself part of the “infertility community.” I don’t have PCOS, I haven’t had any miscarriages, it only took me five cycles of trying to get pregnant with Noah.

On the other hand, getting pregnant is the same big, expensive, medical deal for me as it is for someone who spends six months or a year having sex with the intent of getting pregnant, and not succeeding. We go to the same doctors and we take the same drugs.

I’ve been lucky.

Since we’ve been trying to get pregnant, I’ve had jobs with great health insurance that included at least some infertility treatment. Still, here’s a rough breakdown of our out-of-pocket expenses:

From the beginning to Noah’s birth:

  • 10 vials of Our Anonymous Donor’s sperm: $2850 in 2004. If we were buying the same category of donor today, it would be $405 per vial, so I’m glad we bought when we did. Also, we paid for this through my flexible benefit plan health savings account, the $5k you can withhold pre-tax. Who knew that sperm would be a “qualified medical expense?”
  • ClearBlue Easy Fertility Monitor: $175, plus sticks to test with, $40/pack of 30, roughly $160.
  • Doctor visits when we lived in DC: Roughly $1000. The doctor was out of network, we did three rounds of unmedicated IUI.
  • Getting the sperm from the cryobank to the doctor’s office: Roughly $85 each time for 5 cycles = $425.
  • Storing the sperm from January 2004 through May 2007: $1155
  • Doctor visits after we moved to Atlanta: Roughly $500. I had coverage, the doctor was in network, but I had a $400 deductible and a 10% co-pay.
  • Drugs: Roughly $50.

Total cost of infertility treatment resulting in Noah: $6315.

Total cost so far in the effort to have a second child:

  • Evaluations etc for Jill, when we thought she was going to have baby #2: Roughly $1000. The doctor/facility was out of network, and we have a $1500 deductible EACH.
  • Storage with the non-profit facility Jill was going to use: $10/m for 3 months = $30. (Because of the 3 ring circus of sperm transportation that I went through to move it to my RE’s office, they don’t seem to have entered it in their storage billing system.)
  • Doctor’s visits for me: Roughly $1500. They finally agree that I’ve met my deductible, so we have to have hit that, but I can’t explain it all.
  • Drugs: $105
  • Bloodwork while out of area: $913 that I am still fighting with the insurance company about. Either they should pay it, or they should count it against my deductible. They should quit erasing it from their computers when they get confused.
  • Second opinion doctor who was out of network but I have awesome insurance so that was still 70% covered: $560. (I haven’t gotten that 70% back, so I’m counting the whole amount. It’s still out of my pocket.)
  • EDITED TO ADD more ovulation predictor kits and sticks for the Clear Blue Easy Monitor. And pregnancy tests. Not to be icky, but we in the ttc blogosphere call all of that gear “peesticks.” I would guess roughly $20/cycle, including the canceled & skipped cycles, let’s say $80.

Total cost of infertility treatment so far in round two: $4188.

Also? Add parking to most visits (all DC and the convenient Atlanta ones, but not the ones where I have to drive halfway to Tennessee). Let’s say $10 for each DC appointment and $3 on average for Atlanta. Call that $60 in DC and $45 here, or $72 in round one and $33 so far in round two.

That brings us to a current $10608.

If I get pregnant this cycle or the next, while it’s still 2007 and we’re still doing IUI, our additional out of pocket costs should be minimal, say $250 or less.

If we don’t, we’ll have one vial left and have to have a serious discussion of IVF. My insurance doesn’t cover IVF at all.

The RE practice with whom we had the second opinion consult told us, in great detail, that if we did IVF through them, it would cost between $12,000-$20,000.

Posted by Liza at 5:46 am
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