there is no button for the stupid people

People, I need your help. I would like to send a message to corporate McDonald's. Yes, I have a new mission in life. I am livid for the 2nd time. I normally don't take on the big establishments, but much has changed in my life as of late. I normally don't even eat McDonald's nor do I subject my offspring to it, but since Joe has been gone for 5 months much has changed due to necessity.
Now, I will warn you, that my predicament may be a local MO thang. So be it. Than I will take on the man here in the Midwest.
I'll lay out the scenario for you.
It's a cold winters day. The schools are closed, I'm bringing the kids out to a movie to avoid cabin fever. Instead of warm home-made comfort food again, we take a vote for a 20 minute meal, and McDonald's wins (skip to the bottom if you want the short version) .
I pull up to the screen and talk to the speaker with every bit of cheeriness, cuz I'm just like that. "yeah, I'll have the 2 crispy chicken wraps (an order for those who like to fool themselves about eating healthy at a fast food restaurant)& 2 kids meals. 1 with the chicken nuggets,and fries. for a girl. (Gender specifies the toy for those of you empty nesters or offspring less folks out there) and the second I'll have a burger, plain, with fries, for a boy.
The mysterious voice through the speaker says, "what to drink with that?"
I'll just have water please."
I've been through this before, so I watch the screen dreading what I'm about to see. I promised myself since the first encounter with this exact event that I would take a stand if it were to happen again. So here it goes.
My price jumps 2 dollars. 1$ for the first cup of water and 1$ for the second cup of water.
"listen, you need to take off that 2 dollar charge for the free water."
"well there is no button for that."
I should be shocked but quite frankly, I'm not. I know we're raising a bunch of non thinkers, so it's time to school them with logic and see if the stupid people budge.
"then don't push any button and hand me an empty cup."
LONG PAUSE the price goes down 2 dollars Another LONG PAUSE.
"Ah you can pull around to the front then. Ah"
oh great I confused the button pusher. I've started a war. Now 2 ladies are standing at the register and the one I was not speaking to tells me it is 11.97, back up the 2$.
"You are charging me for the empty cups?"
"yeah, that's right/"
"For free water?"
"Yeah."
"can I speak to your manager?"
"I am the manager."
"yeah, you want to charge me 2$ for an empty cup that I will fill with water?"
"Well the meal is already discounted with the beverages."
Yeah I'm confused. If the meal is already discounted with the soda, then why did the price go up when I am taing now even less than what is being offered. I'm just wanting the empty cup, I'm not even asking them to fill the cup of water. I just may fill it with water, or maybe even air, depending how crazy I want to get. The manager will not budge, so I told her keep her food. I drove off and went to Burger King.
I ordered the same meals for the kids but asked them first, are you going to charge me extra for the ordering water with these meals?"
"Ah I don't think so, but let me check? Nope we sure don't."
I placed my order and then I was given bottled water in place of the cup which was suppose to be filled with soda. On top of all that goodness, they asked which sould I prefer, bottled water or a cup full of water. Well, everyone loves the idea of closing a bottle again, especially if you have kids. So without being charged a cent more I got bottled water with my kids meal.
I may be Math challenged, and I feel like I know the food industry well enough that there must be some sort of reasoning for 2 separate locations to now start charging 1$ for water; perhaps inventory reasoning of stocks are down...
If I were to physically walk in and order the same thing, they don't charge you a 1$ more for water, they just hand you a cup and you fill it with whatever you like. Water perhaps, how about iced tea, or even better, how about kidney killing soda!
Here are my 2 principles of my McDonald's boycott. Principle # 1- I have always ordered water before and now that times are tough on every ones' wallet they choose to charge drive through peeps extra for driving off with cup of water instead of soda, which is discounted somehow from free water. This probably is the case due to no one looking at their receipts, not really because there isn't a button for a water cup!
Principle #2- Water is better for a child's body and its free. I'm already paying for the cup via the happy meal, the water is FREE! We could argue that water isn't free and that nothing in life is free, but my only retort is, there are too many fat kids in this nation and we all could use a bit of discounted water in our happy meals.
Now, if you have any explanation to McDonald's Stupidity on charging 2 extra dollars for an empty cup or for free water to replace the soda please enlighten me and the audience so I can end my boycott and my new mission to get this system changed!
I'm going corporate on this fight and I would love some team work. Join me on getting our free water back at the drive through, or at least have a button installed on the McDonald's computers so we don't have to teach anyone to think!

It's the final count down

People the end is near. I know that song is ringing in your ear... "It's the final count down" na na na... For those who had no clue, let me give you one. Joe has been gone since August. I didn't put him out, nor did he opt out. He's been in Brunswick GA training for his new job. HE WILL NOW RETURN IN 30 DAYS. If this is news to you, you're probably saying to yourself, "but didn't you just have a baby 7 months ago?" Yes, yes I did.
"Oh well good thing you stay home than."
I do not, I work. I still teach 6th graders all day, ones that don't speak English. And I hired a nanny, Nanny dawn to fill the morning voids! So now that you're all caught up...
The kids and I made a daddy count down calendar and we flip the new page each morning. It keeps us going.

I know that military wives do this all the time for much longer than I have or will have to, but nonetheless, I have been stretched beyond what I like. God's teaching me a few lessons through this. And I have kindly reminded HIM that I'm a bit to frazzled to reflect on any of it right now, but I bet the lesson is going to be really good when it sinks through my abnormally hard head! I'll be honest, the last half of Joe being gone is so much harder than the first.

It's just so dang lonely. I find myself chit chatting in the drive thru lines at McDonald's until we awkwardly sit in silence and I'm ask to drive off. I start random arguments with check out clerks just to have an adult conversation. And I find myself smiling needily at Walmart at other obviously single moms.
30 more days folks, and tomorrow it will be 29, and then the day after that it will be 28 and then the day after the next it will be 27 and then th......

Easy Bakin

She waits for her 100 watt bulb to heat up

Her apron is pressed and her cake mix is stirred

12 looooong minutes later... chocolatey perfection

Going, going

CAKE is GONE

53 nose hairs

 

 

gabe wanted to see how far we could zoom up his nose. Answer: pretty far!

My CHristmas Joy

 

 

 

Christmas staretd early for us, actually as soon as AVa started learning her Christmas concert music it began! She still belts out her songs when ever her little heart hears silence. Her latest concert took place in the emergency room while we waited for her head staples. She sang for 2 hours straight. She told me that the momma shows, I love Raymond, was borin her. The nurses checke to see where the sweet songs were coming from. I let her keep singing.
Gabe and Clara enjoyed the concert, but not half as much as Cym did. SHe joined us for teh show and made sure that little Clara was dressed to uimpress adn ready to smile for the camera.

Singing sunshine

 

 

 

 

this is the girl that went with thr dress, that had matching tights, that went wih the gold shoes, that drove to the church with her mom singing all the way there, that sat anxiously for her turn to sing, only to lip sync along with the music!


P.S. you'd think my little singing diva would love her fluffy princess hair, but YOU would be wrong, and so was I. She cried her little blue eyes out and begged me with a pouty lip to undo it. We compromised and put it back in clips. She loves Barbies hair on Barbie, but not on the Ava

The Christmas Clara

This is the baby that wore the pretty purple dress

 

which had matching purple shiney shoes

 

who listened to her sister sing at a Christmas pagent

 

only to look like Uncle Fester!