Traffic law

As I am sure I have mentioned, I'm just not a fan of Philly traffic. Ugh. So, I'm calling on people with knowledge of traffic laws to help me out. What do you make of this intersection?

Like my stop signs? And my lovely house really is that long and narrow. So, knowledgeable people of traffic law, who has the right of way in the following situations?

• Turning onto "My Street" from Main


• Turning on Main from My Street

I try and turn onto My Street and the people "stopping" at Bad Street don't even pay attention to that sign and stop at the My Street sign, effectually blocking my turn onto My Street since they are stopped across the street.

I was trying to turn onto My Street today and the lady completely blew through the Bad Street sign WHILE I WAS TURNING onto My Street. I'm still shaking. I honked and she stopped, but I'm really tired of this happening.

Any ideas on how to deal with this besides moving, which is obviously my first choice. I called the Traffic Safety number and he said to treat it like it is an intersection, so, the people on Bad Street don't have to stop for people coming down My Street if they got there first. Okay fine, but the fact is, even if I DO get there first, they still go while I'm there. Freaking annoying. Don't you take TURNS at an intersection???

Have I mentioned I am really, as in REALLY excited to move? Is 52 weeks to soon to start my count down?

By a hair

In good news, the parking ticket was dismissed. Wise of them. I would have fought it tooth and nail had they not.

Brad went on a fellowship interview on Sunday. He had forgotten to hand off the pager, so I went to another resident's house to drop it off. Unfortunately, the road to their house was ripped up by construction and I had to do a scenic detour.

As I was leaving their street, I turned to go down another tiny street to the main street. I turned down it before I saw what I was up against. It was so narrow. And there were cars parked on both sides. I knew there was no way I could get past the 2 cars without some damage to Odie. So, I thought about reversing. But there was a line of 4 or 5 cars behind me also on narrow, one way streets. Going back wasn't an option, so I'd have to go through. Odie has already had his share of bumps and bruises in Phreaking Philly, so I wanted to keep the damage as minimal as possible.

I started to go past the two cars and saw that the one on the right was scratched like crazy. I was obviously not the first wide car to try this treacherous path. Why would the idiot park there, I'd like to know?! I went ever so slowly through the two cars. I'm not even exaggerating when I say there was MAYBE 6 inches between Odie and the car on the left. And I was so close on the right, I couldn't even see how close it was. But, somehow, Odie made it through unscathed. Wow, I may almost get the hang of this Philly driving thing.

The wrath of Melisa

I *try* to not complain about this house as much as I want to. Honestly, if you knew how frequently I encounter something about this house that makes me mentally scream, you'd be surprised. Unless you've seen my house. Then you wouldn't be shocked.

Anyhoo... I've earned a venting post and this is it. Read at your own risk. It will get ugly. :o)

Yesterday we were blessed with a nice big storm. It took the temperature from 99 degrees to 76. It was lovely. We had been at church, driving home in the pounding rain. We pull into the driveway and before we can even open the doors to get out, a huge (and by huge I mean longer than 6 feet) branch lands on top of poor Odie. If only we'd been a few minutes later, Odie wouldn't have (yet another) huge dent on the roof thanks to the neighbor's tree. Maybe the tree is doing it on purpose because I called the police when this car was parked in front of my house for over an hour. How was I to know he was visiting my neighbor???
After most of the rain stopped, I went to visit my friend Bea and pick up a book. I wanted nothing more than to just sit and chat in her house for hours on end and play with her adorable baby, but alas, Brad had to be somewhere in an hour and I had more errands to run. So, off I dashed with my gas light on, when I come to a firetruck and police tape blocking an entire block. Ever find out what it was, Bea?? Thanks to GPS, I was able to find a way out of the neighborhood and into the city.

Did you know that in the city of Philadelphia, when stoplights go out, you don't treat them as a stop sign? Really! You just keep driving as if you are the one with a green light. And be sure to honk at anyone who does treat it like a stop sign. I'm pretty sure honking at people is a law too. Drive in Philly, take your life in your hands...

I did manage to make it home on fumes, and thankfully there is a gas station across the street from me, so I can fill Odie up before we go anywhere.

Without ever intentionally doing so, we've started a dog-sitting business. We've had Dax twice, Jasper once, and now have a sweet and adorable little puppy named Brynleigh (welsh puppy=welsh name). She still isn't sleeping through the night. We were asked to bring her crate into our room for her to sleep at night, but it wouldn't fit in our room. And even if it did fit, I'm pretty sure dogs don't enjoy sleeping in rooms that are 85-90 degrees all.night.long. So, that means leaving her downstairs and me running up and down the stairs all night. I've taken her out no less than 8 times since 3 a.m., and yet she still has peed twice and pooped once in the house today. I really believe puppies are cute as a survival mechanism. How else can you explain her surviving after chewing my only pair of strappy shoes?

Here is where it gets graphic. Feel free to stop reading now if you haven't already. :o)

I ran up the stairs to discover that the only toilet in the house was being sat upon. I asked if he was almost done. He said, and I quote, "Yes, but be careful flushing because it was almost overflowing this morning." Ummm, why wasn't I informed of that this morning instead of after you've already done your business in there???

After 20 minutes, I gave up trying to plunge it myself. I called 5 plumbers and none would answer there phone. Is today a plumber holiday I don't know about? Keep in mind again, this was our only toilet. I'll spare you the goriest details, but I will say that most of the room, myself included, was covered in poo water before I finally got it to work. For the briefest of moments I considered taking a picture of the horror of it all. But then I realized that there will NEVER be a moment in my life that this will be amusing and worth reliving via picture.

The clean up stage took longer than fixing the toilet. As we ALL know, most disasters in the home occur during meal time. It isn't a disaster until you are covered in poo water with kids crying about how they are starving! I had the puppy outside on a chain during all of this. And boy, was that puppy mad. But really, I can only handle so much at once, and a puppy chewing on things, and kids, was not an ingredient I wanted to add to this mix. My bleeding heart daughter couldn't stand to hear the puppy's whines, so she decided to go and let the puppy off the chain. Which would be fine since our yard is fenced, expect that the puppy is small enough to fit through the closed gate. And who doesn't need a puppy running around loose while you are covered in poo water?

And now, it is nap time. The toilet is working, the bathroom is cleaned, I have showered, the kids have been fed, and I have vented. Brad is working late tonight and I'm supposed to take dinner to someone. I think pizza is a perfectly logical choice at this point. :o)

And yet again

The car owner was working on my neighbor's roof, so I was able to tell him to move his vehicle. Gotta love Philly.

Phreaking Philly!

I really do love living here, except for when I don't. Here being Philly, not this nasty house. More often than not, I don't like living here (here being the house, not Philly). Like last night when the water on the floor in the bathroom dripped into my kitchen. Or when I found this little piece of nasty running around my living room. GAG!

But then there are times when I don't like living in Philly either. Like when I can't find a parking place at Sugar's school and have to drive around for 10 minutes even though I'm already late. Or when some inconsiderate person decides that my driveway entry looks like an acceptable parking space.

Since when is this kind of parking job considered okay?! Even a parking job like this makes it hard to get out of my already highly annoying driveway.

And now I need to clean and pray that the person coming to look at the house today wants to buy it. :o)

Can I just go back to bed?

Oy. What a day. And it is only 9:24.

After a week of no school and lax sleeping schedules, getting the kids up this morning was a challenge. Then Jamo's school didn't have volunteers to help with Game Club, so I offered to go, with my 2 other kids of course. We got everyone ready an hour earlier and I packed some DVDs and the DVD player for Sugar. Thankfully, Brad got the snow off the windshield, but it was a mess outside. Of all the days to NOT have a snow delay! Sheesh! It took me 3 tries to get all the way up the hill on our street. I finally got to the school, and there is no parking. Anywhere. Like most Philly establishments, there is no parking lot, so you park on the street. Only the streets are lined with huge piles of snow. You end up parking practically in the middle of the street. I drove around awhile, but finding nothing but snow and more snow, I just decided to become a true Philadelphian and park halfway into the street.

I finally got the 3 kids into the library, and the guy in charge looked none to pleased I had extra kids. Can't say I blame him. Sugar, in her sleep deprived state, was especially whiney and clingy. I managed to bring the wrong cord for the DVD player, so that wasn't an option. Instead she whined and complained that she couldn't play Mastermind like the other kids. Finally, the guy in charge said, "You can go ahead and go, there aren't very many kids." Hint hint. But Roo was in the middle of a game with Jamo, so I decided to distract Sugar with Othello. The poor guy saw us playing and said, "I don't know if that is a good idea." I told him I was playing it with her, not leaving her alone. To his credit, he kind of shuddered and then walked away. Smart man.

We left to go home because I watch a 2 yr old and 6 mo old on Tuesdays. But I couldn't get back up the driveway. There are huge ruts you can't really shovel that get icy. It took me 4 tries, but I got up the driveway enough to park. I couldn't park in the street because the snow piles in the street are so big, if you were to park on the side of them, you'd block the entire street, not just half of it.

We have one of those lovely dishwashers on wheels. You have to hook it up to your sink, and plug it in to get it to work. Yeah, it's a party. Brad, being Mr. Amazing, started the dishwasher this morning. But, being the tired resident he is, he didn't turn on the water. LOL!

So, I will be spending the day with 4 kids and thinking my child bearing days are over. Can I just go back to bed?

Can I get a witness?

It's been a busy few days. Brad has had a crazy call week. Jamo's asthma is acting up. Lots of school activities.

Yesterday, I was taking Sugar to a friend's house so I could help at Roo's class. On my way, there was a car accident in front of me. Yay. I get to be a witness. Though, it is pretty obvious it was that someone had turned into oncoming traffic. I still made it to Roo's class in time.

In other news, we got Philly Phan Phever and have been glued to the World Series. The boys are even loving it! Then today I kept Jamo home. He looked and sounded awful, but with the parade and party today, I felt so bad keeping him home. I asked him if he wanted to go or stay home, and he said stay home. Wow. He must not feel good if he is willing to skip all of that. He went back to sleep and slept until noon. Poor kid.

We got some Halloween money from Grandma Jessie, so we got the kids costumes and even costumes for me and Brad. And my mom left her camera, so I'll be able to take pictures of it. WOOT WOOT!

Forgetful Jones

Any of you remember him?
No? Refresh your memory with some good ol' Sesame Street singing Oklahoma for all my Okies out there!


Jones is still my middle name, perhaps I should add Forgetful to it as well. Here's the story:

Since our schools take off for Yom Kippur, we had school today. Someone, who shall remain nameless, texted me this morning to say that he left his hospital badge at home and he needed it by 4 pm. (How did you figure out who??) I planned in my head that if I got my errands done, I could get to the hospital and home before the boys got home from school.

I dashed over to the store to get cupcakes and cake mix for Roo's birthday. Then it was over to Staples because Jamo was in need of glue sticks. While there I met a lady with a 2 yr old girl, a 7 yr old boy and a 10 yr old girl. Our boys are in the same grade at the same school. Her husband is from France and owns a restaurant called Hummus. We chatted a long time. I think I'm in love. LOL! Then I dashed over to the library because they charge a lot if you return movies late. Finally, I was able to head out to the hospital.

Which leads me to Philly traffic. Ugh. Here is the problem: The right lane is bad because of all of the buses stopping frequently. The left lane is bad because of all the people trying to turn left without a turning lane or turn signal. In other words, there is no good way to drive in Philly. I eventually made it to the hospital and met up with Brad. Then it was time to head back to my side of town with a now sleeping SugarPea.

While on my way to pick up Brad's dry cleaning, I got a call from my Visiting Teaching companion. I had totally missed our 1 o'clock appointment. OH MAN! I can't believe I did that! I also forgot to eat lunch. Yeesh. So, by the time I got home to eat lunch it was 3.

Let's hope my memory starts to function again soon.

Parent visit

We had so much fun with my parents in town. Philly has plenty of attractions to see. We even had our first Philly cheesesteak sandwiches. So, here is a tiny little photo session. There are tons over on Cookie.

So, I was supposed to get rid of all the chemo counter bracelets in a way that they would be out of our lives forever. But wouldn't you know, just as we were getting ready to cross the street, along comes Bill the horse and the chemo bracelet. Sigh. At least my mom was a good sport about it and took a picture with it.

It was my daddy's birthday that weekend. For his birthday, BYU beat OU. Okay, maybe those 2 things are completely unrelated, but none the less, it is a very good day when my favorite team beats the team I can't stand.

Me with Benjamin Franklin.

I went with my parents to the Washington DC temple.
Some sites of Philly:

I have a video of these lights changing colors on the Cookie blog.

Philly has some crazy parking, as I've mentioned before. There is a part of Philly where people park in the median. For reals. It is crazy.
And here are my chili plants. I accidentally left my chili plant outside one night in MI and killed it. I'm still sad about it. I took some seeds from one of the peppers and tried to grow them. This is what I have so far. I am SOOOOO hopeful I can bring my chili pepper plant back to life!!!
Do you love our neighbors weeds?
Our house. We are on the left side. As you can tell, it is not very wide.
Cookie has a ton of pictures of the kids and my parents.

There is beauty all around

Isn't this tree so beautiful! Who knew it would bloom into something so bright! I love it!

And here is someone parking in the street to unload a truck. I just love it when they do that.

That's quite a bit!

This morning, I got a call from a lady in church. Her children are all grown, but she was kind enough to offer to watch mine. Such a relief! My kids have a serious needle-phobia and are easily reduced to tears at the sight. Her house is a little bit of a drive, so we left early so I could run some errands. I went to the bank and then called 411 to find the nearest post office since our GPS doesn't list any. They didn't have any listings for the town I was in, so I asked for the Ardmore one. The connected me to the Ardmore one and I asked for the address. She said it was on 30 Ardmore Ave. I plugged it into the GPS, and though it said it was further away than I thought normal, I started driving. When we finally got to the 'destination' it was a house. Apparently the Ardmore post office on Ardmore Ave isn't actually in the town Ardmore. Argh. So, now it was too late to go to the PO, so I dropped off the kids and went to my doctor's appointment.

The doctor agreed that my knee was noticeably bigger and more swollen than my last appointment. The meds I'm on aren't working so great, eh? She numbed it with a spray and then proceeded to drain it. Ouch. Not my favorite experience, I confess. So, I tried to relax and breathe deep and the doctor said, "Wow. There is A LOT of fluid in here. I'm going to need another syringe." She finished draining it and gave me a cortisone shot. I looked over and she had 2 fat syringes completely full. It was a total of 40 cc's. Um, that is a lot of fluid. I can see my knee again! She said "No wonder you are in so much pain! This should really help." Then she went to analyze the fluid. By doing this she could tell if the inflammation was a result of injury or rheumatoid arthritis.

It's kind of a good new/bad news deal. Good news, I can get back to my racquetball and workouts and live my life as normal. Woot!! Bad news, the pain and inflammation is a result of rheumatoid arthritis and will be a part of me for the rest of my life. Well, okay then. At least I know what is wrong and I can do something about it. She did some more blood work today and at my next appointment we'll decide if I should start on an RA treatment for one joint, or wait until the others go bad.

I'm glad I can start working out again. Even if it hurts, at least I know that my working out isn't causing the pain or making it worse. That would stink. So, BRING ON THE RACQUETBALL! :o)

After the doctor, I managed to find a PO, got a little gas for Odie who was on fumes (thinking of you Lar ;o) ), and dashed over to get the kids. Roo asked for the dead frog found in their pool, so I now have a dead frog in my fridge, waiting for daddy to get home. LOL! Oh, and I returned Chuck, which I watched for the first time last night. Pretty cute show!

Pretty PA

Okay, I'm not really here, I'm still on vacation. But I'm behind on some posts so I thought I'd just set them to post while I was gone. :o)

Here is a picture of the place I was telling you about with the water going over the road.



Here we have some lovely pictures of Philly. It is beautiful here. Really beautiful. Here are some pictures of a local park that we ate lunch at on Sunday. On the Cookie blog are some pictures of the kids there. Keep in mind, they were taken with my camera phone so most is completely washed out. And there are tons of pictures on there. Sorry.




Also over on Cookie I have pictures of the kids making and eating this:

Conquering Philly traffic

If you guys are sick and tired of my posts on Philly traffic, please don't tell me. I have a feeling I could devote an entire blog to it.


Today, I had the pleasure of meeting one of my blogging buddies. Such a fun experience. It is so much fun to know someone cyber-ly and then finally get to meet them IRL. Bea's hubby is a resident here too, so we had plenty to talk about. :o) My kids couldn't get enough of her brand new baby and Bea was a champ letting my kids hold and pretty much maul her new baby. Okay, that isn't entirely true, my kids did really good with the baby. I was impressed. Roo spent most of the time at the park chasing pigeons. He is convinced he can catch one. Sugar spent her time chasing Roo chasing pigeons. We really had so much fun. And then the boys found out Bea has a game system at her house, which in their minds equals heaven. Anyhoo, back to getting to the park...

Since I'm finally getting the hang of this Philly traffic thing, I decided to be brave and go to her place. If you had asked me a few months ago if I could handle Philly traffic, I would have laughed at you. I seriously thought Philly traffic would have me in tears by now. And while I truthfully don't love it, I'm not as scared of it as I thought I would be. I can't tell you how proud I am of myself. The very fact that I'm still willing to get on the road is a surprise to me.

In that vein, let me tell you of my Philly traffic experiences today. First thing, what is it with the streets not being divided?! I'm driving down a road that could probably fit two or three cars comfortably, and there are no dividing lines. None. Okay, the two directions are divided, but not the lanes. I need to take a picture. My problem arises from the fact that I don't know where to drive! Do I drive on the far right and leave room for a car to pass me on the left? Do I drive on the far left in case someone wants to pass me or turn? Do I drive down the middle? Most everyone I've seen does the straight down the middle thing except for near intersections, which is a problem in itself. You don't want to be behind someone turning left, but if you go to the right side and they go straight, you are in trouble if there is a car parked on the road. Anyway, I'm probably only making sense to people who live in Philly.


The place where Bea lives is narrow. Really narrow. 'Some places I was driving on the sidewalk to avoid hitting cars' narrow. And there is no parking lots, so the streets are crazy. Okay, there are parking lots somewhere, but not that I saw. Here are the pictures I took today (and this was a good street):

Most people put in the rear view mirrors so they don't get clipped.

Yeah, try going down the street with a truck there. It was there for over an hour. Nice.

Views from the park:

The park was beautiful. It was hard to believe we were so close to soooooo much traffic. This is what I drove through today. I'm so proud of myself. See all those little narrow one way streets? Yeah, not fun. And I had to do a couple loops (one on the big one and 2 around the small one) on the traffic circles near the river before I figured out how to get to the bridge. I wasn't even stressed at all. Well, maybe a little since Sugar kept yelling "boo boo" and I kept thinking she was saying "poo poo." :o)

Me being grateful I'm not on the parking lot, I mean I-76 at rush hour.

This drives me nuts. To go home I turn from Wynnefield right onto 54th. And RIGHT THERE is a street light. Can I tell you how close I came to blowing through that light? You turn the corner and immediately have to stop! I was totally not expecting it. Yikes.

Yeah for Philly Monsters!!!
These are my reward for not letting the ivy engulf the rose bushes. Pretty, huh. Well, one is, the other looks like a glorified petunia. Roses are supposed to have rows of petals! The neighbors have some kind of bush or something in their bed. But the ivy grew over it and not it just looks like an ivy bump. When I pulled the ivy off these bushes, it had already weaved its way through most of the stems. I didn't think the bushes were going to make it, but they are starting to bloom now!
Sugar's photography skills are improving! She take pictures of things other than her eye now. :o)