Savings Bond

I just found a US Savings Bond from 1991. What am I supposed to do with it?
I assume I am supposed to take it to the bank but is there any chance I will get any extra money from it because it's so old?

Aches and Pains

BEWARE!! WARNING!!! This blog contains many many complaints!!!!

Is it pregnancy or old age (haha) that is making my body fall apart?
From the top of my head to the soles of my feet- I think I am having a rough week.

Last night I had a terrible headache for the first time since I got pregnant. I took 1 and 3/4 Tylenol because that is all that was left in the bottle.

I have a nasty eye infection that makes my left eye BRIGHT scary red and when I sleep it sticks together. Ew.
Don't worry I saw an excellent eye doctor. He gave me drops and told me to take out my contacts. So on top of everything else I have to wear my glasses. Boo. They make my eyes tired. Maybe that's where the headache came from

I'm fighting something. I don't know if it is a cold or sore throat or what but it's taking ALL of my little remaining strength from me and I am completly worn out.

I can't get comfortable when I sleep because the baby is getting so big. So when I sleep on either side - which is the position I am supposed to sleep in when pregnant - I feel like I am smushing the baby. I think it is still sideways. When does it turn head down????

And I have a weird yucky thing on my left foot and toe. It's been there for awhile and I thought it was a callous but now it actually hurts when I walk. I don't know if it is something worth going to the foot doctor for because I feel like it can probably be cured with an over the counter thing. Maybe I should know what it is.
I'm thinking of asking my OB if he knows what it is or if I should go to the foot doctor about it when I go next week. I like to treat my OB as an all around general practitioner. :)

And those are my complaints. All in all, not terrible by themselves but heaped together - they got to me. Thanks for listening to (reading) my whining. I'll be fine soon.

Wish me luck at work today. BLAH!!!!!!!! Maybe they will send me home because the customers will complain about the lady with the gross red eye.
Also, there is supposed to be a BIG snowstorm coming this afternoon. So I will have to attempt to drive through it wearing my glasses. AH!

Purim

I need a good idea for a Purim Costume - preferably one that incorporates my will be 8 month pregnant belly!!!!!!
If I can, I would love to do a theme with Shu and Jonah.
Any ideas?
Also looking for a theme for Shaloch Manot.

I'm drawing a blank............

The Hulkster

Hulk Hogan learns about Kosher from his new Jewish Neighbors.
This is a clip from Hulk Hogan's reality show on VH1.
Check it out.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv1AJ53WfFc

Haha!

The Name Game

What is a Hebrew name that means "Youthful"?

Thanks!

Happy Pregnancy to Me!

I am 30 weeks today!!!

WOAH!!!

That means 10 to go.....................I"YH. B"IH

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Cool Video

My friend sent me a link to this cool video. Reminds me of England. :)

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xf9oo_jerome-murat

Enjoy!

Where Did It Go?

Just wanted to let those of you who may be wondering where my LOOOONG Blog went that yes, I deleted it.
It served it's purpose and the situation is resolved.
I'm not even sure who still reads my blog so many of you may not know what I am talking about but for those of you who DID read it and especially the ones who commented to try and help me out (wow, Adrian, I was impressed - good to get a comment from you!!) This was the resolution to the drama!

I sent a LOOOOOOONG e-mail to the lady basically stating my case and going through some points from our e-mails over the past month. I told her at which points I thought she had ducked out of the deal and at which points I wanted to get OUT of the situation.
That night she sent me a very apologetic e-mail for the whole mess.
In the end there was a little more craziness. She was supposed to come pick up the things but their van wouldn't start yada yada. But I gave her another chance and this morning she finally came and picked up the 4 items for the original agreed upon price.
Phew, I'm glad that's over!!!!!

Animal Magic

I just wanted to say THANK YOU to Mark Rosenthal, the guy who we met at the Novi Family Pet Expo who gave me my Fear Factor Experience. I feel he deserves a real Shout Out!!!
His website is: www.iwantanimalmagic.com.
I had seen him before at the Pizza People's Birthday Party and he did an AMAZING show with all kinds of dangerous and exotic animals. Jonah was talking about the Alligator he brought for weeks afterwards.
So, if you are looking for a cool birthday party idea, you should check this guy out.
And even if you are not, check out when he will be doing public shows because he is absolutly fascinating!!!!!
Don't worry, he won't make you hold a tarantula....hehehe. Not unless you want to.

I'm Craaaaaazy!!

Jonah and I went to the Novi Family Pet Expo with Mrs. and Mini AP today. We figured that we would see puppies and kittens and all kinds of cute furry things. And while we did see some of those, we also saw some not so cuddly animals too. :)
And I took my first Fear Factor Challenge......

What's hiding underneath those hands??

That big smile on my face is really a look of TERRORRRRRRR!!!

Yes, that really is a LIVE and LARGE tarantula!!!

Am I craaaazy or what?

Wow, was my adrenaline pumping during that! My heart was pounding, my hands were shaking. It was quite a rush!

I knew I still had some "WackyNat" in me!

ET Phone Home

The title doesn't mean anything aside from the fact that it has the word phone in it.

I just want to share another customer service story with everyone. Nope, it wasn't at my store. This time I was the customer! And am VERY satisfied. I must recommend STAPLES to everyone. Their customer service is really exceptional. Anytime I have had an issue, they always clear it up with no problem. But this time, they really impressed me.
I only went in to the store thinking they would be able to help me out but I thought it would be a real hassle. Ok, here's the story.

We bought a phone there awhile ago and we have been having problems with it for about the past 6 months. The phone was an AT&T cordless with 2 extra handsets. The kind that you just plug in one phone to the phone jack and the other 2 handsets just need to be plugged into an electrical outlet. I bought it because we use Vonage and I don't know how else to use other phones with it. So the problem we were having was with all 3 of the keypad buttons. You had to press them REALLY hard to enter the number and sometimes, it would enter the number twice. I can't tell you how frustrating it could be to dial a phone number. It would take 3-4 times!! Or like when you are calling an automated system and it asks for your LOOONG account number, you get halfway through and boom, double 2's when you only want one!
So it was quite annoying but we didn't do anything about it. We just dealt with it. It has been really bad lately so I started looking at new phone to buy. I had no idea when we bought this one but I didn't think it was SOOO long ago.
Today I decided to try and fix it. I found the manuel and read that, nothing there. I went on the AT&T website and tried to find an answer, nothing there. Then I figured before I call AT&T or Staples, I should figure out when I bought it. So I went on a search and found not only my receipt - from October 13, 2004 (!!) but also an extra warranty protection that I bought from Staples to cover for a year past the manufacturers warranty. So I called the Staples Warranty Number and they said that the manufacturers warranty covers one year and their warranty covers one more year. So basically it ran out 3 weeks ago! And no, they couldn't extend it or do anything for me. I could have kicked myself!
Well, I decided to go into Staples and see if they would be able to help me out anymore because the people on the phone were just a third party place. I knew Staples was generally helpful and I really hoped they could do something because it was only 3 weeks past the deadline........
Also, I didn't want my money back. I just wanted to fix my phone or get store credit for a new one or something.
So I held my breath and there I went. I expected they may do it for me but only after I argued for it.
Well, I walked in and 3 people offered to help me. Two were behind the counter and another man who looked more like a manager. So I just explained that I bought this phone - apparently 2 years ago and I bought the extended service plan and I had been having trouble with it for about 6 months and I really just wanted to fix it or get a new phone or something. But my warranty had ran out 3 weeks ago!! Is there anyway they could help me?
The manager said they would go ahead and take care of me. They can return the phone for what I paid for it and switch me up to a newer model and get me taken care of with a new service plan and that way, I won't have lost any money on it. He was SO nice and understanding about it! It was really great.
Then he sent me off with the sales guy to pick out a phone and we picked out a fancy new Uniden phone with 3 extra handsets and all kinds of extra features. The main thing I wanted was the extra handsets and a speaker phone but this one came with a whole lot more. So that was exciting.
We went back to the front. He returned my phone for the price I paid (even though now it was worth only $12.50) and bought the new one - which was the same price as the one I originally paid for and charged me $10 for the warranty plan. It covers everything and anything - even if I drop and break the phone or something like that. And I can just bring it in for a replacement.
Well, this time I will make sure to bring it in right away if it does break - that's for sure.
But I just felt like I should share this story with everyone and compliment Staples on their EXCELLENT customer service!!!!
I'll keep you posted on how the phone is working out. It has to charge for 15-20 hours before we can use it!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game!

Go Tigers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Come on Cardinals....................

Here's to a possible trip to St.Louis to watch the Tigers take on the Cardinals (or is it the Cardinals take on the Tigers?) in a World Series!!!!!!!!!

The question is......WHO do I root for? Can I go for both? Wear a Tigers shirt and a Cardinals hat?? Hmm....dilemma.....

911......What is your emergency?

Thank G-d, it wasn't my emergency but I did call 911 the other day. It was pretty crazy.
I was driving home from Great Lakes Crossing (outlet mall) after a very successful trip. Although I did not find the ONE thing I went for which was a FANCY red or maroon dress or top to wear with a ball gown skirt to my close friend's wedding. Anyone have any suggestions? I've got two weeks left. AHHH!
Back to the story. So I was on the highway on the way home thinking how lucky I was that there wasn't traffic in my direction and I notice all traffic start to slow down. I also see on the side of the road (the inner part of the highway) a pick-up truck that appears to have flipped over but I notice that it is still moving. It was actually in the process of flipping over. What a sickening sight. He was right on top of an overpass and I was scared he was going to flip right over it. Luckily, he came to a stop.
Right away I noticed that there were at least 3 cars involved in this accident and all traffic came to an immediate halt. After the intial shock, people started moving again and we were all pulling over to the right to avoid the wreckage. I grabbed my cell phone and dialed 911 and tried to figure out where we were. I thought to myself, "am I just going to call and tell them I just passed an accident? Or should I stop and tell them the details." Then it hit me, "Natalie, pull over right now and stop. You are (or rather were) a trained EMT and you are first on the scene. Get out of car and run over there to help." So I did that. I pulled my car over and traffic was pretty slow so I was able to run across the highway. I was on the phone with 911 at that point telling them where we were, how many cars were involved and how many people I saw injured. At that point, I just saw one man with blood running down his face but I didn't know if anyone was left in the flipped car. They took my name and phone number and said EMS was on the way. We hung up and I told them that the ambulance was on the way. The man was being taken care of by another person and she was pretty much doing what I would be doing. She asked if anyone had water which I realized I did and ran back to the car to get some. I went back and we were talking to the man, asking if he had anyone that he wanted us to call. He kept saying he ruined his truck, he can't believe it. His wife is out of town and he has to call and tell her her crashed the truck. Luckily, there was no one else in the car and how he crawled out by himself, I don't know. But by the looks of his injuries, he was pretty incredibly lucky!!! Then I went over to the other lady whose car was smashed right up next to his truck because no one was talking to her since she didn't appear injured. I was concerned she be in shock. So I went over to check if she was ok. She seemed to be fine physically, she was just shaken up. She kept pointing out how close he was to her door and how she could have been really hurt. She was also lucky. There were 2 other cars aside from those involved but no injuries and minor damage to their cars. I guess what happened was traffic started slowing but someone didn't notice and they all collided. It was pretty crazy.
EMS and the cops arrived. The medics took the man away and then were talking to people on the scene. I went back to my car for a minute and a cop asked if I was in the accident. I said no but I had called 911 so he told me to pull my car in front of everyone else and wait around for a minute. So I did that and the few of us that were there spent a few minutes talking about the accident and what we saw, etc. Then the cop came over and told the woman I was talking to that they probably wouldn't need her but thanks for stopping and for her help. She pretty much did the same thing I did - we just stopped to help and see if everyone was ok and called 911. So I told him that he probably doesn't need me either. I just saw the tail end of the accident (no pun intended) and called 911. So he thanked me for stopping and I went on my way.
Whoooo.
My heart was pounding after that experiance! It sure got the adrenaline pumping again.
It made me realize that I really don't know much about being an EMT anymore. Although I can still keep my cool in an emergency situation. But I feel like I should review my books or something. And I should definitly keep a First Aid kit in my car, along with rubber gloves.
And most of all, I miss being an EMT. I miss having a job that DOES something, that makes a difference in people's lives. Something that counts.
One day, I will get back to it. Some way other another. I toy with the idea a lot. The idea of DOING something with my life. In a professional sense. I just don't know that right now is the time. Maybe I am just scared. Of change? I don't know. We'll see what happens.

By the way, I told a couple people this story and they thought it was really strange that I stopped. They never would have stopped. So maybe it's the EMT part of me that made me do it. I know that in my thought process, I felt it would be wrong to keep driving. Because I didn't know who else was there? And maybe I could help. Not that I still know very much.
But I would do the same thing again.

What would you do?

Photo Fraud

Check out this short video from Aish.com showing the crazy media distortions and lies in photographs from Lebanon. Here is the link: http://www.aish.com/movies/PhotoFraud.asp

Major Roi Klein

Most of you have probably heard this but I got this e-mailed to me and I thought it was important to post.

Al Eilah Ani Bochia......

Major Roi Klein...IDF combat officer...who gave his life fighting last week in Bint Jebail, South Lebanon. Major Roi Klein...just shy of his 31st birthday, from the hilltop settlement of Eli. He was married with 2 young boys...and went off to battle in South Lebanon.

While leading the charge against a Hizbolla terrorist position, a grenade was thrown at his IDF platoon, and Roi made the decision to jump on top of the grenade. Falling flat over it, his body absorbed the explosion, saving the lives of the soldiers under his command.

What goes through the mind of a soldier, a husband, a father when he sees the grenade being thrown at him, and the split second decision that will end his life, yet save those around him?

This noble Jewish soldier not only sacrificed his life, Al Kiddush Hashem, for the sanctification of G-d by defending the Jewish State, but in the process, saved the individual lives of his fellow soldiers around him. Every soldier's life he saved was a world in and of itself.

And those soldiers whose lives were saved all told the same story...that as he jumped on the grenade, everyone was able to hear him say, "Shma Yisrael, Hashem Elokaynu, Hashem Echad."

I don't have the words.....

I'm not sure how to write this post. I don't know where to begin. Or where to end.
Maybe by writing this, it will help me deal with some of the thoughts and feelings that keep running through my mind.
I got a phone call today from a friend of mine. She wanted to know if I had heard about the girl. I asked what girl and she said the one who committed suicide. The Orthodox St. Louis girl. She wanted to know if I knew her. I almost didn't want to know but I asked anyway. Who was it?
"Sarah Adelman".
It was like someone punched me. I couldn't really believe it at first. She was my age. A grade younger than me in school. We weren't close but I knew her. I spent 10 years in school with her. She was always so friendly and sweet.
And now she is dead? She committed suicide? It didn't make sense.
My friend forwarded the article to me from the New York Post. Here is the link: Upper West Side Suicide

I read the article. Once. Twice. Three times. I felt sicker everytime that I read it. But it was so hard to believe that it was true. That kind of stuff doesn't happen. Certainly not to people we know. But there it was. In black and white. With her smiling face staring out at me. Her roommate was quoted at the bottom of the article - I know her. I was friends with her. We took tap dance together. This is too close to home.

I can't stop thinking about it. About her. About all the things she will never do. Or never do again. I keep thinking about how can someone be so miserable in life that they will jump out of their 8th story window?? What are they thinking right before hand? She called a friend of hers before she jumped. To say goodbye and that she loved him. He begged her not to do it. She was writing the note while they were on the phone. I guess the note said where she lived and DNR - Do not resusicate.
She had been depressed for awhile but no one thought it was that bad. I understand now how depression can truly be an illness. No one just jumps out of a window - in the middle of the afternoon. She must have been suffering so badly. Maybe she isn't suffering anymore. I don't know. I don't know what happens now.
But I keep thinking of her family. Everyone knows the Adelmans. That has to be the worst thing in the world. To have a child die. Not only to die but to take their own life. How does a parent handle that? How does a mother deal with that? Oh G-d, the agony. We should never know such sadness and grief. I pray that her family is somehow able to go on and able to survive. I don't know how someone recovers from that.
Her younger sister married another St.Louis boy. They live in Israel. Her parents called to tell her she had to come home. That her sister was killed. But they didn't say how. Because how do you tell someone that.
I spoke to a couple friends that went to the funeral. They said it was terrible. Everyone was crying. Yes, I know many people cry at funerals. But there is crying. And then there are heartwrenching sobs. My friend said it was the hardest thing she has ever done. In her life.
St. Louis is in shock. How does a community get over this? I guess eventually they do. But I imagine it will take years. Decades maybe.
I remember the year I spent in highschool at Block in St. Louis. They had moved the girls to a new building. Right near the mall. We would often walk to the mall during our lunch break or a free period. On that walk to the mall, we passed a tall office building. And I remember hearing about a boy who commited suicide off that building. A yeshiva bochur. Everytime we walked past that building, I would look at it and almost get chills. And that wasn't even someone I knew.
Weird.
I asked another friend who was closer to her if she knew she was depressed. And she said she knew that she felt very pressured. All of her close friends were married, most with at least one child. Her younger sister was married. And she couldn't find someone. The pressure to get married was a lot for her. I don't know if it was internal or external or both. But maybe this will be an eye-opener. There is so much pressure on girls to get married. 25 is not an old maid. Far from it. That's something to keep in mind.

I can't stop thinking about her. I can't stop thinking about her friends and her family and how awful they must feel. Awful for the loss and awful that it didn't have to happen. It shouldn't have happened. I am sure they are going to have to deal with so many different emotions. And I feel for the boy who broke up with her on Sunday night. I know that isn't why she jumped. But it was probably the last straw. But I don't envy that poor boy and what he is going through. And her roommate, Aviva. They grew up together. They were best friends and roomates. They saw each other every day. I know she is not dealing with this. I can't even begin to imagine what her mother is going through. I wish them all strength and peace. To everyone that this affects.
I feel like I should be doing something. I feel like I should have done something. Maybe that's crazy. I mean, I don't know when we last spoke to each other. I wish we were closer. I wish I had been there for her. I don't even know what I wish. I just feel so bad.
I don't know what else there is to say.

One of the things I heard that was said by the Rabbi of the Young Israel in St. Louis. He and his wife were both teachers of mine. In more than one grade. And I know they taught Sarah, too.
He said the Torah teaches us "V'Ahavta L'erayacha Kamocha - Love Your Neighbor as Yourself." We are all supposed to love our friends the way that we love ourselves. But what do you do if you don't love yourself?
That was an amazing thing about Sarah. She was able to love her friends so much and always greet people with a big smiling face. She was able to truly love her friends.......... even though she didn't love herself. She was able to really take care of her friends. Even though she was hurting so badly inside. Hurting more than any of us can know.

Poor Sarah. May she finally rest in peace.

We interrupt the previous post to bring you this message.....

I'm famous!!!
Ok, not quite. But I am on the Free Press website video. I didn't do a very good speaking job but oh well....
You can see the video by going to freep.com. It is towards the middle of the page on the left side. Under "Southfield crowd says Israel should not yield". Under the blurb, it says VIDEO: Local Demonstrations. Click that and first you will see the Arab demonstration and then the Israel one. I am towards the end. Oh yah, and I am the one walking in wearing the Israeli flag, talking on the phone.
Or I think you can go to this link: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200660720002

Enjoy. :)
And just to let you all know. There is another "rally" tonight at Dovid Ben Nuchim for Tehillim. It would be nice to have as big a gathering there as we did for the rally last night.....

Part 1

I am taking a poll.

If you were not charged for an item or were mischarged (to your advantage) and realize afterwards, do you go back to the store and have them correct the mistake?

Great Quote

I found a great quote before one of the stories in Chicken Soup for the Parent's Soul.

"Parenthood: The state of being better chaperoned than you were before marriage."
-Marcelene Cox

WOW, is that ever true......

Invinsible? I am not.

Ok - this post goes out to Shelley - my loyal blog reader. And perhaps the only one left?
Oops, I will try to start posting more often. My life has been busy lately but not really with blog-worthy stuff.
But here is the story Shel has been waiting for.
Some of you may know that I play basketball on Monday and sometime Wednesday nights with a group of girls/women. We've been playing since January-ish and look forward to it every week. It's GREAT excercise - we play for about an hour. And it's fun!!
But people get hurt a lot. Mostly ankle injuries, some hand/finger injuries, and an eye. Most of our husbands play basketball on Tuesday nights but they never seem to come home with the injury stories that we have. Maybe it's because they have been playing longer. Or perhaps because they are Men - ar ar ar.
Until this past Monday, I hadn't had any major injuries. The worst I think was a fall on my knees that got bruised pretty badly and then fell again the next week. But certainly nothing that would prevent me from playing.
I hadn't gone to basketball the week before because we had a wedding to go to and this past Monday we were coming back from a funeral in Pittsburgh. I wasn't sure if I would make it on time for b-ball but we made it back in town, I changed my clothes, made a quick phone call, and was off to b-ball. Had to show everyone that I WAS dedicated!!!
There were only 5 people that showed up so we were playing 3 on 2. Someone threw me a pass that I caught badly and POP!! I felt it and knew something bad happened.
Being the (expired) EMT of the bunch, I usually bring those one-time use ice packs. But since I was in such a rush to get to the game, I didn't have time to go through my EMT bag to find one. Oops. Although it wouldn't really have fixed my problem.
So, after I felt the pop, I ran outside to the water fountain to get it under some cold water. And that's when I looked at it. Ewwwwww. My left pinkie was sticking out sideways from the middle joint. Ewwwww.
I went back into the gym, holding my hands up and said something like, "There is something really wrong with my finger." I think it grossed everyone out pretty badly. At first I thought it was broken because of the way it was sticking out but I was able to move it a little so I figured it must just be dislocated and needed to be popped back into place. I wasn't quite sure what to do from there. So I asked, "Ok, what do we do? Where do I go? Do I go home? Emergency room? Is there a doctor or someone around who can help me?" There was a lot of drama going on amongst the other people who were there but they will have to tell you their stories....
Someone spoke up and said she would call a doctor who lives right around there. He is the husband of one of the women who usually play with us (but she was currently in NY). So she called him and he told us to come over to his house. We raced over there and he looked at it and offered to pop it back in place with or without numbing it. I kind of wanted it back in place right then and there but luckily the person I was with said NUMB IT!! So 3 shots later (AHHH) it was numb and back in place. He gave me a temporary splint and a script for X-Rays to make sure nothing was broken.
We went to the hospital that night so we would know if it was broken or not and after 2 hours and a lot of run around at the hospital, we had the X-Rays done. Of course, they couldn't read them and give us the results so they said I would be contacted in 2-3 days. Ugh.
Luckily, the wonderful doctor who replaced my finger called for the results in the morning. He told me it was good news. Nothing was broken. But I wasn't sure why I was still in pain and why my finger was turning purple. That was explained an hour later when the doctor called back. He said that the initial report was from the resident but he wanted to double check it with the Official Report from the radiologist. That report said there was a slight fracture. Booo.
He then told me to make sure to see a hand specialist (there is a good one who davens in our shul) to make sure there was no tendon or ligament damage and to see how bad the fracture was. Of course attempting to make that appointment was really difficult. But after numerous phone calls and a visit to that doctor's house, I got my appointment this morning.
Yes, there was a fracture and even I could see it!! But luckily there was no major ligiment damage. I have to keep a splint on it for 3 weeks. And then we'll see................
No basketball for at least a month................
And that's what happened to my finger.
So that's my long story. Shel, I hope you enjoyed!!! I made it extra long (and kinda boring) to make up for the lack of blogs.
More to come....