I will still love Harborstone Credit Union

email to Bank of the West -
I am 57 and have never been charged for temporary checks so it did not occur to me to ask today how much temporary checks would cost me.
The teller dealing with me, who is my "assigned" "contact person" at the branch for the last two years, did not mention that there would be a cost when we were discussing my situation and how to best handle it. (Ran out of checks last week and am moving out of state 30 Sep 2011.)
When she handed me 4 temporary checks and I turned to leave the bank foyer she asked, "Should I take the $6.00 for the checks from your account?" I had my grandson (27 months) with me and had told him we were leaving so I simply said yes and left.
I have one more reason now to close my account as soon as I move and can find a new bank - although there are 3-4 branches near my future home, two of them less than 2 miles from the house (in opposite directions).
My first deal breaking experience was when my son turned 18 last December and wanted his own account, we have an account together opened the week he turned 16. I have been with Harborstone Credit Union (Tacoma WA) for 20 years. All six of my children went from savings accounts to checking accounts as adults with HCU. When a child chose to be on their own my name was simply removed from the account. When I separated from my husband a year prior to our divorce, my name was removed from the joint account and I opened one in my name but my husband (later ex) kept the original account undisturbed.
When my son opened his own account with Bank of the West he wanted his name taken off my account and I agreed that would be a good idea. I was informed that I would have to close the account and open a new one to have my son's name removed. At the time my plans were to return to WA by mid summer so I said fine, I will close it when I move.
I will ask in the future what the cost is of any service from your bank. I will not suppose that your employees will allow me the courtesy of an informed decision by supplying pertinent information before I choose a course of action. I will also choose to go the office in Nampa instead of the one in Meridian, on Overland between Locust Grove and Eagle, if I need anything in September.
I am very grateful I kept the pension and the child support going to Harborstone and did NOT transfer either when encouraged to at the time I opened my account with Bank of the West.
Sincerely, Karen middle initial last name

I know they won't care , if they even read both emails (had to send it in two parts, there is a 2000 character limit which you are NOT informed of until you try to send something longer, really NO info until you hit send), but I feel much better having in print my account of the event. I would never hand someone personalized merchandise and THEN tell them the cost. I have been in sales and customer service for the last 9 years and would never deceive someone in this manner - or any other for that matter. I felt betrayed and mis used, if not abused :-o

On a happier note, today was 10 degrees lower than yesterday which was 10 degrees lower than Sunday - Heaven ! ! !

I will be increasingly grateful for the Plan of Salvation

In my family we tend to spread our children out, at least from first to last. My father's oldest sister was 24 1/2 when his youngest sister was born (she was an aunt 4 times at birth), my youngest brother was born when I was 25 1/2 (he was an uncle 5 times at birth with a niece and nephew born the same year - four and seven 1/2 months later respectively).
I grew up with my 3 youngest aunts as peers, they were cousins more than anything, they just happened to live at Grandma's house and called her mom. Consequently their children seem more like my children's cousins than my own, which they are. Until she got married while I was still in high school, I was closest to my aunt Nannette - when we visited we always had to share a bed when we were young because we both moved so much in our sleep no one else could survive the night and get any rest.
Thursday her youngest child, only daughter, died of aneurysms. Went to work, didn't feel well, was taken to the hospital, doctors operated and as she was waking up from surgery a second burst and nothing could be done. She was 30 and leaves behind a husband and 16 month old son. My heart breaks for her family members, my prayers on their behalf are so inadequate but I am too far away to do anything else.
I am reminded how grateful I am for my own children and their good health -and will be praying more diligently for their protection- yet at the same time I know our Grandma and Grandpa were there to meet her and take her in their arms. (Would not be surprised if my darling husband was there too, Renae and I were both sealed to our parents and grandparents and I am sealed to my husband - joining our families together. Oh how my grandma loved my husband!)
I have been a widow for 9 years (3 mo and 13 days), the first year was the worst but I notice it is hardest when I lose my eternal perspective. When I recall his testimony and enthusiasm for teaching the gospel and how he looked forward to teaching his extended family with his father and brothers who predeceased him, my heart fills with joy and I just have to smile.

I will find the oven on and it will NOT be me who did it!

and I will remain calm, turn the broiler off, open doors and windows and calmly inform the sleeping individual (the one that had just pulled a cookie sheet of toast out of the oven as I went to my bedroom 9 hours earlier) that the oven was left on.
I had smelled a 'hot oven' all night, (cooking food keeps me from sleeping well), every time I woke, (about hourly), but knew what's his name was up and figured he was cooking "again" or had overcooked something and the odor was just lingering.
I was tired - obviously!
It should only be in the mid 80's today and tomorrow so I am looking forward to Progress ! ! !

(Now I need to go see if any boxes packed themselves...)

I will have fun making english muffins, but they never came out raw in the middle when I was young!

Today was errand day and Tami and I ran a couple after our hour in the big storage shed. Then I looked up an english muffin recipe that was close to what I remembered ;-Þ and found one that went in the bread machine ;-} First time I came out of my room 2/3 the way thru the dough cycle and found dry, unmixed ingredients!!! SO I restarted the machine and made sure things mixed. Am packing in my room, oh joy, and Matey likes to watch movies on my little TV so "Cars" may have gotten more time than my closet did. I used an electric pancake grill big enough to cook all 17 muffins at the same time and except for the doughy centers - they looked done but chewing revealed the truth - they came out nice. Did two batches of indexing and am headed back to the closet :-o
Cathy's birthday is today, so is my paternal grandma's, I decided that I would give her my fridge and she graciously accepted. It will be a year old in October, I bought it NEW with an extended warranty and couldn't stand the thought of selling it for less than it is worth. When we were at Cathy's it occurred to me her old fridge could go in the cold room and hold milk (they have a cow) and things that they don't use on a daily basis and mine would look great in her kitchen for daily use. So glad she agrees! They will collect it end of September as I leave for places with fridges already in residence. I love things going to a good home!
Did Matey's nails today. Not polish but clip and file - his nails are like his aunt Ddonn's STRONG and fast growing! Tiney made an awesome dinner but I have heartburn already so I am headed for the ranitidine, then my closet. Tiney is still knee deep in photos. Brave Girl.

I will remember people actually DO read my blog!

On my birthday I failed to mention that my wonderful Vegas grand daughters [and their mom (my oldest daughter)] called and sang to me and wished me happy birthday ;-} As did my sweet second daughter the midwife. Half my children live with me currently and the remaining one, my third daughter, was far away in Morocco and had to settle for the web to greet me.
I did NOT have blue milk!!! Hooray! Hooray! I love blue but Drox always overdoses the milk ;-Þ
I love being sung to, which is why I always made sure my kids called people to sing to them ;-o

We had a cake tonight to celebrate Drox being an ! ! ! Eagle Scout ! ! ! Tiney made the bottom layer, a honey cake from a 1920's recipe from Household Searchlight, and I did a carrot cake for the top layer, Cream Cheese frosting of course! It IS Drox we are talking about here, duh! We split the layers and filled them with a cream cheese mixture and used a different cream cheese frosting recipe for the top and sides.

His dad is here to take him back to WA and had cake with us and I had uncovered some things in my sorting that I thought he might enjoy so I had them out and even remembered while he was here ;-} He was genuinely happy to have the slides he shot in Germany so long ago. He did some awesome time lapse shots back then. And places we went with AuntSandy and UncleLarry, and on our own. Some I would like to have copies of but haven't the time just now to peruse and choose.

Getting rid of the rest of the JUNK and packing the good stuff is the focus of the summer. I was hoping it would just be the month of June, or maybe June and July but reality keeps pointing to SUMMER and it is NOT fun! Except the part where Tiney is helping me - WAY more fun than doing it alone! One more box of kids' stuff to sort into the individual kid boxes and then we will move the stuff in the closet/ my room out to the storage shed in the back yard. Tiney insists I will feel better with it out there and I have a suspicion she is right.

I did bring in the fabric for Wil's quilt (bought in 2006) and the fabric my sweet daughter-in-law bought in 2008 for Drox and I to do a quilt together. Yes, hope springs eternal and if Drox goes somewhere cold on his mission a quilt will be a good thing! I drew a design for a Rubik's Cube inspired design and filed it in the large wooden card file :-Þ

I am "getting back in the box"(*page 88) (that will divide the S.H.E.'s from the rest of you!) mostly using the second book, "Get your act together". I am happily amazed at how much I still remember and at the few things I managed to make 'my own' over the years! "Sidetracked Home Executives"(*) was published in 1977 and I think I discovered it in the early 80's 81? 82? Only my 'storage' box sez 'packing' on it.

Why just LOOK at the time! And I am offering a dollar to whoever finds my cell phone~ disappeared Thursday evening after dinner. This is a good example of why ALL my clothes need to have pockets! xoxoxox

I will change my age on the right day!

I have had a beautiful birthday.
We had breakfast at Denny's (Buh, Tiney, Drox, Matey and I) went shopping and I now have Sunday shoes ;-} dropped Tiney and Matey at the house, picked up a little friend of Drox's, picked up TJ and went to 17 Miracles. I loved it.
Dropped off our guests and got home in time to play with Matey while Tiney made a fabulous dinner - roast, yorkshire pudding, broccoli with a yummy cheese sauce, divinity that decided to exercise its right NOT to be divinity and we totally forgot the Barq's!!!

There is always tomorrow, the second day of my 58th year ;-Þ

I fit in some indexing (Family Search), we rented Rango (Redbox) and enjoyed it even more with Matey than in the theater without him! and watched Tiney's favorite - Fantasia.
Once again, I am late to bed. A dangerous practice with a two year old in the house :-o
xoxoxox

I hope someone lets me know when I get there!

We spent a week north visiting friends and family, Drox, Tiney, Matey and I, leaving Buh behind. He did some furniture re arranging but I am sure we can tweek a couple things and come out "ahead".
Drox was always gone to Scout Camp on my birthday so his announcement (earlier this month) that he would stay thru my birthday - and spend it with me!!! - was very welcome. Yesterday on the way to church he informed me he would like to spend the next two days in our old neighborhood and would I be able to pick him up on Tuesday, my birthday is Wednesday. Sure, that'll be fine. Unfortunately plenty of the old neighbors would give him a place to sleep so there was little to do but gracefully accept. What was I going to say? No Drox, I would like you to be here to help your sister and I get the house back together so we can all enjoy Wednesday together?!?!?
Tiney made tika masala for dinner last night. Very nice, a bit spicy and I had a little trouble getting to sleep but no full blown heartburn so I am happy. She asked how early she had to get up to beat the sprinklers, she had jeans on the swing set for stage one drying, and when I said 0700 she asked Matey if he could wake her up before then. Surest way I know to get the baby to sleep til 9!
I always wake up between 0545 and 0630 so I just made the decision this morning to stay up and nap when Matey does. Their jeans are in the dryer, doors - to include the garage - are open to suck in as much 65 degree air as possible and the breadboard is wiped and closed giving access to the dishwasher. I will unload and reload it as soon as I finish this post... may be a LONG post, eh?
Yesterday after church (1415) my car read 98 degrees. At home I set our air at 75 (74 for esp hot days) and open windows at night when it falls below 75. (One of the pluses of living in a relatively safe town and neighborhood) It wasn't under 75 until 0300 so the air conditioning ran most the night, sigh!
Had a nice trip even if all the driving fell to me, got to work on Tiney (and Drox) getting drivers licenses, yeesh. Taught them to be law abiding so they wouldn't even spell me on isolated, middle of nowhere, there have only been 5 cars on this road in the last week highways. ;-Þ
My mom is back on her property and seems well. Already planning to expand her new kitchen ;-} (Now we will see if my brothers know this blog exists ;-o) It is fun to see all the improvements to her home. We helped tear out the old kitchen after brother #2 started the new one. Both of my sisters and brother #1 helped with various stages of construction (to include financing) and the results are wonderful!
She is catching the vision that less is more so the bonfire when she dies (Her words, not mine) will be a bit smaller! (In the past she had said she expected us to take what we want and drop a match on the rest when she is gone.)
My name is in the Household Searchlight Cookbook on the fridge and I think that is it for me, except for pictures and genealogy of course. The cookbook was given to my grandma(Grandma Johnny) by her mom(Grandma Perdue) and Grandma Johnny gave it to my mom and it has survived to become mine at least in name. Tiney got a good look at it last week (to include photographing some recipes to try) so is now lobbying for it to be hers in the future. Plus she is now interested in cookbooks from the time period - late 1920s to mid 1930s. (In case you draw her name for Christmas)
Oh, and Buh has dibs on my Bell collection. I forget what I said*, probably that Tiney was after the cookbook, which led to Drox gets the quarter collection and Le gets the piano, Tiney is promised the silver jewelry my Dad brought home from Viet Nam, Ddonn has the piano lace and he was all "well what do I get?" "What do I have that you want?" "Your bells, I get your bells" "OK, they are yours. I will let the other kids know. Consider yourselves informed. Wil, I am drawing a blank if you ever asked for or were promised anything, please let me know!
*I remember! A friend's step parent died and a long absent son is demanding all sorts of things from the estate, although he has been given more than the will dictated, and even tho the step daughters gave the care needed in the last several years, and I told Buh - as my oldest child - I really Don't want my children to be munches to each other after my demise.
Quit laughing and pretend I have something to fight over!
Well, the dryer quit and the dishes are calling my name. Today is scheduled to be mid 90s again but Tuesday should just be mid 80s and Wed and Thurs more of the same - hooray!