Sometimes life would be easier without e-mail and smartphones

I spent 6 and 1/2 hours yesterday trying to resolve an issue with my Verizon online/e-mail accounts. Yes, that's right. SIX AND A HALF HOURS.

See, anyone who uses Verizon for their Internet/e-mail provider found out a month ago that our Verizon/Yahoo e-mail accounts were going to be migrated to Verizon.net as of March 27th. We were told that it would be a simple migration and then we could use TrueSwitch to transfer any old e-mail and our contacts from Yahoo to Verizon.

For future reference - nothing is ever simple.

I tried to transfer my old e-mails and my contacts.
It only partially worked.
Then I tried to transfer my husband's old e-mail and contacts.
Nothing worked.

And then my e-mail accounts stopped working completely.
As did my BlackBerry's e-mail delivery from Verizon.
At the same time.*

So, I did what any social media savvy mom would do - I went to Twitter and 'shouted from the rooftops' about how I had no e-mail and how it was @Verizon's fault and that I was going to keep tweeting @Verizon until (1) the cows came home or (2) someone responded.

Five minutes later I had a direct message from @Verizon - "We would love to help. Please let us know what is wrong."

Success.

See.....Twitter is a wonderful thing.
You talk.
They listen.

And, let me say this - @VerizonSupport was wonderful. ^CP was the screen name of the individual at @VerizonSupport who spent his entire afternoon trying to fix the e-mail issue. He made me his #1 priority (and even told me I was his top priority). He did everything in his power to fix the issue before his shift was over at 5 pm.

The best part? He was able to get the problem fixed. His tech people forced the migration of both e-mail accounts and by 4 pm yesterday all was right with the inboxes once again.

However, I still had an issue with my e-mail not being delivered to my BlackBerry.
(And the 'tech support' for @VZWSupport on Twitter was horrid).
I assumed it was due to the migration from one server to the other.
I should really work for Verizon.
I was right.

After spending two hours this morning on the phone with tech support at Verizon Wireless (they were kind enough to spend 45 minutes on the phone with me the first time and then they CALLED ME BACK to check if the issue was resolved and when it wasn't we spent more time talking).

The very nice tech guy today listened to my 'assumption' and he said "you're right...it is because of the migration - the switch to the new server messed up the BlackBerry service."

Hmmm. Now call me crazy, but don't you think it would have been a REALLY GOOD IDEA for Verizon to notify BlackBerry customers that this could be (and likely would be) an issue after the migration?

Un-freaking-real.

Long story short (ha!) - the e-mail is being delivered to my BlackBerry again.
And I am happy (about that, at least).


*I have to say, at this point yesterday when I had NO e-mail, I tweeted something like "I think I fell into the hot tub time machine and landed in 1994. No e-mail!"

Feel Good Friday - The Saturday Edition

Honest to goodness, I need to work on blogging.

It appears I skipped this entire week -- only posting one thing on Monday. Oy.

And, it wasn't a bad week. Or that busy. I have no excuse.

So, without further ado, my Feel Good Friday on Saturday.

In no particular order, these 5 things made me feel good this week.

1. Friends
It's funny how a glass of sangria, some tapas at Poco Piatti and a hour of good conversation with a good friend can make all the difference! I had been in a blah funk/mood for most of Tuesday (a serious lack of chocolate combined with a general frustration will do that to you) and after having dinner with a friend all was right again.

2. Spur of the moment decisions
So...we're taking the kids to Disney World next month. We decided last weekend - rather suddenly - that we were just going to do it! We had a good price on a complete package and well, we're going to Disney World! The girls are VERY excited. (So am I).

3. Party!
Tonight my sister and I are throwing our "New Moon" viewing party. We're having "Team Edward" (blue) and "Team Jacob" (red) Jell-o shots, a birthday cake (for Bella's birthday), and lots of other yummy foods. (Also for fun: muffins in honor of the wolf pack, marshmallows because Mike Newton is "a marshmallow" and Lemon Drop martinis because they are sunny and yellow...just like Jacob is Bella's sunshine.) Yes, we are total dorks. Thanks for noticing. :)

4. Naps
You know sometimes you just have to nap. For example, when it's cloudy and rainy and cold and dreary like it was on Thursday and you have a splitting headache and the kids are resting and you think "gosh, I could fold the laundry or just take a nap right here on this couch" and well, the nap wins out. Yeah. Naps rock.

5. Twitter
I am a huge fan of Twitter. I could go on and on...but let's just leave it at that. I love Twitter. And I love the #Disney community on Twitter.

OK...that's it. Feel Good Friday on Saturday.
See you next week!


And with that, I have to go deal with @VerizonSupport on Twitter. I am hating Verizon online right now - they are in the midst of some 'big switch' from VerizonYahoo! to verizon.net for email services and everything is an epic #FAIL.

Feel Good Friday - Yes, I know it's Monday

I know, I know. It's Monday.
I totally missed the whole 'feel good Friday' thing last week.

It was just one of "those" weeks (you know, I have a week like that almost every week).

I will admit, last week was not a good week. (The "lowlight" of my week was discovering that a job I REALLY wanted to be interviewed for had already been filled. And I didn't even get an interview.) I was in a bad mood for most of the week - for various reasons. And so when Friday rolled around, I didn't 'feel good' and chose to opt of out finding something that had made me 'feel good'. I apologize. (That sort of defeats the whole purpose of Feel Good Friday, right?)

And now it's Monday and I'm going to try to have a better week.

Even if I don't have a great week .... I will do a Feel Good Friday this week ... I will find something (or 5 things) that made me happy or made me smile.

After all, that's the whole point of Feel Good Friday.

I hope you all have a magical week.

So, how is yOUr bracket?

Mine is FAN-FREAKING-TASTIC because Ohio University just BEAT Georgetown!

Dear OU - I am sorry I doubted you in my last post. I am a cynic by nature and well....that's all. You rocked it. And I am so happy!

GO 'CATS!

Hoops Madness!

So, it's 'that' time of year again .... March Madness.
The Big Dance.
You know...the NCAA basketball tournament.

How many of you just stopped reading?
Please, come back.
I promise this isn't going to be an analysis of brackets, Cinderella stories and whatnot.

After all, this IS me writing.

And...I am not an athlete (for those of you who know me, I am certain this is a shocking revelation. Or not.).
I don't really like sports.
I never played 'real' sports.
I golf.
I figure skate.
I'm a Browns and Indians fan.
See? I really don't know much about sports.

But every March I fill out a bracket and pick a national champion.
Why?
Honestly, I have no idea.
It started several years ago when Kevin and I were invited to be in a bracket group/pool.
And, it's fun....even if I don't really have much invested in my choices.

I don't pick teams based on their record over the course of the season.
Nope.
I pick teams based on relevant things -- such as "would I like to live where that college is located?" (ex: Florida), or "is that team my alma mater?" (ex: Ohio University this year!), or even more relevant "does that team have a cool mascot?" (No really...sometimes THIS is what I base my decision on!)

And so, this year I am once again in a bracket group - the "Disney Park Fanatics" created by Joel K., one of this year's Disney Mom's Panel dads. (You can find his blog, ZipaDeeDooDad, here!). There are 41 people in the group and I'm pretty sure I'll end up near 41st place. Heck, Florida and Notre Dame have already lost today and I had both of them going into the 2nd round!

And, I have Ohio University BEATING Georgetown tonight.
As if that's going to happen.
(What? I'm being realistic. I LOVE my OU Bobcats and would LOVE to see them beat G-town...but c'mon. It's a #14 seed MAC team against a #3 seed whatever-conference-team*!) Granted if OU did win, I'm probably the ONLY person in the group who picked them...but...it's not going to happen.

In case you're wondering my final four is: Ohio State v. Kentucky and Syracuse v. Duke.
The championship game: Syracuse v. Kentucky.
And, for my brother-in-law, I have Kentucky winning it all. (You're welcome, Jon).

Are you ready for some....basketball!?!?!

*Yeah, I have no idea what conference Georgetown represents. And really, I don't care. I could have Googled it...but whatever...it's not relevant to me.)

Are you wearing green today?

Today I feel....

I have this magnet on my refrigerator.


Back in January, my dad asked me if I ever changed the "mood".

I told him no.

And it's true. It has been stuck on "Today I Feel: Frustrated" for MONTHS. There was a brief period back in October when it said "Ecstatic", but that only last for two weeks (during which time I was in the 2nd round of the Mom's Panel selection process). When I didn't make it to the 3rd round I think I changed it to "Sad" for a few weeks (only because there wasn't a 'totally devastated' button. Ha.).

And then it went right back to "Frustrated".

My dad asked me when I was going to change it from "Frustrated" to something else. I told him when I no longer felt frustrated...or when I found a job...or when I won the lottery (as if).

Whenever the day comes that I am no longer frustrated with how things are going on a daily basis. That is when I will change the mood magnet.

Believe me, I'd love to have it say "Happy" or "Ecstatic" or even "Hopeful".
But I'm not feeling that right now.
It's not that I'm unhappy or totally without hope.

It's just that, right now, frustration is the name of the game.

I couldn't make this up if I wanted to...

My darling 3 year old came running into the kitchen 30 minutes ago yelling "potato chip in my nose! potato chip in my nose!"

Sure enough, there is a potato chip IN HER NOSE.

It's stuck. I can't get it out. She can't blow it out.

And so, we are headed to the doctor's office for 'potato chip removal'.

I find a bit of humor in this because when Olivia was 3 she stuck a PAIR of pink Polly Pocket shoes up her nose. Read the full story here, here, and here.

Apparently there is something in my kid's genes that makes them want to stick things up their noses!

(And yes, in case you're wondering, Emma WAS eating potato chips at 9:30 in the morning. Why? Because some battles just aren't worth fighting. She wanted chips. I didn't want to listen to her crying and whining if she didn't get them. Clearly I am not in the running for mother of the year.)

Editor's note: 12:42 pm:
After a short trip to the doctor's office (and the required $25 copay), the potato chip is OUT. All it took was a little saline nose spray and a few good "nose blows" and the darn thing came flying out. The chip in question was more of a crumb...about the size of a pencil eraser. So, the lesson here is: if I would stock my medicine cabinet with nasal spray I could have saved myself $25. Unreal.