Seriously???

Ukulele had a little accident last night. She got into a fight with the tv console, and I think the console won.* Anyway, while going through the "internets" for a little medical research regarding her bruised eyelid, I came across a website called "pedia.tric on.call" (all one word). This is a website maintained by doctors. DOCTORS! However, just because you are doctor does not mean that you are intelligent.

They listed "adoption" as a "childhood ailment." I'm not joking. Check it out yourself here. Just take a gander at the list on the right, and sit in amazement (and bewilderment) as I did.

* She's fine, by the way.... the tv console was appropriately punished.

Whirled Peas

Whirled Peas DO NOT equal World Peace. Or at least they do not equal Night Peace. We have finally realized, the hard way, that Ukulele should not have peas for dinner. Every time she has peas for dinner, we are in for a night of fussing, crying, and no sleep. Last night was no exception. I think they give her heartburn. At 12:30 we finally broke down and brought her in our room, with her swing, and let her sleep there. After a handful of middle-of-the-night cries, I moved her back to her room around 6:15. Poor little thing. Actually, poor little mom and dad.....

One Year Old

Happy Birthday to my little blog. I started blogging about the Ukulele one year ago today. Although my blog has not grown that much - my life with Ukulele surely has. It's amazing how much my life has changed in the last year.... all for the better. Thank you - to everyone - who has traveled along with me. Although my posts have become few-and-far between, I'm still following all of your lives on a regular basis. So thank you - to you - for letting me go along for your rides as well. It's quite the little family we have, isn't it!?!

A Response from Westin!

So... a day after the nasty-gram was sent, here is the response from Westin:

Dear Ms. Ukulele,

Thank you for your inquiry via the Westin.com website. We appreciate the time you have taken to share your comments on current advertised offer. Please be assured that your input will serve as a valuable tool in the evaluation and enhancement of the products and services that we offer our guests.

I apologize for any inconvenience you may have experienced as a result of this.

Thank you for contacting Westin Hotels & Resorts Worldwide. If you have any further customer service questions or concerns, please feel free to contact us at westin@westin.com.

Best Regards,
Ms. So-and-So Specialist,
E-Communications Department Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide

GatorMan and I agree that this response seems to be pieced together from various customer-service form response emails. Quite humorous, actually. I cannot say that I was inconvenienced by their promotion, but okay. My guess is that this girl got the email and had no clue what to do with it! Hopefully my email was passed along to someone who can actually do something about the ridicululousness of their promotions in the future.

Add One to the List of Boycotts

Add another one to the list of boycotts.
This month's offender --
WESTIN HOTELS

Their latest promotion is that if you can prove that you conceived a child while on vacation at their resort, you will get a discount on your stay there. They'll accept a doctor's note as proof.

How about this, Westin: will you accept a doctor's note that says your business model resembles that of a jackass? Actually, I think I'll send them a little nasty-gram right now. Click HERE for the story if you feel like vomiting today.


Running list of my boycotted companies so far:
Volkswagen
Huggies
Westin

Randomness

1. I still have not had GatorMan change my heading yet.... but it will happen. Hopefully soon. We are just too exhausted every day when we get home. And, for my day job, I am on the computer all day.... the last thing I want to do is be on it at home.

2. Ukulele is almost sitting by herself now! When her back gets tired, she'll do that "slow-motion-forward-fall" that is just so adorable. Also, she is rolling EVERYWHERE. If I turn my back, she's gone. I can usually find her sucking on the leg of the coffee table, or pulling the dog's ears. She's also rolling over in the middle of the night. Scares the crap out of me. But, from what I understand, if she can roll over, and then roll back the other way, she's fine. Still scares me though.

3. I bought her halloween costume. She's going to be a lobster. Too flippin' cute! We thought it was appropriate since we live on the ocean. I guess GatorMan and I will be fishermen.

4. Tomorrow pre-season starts for the Dallas Cowboys... FINALLY! Ukulele's Cowboy onesie is all ready to go!

5. Ukulele is growing like a weed. She got her final shot in her shot series today (we have them split up) and the nurse weighed her..... at almost 8 months she is weighing 20 lbs 4 ounces! Yikes! And she is now in 9-12 month clothes. Speaking of, where can we find one-piece-footie-pajamas for a 12 month old? I can find 9 months and under everywhere - but no 12 month old. With her rolling over in her crib, I do not want a 2-piece pajama that she can potentially get tangled up in.

6. GatorMan's cousin is living with us now. So far everything is going well. Hope it stays that way!

7. Ukulele's one year birthday is coming up.... I need to start planning a party for her. We are going to have it the weekend before her actual birthday. The weekend after her birthday is just too close to Christmas... and in the south, everyone throws Christmas parties. I do not want her to get lost in that jumble.

8. And after Ukulele turns one, we are getting back on the adoption list. :)

New Blog Name Winner!

First of all, thank you to all who submitted recommendations. Everyone is so much more creative than I am, and I really appreciate all of your input!

And without further ado.....

Congrats to Murgdan for inspiring a new blog name. She recommended a blog name based on an article she included a link to. I read the article, and it was great. Basically, it said that when you are down you can pick up a ukulele to put yourself in a better mood.

How true is that?!?!

So, although I am not using her proposed blog name verbatim, it did inspire my new one:

When You're Down, Pick Up Your Ukulele

I know it works for me. Every. Single. Time. :)

So Murgdan, I will be contacting you regarding the details on your new kitsch!

(*Also, my title bar will change as soon as I convince GatorMan to help me with it!!!)