Yes... this was the week that dragged on...and on...and on...
Monday was the only good day of the week... work got done, nothing broke and I didn't die of a heart attack.
Tuesday was non-stop go and go. Jordan had a counseling appointment in the middle of the day - due to a scheduling brainfart on my part - appointments are supposed to only be during the last week of the month if at all possible. The good news is that this was the last appointment - we have finally graduated to an 'as-needed basis' in regards to counseling. Yeah! Later in the day I went to my GP and she combed through my info, ran an EKG and did a couple of chest xrays in order to figure out what is going on with my ongoing chest pains. No nasty tumors lurking in my chest, my heart performed admirably and I'm not going to drop dead any time soon. Unless of course you factor in stress. So that leaves only one other test to perform - which is to hook up a portable heart monitor for a couple of weeks. My heart racing incidents have dropped off significantly, and the chest pains have also lessened in intensity and duration. I hate it when I don't know what is wrong. The only thing she can attribute the discomfort to is a muscle pull deep down in the tissue. I can't agree with that - I can't believe that a muscle pull would begin to hurt when I not engaging my muscles at the time - ie. sitting or lying down. I am still secretly worrying that it is a lung tumor that didn't show up on the xray. Silly... I know. The day ended with a board meeting for our homeschool group. A good meeting - attended by most of the board and one other member. I am confused. I see all of these parents joining our group for the simple reason of looking for support and social interaction, yet hardly a one will show up at a board/support meeting or a Park Day. We are now 165 member families strong, with several pending, and the lack of attendance just confounds me.
Wednesday just sucked. We were off to a good start and then we went to Park Day. Only one other dad was there. Jordan brought his gigantic Lego bin and the kids played and so on. Owen got bored and asked to play a game on my 3 week old iPad. He sat on the blanket and played for a long, long time. We were packing up to go, and Owen stood up, and stepped on the blanket/soft grass and onto a paved pathway, *just* as I was saying do not get up and walk with the iPad... and he dropped it. Face down.
This is the corner that took the brunt of the blow. It flexed and cracked two other corners as well. I didn't know whether to cry, scream or throw up. (And if you are secretly happy that the iPad that I keep going on and on about was damaged - piss off).
Owen was lucky that we were in a public place, and I managed to keep my composure. However, it did not help that the other dad that was there said in a very know-it-all-told-you-so voice "Should of had an Otterbox on it! We have one - we put it on there immediately. Is that the newest iPad? Do you have Apple Care coverage?" Uh... I don't know? My husband bought it...
We went on with our afternoon - dance lessons and karate, and then sped down to Boulder to go to the very swanky Apple store to see what could be done. As we drove along the diagonal highway that leads into Boulder we suddenly heard a peculiar click-click sound, and pulled off as soon as it was safe. There was a huge bolt sticking out of one of the rear tires. Nice. We were close, so we drove on to the outdoor mall in the center of town where the Apple store was. Dean changed the tire and I went into the Apple store. Nice place. Nice people (at first). I felt stupid carrying in my battered and broken iPad. And then I felt an intense amount of dislike for the fresh-faced twenty-something who exuded an extreme level of techie snootiness. He had no sympathy. No Apple care? Sorry. (And you can tell he was privately thinking "What an idiot!") He informed me that they would be happy to trade it out for a new one.
For $299.
Shit.
There are asshats out there who would say "How can you be upset about getting a brand new iPad for only $299?" Because I can say that we already forked over twice that only three weeks ago (!) for a brand new iPad. And I can be pissed because I have had iPad envy for two years now, and this was the first 'toy' that was just for me. ME.
The good news is that the cracks do not go over the screen except for one little crack in a corner. The iPad is functioning normally, and Owen's hide is still intact.
The bad news is that we still have a nasty underlying issue in our house - destructive kids. Owen may not of intentionally dropped it, but he did not obey the rules that I had set with use of the iPad: you don't walk around with it, you don't hold something else WHILE you are holding the iPad (Owen had a toy in his hand - which is why he bobbled it in the first place), you only use it while sitting at a table or on a couch or a bed, in a carpeted area. He walked off of the blanket just when I reminded him not to. We have kids that don't listen. Kids that do not understand the inherent value of an object. We are the toy graveyard. Toys that come into this household are being sent to their doom. That goes for clothing too.
**And I know that Rylan's violin teacher is reading this - and I can personally assure you that the violin you have entrusted us with is probably THE most guarded and protected item in this entire household.**
Thursday morning dawned bright and early because I had to visit Discount Tire to get the tire taken care of. Two new tires and $227 later (at least we had coverage on the tires??) we were all set to go on a daisy field trip to Hearts and Horses - a therapeutic riding establishment that relies heavily on volunteer support.
We had a great time. I was preoccupied by constantly texting back and forth with my husband about the next step to take with Apple. When we got back home later that afternoon I spent a couple of hours combing the Internet looking for solutions. It looks like Apple dumped their "Oops!" policy of replacing a broken screen for free when the iPad 3 hit the market. Damn. So the next-best option was getting an Otterbox. The cover would conceal most of the cracks, and protect it from flexing some more (which would mean even more cracks). In the meantime, my husband will have to convince me that he can replace the screen himself. So later that evening the kids and I went out and purchased an Otterbox case at Best Buy. $99 bucks well spent. |
| Front. The skid pads are nice. This cover snaps on and off (you lift at the corners) and then it becomes the resting tray. It has a built-in stand so that you can prop up the iPad at different angles. |
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| Back. It has an opening for the camera lense, the all-important Apple logo and speaker. |
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| Sitting in the tray. My only complaint is that you have to press really hard on the 'home' button. |
The other element to Thursday was receiving the sales packets for the fall Girl Scout fundraising campaign that runs through the end of September. Nuts, candy and magazine sales are in the offering. My family has been most generous and we have garnered quite a few sales in just two days so far. What isn't so fun is that Jordan is in the midst of his boy scout popcorn fall sales campaign as well. Jordan and Rylan have been going out most every afternoon this past week drumming up sales for him. Since Jordan helped Rylan with cookies sales last year, it's her turn to assist him. Fun times around here...
Friday was a better day - sort of felt like a day to catch up on everything that had been put-off for the week. Schoolwork was minimal - so I don't think we are going to be taking off next week like was planned... we have too much catching up to do.
That seems like an endless mantra around here....
(And I only mentioned the word 'iPad' 13 times!!)
