Supergirls and Super Heroes

The past few days have been really fun and interesting.  Raven had her first ever sleepover at our place with just one friend whom we'll call.......Butterfly.  Raven and Butterfly are becoming the best of friends.  Butterfly is about a year and a half younger than Raven, so Raven takes every opportunity to be a bit bossy.  I am trying to squash that quickly.  It is hard for them because they are both strong-willed girls.  And, they both live as only children.

The night started out with the girls wanting to play dress-up.  It just so happened that last year Raven was Supergirl for Halloween.  I had found the one costume at a thrift shop, but it didn't come with all the pieces.  I finally gave in and went to the Halloween store and bought her a brand new Supergirl costume that had the accessories, so she ended up with two costumes.  The girls dressed up in them, and they looked like a super pair to be sure!  I wish I had my pictures, but they are on the computer at home.  I think I'll probably add them later on.

For dinner that evening I showed them how to make mini pizzas, and they had a great time rolling their biscuits, spreading out sauce and choosing their own toppings.  It was great fun.

The girls watched movies, played with legos, played games, left nuts for the squirrels, and altogether had a really great time.  I think they both wanted their space back by the time Monday came around, but in the end, Raven missed Butterfly a lot.

I got my new debit card in the mail yesterday, so that is one step closer to being back to normal.  I just need to get my checks ordered and the money still needs to be credited to my account, then I'll be all set. I am a little disconcerted that it is taking longer to get that money credited this time around than it did last time, and this time it is less than $50 that needs to be done.  Oh well, I will call them later or something. I hope that something like this never happens again.  I will certainly be more careful in the future.

One of my Marines unadopted himself.  I felt a little disappointed by that, but totally understand the reasons.  On the bright side, I did hear from the third hero I adopted via email.  It was really great to be in touch.  The only one I haven't heard from yet is my first soldier I adopted.  It's ok though.  I just hope that he's doing well.  Nothing has been returned yet, so I can assume that everything has been getting to him.  My Easter boxes are going out tomorrow I believe.  I ended up with an entire Easter box due to the unadoption of my Marine. I think I will split up the extras that I didn't put in the third box into mini Easter boxes for a few of my Letter Writing Team names or perhaps my Ladies of Liberty names.  Yeah, that sounds like a good idea... in theory anyway.  We'll see what happens.  :)

Nothing new yet on the new and improved me, but I'm still working on it.  I'll probably be working on it the rest of my life.  I'm ok with that.

I did get around to leveling out my garden plot.  Hopefully there won't be anymore swimming pools when it rains.  I will see how packed the soil gets after the next time it rains to see if I need to add more or not.  My not so nice neighbor was outside while I was doing this and suggested that I use some rocks on the side where the rain gutter is to prevent that water from seeping into the garden.  Duh, really?  It would actually clash with my fencing, but I think I can figure something out.  Besides, I am hoping that by leveling it out it will not pool up anymore.  And, once I get everything planted that I want, that should help it, too.

Some of the TVW ladies got together on Sunday to make sand scarves for some of the deployed heroes. it took a lot longer than we thought due to the ironing involved.  (We don't like to do anything half-assed.)  We only got about half done, but that's ok, because that just means that we will be able to get together next time to finish.  It was great fun.

I think those are all the ramblings that I can spew out at the moment.  Please feel free to leave comments, suggestions, hate mail or compliments below. I enjoy reading it all.

Debit Card Update

I called my bank as soon as they opened today.  They were very pleasant.  All I have to do is go to the bank and fill out a VISA affidavit or something like that and have it notarized, which thankfully they have a notary right there in the bank.  Hopefully it doesn't cost anything.  I'm totally broke until they fix this.  Then, they will reverse the charges after the charges that are going through "clear" on Monday.  She was really pleasant, and I didn't end up having to get upset over anything. I really like this credit union.

Now, I'm on hold with Paypal, as that was the place where the $1800 in charges were placed.  Seriously?  So, I've been on hold for the last five minutes after talking to someone that thought the charges were made from MY paypal account.  No, they were made from some other paypal account.  "Oh, let me transfer you to a specialist".  Yeah, I've used that one a time or two myself when I was on the phones.

So, the charges are getting ready to be reversed on Monday, hopefully before my direct deposit goes through on Tuesday.

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Ok, got through the call with paypal.  They had already flagged the 6, count them SIX charges on MY paypal account as suspicious, and they are now flagged as unauthorized.  I thought that someone had merely added my debit card to their account.  But no, someone hacked MY paypal account.  The charges will take about ten days to be reversed, but the credit union will still be reversing everything on Monday, hopefully, once they rest of the transactions go through.

I will get my new card in about ten days.  I have changed my password on my bank account, just in case.  I will be closing my paypal account.  I never used it anyway.

What a freaking nightmare...... The sad thing is that these transactions were made from paypal, so it is possible that my debit card is still sitting at the bar.  I just find it strangely coincidental that these charges happen to show up the same night that my card disappears.  Oh well, what can you do.  It is the little twists of life that keep things interesting.  I figured I couldn't go a whole year without something bad happening.  LOL.. I am just glad it was only minor.

So, there is it is there.  Does anyone have $20 I could borrow until Tuesday?  :)

Human Decency, or the Lack Thereof

Good morning, Faithful Readers.

I am so livid. Why you ask?  Me? Who feels nothing half the time?

It all started when I decided to go out last night to sing karaoke.  I knew I should have just stayed home.  Oh well, that was my first mistake.  My second mistake was not looking at the card that was given me when I left the second bar I was at.  The first one I was only at for as long as it took for the bartender to tell me that I had to spend a minimum of ten bucks just to use my card.  That was AFTER he already made my Midori Sour.  I took my card and left him with the drink.  I didn't even have that much money on my card.  I don't even drink that much, but I know how important it is to buy stuff at the establishment you are going to.  That's how they stay in business.

So, I went to the second bar.  A really crappy song selection for karaoke if I do say so myself, and their staff isn't that friendly.  I ordered a pineapple juice and when I gave my card to the bartender I told him to just keep it open because the juice was only one dollar and I know that it cost money for them every time they swipe the cards that come through.  I only ended up staying long enough for one juice.

I went to the bar to get my card and the bartender just threw me the card and said not to worry about it.  Sucks for him because I was going to tip him a few buck for the trouble of pouring my juice.  I left in a hurry.

This morning I went to purchase water, as I do most mornings, and upon paying, I noticed that my pin number wasn't working.  Strange.  I tried it three times, then the clerk tried to run it as credit.  It came back declined.  I looked at the card... It wasn't mine.  (Like you knew that wasn't coming.)  Ok, so the crappy bartender at the second bar gave me the wrong card number.  No problem.  I could always call later on in the day to see if the bar still had my card and I could return this card.  You know, like a decent human being would.

I get to work today and check my account.  Apparently, I'm the only decent human being in this town.  The jerk who got MY card ran up $1800 work of paypal charges.  Not even MY Paypal account.  It looks as though they have added my card to their paypal account or something.  So much for human decency.  This really sucks because if I don't get those charges reversed before Tuesday, my check will hit and I will still have a negative balance on my account.  *sigh*

Thankfully, my bank is open on Saturdays, but not until 9am.  It is currently 7:35am here as I write this.  Be sure that I will drop whatever I am doing and call them at 9am sharp to get this straightened out.  I don't care if I have to go to whomever is the top dog in my bank's company.  Those charges WILL get reversed and my card canceled.  It will suck to be me for the next few days without my card to access my account, but as long as everything gets taken care of in a timely manner I will be ok.

I think I have learned two very good lessons with this.  NEVER go out on a Friday night when I know I have to be up the next morning.  And, ALWAYS check the name on the card that is given back to me.  I don't know why I didn't think about that before I left the bar.  Chalk that up to sheer stupidity.  I guess I am too trusting.  I don't think that I'll use my card at any bar ever again.  I'll always take cash with me.  There are just too many shady people out there, and I am WAY too trusting, I guess.

Be sure that I will keep you all up to date on the progress of this little mishap in the life of me.  I am just very glad that I have nothing coming out of my account automatically, like bills or whatnot.  I do have rent, car insurance and my phone to pay with this upcoming check.  Goddess, I hope that I get everything straightened out before Tuesday.

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