Sunday, November 08, 2009

Aunt Has No Regrets With Updates

Doesn't Regret Leaving Children in Burning Home. Purse and Food Stamps are More Important!

Below is the original story reported on Det SLC plus video of the updates since original broadcast. Feel free to repost.

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Public outcry continues for charges to be filed in the house fire that left a 3 year old dead. He and his little brother had been left in their South Memphis home alone by their mother. While investigators continue to piece the case together, police arrested the aunt of the boys' mother on unrelated charges.

Two days after Marilyn Wilson talked to news reporters about her niece's decision to leave her toddler sons in a home alone, she appeared in court to face Judge Louis Montesi, Jr.

Monday, moments after the fire, Wilson told reporters, "I don't know why she didn't take them, swear I don't, I don't know."Judge Montesi asked Wilson, "Where were you when you were picked up on these warrants?"

The charges were unrelated to the Monday house fire on Effie, that left a three year old boy dead, and his 2 year old brother hospitalized at LeBonheur Children's Hospital. Instead, Wilson was taken into custody for charges dating back to 2006.

According to police records, on April 15 2006, Wilson was spotted filling her purse with clothing at a K-Mart store on Austin Peay in Raleigh. She was charged with theft of property.

Relative Chiquita Franklin says, "we've been trying to get her some help."

Four days later, Wilson was pulled over at Pauline and Jefferson for driving with expired tags. Officers ran her license and found it was suspended for failure to pay child support. When officers interviewed her in connection with Monday's house fire, she was arrested on the 2006 bench warrant.

"She's not in her right state of mind," says Franklin.

Family members say they're embarrassed by Wilson's comments moments after arriving on the scene of the fire.

Wilson said "I really need to get in there to see did my purse burn up, because I had my food stamp card and everything in there."

Relatives say they have tried to get Wilson help but with no luck.

But some Mid-Southerners say the focus shouldn't be on Wilson, but on the mother who left her sons home alone.

But some Mid-Southerners say the focus shouldn't be on Wilson, but on the mother who left her sons home alone.

Harold Collins with the Shelby County District Attorney's Office, says "we understand how emotional this is but we cannot allow our emotions to determine what kind of action we have to make."

Investigators will sift through those details and as soon as all the information is gathered from Memphis Police, the Memphis Fire Department, and the Shelby County Medical Examiner, the district attorney will determine who, if anyone, to charge. For now, Aunt Marilyn will remain behind bars.

Wilson was assigned to a public defender at her Wednesday court appearance after telling the judge she hasn't worked in ten years, and cannot afford an attorney. She is expected to be back in court on November 13.

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Tonight's Song Says He Couldn't Stay Away















Tonight we're going a little old school with Joey McIntyre from New Kids on the Block... This is for Mari and a certain someone she knows... Yes Marianne I am well aware you are going to kill me. But I have a few thousand miles head start on you!!! LOL You got to catch me first!!!


Women's Soccer Match Gets Dirty














This girl will kick your ass. LOL Click to watch.

Chicago Tea Party Today












The Chicago Tea Party Says…

It’s One Year to Judgment Day…
And We’re Taking Back Our Country!

Come to the heartland of Congressman Dan Lipinski – the ONLY democratic congressman in Illinois leaning AGAINST government ran medicine!!

Saturday
November 7th
Noon – 2 p.m.
Wentworth Park
5700 So Narragansett Ave in Chicago
(One mile west of Midway Airport – in the Bungalow Belt!)

Catherina Wojtowicz
(312) 662-8666
ChicagoTeaPatriots@Gmail.com
www.ChicagoTeaPatriots.com

Friday, November 06, 2009

Cutting Coupons to the Extreme (video)









I can remember my mom cutting coupons when I was a kid before going to the grocery store. We would always like to see how much we could save that way, guessing how much we could get off our bill. We never did anything quite this extreme though... A bit over the top, but kind of cool to see it could be done.

Thursday, November 05, 2009

Bless the Chaos















Today was a really long day. I am thinking tomorrow will be even longer since there is no school tomorrow for the kiddies. So for right now I am sitting in bed watching a rerun of Friends, posting on here while my puppy Max snores by my side. Even though today was chaotic, right now there is peacefulness around me. It's a nice feeling even though I know it is temporary. But I'll take this moment for now because I know it won't last forever. And when I turn out the light and close my eyes to go to sleep I'll say a prayer for all I'm thankful for in my life... including the sweet chaos.

Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Got Crazies?













A house on my block foreclosed around two years ago. It got sold this summer to some people I can only describe as gypsies. (Note- Sold for one third what my house cost. Ugh.) It only took a few weeks for the back yard and deck to turn all "Sanford and Son" with bikes, furniture (some upholstered!! in the rain for months... ewwww.) holiday decorations, rugs, stacks of records, cases of canned vegetables from Aldis!!??, etc. (Really... this is all on the deck and yard sitting in the rain.)

The front yard is just as special with all sorts of religious statues and silk flowers. The statue of Mary had a first communion type veil on it for a while, but now that's gone. There is an extension cord out the basement window to light it all up at night. (Where the extension cords are connected are wrapped in foil. Awesome.) The neighbor across the street claims this light shines directly into his bedroom. I can only imagine he loves that. LOL

My two kids are freaked out because they think that someone might be buried in the front yard. (I assured them there is not).

But I guess it could be worse. I could live next to the section 8 building three doors down. Gotta love living in the city.

And to honor our new neighbors... LOL

Sometimes People Suck









For Mari- Nuff said.

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

T Mobile Confirms Nationwide Outage






There's a confirmed T-Mobile service outage affecting users nationwide. People are reporting that all calls are failing with busy tones or getting dropped instantly, despite full signal bars.

As Twitter and forums are filled with annoyance over the issue, T-Mobile is assuring people that they are aware of the problem and working on it:

T-Mobile customers may be experiencing service disruptions impacting voice and data. They will provide updates as more information is available.

No shit there is an outage. I can't send or receive text messages since 4:30 pm. I can't even get through the 611 or regular customer service number. When I logged into their website all information was unavailable. I called the store I got my phone from and spoke with a man who was clearly frantic. He said they had no idea when service will return.

This totally sucks cat's ass. I hate not being able to call whoever I want when I want. And as a person who is big into texting, I am bouncing off the walls missing my messages. Once in a while I get a few texts from people that were sent to me a few hours before like they are trying to catch up. I'm not sure if my outgoing texts are actually making it to people til hours later. And this has seriously slowed down the sexting as well. LOL Like I said... totally sucks...

Monday, November 02, 2009

Why Walgreens Still Sucks












MY FIRST POST
At least the one on Montrose and Central does. I dropped off an antibiotic prescription at around 9am today for my son. When I went a few hours later to pick it up I was told they didn't have it BECAUSE THEY HAD RUN OUT OF IT. They didn't call me to tell me or even call another store to try to find it. This was not some sort of strange antibiotic either... I was really angry and they did find another store that had it, but I had to wait a few more hours for them to fill it there. I have NEVER heard of a Walgreens running out of a common drug before. I called corporate and complained but I don't know how much that will do... Unbelievable.

FAST FORWARD...
I called Walgreens Corporate to complain. They told me someone would call me about the situation. Two days later I got a call from a store manager who apologized and offered me a $25.00 gift card for my trouble. He gave me his name and asked I come in that day to get it.

I go to Walgreens and tell them I am there for my $25.00 gift card from a manager named George. Come on now, you should see what's coming next... There is no manager named George. I am standing there thinking WTF. No, really I spoke to a manager named George and he told me to come in for my free gift card. The manager I am standing there talking to has no idea what I am talking about. I say wait!! I have his number on my phone!! You can talk to him yourself... We call George and find out he is a manager of a Walgreens... IN FLORIDA!!

OMFG Corporate Walgreens gave my complaint to to wrong store. In the WRONG STATE! So then the right manager tells me now he has to wait for corporate to send him the information...

I was so embarrassed that I looked like crazy girl looking for a free gift card. (BTW my mom thought this was EXTREMELY funny when I told her.)

So I go home and call Corporate again. I tell them they made me look like a big jerk and I was humiliated. So they tell me... Wait for it... Some one would call me about my problem. Someone did and she apologized. We verified she was from the right store. She then offered me a $25.00 gift card for my troubles... I laughed, yeah right it will be there...

FAST FORWARD AGAIN...
I go today and get the gift card. It's there with my name on it. I purchased two bottles of Motrin Junior. (Orange and grape) I ask Alex which he wants when we get home. He says orange and when I go to open the box, I notice it EXPIRED 08/09!! OMFG AGAIN!! I'm thinking are you fucking kidding me??? I check the other and it expires 07/11. Alex gets the Motrin from the good bottle and guess what I do? Yep, go call Walgreens Corporate again. And of course, someone will be calling me a few days to discuss my problem...

Woman Sues Home Depot for $50,000...









after fall from three step ladder. A woman is suing Home Depot after falling from a three step ladder provided to customers to access merchandise.

Marjorie Howard says that on April 10, 2008, she used a three step ladder at Home Depot that was made available for customer use to access merchandise stored on an overhead shelf when the ladder became unstable causing her to fall.

Howard asserts, among other things, that Home Depot was negligent when it "failed to provide adequate customer service so as to assist its customers in obtaining merchandise located at heights unreachable without the use of a step ladder or other device."


She fell in April of 2008 but waited until the end of October 2009 to file her claim. Interesting.

Can I Get a Redo?


















Yesterday sucked. It sucked big, hairy monkey balls. I planned on it being my day to stay home in pjs and write all day. Get something like cookies baking in the oven and make a big ole vat of homemade chili on the stove. But that didn't happen. It was like miscommunication day instead. Everything I wrote was wrong. Everything I said was wrong. Everything I texted was wrong... See a pattern here? I mean seriously, wtf?

It was my first day of NaNoWriMo and I feel like a complete failure. I didn't do nearly as much as I hoped to do. My boys were constantly asking me for more Halloween candy... (Ummm... let me think about that... NO!! LOL) Everyone kept calling me throughout the day. (And ironically the calls I made out to people didn't get returned.)

I accidentally sent a very inappropriate picture text someone sent me (Misia!!) to a member of the PTA. Naked women were involved, so there's no good explanation for that... LOL BTW Misia... who the hell are your friends that send u this stuff?? Mari will back me up here because I forward a lot of them to her... you get some crazy ass DIRTY texts... LOL I also accidentally woke someone up texting them. Sorry is a very feeble word when that happens. I felt like crap about that too. If I would have sent the inappropriate text to the person I woke up, they probably wouldn't have minded then... LOL I can't win...

So I am really hoping that tomorrow is a better day. (Which is actually today when I look at the time.) So thanks for listening... Venting over... for now. LOL

PS The cat picture has absolutely nothing to do with the post, but I saw it and I smiled. I needed a smile.

Sunday, November 01, 2009

Ahhhh... Back to Normal









I got my new phone yesterday and I am so happy. It took me around an hour to get all the settings back to the way I had them on my other phone. I re-downloaded my ring tones, which was easy to do. (And Michelle got a new one... now she is "Single Ladies" by Beyonce.)

I was talking to the girl at T Mobile and said I was surprised that my phone had died after having it for just six months. She told me that usually one out of every ten new phones goes bad before the year is up. I thought that was a pretty high number. But then again, everything now days is made like crap and disposable so I guess it isn't that surprising.

So we'll see how long this phone lasts. Hopefully it won't be the one in ten that craps out.

I Kick Ass!

















Well sort of... I mean I will... Read the post by Marianne LaCroix below and you will understand...

Tomorrow starts NaNoWriMo! I’m kind of excited. I am going with my zombie-vampire idea…but slightly different. It is going to be a hoot. AM is going to be in it and she said she wanted a handgun. I have this image of her like Pam in Barbed Wire. Me? I’ll be more like Selene in Underworld, but with a machete. We are going to be doing some major kick ass action…with a good dose of comedy and hot scenes in there. Not sure I am going to include romance…I want to target the Exotika line at EC with this, so romance is not necessary. I am still calling it Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me. It is just so perfect.

And btw, I actually am a pretty good shot. I grew up around guns. My grandfather was a gunsmith and my dad was CPD for over thirty years.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Happy Halloween! Updated

















I hope everyone has a great day! I never really did find out if the costume I was considering was a good one... LOL (Somebody out there knows exactly what I'm talking about...haha)

UPDATE: I did hear back about the costume early this morning. I got a big "thumbs up". Ok, not exactly a thumb, LOL, but it was approved. And the approval has made me rethink the phrase "trick or treat". LMAO

Happy Halloween!

















I hope everyone has a great day! I never really did find out if the costume I was considering was a good one... LOL (Somebody out there knows exactly what I'm talking about...haha)

UPDATE: I did hear back about the costume early this morning. I got a big "thumbs up". Ok, not exactly a thumb, LOL, but it was approved. And the approval has made me rethink the phrase "trick or treat". LMAO

Friday, October 30, 2009

How Much is Enough?
















Anyone else realize that this year Halloween is on a Saturday? I'm trying to figure out how much candy I am going to need here to get me through the day. I'm concerned I might not have enough. I'm also curious what time the doorbell is going to start ringing. I hope it isn't until way after noon as I am not much of a morning person. (And have been suffering from insomnia as of late. See post below.) My dog is probably not going to be thrilled if the bell keeps ringing all day either.

Now I was talking to Mari about trick or treaters and she told me that at her house in Georgia, she leaves a bucket of candy on her front porch so she doesn't have to answer the door. She puts a sign up that tells trick or treaters to help themselves to one or two pieces. At the end of the night she will even have candy left over. (And she claims to give out "the good stuff", like Snickers. LOL) I told her if I tried here in the city my candy AND the bucket would be gone in a matter of minutes.

So I'm going to have to make another trip to Jewel tomorrow and pick up some more candy so I am prepared. If anything, the kids will be happy if we end up with extra... So I guess I better buy more of "the good stuff" too.

Damned Insomnia!!












Another night of not being able to go to sleep because of insomnia. You would think that the sound of the rain would lull me to sleep, but no such luck... *sigh* At least I have Max in bed with me to keep me company. (Yes, I am blogging in bed, my first time.) Sometimes I can't get to sleep til around 3am. Color me bored. Yawn.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Parent Portal for CPS Parents










Did you know that you can check your child's grades and even sign up to get a text message if your child gets a failing grade? The program is called "Parent Portal" and is available online 24/7 at the CPS website. To sign up you need your child's CPS id number (which can be found on any report card) and a unique pin number available through your school. A lot of people don't even realize this program even exists... It's a great way to stay up to date with your child's progress so there are no big surprises on report card pick up day.

You have access online to:

Assignments: View your child’s upcoming assignments as well as past assignments, including due dates and grades received.

Triggers: Create a customized ‘alert event’ that will prompt an email or text message notification for attendance or grade activities. Note: Prior to configuring a cell phone text alert, please confirm your text message plan with your provider as standard rates will apply.

Manage multiple students: You only need one account to manage multiple students, regardless of the school. This feature allows you to add additional students to your account.

My settings: Manage your account, including updating passwords and email addresses.

Grades: View a summary of student averages from each report card period for all classes. Additionally, this screen serves as the point of entry for teacher-parent dialogue.

Attendance: View a list of all non-present attendance events, such as absences and tardies, recorded during the school year.

Calendar: View non-present attendance events by date as well as a high-level description of any campus or District events entered by the school administrator.

Report card: This area will only be made available after report card pickup has been completed at the school.

Get Well Soon


I hope you feel better soon Misia! I know being sick sucks...

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Too Funny!!


Tonight Mari and I had our live, online chat and it was quite a success! I have never laughed so hard while doing a chat. Since Mari knew some of the people there in real life I tried to be on my best behavior. (Yeah well that lasted all of around maybe close to ten minutes.) Mari has some really great friends and we already said we will have to have another chat again soon. And those Alpha Team guys really have to get over their shyness... yeah right... LOL