Mykidsarecool

Mykidsarecool seems to be a name I am know by sometimes more than my given name. That is just fine with me, because when you have cool (grown) kids,You are a VERY LUCK MOM!!

Monday, March 27, 2006

David beats Goliath

A Restoration of my Faith in Humanity

For those of you who have been following my 'saga' with HONDA USA via the Pennsylvania Attorney General's office, I have awesome news!!

As Mercury went direct on Saturday morning, We headed out with a list of things to accomplish for the day. Things that we would not have dared tackle when Mercury was in retrograde.
Our 1st stop was to drop off the 2003 CRV ..lease was up, paperwork done, just needed to be returned.
Of course, Sandy had to have her last say and try & speak with the individual (J.L.) who had treated me so poorly with the lack of interest and or action in flipping out of the lease with the 2005 Element.
To my surprise, another gentlemen, YES, I said gentlemen, because he was (EM) came out to the showroom and asked if he could speak to me in his office. He had only been at that HONDA dealership for a month and had just had a letter come across his desk from the PAAG office with my complaint, not a complicated complaint, just one that accused HONDA of misrepresentation when selling me the car.NEVER disclosing that the vehicle had an internal load limit of only 675 pounds. Not even able to hold 4 average sized people, even though its interior was very roomy and has 4 adult sized seatbelts. I was referred to HONDA corporate cust serv who did NOTHING, and told me that it was the dealers responsibility to deal with me. No one (up until this past sat, would take responsibility to talk and deal with the situation) That is why I perused it through a formal complaint with the PAAG office last Nov.
EM was anxious to hear our side of the story and wanted to know "WHAT HE COULD DO TO MAKE IT RIGHT' This was the 1st time we had heard those words.... He felt that we had been treated UNFAIRLY , was embarrassed with the entire situation, and wanted to make things right. we arrived @ 11am to just drop off a car and left the dealership @ 3:45PM with agreement and an amazing deal. I will pick up my NEW 2006 HONDA CRV EX, loaded with XM Radio and pretty pinstripe on Wed at 10AM. Once of the coolest moments was when EM, introduced me to a woman and said "GO outside to the lot and pick the CRVEX that you want" I still can hear him say it, I was actually heard!! David or should i call myself "Davida" beat Goliath.. It proves that if you really believe in something, DON"T GIVE UP....keep pushing, make yourself HEARD, Yes, it was very frustrating, many letters, many phone calls, many arguments, most of which the average person would have given up, but I was SO determined to be heard..And thanks to EM, the General Manager of the "S" Honda dealer, I not only was heard, He also LISTENED, so the moral of this true story is..Keep fighting for what you think is right and just, and don't ever give up on your cause!! This is a momentous time in my life, I feel GREAT!!

Saturday, March 25, 2006

Book & The Cook....

Food Glorious Food!!
Dinner last night definitely ranks up there as one of the best meals I have every visually witnessed and consumed. Sandy,Elliot and 'our Ryan' had the amazing opportunity to dine @ Lacroix @ The Rittenhouse for the "book & the cook" we were fortunate to have 2 phenominal chefs from Arrow restaurant in Maine. Each course was mouthwatering and full of flavor and textures. It was a dining experience of a lifetime..Yes, of course we bought their book, and yes, we may even share it with family and friends!!
NOW, drum roll please!!
It is official, the invitations have arrived in the mail..
They are just beautiful, and of course gave me goosebumps,made me reminisce and really go back in time to all of the lifecycle events in Brad's life, and now to share those events with the Nyland family. We are so excited and look forward to sharing so many more "Simchas" together. Yes, 50+ of us are invading NAPA in May and are really looking forward to celebrating at the "Nyland Estate".. Now I just have to keep focused for the next few weeks and keep on schedule so that 'panic mode' never gets a chance to enter into my vocabulary. Now, do I really need to keep a bottle of WINDEX handy? I hear it heals all??
Especially those unsightly blemishes that only appear on your face on very Important days!! NOT!!
So if you are reading this, and you are lucky enough to have received an invitation to "The Wedding" get those return cards mailed today!!
Have a great day and a super weekend, I know I will, Mercury will be out of Retrograde as of 8:42AM this morning (Sat) Hurray!!
Love to all..Maybe it is a good time to shop!!

Friday, March 17, 2006

Let the DANCE Begin!!

OK, I'm addicted once again. March has rolled around and my entire schedule is revolving around the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tourney..
I just love all the HOOPLA, always have..I'm hurtin a bit in the bracket category competition..but this is a tourney of upsets for sure. Was so much fun to share the evening with Elliot,Julie,Shawn,Ryan & Whitney..I love being around people that have a vast knowledge of SPORTS..such a huge dose of HAPPY for me..
I'm headed to LM High School to see a performance of "FOOTLOOSE"..I promised some of the students that I would get there..and since Villanova played this afternoon (and WON) I will head out to some song and dance..
Happy St Patricks Day to all of my Irish friends!!
Have a safe and fun weekend!!

Monday, March 13, 2006

Healing & Music

The Power of Music (and FOOD)

It is difficult to express into words what has transpired in the past week. Just following the shiva call we made to the Berman gang, we got the horrific news that "R", who is like a son to us, had lost his 16 yr old sister to a tragic, senseless, auto accident and suddenly, it had rippled down to affect so many of us. I am so proud of all my kids, at that moment Julie,and friends headed our of town to support "R" who needed to be surrounded by them. We ventured out of town on Wed. to pay our respects and be there for "R" at the viewing and the following day for the service. As a parent, it was probably the most difficult few days I have yet to experience. The range of emotions are intense. As I sit here now, it is still difficult to put the sequence of events into any kind of order to make any sense. We were surronded by so much sadness, but also surrounded by so much support and love. Music seems to be what I turn to, to give me some peace and a way to temporarily escape from reality. On Saturday night we attended a very spirital and inspiriatioal concert with a performance from Debbie Friedman, it was wonderful medicine for what was ailing us. I bought her greatest hits CD and began my journey of escape. Between that CD and the broadway soundtrack of "Jersey Boys" I am set for a while. Earlier in the Day on Sat. I had the pleasure of attending the kick-off of the MCC www.momobile.org Mothers day campaign Tea @ The Phila Flower Show. Had the wonderful opportunity to meet and hob knob with Carolyn Smith(the honorary co-chair, who is the mother of Phila's own "WILL Smith" It was an inspiritional afternoon.. Sunday brought the opportunity to attend the memorial for our good friend Tom who passed away last week after a long fought battle of illness. It brought back so many memories to see so many old friends and to reminess the days when the kids were young and all the trials and tribulations that came with that time in our lives. I sure hope that the days and months ahead bring an abundance off happy occasions, I could really use that right now. I am officially in wedding mode as of this morning. I have my schedule, my time line and I am totally in control with no panic in site. We are SO looking forward to B & K wedding weekend in NAPA and a time for new beginnings and new& old friends and MUSIC, MUSIC, MUSIC!!

Saturday, March 04, 2006

Peaks and Valleys

Remembering My Own Words!!

This was a weak of peaks and valleys, I have always told Brad and Julie that you have to have some valleys to enjoy the peaks. This was never so true as this week has shown me. On Tuesday around 1:00 PM, Richard J. Wunder III was born, the son of Lori & Rick Wunder, very dear friends, the same day, good friends lost a parent, Louis Berman, only 12 weeks before his grandson, Jacob's, Bar Mitzvah. On Thurs, we went to visit a friend who was in the same hospital as "Little Ricky" so Elliot and I ventured out to see our gravely ill friend Tom, to say goodbye and to have some closure, then in another building of the same hospital to see the new baby. I knew that this was the last time we would see Tom, so I gently kissed him on the forehead and wished for him to rest in peace and to end the suffering. We switched gears from death to life and welcomed Ricky into the world. We shed some sad and some happy tears at the same time. Shortly after the sun rose on Thursday morning, Tom lost his fought hard battle and passed away. We were grateful that we were able to have visited him in his greatest hour of need. A sure Valley in our lives. The today, Sunday, totally switching gears, we had a day full of PEAKS, Julie was honored by the Drexel U Panhellenic Council as one of 5 recipients of an Alumni Leadership award. We lunched with a wonderful group of people aboard the "Spirit of Philadelphia" were entertained and danced and danced. It was a most enjoyable afternoon. We were filled with pride and gratitude as Julie was presented with her award. A definite Nikon coolpix moment!! A huge PEAK!! I am grateful for the strength to be able to handle the Valleys as well as the Peaks!
It's a good thing!!