Thanks 2007

2007 was a great year. It was good to us and for that I am thankful. Our biggest highlight of the year was that we FINALLY made the trip to Disney World. And it was so worth the wait!!

As I look to 2008 I am filled with anxiety (cause that's just how I am), anticipation, hopefulness and for the first time in a long time, a little clarity. I have a feeling that 2008 is going to be life changing, but in a good way. I've never been one to make up "resolutions" but I do have some goals for this coming year. BIG goals. I think my life is going to be changing in many areas... work, home, family, self. The only constants will be that I will still have my loving family, supportive friends and the same never changing God that will be there every step of the way.

What more could you ask for at the start of a new year?!

~Wishing you all (all 2 of you who read this) a very Happy 2008!~

My Baby Is 11

What Do You Do When You Have 12 Days Off?

You catch up on movies of course... and you do a review of them on your blog.

* Waitress... Not good. Very slow. Horrible ending. Made me want pie through the whole thing though.

* Licensed To Wed... Not much better. I think we spent more time talking than really watching the movie.

* Meet The Robinsons... T2 took this one next door and watch it with his friend "M". They thought it was good. However, they're 10 (although one is almost 11!!!!!)

* Chuck and Larry... Probably the best one so far, as far as being funny.

* Deck The Halls... Cute, but no need to see it again.

Tomorrow we're going to see National Treasure: Book of Secrets... I can almost guarantee this will be the best movie we've seen during my 12 days off. I'm excited! Although I don't know if it's more about the movie or the real movie theater popcorn with lots of butter that is making me so giddy.

These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

My 3 top gifts... my new Coach purse from my kids (aka my parents), Ugg boots from Mr. R and Ralph Lauren Romance perfume (also from Mr. R). I also got a home theater system from Mr. R and I know I'll love that too once it's all hooked up. But I think my most favorite thing of all was when my kids, my parents and I all sat down together last night and watched a movie. I'd trade all the other "stuff" just to be able to keep all the important people in my life! They are truly the greatest gifts of all!

Update on the "Naughty List"

Children's "father" - still on.

Proactiv - still on.

Daycare Mom - came over today and paid some of the money, so we can take her off. At least she's trying. :)

American Eagle - this is a hard one. I got the items this morning, so I guess they should be off the list, however... I'm wondering if I wouldn't have taken the time to call, if I would have gotten my son's stuff? I think they should stay on the list just because of the fact that I placed my order last Monday, but maybe we can move them a little further down.

Here's To A Merry Christmas Eve!!

Ba Humbug Christmas Losers

It's so nice when just 3 days before Christmas...

- Your children's "father" doesn't pay his child support for the week. I'm sure he "needed" that money for beer, weed and a cheap gift his girlfriend. (OH, and let's hope, some condoms!!)

What else is nice?...

- A daycare parent (who is over a month behind) who "said" she'd have you paid up by Friday but ended up "not needing" daycare on Friday and you still have yet to hear from her.


... I'm pretty sure you're both on Santa's naughty list now.

===========================================

**Edit Naughty List**

Two more people to add to the "naughty list"...

- American Eagle... I bought T1 two items online, ON MONDAY, and they just shipped out today!! When I went in to track my items last night, it wouldn't work. So I called. The very snotty customer service girl said that I wouldn't get it by Christmas since I ordered on Monday. Umm, well, with 3-10 day shipping, I was willing to take my chances. I asked her how she KNEW I wasn't going to get my items and she wouldn't answer. I didn't really think that 6 shipping days would be such a problem.

Today I called back to try and get more information... today I was told that it just shipped out today. WHAT!?! Umm, I placed this order on MONDAY, today is SATURDAY... what's the problem. But then... the nicer customer service girl said it was shipped FedEx and I should have it by Monday.

So, either the girl from last night knew how ticked I was, or figured out that they OOOPS! hadn't placed the order I had placed on Monday and sent it out with "2 day" shipping, or American Eagle just doesn't care about Christmas wishes coming true. I haven't figured it out, but I'm not holding my breath that it will make it by Christmas, which means that tonight and tomorrow I have to go back out and try to find two more items to take these items' place.

- Proactiv... who LIED and said I would only be charge $19.95 per month. I checked my online checking account today and noticed a charge for $45.85. Nice. I called, they said they were giving me the bi-monthly ordering with "bigger bottles" and blah blah blah... I said "Please UNenroll me!" Why do companies do that? If I wanted that, I would have ordered that. T1 isn't using it anyway, so now I'll have a two month supply of Proactiv with "bigger bottles"!! Anyone need any Proactiv?

9 Days and Counting

Christmas is NOT this close. I'm not ready. But then again, this happens every year and like everything else in my life, I do better at the last minute. I don't know what it is, but I get this "rush" of having to get it done asap and then it's almost like a challenge. I'm weird, but I do better that way. I'm not good at waiting, so if I had everything done and wrapped, Christmas Eve would be boring cause I'd just be waiting for Christmas.

A few weeks ago I wasn't sure how good of a Christmas my kids would have and although I know it's not about the gifts, my kids are older now and older means more expensive. They grow in age, the toys grow in price. That's just the way it is. But like always, God takes care of everything and we're all set to have a great Christmas and I know my kids will be happy. That's my gift to myself.

I just printed off my Christmas letter and all that's left to do is stuff the envelopes and send them out. I wasn't sure I wanted to do Christmas cards this year, but I'm glad I did. I'm also happy we went ahead and got the picture cards. I think we'll do that again next year.

My mom is working more hours for me and with less kids this week, I just figured out that tomorrow I don't have to work until 3pm! And I close at 5, so tomorrow will be a very easy day. I'm actually looking forward to a Monday for once.

I Woke Up To This

...WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM THIS MORNING TO 1 PM EST SUNDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 AM THIS MORNING TO 1 PM EST SUNDAY. SNOW WILL BEGIN THIS MORNING. THIS AFTERNOON...SNOW WILL MIX WITH FREEZING RAIN AND SLEET INTO THIS EVENING. OVERNIGHT THE PRECIPITATION WILL AGAIN CHANGE OVER TO ALL SNOW AND CONTINUE INTO SUNDAY MORNING. ICE ACCUMULATION WILL BE LESS THAN ONE QUARTER OF AN INCH THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. TOTAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 TO LOCALLY 9 INCHES ARE EXPECTED BY SUNDAY MORNING. WIND WILL ALSO BE A CONCERN. THIS AFTERNOON WINDS WILL GUST FROM THE NORTHEAST UP TO 25 MPH. ON SUNDAY...WIND WILL INCREASE TO SUSTAINED 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH. THE WIND WILL BE FROM THE NORTH WHICH WILL IMPACT ALL EAST AND WEST ORIENTED ROADWAYS. SIGNIFICANT BLOWING AND DRIFTING SNOW IS EXPECTED BY SUNDAY MORNING. THIS WILL MAKE TRAVEL VERY HAZARDOUS OR IMPOSSIBLE. THERE IS STILL SOME UNCERTAINTY WITH REGARD TO SNOWFALL AMOUNTS. CHECK BACK FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The last I heard they were saying some areas could see up to 14 inches. I'm glad I got our Christmas pictures/cards picked up last night. I'm hoping I can make it to the post office to get stamps. I guess now I have no excuse not to get the envelopes addressed... since I won't have much else to do but sit and look at the snow falling. UGH! There's only two days I care for snow... Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.

Cute Homeschooling Family

www.doublesharpevideo.com/HomeSchool2/Homeschool2.html

Winter Skin Warnings

Click Here To Find Out Why You Should Throw Your Chemical Filled Lotions Away

As most of you know, I *heart* Dr. Mercola... this is a great article to read and he's wonderful to listen to. I'm getting ready to throw out most of my lotions and buy natural body butters. I just got a great organic lip balm at Walmart. It's called Alba and has 82% Certified Organic Ingredients. It's also passion fruit nectar flavor... yum! Walmart also has a Vitamin E stick for only 96 cents. I have one and I use it daily on rough patches and it really does the trick. You can find these sticks by the Vitamin E.

I'm Still Here...

I can't believe it's been so long since I've posted. I thought I'd post every day in December (you know just to PROVE that I could do it) but it's just too busy around here and just keeping it together on a daily basis is all I need to prove to myself right now.

I can't believe how close we are to Christmas. I just can't get into the Christmas spirit. We even had snow last week and that didn't work either. I think it's time to make some hot chocolate and go look at some Christmas lights. I don't even have all my decorations up yet and we only have two weeks left.

Today is my ShihTzu, Chloe's birthday. She is 4. Yes, we had a little party. Yes, my dogs got hamburgers and french fries. And yes, they both got to open up presents. They're too spoiled. I found new dog beds for them... they were suppose to be for Christmas but after I got them home I couldn't wait for them to have them so I caved and gave them to them already. It's been hard to keep stuff from my kids too. I just want to give them everything right now! I love giving gifts to people.

I have so much I want to write, but I don't know how to say it all... I'm not good with putting personal info out there for the whole world to see, but let's just say that I'm working on something big. Something I've talked about on here before and something that some people would say is wrong. I've decided that I'll let God make those kinds of decisions for me and if others don't like it, they can talk to Him about it. It's my life. I need to do what makes me and my boys happy. I need to take opportunities while they're available. I need to move on and start living life again. I've been in neutral for too long. I think 2008 is going to be a great year!

I'd Do It Differently

You always hear parents of older children or grown children say if they knew then what they know now... they would have done things differently.

Some people say they wouldn't have disciplined their children as much, or would have disciplined them more. Some say they would have let their children do more things away from home, or should have done things more as a family. Other say they shouldn't have made such a big deal about their son wanting to grow his hair long, or their daughter wanting to wear the clothes SHE wanted to wear.

But what about moms like me who are saying "I would have done things differently IF I would have been better informed!" What about moms like me, who were not aware of all the damage vaccines could do to their children, or rather their newborns. This is one of those "I'd do things differently" things that is not fair, because I was not informed and now my child may be living with an chronic illness that could have been prevented.

The more I read about vaccines and the problems they're causing, the more I become concerned and honestly, MAD. I understand that my children are 13 and 10 and that this wasn't much of a concern to parents (or if it was, it wasn't talked about very much) back then, but I wonder what I would have decided if it would have been.

I wonder if T2 would have allergies and asthma if he wouldn't have gotten those shots in the hospital when he was only hours old. And what about all the shots he got before his little growing body turned 2? Is he having to suffer because I was not informed? Maybe there wasn't enough research? I don't know, I'd like to use that as an excuse, but we're talking 10 years ago, not 50.

How do I feel about vaccines? I'm not against them. I believe in them. But I believe that I should have the choice as to when I want my child to get them. If I would have known better, I would have waited. I would have delayed them.

In the past, when I have seen things online, or in the news about vaccines, I never really gave it much thought because my kids were older, they've already had them and they seem fine. But then I read this and this the other day.

There was special concern about mercury in childhood vaccines because, as of 1991, the CDC and American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) had recommended that all newborn babies receive their first hepatitis B vaccine at 12 hours of age and again at one month of age. Hepatitis B vaccine, along with DPT, DTaP and Hib vaccines given at two months, four months and six months of age all contained mercury.

Wow, that's a lot of junk being shot into an infant who is only hours, days and months old! And how nice that both my children were born in the 90's. I have to wonder if my babies were given shots in the hospital. I am going to have to look that up, because I don't really remember, but I would say that they were. I would also venture to say that I was never asked about it, they were just taken away and it was done.

I know I'm late on this... there's been TONS of info flying around blogland for years. I guess it just hit me the other day when I was once again wondering to myself why my poor son has to endure something like asthma.

We haven't given up yet. We heard about a great chiropractor that just moved his practice nearby and hopefully we can get an appointment on Monday. He's very much into all natural foods, alternative health care choices and healing the body from within. He suppose to be able to help with asthma. Let's pray.

I hope someday I get to bring another child or two into the world... if so, you can bet I WILL do it differently.

I Just Couldn't Hang...

See, it's been 5 days... I knew I couldn't do the "nablopomo" thing. :)

So what's been happening in Mama T's life... not much. Just busy with work, the kids' schooling, helping my dad find a job, getting ready for Thanksgiving, Christmas shopping!!! All that fun stuff.

I miss my vacation! I am slowly becoming stressed out again. It's the job! I swear... and I'm not even going to go there because I'm just trying to be thankful I even have a job right now!

Tonight we are having a birthday party for my puppy Andy. He is 7 years old today. He LOVES pizza. He's a pizza freak. If you bring it into the house, he goes crazy. So, every year on his b-day we order pizza for dinner and he gets a piece. And of course he'll have some presents to open too. Cause he loves to take his paws and open presents. It's cute, it's adorable, and yes, I do know I need mental help.

I feel BLAH today. Nothing is making me happy and I feel depressed and claustrophobic in this house. Too many people. The weather is horrible, very chilly, about 38 degrees. Yesterday it was beautiful and warm. I think we need to move to Florida. This back and forth of nice and nasty makes me crazy.

Gotta watch CSI tonight... Sara is leaving. Sad.

Happy Birthday Andy!

Happy Loser Here

Well, at least I made it 8 days in a row. Sorry people, I tried, but I have this thing called a life. It involves having kids and working and kids and homeschooling and kids. Soooo, I'm out... I missed a day.

Last night the kids and I rented "Deck the Halls" (good movie btw) and we watched it together, as a family. And after the movie, I fell asleep. I guess I could have sat at the computer blogging while the movie was on, but instead I chose to cuddle under the blankets on the couch with my kids.

So... I did not blog yesterday which means I am not worthy of NaBloPoMo. Sure, when I got up early this morning I could have quickly made a post and changed the time, but really, if I'm going to hell for lyin', it's gonna be for something MUCH bigger than this!!!

I read some people's blogs and I wonder if their kids get an attention at all... they're so worried about winning first place in frivolous contests and making plans to speak at Blogher, that I wonder if reality will ever set in.

I don't have anything against Blogher or the contests. I guess for me, blogging is such a small part of my life that those things seem trivial. I don't ever want to have to tell my kids I was sorry for not watching that movie with them when they were young, because "mommy was trying to get a cheap award to put on her blog".

I'm going back to blogging for FUN. The way it should be. Good luck to everyone else though!

Hey

Ok. This is hard! I want off the ride! This is too much pressure to blog every day. I don't know what to talk about and it's almost midnight... yikes.

I'm feeling better and I feel I must apologize for the "allergy" post because I think maybe someone reads this. It's all good if you do. I wasn't mad at you or anything. Just more concerned about your daughter!! No biggie!

I am SO glad tomorrow is Friday!! I do not have anything planned but hopefully something will come up because I don't want to sit at home all weekend!

Oh, my shihtzu has decided she's too good for dog food, so I am now making her scrambled eggs each night. I have to mix it with her dog food for her to eat it.

That is seriously all I have for today.

This Is Great!

Brit Loses To The Eagles - #1 on the billboard. Yippee!

I'm so happy! Not only because I can't stand Britney Spears, but because I just bought the Eagle's CD last week. Shhh, it's a Christmas gift for my dad.

NaBloPoMo Tagged - 6 Things

Six things you don't know about me:

1. I say I'm all "crunchy" but we eat McDonald's at least twice a week. (Hey, the McRib is back!!)
2. I want another baby, but I don't ever want to be pregnant again.
3. My pant size is 6, my shoe size is 5 and my ring size is 4. My attention span is probably 3.
4. I spend way too much time thinking about "what ifs".
5. I've only been in one physical fight in my life and that was in 3rd grade. The girl stole my Bonne Bell lip gloss and wouldn't give it back. I think it was cotton candy flavored.
6. I'm allergic to the smell of grease.

Thanks Christy, you made today's post easy! :)

This Is Hard!

Only 5 days in and I want to go home. Posting every day is hard people! I don't have much. My life is not very exciting. So this is all I have...

Why in the world do the Patriots (who won) have to be babies? Oh my gosh, you won, get over it. Move on. Be happy. Go back to New England and cry to your mommies. Sorry that our Colts fans are TRUE fans. Sorry we had the home advantage. Why don't you just say Colts fans are big mouths instead of claiming we cheat.

You want to talk about cheating... go in your locker room, replay the game and watch!

Here It Is

*Colts lost. But played a great game. Nothing to be ashamed of.

*I'm sick. Daycare kid who only had "allergies" was coughing all over everyone Friday. Hmm, I must have "allergies" now too.

That's all I've got.

It's Not That I Don't Have Anything

I have lots to say... just no time to say it and not sure how to put it anyway. So many thoughts go rattling around when you know you have to post.

Anyway, I'm getting ready to head out of town in a few minutes. I'll be back tomorrow. Hopefully in time to watch the Colts beat New England. Go Colts!! It should be an on-the-edge-of-your-seat kind of game.

And... Hello, Indy? Could we ever possibly get a Sonic restaurant? If not, could you please stop showing the commercials? Thanks.

So, what brilliant things should I leave you to think about... Umm, well, how about Iran and what effect the next President could have on us not doing the right thing as far as all their nuclear plants go. Is Hillary willing to continue going to war to keep our country safe? What about Mr. Huckabee? Guiliani? Romney? I think this is an important issue.

Talk amongst yourselves.

So Much For Being Nice

It's rare that I get to show my nice/generous side when it comes to money and my job. After 7 years of providing child care in my home, I do not let things slide like I use to.

I got the "short end of the stick" quite a few times when I first started out. Then a couple of years went by and I realized... HEY! I'm a single mom, I've got two small children and whatever money I get screwed out of, essentially gets taken away from my kids. And it stopped and I became very aware of the fact that I was not taking care of these children for free and if you want child care, you have to pay for it.

Well... I have a single daycare mom who is having some financial issues right now. She is contracted to bring her daughter on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays and she has to pay for those days whether or not her child attends daycare. If she wants to add a Monday or Friday, she has to pay extra for that, even if her daughter doesn't attend daycare on any of the other days she's contracted for.

Well, her daughter did not attend daycare on any of her contracted days this week, but she needed daycare today. Normally, she would have had to pay for her 3 contracted days, plus more for bringing her on a noncontracted day.

When I was thinking about this last night, I decided that I would tell her to forget about paying for today and that I understood she was going through a hard time, so this week, I'd just give her the day for free. I was actually a little excited thinking about getting to play "Miss. Nice and Generous" for once. (Insert warm fuzzies here)

You what stinks? When people don't even give you the chance to be nice or generous. The daycare mom came in today and paid me for the week, minus what the charge would have been for today. Basically, I guess she just assumed she wouldn't have to pay it (or decided she wasn't going to pay it), and that really irritates me. And the thing is, she didn't even ask about it. She just assumed I'd take what she gave me when she knows that under normal circumstances, she would have owed extra for the day. She knows this because this is not the first week she's needed extra days.

Oh well, little does she know, I was feeling so good about feeling all nice and generous this week, that I was actually thinking about reducing her weekly rate and not making her pay for all three days unless she actually needed them.

Unfortunately, I think "Miss. Nice and Generous" may have left the building. And from what I hear, she doesn't make these kinds of visits often.

New Template and Halloween Pics

Thanks T1 for the great new template... I love it! And yes, son... we can count it as school work. :) Isn't it B. E. A. utiful?!?!

You know what ruins Halloween... teenagers. Seriously, if you're over 12 or can DRIVE yourself to trick or treat, you really should reconsider. Especially if you're not even going to take the time to dress up. How lame is that?! What's even more lame than not dressing up... telling whoever is passing out the candy WHICH candy you'd like exactly. Ummm, beggars can't be choosers... especially when they're too lazy to put on a mask.

Ok, I'll be nice now and in all fairness... there were some teenage girls who MAY have been dressed up as "street walkers" or perhaps "massage parlor associates"??? I don't know but a huge part of me thinks they may just dress this way every day of the year. Sad.

Anyway... here's some pics. Like my "little old man"... he's only 10. Notice his 13 year old bro is not in the pictures. Well, that would be because my son gave up trick or treating (on his own!) 2 years ago. His last year of going out was when he was 11. Enough said. He did carve a pumpkin though, cause you're never too old to do that!

Oh yeah... and if you'll take a look over to my sidebar, you'll notice I'm doing the NoBloPoMo thing. Which basically means you're stuck with me for the whole month. A brand new rant... every. single. day. Aren't you lucky.

Yesterday - Zoo Trip

I have been promising my boys a trip to the zoo all summer. Yesterday was going to be the nicest day all week (and what looks like, for days to come). I only had one daycare child and so I decided to ask his mom if we could journey out to the zoo. She thought it would be fun, so off we went.

It was a beautiful day... I think it almost reached 70 and wasn't windy at all. We got there a little after 10:00 and left around 2:00. It was a little more crowded than normal, but not bad. T2 got to pet a shark and my mom got to try her skills at what could be a new career for her. (grin)

Interesting

Mexico is now demanding some of the money that is going to help with the wildfires in California because the fires where buring down to the border and smoke came over into their cities, etc...

I see it as a long overdue sign.

Yippee, I Got The Day Off!

Here are some pics of our sky last night. The second one reminds me of the wild fires out in California. Prayers to everyone out there! I can't even begin to know what they're going through. But I have a question... Why aren't people doing more? When Katrina hit New Orleans everyone was all ready to jump up and help. I just don't see that with this and there's been way more people effect by this than the hurricane. Have you noticed this, or is it just me? Anyway, it's horrible and my heart goes out to everyone who's effected. Here's my pics:

I got the day off today. I didn't have any daycare kids coming. This is rare but so nice! I just got back from vacation so really I don't need a day off, but I'll take it. I learned so much on our vacation about how good it does your outlook on life just to be able to get away and relax. I totally needed it and felt so much better about things when I got home.

So what did I do on my day off? I took the kids shopping. They need fall/winter clothes and it's easier to do a few things at a time than all at once. We went to Old Navy and Kohl's. I also got a few things... a new purse, a pair of jeans, a belt and three shirts. Yay me!

The most important thing we did today was take my dad out for lunch. He's still having a hard time at his job so we stopped in and went to Bob Evan's. It's hilarious because EVERYONE knows him in there. We walked in and the lady at the register was like "Hi Harold! Who'd you bring with you today?". Then we heard the same thing when the hostess sat us and then again when the waitress came over and someone stopped him on our way back to our table. I said "Wow dad, you're a celebrity!" and my dad said "I've had every waitress in here!" to which I replied "WHAT a stud!!!" and then said "You know I'm gonna have to tell mom!" Anyway, it was nice to sit and talk to my dad. On our way back to drop him off, I said "Dad, don't worry about everyone at work! We know what a great guy you are, and we love you and that's all that matters!" He said knowing that, is the only way he can get through the day sometimes. It's so sad!! I just don't understand why these young managers want to get rid of people over 50? Don't they know that they are almost the only ones with any work ethic anymore? His manager is the oldest one in his store and she is 32, everyone else (besides my dad) is in their early 20's. But everyone else also... doesn't show up for work on time, takes off early, calls in at least one day a week, can't stick to their schedules, etc... why would you want that over someone who is reliable? I don't understand it.

Well, I'm off to bed. I missed Y&R today so I just got done watching it online. It's really good right now. Although I don't think I'll ever be able to park in a parking garage again.

Was I British In Another Life?

I have this horrible habit of typing "about" when I mean to type "around".

Example...

If I'm trying to type:
"I was running around the house trying to find my shoes."

It comes out:
"I was running about the house trying to find my shoes."

Odd.

A Couple O' Vents and Some Cute Fall Pics

First let me say that some people really crack me up. Or rather surprise me at the fact that they seem to think they're celebrities and can just do whatever they please. I have a daycare parent right now who really doesn't know just how close she is to being told she needs to find someone else! I mean, when you ask someone to do something for you (at their time and expense) and they do... and then you can't hold up to your end of the bargain and end up being 45 minutes late to get your child when the child wasn't even suppose to be in daycare that day in the first place, but you were nice and made a "deal" THINKING the other person would actually follow through for once in their life... you get a little irritated when for the 37th time, you get screwed!

You want to know what else is irritating... Walmart. I've had not 1, but 2 bad experiences there this week!! Over charged and crappy produce! Sorry Jer, the truth must be told. lol

Something else that irritates me... my bank! At my bank, the tellers like to talk. And when I say talk, I don't mean to the customers that sit there for hours waiting to be waited on... oh no, I mean they like to talk to EACH OTHER! Today was no exception. I think I waited in the drive thru for about 5 or 6 minutes before another teller who was actually helping a customer motioned to the other two tellers (who were obviously in deep gossipy conversation) that HELLO, there's someone in the drive thru and she's been there awhile now! So the girl comes over and says in a voice that tells me she's trying to get the "apology" out, "Hi, sorry". To which I don't respond, because why should I? Then, because I don't respond and I guess because they really do like to talk, she says "How are you?" Ugh! Can't you just take my deposit? Guess not. So I bark back "fine!" and that's it. I'm not going to be all fake nice like it wasn't ok that she's wasted my time for 27 minutes. So she takes the money. Well, the woman she was talking to was the bank manager and when she went back to her area, I knew she said something about me. So that lady, who is standing on the other side of the counter, where the customers stand... she takes the envelope and proceeds to walk it outside to my car and apologize. I'm just sitting there like "Seriously, you people are only making it worse!" So she hands me the money and "apologizes" and I really can't be all nice and giddy because I'm NOT! THEN.... THEN... she tells me that they were talking about a customer. Like that was suppose to make it ok because they were talking about a customer. Hmmm, I didn't see that customer there, so I would think that any smart person would stop talking about the customer that clearly wasn't there and perhaps go over the the customer that WAS there. Ridiculous! And the thing is, this is not the first time that this has happened. They do this all the time! If I had more energy and patience I'd switch banks on Monday. But I'm too lazy. All that changing of debit cards and ordering new checks is too much to think about. However, next time I'm left waiting for 67 minutes... I'm honking my horn! That should get their attention. OH, and they didn't even offer me a sucker! As if.

And yes, if your wondering, I do realize that I didn't have a Christlike attitude and I am sorry that I didn't. But in my defense, just giving a snotty "fine" back was truly progress for me!! I think there should be an exception for lousy customer service though. Can anyone find scripture to cover that?

Anyhoo, on to my cute fall pics - because we all need to smile and if you can't smile while looking at these, then we need to get you into Operation Smile and bump you up to the top of the list! Enjoy.

Vacation Pics Part 3 (the end)

And there's many more, but I've moved on and I'm sure you have too. The point is, we had a great time and I'm happy we got to go!

Vacation Pics Part 2

Vacation Pics Part 1

We had a great time in Florida! We went everywhere and did everything. I'm really too tired to explain it all... all I can say is I did fine on the plane and we're still alive. *grin* Here are some pics... enjoy! I'll post some each day this week and you can "read" all about our trip, in pictures.