Saturday, January 31, 2009

The Superbowl commercial you might not see...




Every vote counts

So, today is my dear friend Devin's birthday. She's the big 3-0. (See, I'm the even bigger 3-4, so 3-0 doesn't even sound bad anymore) But, I digress...

Anyway, Devin's husband Shane has "challenged" her to see who can get the most comments on a blog post. It seems when she posted about him building his mom a corner cabinet, there were 17 comments left about what a great guy he is, what a great job he did, yada yada yada...apparently he was quite pleased about that, and I imagine there has been a little bit of teasing going on...(don't feel bad Dev - I think my posts that receive the most comments are generally about something Ande did, so I feel your pain...LOL)

So, for those of you who read Devin's blog (and even if you don't - go check it out), go leave a comment for her, wishing her a Happy Birthday. See, she'd already have Shane's record beat, except for the fact that Shane put in some rule about only one vote per person. And don't even think I wasn't tempted to leave several "anonymous" comments - I was! But I didn't. I may be a LOT of things, but a cheater I am not) So you need to help Dev win the contest. Why? Because it's her birthday, that's why! (Well, that, and GIRLS RULE)

And Shane - if anyone does leave an anonymous comment, I promise it wasn't me!!

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Yesterday (all my troubles seemed so far away....)

(Sorry, that Beatles song popped into my head when I typed the word "Yesterday")

Well, I never did get my chocolate cake (*sigh*) yesterday. But I DID:

Run several errands. This included getting the license plate & tags and buying a new carseat for my "new" van. Ande's mom and dad have very generously given us their old van. It's a year newer and has about 80,000 FEWER miles than my van. I haven't quite figured out the seating arrangements yet, because it's set up a bit different than the van we already have, but I had to buy a carseat because this one only has one built-in carseat, instead of the two our other van has. And I'm praising God for knowing just how much extra we'd need on Ande's paycheck last week to provide for both the license fees AND the new carseat. How awesome is that?

Puckey REALLY likes her new seat. The Jib likes it, too...which means we will be buying another one next week. Otherwise there may be bloodshed, because I can see them totally fighting over who gets to sit in it. This was Puckey approximately 2 minutes after she woke up this morning. Now she's actually buckled into the seat. LOL



Work on my Bible Study. Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed - it's really, REALLY good! A friend from my old church (who I did another bible study with last fall) invited me to it. This will be the third week, and I am loving it. We're studying David, and how God CHOSE David. Do you realize that God CHOSE you, too? Even for the most mundane tasks in your life, God CHOSE you - HAND-PICKED you for whatever it is you are doing. Unfortunately, we sometimes (okay for me that would be OFTEN) get wrapped up in the "what" we're doing, instead of the "who" we're doing it for. Like our bosses. Or our spouses. Or our children. Think about it.

Do several loads of laundry (from start to finish - you know, folded AND put away). Well, I sort of cheated on the putting away part - Bug's clothes got put on her bed. But they aren't sitting in a pile in the living room. So it's a start.

Helped Ande and his dad get my "new" van out of his parent's backyard. That was fairly entertaining. Not quite as funny as the time MY van got stuck back there, and I was helping push it out when the tire suddenly caught hold of some mud and I was instantly covered head-to-toe in it. Even though I hate getting dirty, I totally cracked up when that happened.

Got to go to dinner with my hubby. Mmm...Famous Dave's Texas beef brisket with Devil's Spit BBQ sauce on it...YUMMY. The Jib made a lady's night last night while we were there. She thought the lady was a princess. It was so cute.

Got home, put the girls to bed, and finally, after MONTHS of waiting, we watched "Fireproof".

Devin specifically asked for a review that didn't give anything away. So I'll do my best.

IT WAS AWESOME!!!! IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN IT, GO
DIRECTLY TO THE STORE TO BUY IT, OR AT LEAST RENT IT FROM THE VIDEO STORE. SERIOUSLY. LIKE RIGHT NOW. YES, SHUT OFF YOUR COMPUTER AND GO.

I really, REALLY liked this movie. And, even though Ande and I have a pretty good marriage and rarely even disagree about stuff, much less have troubles that could potentially end our marriage, I know we both got something out of it. You will get some laughs, your heart will race, and you'll shed some tears. It's a good one.

I'm a little disappointed, because there's a fun bit of trivia that I discovered last night but I can't share it because it relates to something that happens in the movie, and I am under strict instructions to not give anything away...so you'll just have to buy (or rent) the movie and watch the special features (after you've watched the movie, of course).

On a side note - Ande and I were able to gift a copy of the movie, as well as a copy of "The Love Dare" (the book inspired by the movie) to a woman who works within his company. Apparently she is recently married (October) and is having a hard time. She's also a few months pregnant. If my wonderful friends out there would pray for Sandra and her husband (I don't know his name, but God does), that would be awesome. Specifically pray that Sandra and her husband could sit down together and watch this movie, and that they would be inspired to try to work out whatever issues they are having.






Tuesday, January 27, 2009

I just remembered

why I try to avoid shopping with two toddlers in tow. Let's just say there was a little "divide and conquer" action going on.

I need chocolate cake (see post below) and a nap, STAT.

PS - a 63 page owner's manual for a carseat? Seriously?

PPS - I get to watch "Fireproof" (finally) with Ande tonight. YEAH!!!

Tuesday Tip O' the Day

Many Some A few A couple of you might be wondering where my "old school" tips have been. To be honest, I misplaced my book of Tips & Tricks and have no idea where it's at. *sigh*

Anyway, I heard today is "National Chocolate Cake Day" - so your tip for today is:

GET OUT AND CELEBRATE!!!


Have a sweet, delicious, and decadent day. (And no, I did not bake that cake. It just looks good, though, doesn't it?)



Monday, January 26, 2009

ARGH!!!!

NOTE TO EMPLOYERS:

When you are hiring people, make sure they are well-suited to the job you are hiring them to perform.

For instance, when hiring someone to work at a customer service desk, make sure they are not rude, and that they LISTEN when a customer explains a simple problem to them. I really should not have to explain THREE times that the price on the box was NOT what I was charged, and I only want to get back the difference.

When you hire someone to take orders at a fast-food restaurant, don't hire the guy who randomly tells the customers about his personal life. I did NOT need to know that his mom called him once at 3:00am to "get him back" for asking for her ID when she used a credit card at your restaurant. Nor do I need to know that she kicked him out because he got in a big fight with his step-dad. While I can sympathize with his plight, I really just want to place my order and get my food.

When you have a LINE of people standing at the register, perhaps it would be a good idea to NOT have employees who will just walk away because they are "done for the day", and leave you standing there for several minutes while the person who is "done" stands near the break room and watches as the line gets longer while no one comes to help the customers.

As a side-note: When your employees are serving your customers, it might be a good idea that they stop talking to each other, and focus on the customer standing in front of them. I don't really care about what movie they want to go see after work, or how often she washes her hair (especially when there is talk of scalp conditions involved). Really, these conversations can be saved for times when you don't have a customer standing in front of you.

I mean, seriously. These things have ALL happened to me in the last couple of days. What ever happened to "The customer is always right" and good old customer service? I KNOW that not everyone is suited to every kind of job. I'm just guessing that in the economy we have right now, there are probably lots of people out there who are willing and able to do a GOOD JOB in the customer service industries. Let's start hiring some of THOSE people, okay?

I'm just sayin'