Down for the Count

I'm down with the sickness.  

 

It hit me hard last night. I ache all over. Even my teeth hurt. The chills attacked me trying to cool my feverish head. It was a vicious cycle. The chills would shake my body vigorously trying to bring a slight cooling tingle to my head. Only to be over ruled by the incessant heat radiating from my face and ears. Up all night with no relief in sight, I was constantly turning my pillow to feel the cool underside for a brief moment before the heat took over the surface again. The barky cough didn't help either. Hopefully this will be short lived.

I'm working from home today to save energy in order to make the Christmas dinner for the in-laws later tonight. The Handyman may have to pull us through this one as my status definitely is questionable at this point.

Can You Guess What Store?

It's been awhile since I've been able to write. The excuses are unlimited, but the main reason is my job sucks the creativity out of me. Don't get me wrong, I love everything about my job. There's just only so much thinking someone can do during the day. At the end of the day, the last thing I want to do is write something else.

Today is a new day. I've been able to muster some energy from irritation, which is a big motivator for me as most of you know.

It all started with shopping online for Black Friday. My rational was to order online, ship to the local store (free shipping), and pick up avoiding any big crowds. Simple as 1, 2, 3. Right? Right. It was all good until I had to interact with customer service in the store last night.

 Step-by-step process to pick up merchandise:

1. Wait in line. 5 minutes.
2. Ask: "I would like to pick up my order that I ordered online."
3. Customer Service 1: "a;dldfj ja;sfj adjf;lajf saj;ff;"
4. I couldn't understand a word the CS1 said. 
5. CS1 moved to another counter. I followed. 5 minutes later.
6. I handed my phone over with the email receipt. 5 more minutes later
7. CS1 asked for my ID. At least that's what I thought the gesture meant. 5 additional minutes later.
8. The sound of keys clacking continues for another 2 minutes.
9. Then CS1 disappears. 2 minutes later she reappears.
10. CS1 comes back empty handed. She picks up her radio and speaks into it. Clearly my nerves are starting to tingle with irritation at this point. 
11. From all of this behavior, I gather I need to wait for them to bring my order from the back part of the store.
12. CS2 appears from somewhere magically behind the counter. 
13. Ask: "Should I bring my car around to the back to load?"
14. CS2 says, "No they will bring it up front, but you could pull your car up the front doors if you would like."
15. Continue to wait.
16. Another customer pulls in line behind me. I move out of the way. 
17. Customer asks:   "Can you check to see if this toy is in stock?"
18. Silence. CS1 is dumbstruck. Glassy stare.
19. Customer asks again: "Can you look up to see if this toy is in stock in this store?"
20. CS1: "Um, no, we can't, um we can't do that."
21. Silence from customer with a distorted face. I'm not sure what my face looked like, but I know my mouth dropped open.
22. CS2 asks:"Did you look in this isle?" He pointed in some non-directional space behind us.
23. Customer: "Yes, but there was none in there. I just want to know if you have them any where else."
24. CS2: "No we wouldn't have access to any of that."
25. Since I've been waiting so long, I couldn't allow for this to continue. 
26. Me suggesting to CS Duo: "Couldn't you look it up online?"
27. CS2: "Well that's not always accurate."
28. Me being pissed. I whip out my phone. Pull up the store website. I ask the customer, "What is the product you are looking for?" It was some foreign toy in the Monster High realm, but they spelled it for me and with two clicks later I had it pulled on my phone. Identified for the customer it was out of stock in the store, but was available in Franklin. "Would you like the phone number?"
29. Customer declined and quickly grabbed her daughter's hand.
30. As customer was walking away, I raised my voice and said, "Thank you for shopping at _________. Have a great day!"
31.  By this time I lost track of the amount of time I've been waiting so you can only imagine how overly dramatic my customer service hat was while helping this customer. 
32. I walk away from the customer service counter. Hovering around the front door area. Finally my merchandise is being carried by another young gentleman. I'm ready to grab and run, but he walks me back to the customer service counter. Ugh!
33. CS1 asks for my name again. I think. Clacking on the keyboard continues. 
34. Nope she needs my order number. I had her my phone again with the order on the email that was sent to me to tell me my order was ready. 
35. Clacking away. 
36. More dialogue I can't understand. 
37. Receipts are being printed. She wants me to sign the receipt, but walks away. Clearly she doesn't have a pen. 
38. I whip out my handy pen in my purse and sign.
39. Grab my receipt and merchandise and run for the door.

The sad part of this whole experience is that my order wasn't complete and I will have to go back and do this all over again.

Can you guess which big box retailer this was at?

My only hint is this:

Note: I was a sales/customer service rep for three and half years that financed my college education. I respect the hell out of the job. It is a hard job. I have a high tolerance for bad customer service because I've been there, but I stop the line when the customer is denied a simple request.

Lucky in Wine

When I actually made it home after a full day of work, a Target run (in desperate need of the household paper products), and soccer carpool (both ways), I was able to sit down. Since it was nonstop for me, I missed dinner with no leftovers. With no energy left, I poured myself a glass of wine and had a bowl of Lucky Charms (on sale at Target, I hadn't had them in years). It doesn't get any better than this. Though it did get better when I found an image of wine and a box of Lucky Charms. Who knew this meal was so common.

Dollar Mix-up

Text from the cleaning lady, "I think you left me the wrong check. It was made out to Land*********"

Me at work, "Oh Shit!"

My text, "I'll be there in 10 minutes."

Cleaning lady's text, "K"

Once I made it home in lightening speed, I was thrilled to see that the bills were still in the mailbox. I was able to switch out the cleaning lady's check for the actual house mortgage check. That was a close one. I'm sure the mortgage company wouldn't have been too thrilled to have received that dollar amount. Funny how things can get mixed-up.


I know you're probably laughing that I still write checks, but that's what I do and will continue to write checks for certain bills.  Apparently, there are days when I shouldn't be writing checks. Oh well, some day I will be delightfully bored and will have enough time not to mix up checks.

Wine Development

In years past, I've never enjoyed drinking wine do to always getting an instant headache and my face getting flushed even after one glass.

Granted, my experience in tasting different wines has been limited. Occasionally, I would experiment at a wedding or a work event where they provided some kind of house wine. My first actual wine tasting as an adult without parent supervision was when the Handyman and I were in Hawaii on our honeymoon (many moons ago). We participated in a wine tasting at one of the wineries on Maui. Very delightful experience and we bought a case of pineapple wine that was shipped back to our house.

Once the pineapple wine was gone, I was interested in finding wine that would be available locally. In my attempt to be open minded, I would try wine at different venues, but I was never able to attach to any wine that didn't give me a headache.

Not until the Handyman and I went to Spain did I discover wines that didn't give me a headache. European wines appeared to be a safe zone for me. My hope was reestablished. After returning from Spain, I was energized to find wines that agreed with me. Ironically, a trend surfaced with in-home wine tasting parties in my local area. Of course, I took advantage of these events to expand my reach to different wines that I might be able to enjoy. The cool thing about these parties is that they give you access to many European wines.

Now we could look at this as a catch 22 situation. Good wine cost more $$. Bad wine gives me headaches. Give or take. Though I've learned a lot, I am not a wine connoisseur by no means. I'm just a growing expert in what I like and what I don't like.  And it's been fun trying different wines. I will fully admit I like semi-sweet to sweet wines. Most of the cool wine drinkers like the dry wines. Dry is not for me so I'll never be able to hang with the cool kids, but that's never been a priority for me as you know.

The downside to all this is that I've become a wine snob because I won't just drink any kind of wine now. I prefer not to have headaches after one glass of wine and my wallet is lighter these days.

All in all, I've enjoyed the journey to identify good wines that I can drink. Happy exploring.

Immortal Powers

Occasionally as a family we slow down together and gather around the kitchen table to hang out.

On this particular day, the girls started playing the guessing game. Child #2 asked Child #3 what number she was thinking about. Then Child #1 sat down and asked to play. All three were taking turns trying to guess the number of what the other was thinking. In between the my usual household chores, I was enjoying their peaceful play. 

After a round, they all asked me to play. Of course, I couldn't pass up this challenge so I sat down for a turn. It was Child #1's turn and I had to guess her number. The parameters to select a number was 1 to 20.

Child #1 takes a second to think of her number and then says, "Okay, guess my number."


"13"

Child #1 says with a shocked look on her face, "that's right."

Child #3 says jumping in her seat, "It's my turn. It's my turn."

Taking a moment to think of her number, I wait patiently. "I've got my number. Go ahead."

"18"

Child #3's mouth drops open with disbelief.

With a sly smile, Child #2 says, "you won't be able to guess my number."

"9"

The look on Child #2's face shows me that I've guessed her number. All at once, they start to ask me how I do that.

I quietly stand up, shrug my shoulders, and say, "Mothers know everything."

Their disbelief makes me so happy they still believe I have super human powers. The day they all realize I am a mere mortal will be a sad day. Though I know and accept that day, I will relish in their innocence for as long as I can.

"13" is Child #1's favorite number and her birthday number.
"18" is Child #3's birthday number.
"9" is Child #2's favorite number and soccer jersey number.

Climbing the Scale

Apparently, the magic number to a slowing metabolism is 37. Happy Birthday to me. Now eat less, exercise more, just to maintain my standard weight. Balancing work, kids, housework, and myself gets more challenging everyday. Thank God, I am still able to run. I will run until I can't run no more.

It Happened

Holy Crap! I knew it would happen sometime, but I didn't think it would happen already.

After one year, a season of cross country, two seasons of soccer, and a season of track, Child #1 royally kicked my ass. Starting out on a 3.5 mile course, Child#1 ended a half mile ahead of me. At 10 years old, she has come a long way and still has a lot to grow. She is AWESOME. I am so proud of her.

Maybe I should have her run my next half marathon.

Question all Answers

Earlier in April, I had this amazing opportunity to go to San Francisco for work. During this opportunity, I was able to see Hillary Clinton speak. My boss, who wanted a picture of her, couldn't get a good photo so she asked me to try. I was able to get a shot just slightly better than hers. So I thought what the heck, I'll post it on Fakebook.

Time out: At this point, I want to mention my intention to posting on FB was not political. I was so impressed in how intelligent, how relaxed, and how awesome a speaker Hillary was that any political view point was thrown out the window. Her team told the moderator that no question was off limits. During her speech, she answered some really hard questions gracefully.

Back to my post, I wasn't surprised about the response I received on FB. Everyone is always entitled to their opinion, but if we could all step back for one second and take into consideration the media. There is always a skew factor when the media reports stories and facts on a day-to-day basis. Most people know this. Over the years being in marketing, I've learned to question everything. A lot of facts are subjective in the media, in business, and in education. As a Marketer, we lie and we lie well. Not always, but a lot.

Again this is not a political post, you would be surprised what my actual opinions are. My objective to this post is to point out that we should all take a step back think about all viewpoints before making a snap judgement. Take this as a request to teach your children to question the answers and not to accept everything you hear or see in the media as fact. You will be wiser for it and so will your children. The ability to look at multiple viewpoints and perceptions can be extremely powerful.

Awesome Book

I saw Sheryl Sandberg, author of Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead and COO of Facebook, speak at Dreamforce back in November 2013. She was an awesome speaker and I received her book for free at the conference. I just finished it and I recommend anyone and everyone to read it. Whether you're just starting your career, a stay-at-home (mom or dad), or a seasoned professional, you will find value in this book.

Lost the Lottery

Well, I didn't win the lottery permit to hike Mt. Whitney for this summer. I will have to try again next year. Plan B is to go to Colorado and practice on a couple of 14,000 footers there. It's probably better this way considering both my friends that agreed to hike with me have never hiked a mountain before.

Mt. Whitney is the highest peak in the lower 48 states. 

Elevation is at 14,505 feet.

Brush Quandary

When you can't find a brush anywhere in your house, you go out to the store and buy four more brushes.

When you have four brushes, you have to clean four brushes almost everyday.

When two brushes disappear, one brush eaten by the dog, you have one brush left.

Ugh!

When you can't find a single brush in the house again, you were smart to actually buy five brushes and secretly hide one in your room.

Windier than the Windy City

As I push forward against the strong gusts of wind during my run, the wind pushed back causing the snot to run uncontrollably out of my nose, my eyes to blur with tears, and my throat to cough. The liquid was flowing out of my body faster than I could control. Remind me why I live in Wisconsin again.

Delinquent at Nine and Ten

Our little, big town is preparing for a mayoral election with large signs posted all over the city of the candidates' names. The girls find it entertaining to read the name of one of the candidates every time we drive through town emphasizing on the first half of the candidate's name. 

With that in mind, we now fast forward to today's events. Child #3 was the social butterfly today. She was invited to two different birthdays outside of our city. I spent the afternoon taxiing her around while Child #1 and Child #2 stayed home with the Handyman.

Later in the afternoon, the Handyman had to run a few errands leaving Child #1 and #2 for a half hour. Upon his return, there were election signs in our yard for our neighbor who was running for the Alderman election race. Ironically as the Handyman noticed the sign the same neighbor drove by. Being the nice neighbor, the Handyman waved. The neighbor's reaction wasn't exactly reciprocated, no wave with a strange look for the Handyman. Puzzled, the Handyman shrugged his shoulders, but then he took a second glance at the election sign noticing the neighbor's name was crossed off in black Sharpie marker. The name that was rewritten with the same black Sharpie in large letters was VOTE FOR DICKMANN. This is the same name that is on all the mayoral election posters all over town.

Sneaky behavior, defacing signage, controversial opinions at the age of nine and ten, we are in so much trouble. These children are definitely the Handyman's children. I will take no credit for this behavior. Tonight I will need to research some boot camps to be ready for the teenage years that I'm not looking forward to.

Go ahead, let out the sympathy sigh now.

Heat Wave

With the temperatures rising to 30-40 degrees, the Midwest is having a heat wave and the snow is starting to recede. I was able to make my first outside run for the year. It was heavenly. Believe me it's been a really long winter here. I haven't ran outside for over 3 months. I think this might be a record. My relationship with the treadmill is rocky these days. We needed a break.

Once I was outside, the caged in feeling was placated. The dirt on the side of the road was perfect. Soft and not too muddy, almost pillowy-like. As you can image, the softness of the dirt makes the impact feel  like you're running on a cloud. I love it.

Afterward, I felt great. My lungs were a little sore, but manageable. The cooler air tends to cause me to hack up a lung after a run, but I view it as cleaning out the dust from the inside environments I'm forced to be in throughout the winter. Transitioning from cold to warm is a killer on the lungs.

We won't think about the next day because that's when the muscle soreness sets in. Of course none of this will deter me from jump starting my running routine outside every year. The temperature and ice can only delay me. I refuse to be caged in.

Live, love, and enjoy! Go for a run...or walk.

Serious Conversation

Child #2: "Mom, when I brush through my hair, the ends are really ratty."

Mom: "That's probably from the chlorine. I'll trim your hair after your swim lessons end this week. The chlorine kills your hair."

Child #2 "So we shouldn't swim then?"

Mom: "It's no big deal. I swam competitively for 8 years and my hair recovered."

Child #2: "Is that why your skin looks like that? Because of the chlorine."

Mom: "Are you saying I look old?"

Child #2: "No, just your skin."

Mom: "You mean I have wrinkles on my skin?"

Child #2: "Yeah. It's all wrinkly. You probably should use an iron."

This conversation was said in all seriousness until I couldn't hold it anymore and I busted out laughing. Child #2 followed with a chuckle or two. Maybe her thinking isn't too far off. We have an iron to iron our clothes and we have flat irons to iron our hair.

Mistaken Identity

Mornings aren't always my best time of day. It's hit or miss. This week I woke up late one day, but I was able to quickly put myself together in a blue top, black blazer, and grey slacks with my new Mary Jane shoes that I bought online a month ago. In my haste to get out the door, I didn't exactly check myself in the full length mirror. I was able to get to work on time and start my day.

On further inspection under the brightly lit fluorescent lighting in my office, I discovered my new shoes were purple instead of grey. For some reason, when I bought the shoes, I thought they were grey or maybe I was dreaming about grey shoes. I don't know what happened, but it was quite hilarious when I realized the shoes didn't exactly match my outfit. Oh well, next time I'll just switch out my blue top for a purple one. It's all good. I enjoy making silly mistakes. It keeps me grounded.

Have a great week!

Musical Notes

Apparently singing releases feel-good chemicals from the brain called endorphins. Who knew? So we can assume someone who is singing or humming a tune must feel happy inside, which makes sense since I enjoy singing along to the songs on the radio while I'm alone in the car.  It's relaxing and fun. It's a moment in time where I can put aside all worries or concerns of my day to enjoy a simple song.

Now is the first statement true when someone else sings?

Most of time it doesn't bother me if someone else sings (even out of tune), but when you wake up to three different children singing three different songs it's not exactly relaxing or fun. Especially if they are trying to compete who can be the louder singer.

Maybe it's just old age, but the louder the volume gets in my house the more I just want SILENCE!

On the flip side, maybe I'm doing something right in raising my children to be happy people. They are comfortable and confident enough to share their singing voices with the world. Not sure if the world will be as comfortable to receive their voices, but who cares as long as their happy. Right?

Wonderful Trip

I had a wonderful trip this morning. Metaphorically you may think I'm talking about a dream, but early in the morning I wasn't sleeping. Listing all the things I needed to do for the next day wasn't helping my situation either. Though I do enjoy relaxing in my bed on a cold winter night, I wasn't getting anything done. As I'm laying there I'm thinking if I get up now, I can leisurely go about switching the laundry out, make the brownies I promised Child #2 for her school birthday treat that I was too tired to do last night, and finish the bills instead of rushing through the morning trying to accomplish everything.

Of course, I decide to get out of bed and try to accomplish something. At 3:30 am, the house is dark and cozy. I find my way down to the basement without turning on any lights that would disturb the rest of the household. I successfully switch out the laundry and start a new load. Tracing my path back through the house still will no lights on, I make it to the hallway that leads to the bedrooms and begin my journey except something stops my foot from moving forward. I feel myself falling. It's still dark. I've lost all depth perception until I hit the floor. 

After realizing what just happen, I try to move. I tripped over the dumb baby gate that we use to keep the dog out of the bedrooms (she still eats everything in sight). The funny part is when I got up to go do the laundry, I hurdled it with no problem, but on the way back I completely forgot about it. Apparently, I wasn't as wide awake as I thought. To top it all off, I discovered the dog was in Child #2 and #3's bedroom sleeping soundly on Child #2's bed. They must have snuck her in last night after I fell asleep.

So now I have a busted baby gate along with a fresh new busted lip. I think I bit my lip when I hit the ground. Oh well, it's another story to add to my digital legacy I'm leaving for my children.

Have a great day!