The Carousel Theory

Despite of all that's going on around me, I'm in rare form. I'm feeling unbelievably thankful for what I have. I am counting my blessings. Especially the health of my own family, and the opportunity to be a stay-at-home-mom.

I think when you see how quickly life can shift, you realize that it could be you smack dab in the center of it all. It's like watching a carousel from behind the barrier. From that vantage point, you can avoid dizziness. There are many focal points one could choose, perhaps not even watching the carousel at all- lost in its' whimsical organ melodies.

But place yourself on the ride and your focal points change. If you try to watch what's going on around you, objects and people blaze by in a blur of uncertainty. Constantly changing and rearranging. The music becomes background noise. The way to avoid dizziness when you are on the ride is to focus on something moving with you. Like the loved one holding you up on the horse. It's those things surrounding you and moving with you that ultimately help you enjoy the ride. It's security with golden lights, magical creatures, and a tummy full of cotton candy. Enjoyed best when the people that you love most are willing to go along for the ride, even if it takes you in circles!

Snaps!

I need to pull out of this mood I'm in, so it's time to give snaps where snaps are due. I want to show how thankful I am for the little things lately.

SNAPS for Taste of Heaven sugar cookies in frosted heart shapes!

SNAPS for Fred Meyer for accepting a competitor coupon for $20 gift card w/ prescription! I'd much rather have a Fred Meyer gift card than Rite-Aid anyway. : P

SNAPS for the Seattle Seahawks going to the Super Bowl Sunday, and the chance to host a party!

SNAPS for finishing up my Valentine shopping for the hubby already!

SNAPS for online instant-win games. My bigger wins include a $50 Disney gift card, $100 to giftcertificates.com, and an iPod Shuffle!

SNAPS for my Dad and Grandparents, who have been extra supportive of me lately.

SNAPS for steak. Juicy, A-1 smothered steak.

In the Past Week

I've watched one man's declining health take away his will to live, and one woman's declining health take away her life, though she tried with every part of her being to fight it.

He wants to give up. He is not listening to medical advice, nor his own family. He can't afford the course of actions suggested, but all would be paid for. He has the chance to recover and doesn't even want to try.

She was so brave when she was diagnosed just a couple months ago. Who knew the cancer would be so aggressive, so unforgiving? She fought a daily battle, her family struggling to cope with watching her fade away before their very eyes- nothing they could do.

Life is just not fair.

We have a #3 folks!

I told you it would come... My Dad just called. My Uncle went in for emergency surgery, for throat cancer! Dad said my Uncle didn't want to tell any of us because he didn't want us to worry. He'd gone to the Doctor this morning because he was having difficulty breathing, and the Doctor shut down her office right then and there to take him into emergency surgery. My Uncle is not the sharpest tool in the shed. Regular Doctor's appointments would have found this sooner before he had difficulty breathing. But what he's done (or not done) consequently does not matter at this point. He's in the emergency room as I type this. I'm praying that they can remove the cancer without doing more damage than has already been done at this point. I hate cancer. If you pray, could you say a quick one for Stan?

Online Deal or Steal?

As a bargain hunter, I feel compelled to share my thoughts on an article by MSN money, When that Online Deal becomes a Steal. I am one person...one shopper. But there are millions of people out there who make purchases on the internet every single day. It's time for online businesses to step it up a notch. Match what you are doing in your Brick & Mortar (B&M) stores. In fact, use the internet to make it better.

As a consumer, I want businesses to know that I feel that standing behind the listed price, whether online or at a B&M store is a sign of good customer service. If you think there is any doubt whatsoever that you will not be able to follow through with an offer, don't even list it. If there are restrictions on your coupon, they better be clearly marked or stated. Frequent technical glitches? Time for a new program/programmer. Maybe proof-readers. Another thing that would greatly reduce people trying to take advantage of special offers is real time inventory. If I buy something off of your site, reduce your inventory by 1. This way when folks come to take advantage of a popular item, when it's sold out, consumers know right away and no one will have to get the dreaded "cancelled order." If you are frustrated with people using multiple e-mail addresses to take advantage of offers, link each e-mail address to one and only one household address. Instead of being upset with the consumer, check your own systems first. Correct the glitches on your end and learn from mistakes. If the deal is out there, people will find and use it, and more importantly, SHARE IT.

Some companies that should take a lesson from this.

MyPublisher: You offered rewards for referral. We referred people. You took away the rewards offered after we'd already done what you asked of us. You LOST BUSINESS over it. You should have stood by what you offered.

ModernMom: Offered a selection of sponsor gifts upon paying for Club membership, clearly stating on the page the value of the gifts. Then strangely enough, when members didn't receive the promised gifts, they wanted to cancel membership. You should have been smart enough to refund those unhappy customers right away instead of promising to ship the gifts out knowing damn well that you didn't have the inventory to back them up. You LOST MEMBERS over it.

Sears: Offered a deal online for Mickey Mouse TVs and didn't follow through. Cancelled some orders while some people were allowed to pick up the deal. INCONSISTENT.

The following is my own personal list of DON'T GO TO companies, clearly lacking in the customer service department. I can think of numerous other occasions where prices clearly showing online and even after order confirmation were later cancelled. I've also had bad experiences with many of these companies just having my e-mails returned. Spiegel, Avon, Breck's, Brylane Home, HSN, VistaPrint.

I will give kudos to the following companies, and they come with my highest recommendations. They stood by their offers and will have my repeat business. DO SHOP here and you will be pleased with the customer service. Bluefly, No Nonsense, Shutterfly, Dale & Thomas, JCPenney, One Step Ahead.

Please feel free to share your customer service stories here, or devote a blog to it. I want to hear the good, the bad and the ugly. We as consumers make more of an impact when we come together.

Bring on #3

Bad things always happen in 3's right? I don't know how long I've believed in this little saying but it happens. 3 drastic, painful, inconvenient things always come in a clusterfuck. #1 My Grandfather went to the emergency room last night for blood clots (there's more to this but I don't feel like sharing details at this time.) #2 Past Due utility bill in the amount of $447.15 arrives in my mailbox today. If I can't come up with $447.15 in 10 days our utilities will be shut off. I don't even know how we went past due. With #2- money troubles- always comes marriage troubles. It's inevitable. So what's life going to shit on me for #3? I seriously have come to expect good and bad things in threes. I'll need three good things immediately to recover from these! And if you would, please pray for my Grandpa. His name is Bob. Thank you!

Never Frickin' Fails

~ It's ALWAYS windy on garbage day.

~ When I need something that's in the mail, it comes the day AFTER I needed it most.

~ Sylvan Learning Center commercials make me well up with tears every time.

~ The phone will ring minutes after I lay down to take a nap, just as I'm about to enter Dreamland.

~ I run out of Diet Coke and don't notice until I sit down with a big 'ol salty bag of microwave popcorn.

~ The car breaks down when we have the least possible amount of extra money available to fix it.

~ If I need to leave the house for an appointment, I won't be able to find my toddler's right shoe, the phone will ring, and by the time I answer the phone and continue searching for the right shoe, my toddler will have his left shoe and both socks off.

Happy Birthday to

someone...

So Bad at Small Talk

When you run into an acquaintance at the grocery store or the local diner, how do you evade awkward silence? I must not be very wordy lately because the silence comes and I use some lame excuse like the boys are really not shoppers to escape from the situation. Hell sometimes I wish I wouldn't have even run into so and so. I know I'm not the only one guilty of pretending not to notice someone who is inevitably the awkward silent type! So what exactly is the key to making conversation with someone you didn't expect to see? What are your old standby topics? Are you the duck and dodger like myself? Now you know if I dodge you at Denny's or duck behind a clothes rack at Target, please don't take it personally! My words don't come so easily in person.

Emotional Nerd

Ok, so that's me lately. I'm a big ball of tears. No way I'm preggo, so please dismiss that thought now ha ha! It's not even that time of month. I honestly don't have a good explanation.

One of the girls from the soccer team is moving and tonight was her last game with us. Talk about choked up! I hugged her quickly and hustled my sweaty self outside so I didn't have to watch the shedding of tears as my other teammates said their good-byes. Just seeing other people cry is enough to get me started, even when I don't know why they're crying! Call me sympathetic I guess.

Even the Sylvan Learning Center commercial made a few leak out. You know the one where the boy gives his Mom his report card with good grades for her Birthday present. Boo hoo!

I'm a big ol' emotional nerd. I invite the tears when they come. Go find me a bulk size package of Kleenex. Curl up with a pint of Marsha Marsha Marshmallow. Turn on some tear-jerker Lifetime Original movie. Yes, damnit I am a woman and I will cry my heart out if the mood strikes me. And no dear husband, I don't have to have a reason!

Cyber Bullies

If you are going to read one thing today, read this. It's short, painless and a good reminder. "...the pen -- or, more likely the keyboard stroke -- is still mightier than the sword, it seems."

http://lifestyle.msn.com/FamilyandParenting/raisingkids/Article.aspx?cp-documentid=171311&GT1=7608

The article doesn't light on it, but the following words apply to more than just the youth population:

"On the one hand, IMing exposes kids to technology, which is a good thing," she says. "But the down side is how distanced they become from face-to-face interactions." IMing also makes it faster and easier to spread vicious gossip.

"...there's a certain anonymity associated with sitting in front of a screen."

The lesson I'm taking from this is to remember that a real genuine human being is sitting on the other side of my screen, taking in my words at face value and ofttimes deeper. I have been bolder and braver with a screen to hide behind. I've witnessed others do the same. I've seen the aftermath of the war of words. And it's not worth it. You've heard it before- "If you don't have something nice to say, don't say it." Well, it works here too. "If you don't have something nice to type, don't type it." It'd be nice if online forums came with a disclaimer- Be careful what you type as your cyber words can (and will!) be misinterpreted as many ways as there are people in this world.

Vent: Relatives letting the boys ruin clothes

Ya know, I genuinely appreciate our baby-sitters (all relatives) but why do they keep sending the boys home with dirty, stained clothes? I've learned not to send their nicest ones, and I send spares. So why do they keep coming home with filthy clothes wadded up in their overnight bags? Too hard to slap a bib on Connor or a smock on the older boys? Heard of stain stick? Connor's mostly white onesie is just trashed. Definitely not to be seen in public anymore. It's like they just let the kids paint, have ice-cream, drink kool-aid, eat chocolate ice-cream until it melts completely, get grass stains, whatever. I'm sure the kids are having a blast in the process, BUT I CANNOT PERFORM FUCKING LAUNDRY MIRACLES! I hope I'm not overreacting. I think how the boys look directly reflects on me.

1st of 19!!

That's what I placed in a Texas Hold'em Poker Tourney last night! Jason's coworkers hold one every other weekend. He's been going without me. Little did I know the fun I was missing out on! I multiplied my entry fee 10x, and you better bet I'm setting a little of that aside to go back to poker and of course, Bingo with Gram.

It was quite funny. I went into it going to play the "I'm not sure how to play, I'm just a dumb female" card. I was PMS'ing and not feeling very social. They kept asking if I'd played before. Well I hadn't played any poker of that caliber before. I could hardly call having my Uncle take $5 from me on a couple occasions serious poker. I just kept raking in the chips and people looked shocked. You may be asking "What are your skills?" I'm not big into mathematics or odds for that matter, I just read the people. I took a few gambles now and then and came up on the lucky side. It was my night. My first time there. My first time playing poker on that scale, with some completely random strangers (and a few acquaintances too.) Also the first time a woman had walked out of there as the first place winner too! I was so excited I couldn't sleep when I got home after midnight.

I was surprised that I could keep my cool through bluffs and loaded hands. The very last hand though, between myself and the hostesses' Dad, had me reeling with excitement in my seat and grinning like a bozo I'm sure. I had more chips than him on the table. We already knew we were big winners and were pretty much passing the same chips back and forth. So on the turn I had a straight, really small cards too. I watched as he grimaced in his chair, writhing somewhat uncomfortably. So I went all in. We showed our cards. I already had the straight. He needed one more card to get a straight and his numbers were higher so he'd beat me if he got it. The river card went in my favor! I didn't even bother raking in the chips. I shook his hand. The cold, hard cash was laid out on the table and we both scooped up our earnings and scraped the chips into a tub.

I hope this is the start to a prosperous 2006! I am quite positive that 18 other people are probably thinking "Beginner's luck," but that is just my motivation to prove them terribly wrong next time!