Week 1- Robert Muraine The Great- So You Think You Can Dance

Oh my flippin word!!!!! you seriously must see this guy. Watch the whole thing. From "So you think you can dance" last night. Watch Mia's face through the whole thing. She is the judge on the far left.

Annabelle

I would like to formally introduce you to Annabelle. She is the cutest little/big puppy ever. Well, not really. I personally don't think Pit puppies are cute. However, she is my new grand daughter so I have to think she is cute.

Annabelle is 10 weeks old. The girl must weigh 20 pounds by now. She is going to be a big girl. Did I mention I totally LOVE the name Annabelle. Very Victorianish.
This is when we took Annabelle to the lake in Sonora. We wanted to make sure she new how to swim. She would not go in the water on her own. Matt picker her up and took her out to make her swim back. Before we knew it she was going out on her own to fetch the stick.

Annabelle had a hard week. She went to the River with her Mommy and Daddy. When they were out there a full grown Pit attacked her. The owner punched his dog in the face to make it let go. That did not work so he shoved his dogs head under the water so it could not breath. He let go of Annabelle at that point.

Mommy and Daddy rushed her to the vet. Her left ear was almost tore off. She got 10 staples around her ear. The owner of the other Pit did go to the vet and paid for the damage his dog inflicted. My guess is he was scared they would turn him in and he would loose his dog.

A week later Annabelle's ear was draining gunk. Daddy took her back to the vet. The first Vet did not stitch her all the way nor did they clean out the wound. Daddy took her back out to the first vet. They fixed her right up. Now she has 12 staples around her ear. Poor little girl. However, it made mommy and daddy more concious of the damage a Pit can cause. They will be more careful with her training now. That's a good thing.

HOT SHOT

This was one of the Hottest Shots of the day. I love how Matt, the groom, is in the background and how they put Drew up in the tree. Very untraditional, and I love it. This layout went together in about 30 min. I must be on a roll with the quickie layouts.

I did not create at all this weekend as my DD and SIL took me to Sonora for Mothers Day weekend. It was great fun, but I am glad to be home. More on that adventure later.

Happy Monday

It's Been Months

It's been months since I have created a layout. Life got a bit busy. I also had to put my new "Studio" together before I could create anything. Who would have thought I had so much stuff it would take so long to organize it all? I will share my new space soon. I love it.

This Layout took about 30 min. No joke. I don't think I have ever created that quickly. Usually takes about 4 hours. This time I wanted to just go with the flow and not think about the outcome to much. It was fun and I was pleasantly surprised.

I did do one more layout that day but that is for sharing in a later post. Maybe tomorrow. Who knows?

I Might Be Back

After months and months of no blogging......I might be back.
I wanted to show you my new "Word Wall" in my new home. I totally LOVE it. The little words I got at Michael's for $1.00. What a bargain. I repainted them to match my theme. I got the "Family" on sale at Mervyn's. The other big words are just wood letters I bought. The "Simplicity" came from this little hole in the wall store in downtown Sonoma. It is all metal and needs to be painted a different color. I am asking you.....What color do you think it should be?

I have created my Studio in my extra bedroom and a couple new layouts. I will be sharing those in the following days. It's good to be back. Missed you all.

Retail Valentines Eve

I never really thought about what it is like in the stores the day before Valentines. I mean I KNOW Christmas shoping is crazy. Now I know Valentines is crazy too. Not 3 weeks worth of crazy like Christmas. But Valentines Eve crazy. The lines were long for about 3 hours straight. I was exhausted. I did notice a few facts worth mentioning.

1) There are more women buying Valentines product the day before than there are men. I am calculating the ratio to be about 10 women to every 1 man. Does this mean the men don't shop until the actual day? Or does it mean that men really are more prepared for this holiday than women?

2) Very few men buy stuffed animals as a gift to thier loved one. While 7 out of 10 women DO buy a stuffed animal, or 10. I thought that was kind of interesting.

3) Children are better behaved during the Valentines rush than they are durring the Christmas rush. I wonder if this is because we are not reminding them to "Be Good or the Valentines Cupid won't come" constantly. Worth thinking about.

4) Men do not group shop for Valentines like women do. You will see a lone man shopping and looking rather embarrased. While you will see 3 and 4 women shopping together. Kind of like when they go to the bathroom in a restraunt. They just can't go alone.

5) Valentines cards a so NOT cheap. What happened to cards that were $1.35? They are now running from $2.99 on up to $9.99. For a Card! I guess this tells you how often I buy cards these days.

6) Out of all the gifts being sold, I found the lone man buying the heart shaped box of candy and a little stuffed animal to be the most romantic. Every time one came through the line my head just screamed "What a lucky woman". This surprised me as I always thought that particular gift was so un thought out. Normal. Does this mean I now think traditional Valentines is romantic? Hmmmmm.

7) Some women give out Valentines cards like they were Christmas cards. Buying 15 to 20 cards at a time. Ok, lady, think, you can not possibly send out 20 cards to friends and family by tomorrow. The mail is not that quick. AND..... I thought Valentines was for your mate or children. NOT the entire family. Oh, and don't forget, they are not shocked when thier bill is $80.00 for said cards. I would have a heart attack.

8) Very few people buy Valentines for their animals. I rang out one lady that had rawhide hearts for her dog. A miniture poodle. Only one. Now at Christmas EVERY ONE buys gifts for their pets. Do you NOT love your pet? They deserve to feel the LOVE too. Might as well, your buying for the whole family anyway.

9) At Christmas a lot of people will tell me Happy Holidays, Happy New Year or Happy Thanksgiving. Not one person said Happy Valentines.

And the last fact I noticed on Valentines Eve.

10) I am soooooo glad I am not a fourist at this time of year. woot woot!

Treats

A mom and her daughter are checking out last night. They have, I swear, 8 boxes of Rice Krispies and about 30 bags of marshmellows. The girl was about 8 and grinning from ear to ear.

Me: "Ummmmmm Rice Krispy Treats?"
girl: "yes"
Me: "For your class"
girl: "For two classes!"

It is 8:36 pm when they came through.

Me: "Wow, that's some project. Are they due tomorrow and you didn't tell mom until tonight?" (keep in mind my daughter did this to me on numerous occasions)
girl: "No, they are due Thursday" (like that gives them oh so much more time--today is Tuesday)

I am looking at the mom like....girlfriend you got a job ahead of you. She is giving me the same look back.

Me: "That is so cool. Are you making them by yourself or is mom helping you?"
girl" moms helping"
Me: "your mom must be very nice?"
girl: "oh she IS"


Here is the good part...............

Me: "well next time you should have her help you make POPCORN BALLS...."
girl: (gets all excited) "POPCORN BALLS??????? What are those?"

Oh my god...are you kidding right now? Have popcorn balls completly disappeared from our list of treats? We explain to her what they are. She gets so excited she is jumping up and down right now.

girl: "Those would be so COOL. Can we make THOSE?"

The mom just grins and says "Next time." She gives me that BIG eyed look and I just mouth the word "Sorry" as they leave. It was all good though. The mom enjoyed the conversation as much as I did. The girl was just too cute.

But seriously folks. When DID we stop getting popcorn balls for every occasion? I remember getting them for Halloween Trick or Treating. In all different colors. They were my fav. I even made them myself at least once a month. It is a sad sad time when the young folks of our day have never seen a Popcorn Ball.

Super Excited

I am so super excited about this. Yesterday morning I decided I want a funky little Chandelier for the corner of my new living room. I went on Ebay and immediatly found this little jem. Exactly what I had pictured in my head. The auction had 9 hours left and I won. This little baby is all mine. So super excited. I am thinking I will stain the crystals with Adirondack inks. For some reason I have a blue/tealish type color in my head. I can not wait to get it. Another SCORE!

Total SCORE

As most of you know by now, I am moving. Time for me to focus on ME. I am so excited about this new change.

I want my new home to be airy, bright and funky modern. The other day I SCORED BIG TIME. I got this chair from a friend of Andi's. Renee is a home decorator and stager. She was getting rid of a lot of stuff. I got this chair for $25.00. Totally not kidding here. $25.00. Actualy I got two of them for $25.00 each. I could not believe my luck.

NEW KiDS ON THE BLOCK- Please don't go girl

And Then you get One of These

Ok, so it's 9;10 pm. The store closed 10 minettes ago but we are not done ringing everyone up. Keep in mind.......I am tired, cranky, and hungry. It's been a very long day.

My customer hands me a shirt and pants. "I need this in a bag. Don't get them wet." Okey Dokey. Not a problem right? "I said don't get them wet!" ME: "Yes, I know" I hand her the bag.

She hands me another shirt and pants. "I need these in a bag." I put them in a bag. THEN she hands me another shirt and pants. "I need these in a bag." Now I am thinking "lady...........are you kidding me right now? Please tell me you are not going to do this for the whole cart you have there?" But of course I can not say this out loud to her. I put them in a bag.

Lady: "Do you have a bigger bag? Put the three bags you just filled into a bigger bag."

Me thinking "Oh HEElllll NO" But I do it.

She hands me a spatula and a can opener. "I need these in a bag" Are you catching the part where she is handing me all of these instead of putting them on the conveyor belt like most normal customers? Are you catching the part where we are past closing and I can go home when I am done ringing her up?

She hands me then hands me 6 items from the dollar section. "I need these in a bag" I am trying not to say anything to her for fear it will come out all irritated sounding. Which I AM......but.......customer service ettiquette says I can not do that. Dam rules........at which point she says. "NOw put that bag into another bag"

Then I ring up her last item which was 8 plastic boxes the size of shoe boxes with plastic lids. You know the storage kind. She is digging for her money. To make things go a little faster I walk around to her cart to put the boxes in. Then I think............"what if I put them in there wrong. Ok, don't put them in" I set the boxes back on the counter by the cart. She gives me her payment and I tell her I was not sure where she wanted the boxes.

Lady "oh put them in a big bag." Dam I should have put them in the cart anyway. I put the lids in a big bag and she says "and the bottoms can go in another bag"

Me: "Can we put them all in the one bag?" Knowing the big bag totaly will hold all of these.

Lady: "I would prefer two bags so it does not bust out."

15 minettes it took me to get her out of my line. I was sooooooooo DONE for the night. And, WHY do these people wait until closing to check out? AND, do they know we get graded on how fast we ring them up? I think she was a spy testing me. She had to of been. No one REALLY does that stuff to cashiers. RIGHT?

Girl Panties

Another customer post! I am finding my customers to be quit entertaining.

This man comes up and has one item to purchase. A pack of little girls panties. This would not have been so alarmning if he had not of said.

man: "I opened them to see how big they were."

Sure enough on pair of the panites were out of the bag. My head was yelling "pedofile, oh my gosh, pedofile". I must of looked at him with a horrible sickening look all confused like.

He quickly added "they are for my dog"

me: "WHAT!"
man: "my little dog is in heat. If I don't put panties on her it is just a mess."

I was so relieved and even giggled at this.

Me: "you do know they make doggie diapers?"
man: "yes but you can rewash the panties and use them again."

Now I have heard every thing. Seriousy, panties on a little doggie. He has a great idea though. Still giggling over here.

He did NOT!!!!!!

This man comes to my register last night. He was probably about 35, had not shaven in a couple of days and his hair was all messy. He was not in shape if you know what I mean. You know the pot belly that most men get when they get older. His shirt was at least 10 years old, stained and had a hole in it. Underneath the shirt there must have been another shirt holding something in the chest pocket as it was protruding. He had salt and pepperish colored hair with a chubby face. His hands were dirty like he was a mechanic or something along those lines. Overall, he was not someone I would be attracted to.

What happened next is what made this man "My Customer of the Day". He was purchasing some cold medicine. For some of you that don't know, we have to ID people who buy cold medicine to be sure they are 18. The register itself prompts us to ID the buyer. His friend noticed the register prompting me and asked why we ID for cold medicine. I told him why and my man says "Come home with me and I will show you my ID".......................

My head screams """""WHAT? He did NOT just say that!!!!!!!!""""
I try to ignore the comment. I tell him his total is $23.63.

Wait it gets worse...................

He puts his payment on the counter. $23.65. All is good right? NO! In my head I am thinking the total was $23.69. So I look at him waiting. He looks back and says "thats it". I shake my head a little like I am a dork and say.........."Ohhhh, I was thinking 69" (like in 69 cents) his friend starts to laugh and so does he.

My head screams """"""CRAP! I did NOT just say that!!!!!!!""""

I try to ignore it but then he says "And why where you thinking 69?"

My head screams """""OH MY GOSH! get this man OUT of my line. Seriously, do I LOOK like I would be attracted to you? GO AWAY NOW!Ewwwwwwwww!"""""""

I ignored his comment, gave him his 2 cents change with my head down and moved on to the next customer. That was such a BIG Ewwwwwww. Gross. He may have been missing some teeth too. Not sure on that one. I was totally grossed out.

Customer of the Day

Three younger guys come to my cashier line the other night. Guy #1 has this cute tie with Martini Glasses on it.

Me: "Cute tie."
Guy 1: "Thank you"
Guy 2: "Is that a pickup line?"
(all laughing)
Me: "No."
Guy 2: "Oh, that would have been a good pick up line."

Guy 2 buys nothing. Guy 3 has a tie also but his has Champagne glasses on it with bubbles.

Me: "Oh, CUTE tie. Love the bubbles."

They all look at me

Me: "THAT was a pick up line."

(all laughing)

Guy 2: "Obviously, it was the bubbles that did it. I am going to have to use that line."

They were a fun group of guys. They were going to Tahoe for the weekend and they needed ties for the night life. I love when I have a good time with my customers.

7 wonderful Years

Every 2 years I get a "Years of Service" award at our annual Christmas Party. This year our Christmas party was canceled due to the passing of a co-worker. My boss's wife, who worked at Benchmark for 9 years. But that is a different story.

We had our monthly company meeting on Thursday. The awards were given at the meeting that should have been given out at the Party. I was so thrilled to receive this amazing Lenox Crystal vase for being with the company for 7 years. I have actually been there almost 8 years. Carrie and I were the only ones awarded 7 years. This vase is sooooo heavy and it is about 18 inches tall. So BIG! It is amazing and I am honored to receive such an awesome award.

Shopping

I went furniture shopping last night. Getting an idea of what I want. This I think was my favorite. The colors in the picture are all wrong though. It is really a dark brown with Robins Egg Blue accents. So stunning and pretty.
This was one of my other favs. It is a soft sage green with yellow and orange accents. Not sure which one I like better. They are both really comfy. The second one you can sit up a little better without leaning back. What do you think?

Blood for no Reason

Those of you that know me know I am a huge fan of saving peoples lives. Meaning I give blood any chance I get. Every time you donate blood you save three lives. 50% of the time I try to donate my Iron is not high enough so they turn me away. But I try every time. I have not been able to even try for a year as I went to Honduras on a vacation. Honduras has a high risk of Malraia.

Yesturday, the blood bank came to my work. I was so excited to be able to donate again. I got three co-workers to go with me. They tested me and the Iron level was great. Whew! Super excited now.

I have bad bad bad viens so getting a needle into my arm is always a problem. After swiveling the needle around in my arm a bit they finally hit the vien. It's all good. I figure I can go through a little bit of drama and pain to save three people. Right?

I am laying there for 24 minettes. Aparantly my blood is running a little slow. They moved the needle around some more and pulled the skin tight around it. Seemed to work better by still flowing slow. One of my co-workers finished in 5 minettes. GREAT! I am a slow flower. We finally get all done and all is good.

As I am sitting there eating my little snack Jessica (co-worker) asks me about my psoriosis treatments I have been getting at the Dr. The nurse is listening and is amazed the Dr. is giving me the treatments I am getting. The treatments are meant to stop the immune system which in turn treats the skin problem I have. She asked what meds I was taking and I told her.

About 3 minettes later she comes up to me and lets me know that one of my meds does not allow me to give blood. WHAT??????? I just went through all that for nothing. They had to destroy all the blood they just took from me. Yep, I had a great day.

Two Jenz

I adore this photo of my Jen and her best friend Jen. They don't take very good photos together. So when this one popped up I was thrilled. Not so thrilled with the layout though. Could have been so much better.

I think I have made a huge decision with my living quarters. Not sure yet. But I am almost positive. I would share but I am not completely ok with it yet. However, I am looking for big changes in 2008. And this one would be BIG.