Global Warming?

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile.  I was enjoying the global warming that we were experiencing here in Chicago.  One day it was 61F this week (Tuesday, to be exact).  Then we moved to some really nice pouring rain (Wednesday).  Then, after the flooding we got some snow (that, again, was on Wednesday).  Finally!  Snow!    It's a balmy 16F outside today.  This was the weather the last three days.   I hope we get some more snow. 

Thank you in the mail

Awhile back I wrote about writing Thank You notes here and here.   

I still think it's an important thing to do.  Everyone likes to be thanked.  Writing the note means so much more to a person than an email or text message.

Today I went to get my mail  (well, it's at the curb, I didn't have to go far).  I love getting mail.  Unfortunately the majority of my mail consists of bills or applications for credit cards.  I mean, how many credit cards do I need?  And why is your card better than the one I already have in my wallet? 

What I look for (and I think most people do this) when getting the mail is for personal letters.  Letters addressed (by hand).  I then know that a real person sent me something, not a direct mail service.  Today's mail had one of those personal letters.  I was quite excited!

To my surprise, I received a Thank you card in the mail.  Like I said, I love getting mail!  This card was hand made and handwritten.  Thanking me for a gift that I sent (remember the necklace and soap I sent off to Patti?). 

I was touched and it brought a smile to my face.

So, to all of those out there who think that handwriting a note to someone is old school, I say, ask the recipient of the card how they felt when they received it.

I think they will thank you for your thank you.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

We celebrated my mom's birthday yesterday.  My brothers and I planned it so that we could stop by her house and surprise* her with muffins and cupcakes.  The muffins idea came from my oldest brother who said he doesn't do sugar.  And, yes, they had some sugar in them.  They were pretty good. 

*surprise.  If you remember from last year's birthday, my mom doesn't like surprises.  If we were younger, we might have been in some sort of trouble (and my oldest brother would somehow get our of it)  I think she liked this birthday surprise.

But, hey, it's a birthday!  Everyone wants cake (or cupcakes) on their birthday!  So, I, the favorite child, made Red Velvet Cupcakes with a cream cheese frosting.  Yum!

yea, I did a photo bomb

actually, my nephew was taking the picture with my camera and I asked him to take it of my mom

oh, well, you get to see us and all of the cupcakes, except for the one my nephew took (and took a bite out of) before we sang Happy Birthday.  Yea, I gave him a hard time about it. 

 

My mom is wearing one of the necklaces that I made.  It's a mosaic.  Took me a little longer than the others and was definitely a fun one to make. 

I put this one on a suede necklace

a little classier

Hey, it's for my mom!

We had a great time visiting and telling stories.  Of course, my oldest brother had to tell an off color story at the end.  Somehow, he gets away with it.  Maybe its because he is the oldest. 

I think my mom enjoyed spending her day with her kids and (some) of her grandkids.

 

Happy Birthday, Mom! 

Girl Scout Cookie Sales and Sales Goals

We just finished up selling our Girl Scout cookies.  We didn't have a goal last year and we sold 454 boxes.  Not bad for our first year of Daisy's. 

This year our cookie sales goal is 500 boxes.  I created a little chart so the girls could fill in the quantity of boxes that they sold.  Using a marker I divided my thermometer into 5 parts.  Each part was equal to 100 boxes.  I then divided each one hundred into four more sections (25 boxes each).  When the girl turned in her order form, I marked off the line where she was to color in.  I had each girl use a different color marker so they could see how they are all working together to reach their goal.

Luckily, we reached our goal and then some. 

We sold over 600 boxes!  (684 to be exact)  The girls are quite excited and are looking forward to adding more things to do with the money they have earned.

Companies that use Voice Mail

I'm not a patient person. 

There.  I said it.

I don't think anyone likes to wait.  I try my best and am pleasant.  I wait my turn.  I do not get angry with anyone if I have to wait.  I have realized that waiting is a part of life. 

I placed a call to our cable provider.  I'll leave out the reason because that could be another blog post.  I placed the call and was greeted by voice mail.  This is pretty common for most large corporations.  I can understand that the majority of the questions that come in can be answered by a machine.  I have used that feature on occasion when I need a quick, easy answer.  I think it's a great option to have where the company is not tying up their customer service people. 

Unfortunately, my call required a customer service rep.  Trying to get to that rep is a different story.  The voice mail tries to get you to use the pre-recorded answers.  They do not give the option to talk to a rep.  They make you suffer through their lengthy number choices and you end up choosing every option possible.  If you remain on the phone long enough, they will feel sorry for you redirect you to a customer service person. 

Of course you will have to "please be patient and your call will be redirected." 

Then comes the absolutely worst thing they can say.

"Your call is important to us, please wait on the line and our next Customer Service rep will be with you in a moment."

It's nice to say, but, when it's repeated over and over and over again you realize that your call is not important to them.  If it was, then why aren't they answering your call? 

Oh, yea, they throw in, "Our customer service reps are busy helping other customers, your patience is appreciated."

So, my call is important, but, someone else who called a few minutes before me, and was granted access to the customer service rep, is more important than me. 

 I don't have a solution to this problem, except, stop telling me that me and my call are important to you.  Just pick up the phone!

Daisy Talk it Up Leaf

For our meeting we had the girls look through magazines and pick out advertisements.  We explained what an advertisement is (trying to sell you something).  Each girl took a turn showing the ad she found and told what the ad was trying to sell (we had to help a little with this one).

We talked about advertisements for selling our cookies.  What would we want our ad to look like?  The girls came up with:  colorful, pictures (of cookies), price, delivery date. 

We gave the girls a quick little survey.  Our survey had them choose four things they want to do with the money that they collect from cookie sales.  These were the ideas they came up with at our Count it Up leaf meeting. 

We then let the girls loose with white paper, markers and GLITTER (I love glitter).  We told them to create an advertisement to help them sell their cookies.  They can use the points that we talked about (price, colorful, pictures of cookies, delivery date) and add their own personal style.  They also might want to include what they are going to do with the money they make from cookie sales.  This is something that they can bring with them when they sell their cookies. 

Our meeting was one hour long (no snack) and we were still able to do our pledge, promise and a sharing circle time.

We're gonna hit the mattresses

That's what I plan to do (literally) on Saturday when we get our mattress back.

We bought our mattress last summer and we are allowed a one time adjustment for free.  Sounds great and all but they neglect to mention that we will be without a mattress for 3 nights.

It doesn't sound too painful.  Three nights should go by fast, right?  We do have several couches to choose from.  We could share a bed with one of the kids (well, only two of them would be willing) or kick them out of their bed (and room) and make them sleep somewhere else.  I suggested to Alex that he share with Nick.  He told me Nick would have to leave all weapons at the door.  (such a loving relationship they have)

RT and I decided to camp out in the family room.  For a person who has a hard time sleeping, RT had NO PROBLEM sleeping on the floor last night.  He put a blanket and sleeping bag down, had a sleeping bag on top and settled in nice and cozy.  I'm a side sleeper and the hard floor was not very giving.  I opted for the couch (the one that I slept on during two of my pregnancies). 

So, there we are, laying there.  Within seconds RT has fallen asleep and is snoring.  How does he do it?  I was wide awake for what seemed like hours until I finally fell asleep.  Waking up several times.  Dreaming that Nick came in and I was about to say, "We're in here."  But, RT grumbled something and I jumped up, wide awake (and no Nick in the room). 

Nick did finally come in and stare at us around 6am.  I said that we're sleeping in here.  He said, why?  I said, we don't have a mattress.  (the kid is probably confused since he wasn't around when we discussed this happening and hopefully won't be scarred for life seeing his parents camped out on the family room floor)  I forget to mention that RT slept during this discussion.

I woke up in good spirits.  I slept okay, not great.  I'm trying to see this as an adventure.

RT wakes up and says he feels like he went 15 rounds with George Foreman.  Yea, the guy who quickly fell asleep and was snoring for quite awhile.

I can't wait until Saturday.