Going Postal December 31, 2007

My parents are such good and hard working people. They raised us right — all 7 of us. So when they buy gifts galore at Christmas for the whole family it’s a big deal. That’s 7 of their own kids, plus a few spouses to those kids and a few fiancees and a few grandchildren. That’s a lot of people to spend money on. I don’t know, honestly, how they do it. But they do. Every year.

This year they mailed two boxes down to us with gifts for all of us. Neither box made it. It’s been almost a month since they shipped them. Chances are very likely that they are gone forever. Lost? Stolen? The dog ate it? Who knows. All I know is someone is to blame. It’s in times like these that I have to rely heavily on the fact that I am a daughter of God and He will repay those who have hurt me. I needn’t worry for He will defend me against my enemies.

Nevertheless, I am going to highly suggest that if you ship something of value that you insure it. Better yet, don’t even use the post office. Use UPS or FedEx or DHL or, heck, a snail would probably get it there safer and quicker — just tape it to his back and send him on his way. Grrrr moment!!!

The post office has a huge leg up on the shipping market. It’s not right. Their lack of concern is also not right. The fact that you have to pay a shipping fee and then insure it even though you already paid to have it shipped is disgraceful. The post office owes me an apology at the very least. They owe my parents an apology, a refund on their shipping expenses, and reimbursement for the items they tried to ship. They’ll be lucky to get just an apology.

I don’t need the gifts, although that would be nice. What I need is assurance that I won’t be ripped off if I mail something to someone.

Oh, and they also lost my car payment. I pay through direct bill pay with my bank. Somehow that check got lost too and I didn’t even mail it. The bank did. Another GRRRR moment!!

Goodbye 2007 December 30, 2007

2007 was a fantastic year! My son celebrated his first birthday. My daughter celebrated her 3rd birthday. Rich and I celebrated our 8th wedding anniversary and our 9th year of being in love with one another. He survived two mergers in his company, got promoted, got a raise, got a bonus, and has been offered quite possibly the biggest opportunity of his career. I started school and focused more effort on my walk of faith. I’ve made some new friends, whom I adore. We are all healthy and happy.

2007 was also a painful year of loss. My maternal grandmother died in November after falling seriously ill in April. I suffered a miscarriage in December. Those two events shook me to the core. But, with my trust in God and the support of my family & friends, I have survived the emotional train wreck and I believe I am a better person and closer to God as a result of both situations.

2008 holds a lot of promise and mystery. We have our plans and we hope for the future. Rich’s career will take a drastic upward turn - and we are very excited about it. Look for more on that in early summer. I am continuing my education. We will try for another baby soon. My brother, Tim, has a baby girl due any day now, his second. My sister, Heather, will give birth to her third child in May. My sister, Andrea, gets married in June - and she might have plans for another baby not long after. Maybe we’ll share pregnancies again. That would be nice. Our firstborns were born 3 weeks apart. It was really fun!

What does 2008 have in store for us? Only the good Lord knows. But I am excited. Every year that Rich and I have been together has been wonderful and exciting. Sometimes it’s been hard, but most of the time it’s been good. I am so blessed in this life. So, welcome 2008!! And goodbye 2007 — all in all, it’s been a very good year.

Happy New Year to you all. Be safe!

Temptation December 29, 2007

Men are bombarded with sex. From stupid car tire and razor commercials to the real deal — pornography — or worse, an overly flirtatious coworker or friend, which can lead to things like infidelity. Every man is a target. Every woman has her virtual antenna up. I can spot a woman trying to get a little too snuggly with my husband from a mile away. Ten miles away. A hundred. I’ll bet you can too. But what happens when the “woman” targeting our man isn’t real? What happens when these “women” are imaginary or fantasized or found on the internet? What can we do?

Nothing. Marriages are torn apart on a regular basis by this very thing. Pornography is addicting for most men. Men get so wrapped up in it that they spend millions of dollars on subscriptions to websites, magazines, videos, books, etc. Pornography is big business. The price paid is even bigger, and I’m not talking monetary.

I’ve met about 2 or 3 women in my life who have said that their men going to strip clubs or watching porn doesn’t bother them. Bull! It does. Two of these 3 women have been hurt by their husbands indulging in these very things that they said doesn’t bother them. If it didn’t bother them, they wouldn’t be hurt by it.

Here is how I feel about it… If you are thinking about it in your mind and participating thru masturbation, then you are cheating on your spouse. If it’s in your mind, then it’s in your heart, and you are being unfaithful. Yes, it is worse to me if the actual act is performed. In other words, if my husband were to actually have sex with another woman that is way worse than him masturbating to sexual fantasies of other women. But, I feel the masturbation to images or thoughts of those images is an infraction nonetheless. And a serious one that needs to be addressed.

How are we, as women, going to ever feel beautiful if our husbands and boyfriends are watching perfect bodied women having crazy sex with one another or with men in ways that we wouldn’t dream of? Who does that kind of stuff? Are you serious?

Wanna know something raw, real, and very sad? I’m not sure, since I was exposed to porn at the tender age of 11 at a neighbor’s birthday party, that I even know what making love is. All my life, until I married Rich, I’ve thought of sex as a dirty thing. Something naughty and wrong and secret and all about physical pleasure. Now that I have found the love of my life I don’t want to feel that way about it. But maybe, just maybe that’s why I am not interested most of the time. Maybe I’d have more of a sex drive if I thought of it as it was meant to be…. as God intended for it to be. Not as an animal attraction that’s purely physical, but as the joining of spouses, who love each other, for intimacy and pleasure (more than physical). I pray that will happen for me. I pray that I can one day view sex as it was intended and not as it is marketed.

Temptation of any kind is hard to avoid. I know this in many different aspects of my own life. But this one thing, this one nasty thing, can destroy marriages. Think of the kids who suffer from their parents divorcing because it all started with temptation that should have been and could have been avoided.

FYI: This post is not about me or Rich. Our marriage is fine and neither of us is into porn.

Coffee Dilemma Solved December 28, 2007

So, if you remember back when I was on Blogspot a couple weeks ago, I was having issues with quitting caffeine. I have found that even though my body no longer relies on caffeine, my taste buds still love coffee. Guess I just don’t read the sign close enough, but I was delighted to find out that my favorite place for Joe has decaffeinated everything. Yahooo for Starbucks!!

But I occassionally still get headaches. I don’t know if it’s from the lack of caffeine, the miscarriage, my hormone levels readjusting, or just plain ol’ I have a headache. But I don’t remember having headaches this frequently before all of that happened. Since it was all w/in a few weeks of one another, I can’t put my finger on the cause. I suppose if I’m still having them in 2 or 3 months then I’ll know it’s not caffeine withdrawal.

And I’m still pigging out. January 1st is Tuesday. I’ll go back on my diet and my exercise routine next week. I am feeling it though. Admittedly, my waist was disappearing from the pregnancy as it was. But the fact that these 10 pounds I put on because of being pregnant are still hanging around bothers me. I know it’s only been a little over 2 weeks since I lost the baby. But I want to wear my normal clothes and it’s killing me that I can’t just wake up and “snap” I’m right back to being the size I was before I got pregnant. I just ordered new clothes and I want to be able to wear them. South Beach diet here I come - Denise Austin and Tammi Lee Webb here I come. I’ll be back in the saddle very soon. My body can’t wait. My taste buds are disappointed. And it will lift my spirits to no longer have any physical reminders of the fact that I was pregnant for a short time, but the baby is gone. I think that’s the only thing that keeps it on my mind so much. My body is a constant reminder of the loss. I want my figure back and like yesterday!

Have a wonderful Friday!!

Chicken! December 28, 2007

I got 8 hits on my site today and not ONE of you left an embarrassing thing about yourself. Chickens!!

You know I love you anyway.

Leave a Tip or Don’t? December 27, 2007

How about tipping? What is proper tipping? What is stupid tipping? Why do so many people expect to be tipped?

In Florida, people tip and expect a tip much more so than in Ohio. Where I was raised you tipped a server when you ate INSIDE the restaurant — not for carry-out. In Florida, you tip if they even glance in your direction it seems.

Did you know that Starbucks drive-thru window has a tip jar? I don’t tip Starbucks drive-thru window people. They don’t even make my drink. They take my order, punch it in the computer, take my money, then hand me my drink. That’s their job, isn’t it?? Correct me if I’m wrong here. Plus, that Venti Gingerbread Decaf Latte just cost me almost $5.00. Ha, no tip for you!

There are tip jars at Tropical Smoothie, Quiznos, Panera Bread and so on. These places are fast-food disguised as restaurants. So they do your meal fresher than McDonalds or Wendys, but really, they are no different. No one waits on your table. You order your meal at the counter, carry it to your seat, eat it, throw away your own trash, and then you leave. If there are crumbs on the table, you even wipe your own table before you sit down. That’s exactly like eating in McD’s or Wendy’s. Am I wrong?? So why tip them?

Valet parking. Ha! I learned to tip valet at the Polaris Fashion Mall right near our house in Ohio. I love that mall. It’s the best. Valet parking that only costs $2.00. That’s a steal in the dead of winter at Christmas when there are NO parking places within a mile of the mall. Very little exaggeration there. It’s a huge 2 story mall with many awesome shops and not enough parking. So I gave the guy a $5.00 bill expecting $3.00 change. No change. He kept it. LOL!! I was like (inside my head and not out loud, I’m not a complete idiot — just naive), “hmm, guess I’m supposed to tip valet”. But even $5.00 is a steal in the dead of winter at Christmas…. you get the picture!

And just to clarify things a bit, I am not cheap. I tip 20% or more for service at a restaurant. I tip my hairdresser 30% (that’s why she loves me and won’t admit I have dandruff, I just know it, and why she smiles ear to ear when I walk in and why she gave me such a fantabulous new haircut and why she always compliments me from head to toe — she works for her tip and I love to tip her b/c I love it when she lies to me like that — LOL). I am a gift giver. I’ve had to curb this tendency over the past 3+ years since having children. But I loooove giving gifts. In fact, I have a friend who wears the coolest earrings (you know who you are) and it takes every fiber in my body to keep from buying her all the cool earrings I see at Dillards and Macy’s. I have to just put on the blinders and walk straight on by the earrings or I stop and “oooh and ahhh” over them wondering if she’d like them too. I gave a Coach purse away. Gave-it-away. Uh-huh. I know you think I’m crazy, but I had 2 of them and received another as a gift so I gave one of them away. Who needs 3 Coach purses? In all reality, who needs even one?

So you see I am generous. But I think too many people expect to be tipped when just doing their jobs that they get paid to do. We tipped the DirecTV guy who installed our HD-DVR yesterday. I didn’t want to, but Rich said “It’s Christmas” and so we gave him (gasp!) $25.00. Ugh!! We even tip people who bring us flowers we didn’t order and deliver furniture whether we ordered it or not. Isn’t there a delivery charge that was paid up front? Still, we tip them b/c they expect it. They linger a little. They won’t flat out say anything, but they linger a bit too long. It’s annoying.

Who really gets tipped? Am I a loner in thinking these things? I used to be a waitress. Waitresses survive on tips. But I guess I thought if you get paid $10.00 per hour you are getting paid, not needing tips. Waitresses get paid like $3.00 an hour. They survive on tips.

Oh - and I’ve always tipped the pizza delivery guy. That’s just a given. I know this. But flowers, furniture, and equipment installs too?? Huh? Help me out here b/c I don’t understand the rules.

It’s Snowing December 27, 2007

I changed my presentation so you could see the snow. This is the only snowfall I’ll get all year. And thank God for that! I was born & raised in Ohio. I’ve had more than enough snow to last me my whole life. I hate the stuff. But I think it’s cool on the blog. XO!!

That’s SO Embarrassing! December 27, 2007

I’m going to admit to ten things that embarrass me about myself. Ha ha!! Then you have to admit at least ONE thing that embarrasses you about yourself.

1. I watch “What Not to Wear” sometimes.
2. I pick my teeth. You thought I’d say nose, didn’t you?? Ha ha — we all know everyone picks their nose so that doesn’t embarrass me. You pick yours too!! Don’t lie!!
3. I read the gossip stuff about celebrities on my Fox News website. This really embarrasses me. Seriously, much worse than picking my teeth.
4. I have a lot of ear wax. My poor son does too. Grooosssss!
5. I think I might have dandruff. I can’t tell, but my head itches a lot. My hairdresser doesn’t say I do. She tells me “dry scalp”, but I think she’s just being nice because she wants a big tip.
6. Twice I’ve had nose hairs so long that they’ve poked out of my nose. LOL! I had to pull them out and I’m telling you that HURTS like crazy.
7. I have a mustache. I wax it or burn it off w/Nair.
8. I have a unibrow. I wax it or tweeze it.
9. I count things. Not the normal counting like balancing a checkbook. I count my steps. I count my chews. I count colors. I count cars.
10. I stick my stray hairs to the wall in the shower. Sounds weird, I know. But it keeps it from going down the drain. I wipe it off and throw it away after I shower. There is a reason to my madness.

Your turn.

Merry Christmas December 25, 2007

May the joy of the season fill your home. May the blessings of God fill your life. May your heart be merry as you celebrate His birth. May you have health and happiness all of your days.

Merry Christmas!

The Phone Rang December 24, 2007

This morning at 7:30 the phone went nuts. It rang and I was bleary-eyed so I didn’t pay much attention. Then the caller hung up and within about 10 seconds it rang again. I started in on my husband. It wasn’t my phone’s ring so I assumed it was his. He didn’t get it in time. It woke up our daughter. “So much for sleeping in”, I thought as I staggered to her room. Then my phone started ringing. At that point, I got worried. I thought I don’t need any more bad news. Please God, no bad news. Someone seemed to be desperate to reach us. I braced myself.

Thank God it was my sister-in-law looking for her phone. Her phone was the first phone that rang two different times. Whew! I told Rich, even though we were rudely awakened, I am soooo very thankful it was just my sister-in-law looking for her cell phone and not somebody calling us with bad news.

How many people answered their phones to bad news this morning? How many more will do the same tomorrow morning?

My phone rang again later. It was my son’s doctor. My son has been battling salmonella for weeks. I had to take another sample to his doctor last week. The call this morning was to tell me that the test came back negative. Finally!! He no longer has salmonella poisoning.

Good news for us today. God be with the ones who get the bad news.