Where's the Privacy?

Today, as I walked into the restroom at work, I heard someone in one of the stalls talking on the phone and she continued to talk even as she flushed. the. toilet.

Sadly, this is not the first time I have experienced this - and one of the ladies sounded like she was discussing a business matter (it was definitely not a personal phone call). Can you imagine what the person on the other end thought as they listened to this person and discovered they were in the restroom? And they may not have realized it at first, but the realization had to hit when she flushed - that's a pretty distinctive sound.

Now I ask you.....Can you please tell me what it is, that you have to talk about, that could possibly be so important that you must talk on the phone while you are in a public restroom?? Seriously, can someone please help me understand that??

I have a hard enough time using the restroom while other people are in there; I certainly don't need you complicating matters further by bringing your boyfriend, husband, lover, WHATEVER into the restroom with you so that they can hear every little thing that's going on too.

And on top of all that, these people like to hang out in there to continue their conversation, even after they've finished using it. Sometimes I just want to say, "UH-HUM, COULD YOU LEAVE NOW?? It's bad enough you're in here on the phone in the first place - must you hang out here too? Could you not finish your conversation in the hall or the break room? What's the fascination with the bathroom?? I mean really.....what if someone had gas or something?!?!?"

This is just some whack booty!

I may be off base here, but I feel certain that the person you are talking to would understand if you were to tell them that you had to use the restroom and you would call them right back.....I know I would! Have you ever heard the term TMI?? This is kind of the same concept.

Give a person some privacy will ya? CRAP!

If anyone knows the answer as to why some people feel it necessary to talk on the phone in public restooms......I would love to hear it!!!

Paper or Plastic?

The family and I took our weekly trip to the grocery yesterday evening and as the cashier asked if I preferred Paper or Plastic, I was reminded of a recent conversation that Mom and I had about an article she read on Paper vs. Plastic. Did you know that it takes a paper bag many, many years to disintegrate and that plastic does not compost and will stay in tact for thousands of years?!?!? Did you also know that a paper bag, if packed properly, can hold the same amount of items as four plastic bags?!?!?

Now, I’m not going to sit here and tell you that I am “pro-paper” or “pro-plastic” because there are many sides to this debate and both sides have some valid points. This is a family blog, not a debate forum for paper vs. plastic, and I made what I considered to be the most echo friendly choice with the facts I had at the time.

So, I think about the question and our conversation, then I quietly respond (as if there is a wrong answer) “paper please”. I guess they are not used to that response, because I had to repeat myself twice – then she had to repeat it again to the sacker. Maybe there really was a wrong answer and I lost points for saying paper?!?!? Do you loose cool points if you want paper instead of plastic?? Hmm….something for me to check into…would hate to be loosing cool points. Ha!

Although my logic isn’t the same as others in the question of paper vs. plastic, this grocery trip has given me a few more reasons to feel good about my decision for requesting paper:

The paper bags were much easier to fit in the trunk of the car, they don’t slide all over the place and items don’t fall out whenever you turn a corner (as a side note, I will admit that the paper bags aren’t as easy to bring into the house as the plastic ones), and last but not least Drake and Spice had so much fun playing with the empty bags - and it’s actually safe for them to play with the paper bags.

Drake ran in the kitchen, grabbed a bag and took off to tear it up, just incase someone may have wanted to stop him. Maybe I should have stopped him but my thinking is this: If a paper bag keeps him from chewing on my furniture, our shoes, their toys, our clothes, or our arms and legs then let him chew the bag… Go for it! It’s not hurting anything and the mess can be picked up.

Spice found two small sized paper bags and created herself some boots. She’s so entertaining!

So there you have yet another side to this ongoing debate…

What decision will you make the next time you’re asked the inevitable question? Will it be an informed choice? Will it be the best ecological choice? OR Will it be a choice based on family entertainment?

Do you believe??

It's late, and I really should be in the bed; but the strangest thing just happened and I just HAD to share it with someone...

Earlier tonight I was walking out of my bedroom and tripped on my babies shoes. My husband laughed b/c he had done the same thing - why he didn't pick them up when he did it is beyond me - I digress... I picked the shoes up and put them on a bench in my hallway, then I came back in the den and watched Haunted Evidence while playing on the computer.

* Note that I sit in a chair that faces the hallway and I can clearly see if anyone walks past.

It's now time to go to bed so I turn all the lights off and head towards the bedroom. When I get to the hallway I look down to see the very shoes that I had put on the bench are now place neatly in the middle of the floor - several feet away from the bench.

Everyone in the house is asleep and no one has gotten up....so I ask you, how did those shoes get from the bench to the middle of the floor???

A little history: I have lived in this house for about 9 years and I've never had any experiences. That is UNTIL my baby girl (now three) was born. Every since she was born she's been sleeping in my bedroom (I know, I know, BAD habit!) and occasionally I see something - kind of like a shadow - that looks like a girl darting from the kitchen door into the hallway. One night I saw it so clearly that I actually called out to my oldest daughter (now ten) but when she didn't answer I got up to see what she was doing - upset that she was ignoring me when I just saw her run past - to my surprise, she didn't answer because she was in the tub and couldn't hear me.....
I'm getting ready to go to bed now (It's really going to freak me out if those shoes have moved again) but that was just too weird not to share...I would love to hear your thoughts...

Customer Service Tips

Mom and I went shopping this weekend and the customer service left something to be desired - which brings me to today's topic - Customer Service.

Having worked for years in the customer service industry AND being a customer myself, I have a few opinions on this subject.

First let me start off by saying that I believe it should be mandatory for everyone to work in customer service for a minimum of 1 year. Maybe then people would learn how to be more respectful of each other.

We live in a society where no one seems to care about anyone else, other than themselves. People have what I refer to as a "Me First" attitude. Unfortunately, this isn't a requirement so let me give you a few guidelines to make your experience more pleasant.


Customer Tips:

1. Put the cell phone down!


2. If you don't know them, they don't know you! When a clerk asks for your identification it's for YOUR protection..If you've ever had your identity stolen you would be more gracious towards people who care enough to check.


3. Wait your turn! You can't be in THAT big of a hurry and if you are, then you should have left the house earlier.


4. They can't read your mind. If you would like something a specific way, you have to open your mouth and let them know.


5. Keep your personal beliefs and opinions to yourself. Just because someone is the same as you does not mean they share your views.


6. If a clerk has to tell you no, it's because of a guideline that they have been instructed to follow. (It's not personal)


7. Treat your clerk with respect - it's not easy dealing with people's attitudes all day long.


8. If you're sick, STAY HOME! We don't want your germs.


9. Don't lie! Just because someone isn't able to do what you want them to does NOT mean they were rude or that they were discriminating against you.


10. Contrary to popular belief, you are NOT always right!


Customer Service Tips:

1. Put the customer first, if it weren't for them you wouldn't have a job!


2. Leave your personal problems at home.


3. Treat each customer with respect.


4. Wait on your customers in the order they arrived. There is nothing more frustrating than waiting patiently to be waited on, only for someone to jump in front of you. There is a polite way to let that "rude" customer know that someone else was there first.


5. SMILE - it isn't going to kill you.


6. If you don't want to be there - QUIT!


7. Give the customer your undivided attention. You can talk to your co-workers later.


8. Don't eat, drink, or smack your gum in front of customers.


9. Act like you care (even if you don't) - It's not going to kill you to be sociable for 5 minutes.


10. Don't apply for the job if you don't like people (ALL PEOPLE!)

The Ham

Both of my girls are quite the ham, but one is easier to catch on film than the other. Can you guess which one that would be????





If you guessed Sugar you would be absolutely correct!!! Give yourself a cookie.

Don't get me wrong, I have have pictures of Spice acting silly too but Sugar is my little drama queen and she REALLY loves to ham it up for the camera, as is evident in the above photos.

Dictionary of a three year old

Those with children know that it sometimes takes a mother to understand. Below are some of the words in the dictionary of Spice:

1. Dolphin, as mentioned in a previous blog = Golfing
2. Baby Soup, also mentioned in a previous blog = Bathing Suit
3. Flute = Fruit
4. Ruv = Rub
5. Lellow = Yellow
6. Wipe = White
7. Deuce = Juice
8. She = he
9. Bleeving = Bleeding
10. Wadg = Garage

11.Gice = Ice

She sometimes likes to play with different sounds for example: Instead of mamma call me Mamoo, or Nana will become Nanoo.

Silly little girl!

My Day of Adventure

Today was full of adventure for me....In fact, I had so many things happen it's hard to find a starting point. I guess, I should start at the beginning:

This morning I was driving to my meeting downtown, which is an area that I don't normally go. I don't know if anyone else ever experiences this, but I have anxiety when I have to drive somewhere that is unfamiliar to me. People laugh because they don't understand and I laugh right along with them. I guess you could say I'm "Directionally Challenged". ha!

The last time we had our meeting I wasn't able to find where it was and I ended up following some co-workers. Although I haven't been there since the last meeting, I felt a little better about it this go round, but as I got closer I grew more anxious and sure enough I got turned around, literally! I turned onto what I believed to be my street and looked up to find that I was going the WRONG WAY, down a ONE WAY STREET....GULP!!!! Luckily, no other cars were coming and I was able to quickly get back in the right direction.

Now, having dealt with this "disability" for the majority of my driving life I always leave early, allowing myself plenty of time for these little screw ups. Therefore, although I still have the anxiety, I don't ever panic. I simply pick up the phone and call a friend (Thank GOD for friends!!). When they see my number they usually know what's going on and that they have to help me through it....Did I mention how thankful I am for my friends?!?!? ;) I made it through my morning detour and got to the meeting on time.

Now it's afternoon and Drake (whose name I'm thinking of changing; however, if I change it to what I would LIKE to call him, my children would get in trouble every time they talked about him.lol!) is outside. Normally he doesn't react to outside activity but tonight this kid walked past with his dog and Drake decided he was going to go check him out. My husband was at the door watching him and tried to call him back but this dog is hard headed, if I haven't mentioned that before, and doesn't listen very well. Hubby, being in his underwear, asked me to run out and get him. So off I go, in my flip flops, to get this crazy dog out of the middle of the street. There's a car coming down the street but he sees the activity and slows down. Drake heads towards the sidewalk but you can see him thinking about changing his mind.....he goes to dart back in the direction of the other dog and I catch his back end, but my flip flop (not good shoes to wear when chasing after a stupid dog) somehow gets caught on the street, trips me up and I go crashing down. For those who know me, let me just go ahead and say; YES, he's still alive.

It's later on in the evening and I'm relaxing in my chair, after being all banged up from my meeting with the pavement, watching TV and I notice that it's awful quiet in the house. I walked towards the kitchen to check on everyone when I see that Sugar's bedroom door is closed and I hear her talking; naturally I assume that they are in there playing, but you know what happens when you assume...right?!?!

THIS is what I find....Sugar is in her room, on the phone, and Spice........

How was your weekend?

We made it!! The hubby and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary over the weekend. We took the girls to his mothers house while we went out to dinner. Next we were off to my favorite place......Target!

After Target we picked up the girls, went home, and everyone went to bed.....Aren't we exciting?!?!

Mom and I went to see 1408 this weekend. I enjoyed the movie; however, for it to be based on a book by Stephen King it wasn't very scary. After the movie mom and I went shopping and I found some golf clubs for Spice. She's been playing with them non-stop since the day I brought them home, AND the handle on one of the clubs has already broken. Grandaddy better hurry up and take this girl "dolphin" before they all break - good thing they were only $4.83.

I also found a small pool for the girls to splash around in, so I'm sure there will soon be pictures to follow. However, it doesn't look like it will be any time this week since, according to the weather man, it's supposed to rain for the next several days.... Oh well, we definitely needed it!

Meet Our Zoo

It occurred to me that I've told you about my family of furry friends but I've not introduced any of them to you:

Sam is our eight year old miniature Dachshund. We got him when Sugar was two and they have grown up together. I commonly refer to him as my grumpy old man, because he grumbles.

A friend told me that she wanted to get Sugar a bird for her tenth birthday. I immediately began researching different types of birds and fell in love with the Sun Conures. Although this wasn't the price range she had in mind, we found one that was meant for us so we went in halves and now we have Skittles. (Thanks Laurie!)

The hubby has always said he wants an English Bulldog: Introducing Crapper, oops, I mean Drake...

Let's see, what can I say about Drake???? He likes to Eat, Poop, Sleep and Chew (on EVERYTHING!). His first day with us, we went out and bought him all types of chew toys; however, his favorite things to chew are my furniture and our shoes. We are working on getting him housebroken, and he really enjoys being outside. In fact, we can let him out and he will stay outside and play for several minutes then, when we let him back in, he will go straight to his favorite area and pee! UGH!!!

Don't get me wrong, he has his moments when he's so cute AND good (when he's sleeping). Lol!
I remain hopeful that he will get better as time goes on; until then...THANK GOODNESS FOR CLAIROL!!!

Baby Soup

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone once again who helped to make Spice's party such a great success.

It seems that she had more fun than I originally thought. She has asked me every day since the party ended when she was going to get to slide again...

Last night she told me that she wants to put on her "baby soup" and go play in the water.

She said, "I like that slide!"

Looks like I'm going to have to look into purchasing one for the house.... If not a slide, then definitely a pool of some sort for her to splash around in.

The Party

Yesterday was the big day, and I'm happy to announce it was a huge success! The smaller kids didn't enjoy it as much as I had hoped they would, they didn't like the water splashing them in the face, but they still had fun and the older kids had a BLAST! No one wanted to stop to eat, not even for cake and ice cream.

The plan was for Spice to open her presents when they finished the cake and ice cream, since everyone was already inside and relatively dry; I made this huge announcement about how NO ONE was to get back in the water until I was outside to supervise, but that plan got foiled when a couple of little rebels decided to sneak back out. When I went to check on them the others soon followed and the next thing I knew, everyone was back in the water! So, I had to round up the troops, again, and get them all dried off to go back in and open presents.

They got to play for a few more hours after the presents.....Oh well, I guess it was inevitable that I wouldn't be able to remain the "coolest mom in the world" forever, right?!?! ha!

I hope everyone who came had a good time and I would like to thank you all for helping to make this party such a huge success. Below are a few pictures of the big day: Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Spice!

Today's the day....my baby turned 3!! WOW! It's hard to believe that she was born three years ago today; they grow up SO FAST! She had spend the night tonight and they had tons of fun! They played Dora memory, watched Monster House, and ate McDonalds. Later that evening, they had fun playing on the bed while Sugar slept. Ha!

Funny story: Yesterday, when we were driving to Ms. Juwal's, Spice was telling me she wanted dolphin. Not really sure what she was talking about or where that was coming from, I just replied with my usual, "oh, okayyy!" Then she told me she didn't want to go to "Duwa's", instead she wants me to call her "drandaddy" and tell him she wants to go "dolphin".

Tee-hee! I LOVE IT!!!

This is not the first time that she has told me to call her grandaddy and let him know that she wants to play golf. Grandaddy, you better get on top of that; we may have ourselves a little, female Tiger Woods here!

I digress: I've been running around all week trying to get everything ready for the big birthday party tomorrow. She woke up this morning letting me know that she was ready for her party. Ha! How cute is that?!?!


They brought the water slide tonight and set it up - man, that thing is HUGE!!!! The kids are going to have SO MUCH FUN!! I can hardly wait....I guess I better go now; I've got to get up early in the morning for the final touches around the house. Plus we've got to run to the store to pick up the cake and ice cream - what's a birthday party without those???

I hope to have lots of great pictures to share soon!