Happy Birthday, Sesame Street!

Happy birthday to an amazing part of my childhood, Doug’s childhood and Isaac’s current giggle…

So, in honor of that…a song that makes all of us in my house laugh hysterically-and made us explain what linoleum was to our 5 year old..

 

And we’re back!

It was a long week off from teaching. I spent 99% of that time off over at the “bux, dealing with the specials and entitleds of the world. We also had computer drama…as both computers kicked it in different ways over the break…

First, the big PC decided it was going to refuse to boot-sounds like a software problem to me-but who knows…and then, my darling child cracked the screen on the Mac…and that was even more fun that resulted in sobbing in a chair.

Then, we had the BOGO drink incident at the bux.

And that was only the first half of the week…

So, now here I am at Monday again, and I’m, as usual, in up to my eyeballs with things to do. I’m re-strategizing for the two classes that I left teh software home for and I’m trying to desperately catch up from not having a computer for a week.

So, all my plans of getting ahead, all of my free moments that I should have spent planning, ect were spent trying desperately to get a computer…

So, as always, I’m a day late and a dollar short.

 

Is this what I think it is?

Wow. I’m about to say something and it may come as a shock to a lot of people who heard my laments while I travelled cross country this last time.

I think we’re going to Chicago this summer.

Yes, you read that right. We’re going to the midwest.

Why?

Well, here’s the deal…

Doug is itching to blow dodge. I completely understand, as he’s been really off the radar for a year, wtih the whole surgery debacle and the resulting recouperation time.

So, he said to me the other day…

“I want to take a road trip to Chicago over the summer.”

That sent my brain into think mode.

BlogHer is in Chicago in July.

We can go to a Cubs game.

and Doug’s gram can see Isaac-cripes, the woman is almost 91…we’re not asking her to travel.

 

So, as of right now, we’re looking at this-and I can’t believe I approved of this entire trip…especially wtih the prospect of some of the outlaws involved.

I think this is a serious consession…but I’m not sure.

I could stay home and hang out, but I think I really want to go to the conference…either way, we’ll know by the end of February if we’re doing this whole thing or not. I refuse to pay the “regular rate” for the conference. Argh.

 

So…tell me…am I going soft on my “No Midwest” thing, or am I just getting sensible?

 

The annual appeal…the first plea

If you’ve been reading this blog for any length of time, you’ll know that Isaac was a patient at CHOC in Santa Ana, CA immediately after his birth.
CHOC is short for Children’s Hospital of Orange County. It’s right by Disneyland, and under the influence of serious drugs after the C-section, the only hospital on the list that I recognized. Seriously.

 

Every year, CHOC has a fundraiser. A walk through Disneyland, DCA and Downtown Disney. This is their single biggest fundraiser, with teams coming back year after year after year, celebrating their children’s lives, and their commitment to CHOC and keeping it open to anyone who needs it.

This place is located in one of the lowest income neighborhoods in Santa Ana. It’s also right across from a shopping mall. Go figure.

What I’m asking here is if you so feel compelled, sponsor a walker. This year, the team that I’m throwing my support behind is Team Mouseplanet.  Adrienne Vincent-Phoenix is in charge, and I know Adrienne Krock is most likely walking. These two people are amazing and Adrienne K. has a son that’s only 2 months younger than Isaac!

But, sponsor the team. It does make a world of difference-this hospital is amazing.

 

See the date on that photo? Yeah. We did the walk…Isaac had a blast…and this moment was made possible by CHOC. So were all of our other moments….

 

Happy Blogoversary to me!

Wow! I can’t beleive this blog is as old as it is…we’re talking 3 years here!

 

so, what do I do for my blogoversary?

 

Well, announce the winner for my contest-what else!

I went to the random integer generator and put in all 7 comments  and drew a number…andthe integer generator came out with

(drumroll please…)

6

Which works out to be CHRIS H.  of Hayes Handcrafted!

Chris was my spoiler in the great Christmas swap! Woohoo!

 

So, Chris-email me and we’ll talk prizes!

 And with my blogaversary, comes a layout change…I’m long overdue-and an offical title change…to my tag line-My 3 Ring Circus of a Life.

(ok..the new header should be in place later…it’s giving me a headache right now..)

 

So, stick around. I’m sure with all of the new stuff going on around here, like nursing school and all of that, there will be much more of the circus to come.

 

Blowing Dodge

We’re going out of town! We’re going up to Camp Little Notch in the mountains for a few days-Doug’s the camp nurse and I’m just a stray tag along because I couldn’t get someone to cover my Thursday shift so I could be a Unit leader.

Isaac’s all excited and we’re going to be taking lots of pictures. This is a warm up for later in July when we’re going for a few more days so that Doug can be the camp nurse again! Woohoo!

 

So, see you Monday or Tuesday, depending on how Isaac fares!

 

Bloody Mary drinks, lemonade debacles and paying with nickles-and a contest

Yep, this was my day at work.

Let’s run this down-

5:15-open, do the opening duties, and get set up for Drive thru-

Yeah, being assigned to DTR (Drive through)-that should have told me my day was NOT going to be of the boring variety.

Things are going normally until…

7:30-I get a set of crazies through the drive thru-making everything sound Italian, and then, when they asked for Splenda in their iced latte, went to Redneck. Ok. Fine. Fun is good…until they came to the window-

As they were paying…they offered me…wait for it…

THE END OF THEIR BLOODY MARY.

No, not kidding. This sucker was in an open cup with ice, and you could see the remnants of the tomato juice. And yes, this was a seriously large tumbler. I hope the driver wasn’t drinking it.

So, they go on their merry way and things continue swimmingly along at the good ol’ DTR.

Then, 7:45 hits. Guy rolls up, and orders a venti Sumatra. He pulls up to the window and pays with…A ROLL OF NICKLES! Yep. a 2.11 coffee with a roll of nickles,a dime and a penny. This wasn’t the first time I’ve encountered him. He came through a few days ago, and did the same thing.

The shift supervisor for the day asked me “Did he just pay in NICKLES??”

yeah, it’s that odd.

 

Then, there was my favorite (heh) of the day. Woman comes up and orders a standard drink and then orders a plain lemonade. I ask her if she wants a blended lemonade (yum! Super yum!) and she says “No, a plain lemonade.”

The other barista and the shift chime in on the headset that we normally don’t do that, as the lemonade base is super sweet and it’s really not for use without blending. So, woman goes on this tirade about how she does this every day, and no one ever has  a problem. I offer her a Blended Strawberry Lemonade or a blended tea lemonade, and she gets a strawberry one (oh, for superyum!). So she gets up to the window and starts going on and on about how she wasn’t trying to be difficult but…

and I told her straight up that we had recieved new lemonade bases and that this one you just can’t serve plain. It’s like drinking something the consistency of maple syrup. She apologized and moved on.

So, that was quite the memorable shift. Big time.

SOOO, this brings me to my Blogaversary contest-for a Starbucks card…and some coffee to go with it.

Most places that make custom drinks have the “secret menu.” Jamba juice has one, and we certainly have one as well. Stuff that usually only the staff knows about and can make like gangbusters. Come on, Nutella frappucinos, anyone? (That’s a regular frappucino base, mocha and hazelnut.)

So, the question to win the card and coffee is this:

If you had the opportunity to create the ultimate secret menu drink, what would it be, what ingredients would be in it and what would you call it?

I’ll take answers until my blogaversary counter hits “Happy Blogaversary!” THEN, I’ll use the random number generator to pick a winner.

If you don’t like coffee, we can talk…and if you don’t have a Starbucks near you, we’ll talk about a substitute!

 

So, here’s the fine print-

Only one entry per person-anyone found to be doing “double dipping” will be disqualified, to my great upset.

 

Now, have at it!

 

Ya ever have one of those days…

Where there’s just so much to talk about, but, you can’t organize it worth a gosh darn?

 

yeah, that’s where I am today.

First off, being asked to be at work before the world arises (read: anywhere from 4:45-6:30 am) is not my idea of a good time, but it brings in the money. This also makes it so I leave my house before Isaac gets up, or most times, just when he’s getting up. This has made for some pretty “glue-kid” moments around here. The best of which came this morning, when the Monkey got up at 5 am, and decided him and the Jeff Gordon blankie would join me for the extra 2 hours of sleep that we all so sorely needed. Plus, the snuggle time was a nice bonus.

Second, I’m having a “craft blockage.” I’ve got my room almost all set up, but I’m sitting here debating on what to do with the first craft. I can’t work on the other pillow, because I found out WHY my needle snapped (I swear, the curtain of obscenities is STILL hanging over that thing)-and I need a walking foot…and the one that is sold at the craft store-105.00!!! Yeah. Not paying that right now.

Last, I’m just feeling in a funk. There’s so much I have/want/need to do and it’s just NOT happening.

 

So, right now, I’m dreaming up a blogaversary contest. anyone got any good ideas? You can win yourself a Starbucks card…

 

Setting the record straight…

Since I’ve gotten comments from a ton of people over this, let me make some things fully clear about the librarian.

First, the post was NOT meant to be snarky. Don’t assume that this is all snark. This experience was out of the norm for this library. I was certainly flabbergasted when after explaining that it was a knitting book, that I wanted to knit a shawl from this book and that I had seen it at my local yarn shop, that she still spelled it R-A-P, without asking which way I was spelling it.

Second, this was NOT an assistant. This was a full blown librarian, name tag and all. Her official title? Librarian II. I didn’t ask at the circulation desk, I asked at the reference desk, where librarians are always found at this particular library. I had a comment that actually questioned my intelligence. Yes, I may spell a few words wrong here or there, but as a Special Education teacher with a BS in Special Education and a MS in Educational technology, who speaks 3 languages, this is completely out of line.

 Lastly, this is not a slam on all librarians. I know people have an off day, but this is the drivel that composes my life. One odd experience after another. This is my personal blog.  I have always assumed that librarians are intelligent, well educated people. This one blew me off the map. I didn’t walk up with “it’s a red book…..and I don’t know the author…” and since all of the computerized collection computers were in use, and I didn’t have much time, and needed to possibly reserve this, I made the choice to go to the reference desk. 

Again, let me reiterate that this is a personal blog.  This personal blog is that of a person who has a knack for finding all of the rotten customer service situations in life. Between rancid meat, blundering social workers, clerks who can’t count change, telling waitstaff that you are allergic to something and then having it appear on your plate TWICE, this is my life. I can’t escape bad customer service.

If this librarian had asked me in the first place if it was WRAP or RAP, I wouldn’t have been that person to roll eyes, ect. In fact, at no time during this transaction DID I roll eyes, get snippy or get loud.

Several people have accused me of judging librarians harshly. I, in turn, would ask you to look at the comments. Several are severely judgemental, and harshly so. If you are asking someone not to judge, isn’t the key not to do so yourself? Hrm. That really is something to think about, especially for people who have just stumbled here via a link and don’t have the slightest clue who I am.

So, there you have it. This is the last that will be said on this issue.

oh, and thank y’all for stopping by.

 

Attention Entity that controls the weather:

When I wrote that letter the other day, I realize that I may not have been as specific as I could have been.

Let me clarify things.

First off, the no snow rule also covers anything related to said white filth. This would include:

1. slush
2. ice
3. hail
4. sleet
5. any other weather that is not of a spring-like demeanor.

Second, allowing this weather to perpetuate is strictly against any agreement we have. Again, need I remind you that this is pretty much almost APRIL?

Lastly, this does not pre-empt the last ultimatum. This is just an addition.

Thank you.