Something happened at my house this past weekend and no one is owning up to it. That leaves me to believe that we have ghosts (or fairies or gremlins or leprechans etc...) and they like donuts.
A few weeks ago I bought two packages of Mrs. Bairds mini donuts. They were a BOGO and being the coupon lover that I am, I HAD to buy them. OK, not really, but they were a treat for the family and I think I was hungry while shopping! SOoooooooo. Flash forward to Thursday when the girls and I were home for the day. P1 asked for something for breakfast. While I was looking in the pantry, I saw those two half empty bags of donuts and thought "I need to toss those since no one is eating them". I got side-tracked and just left them in there. I have a thing about not eating fresh stuff like that after it's been opened for a while. I don't care if it's still edible, I will toss it if it's been around a while. On the other hand, M will eat anything!
Yesterday, while in the pantry once again, I see the bags and this time grab them to toss them. The first one was empty. Odd. I grab the second one, not a crumb to be found. OK, so I immediately get all mom-like and start hollering "who ate the last of the donuts and didn't bother to throw the bags away?!?!?" I hear a "Not Me!" in stereo from M and P1. I said I KNOW I didn't eat them, so WHO DID IT??? Both of them completely deny that it was them. After a while of all three accusing the other for this minor offense, no one is taking responsibility for their actions! I hadn't had a single donut since they day I bought them, and M said he left about 5 in the bags a 'few days ago' so that leaves P1. Now she's known to be a little sneaky and I remember her coming into our room on Sat morning saying she was hungry. We told her to wait and we'd get up to make her something. She completely denied eating the rest of them. I told her she wouldn't get in trouble for eating them, but she would get in trouble if she lied about it.
So, being a mom, not a bright mom sometimes, I tell P1 to swear on Jesus' name and that if she lies about it she's going to HELL! <-----One of my not-so-bright Mommy moments, but I kept stressing she wouldn't get in trouble if she ate them but she better not lie about it. Well, she said she swears. So that leaves us out of options. It's not a big deal, but REALLY strange.
Heck, if I ate them, would I be blogging about it?!?! We know sometimes P1 has been known to sleepwalk, and M's grandma who has Alzheimer's was known to wake up in the middle of the night, go hog wild in the fridge and then go back to bed. She would wake up in the morning and not have any memory of it. Just a fridge that looked like a bear had gone looking for a snack. (Sad, huh?)
I think it's funny that everyone has denied it. I said I think it's P2. We only think she doesn't know how to walk...as she's giggling to herself with a powdered-sugar grin!!
Maybe we need to set up a camera and see who the culprit is! I wish it were me...that would explain the weight issues I've had all my life!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Our ghosts prefer donuts
Sears, You Suck...Kinda
As I mentioned in the previous post, the girls and I decided to bear the elements and venture to the mall on our snow day. We were given some pots and pans from the inlaws for Xmas and my husband, the cook, wanted a different kind of cookware so I decided to return them. The inlaws were Ok with this and gave me the receipts so we wouldn't have a problem returning them and getting back what they paid for them. Sounds simple enough, right?! hahahaha
So I take pan #1 back to Macy's. My MIL put it on her credit card and I thought it might be a little tricky getting the cash back. Nope, easy as pie. They were gracious, completely helpful and gave me the refund with a happy smile. :) Sweet. LOVE Macy's!
Now, I have pots #2-4 to return back to Sears. Here is where it gets ugly. Long story, but my BIL used to work for Sears, 10+yrs ago. I guess recently there was a class action lawsuit against Sears for commission wages not paid years ago. A settlement was reached and monies were paid, BUT they were sent out in the form of Sears "Reward" cards (aka, Giftcards). That seems kind of a BS way of handling it if you ask me, but whatever. So my SIL received this card and did what anyone would do. She spent it!! What's better, she spent it on Christmas gifts.
So, on this particular receipt she had paid with the reward card and with her debit card. Seeing as I had the receipt and the items were new AND it wasn't an obscene dollar amount to be refunded, I didn't think it would be too much of a problem to get the cash for it. So, the cashier does the return and it comes to a whopping $64. He tells me I can get $20 in cash (the amount she put on her debit card), but the rest will have to be on a gift card. Now, I must say that being a corporate buyer, I KNOW what the stores are capable of doing. ANYTHING they FEEL like doing, regardless of 'store policy'. Now, I'm not saying this for everyone to take advantage of big box stores, but I'm saying because as someone who has worked the full retail spectrum, I know some rules are made to be broken, and some policies have more wiggle room than others. So, with that said, I tell the cashier I don't want a gift card because the pans I want are at a different store. True story, my hubby (the cook) wants industrial strength cookware from the restaurant supply area from Sams Club. Anyway, so the cashier argues with me and I then request to speak to someone higher than him. Meanwhile, I'm being nice and professional about it. You can attrack more bees with honey than vinegar. ;)
So when retail boss comes to speak with me, I tell him the whole story, even mentioning that that these were gifts and purchased with a giftcard that was received from a settlement blah blah blah. He says that's the store's policy and he could give me $40 in cash back (a step up from the $20 the previous guy offered me). See, point proven. They can do whatever they want. I again said that wasn't going to work. I then asked to speak with their GM (general manager). Keep in mind, I've got the two Ps, and by this time I've been there for 25min now. At this point it's getting to be a battle of the wills and it's about the principle now. In my eyes, it came down to a whopping $24 and some change and I'll be damned if I'm going to suck it up and let the 25min I've waited be in vain!! I did do something productive while I was waiting. I carefully looked over their return policy. Not anywhere does it say that refunds must be given back in the way of which they were originally tendered. Another point that their policy is open for interpretation. AKA, it will be given & decided on a case by case basis.
Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for this GM to show up and of course they are never in any hurry. Now, for my job, there is one GM per region and rarely do they happen to be at the store you are at. I'm thinking I was waiting on just another store manager. While I'm STILL waiting for this woman to come up, I take my handy-dandy IPhone and lookup Sears Corp number and I procede to call them. HA! While I'm on hold the cashier gives me the managers number, their store's # and her first and last name. All the ammo that I need to report this person to Corp.
Finally, after 40 min of waiting, this woman comes up and starts telling me about their policy blah blah and I tell her no where in their policy does it say cash refunds are only given if cash is paid from the get-go. Now I do know most companies do have that unsaid policy, but again, at this point I was ticked. If they can give me $40, they can give me the full $64. Anyway, so as I'm talking to her, I mention that I'm on the phone with Corporate
After about 10min on the phone with her, she wanted to give me something for the inconvenience. I said that would be fine, but I wasn't calling to get anything, I just wanted the cash back. So, for my pain and suffering ;), Sears is sending me a $50 gift card!!!!!!! HAHAHAHAHAHA
I think I might be able to find something I like in there! ;)
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Unexpected Day Off
We had an eventful day last Thursday. The news kept talking about some freezing temps that were coming our way and it seemed to have everyone in panic mode. That's the thing about where we live. Here in TX, if there is any kind of extreme weather, it causes the city to shutdown! Now I know you all will laugh (my northeast friends), but an inch of snow around these parts is like a storm of blizzard proportions where you live!
Well, we knew this weather was coming. In the teens at night and a high below freezing during the day, for 3-4 days in a row. So, it was going to be cold. On Wednesday night we prepared for the next school/business day as usual. On Thursday morning I woke up to the alarm radio. I heard the radio people talking about how cold it was but that was it. No snow, no ice, and certainly no school closures. Or so I thought.
Since we were running late (as usual), I asked M to drive P1 to the bus because I didn't want her to miss it & have to stand out in the cold. They said their goodbyes and I continued getting P2 ready. As I'm pulling out of the driveway I see both M and P1. Now I'm thinking he should have just driven her to school so I'm confused why they are home. He said the school looked like a ghost town. Not a soul there and not a light on in the place. Baffled, I said I would just take her to P2's school for the day (they allow me to do that since P1 used to go there when she was younger) OR I would just take her to work with me (I'm fortunate that my company is flexible enough to allow me to do that too!). So before I drive over there with both girls, I call the school just to make sure they are still open. NOPE. I get a recording saying they are closed for the day. LOVELY. So M and I flip a coin and I win and get to stay home with the girls! When I got inside the house and turned on the TV there it was, ALL the school closures listed and our district was there. Oh well, that's what I get for not checking. It was odd though because we didn't have any snow OR ice. It was just butt a$$-naked cold! An unexpected weather day so what are we going to do with our free day?!?! Much to P1's chagrin, we need to clean and take down our Xmas decor! We also went to the mall. More on that in another post!
So Busy
Sorry I haven't updated in a while. It's been a busy start to the new year and there just doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day! Such is life!! I have many o' posts in mind, so stay tuned!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
He Sings
You think after 10yrs being with someone, you would know the ins and outs of them. This morning, I actually learned something new about my hubby. He sings in the shower. I've heard him sing along to the radio in the car before, but singing in the shower is a new one.
Now everyone who knows me IRL knows that I sing. Like, REALLY sing. My first performance, solo performance was at age 3. I've since performed on cruise ships, sang the National Anthem at baseball games, performed for thousands in musicals etc etc... So everyone knows that I sing. I'm especially a diva in the shower! But really, aren't we all Celine Dion in the shower?!?!
Anyway, this morning I was putting away laundry in our room and I hear this voice coming from the shower. Not loud by any means, but clear enough to make me think "where is that coming from?!". I creep over to the bathroom door and there I hear him. My hubby, the first time EVER to my ears, singing in the shower!! He didn't sound bad either. He was actually in tune. I was going to open the door and say something, but I didn't want to make him self-conscience about doing it so I quietly smiled to myself and figured I would just blog about it! He made my day and he didn't even know it. :)
Hello 2010
So it's official. Not even 3 full days into 2010 and I've already blown my resolutions for the new year. I think I left my willpower in 2009 (or was it 1994?!). Well, to be honest I didn't really make any true resolutions for that reason right there. I break them. Always. So, this year I was proactive and thought I would take baby steps in making life changes throughout the year and not call them resolutions.
Tomorrow I start with my new morning regime. I've been bad lately about getting to work on time. It's kind of understood in the office that if you get there before 9am, you're fine. I've been sqeaking in at 8:59am most mornings and it needs to stop. I'm really supposed to start at 8am, so I need to start making changes to allow that to happen. The first being, setting my alarm clock for 6am and getting up right away instead of setting it for 5:30 and snoozing til 7am! P1 received her own alarm clock for Christmas and she's set to wake up at 6:15 every morning. My goal tomorrow is to get up at 6am and hit the elliptical for 15min, make and eat breakfast with P1, and then proceed with my morning. HOPEFULLY my plan will work and it will be a smooth transition for us. P2 hasn't kept the same sleep schedule in months so she will be the only one allowed to throw a monkey wrench into my plans!! Maybe after a few days of this, she will get into the habit of waking at the right times. Wish me luck!!!!!
