I've never bought anything in her line because designer clothes are just ridiculously high. Yesterday I was at Dillards and saw a rack with Anne Klein clothes at an already good discount with an additional 30% off. There was also a few pieces that exactly matched the shoes I had just bought. I tried off a pair of slacks with a matching print blouse. Fit perfectly and looked good on. The best part and why I love Anne Klein -- in Anne Klein I was wearing an 8 or 10!
Now, normally I could no more wear an 8 or 10 than I could flap my arms and fly to the moon. But, it sure was an ego-booster, even if it was a false boost.
Mayfield Ice Cream was serving free ice cream at the Capitol and two of my coworkers (co-workers, not cow-orkers - hehe) and I started to walk over to get some. I saw that they had these HUMONGOUS cows pulled up in the circular drive of the Capitol, so I ran back in to get my camera. The cows were so cute - they had on party hats!
Anyway, Nicole and I were in one line and Teresa was in the other, and we were chatting about which flavor we wanted. I looked at the people serving and Scottie Mayfield was serving our line! Wide-eyed, I turned to Nicole and said, "Oh my gosh! It's him -- it's Scottie Mayfield!" I then laughed at myself for sounding like an ice cream groupie!!
A Trixie friend who lives in East Tennessee said that she has met Scottie at the TV station where she works. She also said she's gotten to meet Jay Bush and, even more fabulously, DUKE! I love Duke. He's such a rascally pooch!! But, my friend went on to say --wow, this is kinda' hard to say-- that Duke really doesn't talk. I'm devastated. major sigh. I'm thinking that he really does, it's just he got shy around my friend because she's such a pretty girl. Yeah, that it's. Class dismissed! ;-)
...is that one is allowed free reign without having to apologize to others, whether one wants to give oneself high fives, brag about family members, vent, whine, or just plain ol' bitch. My post today is a combination of the last three, I suppose.
For several years I've been earning and saving every possible Delta SkyMile I could get my grubby little paws on so that I could have 160,000 miles to get the hubs and I a free ticket to Cameroon, Africa. I was so excited when I crossed that threshhold! The next step was to be able to actually call and make the reservations. Delta books travel only "X" number of days in advance so I had to wait to call. I called the very first day I could because part of the trip would involve flights to and from Paris and I knew that awards travel for that would go quickly, even calling this far in advance.
It took a couple of calls but I was finally able to get my departure flight done and confirmed and was put in a waitlist for a direct flight to Paris. Since it was more than "X" days until my departure, I couldn't make my return flight until several days later. Delta gave me a 14-day courtesy hold on my outbound journey. I called at 12:01 a.m. on the day I could book my return flight. When I got a flight back, the agent said she would waitlist me on the direct flight from Paris. When I questioned her about penalties if I could get on the direct flight, she said, no, there would be no money or SkyMiles penalties if I changed. I said, "Okay, great. Let's go with the itinerary for the flights that are confirmed and I'll watch to see if I'm cleared for the waitlisted flights." She said okay.
Now, with what I said and the fact that my on-line account showed those flights as CONFIRMED, was it stupid of me to assume that I had reservations on those flights? It must have been because today, as I do nearly every day, I checked my on-line account and there was no itinerary. I freaked out but calmed myself by saying that it was probably a computer problem at Delta. However, when I called I was told that I had not called back to confirm I wanted the tickets, so therefore, the courtesy hold had been dropped, and the reservations cancelled. I really freaked out then because this flight for the two of us would cost around $3,400.
A very brief summary of the rest of the I saids and She saids:
1. she first told me that she could only get part of the flights but not all. Besides that, I should have known that the reservations weren't confirmed because the agent didn't ask me for my credit card number to bill the taxes.
2. I said no, that wasn't acceptable because I had done everything I was supposed to do and that it wasn't my fault that the other agent couldn't understand "Let's go with the itinerary for the flights that are confirmed" and that she was going to have to do better. And as for asking about my cc #, that was THE AGENT'S job to ask, not mine to tell her.
3. she says that "Let's go with the itinerary for the flights that are confirmed" could have meant many different things. (WTF?)
She puts me on hold. She comes back and lo and behold, she's able to resurrect the itinerary and has the exact same flights I had before, with the exception of having to get a later flight from Boston.
I think I'm going to write a book on what customer service IS and IS NOT.
It was on the path that we regularly use - me for my mile hike or walking Dixie and hubby for hauling limbs and stuff to the back line. I couldn't even begin to fathom how many times we've been up and down that path in the 16 years we've lived here. Just counting once a day for 16 years is nearly 6,000 times. I was doing a mile hike a few days ago and just happened to look down and see it. It was lying there amongst the other rocks and pebbles. I'm sure that it had been buried and, over the years, it just worked itself up.
It was really a nice one - clear quartz. The hubs, who knows all about these things, was very impressed and put it in a case.
But it got me to thinking ... Perhaps this explains some of the weird things we've seen and heard over the years. I've known that Indians once inhabited this area but I never thought about them being *right here.* Perhaps a particularly bloody battle occurred here or an ancient Indian burial ground is under the house.
Food for thought, for sure.
Remind me of this day.
It's about 12:30 and I've already inhaled fumes from maximum strengths bug bombs, flea spray, spray paint, and paint thinner. I've still got to paint the patch of drywall repair we did in the kitchen plus some additional touch-up areas.
The drywall repair is one that's been needing done for AGES. I saw a drywall repair kit on QVC that made it look rather easy. It came with everything I needed, including a piece of drywall, for around $20. The only problem is that the instructions are written for people who already know what they're doing. This was one time when I'm glad the hubs stepped in to "help" when I start man-type projects.
So how hot and humid is it where you are? I've about decided that it's ridiculous to wash clothes and take baths because the second you step outside, you're wringing wet with sweat. I think the heat index is going to be around 110 today.
I grump a lot about journalists these days being more interested in being or making the story, as oppposed to factually and responsibly reporting the news.
On The Today Show this morning there were two breaking stories. One was about the latest series of terror attacks on London. Sad, sad, sad.
Then I heard the story about members of Condoleeza Rice's entourage and members of the accompanying American press corp being roughed up by Sudanese security officers. Yikes! But then, the real story comes out about what provoked the security officers - out of the mouth of the central point in the press corp incident, Andrea Mitchell.
The press corp was told for this particular photo op between Ms. Rice and the president of Sudan that there would be no questions. Well, Ms. Mitchell, in her arrogance, said that she was an American journalist and that their attempts to suppress information did not cover her. She shouted provoking questions at the Sudan president and continued to do so even after she was warned the second time.
How rude and brash! It's actions like hers that makes me being to understand why people in that area of the country have a bad view of the US. When visitors from other countries are in the US, we expect them to behave according to our standards and protocols. So, IMHO, she deserved what she got.
I caught a snippet of a later report that said that during the melee Ms. Rice was separated from her security people and interpretor. That was definitely uncalled for and a scary situation.
it was totally unexpected....just a little something that happened at work. the incident in and of itself should have just made me a little growly. (I interrupt this post to report that there are 15 moths on my kitchen window. On the outside, but still, it's kinda' spooky looking.) Unfortunately it was just one of those things that jerked two very unpleasant memories of being summarily and purposefully excluded from an office gathering and a birthday party for my brother to the forefront of my brain.
It really wopped me good. I was on the verge of tears and felt like a total idiot. In just an hour I had to be at an important business meeting and knew I had to pull myself together. I got some lunch and read my Harry book and that helped a tiny bit. I managed to bumble my way through the meeting where I stuttered out concerns and stumbled over explanations.
I'm all over the "wopping" and have shut the blues back in their closet, but the whole thing just left me feeling drained and unable to concentrate.
Silly, isn't it.
This may be one of those times when, in twenty years, I'll be telling Avery about the time.....
Have I mentioned before how smart he is? And that he can say the alphabet and count to 20 and he's only 22 months old? Well, maybe I have *gg*.
A few minutes ago we were "playing" the piano together. No, he wasn't playing Rapsody in Blue, but I'm sure he'll be doing that soon (heh), but I digress. I said, "Avery, listen." He stopped playing and I started playing the A-B-C song. He immediately started singing and sang it all the way through without missing a beat. When it was over, he say, "Play it again, Grammy." (hmmm, sounds like a good line for a movie.) Of course I did.
Right now he's sitting in his chair, drinking some chocolate milk, singing the Piggy Sue song, the one I enhanced, made better IMHO, from Peggy Sue. He's singing "Piggy Sue-oo-oo-oo-oo-oo" :-)
Such a sweet little fella'.
Now, in twenty years, I may not remember exactly the date or exactly how old he was. Maybe I'll still have my weblog archives to remind me.
52-year-old trying to keep up with a very active (but totally adorable) 22-month-old for two days. 'nuff said!
here's the email I just sent to BAMM. I think it explains things pretty well.
when pre-orders for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix were announced, I ordered OOP from Barnes and Noble. BN knew that their customers were anxiously awaiting their copies and went the extra mile to assure customer satisfaction by delivery the books to the homes of the customers on the release date. I received mine at 9:30 a.m. on the release date.
Since (at least up until now) I have always preferred doing business with BAMM, I pre-ordered through BAMM, assuming I'd get the same service. I had to attend some functions with my grandchildren this morning and excitedly looked around the house for a BAMM package when I got home at 2:30 this afternoon. When I saw none, I was worried that perhaps someone had stolen it but consoled myself that perhaps that the deliveries just hadn't been made to this area. I had already tried to look on-line for my order status but unfortunately your company doesn't keep order status available past six months. Such a shame when you sell books further ahead than that.
When it wasn't here at 6:00 I called BAMM customer service. I was told it would be delivered on Monday. When I explained to the CR that I was disappointed to hear that news, explaining that BN had delivered on the release date. There was silence..for about 30 seconds the girl said nothing. It was as though she was silently saying "tough stuff." Finally she said (and I'm quoting EXACTLY) "Well, we're not the same company and we don't do things the same way." No joke.
Again, I'm extremely disappointed in the way BAMM handled this, especially knowing that other book companies went the extra mile for their customers.
I've been sitting here just fat, dumb and happy thinking that my HP/HBP would be delivered tomorrow. I KNOW that I ordered it on-line, either from B&N (most likely) or BAM. I just checked my accounts on both sites and it's not showing up. eegads!! will I have to fight the crowds at WallyWorld to get it? OOP arrived at 9:30 the morning of its release. We're going to Kiley's soccer game in the morning, so if it does arrive at the same time, I might not be here. I guess I could buy it and then return it if need be.
About an hour ago, 5 big-a$$ helicopters flying in a V-formation flew over the house. They were so low that my windows rattled. I really thought a large plane was about to crash. Scary.
UPDATE!!!!! I FOUND MY CONFIRMATION EMAIL!! Thank goodness! I don't know how I missed it the first time through. BAM only shows orders in the last 6 months and this was 7 months ago. HALLELUJAH!
Yesterday I had on a suit where the skirt hit just above the knee and white heels. I stopped the car at the end of the driveway to get the mail. As I did a work truck went by, and the guy in the passenger's side smiled real big and said, "Hey, baby!" Now, this guy wouldn't come close to being named Hunk of the Year....or even of the hour...but still, at my age, ANYTHING is a welcomed ego booster!
Today I went by Dillards to the Chanel counter and had a fall makeover done by one of their leading makeup artists. He's even done Laura Bush's makeup on occasion. As usual, it's a LOT more makeup and a lot more bold colors than I'd ever buy for myself, but it was still fun.
We didn't get great amounts of rain from the hurricane, but it rained a torrential flood from around 1:00 AM last night until around 8:00 this morning, complete with deep, rolling thunder and lightning that cracked and split the sky.
It's my turn to write the column for On a Girl's Mind for the August-September edition of All Things Girl. I can say it in my head but when it comes time to put it on paper or on the computer screen, it just doesn't come out. What little does slog out the ends of my fingers sounds bland and stupid.
I know I've harped on this before, but it's so frustrating to not be able to do something that for me used to be so easy and pleasurable.
Part of the demise of my creative writing skills occurred when a fellow author, and someone who professed that I was her closest on-line friend, wound up being a vicious person, and hurt me and some others very deeply. The problem was that I pretty much suffered my experience in silently and very alone. The others who were attacked had the support of others, but I couldn't say anything because at the time this person was an important person within my authors group. At the time, none of them would have believed me and would have taken her sword of malice and unleashed its fury on me. Actually she told her lies to two others in the group and they did turn on me. Later on, they discovered her true nature and figured out that they had wrongly found me guilty of being a hateful witch. One actually apologized for her actions (thank you, Shana); it's too bad the other never did. But I have forgiven her anyway and I still consider her as a friend.
It would be easy to say that I shouldn't let this person have had so much control over my life, but it wasn't anything that I had any control over. I tried...oh how I tried to write but it was as though a Dementor had sucked all ability totally out of me.
This person recently made a post on an on-line forum on which I am a regular member, stating that she had retired from writing fanfic. I so wanted to reply, "Yeah, after you kicked your friends in the a$$, stabbed them repeatedly and maliciously in the back, and left them to die." But I didn't. It would have meant that I had to lower myself to her level and I'll never sink to that depth of meaness...never ever.
Odd thing about storms...they seem to have minds of their own. They also seem to say "nanny-nanny-boo-boo" at experts who predict their paths and strengths. Dennis looked like he was going to live up the predictions as a wickedly strong Category 4, possiblly 5, storm when it hit the Gulf Coast. Forecasters were saying that Dennis would be at least as strong and destructive as Ivan, maybe even more so. I shuddered for myself, remembering the total blanket of debris and downed trees, and for the victims who were just now getting their property back together.
Hurricane Dennis slammed into Cuba, hung around their for 12 hours, and moved on. He'd weakened some, down to, what, around 115. He gathered more strength as he crossed the Gulf of Mexico and was clocked at 145 mph as he approached the Florida/Alabama coastline. But a funny thing happened...just as he hit the coast, he wimped out. Very good for the residents and businesses in that area.
The damage around my area was very light, although there are still some power outages. None here though. Our lights dimmed last night aroud 6:00 for about 5 minutes but that was it. I had cleaned out the large closet under the stairs and put in two baby bed mattresses, pillows, bottled water, and snacks ... oh and Pampers and wipes for SuperBaby :-) The hubs mentioned last night that it looked like I had done all that work for nothing. I replied, "No, it wasn't for nothing. I would much rather have done it and not needed it, than not done it and needed it."
There's still the very real danger of flooding, but we are rarely directly affected by that.
We're very lucky to have escaped with no more than soft rain all day with an occasional gust of wind.
My cocker spaniel "granddog" Aubie died late yesterday afternoon. My son, DIL, and Superbaby were almost ready to leave to come down here for the weekend. DIL went to make sure that all the doggie feeders were full and that they all had fresh water. She saw that Aubie was acting strangely, very quiet, just lying there.....very different from the normal Tigger-like canine.
They tended to her for about 15 minutes and she finally got up and ate a little turkey. They went back in to get more turkey and when they went back out, she was just wandering around, obviously not hearing or really seeing anything. By the time they reached her, she had lay down in the edge of the woods. They sat down with her; she took four or five breaths...and she was gone.
One of the things Aubie loved best was chasing a thrown tennis ball. She would do it for as long as you'd throw. If she couldn't find the ball right away she'd bounce through the grass, stop, lift one paw, and look for it. When you'd be inside the house, it wasn't unusual to hear a distinctive thump-thump-thump, which meant that Aubie had dropped her tennis ball down the steps of the deck.
Very late last night everyone had gone to bed except for my son and me. We were talking about various things when we heard a very loud, very distinctive thump-thump-thump. There was nothing going on inside or outside that would have made that noise. We sat stunned, not making a sound, listening for anything that would explain the sound. "Huh. It sounded like it came from the outside, like someone hitting on the door," he said. "Um, yeah, but I don't think so," I said.
Call me looney but I think it was Aubie saying goodbye.
What horrible thing to have happen. My heart aches for the victims and their families and for the people of London. I nearly cried when I saw Tony Blair speak this morning. It was evident that he was very torn up about the situation. Such a difference from yesterday when he and Londoners were so jubilant.
I wonder if similar explosives were planted in Paris and the terrorists detonated the ones in the city that won the the bid for the 2012 Olympics.
You've seen the notations on various weblogs that say things like "Mood: Serene" or "I'm feeling blah." Some even have appropriate graphics. I don't anything like that, but if I did, it would say I was in a grumpy mood and would have a growly face.
Nothing has really happened to push me over the edge. Just a series of little things. I know, I know. I should not let petty stuff bother me, but when I know that seemingly insignificant things have a hidden meaning behind them, well, gosh darn it, it DOES irritate me.
Assuming my lotus position ... focus on the positive ... calming thoughts ....
(1) Note to the hubs: never yell at a dachshund with bladder control issues when she's on the bed.
(2) As part of a work-sponsored all-day seminar the hubs attended, a specialist in defensive driving told them that when driving in the rain, the vehicle is actually going faster than the speedometer reads. Something about the tires not gripping the road and not accurately registering how fast the vehicle is going. There have been a lot of times that I felt I was going faster in inclement weather, but I thought it was just the stress of driving in bad conditions. Sounds like what I was experiencing was actually true.
(3) Do you know someone that takes one incident out of a thousand and makes it "the norm"? Two examples of what I mean. I RARELY wear a hat. I find them uncomfortable and I look horrible in them. The last time we went to Disney World, I broke down and bought a visor and wore it for the rest of the day. Yesterday at Busch Gardens, the hubs asks, "Why didn't you bring a hat? You always wear a hat." Second ... I always wear small, stud-type earrings. Large, heavy earrings hurt my "delicate" (heh) ears. One time, just for fun, I bought a pair of large, but extremely lightweight, hoops. I wore them once to a birthday party. They just didn't look or feel right on me, so I never wore them again. About a year later, a friend who was at the party and someone I saw quite often was shopping with me, pointed to a pair of really large, heavy, loudly colored earrings and said I should buy those since they were like the ones I always wear. Sheesh - or better yet WTF?