Thursday, October 20, 2011

Shop Early and Save

My Open House was a lot of fun and way easier than actually hauling everything to set up at a craft show. I'm thinking of having another one in November but haven't decided for sure.

In the mean time...shop in October and get FREE shipping on your purchase. Just enter HAPPYHALLOWEEN at checkout and get your order shipped in the United States for free.


Good through 10/31/11. Shop now and avoid that pre Christmas or Hanukkah rush! =)

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Success in Failing

Are young people (and by young I mean 30 and under...so I'm no longer considered young) today taught about the need to fail? And why is it that we even need to "teach" such an idea. I'm sure my grandparents never were "taught" how to fail...their parents let them fail plenty.

As a Recruiting Manager I see a lot of failure. The associates who succeed in the end don't let that failure stop them in their tracks. The ones who see the temporary failures as permanent will never make it any further. It seems that a lot of younger, and sadly some of the older associates, that we hire see failure as a bad thing.

I understand that failure can be a letdown and an impediment. In reality, we need to see "failure" as an opportunity to learn. Why did that approach fail? What could I have done differently? What can I learn and do different in the future?

One younger associate came in dejected recently because of a particularly hard business loss. Could it have been avoided? Possibly, but probably not. It affected him and another, slightly older, associate. Guess which one picked himself back up and kept on going?

Yup...the older guy.

Failing doesn't make you a loser. Quitting after you fail does.

I'm sure Bill Gates or Steve Jobs failed a lot. A LOT. As did Thomas Edison, the man who's invention is now being outlawed, and who found 1,000 ways to not make a light bulb (aka failing) before succeeding in giving us the miracle of electric light.

"Many of life's failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up."

Tuesday, October 18, 2011

Up, Daddy, Up

Marshal is a cowboy at heart. And daddy makes the perfect horsey. Daddy was laying on the floor and Marshal sat on his back and said "up, daddy, up". lol It was so cute. Daddy said he was "broken". =) I love seeing them play together.

Monday, October 17, 2011

What a Week

Last week was painful. Horribly painful and exhausting.

I took my mom to surgery on Monday. She had both knees replaced and is doing awesome...way better than anyone expected. She's in the rehab unit now but already ready to go home. She is walking well - they had her walking the first day after her surgery.

Tuesday my grandfather had open heart surgery. He's doing ok...still in the hospital and having some pain and nausea but all things considered he's doing good. He is 84 after all.

The biggest drama came from my little brother...little as in 30 years old. He's trying his darndest to kill himself. He's an alcoholic and has been admitted now four times in two weeks. The first time my grandpa took him in they admitted him with Pancreatitis. And a blood alcohol of .43. He was discharged after four days and taken to my moms house.

When she went into the hospital for surgery he somehow found money and walked to the liquor store and drank a fifth of vodka. My aunt called the ambulance (severe abdominal pain) and I ended up at the hospital until midnight. He was discharged Wednesday around noon...and by 4 p.m. he was back in the hospital with abdominal pain.

Alcoholics lie. He swears he didn't drink Wednesday when he got home. Yeah. Blood alcohol of .2 tells another story. He was admitted until I took him home on Friday.

He was admitted again Sunday. My mom's neighbor saw him walking down the street and asked him where he was going. To get booze.

I'm not sure how to handle this situation. I'm exhausted and emotionally drained. He's supposed to go into rehab on Wednesday. Whether it will do any good I do not know. I'd really like to have my brother back...my real brother. Not the alcoholic, lying, a**hole who has taken over his life.

Monday, October 10, 2011

To The Angry People Behind Me at Walmart

It wasn't my fault!

Walmart has a Price Matching policy. Part of that policy is that you don't have to actually bring the ads in with you...just tell them the price of the product you want to price match and the ad it came from. The staff are supposed to have the ads in the store for their local area.

The last couple of months I've had great success doing price matching...I just write up my list of price matches, what stores they were from, and took that list with me to Walmart and they adjusted the prices.

Today was a different day. I got in the line of the lady who I think is the front end manager...and a lady who I "fought" with several years ago over the coupon policy. I'm sure she doesn't remember me...although I was right and she was wrong.

So I had half a dozen items to price match, some of which were really great deals. Instead of going to multiple stores, I love being able to get stuff all in one place. Albertsons had Nestle Morsels on sale for $1.49. Safeway has Barilla Pasta Sauce for $1.69.

It was a very busy time at Walmart and after waiting in line at least 10 full minutes it was my turn...and there were at least four people with full carts behind me.

This lady INSISTED on checking the ads for each and every item I was price matching. Seriously.

I realize why...and I get it. But it didn't make the people behind me any less annoyed. I could hear the comments. It only added, maybe five minutes, but that's a long time in line.

On the plus side. I saved more than $21 using coupons and price matching. I love getting Chocolate Chips for $0.99 and S&W Beans for $0.24. Enduring a few grouchy comments is worth it for me.

Friday, October 7, 2011

A Coffee Maker for People Who Don't Drink Coffee

For Father's day I decided that hubby needed a new coffee machine. Our office got a Keurig coffee maker as an open house gift when we first moved in (the boss' wife bought it for him). It was so cool that I knew we had to have one.

I don't drink coffee. The great thing about the Keurig is that it brews way more than just coffee. I got ours at Costco. They sell them at other stores, like Kohls. But at Costco they sell it with extra accessories and extra coffee cups, called "K" cups.


To brew a cup, you literally just push a button. The K cups make a good standard size coffee cup and if you want to make more you can brew through one again...it just makes it a little weaker the second time. And alternatively you can pop in a second one to brew. 


The K cups are awesome. Hubby used to make an entire pot of coffee and waste three quarters of it...now he can make one cup at a time. And choose different flavors depending on his mood.

I'm still buying coffee beans though because one of the accessories is a reusable K cup - you grind your beans and put the coffee in the the reusable cup. It's the best of both worlds. 

AND...it lets us brew yummy hot chocolate and tea (although I don't drink tea either).

If you're in the market for a new coffee maker, and can shell out $150, go for it. We haven't been disappointed.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

I'm Not Easily Offended

And I'm not sure if this rises to the level of offending me, or just makes me shake my head in wonder. An online degree is worse than no degree at all?!? Excuse me!?
"although hard to admit, when I see someone received an online degree, I question it so much more than a traditional degree.  Here is the kicker…. I sometimes question it more than if someone had no degree at all. "
It took me almost six years to get my Bachelor's degree. Now, it hasn't done jack squat for me career wise, but I love school and I enjoyed getting my major in Political Science with a minor in Business Administration. I'm not even sure what those two things really mean. But I worked hard...getting a degree online was NOT easy.

I went through Washington State University...hopefully a "real" enough school for the likes of this author.

As a Recruiting Manager I don't really care what kind of degree someone has, or if they have one at all. I'd rather see someone's motivation, ability to work hard, and interpersonal skills.

I'm glad the author distinguishes between degree "mills" and universities that offer online programs. And that she places value on networking, experience, and volunteering.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Do You Like to Send Out Cards?

I'm a card-a-holic. I have always loved greeting cards. Have you noticed how ridiculously expensive they've gotten!!?? $5 for a card? Insane!

Last year I ran into a couple of folks who were part of this awesome company called Send Out Cards. It's not an e-Card company like some of those out there where they send e-mail links to people. Nope. These are real, US postage paid, cards. And they aren't chintzy or cheap cards either. They are the quality that would cost $4 at Hallmark.

The best part? They are totally customize-able! Even with photos. I love sending cards to Marshal's grandpa and aunts and uncles as thank you cards. I didn't have to go to the store, or print out pictures with my own ink. I just uploaded them and put them in a card...typed out my thank you message...and they were printed, stuffed, stamped, and mailed for me.

These are the insides of two different cards I sent recently:




Oh, even better, each one cost me less than $1.75 WITH postage.

If you'd like to learn more about this great opportunity...head on over here. Yes, it is "my" Send Out Cards link. But I believe very strongly in this company and I LOVE to Send Out Cards. =)

* Fine Print - Send Out Cards IS a Multi-Level Marketing opportunity HOWEVER it is one of the best ones I've ever seen. It has an actual product that is awesome. And a retail option for those who want nothing to do with distributing (i.e. selling the opportunity). So you can use the website without paying the extra fee as a distributor. It's a win, win.

Monday, October 3, 2011

Where Did All the Grownups Go?

Is it just me, or are twenty somethings really pathetic now-a-days? And not all of them, obviously, because my two little cousins are entirely responsible in their early twenties, both now married, one pregnant and a special ed teacher, the other married and manager at a coffee shop.

But this just strikes me as pathetic.
I am turning 22 and I have no idea what to do. I am living at home with my parents and four younger siblings. I am unemployed and have only worked a few odd jobs since high school. I have taken a few courses at my local university but do not have a degree, let alone any idea what to get a degree in. I was never able to decide if there was any point in going back to school without a real focus.
And I can't imagine this guy is the only 20-something with these same feelings. How did we get here?

At 22 I was dating my now husband, working at a Fortune 500 company, and paying my own way through college - "attending" classes virtually on nights and weekends. I didn't necessarily know what I wanted to do professionally, but I knew my calling was to get a degree and I've always loved school.

The idea of living at home with my mom was horrifying, though I did do a few week stink between moving out of my apartment and getting married and buying our own home. It was rough and both my mom and I couldn't wait for me to move back out.

If my son acts like this when he's 22 I am not sure how I'll be able to be a "good" mom. My instinct is to tell this loser to man up and get over it. What does he expect? For wealth to just be handed over to him without having to work? But then I re-read his letter and he really does seem to be clueless as to how to change.

Have we so pampered our children that they are going through mid life crisis before they're even a quarter of a century old? My grandpa was married and in the military during WWII by the age of 22. And I'm pretty sure they had kids soon thereafter. At age 18 you were considered a man. At that age you either went into college, more likely, you joined the military and got training for a real profession.

My grandfather never went to college. He sucked at school. And yet he ran his own business...two of them actually...successfully. Where has that individual sense of entrepreneurship gone?