there's something about Miley

tom brady..and the rest of the bunch

Can you tell I am avoiding cleaning my house? I am. There is no other explaination for two posts in one morning.

They are out of school for the summer and right now at this very minute they are hiding from me. We have to go to go begin the annual, "hey school's out, so let's make you miserable and clean out the playroom instead of going to the pool and having fun like every other kid in america is doing right now" process.

I have a feeling I am going to hear ALOT of whining and complaining...so I am avoiding it myself.

On another note..hasn't the dog grown? He's recovering from a REALLY bad haircut. I mean BAD people. He could easily qualify for the ugliest dog in american contest right now. You can't tell from these photos..and I am frankly embarrassed to show you a photo of the full damage. Maybe tomorrow. Let's just say, when the groomer asks you if you want to give your dog a "summer haircut"..you should probably say, um..no. I knew I was in trouble when I went to pick him up and the technician who was working at the time, who apparently hadn't seen Brady yet, gasped and said..ooooh...that's...wow. That's a haircut all right.

hello..is it me your looking for?

I'm not even going to address the obvious. Let's just start over shall we? Just pretend I was on a reeeeally long vacation, like when friend Becky went to Washington last month and we were all like, 'um hello, is becky EVER coming home?"

I started this blog a couple of years ago when I was at the height of my scrapbooking obsession. EVERYONE was doing it. It was a window into the lives of the almighty scrap gods, and for the obsessed fan (speaking of myself here, not you the reader..lol) it was like a daily dose of the latest reality show..only not quite as tacky as living lohan or denise richard's new show..not that I would know what those shows are really like mind you..I don't watch them (live anyway, I tivo.)

I was pretty darn committed to the blogging phenominon back in the day. Almost a daily poster. I don't know what changed between now and then..well I do kind of. I got a tad bit shy and paranoid. Somewhere along the way blogs went from being rainbows and sunshine to becoming kinda nasty in the scrapbooking world. One or two turns of being mentioned on THOSE blogs and I was rocking back and forth in a fetal position, ready to eat everything in site. (I freak out=I eat.) So, I crawled under a rock and stopped posting for fear of being eaten alive and getting my feelings hurt. After way to long of an absence, I realized, who am I kidding? Who do I think I am..lol. I said to myself, Self, so what if you get mentioned on the anonymous blogs..until you show up on Perez's blog you ain't got nothin to cry about.

but by then it was just too late.. I was out of the habit of daily blogging and frankly I just got lazy about it all together. I fell out of the routine of checking in, and decided what do I have to say that is relevant any way? No one wants to listen to me go on and on and on about nothing. Been there done that. It was called Seinfeld Miley, and they've all seen it done a million times on reruns by now. So I just stopped talking.

i told the girls last week at dinner(the bagels=kelly becky she who is as bad as me about blogging Becca Holly denise Lisa ) that my plan was to start blogging again and have a REALLY big give away right of the bat..like she does and give away like a trip or something..and how funny it would be because NO one would even know about the give away because who am I kidding, I have no following, and second of all anyone who was bored and used to read this blog stopped oh, FOUR months ago due to the weeds growing up around the edges.

So basically this will now be a home for me to talk to myself..because lord knows no one is actually reading anymore, and if you are well then you have either the patience of a saint to have stuck around, or you lead a really really boring life and should probably come to my house and help me clean.

Speaking of cleaning, remember oh, back in JANUARY when I was going to clean and purge my scrapbook room? Yeah. About that. It's still not done. In fact, it's worse than it was. I haven't done much (any) scrapbooking since like January. It's safe to say I USED to be a scrapbooker. Not so much anymore. I lost that loving feeling. Which led to me leaving the garden at 2peas last month. That was I have to say,a sad sad day for me. A "kick a girl when she's down" moment in my life. While in my head I knew I had no business being a garden girl anymore, as I was not pulling my weight and had nothing creative to offer, my heart was hurting at the thought of not being a part of that group of women anymore, so I held on by my toenails longer than I should have. I think I held on so long because I knew the  minute the lights are turned off on you, and your name is taken off the list, you are alone. You spend several years of your life talking and becoming friends with a group of people and BAM! you no longer can chat with them and are thrown back into the general pea population where you have no one familiar.  Sounds pretty pathetic doesn't it?  Without sounding even more stupid, I just became really dependant on that group of girls..and I don't know if they even realize it.  I miss them every morning when I sit down at the computer. They were a constant in my life that I won't be able to replace. I miss them terribly.

So today I start over.(again) By then end of the week I HOPE I will have a new look to this blog. A make over. It needs one. I have things to share. Stories to tell. So let's give it yet another go..and if this time I fail miserably, I will hang up my blogging shoes forever.   

Hello new year

Christmas is finally over, the last of the decorations are all put in the rubbermade totes. The kids are back in school, and it's time to start thinking about doing all those home improvement projects that have been on my list for quite some time now. First, I would REALLY REALLY like to have a microwave in my kitchen that actually works, and doesn't spark and sound like a nuclear bomb when cooking chicken nuggets. Running up and down from the basement to the kitchen is slowly wearing on me. I would also like to replace our dishwasher in our kitchen, as the soap dispenser does not work. The lid is broke off, so it's always a gamble as to whether the dishes will actually get cleaned, or if remnants of last nights spaghetti will linger and greet me when I open the door to unload. I really really hate that.

My list also includes moving my boys out of the same room, and into separate bedrooms. They are convinced they want their own rooms, I personally, like them to contain the carnage of dirty boy to one room in the house. I am not winning this battle. Daily I hear from them about having their own room. Mainly from Drew, as Cole has discovered axe body spray, and is convinced Cole is slowly killing him off with the fumes.

I also have a wee bit of a problem growing in my basement. The scrapbook room is out of control. Imagine if you will, the worst you can visualize a scrapbook room to be, and then double it. It's probably really close to what I have going on in my basement. Boxes and boxes of product, and layouts, and more product and uppercase living clutter..all shoved into (not so well I might add, it's spilling out into the hallway now.)one room. I have turned into one of those packrats that are always featured on Oprah and Montel. Seriously. Friend Kelly keeps telling me she will come over and help me clean it out, (or at the very least be the voice of reason in telling me to throw out the early 2005 Paper Fever paper, if I haven't used it by now I never will)  but I know what that means. It means 90 percent of what I have in the room will be GONE. Friend Kelly doesn't mess around. She is a purging machine. I'm not gonna lie.That scares me a bit. What has become of me? I have gone from being organized and everything has it's place in this space, to being the lady from the Today show who couldn't throw away any gift bag or tissue paper she had ever received. EVER. Her whole house was like a discount gift wrapping emporium. Mine, is a starting to look like Archivers without the pretty fixtures.

In other news. We have a new member of the family. Santa is not a very smart man apparently, but a sucker for a good Christmas list. You see he knows, that when a 10 year old who is teetering on the brink of believing ,(no thanks to the big mouths in his class who can't bear to let the magic continue for someone else, but have to make everyone around them a cynic as well. Don't get me started..lol) asks for something really big you do whatever it takes to hold onto one more year of the magic.

The note that was left, crumpled in his bedroom, under a pile of dirty socks and baseball cards read:

'Dear Santa,

I don't think you are real. I think it's all fake. BUT, just in case you ARE real, the only thing I really want is a dog. One that my mom won't kill or give away. So if you are real, you will make this happen. If I don't get a dog, then I will know you are fake because my mom would NEVER in a million years get another dog. It would be a Christmas miracle.

Love,
Cole #9

So as you can see, apparently Santa thought it was a good idea to deliver.  We have had a couple fatalities in the pet arena over the years, so I am pretty sure Santa took one look at the letter and immediately felt horribly sad for Cole, and would have brought him a pony had that been on the list. (In my defense, I have never done bodily harm to a dog before, our weiner dog got ran over, we gave away the boxer because he was just too much dog for us, and frankly, everyone, including the dog was miserable. The guinea pig, the cat, the hamster and several fish over the years? Well, we won't go down that road today. lol Don't judge me. I really am a good pet owner, I am.

So Tom Brady is officially a member of the family. Yes, his name is Tom Brady. Brady for short, or several other choice expletives at 4 in the morning when all I wanted to do was stay under the covers, but he decides to go out and romp around in the snow for a piddle.

Time to run. The dryer is beeping at me, and I have a couple Uppercase Parties to close out. Speaking of Uppercase Living..lol. We have a new catalog out! TONS of new items, plus a brand new embellishment library that brought back a lot of different pieces from previous catalogs. To view the catalog, go to www.uppercaseliving.com register as a new customer by using my demonstrator id: 753311 and the registration token: JOHNSON. To view the embellishment catalog you just click on customer resources and it is under there. :) I am one recruit away from promoting to Director, so the push is on. I can't believe how quickly that has happened! Wish me luck, or just sign up to sell...lol :) Under me of course...:)  

I have discovered the "ugly cry" christmas song of 2007

Bring him home santa

It's $.99 to download, and a portion of the profit goes to St Jude's Children's Hospital. A good cause for sure. Now go download it...and I dare you not to cry..lol

I will be back soon..I have a give away to finish from the last blog post! Bear with me!

Tis the season...

to neglect the blog..but who am I kinding, you all know that already. Love me..don't judge me ok? lol

Today is November 30th, and if you are wondering where I disappeared to this month, this is the date that has caused me to drop off the face of the earth. Yes, this is ANOTHER ode to Uppercase Living. It has become the new obsession, the new love of my life. November 30th, today, is the last day to get orders in for a guaranteed in time for Christmas deliver. It has been an INSANELY busy busy month. As of tonight, at the stroke of midnight I will have closed I believe 18 or 19 parties. I lost track somewhere around 12. lol That's a whole lotta letters. A whole lotta words..and apparently even polka dots too! (I LOVE Kelly's laundry room..it turned out SOOO good!) I am tired..and I need a nap. But it has been really really fun. I am addicted to designing these things, and am always tickled by the things my customers come up with to design..and then when they send me photos of the final product..it makes me smile even more. This is a current favorite. I loved working with this customer. She basically turned me loose, and said...just design me something fun. She wanted a piece for her daughter's room that would speak to her personality..and I think we got it right!

In this same house, I designed a bunch of inspirational quotes to go around the top of the wall in a very cool sitting room/piano room. The photos just don't do the room justice..I LOVE how this turned out..the colors, the fonts..it just makes me happy!

 

The tomato red walls with the terra cotta quotes is just SO neat I think...here's a view of another wall in the room..imagine the quotes going around the entire room...which they do..lol. :)

The photos aren't the best quality..apparently I don't know how to use my point and shoot camera right..because the photos are coming out like poo...either that or I am a spoiled girl who is too used to big honkin camera quality. lol

  I have a few other shares...but those will have to wait a few days...I can leave you with this one. It is a favorite..one I have to REDO..A. because it is crooked, and it was driving me nuts..lol...and then B because I broke it, after I fell down the steps of a customers house carrying a bunch of samples from an open house. Not one of my more graceful moments. How embarrassing. lol

Oh! And this one! How can I forget this one! :) It's a happy happy scrapbook area...and I LOVE the quote...:)Isn't it just so true?

Alrighty then. Here's to Friday. :) It's going to be a good day..I can feel it. It has to be right? Running out the door to get together with the bagels for an impromtu meeting of the minds..(read..the mommies were dying for adult non buggery nose interaction..lol) Then home to work on projects for 2peas. :) :) Hooray! If you find yourself desperate for Uppercase Living today, feel free to email me...or go check the catalog out!..or maybe you need to get off the fence and sign up to sell this in your area...you know you want to! I would love to talk to you about it! :)  The catalog is here..and you can use my demonstrator id: 753311 and the registration token: JOHNSON to look at it, and to design custom pieces! I can ship directly to your house! (sorry. I am such a used car salesman aren't I?..lol)

In fact, if you go register online to look at the catalog, and then come post here..I will enter you into a drawing. A little uppercase living goodness especially for you! I can't show you yet what it is..because it has to stay under cover until tomorrow, but let's just say I'm feeling festive, and in the holiday spirit! :) If you find something you want, and place an order..I will enter your name in said drawing twice. How's that for upping the anty...? (is that the word, anty? or is it annie? or ali?...you get the picture..lol) ok..gotta run! :) 

Happy weeeeen...

As baby Ella would say...:)

Behold..I give you: Frankenstein, Captain Underpants, and Marilyn Monroe...(my husband says she looks like a drag queen..lol)

Have a safe and happy evening! :)

                  

Hannah mania

she's a wee bit excited, can you tell?

Hello.

I'm not even going to make any excuses as to not blogging this week, other than to say..I had 5 uppercase shows this week, and I haven't been around much. It's been really busy! Which is good..but makes me tired, and not really on top of my blogging. Friend Kelly told me that I needed to just write small posts..and not feel like I had to write an epic novel every time I post. Going to try and remember that. lol

So we had a tragic morning here today. Mario the guinea pig died sometime overnight..and this morning there was a ceremony recounting his life of timothy hay eating, and orange slice binging. There were tears...there were hugs..it was a sad morning. Hard at any age. pig or not.  I am not sure we will be replacing him, Cole said he was tired of pets dying. Ouch.  (we have lost a hampster, a cat, 2 dogs, and countless fish since he was little) I don't know for sure, but I am thinking poor Peeps the cat is probably shaking in his wee boots just a bit. (relax peta people..he's fine.)

In other news, Tuesday is going to be a big day...Hannah Montana comes to town. Brenna and I are going to get our nails done, and then find the "perfect" outfit. I am sure that eventually we will find something that is worthy for the big affair..but it's always an adventure shopping with Miss B. She's so excited she can't hardly stand it. Truth? I am excited too. It should be a fun time. I mean really..her name is Miley..so she can't be that bad right? It's funny..I have become some what of a circus animal for 6 and 7 yr old girls..they can't hardly believe it when I say my name is Miley. It totally cracks me up.

My favorite though is when moms ask me.."is that really your name?" Um..no, I am just obsessed with a disney channel celebrity, and loved her show so much that I just had to change my name to Miley.  I mean really..seriously?? People have honestly asked me if it my real name. It is. It really is. It's my REAL name...I had it first. 

The thing that kind of stinks though, is I suffered through the name growing up. I was constantly being called Millie or Molly...or my always favorite, Smiley Miley. Ugh. Not to mention I never had anything personalized. No pink glitter pencils, no bicycle license plate, no cool coin purse or shoelaces. Nope. Nothing. As a little girl that really was sad. Here we are 20 some years later, and I am finally cool and rockin a hip fun name. ANd now there are t-shirts with my name all over them..Go figure.

So tomorrow is Monday, another day another adventure. I have several crafty projects to finish up using Uppercase Living..doing 2 craft shows soon..so I have to get my little crafters workshop all cleared out. Had a fun time at Becca's crop this weekend, and sold some really fun glass blocks with lights...love them..so totally fun and cute. I also got alot of ornaments finished..they are so stinkin cute. :)

enough rambling...until next time!  I leave you with Billy Ray Cryus...sans the mullet. and a tribute to his daughter Miley. Love this song.

I am sensing a Monday trend

...ok, so at least there isn't a month or two lapse between posts...baby steps people, baby steps.

A friend who shall remain nameless (ehem..Kelly) was giving me a hard time about posting on Monday and then nothing the rest of the week. I told her, honestly, there wasn't anything exciting and interesting to blog about. I mean come on, not every day can be a WIllis kind of day. lol  So unless everyone wants to read about how I did 14 loads of laundry this week, and sadly, the floor of my laundry room is covered again already, or how I tried to de-clutter my scrapbook room, only to break down in tears and curses to the high heavens, there's not really been a whole lotta blog material. One constant in my life these days has been Uppercase Living. So, since I haven't really blogged about it...here is my blog post slash infomercial for the day..or week should this be the only post I manage to post this week..lol

Let me be the first to say, that I am not a home party kind of person. I have managed to avoid eye contact with many a home party consultant. Mary Kay tried for years (well, not Mary Kay herself..lol) to recruit me, as has the equally relentless Arbonne cosmetic people. Pampered chef and tastefully simple? That one was easy..I am not a cook..so trying to sell that line would be a disaster. Creative Memories tried early one to get their hooks into me, but gave up when I wouldn't drink the kool-aid. I like my bad bad nasty not necessarily acid free product.

So you would think, that after years of being successful at avoiding signing up to demonstrate anything..I would be a wall. A wall of resistance not easily torn down by any type of home party concept.

I was wrong, and it is all Heather's fault. I am not sure she even knows it is her fault...lol..but let me reassure you, that it is INDEED her fault. Back in April she had a post on her blog about having an Uppercase Living party. I had never heard of such a thing. What was uppercase living? What a fun name I thought! And as we all do, I clicked on the link, and found myself wanting to see a catalog, and then I immediately thought..I could totally sell this. The minute the thought entered my head, I yelled at myself.

NOOOOOO.! You will not sell anything, you will not wear an apron and become one of those people who hands out business cards, or runs after potential customers in stores, or has their business name on their vehicle. NOOOO you won't do it! Look away from the light! Run from the light Carol Anne! Run from the light!! (poltergeist movie reference)

Yeah. about that. In my defense, I don't wear the apron.

Seems lots of little vinyl companies are popping up all over the place these days. Some local, some abroad. I guess I appreciate that Uppercase Living has done their homework, and didn't jump on the vinyl bandwagon without doing a bit of research. They have tested, and tested their product some more, AND they use a vinyl that is specifically developed for walls. Not just any old vinyl, which I have seen some of the vinyl on the market these days, and without naming names...I wouldn't put most of it on my walls. Plus Uppercase Living has a 60 day guarantee on their product, which makes my level of confidence even higher.

On top of that....I LOVE that not only is Uppercase perfect for the walls in your home, it is perfect for home decor pieces..and even, you guessed it, scrapbook projects. These are two projects I made for my open house display. One is a shadow box of miss sassy pants Brenna, with an expression on the box, and then the big butterfly is an expression that I mounted to chipboard. The holiday sampler shadow boxes are just military memorabilia shadow boxes from hobby lobby. The expressions are mounted on mat board, and then can be changed out to fit the season. SO fun!

   

And who can resist candy corn...anyone who has been reading my blog long enough, knows that I certainly have a strong affection for the small sugary bits of goodness. In honor of my love, I created a candy corn candle holder...:)

And of course, you can't go wrong by putting the expressions on the wall. I have several in my home, but this one remains my favorite. It's a custom one that I created. I just love the quote.

So yeah. Uppercase Living has become my new obsession. I am really enjoying this new found adventure. I have only been a demonstrator since the end of April (I think? or first of May?) and I already have 6 wonderful girls who are reps under me. Climbing up the Uppercase food chain, one letter at a time. I never would have imagined that I would already be in a position of leadership, after such a short time, but because the company is so new, and it is so hot right now, people are really excited about the possibilities. It's a ground floor oportunity for sure, and I know I would have jumped at the opportunity to be one of the first Pampered Chef demonstrators, cook or no cook..lol. It's the same thing with Uppercase Living right now. The market isn't saturated, and the potential for growth is really wide open. Can you tell I am sold on it? lol

If you want to check out the catalog, you can! Just visit www.uppercaseliving.com and click on customer log in. Then follow the steps to create a user name and password. You will need my demonstrator id: 753311 and the registration token: JOHNSON. That will give you full access to the catalog, and the custom design center where you can design your own expressions..any quote, any name, anything. I warn you though..it's addictive. :) Holler at me if you need any help, or want to place an order, (it will ship directly to you via UPS)or want more info on becoming a demonstrator..I would love to talk to you! :)

Anyhoo..without having this post sound like an infomercial any further than it already does, I will move on. I suddenly feel like I am wearing a plaid suit or a cheesy banana suit trying to sell you a used car down at Ricco's used car emporium.

In other news...we are in full football mode around here. Lots of fun for Cole. He is really enjoying the sport, and seems to be a natural. I had to miss his game on Saturday, as I was out pimping my words at an open house, but from what I hear, it's a good thing I missed it. Apparently Cole was facemasked so hard that his little body was literally bent in half backwards. There was an audible gasp from BOTH sidelines, and the coaches kept asking him if he was ok, but he jumped right up, and got right back in the game. No tears. No need to have his hand held. Bryce said it was a good thing I wasn't there to see it, as it would have made my inner gorilla mama come out, and I would have probably went nuts on the kid who did it. He said it was really bad to watch. Shudder. I just keep telling myself, he will survive the season. I continue to watch with only one eye open though. In honor of my little football superstar, I jumped on the animoto bandwagon, and created this 30 second short. I think it's pretty fun. :) He looks so mean and tough when set against music. lol Since I am not technically advanced enough to figure out how to add the video directly to the post...here is the link. lol Cole football video

So, how's that for a blog post?

Just another manic monday

It's 8am...and I can now hear the muffled chaos of my children in the garage. Finally. They are out the door for the day. Which means I have 10 minutes of uninterupted down time, to blog surf, catch up on emails, and drink a diet coke. (Don't judge me.)

This weekend was a blur. I spent roughly 5 hours on the phone with Dell technical support, trying to get Greg's laptop fixed. It had a bad hard drive. No problem right? We bought the 4 year warranty on the computer, so that when things like this came up..we would be covered. We thought we were sooo smart. Turns out, Dell is getting the last laugh. The laptop might be covered, but what they don't tell you..is that the only way to have the technical nightmare serviced, is to do it yourself with the help of your "All not American" dell technician. Let's just say that in the past 4 days I have talked to more "english is clearly not my first language" technicians than one person needs to talk to in the course of the year..let alone in a weeks time. I am sure these technicians are wonderful people, one in particular in Oklahoma City, was most entertaining..and actually appeared to be a real person instead of someone who can only read from a script. His name was "Ike". Which cracks me up.  I know they try and come up with names that are easy, and typical "Dick and Jane" america..but Ike? Seriously? Ike was trying to help me while watching the Colorado-Oklahoma football game on Saturday. Yeah, the one where the sooners got beat? I'll spare you the details, but let's just say..there was burping, yelling, and far too many references to him being a "technical genious". At one point I asked him if he had transfered his office calls to the local TGI Fridays and was eating a plate of chicken wings while tinkering with my insides. (of my dell that is) He never did answer that question..hmm. Needless to say, Ike was not the be all end all to my technical problems. In fact, 10 minutes after I talked to him I was back on the phone with Max, who finally...FINALLY got Greg's entire laptop back in working order, and it appears..it is totally back to normal.

The funniest name of a Dell technical support representative, however goes to my "good buddy" Willis. Yes, you heard it right his name was "willis". From the minute he told me his name I was muzzling myself from blurting out the obvious. It was painful. I was laughing so hard on the inside, waiting.....waiting....waiting for the perfect opportunity to walk into the joke. Finally, after about 10 minutes, he diagnosed what he believed was the problem, and the moment was mine:

"Willis" the Dell technical support man: (Imagine all dialog of Willis in a really heavy,HEAVY, accent)

"Now, Mrs Johnson, I am regretful to tell you that after much diagnosing and much tinkering, I have come to the most logical conclusion that your hard drive on your inspiron 9300 is indeed, no longer in working order. I see here that you have prepared for this unfortunate series of events, (no lie. He said that. Who is he Lemony Snickets?) and you have a 4 year warranty on your entire Dell system. This makes me breathe a large sigh of relief in your direction (no thank you) and I will be pleased and confident to be able to send you out a new hard drive. Now, Mrs Johnson, you will receive the hard drive and then you will call me back at your latest convenience when is a good time for you to take time to call me, (I know..what???) and I will guide you through the ins and outsides of installing the new hard drive. I will just need you to remove the old hard drive, and reinstall the new one, and then you will need to reinstall all of the programs onto your notebook. With the help of dell, you will have a working notebook in only a matter of time.

Wait for it.

Wait for it.

Mrs Johnson: "what you talkin bout Willis?" (wild, tired of being on the phone with Dell laughter followed.)

Willis: big void of any noise.

Willis: stammering, looking through his script for the correct response to crazy midwestern lady.

Willis: probably on medication by now.

I finally let him off the hook, and told him..Willis, ignore me, I am just punchy, and that was a really lame joke, that I am sure probably didn't even register with you. It's silly television humor, willis. It's not you..it's me.

Willis: Oh haa haa. (scripted laughing only because I told him it was humor. I believe if I had asked him to bark like a dog, he most likely would have) Well Mrs Johnson, I will never ignore you, because I am a Dell technician, and we want to always be working to have you be a satisfied customer, and ignoring you would not take us down the road to satisfied, but would only discourage you and make you upset and have conflict with Dell........"

It was at this point I checked out. He went on and on and on about Dell, and warranties, and mailing instructions, and most likely he told me about the second coming somewhere in there, but I was done. Dell officially was dead to me at this point.

So, in summary..lol. It's been a rocky road with the good folks at Dell. I will spare you the details of how it took almost a week for me to get the hard drive that was supposed to be overnighted. That wasn't Dell's fault. That was the always on it folks at DHL, who for 2 days in a row, tried to deliver my hard drive to the wrong address. Now, I can see trying to deliver it once, and finding out that the address, is an undeveloped lot..but to go back to that lot, TWICE...is really beyond me. Oh yes, the tracking info and the tag on the box said the following:

First Attempt to deliver: undeveloped lot..no one to sign for package.

Second  Attempt to deliver: still an undeveloped lot. We may have the wrong address.

I know. I know. It made me shake my head. Did the dear rocket scientest driving the DHL truck think that maybe, just maybe, if he went back the second day that magically, overnight a house would pop out of the ground and be there to receive the package?

There were no words.

Well, there WERE, but they aren't probably best repeated in blog land. Let's just say, when I finally got down to the DHL pick up location after 2 days of being told.."we tried to deliver your package today, but you weren't home" I was pretty furious.  (oh yeah, they were telling me it was ALL me, that I wasn't there when they tried to deliver the package, which was ridiculous because I had been sitting at home waiting for the stupid hard drive to show up, we finally determined, that they were attempting delivery at the same street name as mine, but WAY across town..any moron who looked at zip codes would have been able to figure out, that he was at the wrong "Peach street" (which, go away stalkers..is not really my street)

So when I got to the DHL office, I was in a bit of an irritated state. First, I had to drive basically to the airport to pick up my hard drive, and the DHL people weren't even sorry. I told the manager that I was really irritated that I had to drive all the way down to their head quarters to pick up a package, because their driver was too incompetent to find an address, and if he wasn't sure..why not pick up the phone and DIAL THE PHONE NUMBER that was right on the delivery ticket. Why did they even have my phone number if they weren't going to use it in situation just like this? I told him, I can understand not finding the address the first day, but to go back TWICE to a vacant lot? Seriously?

Now I said all of this..really nicely. I did. I wasn't mean, or condecending, but I thought, you know, I should voice my complaint. So I did. Nicely. The manager then looked at me and said:

Do you feel better now that you got that out of your system? Are you done now?

In the wise words of my friend Cathy Blackstone, 'Oh HELL no." He did not just say that.

I know you are expecting a full on verbal assult, but I was calm, and I tried my best to be mature, and walk away. I did however, tell the stupid DHL man..that this is why...he wears ugly yellow shirts and shorts..and not BROWN. I know BROWN, and you sir..are NO BROWN. (I heart my man in Brown..Go UPS!)

So all that to say, that today I will finally ship Greg's laptop to him, so he can FINALLY use it at school, and most likely, in about a week or two..the dear Dell technical support team will be dealing with us again. I just have little confidence that the stupid thing is actually really fixed and back. I fear that it will forever be the albatros around my neck.

Well, my 10 minutes is up, and I have to go to UPS to ship my package. I have a feeling that it could cost me a small fortune, but ship it I must. (yoda)

As you can see...my blog banner is in much needed help. I can't figure out how to get that picture bigger. It's a fabulous photo..taken by the very talented and dear friend Becky. The old Miley blogger, would have used that as an excuse to not blog..the banners not right, so no need to blog. But no. I am committed to making this posting thing work again. So here I am, ugly banner or not.

Until tomorrow...:)