Unspoken...

I woke up Wednesday morning, just like I do every Wednesday morning and proceeded to go thru my morning ritual to get ready for work. I check on my girls after my shower, finish getting dressed, lay out their clothes, fix their lunches and just before I head out the door, little Miss cries and I know she's awake.

I look at the clock and think, I really need to leave to stay on schedule, but instead I sigh and head back down the hall, pick her up, change her diaper and dress her for the day. I kiss her on the head a few minutes later, only slightly behind my self imposed schedule and head off for another day at work...just another usual day at work.

It was anything but a usual day.

From my first glance at my reader, I noticed a theme among the words staring back at me. Each combination more somber than the previous, each word trying so desperately to convey that sense of support but knowing that words would not do justice to the situation it was surrounding. Today, a member of our community lost her daughter and the pain flooded our lives like a piece of Maddie had been ripped from each of us. I read the words, each.and.every.story that flashed that beautiful little girls smile and zest for life, and the more I read the more my heart broke, the more my eyes flooded and the harder it became to breath. So I stopped. I stopped reading, I stopped looking, I just stopped because the more I saw the more I hurt for the mother who no longer had her baby to hold, to kiss, to tell how much she loved her.

In the short span of this day, I went from frustrated I was running late to wanting only to hug my children and say thank you for that extra moment I had with them. As a mother, I could not imagine what Heather is going thru, but I know that I would not wish that on anyone. In the short span of today, I suddenly felt very small for wishing I didn't have to deal with some of my 'mom' duties. In the short span of today, I got a swift reminder just how short and unpredictable life can be and how much there is to not take forgranted.

My heart goes out to the Spohr family.


***In lieu of flower the family asks that you make a donation in Madeline's honor to the March of Dimes.

BINGO

I haven't done Monday Madness in a few weeks because, well, life has kind of gotten the best of me and my aptitude to notice the obvious has ... in short...sucked!

Considering we left off Friday with a Margritaville Escape - I'm thinking we should all need to head to the store on our way back home...if your like me, your week does not start off right without a trip, (or two, three, or five) to Wal*Mart!

Yes, I live in the "south" (at least that is what everyone around here calls it) and often I've been known to refer to it as redneckville (depending on the day, I am proud of this) but regardless, this was brought to my attention some time ago and I feel that it only fair to share it with each of you. See how many you can find on your next trip to Wal*Mart! :)
**Does the 'giving away kittens' count if it comes with the purchase of a Sunday paper from the parking lot of the Wal*Mart??

Who Yell'd BINGO??! (in my best southern drawl)

Election Day

In the spirit of all things election I thought this would be perfect for today.

I HAVE DECIDED TO BECOME A WRITE-IN CANDIDATE. HERE IS MY PLATFORM:

(1) 'Press 1 for English' is immediately banned. English is the official language; speak it or wait at the border until you can.

(2) We will immediately go into a two year isolationist posture to straighten out the country's attitude. NO imports, no exports.
We will use the 'Wal-Mart policy, If we ain't got it, you don't need it.'

(3) When imports are allowed, there will be a 100% import tax on it.

(4) All retired military personnel will be required to man one of our many observation towers on the southern border. ( six month tour) They will be under strict orders not to fire on SOUTHBOUND aliens.

(5) Social security will immediately return to its original state. If you didn't put nuttin in, you ain't gettin nuttin out. The president nor any other politician will not be able to touch it.

(6) Welfare - Checks will be handed out on Fridays at the end of the 40 hour school week and the successful completion of urinalysis and a passing grade.

(7) Professional Athletes - Steroids - The FIRST time you check positive you're banned for life.

(8) Crime - We will adopt the Turkish method, the first time you steal, you lose your right hand. There are no more life sentences. If convicted, you will be put to death by the same method you chose for your victim; gun, knife, strangulation, etc.

(9) One export will be allowed; Wheat. The world needs to eat. A bushel of wheat will be the exac t price of a barrel of oil.

(10) All foreign aid using American taxpayer money will immediately cease, and the saved money will pay off the national debt and ultimately lower taxes. When disasters occur around the world, we'll ask the American people if they want to donate to a disaster fund, and each citizen can make the decision whether it's a worthy cause.

(11) The Pledge of Allegiance will be said every day at school and every day in Congress.

(12) The National Anthem will be played at all appropriate ceremonies, sporting events, outings, etc.

Sorry if I stepped on anyone's toes but a vote for me will get you better than what you have, and better than what you're gonna get. Thanks for listening, and remember to write in my name on the ballot in November.

God Bless America !!!!!!!!!!!

*As a note - I am not a write in candidate, nor do I want to EVER be a write in candidate. Despite any or your or my personal beliefs...these are not my words or my thoughts - I just thought it was humorous.*

What would you add to the platform?

Amethyst Initiative

It's called the Amethyst Initiative and more than 100 college presidents have signed on in an effort to bring this concern to the table of conversation.

All across the news headlines are flashing that college's are wanting to lower the drinking age from 21 to 18 in an effort to curb binge drinking, but will this change work? The backers of the change are claiming that the age of 18 grants people the rights to vote and to join the military claiming they are an "adult" now, but yet they are not old enough to have a beer. In opposition to the argument "Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) says lowering the drinking age would lead to more fatal car crashes."

Personally, I'm not sure if 3 years makes that much of an impact. I can remember when I turned 18 - I drank like a fish. Was this illegal, yes. Did I understand I was breaking the law, yes. Did it stop me, no. Truth is, I thought I was grown and I wanted to drink - it was a social thing for me and I was always comfortable with a drink in my hand. There were nights when I would drink responsibly and nights I cannot remember. I made some bad choices, but fortunately for me, I survived to tell the tale. Not everyone is so lucky.

By the time I was 21, drinking was not such a big thing...I'd been doing it for years and while there were still moments of alcohol impaired judgement, they were fewer and definitely more far between. I'm not advocating drinking under age, but much like anything else in society - I believe knowledge about something can help make it manageable. I'd have to agree with the university presidents in the fact that drinking under age is so taboo that it draws the kids in. How many times do you remember being told "Not to do something" and you did it anyway?

The main concern behind this initiative is not a request to have the drinking age lowered (at least not at this point) but to bring this topic of conversation to the table for an open and honest debate.

A recent Associated Press analysis found that 157 college-age people, 18 to 23, drank themselves to death from 1999 through 2005.

While I don't think this possibility will stop binge drinking, I do believe that it might find a way to lower the numbers of binge drinking deaths.

What do you think about possibly lowering the drinking age?

A-Z Meme

I know, this is a late post for the day, but I've been running like a mad woman today. Anyhow, DysFUNctional Mom tagged me on Friday so here goes.

A.) attached or single? Attached (at least that is what I hope my says otherwise he has a live in stalker.

(B.) best friend? Hum...I've had many wonderful friends who each have a special place in my heart...however, my oldest friend would be Amy 22 yrs.

(C.) cake or pie? Cake...I'd rather decorate than eat it, but give me one with fresh strawberry's and you'll have to fight me for it.

(D.) day of choice? Wednesday...something about HUMP day that makes it all better :)

(E.) essential item? Phone - it mostly rings when I'm away from the hub, but it's my best friend in the car (only time to talk alone, without children interrupting)

(F. ) favorite color? Blue

(G. ) gummy bears or worms? neither, peanut m&ms

(H.) hometown? BFE South Texas (or more commonly referred to by me as Hell)

(I.) favorite indulgence? Pedicure, bubble bath, or Saturday Morning long runs (2+ hours of no kids while the sun rises)

(J. ) January or July? July - But I prefer October

(K. ) kids? 3 between the two of us...5 if you count the hub and our cat

(L.) life isn't complete without? Laughter, love, and a dash of hope

M.) marriage date? August 4, 2006

(N.) number of brothers & sisters? both

(O.) oranges or apples? apples

(P.) phobias? no phobias, but REALLY don't like cockroaches

(Q.) quotes? They change with my mood, but my all time favorite is "Hope is only hope with all else is hopeless."

(R.) reasons to smile? My life - who could ask for more.

(S.) season of choice? Summer ... I love the heat

(T.) tag seven peeps! SEVEN? I won't make seven of you do this, but let me know if you decide to participate.

(U.) unknown fact about me? When I was little (4 or 5 maybe) the next door neighbor kid and I played a game of "the bad guys are trying to get us" and we ran to the neighbors house and told them someone was trying to break in. The little old ladies (we told) called the police and they came to investigate. Oddly enough they found marks at the window we said they were trying to break in and we described almost the same person to them (after being separated) ... funny thing was it was broad daylight when we claimed this happened, his sister was in the house sleeping and my mother was next door at my house when we claimed all this was taking place. No, we never admitted we made it up and No, we never played that game again.

(V.) vegetable? All of them, I've always enjoyed them

(W.) worst habits? disregarding a position of authority and speaking my mind

(X.) x-ray or ultrasound? both

(Y.) your favorite food? Tacos and homemade tamales

(Z.) zodiac sign? Libra

For Every Excuse A New Strategy

The Customer is always right (even when they are wrong.)

It used to be a staple point of the customer service job, but lately I've been wondering where has that mentality gone? Was it ever right? Does it fit with todays times or are we just greedy, "I want it my way" kind of people?

A conversation took place at work recently where our customer service "help desk" people we able to aire their grevences. While each person had individual complaints, they all centered around one basic issue - lack of clear cut and INFORCABLE standards with how the customer should be delt with.

"The customer is being unreasonable, where do I draw the line and say no to at request?"

The answer was simple..."You don't."

I can say I believe these words to be true because 'I've been there and done that.' It was a difficult lesson for me to learn, but in the effort of satisfying a customer, regardless of how unreasonable their requests may be - your job is still 'customer service' and they need to be accomodated to the best of your ability.

In todays world, technology has enabled us to air our grievences in many outlets. Social Media's are taking the marketing community by storm and even though a company has spent a lifetime building a reputation, all it takes is a few negative tweets or blogs to start an avalanche of bad PR.

Just look at the recent news with comcast and their massive generation of press because they have a staff that watches the tweets of disgruntled customers in an effort to minimize bad press. Many more companies are jumping on the band wagon and I imagine this will only be the beginning. Companies that are attempting to stay out of the social media frenzie are not safe either - take for example the recent Exxon media in which a woman by the name of 'Janet' had taken to posting as an Exxon Rep which stirred up controversies in itself.

Technology has given us many new and wonderful things - I can buy and sell items in the comfort of my home, I can praise and complain someone without ever having in person interaction, and I can review and rate a product without ever having my opinions questioned. It really is a wonderful place - however in the eyes of customer service, it puts a whole new spin on 'big brother watching.'

Think about it for just a moment, it used to be you filled out a comment card or were asked to participate in a survey when visiting a store - now, surveys are online and companies monitor your purchases via cookies or purchase history. Now they monitor your online interactions as well - personally I'm a little afraid.

What do you think? Customer service changes, are they better than what they were years ago or do you think we are headed into the unknown.

In need of TiVo

Some of us work and some of us don't, but we are all familiar with tactics used to obtain our business. We've all called a customer service hotline at some point only to find that after many automated choices we either get put on hold for eternity, we get a voicemail or we get disconnected and rarely do we ever get a call back. Today however, we also have the joy of email...which leads me to today's post.

It used to be if someone was fortunate enough to get your phone number they would call you to death, but now it is all about email. I can follow up with someone 15 time via email if I choose (gotta love technology,) but what I received as a follow up was beyond anything I had ever seen before. In my job, information is gathered and prepared and then sent up the food chain where eventually a decision is made....this can take a LONG time, depending on the expected need of the product. Most of the time this is done far in advance as money becomes available. Below you will find a copy of an actual email I received from a vendor who is trying to obtain my business. Imagine my shock when I read the email below, knowing I have NEVER met the writer and only spoken to him via phone about business related issues.

Hello K,

A number of days ago you inquired about *** Hosted Exchange services.
We provided some background information about our firm along with a
description of the service and a cost estimate.

After subsequent follow-up attempts, we have not heard back from you.

Please hit "Reply" and select one of the following with an "X":

1) I've been so disappointed since the “World Cup”, the last episode of

“The Sopranos”, “Treasure Hunt”, “Rockstar Super Nova “, and “The Apprentice”

that I can't get out of bed and thus could not respond.

2) My recent travels to Tibet and the Himalayas lasted much longer than
anticipated and Internet / phone access was tough to come by.

3) I found a provider who would do it cheaper and 99.9% uptime isn't
critical for my firm.

4) I decided to keep email in-house.

5) Other priorities arose and my firm never made a decision.

6) I would like you to have someone call me to discuss *** Hosted Exchange again.

Thank you for your response.

[If you selected option (2), I would be happy to help you find a more knowledgeable Sherpa next time.]

John

In case you were curious my response was as follows:

John-

In response to your email…

1) X

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

I’m sorry, I have had so much difficulty with my TV programming that my depression has kicked in full force and I have not been able to reply to any work related issues. This is such a problem that I have not been able to have my “sanity” medication refilled for many months now, which is beginning to become a real struggle. I really appreciate your concern and understanding with this matter.

Do people really send emails like this or am I just the lucky recipient of one such email???

I can't have a Big Mac?

Everywhere we look there is something new pointing to the dangers of being overweight. Now laws are being passed banning this or enforcing that in an effort to make consumers aware of what we eat.

Yesterday a headline read: "L.A. wants to clamp yearlong ban on fast food" in which

"The City Council was poised to vote Tuesday on a moratorium on new fast-food restaurants in a swath of the city where a proliferation of such eateries goes hand-in-hand with obesity."

We are now going to have our choice of food restricted by the city and/or state because they are grouping all of us as obese? What about those of us who are not? I know McDonalds might not be the healthiest choice for dinner, but on occasion I like to go and eat a Quarterpounder and fries.

A few weeks ago this article was released "New York City Resturants post calorie information but others lag behind."

The new rules are part of an anti-obesity campaign that has also included a recent citywide ban on artificial trans fats in restaurant food.

Calorie information has long been made available to the public via websites and pamphlets in the eateries, however in many instances (as made public by the movie SuperSize Me) many times this nutritional information is not properly posted or is unavailable at locations. With the ruling in New York, the calorie information will be posted next to the food item in the same size font as the price. Talk about a shocker.

As an avid eater food conossour I am always interested in food trends and health. In early July, the latest results of of the 'fattest states' were released. My state ranks #3 on this list, so perhaps I should care less about the regulations, but I think perhaps there is more to blame than just the food.

1. Activity -It is a well known fact that we, as americans, are not the most active group of people. If you think about it, most of us spend 8-10 hours in an office, typically behind a computer. The only real workout we get is our fingers going type-type-type on the keyboard. Technology affords us the luxury of not having to get out of our chairs by enabling us to email documents instead of hand walk them, google information instead of manually searching thru stacks of books. Just for giggles wear a pedometer to work one day and see how many steps you actually take from the time you leave your house to the time you leave work - if I don't make a conscious effort at work to get up and move, I don't get very many at all
2. Cost - Along with health news there is massive information floating around drawing our attention to the economic turmoil all around. Recession, depression, economic downslide, fall of the dollar-these are all terms that have been spouted at some point in time. Fall out of this...higher grocery prices. Milk is right at $4 a gallon. Come on - seriously, a cow's milk cost that much and we're not even talking organic. Fresh vegetables have gone up, fresh meat has gone up...what items are cheaper in the stores??? Frozen, prepacked goods and canned items. The larger your family, the harder it is to buy all fresh all organic.
   

It's a sad thing when I can go to the grocery store and buy 2lbs of lean ground hamburger meat, a package of buns, lettuce, tomatos, pickles and cheese and spend $20 when for the same $20 I could have gotten 2 value meals and 2 kids meals for the same price - which included fries and a drink. Bottom line, fast food is cheap.

I thought it only fair to mention this article "Heavy? It might be your neighborhood"

A new study found that the year your neighborhood was built may be just as important as diet and exercise for shedding pounds. Those who live in neighborhoods built before 1950 are trimmer than their counterparts who reside in more modern communities, the study reported.

I agree with the take away message of the study:

“The take away message is that we’ve got to start building communities the way we used to. Prior to World War II, we basically built walkable communities, but for last 60 years we’ve been building sprawl and people don’t have to be physically active as part of their daily lives.”

I like having things within walking distance and am more apt to walk there as opposed to drive across town for the same thing (especially with the rise in gas prices.) But even still, food is only part of the problem, activity levels are another part.

Don't get me wrong - I'm an advocate of healthy eating, teach our children and ourselves how to eat properly and it will go along way. I'm also a fan of being busy. We do not sit in front of the computer/Wii all day, we get out and take bike rides or walks in the neighborhood and play sports. I just don't think that rules and regulations should be imposed on me and my family's choice of foods.


What are your thoughts on National Obesity and the changes taking place?

2 wolves legend

I've thought long and hard about today's post and actually started a few different drafts, but in the end I thought this would be best.

An elder Cherokee chief took his grandchildren into the forest and sat them down and said to them, “A fight is going on inside me. This is a terrible fight and it is a fight between two wolves. One wolf is the wolf of fear, anger, arrogance and greed. The other wolf is the wolf of courage, kindness, humility and love.” The children were very quiet and listening to their grandfather with both their ears. He then said to them, “This same fight between the two wolves that is going on inside of me is going on inside of you, and inside every person.” They thought about it for a minute and then one child asked the chief, “Grandfather, which wolf will win the fight?” He said quietly, “The one you feed.”

There is a fight going on inside me and it has been for a little while now. I'm sure this is part of the 'growing' process, but it is none the easier. I do not want to feed the wrong wolf, but it seems difficult to coax the other wolf into eating what is on offer.

Which one will win..."the one you feed" replied the grandfather, but I believe it is the one with the biggest heart.

Do you ever feed the wolves or have you learned to subdue them?

Tequila and Salt

I didn't really have anything special in mind for today's post, but I received this from a dear friend and thought it might be fitting for today. I'm not a fan of email forwards, but found that some of this 'advice' does indeed make my day a bit brighter...enjoy! (comments in green are from me)
~K

Tequila and Salt

1. There are at least two people in this world

that you would die for.

2. At least 15 people in this world

love you in some way.

3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you

is because they want to be just like you.

4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone,

even if they don't like you.
(smiles are contagious)

5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you

before they go to sleep.

6. You mean the world to someone.

7. You are special and unique.
(there is only one ME)

8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.

9. When you make the biggest mistake ever,

something good comes from it.
(lessons come from the strangest places)

10 When you think the world has turned its back on you

take another look.

11 Always remember the compliments you received.

Forget about the rude remarks.
(harder than it sounds)

When life hands you Lemons,

ask for Tequila and Salt !