Bake-off Inspired

Cooking and baking is new for me.  When I was little I never received an Easy Bake Oven (gasp) and to this day I still blame my mom for my lack of cooking skills because I never had that darn oven.   But here’s the thing, did I ever really need this oven to start trying to cook or bake on my own?  No!  And one day this past winter I realized that little epiphany and started to bake cookies.

A major downside to cooking or baking is the ginormous mess that you create.  This past Christmas I was obsessed with making new cookies and candy to give out to friends and neighbors (if you didn’t get any I still have some in my freezer).  So I researched and collected recipes from friends on Facebook, Twitter, and the world-wide web.  Everything sounded so good that I couldn’t stop at 2 or 3 recipes and instead ended up doing about 5 or 6 different ones.  When baking 5 or 6 different recipes your kitchen gets cluttered with all types of ingredients that can look pretty overwhelming.  One hint when performing Christmas Cookie Madness is to always have a glass of wine.  Sure, the recipes tend to blur a bit but you will have a lot more fun!

With the Christmas Cookie Madness behind me I thought I would try another adventure and I made a birthday cake from scratch for hubs.  We both had so much fun trying to figure out this process together.  Process?  Yes, with me this was a process!  First you bake the actual cake but then it doesn’t stop there because hubs wanted a strawberry filling and then I thought it would be good to finish with a cream cheese icing.  Is your mouth-watering yet?  I thought this was going to be easy-peasy and wasn’t really thinking about how I was going to cut the cake in half so that I could add the strawberry jelly.  I called my brother-in-law and sister-in-law who have already been on this baking kick and they offered great advice but the problem was that I was making the cake the night before the event and there just wasn’t time to meet up with them and try to borrow their fancy tool that cuts cakes perfectly.

Time to improvise.  Hubs and I went to Walmart (I hate Walmart but it is open all the damn time so please don’t judge) and couldn’t find a knife that was 9″ or longer (cake was 9″) and we were about to give up when I decided to just buy fishing line.  Hubs was nervous about this idea but if you know me I’m pretty positive and think that if you want things to work they will.  We went back home to try out our fishing line cake cutter and it was amazing!  Really, it worked perfect!  There was some confusion as to how we were going to actually get the top layer off, put the strawberry filling on the bottom layer then putting the top layer back on but we juggled (literally) and the cake was amazing.  One of the guests of hub’s birthday party actually told me that my cake was a bit dry, does he know who he is messing with?  I had to swallow some pride (and beer) and take the blow to the gut and then asked how he would have done it better.  He actually gave me a pretty good tip and I’ve already used it a few times.  This is probably a basic level tip but I’ll share anyways.  You take a toothpick and poke it in the middle of the cake, if you have cake on the toothpick when you pull it out then you need to leave the cake in the oven.  If you don’t then the cake is ready!  Great tip!

Moving on, I had to try another cake which was actually much easier than the one I made for hub’s birthday.  This time I was entering a cake into a benefit bake-off in honor of my aunt that passed away from breast cancer to help raise money for St. Andrew’s Church in Milford, OH.  I already knew that my competition was entering breast cancer ribbon cookies that were sure to pull at the heart-strings so I had to do some fancy baking.  I dusted off my cook books and started to search for that perfect recipe.  The first book was a family made cook book that my Aunt Susan put together from recipes passed down generation to generation.  That was a complete fail because most recipes called for lard, seriously?  Finally I found a recipe that looked easy and was supposed to be moist and delicious and it was.  I made Marshmallow Chocolate Pudding Cake.  At first I thought it looked gross but once you refrigerate the cake it actually marbled and you saw the white fluff peaking out from the pudding on top of the chocolate cake.  Long story short, I didn’t win the bake-off competition but I still felt great for baking my second cake!  Check back for more baking and cooking updates and please feel free to share some of your favorite recipes and I’ll surely do the same for you.

Rant a little Wednesday

Here is your warning that this post will be rant-like!

Wednesdays are so weird, they aren’t quite the beginning of the week and of course they also aren’t quite the end of the week.  You can’t really complain that we are on Wednesday like you do on Mondays for example; I have a case of the Mondays.  You just don’t say I have a case of the Wednesdays that just doesn’t sound right.  We are at Hump Day people!  And now I’m transforming Wednesday into a day of reflection and a day that we can “Rant a little” about what has happened until now.

Let the ranting begin.

Super Bowl Sunday, sort of holiday in America where we all gather with friends and family to watch one of the most coveted sports around….Football!  Why anyone would try to disrupt this day especially during the hours of Super Bowl is way beyond me but it happened.  As you all know George and I are selling our house and with that come house showings.  We have actually had a jump in activity these past few weeks but on Saturday night when Hubs and I were out I made the fatal remark of, “no way anyone will want to do a showing tomorrow, it is Super Bowl Sunday.”  FALSE!  Hubs and I actually got a phone call on Sunday around 3:15/3:2o pm that there was a Realtor wanting to show our house on Willfleet to their client from 4:45pm to 5:45pm.  As my heart sunk I couldn’t say no to a house showing so let the revisions of the Super Bowl Sunday plan begin.

Not such a bad rant, I’m really starting you off a bit luke warm today.  Don’t worry things will really heat up quickly.

I know this isn’t in chronological order but this would come second on the Rant ladder so just “climb” with me.  Thursday was girl night and I love girl night.  Especially when we make a last-minute change of location to my favorite Mexican joint in the city, El Pueblo’s.  Since there are so many of us we try to pay in cash to make things easier on the wait staff so I needed to get a few bucks out of the ATM, no sweat.  I pulled into the parking lot of the Hunt Road Kroger where I could access my ATM at the National City.  Oddly enough I had a brain fart and couldn’t remember my password because I entered it in twice and couldn’t access the account.  No big deal, I’m in the parking lot of Kroger where they house Fifth Third so I’ll just go over there and access that account instead (yes I have two accounts).  I pulled into a parking spot, ran in to the ATM, got my money and I’m headed out the door.  Let me gently remind you that it is about 6:55pm at this point so the Kroger is hopping, lots of cars and people moving around in this parking lot.  As I get in my car I am of course surrounded by two ginormous SUV’s and I really can’t see the surrounding traffic so I start to back out of my parking slot slowly.  I’m trying to get to that point where I can see whether or not someone is coming from either direction but I”m hoping that by creeping out of my current spot that another car will see me and allow me to exit since clearly I CAN’T see.  OH NO, because two or three cars zipped behind me and one had the audacity to honk at me.  WHAT the WHAT?  I am unable to see and I’m creeping out, help me out here people and let me get out of this spot.  Kroger parking lots should not be trial locations for the next Daytona 500, you should be going the minimum speed.  This is not the first time or place this has happened (Bruegger Bagel parking lot in the mornings on Kenwood Road is DANGEROUS) and this most certainly won’t be the last but I can rant!

Okay, now that we are heating up, it is safe to say that we have reaching the boiling point.

Let’s take a jog back to Monday, you know the day when you have a case of the Mondays!  I woke up early to go to spinning class at 5:30 am and I made it, bonus points for me.  I got home, got showered, and out the door with time to spare and with a little gitty-up in my step.  I was in a good mood, not only did I get up early to work out but I just felt good about the day, I was going to kick Monday in the baby maker!  I was putting my bags in the back seat of my driver side of the car and all of a sudden I saw it.  Monday just kicked me back and it was hard and it hurt.  There was a huge scratch along the driver side of my black Mazda.  What a huge punch to the gut, it just made me sick!  This scratch was the indicator that I was keyed and it started at the front of my driver side all the way to the trunk.  Who does that?  The night before (Super Bowl Sunday) we were at a friends towne home in their towne home complex and we parked next to our friends car which was technically in front of someone else’s towne home.  I really didn’t think much about it since there were a ton of parking spots available, maybe the owner was at another SB party?  Either way I was 95% positive that whoever did this was living in that complex.  I called hubs right away and asked him to call Heather and Isaiah to get the number of their complex to report a warning and I was also going to call the police to report this incident.  Heather’s car was also keyed but this was a few weeks prior when she had a baby shower at her house with her friends and family and she felt awful about it happening to me too.  She was pretty positive that it was her neighbor because the neighbor yelled at Heather during the baby shower then afterwards was when she noticed her car was keyed.  I had called the police and was told I needed to come back out to Miami Township to report the incident and if you know me you know that I put 110% in everything I do so that was not a problem.  In the meantime, Heather got back home from work and noticed her car was keyed again.  That does it for me!  We must bring the suspected “Keyer” down!

That night Heather called the cops and they were at her towne home filing a report and then also visited the neighbor in question, meanwhile I had made a trip to the Miami Township police department to also file a report.  So now this is a waiting game and until we can prove the neighbor did it I have a huge key mark down the side of my car.  Sucks!

There you have it, all my rants for the week.  Hopefully these stories will make you laugh because I have fun telling them.  As much as I may rant, it is therapeutic to get these off my chest.  So if you have a rant that you want to get off your chest go ahead and rant!  Until next week….

XOXO Jesy Girl (still trying to find a good sign off and I can’t help to think of “XOXO Gossip Girl” every time I do)

What the What? Harry Potter in Florida!

Do you watch the Super Bowl?  I normally don’t care which teams are playing because I know neither will be the Bengals (negative slam, I know) but either way there is an entertainment factor.  Whether it is for the football or the famous commercials or for both.  I like to watch for both and this year wasn’t any different.  Both teams (Colts and Saints) made this year an entertaining year to watch.  Did you see that crazy all-hands-on-deck fight after the on-site kick?  Wow, one of the Saints players really got it in the baby-maker and that was only one fight that you could see.  I can’t imagine being in the middle of that madness but I bet there was lots of biting and other kicking happening.  But let’s move on to my absolute favorite part of the game last night……the Harry Potter commercial.

At first I was thinking, another movie, what?  But after a minute (and help from a friend, thank you Isaiah) the light bulb went off and the message was falling into place like a crazy puzzle, Harry Potter is at Universal Studios in Orlando Florida! In the words of Liz Lemon, what the what?  This is an amazing day for me, I LOVE Harry Potter!  Thanks to George’s younger cousins Joey and David I am among those who have a little obsession about Harry Potter and all that comes with their wizarding world.  I have to go to this place in Orlando, Florida and since Hubs and I will be on a Floridian vacation for Easter break already we must MUST go!  Immediately I text my amazing father-in-law and mother-in-law and asked them if they were watching the game and if they saw the commercial.  Father-in-law (also affectionately known as “Big Guy”) text me back right away.  His text went like this: “Is the Pope catholic?  Of course I’m watching the Super Bowl and I did see the commercial.  Sounds good to me to go to Universal.”  SWEET!!!  It is settled then!  Poor Hubs isn’t too thrilled by this but I think he will survive.

I had to look up this crazy magical Harry Potter and Universal Studios business and it was all that one Harry Potter nerd could dream.  Literally it is one wizarding world with rides, shops and a restaurant that are from the famous books and movies.  You will feel like you are one of the characters.

Rides: Harry Potter and The Forbidden Journey, Dragon Challenge and Flight of the Hippogriff.

Shops: Dervish and Banges, Filch’s Emporium of Confiscated Goods, Honeydukes (homeade sweets), Ollivanders, Owl Post, and Zonkos.

Dining: Three Broomsticks

Sounds all so amazing and magical, I seriously want to go right now.  I feel like such a kid begging my in-laws to take me to the Harry Potter Wizarding World at Universal Studios but it is all so exciting.  There is only one little tiny blip in my plans…….the opening date says Spring 2010.  Seriously, what does that mean?  Does that mean March of 2010 or April of 2010?  If that means April, does that mean the first week of April?  I sure hope it means sometime the first week of April because that is when we will be in Florida.  So for now I have signed up for the newsletter updates on the opening date and I’m crossing my fingers!

Update to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter

It hasn’t been “officially” confirmed but my sources are telling me that The Wizarding World of Harry Potter won’t be opening until June.  I’m deeply saddened by this news and can only hope that it is completely false.  I’m hoping this information is false and that Universal Studios is sticking to their “Spring 2010” Opening date.

Rant a little Wednesday

Week Two, Thanks for tagging along!

Welcome back for a second week of ranting.  I don’t want to be negative all the time because I’m really a pretty positive – glass is half full type of a girl.  But there can be one day a week when I can just rant a little, right?  Here is your warning: RANT ALERT!

I know this chronologically doesn’t fall into place but I have to jump to this event because it was that bad.  Hubs and I drove down to Lexington, KY with three other friends to see an amazing concert (Flyleaf, Breaking Benjamin, and Three Days Grace) on Monday.  The drive down was great, hardly any traffic and we stopped at the same gas station where we bought Isaiah’s “girlfriend” a few years back.  Who doesn’t love those coincident-type moments?  The concert was at Rupp Arena and it was a fabulous arena for a concert (unlike US Bank).  The sound was great and we were enjoying ourselves.  Flyleaf had just played and we were waiting for Breaking Benjamin to come on stage.  The lights were on and we were all just chatting until…..these two girls sat down next to me.  There was actually one open seat between me and the girl so I asked her if I could put my coat and purse in that seat.  She was fine with that and in her southern accent said to me, “That’s okay baby I won’t be usin that seat.”  Right, not using the seat to sit in but using it to dump your beer all over on.  She got so excited about the music (who wouldn’t, it was great) but I draw the line when you start spilling beer all over my coat, jeans and purse.  Then during the time she was next to me (they would leave to smoke or get more beer and then they couldn’t find their seats again) she elbowed me numerous times.  At first I was in “Cranky Jesy” mode and poor George was trying to switch me spots so I wouldn’t have to deal with them anymore but I finally was able to laugh it off and lucky for me they “got lost” again and didn’t end up coming back.

Wow…I’m trying to think what else happened this week….is that it?  Could it be that there was only one thing for me to rant about?

Nahh……there is more!

Let me preface this next rant with the following disclaimer: I am excited that my house is getting showings because that will help us sell the house.

But seriously people, do you have to come at 4:30 pm on a week day?  I can see 5:30 pm or 6:00 pm during the week or ANYTIME on the weekend but not 4:30 pm!  I know that there are those of us that have other shifts than the typical 8-5 but I can’t imagine that there is more than 30%!  Selling a house is not that hard it is the other “stuff” that makes it more of a production or a process that is finely tuned every time to ensure that the potential buyer will fall in love with your house.  There are just certain cleaning techniques that you have to follow for the showing such as:

• Putting away anything that reminds the potential buyer that you own pets
• Putting out the “good” towels
• Finger testing every clean surface to ensure there is no dust
• Sweeping like you have never sweeped before in your life
• Making sure everything is put away and is tidy
• Re-arranging furniture to make your house seem bigger
• Collecting all the trash from everywhere
• Cleaning up the dirty laundry in your laundry room

You are getting the point….

And because we have the two dogs we need to get them out of the house before we can really finish up the sweeping.  It is just a PIA!

Well, I guess that concludes my rant session this week but please pass along any rants you would like to share!

(I feel like I need a sign off signature, like Gossip Girl has “xoxo – Gossip Girl” maybe mine can be “xoxo – Jesy Girl”)

Rant a Little Wednesday

I’m not doing this to be completely negative, it just isn’t my style, but if I see some ridiculous stuff then I’ll share it with the world (or all 5 of you that read my blog).  Clearly there is something that has motivated this post and “Rant a little Wednesday.”  I’m not sure if this will be a weekly thing or not, it will all depend on the craziness in the world that I find as either humorous or just plain silly.

Rant #1 Lady got her purse stuck at Kroger

Yes, truly this did happen and right before my very eyes.  I was unloading my many groceries on to the conveyor at the register and I’m no slacker at this task.  I like to hurry up and get them all on there so the cashier doesn’t have to wait and therefore hold up any lines (slow people drive me crazy).  The lady that was there before was finishing up her transaction and went to lift her purse off the conveyor where the groceries are supposed to be.  As she did this the conveyor started to move and push my items forward, sounds about normal.  But oh no, as the conveyor went forward it caught part of her ginormous purse and it got stuck.  I mean STUCK.  Not the end of the world but you wouldn’t have thought that by the way she was screaming, yes, screaming.  To make this rant shorter than my story I already told a few people, the lady wailed on about a screw driver and finally after 10 minutes or so the purse was released and all was well.

Rant #2 Eating and Texting is good unless you are driving

I know you all ready my blog post about texting while driving, right?  So I’m a bit passionate now about not texting while driving and therefore it creates curiosity and I’m always checking people out when I’m on the highway to see if they are doing it.  Well this yahoo next to me was not only texting while he was driving but he was eating a friggen bowl of oatmeal or cereal or whatever it was.  SERIOUSLY?  So if texting while you are driving is 8 x worse than drinking and driving what would texting and eating something with a spoon out of a bowl while driving be?  I just hope this Miami grad (had a Miami grad sticker on his lovely black Honda) is really smarter than that!

Rant #3 Q102 Caller that needed a man’s opinion

Do you listen to Q102 in the morning?  I normally switch back and forth between the Jeff and Jenn Show and NPR, I know…..two totally different shows.  I like to get the latest gossip on Q102 and of course some of those songs have some “pump-up” value in the morning.  Typically Jeff does this segment allowing women to call in or email in questions to get a man’s opinion and he calls it “Jeff Un-Zipped.”  Pretty cute, catchy and I see the point.  Women always want to know what the man is thinking and what better way to find out then asking another man?  I can actually hear my husband saying at this point, “Jesy, just ask me” and don’t worry George I do.  Okay, on to the rant…. so the women that called in actually said something like this:

“So the man I’ve been off and on with just doesn’t seem like he is in to the relationship, he will hang out but only if I go over there and we will talk but only if I call him so it just seems like it is always on my terms.”

WHAT????  Do you really need a human opinion, forget the man’s opinion, to figure this out.  Lady, he’s just not that into you!  Let me break this down for you, if you are the one doing all the work then he is lazy and clearly you are just “whatever” to him because he might be lonely at that time.  You did say this was off and on, right?  Wow!  It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to get this one, does it?

I can’t really think of much else but stay tuned, I might make this a weekly thing!  Only problem is that I need to remember all the craziness that happens until next Wednesday.  Don’t forget that if you have a little rant to go ahead and get it off your chest (in the comment field of course) we are all friends here!

Happy Birthday Hubby!

Last year birthday at Perfect North Slopes

Happy Birthday to the most amazing husband.  Who knew that when I was a freshman in high school that I would be married to the senior that I stalked in the hallways?  True story!  Either way, George has turned 31 today and I hope that he has an amazing birthday tonight with family and on Friday with lots of great friends.

I know he doesn’t turn his birthday into an entire month affair like me but still I want him to know that I think it is a special day and I hope it is a great one for him.  Who knows, maybe someone will buy his lunch (hint hint work friends).

Happy Birthday George!

America’s New Deadly Obsession

Drugs?  No.  Alcohol?  No.  Food?  No.

Cell phone use while driving?  Yes!

I want to preface this blog with the following statement: I’m not doing this blog to sound preachy.  I had an “aha” moment while watching today’s episode on Oprah and I couldn’t sleep tonight unless I got this blog posted and sent to my family and friends who I care for and love.

I’m one of those people that drive approximately 20 or so miles to work and then back home and I promise you that most of those 20 or so miles are occupied with me being on my cell phone in one capacity or another.  I’ve been known to check my email accounts, update Facebook, update Twitter, text and then talk on the phone all while sitting in rush hour traffic or going up to 60-65 miles per hour.  Am I alone?  Nope, I know that I’m not alone and I bet that most of you do this as well.

While watching the Oprah episode on these mobile distractions I learned some VERY scary statistics:

~ Half a million people are injured and 6,000 are killed every year due to cell phone distractions such as texting and talking on the phone while driving.

Scared yet?  Just keep reading.

~When talking on your cell phone you are 4 x as likely to be involved with a crash but when you are texting you are 8 x as likely to be in a crash.  8 TIMES!

Here is the scary part, according to the experts on the show, people that are drunk are 4 x as likely to be in a crash.  So that means that people texting are more of a danger than those who are drunk.

Hopefully that really catches your attention because it certainly caught mine.

I have been involved in a car accident while I was on the phone and I know it was my fault and I know that my cell phone distraction was a main contributor to why I was in that accident.  I was lucky!  I was going up an off ramp and looked up with enough time to slam the brakes and hardly bump into the car in front of me that was stopped at the red light.  This really was avoidable and that is the point – accidents that involve texting and cell phone use are 100% avoidable.  Did you read that?  100% avoidable!

Here is my pledge, I’m going on to Oprah.com and I’m taking the pledge to help do my part to put an end to distracted driving.  I’m going to stop texting while driving, DONE, no more!  Also, I’m going to do my best to stop talking while on the road, I’m going to keep this at a true minimum.  Hey, I’m not perfect and I know this is a habit I’m going to have to work on.  I hope that each person that is in the car with me reminds me of this if I ever slip (Jami you are the best person when it comes to reminders).

Take the Pledge on Oprah.com

I hope you pass this around to your friends and family and take a second to think about using your cell phone the next time you are in the car.

Much Love,

Jesy Herron

108 Days till we are cruising!

Okay fine, I’m that girl that counts down till her vacation.  Am I normally counting down this early?  NO, but c’mon this is the most exciting vacation since my honeymoon.  We are going on a cruise!!

Here are my goals:

• Lose 25 pounds

What?  Did you think there would be more?  I guess I could add that I want to tone up my body (especially the booty) and I want to eat healthier but that all will be part of the “lose 25 pounds” goal.  And no I do NOT know my current weight.  To be honest, I think I’m at my heaviest but I’m not stepping on a scale until this weekend.  Why this weekend?  Well, I had one of those coming to Jesus moments with myself on Monday night at the tanning place.  You know the one….when you look at your all naked self in the mirror and think, “OH MY GOD.”  Yes, well that was me right before I stepped in the cancer box to make me feel better (tanned fat is better than pale fat).  I couldn’t believe I had come to looking like this and I really need to step up and do something about it.  I’ve said this to myself so many times and I just need to do the work.  I need to cut out crap and add in more work outs.  So here I go….updates on the weight might come later!

Sorry Best Buy, but I’m done with you!

Here’s the deal with me, I’m a great loyal customer and consumer to all the brands that I love and adore especially when they have great customer service.  Did you read my post about Southwest Airlines? But when you cross me or give me pitiful customer service I’m going to have a little rant about it – sorry Best Buy, but you have just lost two previously loyal customers all because of how I was treated this past New Years Eve.

On to my story/rant:

This really starts in October at my parent’s annual chili cookoff when my dad knocked my amazing Kroger Easy Share 12.0 mega pixel camera out of my hand.  YES, I know I should have been wearing the gosh darn strap that comes with most cameras but I had just pulled the camera out of my pocket to take a picture and poof, shit happens.  Skip forward a few months to New Years Eve and I’m standing near the camera department at Best Buy.  I had been doing research on which camera I would own next and I wanted to make sure to get a good one because I am planning on keeping this on for a long time.  I was taking a gander around the cameras when a Best Buy supervisor noticed me and asked me if I had been helped.  I told him I’d like to talk to someone about the cameras and that I had done some research on the camera features and did some price comparisons on Amazon.com.  He was unfamiliar with the cameras and promised someone would be over right away, which they were.  I was talking to the suggested  Best Buy representative with notes in my hand and questions ready regarding the Nikon Coolpix S570, I also explained how I found the camera on Amazon.com for only $137.57 and their camera was $199.99.  Now I know that Best Buy does have a “Best Buy Retail Store Price Match Guarantee” that says the following: 

If you find a lower advertised price on the same available brand and model prior to your purchase or during the exchange and return period, we will match that price. Simply bring in the ad of the local retail competitor or Best Buy, while the lower price is in effect and receive your price match.

Here is where I get a bit sour!  The Best Buy representative said that Amazon.com is tricky and they are only able to match the prices when it comes from Amazon.com and not a retailer on Amazon.  Not a problem because I had already done my research and I knew that the price was from Amazon.com.  So we went to one of their in-store Mac computers and looked up the price I had found on Amazon.com, sure enough it was $137.57 and sold by actual Amazon.com.  The Best Buy representative told me that he would need to get this price approved from his supervisor and then I’d be good to go.  We went to talk to said “Supervisor” in which he informed me that the price on Amazon.com was too low for him to match, they would lose money and he could maybe negotiate with me somewhere in the middle.

WHAT?  Doesn’t the “Best Buy Retail Store Price Match Guarantee” state that “If you find a lower advertised price on the same available brand and model prior to your purchase or during the exchange and return period, we will match that price. Simply bring in the ad of the local retail competitor or Best Buy, while the lower price is in effect and receive your price match?”

That let down really wasn’t what set me over the edge, when I tried to talk to the Supervisor about their price for the camera he just turned around and ignored me and started to talk to another customer inquiring about a bag.  Are you kidding me?  I was in the middle of a conversation with you regarding this ” Best Buy Retail Store Price Match Guarantee” forget the fact that my husband and I have spent close to a thousand dollars with you in 2009 alone and you completely ignore me.

I turned around, told the other Best Buy employee that I’m sorry but I’m going to have to buy my camera on Amazon.com because this supervisor clearly didn’t want my business and I walked out the door.  The supervisor watched me leave and didn’t say one word.  So now that the nail is deep in the coffin, I went home and told my husband we are never shopping at Best Buy again and that we will be using Amazon.com for our future DVD, camera, video game and other gadget or accessory purchases.  God love husbands when they know they really need to get on board or get out of the way because he was all for my new boycott and even cut up his Best Buy Rewards card!

For a happy ending to this story (I love happy endings) I was able to purchase my new Nikon Coolpix S570 camera on Amazon.com and they gave me free shipping.  Life is grand!

There is no Christmas like an Ottopal Christmas

There are so many words to describe the Christmas Eve get-together with the Ottopal side of the family (mom’s side) and here are a few of those words:

• chaotic
• crazy
• loud
• fun

Going to Sugartit, Kentucky to spend time with the Ottopal family on Christmas Eve is an evening that I look forward to and think about weeks in advance.  Sometimes there is even strategy involved in how you are going to survive and other times you just have to go with the flow.  Here are a few sample stories to help paint the mental picture.

When George and I first started dating (a little over 8 years ago) and we were approaching our first Christmas together I explained to him that my mom was going to bring his presents to the Christmas Eve family get together so he could open them there.  You know how it is when you are dating and young, you have to coordinate every detail with the holidays and especially Christmas.  Anyway,  George got quite upset that he was going to have to open all his presents (yes, there were a lot of presents for him from my parents) in front of my family whom he had just met 5 months prior.  I sort of laughed it off and told him that she was bringing them and no one watched you open the presents anyways.  He didn’t understand but he soon would.  At my grandma’s house (where we used to have Christmas Eve) the furniture needs to be moved and everyone sort of finds their place either on a chair, couch, or somewhere on the floor in the mix of it all and then all of a sudden there is wrapping paper flying EVERYWHERE.  Kids are digging into presents, tissue paper flying around the bags and then when a few select cousins get a hold of the paper they tend to wad it into balls and start chucking them at each other.  One minute you are happily opening a present and the next you are hit in the side of your head with a snowman paper wad.  Ahhhhh…family!  Did I mention it was loud?  With about 35 people in one small space yelling “Thank you” or “oh good, I thought you would like that” it gets pretty intense.

George quickly learned that this chaotic mess of people, paper and presents was the event that he now wouldn’t trade for anything.  Sure, I could have probably warned him a bit more but seriously there is really no way to describe this event you just have to be there.

I’ll be sure to take pictures and maybe a video of the madness of Christmas Eve with the Ottopal family so that you can get a better glimpse into this fabulous family event.