bah, humbug

This is an email that I received when I ordered a gift online. . . .

Dear Yvett,

Thank you for ordering with us- we appreciate your business. Your order number appears in the subject line of this email. Since we process your order as quickly as possible, we are unable to modify or cancel your order once it is received in our system.

You'll receive a second email from us when your order has shipped and a final email when it arrives at its destination. For your records, we've included a description of your order below. If you would like to track your order, just click (our link) and enter your email address and password. You may also track your order by calling Customer Service at 1-888-blah.

What they really should have written should have been closer to this. . . .

Dear Sucker,

Thank you for ordering with us- you're just another drop in the bucket. Your order number appears in the subject line of this email but if you try to look for it now or anytime in the next few days, it'll be of no use at all. Since you are too lazy to actually go out and shop and thought this would be more convenient, we hope you understand that there a thousands of other people just like you. Only they shopped sooner. We also process your order we are good and ready, so don't bother trying to modify or cancel your order.
You'll receive a second email from us and then a third and then a fourth when your order has shipped and a final email when it arrives at its destination. We thank you for those extra eight dollars you paid for Two Day service but hope you realize that those two days are after we have processed your order. Again, we process it when we are good and ready. For your records, we've included a description of your order below. If you would like to track your order, just click (our link) and enter your email address and password. After that you will receive a message stating that your order is "being processed". No shipping date or arrival date will be on there for at least a week. In other words, that service is purely for decoration. You may also try to track your order by calling Customer Service at 1-888-blah. Any customer service agent who takes your call (assuming you actually get through to a real person) will also have no idea when you will receive your package. Next year, don't wait until December to shop. Remember, Two Day service, to us, is just a suggestion.

feeling: frustrated
listening to: nothing! I'm home alone! Ah, silence . .

snl

I hadn't watched Saturday Night Live in the longest time. I think a couple of years. We were home last night after a long, long day and I started watching. Justin Timberlake was the host and I was so surprised at how funny the show was. I was laughing when he was dressed up as a Cup O'Soup and then the "D**k In A Box" video had me in stitches! The whole show was funny. Has it been like this lately? Have I been missing out? I was pleasantly immpressed with Justin's performance. He should look into a career change, :)

feeling: wishing there were more hours in a day
listening to: something on Disney Channel

quick apple post

I'm posting a quick, quick entry here. Once I get down to typing a real post, you'll understand that I've been busy!

So, Rodrigo and I say "How do you like them apples" playing around. I think I've mentioned before that we do a very annoying "1930's gangster" type accent which is quite hilarious. Well, to us at least. We were saying that phrase talking about people who were trying to outbid him in a recent Ebay auction. Then we started talking about how we wondered where the phrase had come from. I checked on Ask Yahoo and couldn't find the source. Rather than just try to research it myself, I submitted the question and forgot about it. I was checking email right now and nearly spit out my drink when I saw on my home page that my question had been used. BWAH, HA, HA, HA! Well, I'm glad to know the source. Look here.

feeling: super busy
listening to: Alec watching Go Diego

PTA moms hate my name

That's right. PTA moms hate my name. Last year the president of the PTA started off calling me Yvett. I know this for sure because I remember the messages she'd leave me. Then at a movie night at school, she started calling me Odette. I thought I'd heard it wrong but I confirmed the next week. She continued calling me Odette for months. I even corrected her once. And . . . I was embarrassed to correct her. She apologized, called me Yvett that day and went back to calling me Odette. My theory is that she was doing it on purpose.

This year. . new state. . new school. The PTA president calls me "girl". Ok, granted, she calls everybody girl and it bothers me soooooo much. She knows names but refuses to say them. Everyday after school, I know when she's there because I hear "Hey girl". That's how she greets everyone. At first I thought she just didn't know my name, but I'm sure now that this isn't the case. Yesterday she called me and asked for Yvett. When I said "This is Yvett", she immediately said "Hey girl!" which absolutely makes me cringe. As much as it bothers me, I know I'm not going to tell her anything. Not this lady. See, she seems sort of gossipy. She's there everyday talking to all the "girls" and very often includes phrases like "let me tell you. . " or "did you hear" all in a sort of gossipy tone. You know what I mean, right? I can totally imagine if I politely asked her to please not call me girl, she'd be on the phone with other moms saying things like "Girl, let me tell you about Brianna's mom. . . " If only she'd call me that. I have no problem being called "Brianna's mom" since that's what all her little friends call me. Also, I know moms like that: "Nicole's mom, Sarah's mom, Riley's mom". I'd much rather be Brianna's mom than girl. -sigh- I should just learn to tolerate it, right? What would you do?

feeling: COLD!
listening to: Pixies (Where is my Mind?)

lots to do

I've been crazy busy around here the last few days. The kids finished painting and decorating the advent calendar and we put it up last Friday.



That is the wall right above our chimney. I placed little tasks inside each box. Things like make peppermint hot chocolate, cut snowflakes, write a letter to Santa, etc. The kids are really enjoying it.
We also put up most of the decorations this past weekend. Everything that we have indoors is up. The only thing missing are the lights outside. It has been way too windy to put those up yet.
Also, Brianna's school asked us for some supplies because they are making a gift for the parents. They asked for a bag full of cloth strips a little less wider than a ruler. So I took ten years cutting that. They are also making a "quilt book report" due this Friday. Yes, we have to make a quilt. Thankfully, it's only 9 squares.
The last thing that has been taking up my time is the cheerleading. Our season is almost over. Whew. We knew since the beginning of the season that the last day would be a cheer-off. I'd asked the people in charge about a million times about what this would consist of. I'd been told again and again that all the squads would pick their favorite cheer and perform it. Then the squad with the most spirit wins. I was pretty confident because these girls are WAY louder than the rest. I thought it was in the bag. Then at the game this Saturday, I got a flyer giving me the details for the cheer-off. We are to perform a routine with our own music, then a few cheers all to last no longer than four minutes. WTF?!?! A routine? Like a dance? Taught by me? I couldn't concentrate for the rest of the game just thinking up of what to do. I thought about maybe having them wear Santa hats and doing a Christmas song. Then I thought about making antlers and having them dance to that Run Rudolph song. Of course later I realized that the girls would be mortified to do this in front of the football players (since they all have a crush on each other) and decided to do something that is "cool" to them. (Presuming that "cool" is still a word that kids use now.) When I got home, I started going through all my music trying to look for something that could be used for a cheer dance. Think something upbeat like a dance song or something. Also, something that is appropriate for girls aged 5-10 (nothing like that Milkshake song or My Humps, which of course, I don't own anyway) Rodrigo was a huge help by looking through his old music folders. The problem is that all our dance music is like 90's techno. Like the Sneaker Pimps and the Chemical Brothers. Anyway, I finally found a short mix online and am now going crazy trying to come up with a dance. If someone saw me dancing and counting they'd think I've lost my mind. Anyway, I have to teach this today, so wish me luck. Oh, and don't laugh at me.