Intention is worth something, but the behavior after the fact will always carry more weight. If you don’t get what I mean by that, then you can call me and we’ll talk through it.
Coming into something with the “right” purpose doesn’t mean much when the end result doesn’t resemble what you intended in the beginning. Letting pride and ego take the wheel can often be a derailing force. Losing sight of the goal and what is really important… it’s gotta go.
First, Happy 6th Birthday to my step-daughter Riley. I can’t believe how quickly time flies, and it feels like yesterday when she was a 2 year old and I found myself being a mom to another toddler. Wow! She’s a fun, bright, energetic kid who really looks up to her older siblings and is often the life of the party. I hope you have a wonderful b-day!
Secondly…
It’s the weekend, and what better thing to do to celebrate a few days off than see a movie! What movie, you ask? Well, here’s an idea…
Unicorn City is family friendly, fun, and nothing less than a good time. It’s playing throughout Utah, so find a theater and get out there!
One of the main characters (Rhubarb, the Centaur, and possibly the stand-out character in the show) happens to be a good “friend” of mine… one who happens to be the father of my 3 children. Acting has always been a passion of his, and I’m happy that his dream is being realized. Congrats Clint! Now get me a free t-shirt.
Wow… what a day. One that ended well :).
On to the post…
This morning at an appointment with my son, a handicapped person came into the office in a wheelchair. In addition, his arms were very short and hands were deformed… enough so that the office staff had to take down his information rather than have him fill out the paperwork. At this particular office, you have to sort of navigate through a sea of chairs in order to stand in line so that the next office assistant can take your info and money. And this line is formed back from the windows, to protect patient information, or so the sign says. This man could clearly not make his way through, so he sort of “stood” off to the side.
A couple, probably in their mid 30’s, sitting near me made a comment that made me sick to my stomach. They said something about “cripples” wanting to be treated equally, yet they want all sorts of special treatment. That it was unfair that everyone else had to adhere to the rules, yet he could just wheel on up and not have to conform.
Seriously? Yes, I’m sure that him not having to stand in line (even though he did wait his turn) is SO worth it. The inability to walk can be totally made up by getting to park in a closer stall. Or skip a line. Or live any kind of “normal” life.
People who are so incredibly clueless and lack any discernible amount of intelligence and have absolutely no idea of how stupid they sound… it’s gotta go.
Been sick. Still sick. One thing on top of another. Cold. Another cold. And now the flu (or food poisoning… not sure which). I can’t wait to feel healthy again! This mere taste of longer than I’d like illness makes me so thankful that typically I’m pretty healthy, and also so empathetic to those that aren’t. Fingers crossed that my immune system kicks things up a notch soon!
I like to breathe between sentences and I am also not a bidder at an auction. So don’t tell me your phone number or credit card like you’re an auctioneer. It’s not a race… you’ve already won your reservation.
People spewing information at me mach 50 when I’m taking down their info… it’s gotta go.
That and me getting another cold.
Chocolate, flowers, a Hallmark card, jewelery… all the traditional Valentines Day fare. A dinner and movie was part of our plan.
But as I write this post, lying in bed with copious amounts of snot plugging my nose and feeling like invisible midgets beat me with a bat while I was sleeping, my husband is in the kitchen missing the Jazz game and preparing dinner for me because I’m too sick to go out.
This morning he went in late to work to wait for the water heater repair guy because I had to go to work. And he put a bunch of laundry away during the wait.
Honestly, all of these things are more romantic to me than items that can be bought in a store (but I must admit, I really do like the assortment of bubble baths & gift card 🙂 ).
Happy Valentines Day!
This whole about Josh Powell and him murdering his two boys has been the predominant story in the news in Utah since Sunday. I’ve been keeping up on the articles online as well as the comments.
There have been a number of people who write something to the effect of, “the media drove him to it”, “he will be forgiven”, “blah blah blah”. These all make me want to vomit and then have a serious sit-down with these people.
Yes, bad things happen to people. But in this case, I believe that J.P. created this “bad thing” for himself by, oh, I dunno, murdering his wife. To make excuses for the heinous act of taking the life of his innocent children in such a selfish and violent way is such a bunch of crap. People get raped, beaten, have family members killed, lose everything, wrongly accused, kidnapped, held prisoners in dog cages in a dark basement for years, etc., and they manage to NOT kill their children. If incredibly stressful situations caused people to murder their children, I don’t think there would be any kids alive today.
There’s this great thing called accountability. We are all responsible for our own actions. No one or no thing can MAKE a person do something. I’m a psych major, so it’s not like I don’t acknowledge or am aware of mental illness, and what a person who is sick can do. But I do not believe that in this case it is anything more than a horrible person taking what he sees as a possession (his boys) with the mindset that if he can’t have them, no one will.
Back to what’s gotta go… people who can excuse and justify murder with the ole, “the devil media made me do it”… it’s gotta go.
Over the Christmas holiday, we kind of throw many of our rules to the wind. Bed times? Definitely not the 8 – 8:30 p.m. that we have during the school week. Healthy eating? Sometimes :). Homework and a fairly structured day? Not so much.
Even though the holidays are over, the kids have yet to accept that we’re back in the swing of things. Every weekend, they never fail to ask if they can stay up until well into the next day watching movies, eating popcorn, and giggling like a bunch of, well, kids. On the weekends, we meet somewhere in the middle. Yes, you can stay up late. No, you can’t watch another movie when it’s 11 p.m. No, I think the one glass of soda was enough.
Friday night the kids watched Real Steel, which they had all seen in the theater, but loved it so much that everyone was super excited when they saw that Greg had brought it home from RedBox. Emma spent the night at a friend’s house, and her brother (and Ian’s friend) came to our home. What a fun night!
Saturday was pretty busy with a basketball game and tons of laundry catch-up.
Sunday morning was when we all dug in. We had friends coming over for a Superbowl party, and there was a lot to get done around the house. The kids cleaned rooms and bathrooms, and Greg had a super fun time deep cleaning Alex & Emma’s room ;). The great thing about parties, other than the party itself, is that for a short period of time, my house is clean! Not just one room, or one floor. The WHOLE THING!
Our friend Emily brought home-made chilli (YUM!), and with the buffalo dip, 7-layer dip, chips, drinks, and treats, everyone stuffed themselves silly and made a huge dent in our smorgasbord. Greg is such a great dad, always thinking of new things to entertain the kids. Before the game, he bought a bunch of $1 prizes at Target. He then created a questionnaire/prediction sheet, and gave prizes throughout the game to kids who guessed various aspect of the game. Regardless of the outcome, all of the kids ended up getting prizes, and I think it was a great way to get them to watch and cheer for the game.
Of course everyone loved the commercials, which is the REAL reason we all watch the Superbowl, right? I think the favorite of the kids was the Ferris Bueller inspired Honda one, and I really laughed at the Sandman one :).
The only buzz-kill was the news about Josh Powell and how he murdered… yes, MURDERED, his children that afternoon. There has been a pit in my stomach ever since hearing the news, and it makes me absolutely sick. Those poor kids. I try to keep this a family friendly blog, but I have some thoughts about J.P., and my “wishes” for him. Yeah.
OK, back to happy.
It was a great weekend. Much was accomplished, and there was tons of fun to be had. Sometimes the mere volume of people in our home can get a little overwhelming, noisy, and crazy. But for the most part, everyone plays together so well, and there is a playmate for everyone! The chaos is well worth the rewards.
Yesterday I ranted about what is a relatively small group of people. It’s only right that I rave about the great ones.
The other day a lady left her tripod in one of our condos after she checked out. As soon as she realized her faux pas, she called me and asked if there was anything I could do. OF COURSE, I was happy to ship it back to her.
When I got into the office today, I was more than pleasantly surprised to see an email in my inbox, informing me that this woman had just sent me a $50 “gift card” to Amazon.com. HOW COOL! And what a wonderful surprise! It was something I definitely didn’t expect.
Whether it really is or not, I feel like part of my job is taking care of people. And if they leave something behind, why not take a little time out of my day to make it right. I’ve left things behind before, and never saw them again. I was happy to do it without any kind of reward or compensation. But this generous display of appreciation really made my day. Thanks C.C.!
OK, so I’m late. But it’s 2012, and really I was just aiming for my weekly post for 2011. Yes, excuses will get me everywhere.
Work. You’re kind of supposed to hate working, right? I actually really enjoy my job. Much more than I thought I would. There are times when I don’t want to wake up early to get ready. And the every other full Saturdays kind of suck, but overall, it’s been a great experience. I actually LIKE my job!
The majority of the guests that stay in the condos we manage are awesome. I even got my first rave review on our website (typically people just comment about the condo itself). I’ve received a few emails after people leave, thanking me for helping them… and pretty much telling me I am the best thing that has every happened to them. Pretty much.
But there are a select few that make me want to junk punch them. They are the type in which it really doesn’t matter WHAT we do, they are determined to complain about something.
A week ago me and the other reservationist had issues with 2 separate guests just 1 day apart… a-hole people who had complaints that in over 1700 reservations and 5 years, we’d never heard anyone complain before.
Maybe it goes back to some people feeling entitled. Maybe some people do not feel complete until they have been a royal a-hole each day. In my case, I was professional and friendly, but stood my ground and “gently” pointed out that the complaint was entirely this guests fault and probably due to his head being rammed up his butt. My co-worker unfortunately left her experience in tears.
I get it, sometimes customer service people are idiots. Just read my Wednesday posts over the last year and you’ll know I often agree. But when someone is helping you out (especially when the jerk I was helping was the one that made the mistake, which quieted him up pretty quickly), or when you’re just speaking to people in general, being respectful goes a long way. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been working with a super high maintenance person, and because they are so sweet or grateful, I’ll pretty much do anything for them. You may not like the person, or like what they have to say, but being courteous can still be accomplished.
You know the old adage about flies and honey, right? Because when you are using something other than honey, you might get swift kick in the baby maker.
Jerks that appear to be adults yet have not learned the basics of communicating with other human beings… they’ve gotta go.
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