Pizza with a side of life

Some of you may have heard that I have this talent. We like to call it "Old Man Knack". Basically it's the ability to make otherwise cranky, old men to become nice and pretty much fall in love with. In the endearing kind of way. Unfortunately, this ability sometimes presents itself in the oddest places and with people I wouldn't have imagined would be affected. This is a story about one of those times.

Last night I decided to order a pizza. I wasn't really feeling like cooking much. It had been a long afternoon in the sun, at the Draper Temple, for a friend's wedding, a late afternoon nap, and then making and packaging several orders for Spell It Out. I just wanted something easy - aka something I didn't have to make. Everything went as normal. I placed the order online and waited for the delivery person to show up.

When the pizza arrived I was greeted, by name, by the delivery guy. He asked how my evening was and I politely responded and returned the question. Little did I know that he was having a bad day... bad week... bad month... bad couple of years - and I was about to learn all about it. Situations such as this make me unsure. Obviously the guy needed someone to talk to, but was I really the right person? Also, I am standing at my front door holding a piping hot pizza, in my lounge clothes just wanting to plop on the couch and chill for the rest of the night. But, I stood in the doorway and listened to the delivery guy tell his story about his life, his marriage and his kids. He even showed me pictures of the kids he so dearly loves and was concerned about. I offered my candid opinion, when he asked for it. He seemed very confused about life and not quite sure what he should be doing. Granted I did feel odd about the situation.

1- I don't know this guy or his life. Who am I to offer up advice?
2 - He is about 1.5 times my age.
3 - Jon was not home at the time and could not rescue me.

For roughly 45 minutes I stood in the doorway listening and giving my opinion. The delivery guy talked about his frustrations with his marriage, potential divorce, his recent run ins with the law and possible physical abuse of his kids at the hands of a loved one. All of these things I don't necessarily feel a stranger should be privy to, unless they are some sort of professional in a related field. Basically all I could tell the guy is that he needs to do what will make him happy and what is in his heart. I am not sure how many times I rephrased that sentiment. Obviously, he needed someone to speak to. I even encouraged contacting a Dr. He told me he was already seeing someone. Either there was something about me that made him feel comfortable in talking, or just likes to tell all of his customers about his personal life.

Jon later arrived home to find me still in the doorway talking with the delivery guy. It seemed to be perfect timing. I felt the conversation wasn't going to end. I also felt guilty in just shooing the guy away after he poured out his story, but it was very awkward to be the person who chose to spill it all to. I was uncomfortable about it all. Jon saved me.

Once Jon arrived the stream of stories stopped. The delivery guy focused on Jon and told him how wonderful of a person I was to listen to him. During the conversation I had kept mentioning that my boyfriend was on his way home, hoping that would wrap things up. I did finally wrap things up but not until Jon got there.

I worry about the delivery guy and hope he finds what he needs in his life. I am also concerned that there might be a knock on my door one day and it's him randomly stopping by to talk. I don't want to be short/rude to people... but, honestly, I was a little bothered that all of that was dumped on me by a stranger.

Am I wrong?

Simple but Classy

I like to think that I am not a super high maintenance type of girl, but I do like to look good. Unfortunately, I have this horrible ability to fall in love with products that are later taken off the market. I love Sephora and would buy everything I could from there, but I do have to keep my budget in check. I have previously bought my favorite cleanser and facial lotion at Bath and Body Works.

Pure Simplicity Soy Face Cream



Le Couvent des Minimes Honey & Shea Cleanser

But, as I hinted to above they have since discontinued them. I lucked out in the beginning and bought a couple of bottles of the cleanser and facial lotion from eBay, but supplies are diminishing.

Seeing that my ration of lotion had run out I decided I would buy and try a new a new facial lotion. I picked up the Aveeno Positively Ageless Lifting & Firming Daily Moisturizer SPF 30. This is the first time I have ever purchased an "ageless" type product. But I read that winkles form in our skin when we are young and it's when they get big and deep that we actually start to see them in our skin, and because of this we should start to treat wrinkles before we can see them. Well I bought into it, and then bought Positively Ageless lotion. I also picked Aveeno because I have used their products in the past and have liked them. This product however, I am not *in love* with.

Pros

• Smells good
• Not greasy
• Contains Sunscreen & it's higher than SPF 15
• Keeps my face moisturized

At this point you might be wondering well what is her problem then. I'll tell you. I never really seemed to notice it before, but apparently I rub my eyes a decent amount during the day. Maybe, it's because I am staring at a computer screen with fluorescent lights above. Who knows. But, when I rub my eyes I manage to keep getting lotion in my eyes and then it irritates my eyes and they sting a little. I have even tried not putting lotion on around my eyes, but it still manages to find it's way onto my fingers when I rub my eyes and makes everything a little blurry.

Here's where you guys come in. Help a sister out. Give me the inside scoop on the facial lotions that you use and love.

Craft Lake City

I found out this weekend that I was one of the artists picked to be in the first annual Craft Lake City Festival. Yay! I will be there selling my chalkboards and new whiteboard items. The festival is on Saturday August 8, 2009 from 2 p.m. - 10 p.m. at the The Gallivan Center in downtown Salt Lake City.

You can check out more info at their website.

Really?

The last week has been pretty stressful with a lot of business related items and shipping issues to deal with. By Friday most of that had all been resolved. It was beautiful weather, payday and I was looking forward to the weekend. I received a coupon in my email from Barnes & Noble and decided to treat myself to a new book. All seemed well until I received another email from Barnes & Noble telling me my card had been denied. Thinking maybe I had just entered the card number in wrong. You know things like that happen, I called them up and gave my card info to them again. Tad! Resolved. Or so I thought.

Later last night I dropped by the store to pick up a few things, once again using this same card for the purchase. Then the cashiers says, I am sorry ma'am your card has been denied. What the.. Having paid my bills earlier in the day and knowing my personal budget, I am fully aware there is more than enough in my account to cover this purchase. Whatever - I am holding up the line and slightly embarrassed my card was denied. I pay with another card and go on my way.

Highly concerned about the matter I phone the banking establishment today. While on the phone with someone from customer support, who's name I can't pronounce and an accent I barely understand, I am advised due to possible theft of my card info they turned my card off on Thursday. Working in the internet biz I am more than aware of identity theft issues and appreciate any action taken by a company to protect my information as well as my money. However, I never received any sort of notification that they were shutting down my card. At this point I am more than mildly annoyed with the situation. This being because the financial institution I am dealing with does not have a physical branch, in Utah, that I can walk into and withdraw money from my account. I know, my fault, but when your account is linked to your investments and gets a better interest rate you are willing to accept some things. Plus I have never run into this problem before. The customer support representative tells me it will take 7-10 business days to get a new card. Not awesome! Now I am even more inconvenienced.

I ask the representative if there is anyway for them to expedite this card, since I was not informed of the situation on Thursday or else I would have called then, and I would really appreciate access to my money. Granted, I could transfer the money out of that account to my other bank account but that is still going to take 3-5 (usually 5) business days to get, due to banking regulations. The representative says, yes they can send the card Fedex but it will cost me $20. Umm, excuse me? I asked if this can be waived, because once again NO ONE TOLD ME THIS WAS HAPPENING! I am placed on hold so a manager can be asked.

Since people make mistakes, as I mentioned above with my card #, I decided to log into my account while I am on hold and just make sure that I wasn't a flake and missed this "alert" that was sent to me about them shutting down my card. I sign in, check my alerts... and no alert about the card. The representative comes back on the line, lets me know the fee has been waived and I will get another card in a few days. Great! I let the representative know I just double checked my account and there was no alert sent to me. At this point I would have appreciated being told something such as "I am sorry about that, I will be sure to pass that along to my management so it can be looked into". Being realistic I know those statements are made to people who are upset as a way to calm them down and that info is not always passed along. But, I still would have appreciated hearing it and do think an error was made here. I am not destitute until this replacement card arrives, but don't appreciate that I have to use money intended for another purposes because of someone's lack of attention to detail. I can always look on the bright side, that none of my money was fraudulently taken from my account.

Maybe modern conveniences, aren't so convenient after all.

Amazing

As many of you know we have had an enormous amount of rain the last few weeks here in Utah. The weather report last night said we have another week of this before it starts to clear out and warm back up. Although I look forward to it being a littler drier I am not excited about the heat that will come. Before we know it, it will be in the high 90s.

The other night I was on my way home and as I got further west I could see the storm coming in. I pulled over and snapped a few pictures from the car as it was starting to sprinkle.

Even as I am writing this post I can hear the thunder rumbling in the background. The wind has picked up and the tree in the backyard is swaying madly with each gust. I am sure it will just be a matter of time before the clouds open up and the gutters are overflowing with water.

The Dentist Part 2

Well today was the day to get my cavities filled. I took everyone's advice to heed, but still was slightly anxious. Having never been through this experience before and everyone always says how they hate to go to the dentist. All through my life I have never really hated going to the dentist. Granted having your teeth cleaned can be annoying sometimes. Like the time your mouth gets a little too full with water and the suction isn't getting it and you drool all over yourself. That happens to other people too, right? Not just me.

Anyway.. back to my story. I wasn't really looking forward to this. I've had a little bit of bad luck the last two days and this might be my #3 in the series. I walked into the office ready to face what was coming. First they took some more x-rays. These were with the awesome machine that rotates around your head. Whee. Then they took me back to the chair. I reminded the assistant these were my first cavities fillings and to not mind my ignorance about what was going to happen. She was impressed they were my first, and began to explain the process of what would happen. She asked if I wanted laughing gas. My advice from others was to "get the gas". So, I said yes. She then offered up headphones so I could watch one of the movies they were playing on the tv in the ceiling. I once again said yes. Why not go for all distractions possible.

I double checked with the assistant on how many cavities I had to fill. Four. Wow. I could have sworn he said less the last time I was there. Oh well. Then the dentist comes in. I am busy listening to the movie and don't catch what he says other than open your mouth. The assistant asks if I can feel the gas and am I tingling yet. No tingling. The dentist puts a tool in my mouth, I feel a slight chill in my tooth, then some weird taste. I have turned the volume on the movie down to almost nothing now. I don't want to miss when he tells me he's going to stick me with a needle. Instead he says, alright that one's done and I the others aren't looking as much like cavities as I thought. We'll just keep an eye on them and see what they look like next time you come in. What? What? I am done? Wow!

I then walk up to the front to ask what the damage is for the filling. The receptionist advises me my insurance paid more than they thought for another procedure I had done, which I had to cover some of the cost of so I have a credit balance. Nothing owed for today's visit.

I was in and out of the dentist in less than 15 minutes. Not only was it fast, but I can still say I don't mind going to the dentist. Quick and painless - perfect!

Unfortunately, I am still dealing with the other two instances of bad luck. 1 - minor fender bender at the fault of another. A girl backed into me during lunch yesterday. She was driving someone else's car. Two repair estimates down. One more to go tomorrow. Hopefully this gets worked out soon.

I know it's not big, but it's annoying. Also, it's Gherti's first accident. Boo.

2 - Might have broken my fairly new washer. Turned it on to do a load of laundry today and I couldn't select anything. Can't turn it off either. I am also not talented enough to move the washer out of the closet/room to unplug it. Jon said he would take care of it tonight. Hopefully, unplugging it will fix the issue.

Thread Count

I know some of you may read this post and think I have lost my mind. Maybe I have. Or maybe higher thread count sheets really are that fabulous.

Several years ago I took a leap of faith and bought 500+ thread count sheets. I don't remember their specific count and they have been washed so much that the tag is no longer readable. However, they were an amazing purchase! I had always just thought sheets are sheets. You have different kinds - cotton, t-shirt, flannel, etc. But, I had never really given thread count a second thought. Those several years ago I decided that I would "upgrade" my bedding. New comforter and sheets. With the "upgrade" I bought the light turquoise sheets. If memory serves me right I got them at Mervyns.

Well flash forward to today. I still own those sheets and have to say they are my favorite. I've bought or been given other sheet sets in the interim, but nothing compares to this set of sheets. They are soft and perfect. Even more so on clean sheet day. But after years of using these sheets they are coming to an end. Honestly, I think I have even put off getting a replacement set for longer than I should have - because I am so much in love with them.

A couple of weeks ago I found a killer sale on 500TC sheets. I made the decision to buy a new set. I actually bought three, because it was a great deal. After washing one of the new sets and putting it on the bed I was greatly looking forward to clean, new sheet day. Especially since this was during my week of sickness hell. Unfortunately, the new sheets did not match up to my expectations. So much so that I can't stop thinking of my old, overly worn, light turquoise sheets.

Now that I have made to leap to new sheets it appears I must continue this journey to find a set that ultimately matches my former beloved set. And then when I find such a set buy copious amounts of these sheets sets so that I never have to go through this process again.

Where am I going with this? Buy new sheets, but beware of the control that a high thread count can hold over your life.