Customer Service? Not Impressed.... CarMax

First I want to say Kevin and I have been a CarMax customer for the last two years. MOST times we've never had an issue or problem with the sales/repair shop. Even this trip up to the repair shop they had GREAT customer service, treated us well and fixed our issues within a day. That being said.....

This video shows the gas station going out of their way to help out their customers.

My story:

We had to drop our Trailblazer off at CarMax last Wednesday evening for a Thursday morning appointment due to the air-conditioning not working. We have the extended warranty MaxCare with CarMax and it is easier to place a claim with them by using CarMax's repair shop. The closest CarMax to us is 35 to 45 minutes away depending on traffic. 

 

Well..... Kevin had bowling last Wednesday so we enlisted my father's help in getting the Trailblazer dropped off. My father drove the Trailblazer and I drove my car with Connor riding in the backseat. We got up there, I filled out the information on the drop off envelope and put a set of the keys and info into the drop off box. From there I drove my father, Connor and myself home.

When we got home, my dad called 5 min after he left asking me to grab his wallet out of my car because he accidentally left it. I walked out to my car and there was no wallet. My dad came back to the house to take a look himself but we were fast realizing that his wallet could be in the Trailblazer or (even worse) out in the middle of the CarMax parking lot.

I called CarMax right away. By this time it was getting close to 8pm and I was hoping they wouldn't be closing. I listened to the prompts on the phone and decided to try out the Business Center because the Repair Shop was already closed. No one answered at the Business Center, the phone rang and rang and rang... no voice-mail. I hung up and called back and dialed 0 to speak with an operator.

A man answered the phone. I explained to him my situation about the possibility of us loosing my father's wallet. I told him the space the Trailblazer was parked in and the row my car was parked in briefly (right across from each other). I asked if he or anyone else could PLEASE go out and peek in the Trailblazer window and look in the parking lot between the two rows OR check to see if anyone turned in a wallet. His response.... "Let me direct you to the Business Center". Before I can say I already tried I was transferred and listening to the phone ringing and ringing and ringing.

Soooooooooo what do I do? I call back and dial 0 again. The same man answers the phone. I explain to him that no one is answering at that extension. He sighs like he is being bothered and says, "We're just so busy here. I don't think we can help you." 

 

No REALLY?!?!?!?!?!?!! 

 

So I say, "This is a wallet we're talking about. How would YOU feel if you lost YOUR wallet and no one was willing to spend 5 or 10min of their time walking out to a parking lot to look for it?" 

 

His response...."We're just so busy. No one can help you. Let me talk to my manager." He came back after 5 min and told me someone would go out there but it could take up to an hour because they are so busy. He took my number and told me they would call me back.

At this point we decided to drive the 35 to 45 minutes back up to CarMax to look ourselves because CarMax was TOO BUSY to help out one of their customers. It was Connor's bedtime so I had to put him in his PJ's and prep him for bed before putting him BACK in the car seat for the drive again.

THANKFULLY the wallet was sitting right on the seat in the Trailblazer when we go there and we were able to get it. Had someone gone out and said yes we see it there, my dad could have just drove up there on his way to work the following morning to get it........ I got a voice-mail from CarMax at 9:36pm stating that they couldn't find it. 9:36pm was a half hour after my father and I were already there and an half hour later than they said they would call. Gee thanks.

To me customer service isn't just about how they treat you during the sale or during the repair. Its about how they go out of their way to help you when the unforeseeable happens or the outside of the box happens. Apparently CarMax's Customer Service will only give you 5 or 10 min of your time if they aren't "busy". Thankfully our Trailblazer was fixed and we have air-conditioning again BUT I have a very nasty taste in my mouth from their so-called "customer service". As a business you have to be willing to go all the way for your customers not just when you have the time.

My First Nike and C25K Week 5 Complete!

Between Week 4 and Week 5 of the C25K Kevin and I went to Fleet Feet in Annapolis, MD to get fitted for running shoes. This was a plan we put in place at the beginning of our running journey. We knew we needed new running shoes BUT we didn't want to run out and drop a ton of money on running shoes if we got lazy and decided to stop C25K. BUT since we've accomplished the first 4 weeks we decided we were going to push all the way through to the end. No excuses. No quitting. I've found myself running in the hot humid weather, the cold rain, and running when PMS was kicking my butt. I've officially overcome the procrastination of working out.

ANYWAY... we went to Fleet Feet and they were AWESOME. My friend who completed C25K recommend we check them out. First and for most I was super relieved when I saw a little toy bin where you sit to try on different shoes. I wasn't sure how Connor would do while Kevin and I were trying to shop for new shoes. Seeing the toy bin made me feel a little relaxed that they were "kid-friendly" and are used to dealing with parents dealing with kids while shopping!

I went first while Kevin kept an eye on Connor and entertained him so I could be fully present in talking to the consultant (who knew there was this much to shoe shopping!). I spoke with our consultant about the current activity and my future plans for running. She measured my feet (sitting and standing) and then measured the way my foot rolls in. We talked about any past injuries or pain/discomfort while running. Then she disappeared into the back and brought out three different kinds of shoes. I was able to try on each pair and go for a jog around the parking lot. Once I had narrowed it down to two different shoes I was able to wear one on each foot and go on another jog. I settled on the first pair I tried on the Nike Air Pegasus+ 28.


These are literally my first pair of Nike/expensive shoe ever (even though they were cheaper than I expected to pay originally). I've owned Reebok, Vans and Converse and other name brands before but these are the first real expensive shoes that sought out with a purpose. Well... when I was in elementary school I had to have the Punky Brewseter high tops.... begged and begged my mom for them. She finally bought them for me and my feet grew the next week...

Once I selected my awesome beautiful shoes it was Kevin's turn. He went through the whole ordeal and we walked out of there two happy runners! In the MD area? I suggest visiting Fleet Feet!



 
So we had our new shoes and ventured into Week 5. We were nervous as all get out. By the end of the week we were supposed to run for 20 min straight..... Here's the routine for Week 5 and our thoughts about the whole thing before running it....

Run 1: 5min warm up walk, jog for 5min, walk for 3min, jog for 5min, walk for 3min, jog for 5min and then cool down walk for 5min. <---- Our thoughts: Not a big deal. We can do this.

Run 2: 5min warm up walk, jog for 8min, walk for 5min, jog for 8min and then cool down walk for 5min<---- Our thoughts: We figured this shouldn't be too bad.

Run 3: 5min warm up walk, jog for 20min, cool down walk for 5min <---- Our thoughts: No freakin way.

Soooooo Run 1 and 2 came and went with no problem. I was actually ready to still keep going after Run 2. Day of Run 3 came and I just went for it. At 6min I thought there was no way I was going to finish. At 10min I thought... yeah... I'm doing this! At 13min I was getting tired and starting to feel like I couldn't finish. At 17min I was all smiles because I knew I was going to be able to finish. At 20min I wanted to drop down on my knee, throw my hands in the air and yell, "Superstar" like Mary Katherine Gallagher BUT I did not... I just continued my cool down walk....

So now we venture into Week 6. Wish us luck!











PS - Every time I typed "jog".... I typed "job"... EVERY.SINGLE.TIME......

Ask And You Shall Receive!

I always get a little giggly when there is something simple that I've put out into the Universe and it manifests in less than 24 hours. A lot of times its stuff I'm not even realizing that I'm saying or hoping for. I'll say it and be done with it. No emotion attached and then BAM there it is unfolding in my life.

At the beginning of the semester the college changed their brand of coffee and the cups that the coffee comes in. Before I semi liked the coffee and the cups came with the outer sleeve to protect your fingers from the hotness that is inside the cup. NOW I'm really not a huge fan of the new brand and they give you these cups that are supposed to be insulated enough to not use the extra sleeves. Well when I get the coffee or a hot tea my fingers are always burning by the time I get back to my office.

I was talking to my coworker yesterday about how I do not like the new brand AND how the cups always burn my fingers and I wish they would bring back using the sleeves.

This morning I decided I needed a hot tea. The weather was chilly this morning and I wanted to enjoy having a hot tea in this beautiful weather. I go down to the Cafe that is under our offices and there are several others in front of me. They get their "warm" beverages and do not receive a sleeve to protect their fingers. I order my hot tea and a muffin (because I'm super hungry from my running yesterday). The woman fills my cup up with hot water, hesitates, goes digging in a cabinet and pulls out a sleeve and slips it around my cup. My jaw literally dropped. I didn't ask her and I've never made comments to her in the past while ordering.

I must say the walk back to my office was not rushed AND my fingers are saying, "Thank you, universe!". This is just a little reminder that manifesting things into your life can be that easy. We just have to learn to let it go and let it happen.

Happy Boost My Blog Friday!

Pin It!

My new addiction (thanks to Christine at Inspired Life) is Pinterest!

LOVE LOVE LOVE it!

I've always hated flagging things as favorites or bookmarking something in a web browser. Unless I name the favorite/bookmark something ingenious I can never remember why I saved the links that I did. With Pinterest you "pin" a picture of whatever is on the link to a board on your account. Its a visual bookmark! Woot!

When you log onto Pinterest you have all your boards in front of you for with a preview of your pins!

Example...

You can see that I have started a Halloween board as I'm looking online for costume ideas for Connor they are all in one place AND I have a visual what is on the link. After the Halloween board is the Bathroom Redesign board because we are in the middle of repainting and designing our bathroom. As I'm looking for ideas and inspiration I "pin" it! It really makes organizing ideas online visually fantastic!

When you click on your board you can see all the pins that are attached to the board:

If you were to click on one of the images it takes you to the link that it is associated. Soooo if decided to order Connor that super cute dragon costume... I'd know exactly which one to click on rather than clicking through 50 bookmarks trying to figure out where it is.

You can also follow your friends or other people if you like what they are pinning. If you see something someone pinned you can re-pin it to your boards. You can also comment and "like" someoneelse's pin. AND of course... it links to Facebook and Twitter.

Check out Pinterest!

10 Years of Growth

This week has been quite the roller coaster of a week. I actually changed my blog template this week to match my feelings. I feel like I've been swimming in pea soup.... its the only way I can explain it. I've had trouble sleeping since last Friday (thankfully I'm moving out of that pattern and have slept like a rock the last two nights), we've had rain, rain and more rain, flooding, closed roads, more rain, lots of gray skies, I was rear-ended on Wednesday and of course have felt all the emotions of everyone's where were you 10 years ago on 9/11.

I've read a story of someone who lost a loved one, a story of someone who was in the middle of the crisis, and a story of someone who saw the terrorists the night before the attack. All stories are heart wrenching and make mine pretty much null and void. Up until now I've never only heard those stories on TV, not through someone that I know and speak with on a regular basis. All I can say is like many, that day was a huge eye opener to me. My innocent eyes were opened. That's it. That's my story.

This week hearing all the where were you, what's your story, and how did you react has had me look back on the last 10 years. Really and truly the last 10 years has been the first 10 years I've been an "adult", I made decisions on my own, and the memories I made were of my own accord. I've had flash backs all week to who I was and how I got to where I am today. I was 18 years old on 9/11. I'm 28 today. Sitting here blogging at 11pm on 9/11 because I've finally had the words come to me and I won't be able to sleep until I get them out. My last 10 years are just bursting out of me.

In September 2001, I was starting my first semester in college. I had no clue what I wanted to do or be... but I knew I had to go. I also knew I had to get it done in four years because that is what my parents were paying up until. I don't look at it as a bad thing. I look at it as a motivational thing. I needed that motivation to get myself through it.

I was still dating my high school sweetheart and still driving my 1991 Honda Civic Si Hatchback that had a sunroof. MAN DID I LOVE THAT CAR! I at least loved it until the sun roof start leaking and the mileage reach 165k+. The thought of getting married or having children scared the crap out of me. I also got my first cell phone that was capable of text messaging. Woo hoo!

In the beginning of 2003, my high school sweetheart and I called it quits and I re-met Kevin. I say re-met because Kevin and I actually met in middle school and became friends in high school. After high school we stayed in touch via instant messenger and running into each other randomly out and about. We started officially dating March 2003. I never meant to date Kevin long term. We joke about it now, but at the time I was just getting out of a long term relationship... the last thing I wanted to get into was another long term relationship. Who knew!

In 2003, I started school at University of Baltimore going for a degree in Corporate Communications. I was finally sure of what I was going for. I also completed my Usui Reiki Master training. I then taught my first Reiki classes even though I never thought I would find myself teaching. The thought of marriage and children still scared me.

In 2004, I bought my first car. I was able to finance it myself with no co-signing. I was pretty proud of myself. I completed my Karuna Reiki Master training. I also turned 21.

In 2005, I finished the last of my college classes and Kevin proposed to me before I could even walk across the stage to get my degree. We moved into together. Our first home was in Arnold, MD. It was a HUGE rental. 4 bedrooms and 3.5 bathrooms HUGE (I mean... 4 toilets for 2 butts huge...)! Needless to say I was no longer scared at the thought of marriage. Children.... I still wasn't too fond of them. We did however, taken in two super cute kittens... Joy and Sylvester.

The end of 2005 I left the company I had worked with all through high school and college. It was my first leap to a job where I didn't have family connections. It was the best decision I made. I also met my future co-teacher with whom I taught many, many Reiki classes with. My mom and my step dad moved to Arizona....and I still miss my mom Every.Single.Day.

In 2006, we moved to Pasadena, MD. We rented at townhouse on the water. It was smaller than what we had before, but BEAUTIFUL.

In 2007, Kevin and I got married and went on our honeymoon. Children were still just a chilling thought way way out in my very distant future.

In 2008, I changed jobs. The new job made me more of a programmer and less of a designer. We bought our first home in Pasadena, MD. I still laughed at people who warned us buying a house = making a baby.

The beginning of 2009 we welcomed Captain Jack a super cute puppy we found on Petfinder.com into our home and bought a Chevy Trailblazer. Kevin went on a snowboarding trip for a week... while he was gone... the bug bit me... Its not that I wanted a baby... I wanted a family. I wanted our little family of two to grow.... Who the hell would have thought! NOT ME! I can't explain it but the most anti-baby person became I wanna make babies with you person. Woah!

April 2009 I got knocked up.

January 2nd 2010... Connor was born. One of the best things to ever happen in my life.

Since then Kevin and I have grown and learned SO MUCH in the last year and half. Just when I think we've got it down... We're learning knew ways of communicating and how to get things done. I've become a mom. I still go into shock when I sit and think about it. My 10 years ago self goes... WTF!!?? My heart has grown and my eyes have opened to everything I would be missing out on.

So here we are... Sept 11th 2011... only 15 min left in the day... I'm now working at the community college I was on my way to 10 years ago when I heard on the radio that a plane had flown into the Twin Towers. I feel like I've come full circle in that aspect. We're still in our house we bought, we still have two cats and a dog, still have the same old Jeep Kevin picked me up in for our first date, and we're the family that I pictured when the bug hit. Don't get excited folks... the bug hasn't bit again! That's still a ways out.

Today was spent with friends watching the Ravens hand it to the Steelers. Cooking out, eating good food, drinking good beer and on my table there was a candle lit. Its the candle that we used at our wedding to represent those who were with us in spirit. I had the candle lit for those who could not be with us wearing their football jerseys and drinking a cold beer to be thought of. After everyone left and it was just the three of us again, we lit our Red, White and Blue candles and placed them out front. Today EVERYTHING has been remembered.

Oh... and its STILL raining...

C25K Week 4 and Biking!

Week 4 for C25K has been started! So far two of the three runs have been completed. Kevin and I were met with a OMFG feeling for the first run.
Week 4 has you:
Warm up walk for 5 minutes
Run for 3 minutes
Walk for 90 seconds
Run for 5 crazy long never going to end minutes
Walk for 2.5 minutes
Run for 3 minutes
Walk for 90 seconds
Run for 5 how the eff am I supposed to finish minutes
End with a 5 minute cool down walk

The last 5 minute run for Run 1 on Monday had me talking to myself, chanting Reiki symbols to give me strength and the occasional cuss word as well. It was TOUGH but I did it. Just knowing I completed made me happy regardless of how I got there.

The second run for Week 4 wasn't nearly as OMFG but was still a push for us. Kevin and I found the 3 minute runs fairly easy and we know by next week we should have the 5 minute runs down and ready to move forward.

This weekend we had our first family biking trip! In July we bought a trailer that would hitch to the back of my bike (Kevin's bike doesn't have the whatever bolt that is needed so it can't hook up). We've either been too busy or the weather too hot so we haven't used the trailer yet.

Realizing that beautiful weather is around the corner and is fast to disappear we're making an effort to "schedule" biking trips and put them on the calendar.

Sunday morning we packed up the bikes, helmets, lunch, water packs, toys for Connor and ourselves and drove to Downs Park in Pasadena, MD. We decided to do the shorter trail to see how I would do biking for the first time in YEARS AND YEARS AND YEARS while pulling the trailer behind. I thought I would do better than I did. After a while I was huffing and puffing and needing a break. I'll only keep getting stronger if we keep going! Connor LOVED riding along. When I stopped for water or a breathing break he would start whining or saying, "Mommy mommy mommy, go!". I'm super glad this worked out.

The trail at Downs Park struck me very sad. After the hurricane Downs Park was closed for several days. We got to see why. All around the trail there were downed trees. There were parts of the trail where the asphalt had been lifted and broken from roots being ripped up as trees fell. Trees had fallen like dominoes on top of each other. Roots flipped up were EVERYWHERE. Some parts looked like a bomb had gone off. It struck me sad because I have been going to Downs Park for as long as I can remember. I've been walking that trail for as long as I can remember. To see it in such bad shape broke my heart. I wish I could have stopped and took pictures but my goal was to keep moving on the bike.

After our trip around the loop I decided that if I was going to run for C25K the next day I needed to preserve my leg strength and stop for the day. I took Connor to the play ground and Kevin was going to hit up the longer trail at the park. WELL.... that side of the park was STILL closed due to downed trees. Soooo Kevin looped the smaller trail again and then met us for lunch.

Getting ready to go!

Taking a break! Notice some of the trees down behind me.

Kevin waiting for me to get my breath back :)

Connor fell asleep on the way home WITH pretzel in his mouth!!
Someone had TOO MUCH fun.

Up to My Ears!

I am up to my ears in HOMEWORK!

Last week I finished my first 9 week non-credit class, Web 2.0 Blogging, Wikis, and Podcasting. I learned a decent amount of information that will help enhance this blog, my job and giving advice to others who are starting down the path of Web 2.0. I passed the final with a 97.3%! The class has inspired me to revamp my website to focus more on Web 2.0 and blogging. I just have to MAKE THE TIME!

My second 4 week non-credit class was Integrating Social Media into an Organization. I just finished up the last requirements of that class and awaiting my grade/pass. There is no final exam for the class. You just have to take quizzes for each unit and participate in the discussions. I learned the importance of focusing on different social medias and not having to us ALL of them. I'm planning on reviewing the different venues I learned about and determining which would be the most helpful.

My third class is a credit course and will last until Dec. I'm taking Intro to Object Oriented Programming. VERY BASIC but MUCH NEEDED. When I got my Bachelors I focused on communications and the marketing side of web and not the computer science part. While I do programming on a mostly daily basis I feel like I'm missing pieces of the puzzle. Soooo... I've decided to start filling in the missing pieces! So far I have a 100% in the class AND 15 extra credit points. Woot Woot!

My fourth class starts on the 21st. Its another 9 week non-credit class, Intro to CSS and XHTML. This is yet another class where I am filling in the missing pieces.

I'll have a fifth class starting in mid-November after the fourth finishes up. When I stop to think about it I feel like I'm purposely driving myself crazy, BUT then I stop and look at my Vision Board I created and realize its all part of the plan!

SEPTEMBER!!

September is my FAVORITE time of year. Begining of October too BUT I love me some mid to end of September weather.

The heat in the air starts to vanish. There are cool mornings that make you a little chilly but you drive to work with your car window down anyway. The evenings are comfortable enough to go for walks again or play outside. AND WE CAN'T FORGET FOOTBALL! AND if football is here that means HOCKEY IS AROUND THE CORNER!

Mine and Kevin's wedding anniversary is on the 28th and we'll be celebrating 4 whooping WONDERFUL years of marriage together.

We have lots of plans this month. Kevin and I will be moving in to the middle weeks of C25K. We've wowed ourselves keeping up with running for 3 minutes and are looking forward/nervous for the upcoming weeks.

Bowling starts for Kevin this month and he's looking forward to hitting up the lanes for another 35 weeks. September 20th Kevin and I are going to see the Washington Capitals play in Baltimore! Its a preseason game BUT we're excited just the same. I haven't seen a hockey game since I was pregnant with Connor!

I'm wrapping up my first two classes I registered for the beginning of last month and started my third class that will go through mid-December. My fourth 9-week class starts mid-September. WOWSERS!!!! Homework, Blogging, Book Club ............ YIPES!

AND finally we will be heading out on our first real family camping trip! Not sure where we're camping yet but the end of September we'll be heading somewhere and doing the camping thing! VERY EXCITED!

Skype-rise Party Picture Follow Up

Here are the some pics of our Skype-rise Party

Playing in the pool keeping it cool

Food and Friends!

Skyping with Vicki.

Hey guys... I'm usually the center of attention!

Great Skype Photo!

Pop and Connor!

From an Earthquake to a Hurricane.... Damn August... Calm down!!

We had quite the visitor this weekend. Irene blew up the coast for a visit Saturday/Sunday and kept moving up to New England. Saturday morning we woke up to breeze beautiful morning. Slowly but surely the sky became gray and the breeze became wind. By afternoon Irene was getting closer.

Connor and I spent the day hanging out in the house and watching way too much TV. I wanted to do some baking so we would be prepared with yummy goodies if the power went out BUT the baking element in our oven burned out and my oven couldn't get warm. Boo..............

Connor and Captain watching TV

It got windier and windier and our power flicked a few times and our DirecTV lost signal a few times but Connor and I were snuggled up watching Care Bears Movie II. Kevin has to keep BGE buildings up and running so he had to report for Storm Duty Saturday morning at 9am. He worked a 12 hour shift before getting home around 10pm. He of course got off work right when the worst of the storm was hitting. I was nervous for his drive home but thankfully he did make it home with no issues. I'm thankful he had the "day shift" of Storm Duty. Saturday night into Sunday morning became very very windy and my nerves were becoming stressed about all the trees around our house. Having Kevin at the house with me while the major part of Irene was passing over us helped me get some sleep.

We woke up Sunday morning to only two large branches had fallen off our trees and didn't cause any damage. We also had a piece of siding that came loose. Other than that there were hunks of branches out in the street and our neighborhood lost a few trees. Kevin left for work again at 7:30am to make sure he could get to work on time. He worked a lovely 14 hour day and didn't get home until after Connor went to bed. I found out quick that our neighborhood was lucking. Many others were dealing with flooded basements, power outages and fallen trees blocking roads.

Branches in our yard

Once Irene moved up the coast, Sunday turned into a beautiful day. Connor and I had breakfast at my father's house because we lost power right as I was getting ready to cook breakfast. Right as we were walking out the door our power came back on! We decided that Pop and Nan's breakfast sounded WAY better than mommy's breakfast. After Connor's nap in the afternoon we were able to go for a walk around the neighborhood because the weather was so welcoming.

 As of right now there are still lots of areas of MD without power and some closed roads. County schools and the Community College are closed due to no power. Since the college has been closed, I've been off work!

Our neighborhood may have escaped damage but Discovery City has seen better days...

Tree down in Tick Neck Park's parking lot

Monday was the perfect day to be off work. No humidity and the temps were in the upper 70's/ low 80's. I kept Connor home from daycare so we could get an extra day together. I packed us up for a trip to the park. I drove us down to Ft. Smallwood Park BUT it was closed. Then I drove us to Lake Waterford Park BUT it was closed. I assumed Downs Park was closed and decided to run some errands instead of the park. On the way home I stopped at Tick Neck Park and IT WAS OPEN!! Of course there was a tree down in the parking lot but other than a soggy ground the playground was open for Connor to play.

Connor happy to be out at park and not stuck in the house.

Down the slide!!!!!!!!!

Kevin got stuck at work again and got home late, but not later than Connor's bedtime. When Kevin told me he was on his way home Connor and I went out to draw with chalk and play with trucks. Connor was so happy to see Kevin pull up when he got home. Connor exploded in a language we couldn't understand but every other word was "daddy". I ended my evening begining Week 3 of C25K and catching up with Kevin after a long weekend of barely seeing each other. AND even though Kevin has worked lots of hours he replaced the element in our oven and it works again!!!

Playing with Chalk and Trucks while waiting for Daddy

I'm off work again today because the College is still working on getting power. Connor is at daycare today and since I've been stuck in the house for the last three days we're caught up on all the cleaning. I've got myself a ME day and I'm truly excited!

C25k - Week 2

Today I'm getting ready to complete Week 2 of C25K. On my lunch break I'll be doing Run 3!

Run 1 for Week 2 was surprisingly easier than I expected. This week I'm running 90 seconds and walking for 2 minutes in between. BUT Run 2 was difficult. I'm not sure why. Maybe because the two prior runs beforehand I completed in the evening at dusk and in cooler weather, maybe because I threw in an extra exercise in between Run 1 and Run 2, maybe because I didn't drink enough water before hand, or maybe just maybe I wasn't feeling running that day. I did however feel great once the run was complete and I finally cooled down.

My muscles are not nearly as sore as they were when I started this journey and I've noticed that my speed has improved throughout my practicing before and now into Week 2. Kevin has also joined me in the journey and we're sticking to running on the same days but at different times. I love that we're doing this together. We have our alone time to run and then have someone to talk to about it and compare how we're feeling. Right now we both are concerned with the fact that the last week expects us to run for a half hour straight.

During Run 2 when I was struggling on Wednesday I started thinking about Reiki and some of the symbols to help give me a boost and focus my breathing towards the end. It helped BIG TIME! So for Run 3, on my walk to the track this afternoon I'm going to get in touch with that energy before I start running and allow it to help me through the whole run.

Today is Boost My Blog Friday! Thanks to those who stopped by!

Versatile Blogger Award!?

Christine from Inspired Life Nominated me for the Versatile Blog Award! Thank you dear friend! I met Christine through an online community because our toddlers were born in January 2010. She mentioned that I should try out the Ultimate Blog Challenge in July and BAM I'm blogging more than ever now.

The Rules of accepting the Versatile Blogger Award are:

1. Thank the person who gave you the award and link back to them in your post.

2. Share 7 things about yourself

3. Pass this award along to 15 recently discovered blogs (contact them to let them know).

7 Things About Me........... hmmmm.........

1. I have two different colored eyes. I always thought it was because of the two eye surgeries I had when I was younger BUT I was recently told that no.... its genetic... Maybe Connor will develop two different colored eyes!!
2. I met Kevin in middle school, we became friends in high school BUT didn't date until my third year of college. If we would have dated before then... I think our personalities would have clashed.
3. I'm currently taking three online classes at the community college and enrolled in a fourth that starts in September. Three are non-credit and one is credit. The classes are Web 2.0 Blogs, Wikis and Podcasting, Social Networking for an Organization, Introduction to Object Oriented Programming and Analysis and the fourth one is Intro to CSS and XHTML. Some of them are refreshers and others are going to help me out big time.
4. I LOVE living by the water. Our second townhouse we rented had a huge beautiful creek right up to our back yard. It was so beautiful and so relaxing. Now our home pretty much on the peninsula part of the neighborhood and the water is only a walk away.
5. I love meditating. I don't do it often enough but when I do its the most relaxing thing I can do for myself.
6. I'm a USUI and Karuna Reiki Master. These are two different teachings of Reiki. I used to teach and have clients way more than I do now. With a toddler things have slowed down. First reason being its just plain difficult to plan teaching/market classes while pre-occupied with a toddler. Secondly, I love having my weekends spent with us a family as often as possible. I should blog about Reiki more often.
7. I'm very excited that there are talks of a fourth Austin Powers movie!

So there you have it.... that's me in a nutshell...

Now for the 15 bloggers....

Writing Out Loud
A Bumbling Idiot
Budgeting During College
Confessions and Rants of a SAHM
How to Raise Your Vibration
Inside Tempe
Krafty Max Orginals
The Bright Side
The Meditative Mom
[{love.love.love.}]
grey luster girl
Mom Blog
Positive Magical Life
Confessions of a Daydream Believer....
Everyday Gyaan

EDIT: After publishing this I realized I spelled Versatile about three different ways throughout this blog.... hot damn I need to work on my spelling and proofreading!!

5.9 Earthquake

5.9 Earthquake?! I was sitting at my desk at work and my office started shaking. I thought maybe it was construction going on underneath me. BUT the the floor started swaying and it got stronger. I poked my head out the door to make sure it wasn't my imagination.
As soon as I saw others I realized I was experiencing an earthquake. I got a little scared and braced myself in the doorway like a nerd ;).
I work on a college campus and found myself evacuated with hundreds of others. What worried me was the lack of communication.  My cell could not call out to Kevin or daycare. I was FINALLY able to reach out via text. Everyone was fine.
The college closed and I headed home!! I am grateful for the lack of aftershocks so far and only a few fallen picture frames.
My father and I put together a picture of what happened this afternoon using Connor's Little People .....

Skype-rise Birthday Party

Well...we took having a Surprise Birthday Party to a whole new technological level this weekend. We Skyped the guest of honor! Let's start from the beginning...

Kevin came up with the idea to Skype my sister (who lives in Alaska) for her birthday. She's been far away family for a long time and her husband is away training with the Army in preparation for deployment. He thought it would be a great idea to get a small group of her favorite people together for a cookout and then Skype with my sister while it was going on. I thought it could go two ways....

1. She would LOVE it and totally appreciate the gesture and enjoy catching up with everyone.
2. She would get upset because she wasn't actually there with us and end the Skype session. 

Well OBVIOUSLY it went the way of number 1....

Kevin and I planned to have a cookout and hope that the random storms we've been having lately would hold out (and they did!). Everyone brought a yummy treat with them to share. Kevin and I tossed BBQ chicken legs, mesquite pork chops, and beef/turkey burgers on the grill. For side dishes we had bbq baked beans, mac n cheese, frosted flake cheesy potato goodness (don't for the life of me know the name of it) and meatballs in the crock pot. I also steamed shrimp and we had a 7-layer taco dip. For dessert I baked two round cakes. AND we can't forget the awesome homemade black cherry wine! All the food was YUMMY.

My father showed up with his laptop that he uses to Skype with Vicki and had set a "date" for them to have their weekly Skype session. When he logged on he stood on one side of our deck and the rest of the party sat at the picnic table on the other side. She noticed very quickly that my father was outside and then he turned the laptop around and we sang "Happy Birthday". It was QUITE the surprise!

Afterward we passed the laptop around and each person got to say their own Happy Birthday message to her and have their time talking with her. About an hour into the Skype session she had to go. It was the quickest birthday party ever! Once the laptop was put away, we went back to over indulging on all the food everyone had prepared. As the sun slowly set our guests said goodbye and the party fizzled down to a small number.

I blogged a last month about being "too connected" (Public Restroom + Angry Birds = WTF?!) to everyone. I think in this case technology served us well and gave me a fresh appreciation for being "connected".

Pictures coming soon!

Holy Moly! Is it Friday Already?!

This week has blown by. I barely had a chance to even THINK about blogging. I've been thinking of ideas and jotting them down so hopefully next week is a little more productive.

We're going to have another weekend full of friends and family fun. Can't wait to share the pictures and stories.

Its Boost My Blog Friday. Thanks for stopping by....

_______________________________________________

Saw this article this morning and it made me smile....Gigantic Lobster Finds New Home

WOW is all I can say. That is one LARGE lobster. I'm very glad they found a home for it. Like the article says, "This seemed like a [lousy] way to go". Could you imagine living your life for 75 years, only to have yourself thrown in for dinner! Looking at the picture the lobster is quite beautiful! It also is a sad reminder I did not get as many steamed crabs this summer as I usually do. Boo hoo...

I guess this article is a fun Friday fact that Mother Nature does have some big miracles up her sleeve! But one might wonder if this lobster has a mate out there wondering why he didn't come home for dinner... Friends Episode 2.14 The One With the Prom Video.

C25K aka... Getting My Butt In Shape....

After much consideration I decided to join in and do the Couch to 5k program (C25K). I have several friends who have completed it and I have several friends encouraging me to join them and do it.

I've never been one to be into exercising nor do I have any athletic abilities and I've been totally ok with that my whole life. In the third grade I wanted to quit softball because it made me sweat. In high school a close friend tried to talk me into joining track. I laughed my butt off at that one. I did do dance for a little bit in high school but that was short lived. I even tried out and made it into Color Guard my senior year but decided I didn't want to sweat outside during practice. Pretty sad huh?! That's ok.... I was a healthy and ok with not getting sweaty and dirty!

As I got older I used the excuse that I only run unless in danger because I couldn't find a supportive enough sports bra. Well I've recently learned that yes... all that was was an excuse. I'm doing just fine jogging and having no issues with being supported (<---------- can't believe I just put that out there). I guess I always ASSumed that I would have a problem with it.

Last week I decided to "try out jogging". Not sure how one "tries out jogging", but I did. On my lunch break I went to the locker room, changed and then headed out to the track. I would walk for a while then jog for a while then walk again. I guess I wanted to make sure that I wouldn't fall apart or feel like an idiot. After three trips to the track I realized that I don't feel like an idiot, I didn't fall apart and I'm getting a pretty good tan while going out there on my lunch break.

So today marked the beginning of Week 1 and I completed Run 1. I downloaded C25K Lite for my Droid. It tells you when to Warm Up, when to Walk and when to Jog. It felt good. Just when I was getting tired I would hear the marker letting me know it was time to walk and once I caught my breath it was telling me to jog again. AND right when I thought I couldn't do another round of jogging the app was telling me to Cool Down.

I learned two things during Run 1. I need to pack sunscreen. Today was the first time I was out there and it was sunny the whole time AND I need to pack a towel so I can hop in the shower to cool off. Nothing like returning back to work sticky and gross feeling. Hopefully Run 2 and 3 this week go just as smoothly!

An Empty Kitchen Sink

I FINALLY ended my weekend and evening with an empty kitchen sink last night. For the last several months our old dishwasher was SOOOOO bad that alot of the time dishes coming out "clean" were going back into the sink because they were still dirty. This left and awful cycle of being overwhelmed with dishes in the sink and pissed off because our dishwasher wasn't cleaning them enough. HOWEVER.... my mom and Bill bought us a dishwasher last month when they were in town for our birthdays. Kevin (with some help from my dad) installed it last week and I can finally say we've had little to no dishes left in our sink because the dishes are coming out nice and clean!

Who would have thought I would get excited over an empty sink!

Now that my kitchen sink is staying empty more often I'm going to start following The Fly Lady again. She has a great program that helps you stay on top of keeping your house organized and cleaned if you have trouble keeping up with everything (like me). I'll have to blog about my adventures with that at another time.

This weekend was pretty low key but made some good memories.

Friday after dinner we headed to Ft. Smallwood Park because, for the first time in weeks, it was cool enough to enjoy being outside. Connor enjoyed running around the jungle gym and swinging on the swings BUT I think his favorite part of the trip was playing basketball with Kevin. He chased Kevin around and tried throwing the ball. Kevin had tossed his hat to the corner and Connor kept finding it and bringing to him/yelling at him to put it back on.

Nothing But Net!

Saturday Connor went to the grocery store with me and Kevin played roller hockey in the morning. In the afternoon we decided to switch around the car seats. We installed our Graco Nautilus in the Trailblazer, moved the Alpha Omega to my car and the Cosco to the Jeep Wrangler. We always envisioned keeping him rear-facing until 2 but we feel the time has come to switch.Connor seems much happier and my sanity while driving has returned.

Because the Jeep finally has a car seat in it now, we were able to cruise in to the Eastlake picnic. We took out the front two windows and the back window but left in the two side windows for Connor. HE HAD A BLAST. The wind was blowing through his hair and he loved being able to see us. Our stay at the Eastlake party was cut short to passing storms and Connor's need to play in the mud.  Regardless of our short stay we had a great time.

Take it slow... you're gonna mess up my hair!

Sunday was very very very low key. Storms off and on canceled Kevin's make up softball tournament and we were able to meet my dad to see the new Planet of the Apes. IT WAS GOOD. Actually it was better than good.... IT WAS GREAT. I recommend seeing it. Kevin is now looking into buying the box set so I can be refreshed and he can finally watch them for the first time.

Here's to a great week ahead of us!

My Vision Board Explained

My Vision Board - Created Aug 9th 2011

I want to explain my Vision Board not really for everyone else to understand but for me to put it out to "Universe" what I want. I had mostly words and very little pictures. I think that is because I've been blogging more and words just make sense right now.

I'll start off in the upper left-hand corner. What looks like a black box up in the corner says PERFECT. I'm not trying to be perfect nor do I think that I am. I just want to feel perfect. Does that make sense? If it doesn't to you.... thats ok... it does to me!

Underneath of PERFECT is the word Sexy. Again..... not trying to get a huge ego and BE SEXY... I want to feel sexy. I always believe that if you think you are sexy, other people will find you the same way.

Under Sexy comes Be Vibrant. The word Vibrant slapped me in the face and said hello... JUMPED out at me. The thought of being a positive light being sounds simply fabulous and I hope to achieve that more often than not this year.

After Be Vibrant comes Instant Calm and More Energy Right Now!. These two are complete opposites but I want to be able to become instantly calm and have more energy on demand. I know it sounds impossible BUT I'll try to accomplish it!!

After those two comes the word Reiki, a picture of a person meditating, and a picture of a bird/dove these go with the theme of having peace and paying attention to the energy within me and around me.

In the bottom left-hand corner is Sugar Rush and Down Time these two are also kind of opposites. I'd love to have the sugar rush feeling without actually ingesting the sugar and without the crash. I guess I just want that "high on life" feeling. I used to feel it all the time, not sure what happened. I also need more down time. I do not give myself enough and I'm always keeping myself busy.

Back up to the top center now, in BIG letters you'll see Get Organized. This is pretty much self-explanatory. I think everyone wants to get more organized. I'd at least like to just get organized!

Underneath of Get Organized is TIMING IS EVERYTHING. For me this is a well needed reminder. I forget that things happen in their own time and I am where I need to be no matter how lost I'm feeling. There is a purpose.

Next is a picture of ME! It is a picture that is was in the Fall 2010 Reiki Magazine because I wrote an article on Reiki and Pregnancy. It was very inspiring to have the article published and hope to get more writing done this year.

And then OF COURSE there is a HUGE WAD OF MONEY! Yes. What Vision Board would be complete without a huge wad of cash. But in all seriousness I'm looking at generating more income for our family and managing our money better.

Next to the HUGE WAD OF MONEY is FAMILY and NEW LESSON PLAN. This is for working towards us becoming an even better family and having a new lesson plan for living life. Examples being... eating better, spending/saving money more wisely, being more physically active and exercising.

THEN this is a picture of a Fruity Beverage. It could be alcoholic or not. Just as long as I'm enjoying a YUMMY, refreshing, and relaxing drink from time to time I'll be happy.

Back up to the top right-hand corner you'll find feeling great starts here NOW. Needless to say I've been in a funk off and on for the last year. Its time to start feeling great and the time is NOW. No exceptions and no excuses.

That is followed by health inside&out. This is pretty self explanatory as well. It goes hand and hand with the "new lesson plan".

Below that you will find 100% COMMITTED and Fun Fearless Females. I want to be 100% committed to anything I am doing or decide to do. I'm a Sagittarius and I tend to procrastinate. I'm surprised that the blog challenge I was in last month didn't find me needing to do 20 posts in the last week. I also have a goal to surround myself with Fun Fearless Females this year and to also become one.

Underneath those is love your looks and smile!. These are just little reminders to myself and keep me in a positive space.

THEN we get to GREAT ADVENTURES I'm hoping for some good vacations and trips this year. Maybe not far and long but I want to enjoy time as a family, and as just husband and wife.

Next to GREAT ADVENTURES you'll find a picture of a woman holding her arms up to the sky in celebration. I intend to just that and often this year. Celebrate life and the world.

AND FINALLY... LAST BUT NOT LEAST. I've got picture of Ellen because of tentative plans to go see The Ellen Show with my mother when I'm off work for spring break. I became addicted became a fan of the show when was on maternity leave and went through serious withdraws became very sad that I was missing it when I went back to work. If I'm home from work on the weekdays you'll find me in front of the TV watching The Ellen Show at 3pm! So we'll see... my momma and I really want to dance in the audience March 2012!

I hope I didn't bore you TOO MUCH with my explanations BUT again.... I said this was mostly for me to figure out what the heck I put on there and why!! Happy Friday!!

Vision Board!

Before I jump into the meat and potatoes of the blog I guess I should explain what a Vision Board is.... To me, a Vision Board is images and words in one place that remind you of what you are trying to achieve for yourself, anything that makes you happy, and what you want to create in your life. You get a bunch of magazines together and just start cutting out pictures and words or anything else that jumps out at you. Then you go through everything that you have cut out and glue them to a poster board. After you're done, you hang it up in a place where you will see it. The Vision Board becomes a reminder of what makes you happy or what you are working towards creating in your life.

This year I've been struggling with finding direction and focus. Last month I read a blog about making a Vision Board and decided that this would be great group project. I emailed some girlfriends to see if they were interested in a "Girls Night In" and creating a Vision Board. We all got excited at the idea and put a date on the calendar. Tuesday was the day and we got together for a fun evening of creativity and bettering ourselves.

I bought poster board and glue sticks for everyone. They just had to bring a magazines, scissors and an open mind. We cut regular sized poster boards in half and then got to cutting up magazines. It was a great time for us to chat about what we are working towards, what we want in life, what we've been worrying about lately and anything else that came to mind.

We were a diverse group. Three of us were momma's to 1.5 yearolds and an almost 2 yearold. Two were pregnant with their first baby and the other not even thinking about having kids yet. Some of us have known each other for most of our lives and others were just meeting for the first time. Its amazing how we all came together like old friends.

Some of us came not knowing how things were going to turn out and others had been wanting to make a Vision Board for a loooooooooong time. The way things unfolded for each of us was amazing as well. Some Vision Boards were all pictures and others, like mine, were mostly words. Of course there was a mix of the in-between as well. Some overlapped their pictures and words and others, like mine, had lots of white space between words and pictures. There was lots of laughter.

Mags, Mags and MORE Mags!!!

Ready to start gluing!

One of us needed to spread out on the floor
to get the "Vision" just right!

 When most of us were finished we had a mini show-and-tell and showed off our creation. During the show-and-tell  I learned things about my friends I thought I should have known. We all learned about each other. To me, what was great about the show-and-tell was we were learning how we could support our each other by knowing each others goals.

My finished Vision Board

I decided to hang my Vision Board in my office at work. I'm its right on my desk and in my face for most of the day/week. Once I get used to it being right in my face I'll move it into the kitchen at home and then find it a new home after I get used to it being in the kitchen. I'm planning another blog to explain my Vision Board in detail.

Before I started with this I struggled with being focused and feeling lost. Now I that I have physically put together a reminder I no longer feel lost and more focused than ever. In an email to someone I recently said, "Becoming a mother has made me lose sight of a few things and I'm trying to get it back". I've realized that I was wrong. Becoming a mother didn't make me lose sight of anything. I just became so filled with a new kind of love that my heart and brain couldn't communicate. I've just had to learn how to balance having a heart full of love and still living life. Here's to moving forward and reaching our goals.

Grateful

For a Monday I'm feeling pretty damn grateful. Usually Mondays are the most rough part of the week for me. Not because its Monday or I get a "case of the Mondays" but my essence goes into shock every Monday.

I go from a weekend that was spent doing the things I want or need to do on my time to "working for the man" and stuck in my office with no window to the outside world. I go from spending most of my time with my awesome 19 month old to sitting in my office knowing he's having fun with other kids and our daycare provider without me (which I'm all for most days but I struggle on Mondays). I miss his cute little face and his sweet hugs and kisses he's been giving out recently. I miss his need to have me by his side playing with trucks from time to time. I miss having most of our meals together as a family instead of just dinner at the end of the day. Like I said... most of these things don't bother me except for on Mondays.

BUT TODAY.... I just feel so grateful for life.

I'm grateful for Kevin, Connor and even our cats and dog (that says a whole lot!!!). We're a healthy and happy family these days

I feel grateful for our extended family.

I feel grateful for the wonderful friends that I have and how each one is a different blessing in my life.

I'm full of love and gratefulness for the fact that I have a job to go to and its a job that I like.

I feel grateful for our new dishwasher that is coming this evening.

I feel grateful for my iPod mysteriously coming back to life and working again (that's a blog all in itself).

I feel grateful for the two classes I've started taking in the last two weeks at work. I'm jumping in and loving it.

Hot damn... I'm just filled with gratefulness which makes me feel GREAT! Hooray for Monday! Hopefully I feel the same way next Monday!

Blinked it By

This weekend went by in a BLINK!


Here are some highlights!

Smurfs!

I was able to see the movie Smurfs with my dad. It was great to have an evening hanging out with my dad. Much like most children from the 80's I LOVED the smurfs. I still have my Smurf baby blanket and Smurfette pillow tucked away in my hope chest in our bedroom (for what reason.... I don't know). The movie was a lot better than I hoped it to be. I was concerned because of the bad reviews BUT it was comical and made me giggle. There was some bonus adult humor as well. Overall... it was Smurferistic!

La la la la la.... laaaaaaaaaa..... Sing a Happy Song

New Toys For Connor!
Saturday I ventured out with Connor to do some shopping while Kevin tried out mountain biking in the morning. I had to get some supplies for my Vision Board Girls Night on Tuesday.

From there we ventured to Marshall's to see what kind of deals I could find on some toys. I found Wacky Wednesday and Ten Apples Up On Top by Theo. LeSieg (aka Dr. Seuss). I already have a copy of Wacky Wednesday BUT it has been passed through a few children and has lived a long life. Needless to say it needs to be replaced. I was excited to find it because I thought Wacky Wednesday was no longer in print.... AND I got it for $4.50. Ten Apples Up On Top was a favorite book that was at my grandparents house and I was excited to find it for $4!! I also scored Connor the Little Tikes Golf Set for $12. He LOVES it!!


Our last stop was at M&M's Consignment Shop.  I had taken a few things in a couple weeks ago when I was cleaning out my office and wanted to see if anything sold. I was planning on looking for some Little People things for Connor if they did. I was happy to find there was $27 on my account. I got Connor two Little People toys, a Sit N Spin and at the last minute he grabbed a huge Tonka Fire Truck.

I just looked up the Little People toys and realized what a great deal we got. First I got him the Little People Racetrack that is supposed to come with two racers and costs $36.... I got ours for $11 and it came with the two race cars AND two extras cars/wheelies. NICE. I can't find the exact Little People Town that I picked up (its a little older but still has a lot of life left) but the one that is similar is going for close to $40 and we got ours for $12. Consignment shopping is WONDERFUL.

Little People® Wheelies™ Rev 'n Sounds™ Race Track

Domestic Day
Sunday was grocery shopping and cleaning day. Fun, Fun, Fun.... Well really it kinda was. I love rearranging and organizing when I have the time and drive. That was exactly what I did in the kitchen yesterday. I attacked our two clutter piles and moved around some furniture and it looks GREAT! I'm prepping to start following The Fly Lady once again. We're getting a new dishwasher this week and I'm ready to have my sink empty at the end of every evening!

Overall it was a productive weekend. Lots of boring stuff for your reading pleasure. This week I have my Vision Board Girls Night and a few other ideas to blog about. Stay tuned!!

Mommy's Space

Apparently I never got to blog last night after stating that I would. OOPS! I had a fabulous evening out with a friend I haven't seen in a long time. Once I got home I was ready to snuggle up with my nook and climb under the covers. So here is yesterday's blog.....

I've been working towards getting my office back to a functioning room for me. Pre-Connor days my office was a space for my holistic health practice. I would teach Reiki workshops and see my clients in it. It was a very nice relaxing space that I could go to as well to get away.

The history of setting up the room is quite funny (now... not then) actually. When we bought our house the room had blue paneling and tan trim and the carpet was pretty gross looking. We didn't have our project list confirmed when we first settled in so I set up my room as decent as I could for my clients. BUT after a while I just didn't like it at all.

Kevin and I decided we would rip off the paneling, spackle the imperfections, sand them down and paint (allllll in one weekend). Easy as pie. So we thought.... The first three walls came off fine for the most part. Some work to be done, some wall paper border and some crazy color choices but not bad.

The last wall kicked our ass.Kevin pulled off the first layer of paneling. We found what we thought was 3 layers of wall paper and MOLD down in a corner. Come to find out it was two layers or wallpaper and a SECOND LAYER OF PANELING. We ripped that off to find some awful drywall work around the sliding glass door and another mini layer of paneling. We had to rip all of the dry wall off that one wall because of the mold. Needless to say it was our first real home improvement project and it showed us the true colors that comes with it.

Once Connor came into the picture, it became our spare room/catch-all room. I've struggled with keeping it from collecting things around the house but it always gets taken over. We have an inflatable queen bed we use when we have visitors and then it gets deflated once the visitor leaves. When my mom and Bill were coming to visit we had stuff that needed to be given to Goodwill or consignment. I worked my hardest at getting the room cleaned out and the closet organized. The room was in top shape for when they visited.

After they left and the bed was deflated, I looked around at my space. The space which we worked so hard at putting together, used to be relaxing, calm, and had great balanced energy.

I used to bead before becoming a momma and have totally slacked and ignored my crafty side. Its hard to pull out all my beads out and supplies needed and get focused all in the time it takes for Connor to take his afternoon nap. I would have to put it all away before he woke up.

Sooooooooooooooooo I decided to set up a table with my projects and beads in my room. Now I have a table with my regularly used beads and supplies ready for me to sit down at any moment and get to work. My comfy chair has been cleared off and I can sit with a book or prop my feet up and meditate if I want. The table with my beading supplies also has room for me to sit and journal or work with my cards when I'm called to do it. Life is pretty damn good back there! Of course I usually only get back there once Connor has gone to bed but its nice to disappear somewhere that I'm not looking around saying...."OMG there is a lot of cleaning to do".

My Crafting/Meditation Space!

My crafting and journaling table
with my comfy chair in the corner

When I was orginally painting I painted OM on the wall
The wall looked very blank... on a whim I painted the OM
My space became complete afterwards.

This side of the room is still a work in progress :)

New Blogging Schedule

I decided after the Ulitimate Blog Challenge I would start blogging every other day. Yesterday was very weird. I was futzing around on the computer BUT didn't blog. I figured it'll help ideas develop and that way I'm just not blogging about the everyday happenings of the Sachs household. That can get pretty boring sometimes... TRUST ME. :)

Everyday happenings of the Sachs household would have
me blogging about Connor helping with laundry day

I'm also thinking of changing the design around too. I'll probably wind up doing this like once a month or every other month. When I was a kid I used to rearrange my bedroom monthly... Changing my blog background and stuff is causing me to have flash backs...

ANYWAY... An awesome blog about my awesome craft/meditation room should be popping up tonight! YAY!

After Hours... Life after Bedtime

Kevin and I decided to take Connor to the Glen Burnie Carnival this evening because the Glen Burnie Masonic Lodge was sponsoring the Maryland Chip Program for children. If there is an emergency and your child is missing you have all the information you need to help locate your child.

First you fill out all contact information and home address. While Kevin was filling out the paper work Connor walked around and rearranged the chairs. You also weigh and measure your child. Once all the information is filled out you get taken to a person with a computer set up. Connor's bed time was fast approaching and once we got up to the computer part it WAS his bed time.

The first thing they do at the computer is finger print your child. This is not the messy kind of finger printing. They have a gadget that plugs into the computer and scans your finger. WELL.... Connor was not having any of it. He screamed... he cried.... it was past his bedtime damn it and everyone in the building knew it. Next they took his picture via web cam. They took pictures from all angles. Their next step is they record your childs voice. We have Connor screaming and crying recorded. Nice...........

After the compture torture was over, they handed us a disc of the info and the next step was a DNA swab. THAT WAS FUN. NOT!!! Oh man I felt bad for him at this point and kept questioning why we were doing this to him. We could always come back tomorrow before his bedtime. The DNA swab was the final event and we were able to get him out of there.

As soon as we were out of the building he cheered up. We wandered around and bought tickets to get on the Merry Go Round and the Ferris Wheel but Connor started to continue his melt down from earlier. We decided we would come back tomorrow before his bed time so he could enjoy himself. On the way out we stopped at the "Rubber Ducky" booth and Connor won a selection from the "Large" self. We helped him pick out a cute elephant stuffed animal.

As soon as we got home Connor took off running for his bedroom while clutching onto his new toy. We changed into PJs and read Dr. Seuss' ABC's. I tucked him in with his elephant and he was out like a light in less than a minute.