You said it first!!! {Your age, I mean!!}

Michelle, I want to wish you a Happy Birthday, on the big four-OH! For this post, I will share a photo of your new favorite toy, since I haven't a new photo of you!

Remember, 40 is the new 20! And, given everything that you have been through in the last 20 years (and some pretty amazing stuff, yo!), YOU KNOW you wanna move upwards and onwards towards the best you ever! And, I know you will do it!

You rawk as a friend, scrapbooker, mom, sister, and overall daughter of God. Thanks for being you, and everything that that entails!

Love ya, girl!

Thank you, Mr. Microsoft

You know, I’m afraid that the ever-so-helpful tool, known as “spell check” is completely dumbing down our society! I mean, I don’t even have time or space to GO OFF here about the improper uses of apostrophes and exclamation! points!! And, common words like there, their and they’re are commonly misused. (Case in point, as I’m typing this, Microsoft Word automatically corrected my spelling of they’re, because I am using it out of it’s normal context! See what I mean?)

But really – when you want to advertise or say something clever, whether it be in an office memo, or on your vehicle, don’t you think that you are best served to SPELL IT CORRECTLY???? That’s NOT a crazy question, right???

2 examples, that I saw today, in one ½ hour:
- a pick-up truck with the following phrase on the back window:
“Play Nakad”
I guess we could assume he is trying to be funny by declaring himself a nudist. Or, is this some new board game or intramural sport that we are unaware of?
Personally, I would have spelled it like Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbes fame, if I were at all unsure how to spell it correctly: “Play Nekkid”
But, hey, what do I know???

Then, I can only suppose that this statement was advertising a business, though WHAT TYPE OF BUSINESS may be in question:
“Barer Shop” - so, did you forget a “b”, for “barber” or do you want to give Victoria’s Secret a run for their money??? And, in this case, it was spelled incorrectly on 2 windows, one on each side, NOT JUST ONE!!

For myself, I would check, double-check, and then have 2 other people check, to make sure something as permanent as a car window gets any sort of verbage applied to it! That way, ½ of the calls that came in would NOT be mocking my intelligence! But, I am also the type of person who sometimes looks at a word so many times that it really does start to look like it is spelled incorrectly!

I confess, I’m a word nerd . . . but really, please spread the word that “spell check” is available and COMPLETELY free to anyone using ANY type of Microsoft product. And, businesses can ONLY benefit from spelling correctly! (though I confess, this will make my life a little more boring!)

Ya, I’m done with my Friday rant . . . . and I am working on my entry about our sisters’ weekend . .. it just takes time to make it say what I want it to say!

Get your CLUCKS in a row!!

Yes, KFC, I AM talking to you!! Your FREAKSHOW free giveaway, on April 27th was a JOKE!!! A measly piece of chicken . . . were those cornish game hens??? And, nothing else to go with it! So, by the time my husband and I had a real meal, it cost us $10!

The next day, the joke was on you, KFC! Somebody leaked the free promo idea to El Pollo Loco (whose grilled chicken we L♥VE and eat on a regular basis!!) had a free promo . . . . 2, count 'em, 2! pieces of chicken, and the small sides were $1 each! We had a REAL meal for 1/2 the cost - $5.00! And, we already knew that we liked it, so it wasn't a stretch to go in there!!

Then, because apparently the free piece of chicken didn't go over very well, you decided to get Oprah involved . . . . HELLO!!!! Was there any planning done, before that plug was made??? Do your PR people NOT know how many people watch that show, that in most markets plays 2 times a day????

Then, to take the idiocy down the line a little further in your company -- a co-worker of mine took his coupon to our local KFC and they gave him 2, yes 2!!!! of the free meals, with his one coupon, that specifically says, "one meal per coupon, yadda, yadda, yadda!!" Then, later that SAME DAY, another co-worker was told, in the drive thru, "It will be a 30 minute wait!" but then, when she pulled up to the window, the KFC employee told her, "We don't really have that much of a wait time, but we just wanted to be sure we have enough chicken!"
WHAT????? Whose marketing philosophy is that??? What marketing firm gave out that kind of advice for great customer service???

To add more to this drama -- in my neck of the woods -- I decided to use my coupon, since I'm flat broke . But, who knew that they are no longer honoring those coupons - wish I could say that I was surprised! This whole thing has been one clustercluck after another! So, I paid {begrudgingly!!} for my meal, and left with a promise from them that I would get my raincheck in the mail.

Anyone wanna bet me that it will be expired before I receive it???? Don't worry, Pollo Loco, you've already won me over with your good food, and NO hassle!! {or idiots in the PR department!}

I'm baaaaaaaaack!!

So . . .
I really HAVEN’T been hiding! Just really busy, with a new, full-time job and a new calling in church! Add that to a few technical difficulties with my computer and my camera, and that pretty much wraps up why I haven’t blogged in almost a month!

The new job is GREAT! Everyone is so nice and patient with me, while I learn the ropes. I am very grateful for the experiences that I had at my old job, to prepare me for the next stepping stone of life.

I am the Payroll/Benefits administrator, and I work in the same office as the HR Generalist. We bounce a lot of things off each other, since I worked in HR at my last
job. Besides that, she is a scrapbooker, and we have already gone to one late night crop together! It is fun to work with someone that I have a lot of things in common with, and not JUST the job!

So, I have some photos to share .. . . . I’ve been bad about that, this year, so far!! But, I was a little preoccupied with getting a job and everything! That’s my excuse, but it is also the truth!

First, a farewell photo, with friends from Jordan: