Christmas is here! (almost)

I'm finished with most of my shopping.  I'm waiting for the packages to show up at Receiving my Dad's house.  Since I live in a condo I never have things delivered here.  The stairwell is open so anyone can walk by and see what's been delivered.  My neighborhood is nice but I'm not tempting the devil.

Speaking of holidays, I need to decide what design I want on my holiday fingernails.  I looked through the nail book when I was there but they did not have any holiday designs yet.  Snowman?  Christmas tree?  Red and green crackle paint?  So many choices.

Anyone out there in blogland have a suggestion?

Take that Sprint

Got a new phone today and I had to pay a $36 activation fee.  The sales person told me to call and try to get the fee waived.  The first customer service person said that they no longer waive the fee.  I asked for a supervisor who told me the same thing.  Then she asked if I had any other problems and told me I'd be receiving a follow up call to find out if my issue was fully resolved..uh, no...
Her:Ms Brown, you can speak to another supervisor and they will tell you the same thing.
Me:Sorry but I'm not going to say it was resolved because it wasn't.  I don't need to speak to another supervisor so they can tell me the same thing.  I understand what you're saying but I will not say yes because it was not resolved.
Her:  Please hold one moment.
New Sprint Guy: Hello , how can I help you?
Me: I've been a customer for over 10 years and never paid an activation fee and I'm not happy to have to pay it now.  I understand you don't waive the fee anymore but I'm still not happy about it.  I'm not sure why she transferred me because this will not be resolved by having another person tell me the policy.
Him: Let me see what I can do....(hold music) Ms Brown, we don't waive the fee but I am able to offer you an $80 credit on your account.  Will that resolve the problem?
Me: Yes.  Thank you.

$36 activation fee - $80 credit =  Issue resolved.

Don't mess with a poor teacher.

Bathroom

My bathroom is finally finished!  I'd take pictures but it does not look any different than it did before with the exception of the paint color and even that is pretty similar.  It took weeks to do because every time the contractor painted the walls they blistered.  He sanded and painted several times and we could not figure out why.  Finally it worked.  I have new bathroom walls and ceiling, a new kitchen light and a new patch of ceiling in the hallway.  I also have a ton of dust.

Next on the house agenda: dryer vent and back splash.  I'm waiting on the floor and toilet.  Exciting stuff.  No this is not my bathroom but isn't it nice?

Magic Machine

Today's blog is brought to you by the letter K.  K is for Keurig.  If you don't have one you need one.  Keurig is the easiest coffee maker ever.  K-cups are a little more expensive  but the ability to have individualized coffee in a few minutes is fantastic.  I can't even remember life before the magic machine.  I love coffee but I have cleaning the pot and measuring out the grounds.  I always forget and things get yucky.  Hazelnut, French Vanilla  and extra bold all at the same meal.  Coffee lovers unite.

Groupon

I can't say enough about the loveliness that is Groupon.  Hardly a weekend goes by where I don't have a Groupon related even to attend.  Celtic/Highland Games last weekend and sushi the week before.  Earlier this week I scored discounts for Nando's.  During the summer I got passes to my local Zumba/Yoga place.  Is there anything that you can't get?

Groupon brings people together.  See a deal that you like?  Send it to a friend and you have an instant outing.  Schedules are frantic.  Work is off the chain.  The kids need to go here, there and everywhere.  When you book that bead stringing Groupon, you know that you will be spending 2 hours of quality time stringing beads and gossiping with your dear friend.  Once you buy the deal, you have to redeem it because you already spent the money.  I am not in the donation business, ya know?

I'm looking forward to bead stringing and Lincoln's Cottage with friends.  Then I'll have the Groupon house cleaner come to get rid of the construction dirt so I can brush my teeth with the Groupon discounted toothbrush in a clean bathroom.  Then I'll move to my freshly vacuumed living room and  look for Groupon gifts for my friends near and far.

Try a Groupon and change your life.

Peace, Love & Groupons my friends.

Fudge or bark?

I was at the Celtic Games last weekend and I had some delicious fudge.  I forgot how much I liked it.  I'm thinking about making some for Christmas to go to along with the apple butter.    Fudge is really easy to make. While I was checking out recipes on foodnetwork.com I found several for bark.  MMMM!  White chocolate peppermint bark looked delish.  How about milk chocolate, cranberry cashew/pecan/pistachio.  White chocolate looks nice but I don't like the taste of it.  I love cashews, pecans and pistachios so they will definitly make it in the pool.  Trader Joes has great nuts and dried fruit.  Their cried cranberries and orange cranberries would be very good for bark.  I think I remember a sour cherry also.  No raisins, walnuts or peanuts, yuck!

On another food note, any ideas for my next canning project?  I have a box and a half of jars left and I need to do something with them.  I want to get the out of the house.  I have to do something acidic so I can process them by boiling them (as opposed to pressure canning).  Orange cranberry something perhaps?  Jelly, jam, preserves?

Ad lib?

So I decided to sign up to have ads on my blog.  I'm not sure that I get enough traffic to make it worth it but who knows.  MCPS had not given us a raise in a while so I need to find some way to earn a buck.  LOL
Unless I write more and get more views I think that's exactly how much I'll make, a buck.  If the job is not going to give me a raise then I have to find other ways to increase my income that do not involve taking an additional job.  I don't have anything that I can make and sell.  I don't have any hidden talents.  My family is not rich.  What's a girl to do?

I'll try to write more often to get some traffic.  Wish me well.