Dear Heartbreaker,

This letter might be coming a little too late, but I think it needs written - for all the broken hearts out there that have suffered needlessly over some ridiculous boy.  Let's first just get the record straight here so that the truth can be known. Yes, I had a crush on you. Yes, I blushed whenever you were around. But, never did I think that there would ever be anything between us.  You were a friend of my brothers, you were older, and I had no inclination that you were at all interested in me....that is until one day you walked in to my room and kissed me. And kissed me....and, well you were there.  You were a terrible kisser - but I looked past that due to the shear shock I was experiencing that you were actually kissing me. And that wasn't were it ended.
For several weeks we talked on the phone for hours every night.  For several weeks we saw each other almost everyday.  We made out in the car during a softball game, we made out behind the concession stand, we made our in the dark behind a tree at a youth group bonfire, we kissed in the back of my dad's truck, we kissed in that gorgeous green chair in our living room while everyone else was asleep....we did that a lot.  You called me all the time.  And then....you were just gone.
And the next time I talked to you was when you came to our house over Christmas and you tried to act like nothing happened. But, I couldn't. You only tried to kiss me once.
The next time I talked to you was when you called to let me know you were getting married.  Yup. Married. I was 15, so this was a little hard to swallow.  I locked myself in my room and cried for an hour.  I was so in love with you.  I've never felt that love sick again.  It lasted from Freshman year of high school to Sophomore year of college. Seriously.  You did that.  Why?  Would it have been so hard to just talk to me about it?  Just tell me that you were just fooling around?  I mean, what was I supposed to think when my dream guy suddenly became my guy?  Seriously? 
Did you know that it wasn't until years later that my Mom even believed that anything had ever happened between us.  She thought all my heartache was born out of me just liking you.  Seriously.  It was pretty rough, dude.  You sucked big time. 
You were in my life and then so far removed....it's been about twelve years since then and I still remember how heart broken I was over you.  I have journals about it.  Thankfully, some more heartbreakers took over and rewired my brain.  I just want to know why? I mean seriously dude, Did you really think it was okay to drop me so fast and then to CALL AND TELL ME HAPPILY that you were getting MARRIED? Did you think that I was just fooling around too? You were a terrible kisser.  I still don't eat Burger King because I remember when you worked there.  Someone sent me a link a few months ago and I found out that you and your cagillion kids are evangelists who travel all over the country.  I really am honestly happy for you and your success and what looks like a great life.  I have a good life too.  I just wanted to add this letter
to my list because there are things that were never said.  I think that you should have taken a little better care of the hearts you handled in your youth.  We all make mistakes, right?  I offer you total and complete forgiveness - even for the years I spent pining over some romanticised version of you I had created in my head.  I would totally high five you and shake your hand if I saw you now.  But, in my head I would be kneeing you in the balls for breaking my fourteen year old heart.

Best Wishes!

Dear Large Home Improvement Store,

I had a few thoughts after our last discussion concerning my most recent despicable customer service experience with your store. As you know, you have compensated me reasonably well now for my "silence" and "forgiveness" for your complete disregard for your customer's needs and convenience and while I am thankful for the freebies, I somehow cannot control my insatiable need to drag your name and reputation thru the dirt.
I will however do you the honor of not using your name. Therefore you will note that my letter is indirect in it's title. No one will know which specific Large Home Improvement store you are...although of course you are either Blue or Orange...by logo I mean.

I won't weary you once more with an account of my dissatisfaction with your services (you have more than enough note of that recorded in corporate complaints my spouse and I have both made to your superiors)...these are merely suggestions you might consider in your future interaction with money spending consumers (that is if you want to stay in business).

1.When dealing with a dissatisfied customer, it could possibly be considered vital to LOOK at the customer at some point when they are speaking to you.

2. If the customer is explaining their issue to you, you might not want to ignore them and make mildly quiet comments to your associate about changes to make to their order while you still have yet to hear their problem.

3. If your name is on your shirt, JIM you might want to consider not acting like a freaking jerk to customers because it is likely they can read and will remember the name of the person who was a jerk.

4. If you have a customer who is frustrated, irritated and about to explode from anger over the ridiculous excuse for customer service that you are providing them, it might be wise to consider making a note on their file to send them their merchandise upon its arrival to the store instead of making a different note that states that you will deliver their items 4 weeks later UNLESS the customer calls and realizes they are already in.

5. You might consider briefing the delivery people who will be redelivering the second round of merchandise to dissatisfied customers that they need to be EXTRA open and helpful as opposed to LESS helpful than on the first delivery.

In conclusion, I just want to thank you once again for dragging your name and customer service statements through the mud so that I might get cool merchandise for much less money. I enjoy receiving major percentages off of high priced items because you are not able to function as a regular business whose employees are at all intelligent enough to use their opposable thumbs.

I will happily stay up to accept your deliveries at 9:30 at night, Drive to your store to be openly ignored and disrespected by your supposed managers, be openly lied to by your service agents on the phone, be continuously lied to by your delivery men, have your delivery men in my home happy to disregard my reasonable requests to provide the services I have been promised for the appliances I have purchased...I am so happy to do all of these things in exchange for cheaper merchandise.

The only disclaimer here is that I don't have the time to idly wait around for you to ridiculously toss around my needs and time as if I were a college student waiting for a keg to arrive for my party. My time is slightly precious to me so I think in the future instead of receiving discounted merchandise in exchange for lame service - I will pursue my investments of larger purchases elsewhere.

Did I mention that this morning when you gave me my money back? No? I know I said you wouldn't "lose my business". I promise to still stop by when I need batteries and hardware. Appliances and lumber? Most likely not my dear Large Home Improvement Store. Most likely not...

Did I promise not to share my bad experience with others I care for so they can be protected from your negligence in their future service? I don't remember doing that either...that's funny huh? because your merchandise feels pretty good for that discounted price in my pocket. But, I guess money can't but everything. It can't buy my respect for you as a consumer. Nope. But, I do know that I can get a discount based on my capability to patiently time my frustration with you and phrase angry letters to your higher authorities.
No, basically what your refund bought you was a day without me calling to gripe at you. That's it. I hope it was worth it. It wasn't your money anyways, and it's not your business...so I guess in the end it doesn't really matter to you anyway huh?

I think that your CEO and his investors would feel a bit differently about the service that you decided to provide me (a vital customer that you lost).

I can only conclude with this thought for you; Orange Power. They have better paint but otherwise it was a coin toss who I chose between you two power house stores...now it is an immediate reflex that pulls me into their parking lot and their credit card machine. It's a gag reflex. And it's your name I am choking on.
Thanks for the cash back. I'll happily spend it elsewhere.

Best Wishes on your future endeavors,

Moi

Dear Gary the Firewood Guy,

First Gary, I would like to sincerely thank you for not killing my husband and I yesterday when we came to your residence to pick up the firewood. Your home was very unique and your trash pile/ compost heap was an inspiration to those of us aspiring to be GREEN in this day and age.

However, I did think of a few helpful tips you might consider when having wood customers to your home to pick up their firewood.
These are just mere suggestions: Do not comment about your dishonorable discharge from the army. Please try to avoid using the customers name in excess as that can be a bit unsettling to the person; making you seem anxious and thus making them (us) feel anxious and fearful of you. Do refrain from making unneeded trips back and forth to your home - the customers are there such a short time these breaks lend themselves to more feelings of insecurity and uneasiness. "Composting" in your front yard is not a widely accepted practice in most subdivisions (keep that in mind should your living arrangements change) also, please look up some details for your compost pile so you know what is and is not biodegradable, i.e. plastic bags, tires, cans, and regular everyday trash. I would leave it to natural things like leftover fruits and vegetables. But, again please do note that I am not a professional. Another tip to just keep in mind as you are practicing customer service; Try to avoid making too many references about coming to the customer's home and getting their home address. Especially if they have never made any reference to the option of having their wood delivered (as you can see they are in your yard at this moment to avoid you being in theirs). Making these types of comments will surely end your business relationship and ensure the customers take an alternate route home in case you have decided to follow them to save them the trouble of writing down their address for you.

Please take this advice to heart and may your firewood business flourish as best it can in this economic climate. And considering your military history, perhaps you should lay low for a while as I have posted BEWARE OF BUYING WOOD FROM THIS MAN posters all over the tri-city area with your picture attached. I took the picture with the high definition camera on my cellular device while you were deciding whether to kill us or sell us firewood. I applaud your obvious choice but hope in the future your customers will not consider you having other intentions besides picking up their wood from your residence/ compost heap.

Best Wishes in your business venture,

Dear Population of __________ (the city I work in),

It has come to my attention today more than ever that you are all less than what I would consider members of an intelligent species. With as little specifics as possible I would like to outline the following realities and facts to you so that you might strive to be less annoying and ridiculous creatures thus making my life just a wee bit less frustrating:
#1. Credit cards are a part of everyday life. Every place you go has a different machine to process your card. I get it. They are different. But they are not however, complicated or written in hieroglyphics. They are in English and color coded. Just use your eyes and let the message transfer back to your brain before you ask!
#2. When your name is Jenifer and a door says "Helga" on it...this does not mean YOU. It just doesn't. Does this really need to be said?
#3. If you do not have the time to shop, then don't. It's just stupid.
#4. When you are late...you should apologize.

I know that there are more items to add to this list but at the moment I done.

Hiatus

I am going to be honest...I am not "into" blogging right now. I'm not going to delete this blog but I am taking a vacation for sure. I haven't posted anything in some time so as I jumped on here today hoping I would have something to say I again fell short of words. Life is a new adventure now with twists and turns...a journey that I am happy to be on. Thanks for reading and having fun these last few years. I might just be back some other time but for now I am on hiatus from the bloggy world. Happy blogging to all and have a lovely autumn!

So, What have we been up to?

Well, since we moved here I have only posted pictures of my new little puppy - so I thought it was time to let you know what we have been up to in our new town. We love Kansas City and have done a lot of exploring so far, plus we have found new things that we love to do here. And a bonus has been a short day trip away from all of my family and friends. Enjoy!

We have taken up riding giant stone turtles at shopping malls.
We have become avid paddle boaters...

We are obsessed with our new little puppy Oliver and take tons of pictures of he and his big brother Harley.

I have hung out in my friend Pam's future home location

I made food (including this triple berry trifle) for a Baby Shower for my expecting friend Heather...

We went to Tulsa and watched the fireworks with my family...oh yeah, and got eaten alive by mosquitos!

We have had great times settling into our new home together...

I went shopping with my brother and his wife at the Plaza in Kansas City...

My Mom hung up the curtains in my living room exactly one hour after I unlocked the front door for the first time and we started moving in...seriously...

We went to Kyle's brother's wedding on Lake Michigan and added a great new gal to our family!

And most importantly...we eat A LOT of sushi!! We are beyond obsessed!

Hope you enjoyed the little sneak peak into our lives in our new home in the midwest. We both are so glad that we had our adventure in Florida but we are excited about this adventure even more!

He was giving me the "snake eye"

Literally! Now I have had my run-ins with snakes in the past (remember this post? - #6) but that was quite a different scenario than the little slithery critter who was sunning himself on my patio when I got up this morning to let the puppies out. YIPES! I jumped a mile back from the sliding glass door and tried to evaluate what I was going to do about this scaley menace...in the end I called my husband at work (who tried to convince me to go outside and kill it with a grill utensil..um NO!...I think it was because he knows I am a wee bit braver than he..hee hee), then I called my Grandmother who I know has killed a snake before and we decided that I should boil water and throw it on it to scare it away. In the end, I watched it like an episode of Animal Discovery, took the boys outside on leashes via the front yard and squealed like a little girl when it slipped through the grass and out of the lawn.

Anyone else have a good snake story??

Rip. Torn.

It was just another manic monday...and then I let myself out in public and of course - disaster occurred. I had a bunch of errands to run and I during my first errand - Riiippppppp!!!!

I was trying on these shoes at this little boutique. I have been meaning to come and do this for months because these shoes are supposed to be awesome for back and knee trouble. They are called Zcoil shoes (I will blog about them later if they turn out to be as awesome as they promise)...anywhoodle, I am trying on these shoes in this little boutique with the guy who runs it and we are the only ones there. He is helping me and telling me about all the spectacular things about these wonderful shoes and I am bouncing around on them and having a ball, then I decided to sit down and try on a different style. Let me preface this by saying that I was wearing really comfy 5 year old worn thin blue jeans that had been sewn and pinned in order to keep them alive (They were my fave.). Okay so I sit down to try on the next pair of shoes when I put my foot on my knee to tie the shoe I hear "RIIIIiiiiippppppp!" and to my horror I look down and see about 3 inches of bare thigh - my jeans had ripped. I tried to cover it up even though I am sure that my shoe guy had heard and scene my embarassing situation. I put on the shoes and walk around trying to hide the bare part of my leg - when I try on the next pair I very gingerly put them on and then yep...you guessed it..."RIIIIiiiiipppppppp!" and my 3 inch blowout has just turned into a 10 inch blow out. I kid you not my blogger friends - I was baring 10 inches of white thigh...oh my gosh the HORROR. I knew it was time to get out of there! I bought the shoes and waddled out like my thighs were glued together. So? Are you laughing as hard as my Mom was when I called her from my car outside the store. She was wishing pretty hard that she had been there...I never would have lived it down had I had a more intimate audience. Thank goodness shoe guy either didn't see or had the graciousness to ignore it.

So, like I said in the beginning of the post - I had lots of errands to run and clearly could not do them all waddling like a penguin. I headed to the mall where I had an errand to take care of anyway and waddled my bare leg into the Gap for some new blue jean! It was an emergency purchase and afterwards I waddled my way to the nearest restroom and restored my attire to something more acceptable and much less revealing! I wanted to change at the store but was just too embarassed to bring anyone else into the situation (you know what I mean). So although I could totally laugh the whole time...it is even funnier looking back out how I really had to walk carefully and hold my purse in the right position to protect my major blow out!

So, I guess I am on a diet now...I mean seriously...I am blowing out jeans! Good grief! Thanks for sharing the laugh!

Interview with a vampire.

I had an interview for a job last week and it seems that the first impression I made with my interviewer was my extremely cold hands. After shaking my hand she said, "Wow, your hands are freezing! Are you a vampire?....hee hee I have been reading a lot of vampire books!".

I bet you didn't think I was going to be the vampire in this story, huh?

While I have read the same vampire books I have to say that this was a weird beginning of the interview for me. The next part is that I ended up having to wait 45 minutes for the interview to begin which made me want to bite someone frankly...you know how we vampires are.

The next part of the interview gets less odd on the vampire front as there are no more references to my possible role in the Twilight Saga but, as far as an interview goes it turns out a bit different.

What I mean is that the actual interview questions were very uninterview like and much more personality test like. Instead of asking me about my experience, education, portfolio or work ethic these are the following questions that she asked:

1. Describe this room we are sitting in.

2. How do you like to shop?

3. Describe a time in your life when everything was great and going top notch.

4. Describe a time in your life when things weren't going great.

5. What was your best shopping experience?

6. What was your worst shopping experience?

7. Give me three words that your best friends would use to describe you.

And yeah...there were more but I can't even remember them - I felt like I was doing an interview for an article in Seventeen Magazine. I was upbeat and answered all the questions and actually had fun...kind of like writing in my diary...

I haven't got a call back so I don't think that I got the job...and although I do need the money and would have taken it I have some hope to work somewhere that is just a little more serious about the actual profession of design not about how I react when I have a super bad hair day...

Anywhoo - It was good to be interviewing and back out there on the job market. Of course with my only being awake during the night and my thirst for blood...the choices are slim.

Vampire out-

More Oliver pics!

Oliver's first bath!


My handsome little guy!

Meet Oliver!

Here is our new puppy Oliver, he is three months old and cute as a button!

In case you are wondering, our little Oliver is a Morkie puppy which means that his parents were a purebread Yorkie and a purebread Maltese. He is a caramel color with some grey and red coloring as well - he is very unique!

25 going on WHAT??

Hey there kiddos! I know I have been incommunicado the last few months but I have just been settling in to our new home and guess what? We decided to get a new puppy and he is just adorable. I will post a pick soon.

This week is my birthday and I think I finally get what people always told me growing up - when you get to a certain age you just don't care so much about making a big deal about your birthday. I am so there. Normally I would be looking for a great new outfit for the special day and checking and double checking plans so that I would have the perfect day. Right now I am just thinking..Hmmmm..my birthday is this week. How fun, it will be nice to go to a nice dinner and celebrate - except that we go to dinner all the time so it really won't be any different. And I tell my husband not to go overboard on a gift because we really cant afford it right now...with age I guess comes lack of enthusiam over birthdays.

Now, dont think I am an old fuddy duddy or anything - I will have a great birthday, eat some cake and feel special...I just feel different than I used to. What do you think? Are you still a kid at heart about your birthday or has the big day crept up without the calendar countdown you used to do?

In other words...it's time for a change.

This blog has for some time been a place for me to update photos and events in my life and on the occasion tell an embarassing story or two. I am not going to say that I will no longer do that but, I have just lost the desire to post about such things for a while and as you have seen I haven't had a desire to blog at all. I have been thinking about it for a while and debating whether or not I will just delete the blog and start something different. But, I have all my friends and readers connected here already and I am linked to all of your blogs through here so I hate to change everything and rebuild - so I am going to be working on a new look and a new format for Reflections of Moi, who knows! It might not even be "Reflections of Moi" anymore!
Hold on tight!

Settling in...

Well, it's Tuesday morning and I am sitting here at home watching my fave movie Juno and thinking about what I should blog about.

I got nothin.

Things are going really great here in the big K - Kyle really likes his job and I am continuing my search. We have been spending our time settling into our new home and discovering our new stomping ground. KC is a great place with tons to see and do and OH my gosh the shopping! Shopaholics should probably not live here!
We love the area and the people are so nice - seriously it makes you wonder sometimes about living somewhere outside the midwest. People are just different in other areas of the country even though we are hours from where either of us grew up there is something that feels like coming home.

So that is it for now. Life is good and we are more and more sure everyday that we made the right decision.

Happy Blogging all! I'm not sure how consistent my blogging will be in the near future - thanks for reading though.

Hello Kansas!

Move in Day! Hopefully (fingers-crossed as I am auto-posting this) the trip went great and we are moving into our new location today! Think of us as we are lugging boxes up stairs and down stairs and wondering why of why we have so much stuff!

Hopefully I will be back soon with stories to tell...stay tuned as we get settled in to our new home.

Goodbye Florida!

We are now on the road - hopefully aleast half way or so - just wanted to say one last goodbye to Florida and its white sandy beaches, Disney world theme parks, alligators, lovebugs, lizards, palm trees...

...But most importantly a big goodbye to all of the wonderful friends we made while we were here. We will miss each of you and we will cherish all the memories that we made!

Moving Day!!!

Well, we are off on our new adventure! Goodbye Florida! Hello Kansas City!!!

The loading of the truck....

I thought this was hilarious! We are renting from budget so I hope our truck has a funny saying on it too!

Today is the day we are loading everything up, we are leaving early tomorrow morning and then the adventure will really begin. Kyle gets back from his trip to Los Angeles this morning and he will have no time to rest as we load up the truck! Kyle is fretting about my back and how it will hold up with this many hours in the car...but, I think it will be fine! I have my lil' back pillow and some meds if need be! Let's get this show on the road! Kansas here we come!

It's 5 o'clock somewhere.

On my first day of vacation unemployment I am just sitting here in my delicious hammock sipping on a pina colada...

Oh wait! I am moving - not on vacation! Out of the hammock! Alright now - last minute doctor's visits, oil change, medical records and such and such errands, packing, packing and more packing..oh yeah, dinner plans, more packing, phone calls, checking things off the list (oh yeah baby! you bet there is quite a list going...you know about me and lists!)

So my blissful hammock picture really looks a lot more like this:

Well, I came about my unemployment voluntarily because my hubby and I are relocating for his job - but it still makes me cringe a bit (okay a bunch) to not know when I will be bringing in any income. So I am now on the hunt for work. I mean I need a JOB...like yesterday!

Momentous Days

Today is my last day at my job. Hopefully it won't be too long before I find a new place to work that feels safe and relaxed. I will miss this place and while not having to come to work tommorrow feels like I am going on vacation...I know that when I leave today I will be sad. I will miss the sweet and funny people and the caring and considerate bosses I have been blessed with. I will always cherish the education I received while working here and will always appreciate what they taught me...whether or not it all benefits me in the future. I hope that I won't work somewhere that requires me to draw roof details, or site and plumbing plans - but, if they do you can be sure that I will be prepared!

Maybe I won't find another place with Trapper Keeper 70's wall graphics and crazy Blue and Yellow accent walls. Perhaps I will choose finishes under one type of fluorescent lighting instead of a cool and warm combo. Maybe I will have to pay for my root beer instead of having a stocked fridge and all the peanut butter and crackers you can snack on available to me. I will miss the astronomical amount of diet coke that is drank here daily and I will miss The Biggest Loser rehash sessions with on Wednesdays. I will miss the singing and drumming that happens in the afternoons and no one at my new work will put the Christmas Hippo song over the intercom during the holidays...and somtime's not during the holidays...

Will my new work lower my drafting height desk to my exact measurements and buy me a special chair for my 89 year old back? Will they worry excessively about my chocolate allergy?

I don't know where I will be working or what I will be doing. All I know is that I am leaving a wonderful job and I will miss the people. I am on to new and exciting things and hope to find out exactly what my niche will be in this industry.

So, farewell Florida you have been good to me...aside from the health problems, car accidents and chaos. I fell in love here, got married here, grew up here in more ways than one and you know what? I even became an interior designer here. Thanks Florida and thanks SCMH I will always have you in my heart and in my mind when I am trying to remember the correct way to draw something.

Thanks.