My little boy?

I guess not so little anymore. Yesterday was Tristan's 13th birthday. I can't believe my little guy is a teenager! He'll be surpassing my height in a year or two. I don't want to think about all the new complications that come along with the teen years.

He just got his braces on last Monday.
"Gee Thanks Mom. What a great birthday present."*sigh*
"It could be worse; you could get them when you're 16 like I did. You should have yours off before dating age."
"I guess, but that doesn't make me enjoy it any more."
"I feel your pain, son."

We had a little party this past Saturday. With it being the day before Easter, his best friend couldn't even make it. I felt kind of bad about that. He was spoiled rotten again; I'm sure that helped ease the sorrow a bit.

I'm still not in full blogging mode, so I'll just post some pics. :)

My cutie with his braces.



Yep, Star Wars Theme






On the weekend before, we celebrated my nephew Hunter's 10th birthday.. just kidding, he's 5. Boy is he growing, though! He had a Batman themed party and it was a nice day with family.




My niece, Samantha pumping up the crowd.(Her birthday is next month)


Hunter opening the Spongebob movie & Melodie thinking she should have kept it for herself. Tristan in the background excited about the Kindle his Aunt & Uncle gave him.



Robin was the next to go.



I'll get back to my normal blogging soon. I've got lots coming up. Hope you're all doing well!

I heart babies and flowers

I went to my friend Lauren's baby shower this weekend. It was beautiful! Every mom-to-be should have a party like that. The hostess went all out; it was really quite amazing. Lauren's nursery is 'under the sea', so the shower theme was the same. She & her hubby have waited & haven't found out the baby's gender. It's neat, but I sure couldn't have done it! So everything has to be neutral for now. (I really think it's a boy.)

I was going to make a diaper cake. It was really cool- slide apart tiers with compartments to put goodies in. Then the hostess told me that someone else was bringing one, so I figured it'd be rude to still bring it. It was okay, though, because I was also making a sock rose bouquet. They're not as popular as diaper cakes (yet), so I was pretty certain no one else would bring one.

I think it turned out pretty well; it was my first attempt at one. See the little baby socks?



What do you think about waiting to find out the sex of your baby? Could you/would you do it? :)

Bye Bye Whaler

I laugh every time I see those Denny's commercials. They show the super silly pancake ideas and then say "Isn't it time for a Real (or Serious)breakfast?" I guess they're making fun of IHOP's Rooty Tooty Fresh & Fruity, or whatever wacky thing they call it nowadays.

As I recall, Denny's named their breakfast plates with stupid wanna be clever names, as well. Growing up, my family loved Denny's, but my brother always got mad that his favorite meal was Moons Over My Hammy. He'd dread having to tell the waitress his order. My dad would laugh & joke about them getting a kick out of it, "We'll serve it to you, but you have to embarrass yourself and say the goofy name first!"

I'm just saying, they're great commercials, but the irony is not lost on me.

-----

That reminds me of this time my Dad took us through the Burger King drive-thru after a movie (in my brother's and my early adult years). He had a great exchange with the pimply, cracking voiced employee. Dad had a craving for one of those fish sandwiches that he hadn't had in years.



"Welcome to Burger King, would you like to try a Combo meal?"
"No thanks. I'll take a Whopper with cheese, one Whopper junior, three regular fries and one Whaler."
"Uh, what was that last thing?"
He enunciated," A Whaler"
"I'm sorry, sir, we don't have those."
Dad's getting frustrated now, & he's scanning the menu, " A Whaler-A fish sandwich. What do you call the fish sandwich??!"
"Uh, a fish sandwich, sir"
"Great, give me one of those."

So apparently he repeated the funny name of the past over and over when he didn't need to. I guess BK didn't want to embarrass fish loving customers anymore. Or they realized that Whaler wasn't an appropriate name in the first place.


So have you ever had a food that was embarrassing to ask for?

Don't Bait and Switch me

One of the perks of having a blog is it's an easy way to spread the word about great companies, great products, and not so great companies with terrible customer service.

I recently ran into one of the latter. I saw on one of my favorite sites a deal about Spring Hill Nurseries:

"Put Us To The Test! Get $20 Worth Of FREE Plants - Just Pay Shipping. Once You've Tried Us, We Know You'll Be Back!"

Cool! Being a gardener, I love finding new companies to order plants from, and discounts are the only way to do it. So I went on and ordered about $30 worth of plants. The discount appeared in my shopping cart just fine until after I checked out. The confirmation page didn't show the $20 coupon. I tried not to freak out about it, thinking maybe it didn't really reflect the actual total. So I sent an email to customer service with all of the information asking to be reassured that my order would be charged correctly.

Here was the first response:

"Dear Nissa,

Thank you for your email. I apologize for the inconvenience. However, please provide us with the key code. We will be happy to assist you.

If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

John
Customer Service"


To which I replied:

"I don't know what you mean by key code. Is that a discount code? There was none. I simply went to http://springhillnursery.com/default.asp through one of the blogs I read (imommies.com) It said at the top of the site:

Put Us To The Test! Get $20 Worth Of FREE Plants - Just Pay Shipping. Once You've Tried Us, We Know You'll Be Back!
Limit One Offer Per Household.
Hurry - Offer Expires Shortly!


There wasn't any problem showing the discount until the order actually went through. The confirmation page suddenly didn't show the $20 credit."

Two days pass- then I finally got:

"Dear Valued Customer:

Thank you for your email. The key code is the discount code associated with the special offers. We are unable to apply the offers to the order without any key code.
However, we can offer either $25.00 discount on the order total of $50.00 or more or free shipping on the orders over $25.00.

While placing the orders please leave a note in the “special instructions” box concerning the discount/coupon, and we'll be happy to deduct it from the order.
If we can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Susan
Customer Service"

So now they want me to make another order for $50?? Yeah, like I trust them to give me that discount, either. I've now lost all patience:

"I am outraged that your company would pull a bait and switch like that and tell me I need a key code to fix the problem when there was no key code. As if you didn't know you had that offer on the website. Cancel my order immediately. I will also inform my bank not to honor any charges made by your company.

I was extremely excited to try your products when I heard about the offer from a fellow blogger, but I should have realized the offer was too good to be true. I will also be spreading the word about this lack of customer service and business ethics.

Nissa H."

While writing this post- I received this quick response.

"Dear Nissa:

Thank you for your email. Please understand that our company is based on 100% Customer Service. While we try to make every effort to ensure that the items you order are of the highest quality, shipped to you in a timely manner, and with the best service, occasionally we stumble. Please accept our apology for any inconvenience we may have caused you, and we ask that you consider giving us one more opportunity to provide you with world class service. However, I have canceled your order number XXXXXXXXXXXX.

If we can be of further assistance please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Steve
Customer Service"

Too little, too late. They still wouldn't even acknowledge the deal the offer on the website. I'm not saying this happens to everyone. I've read others who got the deal just fine. All it takes, though is one big frak(my new clean curse; a nod to BSG) up and I'm done. I don't understand why they couldn't fix it..

Here's to everyone having a great day with fantastic customer service (if needed). *Cheers* (Don't worry, it's just my coffee cup; I'm not so upset that it's driven me to drink at 9 am.)

Reality check.

I think it's great that American Idol has a blind (almost blind?) contestant. Scott makes you root for him. I can't help, though, thinking about what will happen as the weeks progress. I'm wondering how they'll manage to pull off the group performances..? Will he just have to sit on a stool in the middle of the other dancing kids? Will his brother have to dance behind him, guiding him? Will his vision impairment keep him from participating in some of the 'extra' stuff? Will the stylists put some sunglasses on him?...

What I am SO looking forward to- the Ford commercials. I can see it, now; Scott's driving the Ford Focus (no pun intended- or is it?) all over the road and sidewalk, making all the other contestants jump, roll, & run out of his way. That'll be funny as hell.
----

I am a Bachelor watcher, too. Oh how I was disgusted at the end of this season. They get a single dad (poor guy dumped on the previous Bachelorette) and all these girls think he's just perfect and sweet; even wanting to become an instant mom. He really had us them fooled. Jason dumped Molly and proposed to Melissa (yay!), then that ass hat dumped Melissa on national tv, and said he'd made a mistake. Then he got back together with Molly. What I can't understand is why Molly took him back. *Insert my brother, "Same reason she'd go on the Bachelor in the first place. Desperate chick."* She should have laughed in his face, "Hells to the nah, loser. You had your chance." The one I really feel badly for is his son, Ty. Every other weekend. "Son, this is gonna be your new stepmommy. I love her with all of my heart."then, "Remember how I told you that last girl was going to be your new stepmommy? Well THIS one is really going to be your new stepmommy. I don't love the other girl afterall."

I watched Dancing with the Stars Monday night, and boy am I glad I did. (It's not one of my regular reality shows) Melissa's now on DWTS and it makes me happy. She's the last minute replacement for Nancy O'Dell. Yeah, such big stars on that show. I highly recommend it, though for all nerds. Watching Steve Wozniak dance is bound to make you feel supercool. I'm sure he won't be on for very much longer, though, so catch it while you can. Or just watch on Youtube so you don't have to admit that you actually watched Dancing with the Stars.

How 5 pounds turned into 25.

Hubby & I are small people; short in stature, not meant to weigh a lot. Through the years, the extra pounds have crept up on me. I didn't pay too much attention. I knew that I was heavier than I should be, but not 'fat'. Until the day I saw Michael's weight on the scale, and decided to step on after. *gulp* I weighed 5 pounds more than my hubby!

Right now I weigh 15 pounds less. I thought I'd be thrilled to be back at this weight, but I realize I'd like to take another 10 off to be at my personal best weight. You know, not necessarily the weight that 'they' say you should be at for your height, but that weight where you feel your sexiest, most confident..

Besides, I'm not toned. I haven't even been exercising, even though I should. My poor neglected Wii fit. Yeah, I know, I promised I'd be using it all the time when I begged Michael for it, but I got out of the habit, and it's hard to get started back up.

I'm not on a diet. I attribute my current weight loss to minor changes. I try to avoid high fructose corn syrup. I know it's under debate whether HFCS is much worse than sugar, but I think so. I've been a Coca-Cola addict since I was a toddler. I don't drink a ton of it, but I can't go days without it, either. I could never drink the diet stuff- yuck! I have a big aversion to artificial sweeteners. They're not natural. I kept thinking, 'Why doesn't someone make a cola with real sugar instead??' It turns out some companies do. I found Jones Natural Pure Cane Soda at my grocery store. It's more expensive, but I think it's totally worth it. I save money in other areas of spending which more than makes up for it.

I've downsized my portions, and I eat all 3 meals, including breakfast! I also have several small snacks throughout the day. I know this is mostly common sense stuff, but it's one thing to hear it and another thing to actually do it.

I had also been struggling with my depression recently. My doctor got my medications adjusted and I am so myself again! I have more energy and feel more motivated to actively work on my weight.
I'm going to be accountable for my weight and my health, and that's why I'm posting about it. Tomorrow I am going to exercise. For real, this time.

Who am I anyway?

My blog and I are going through a bit of an identity crisis. When I started this blog, it was going to be anything and everything I felt like putting in it. Then people started reading and things began to change. I was so thrilled that people could actually want to read what I wrote! I tried to figure out what it was my readers liked and wanted. Was it my candor? Was it cute pics of my kids? Was it the silly stories? Was it my asides(come on, you love them!)? Was it my crafts and craft tips? Was it my funny Thursday Thirteens? Was it my adventures of a shopaholic? I spent too much time trying to analyze what would keep my regulars happy.

I was quickly grouped into the mommy blogger category. So then I tried to figure out what writing would be interesting yet not offensive to anyone. I like to please; that's just how I am. I am also very random, flighty, foul mouthed, overly emotional, flawed, anxious, a fangirl, a spelling whiz yet a punctuation addict....(I can't stop!!!!)and overall sub par writer. I'm also not usually very self confident(although if you've seen me when I'm manic, that's a whole different story!).

As the days went on, I was feeling stifled. I had all of these ideas to post, but would second guess myself, thinking 'Oh, they're not going to be interested in this', or 'That's too controversial- someone's going to be upset by this; I can't post my feelings.'(That was a valid fear, as I had it happen last year.)

Some of you ask me 'Why do you feel like you can't be yourself?' The answer is because I feel like I'm being judged and graded. I know that's completely contrary to why I started this blog. I don't have to post everyday. If I don't have anything to say, who cares? If I say something stupid, I'll chalk it up to being a blonde. If I'm feeling down, this is my venting spot. If I post something very random, it doesn't matter. If I don't feel like looking through my reader or blog hopping, I'll realize that everyone gets that way sometimes. If people stop reading, I'll remind myself that it's okay and try not to take it personally.

So I guess the best I can figure out is: I'm just Nissa, and this is just my personal blog. I hope you get something you like out of it once in a while, but if not, so be it.