It's been raining for a month! At least it isn't snow. There is always a silver lining somewhere. But it's a lot of rain and the sky has been grey for too long.
But I'm really jonesing for some garden cleanup in the sunshine. I'd like to wear a short sleeve shirt out side with no jacket and actually put on some sunscreen. And watch the boys ride their bikes/skates/scooters.
I know it's only March. But it is almost April and it is technically spring already. I saw that on the calendar.
Maybe just a few days of sunshine? Over the weekend, please.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
Thursday, March 24, 2011
I think going to the dentist might be more fun.
When I was fundraising for new band uniforms when I was in high school, I decided how much I hate school fundraising. We did a lot of it for a few years and I was involved in all of it. We sold to all of our neighbors and all of the band supporters (we called them Band-Aids. Cute huh? We were kids, give me a break). The chocolate bars weren't too hard to sell. They are small and cheap. But you can only sell it for so long before the people you always sell to decide they are bored with it. So we turned to selling Oranges. Our director found a great fundraiser. We were supposed to get a good percentage of the money from the sale of fresh oranges shipped from Florida. And we sold a LOT of oranges. People were excited about the idea of a crate of fresh oranges delivered to their door by fresh faced band members (I'm assuming that is why we sold so many, anyway).
I don't remember all of the details of the orange sales. What I do remember is that we sold a lot of them. And I remember the truck pulling into the school parking lot to deliver them, and band members helping to off load them. The truck was days later than it was promised to arrive and it was hard to find people to help.
And then we discovered that most of the boxes had rotten moldy oranges in them. I remember the smell of moldy oranges like it was yesterday. We had to sort out the oranges, keep the good ones to give to people who bought them, and toss the moldy ones. Fresh oranges that have touched moldy oranges get moldy and mushy themselves in a hurry. So the race was one to deliver fruit to at least some of the people who bought from us.
I used to eat an orange at lunch every single day (I'm a creature of habit, what can I say). I have never enjoyed oranges since that year. I still eat them once in a while, but if I happen to get a sniff of orange that *might* be off, I can't finish it.
If I remember right, that fundraiser cost us more than we earned. I don't believe we ever got the money back from the company to pay for all the undeliverable fruit, and we had to give money back to people who did not get their orders.
And now my own kids are in school and participating in fundraisers. After last years drama in selling junk for the school fundraiser (which I just figured out I didn't blog about and can't link to it. So just trust me, there was drama last year) I was excited about this one. This one was going to be easy. My kids sold Worlds Finest Chocolate this year. Chocolate. It sells itself.
They got everyone in my office to buy from them. Almost everyone there bought something from both kids and some wrote checks. I put the checks in one kids envelope and cash in the other kids envelope. And they took those envelopes to school a few days before the deadline, because I was going to be out of town when they were actually due. Both kids assured me that evening that they handed the envelopes to their teachers. Chocolate was to be delivered at conferences.
Pete brought his chocolate home this week. All of it is there and matches the list of people who ordered from him. Repete didn't bring home chocolate. I guessed it was because he is younger and the teachers want to be sure the chocolate actually makes it home *outside* a kids tummy.
Repetes conference was yesterday. And his teacher apologised for not having it delivered. She has no idea what happened to the order form. She remembers him turning it in, but she can't be sure that she gave it to the fundraiser committee.
So, I have to tell everyone on the list (from my memory) that they don't get their whole order (half was on Petes order form and half on Repetes. I told everyone to pick the kid they like best, but they all insisted on ordering from both of them). And it seems that all the checks were in Repetes envelope and have not yet been cashed.
This is the last elementary school fundraiser that I will be doing. From now on I'll just donate money. The school will get to keep all of the money rather than half or less that they would get from selling junk. And I won't have to go through this brain damage again.
*Side note: the playground equipment that we have been fundraising for (and didn't get a match from the district for) should be installed over spring break. Helpful parents helped remove old equipment last week. Yeah!
I don't remember all of the details of the orange sales. What I do remember is that we sold a lot of them. And I remember the truck pulling into the school parking lot to deliver them, and band members helping to off load them. The truck was days later than it was promised to arrive and it was hard to find people to help.
And then we discovered that most of the boxes had rotten moldy oranges in them. I remember the smell of moldy oranges like it was yesterday. We had to sort out the oranges, keep the good ones to give to people who bought them, and toss the moldy ones. Fresh oranges that have touched moldy oranges get moldy and mushy themselves in a hurry. So the race was one to deliver fruit to at least some of the people who bought from us.
I used to eat an orange at lunch every single day (I'm a creature of habit, what can I say). I have never enjoyed oranges since that year. I still eat them once in a while, but if I happen to get a sniff of orange that *might* be off, I can't finish it.
If I remember right, that fundraiser cost us more than we earned. I don't believe we ever got the money back from the company to pay for all the undeliverable fruit, and we had to give money back to people who did not get their orders.
And now my own kids are in school and participating in fundraisers. After last years drama in selling junk for the school fundraiser (which I just figured out I didn't blog about and can't link to it. So just trust me, there was drama last year) I was excited about this one. This one was going to be easy. My kids sold Worlds Finest Chocolate this year. Chocolate. It sells itself.
They got everyone in my office to buy from them. Almost everyone there bought something from both kids and some wrote checks. I put the checks in one kids envelope and cash in the other kids envelope. And they took those envelopes to school a few days before the deadline, because I was going to be out of town when they were actually due. Both kids assured me that evening that they handed the envelopes to their teachers. Chocolate was to be delivered at conferences.
Pete brought his chocolate home this week. All of it is there and matches the list of people who ordered from him. Repete didn't bring home chocolate. I guessed it was because he is younger and the teachers want to be sure the chocolate actually makes it home *outside* a kids tummy.
Repetes conference was yesterday. And his teacher apologised for not having it delivered. She has no idea what happened to the order form. She remembers him turning it in, but she can't be sure that she gave it to the fundraiser committee.
So, I have to tell everyone on the list (from my memory) that they don't get their whole order (half was on Petes order form and half on Repetes. I told everyone to pick the kid they like best, but they all insisted on ordering from both of them). And it seems that all the checks were in Repetes envelope and have not yet been cashed.
This is the last elementary school fundraiser that I will be doing. From now on I'll just donate money. The school will get to keep all of the money rather than half or less that they would get from selling junk. And I won't have to go through this brain damage again.
*Side note: the playground equipment that we have been fundraising for (and didn't get a match from the district for) should be installed over spring break. Helpful parents helped remove old equipment last week. Yeah!
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Thanks a lot Hollywood
PG-13 - Parents Strongly Cautioned - Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13. These films may contain sex references, up to four uses of explicit language, drug innuendo, strong crude/suggestive humor, mature/political themes, moderately long horror moments and/or moderate action violence.
Well, it's not really the fault of Hollywood. It was a PG-13 movie. I guess I should have previewed it. I figured that we should expect some bad language (which my kids hear every single day anyway, and can probably use it correct context better than their teachers, but they don't. Yet.). I thought there might be nudity. It's an Adam Sandler movie so I did expect crude humor.
We watched Grownups with the kids this weekend. It was a cute movie. Totally predictable and totally enjoyable. The best kind.
My problem with it was when the daughter of Adam Sandlers character looses her tooth. No biggie right? She tries and tries to tell her mother about it and her mother said something like "yeah, I heard you, I'll put the dollar under your pillow later". The little girl discovered that the tooth fairy isn't real. And so did my little boy.
"Are you the tooth fairy? Do you put the money under my pillow?" asked a wide eyed Repete, who was snuggled down on my lap. Pete sat on the couch and pretended that he wasn't listening for the answer, but I could tell he was hanging on our words. He is already wondering about Santa (and I think last Christmas may have been the last one where he was still on the fence. Next year I'll have to threaten him to make sure it stays magic for his brother). I looked at their father with panic in my eyes. He was also wide eyed. What do you do? Repete is still at an age where magic is real and as soon as that is over he isn't a baby anymore. He may be ready to move on, but I'm not ready for him to just yet.
"I have never put money under your pillow," I told him. Which is true. I leave it in a tooth fairy box on his dresser. He hugged me and we watched the rest of the movie. I don't think I've lost my baby yet. But his brother rolled his eyes. He heard the words and saw through them. He's growing up you know.
Next month we tackle the Easter Bunny.... I think Pete is already gone on this one... Even Repete will question a rabbit that leaves eggs in the yard... There is less magic every year.
Well, it's not really the fault of Hollywood. It was a PG-13 movie. I guess I should have previewed it. I figured that we should expect some bad language (which my kids hear every single day anyway, and can probably use it correct context better than their teachers, but they don't. Yet.). I thought there might be nudity. It's an Adam Sandler movie so I did expect crude humor.
We watched Grownups with the kids this weekend. It was a cute movie. Totally predictable and totally enjoyable. The best kind.
My problem with it was when the daughter of Adam Sandlers character looses her tooth. No biggie right? She tries and tries to tell her mother about it and her mother said something like "yeah, I heard you, I'll put the dollar under your pillow later". The little girl discovered that the tooth fairy isn't real. And so did my little boy.
"Are you the tooth fairy? Do you put the money under my pillow?" asked a wide eyed Repete, who was snuggled down on my lap. Pete sat on the couch and pretended that he wasn't listening for the answer, but I could tell he was hanging on our words. He is already wondering about Santa (and I think last Christmas may have been the last one where he was still on the fence. Next year I'll have to threaten him to make sure it stays magic for his brother). I looked at their father with panic in my eyes. He was also wide eyed. What do you do? Repete is still at an age where magic is real and as soon as that is over he isn't a baby anymore. He may be ready to move on, but I'm not ready for him to just yet.
"I have never put money under your pillow," I told him. Which is true. I leave it in a tooth fairy box on his dresser. He hugged me and we watched the rest of the movie. I don't think I've lost my baby yet. But his brother rolled his eyes. He heard the words and saw through them. He's growing up you know.
Next month we tackle the Easter Bunny.... I think Pete is already gone on this one... Even Repete will question a rabbit that leaves eggs in the yard... There is less magic every year.
Thursday, March 10, 2011
Made it home (with luggage)
I made it into my own bed before 2:00 this morning. Our planes were all operable and mostly on time yesterday. We had boarding passes and actually got on the planes as well. I didn't even have to sit by someone I don't know. Which isn't something I have a problem with at all, but the comfort level goes up considerably if you know the person you are sitting by (even more so if you like the person, I guess).
After the last blog post I had almost NO time to log on again. This trade show is HUGE (I think I said that before). There are over 800 booths of mining companies and suppliers trying to tell you how great their product is. That is what I was doing there as well (actually, my main focus is information gathering so this is a great event for me to be at). In addition to the booths there are over 25,000 people who go through the show during the week. And I think I talked to most of them!
Once the trade show part shuts down at 5:30 the day isn't over. There are hospitality suites and after parties to attend. I tagged along to several of our clients parties. I went mostly for the free booze and appetizers and so I didn't have to go back to the hotel alone. I don't find that these parties are the best places to meet new people (and I was right, really. The groups mainly stay together and only talk to other people that they already know). But we did got to a few parties that were especially memorable.
The first one was the belly dancer party. One company had party at a Moroccan bar, where you sit at low tables or on pillows and soon a belly dancer comes out and shakes her coins. It was great fun! It was even more fun when the big boss of the company I work for got up and danced too! He is an amazingly good sport and I think he had a great time! I had fun watching it! I ran into my old backyard neighbor there (what are the odds?). I like to think I kept him out of trouble. He didn't get up and dance. tee hee...
The other one that was the most memorable to me was a party put on by the Argentina mining people. It was a mask and they had everyone wear a beautiful mask with feathers and jewels on it. And they had opera singers belt out some classics that a lot of the people in the room new (lots of people from all over Latin America were there singing in Spanish). Then they had tango dancers. What an amazing thing to watch. It makes Dancing with the Stars look like children learning to walk, and I really enjoy watching DWTS. Next came three beautiful women who wore feather headdresses and danced! The whole evening was amazing. After the dancers were done a band came on and played and the crowd danced. I didn't dance, but I really really enjoyed watching some of the people who were there. The rest of my colleagues did dance. (I have a big issue with being self conscious when I'm on a dance floor in a group. I like dancing with one person but a group setting is hard for me. Unless I have a lot of alcohol. I didn't.)
Other events that I missed included a whiskey tasting event, which may have been fun and countless parties that were full of music and cultural displays. It was great fun.
It made for several very long days. I was glad to be on the airplane for the 6 hour trip home. I took off my shoes and read my book and relaxed as much as a person can relax on an airplane.
I'm home now and I'm starting the followup on all the contacts that I made there. Tomorrow will be a very busy day in the office and next week should be as well. I want to be ahead of the game on these projects so I don't have to think about them much when I go on vacation this summer.
After the last blog post I had almost NO time to log on again. This trade show is HUGE (I think I said that before). There are over 800 booths of mining companies and suppliers trying to tell you how great their product is. That is what I was doing there as well (actually, my main focus is information gathering so this is a great event for me to be at). In addition to the booths there are over 25,000 people who go through the show during the week. And I think I talked to most of them!
Once the trade show part shuts down at 5:30 the day isn't over. There are hospitality suites and after parties to attend. I tagged along to several of our clients parties. I went mostly for the free booze and appetizers and so I didn't have to go back to the hotel alone. I don't find that these parties are the best places to meet new people (and I was right, really. The groups mainly stay together and only talk to other people that they already know). But we did got to a few parties that were especially memorable.
The first one was the belly dancer party. One company had party at a Moroccan bar, where you sit at low tables or on pillows and soon a belly dancer comes out and shakes her coins. It was great fun! It was even more fun when the big boss of the company I work for got up and danced too! He is an amazingly good sport and I think he had a great time! I had fun watching it! I ran into my old backyard neighbor there (what are the odds?). I like to think I kept him out of trouble. He didn't get up and dance. tee hee...
The other one that was the most memorable to me was a party put on by the Argentina mining people. It was a mask and they had everyone wear a beautiful mask with feathers and jewels on it. And they had opera singers belt out some classics that a lot of the people in the room new (lots of people from all over Latin America were there singing in Spanish). Then they had tango dancers. What an amazing thing to watch. It makes Dancing with the Stars look like children learning to walk, and I really enjoy watching DWTS. Next came three beautiful women who wore feather headdresses and danced! The whole evening was amazing. After the dancers were done a band came on and played and the crowd danced. I didn't dance, but I really really enjoyed watching some of the people who were there. The rest of my colleagues did dance. (I have a big issue with being self conscious when I'm on a dance floor in a group. I like dancing with one person but a group setting is hard for me. Unless I have a lot of alcohol. I didn't.)
Other events that I missed included a whiskey tasting event, which may have been fun and countless parties that were full of music and cultural displays. It was great fun.
It made for several very long days. I was glad to be on the airplane for the 6 hour trip home. I took off my shoes and read my book and relaxed as much as a person can relax on an airplane.
I'm home now and I'm starting the followup on all the contacts that I made there. Tomorrow will be a very busy day in the office and next week should be as well. I want to be ahead of the game on these projects so I don't have to think about them much when I go on vacation this summer.
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Not yet!
It's 9:00 pm and our bags aren't here yet. The day was filled with more interestingness.
I smell like a 13 year old girl. No adult wears strawberry scented deodorant. Why would a hotel stock that kind? Probably got in on sale from someone who couldn't get rid of it! At least I don't smell like a 13 year old boy though. There are trade-offs.
We did go shopping. We went to a big city department store. I arrived in my ski jacket and camo t-shirt (really). I ended up feeling like pretty woman! The clerks helped us find things to wear that we magnificent (and f'n expensive). We were directed to Guest Services by a doorman. They gave us a discount card because we were from out of town and had lost our luggage. I found some really cute things that were all on sale. Plus the discount card. Between the two of us we only spent the same amount as the original tag on the pair of slacks that I got. I'm embarrassed to say how much they were. Suffice it to say I would NEVER ever spend that kind of money on clothes. I go more along these lines. But I really really like what I got, so maybe the whole "you get what you pay for" thing is true? Probably not. But they feel kind of special today!
One thing I forgot to add yesterday was what the bag agent said to us. He was trying to get a handle on the last place we saw our luggage. Everyone asked us if we got our bags at customs. We did. We got them and rechecked them. Just like you are supposed to. In fact when I got on my flight in Vancouver the Gate agent said that at least 2 of the bags were on the plane already. So I know they made it from international to domestic. We tried to explain that all to him and he was confused that we had to go through customs. Then it hit him that we are American. He said he was confused "because we are so nice". I guess I'm just a *nice* American.
Hopefully the bags will be here when we wake up. We have called and they are being tracked again. Which means that they turned up somewhere. Supposedly they have arrived in Toronto. 6-8 hours from their arrival time they should be dropped at the hotel. Should we hold our breath for that? I'm not sure. I have something cute to wear tomorrow! But I have no business cards to give out or product to show off. LAME.
I had a stack of business cards in my purse. I gave one out to someone today and noticed that it didn't have MY name on it! Only the top 6 or 7 cards were mine! The rest were a colleagues. So I can't enter drawings or pass out my cards until my bag gets here. I stuck a stack in there. Thank goodness.
So the trade show was short today. Will be longer tomorrow since I have clothes I can wear there. We have a good story to break the ice. And *fingers crossed* we will have our stuff back tomorrow.
I smell like a 13 year old girl. No adult wears strawberry scented deodorant. Why would a hotel stock that kind? Probably got in on sale from someone who couldn't get rid of it! At least I don't smell like a 13 year old boy though. There are trade-offs.
We did go shopping. We went to a big city department store. I arrived in my ski jacket and camo t-shirt (really). I ended up feeling like pretty woman! The clerks helped us find things to wear that we magnificent (and f'n expensive). We were directed to Guest Services by a doorman. They gave us a discount card because we were from out of town and had lost our luggage. I found some really cute things that were all on sale. Plus the discount card. Between the two of us we only spent the same amount as the original tag on the pair of slacks that I got. I'm embarrassed to say how much they were. Suffice it to say I would NEVER ever spend that kind of money on clothes. I go more along these lines. But I really really like what I got, so maybe the whole "you get what you pay for" thing is true? Probably not. But they feel kind of special today!
One thing I forgot to add yesterday was what the bag agent said to us. He was trying to get a handle on the last place we saw our luggage. Everyone asked us if we got our bags at customs. We did. We got them and rechecked them. Just like you are supposed to. In fact when I got on my flight in Vancouver the Gate agent said that at least 2 of the bags were on the plane already. So I know they made it from international to domestic. We tried to explain that all to him and he was confused that we had to go through customs. Then it hit him that we are American. He said he was confused "because we are so nice". I guess I'm just a *nice* American.
Hopefully the bags will be here when we wake up. We have called and they are being tracked again. Which means that they turned up somewhere. Supposedly they have arrived in Toronto. 6-8 hours from their arrival time they should be dropped at the hotel. Should we hold our breath for that? I'm not sure. I have something cute to wear tomorrow! But I have no business cards to give out or product to show off. LAME.
I had a stack of business cards in my purse. I gave one out to someone today and noticed that it didn't have MY name on it! Only the top 6 or 7 cards were mine! The rest were a colleagues. So I can't enter drawings or pass out my cards until my bag gets here. I stuck a stack in there. Thank goodness.
So the trade show was short today. Will be longer tomorrow since I have clothes I can wear there. We have a good story to break the ice. And *fingers crossed* we will have our stuff back tomorrow.
An Adventure
PDAC - The Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada. This is a BIG trade show. This is my second time attending this show and I have kind of been looking forward to it.
My boss and I had a flight out of our home town yesterday morning. The flight was scheduled for 5:00 am. Which meant that to be at the airport an hour early (even at that time of day they say you should be there early) I have to leave my own house at 3:00. I didn't even know there was a 3:00 in the morning. When did they start doing that? I am not a fan.
We check in at the airport a little after 4:00. Our plane is already going to be an hour and half late. They had to change the prop. Props are important. I am a fan of all the parts that make the airplane work. The gate agent apologised for something that was beyond her control and she gave us vouchers and refunded our prepaid bag fees. It was nice. We did expect to miss our connection, however, and she had to reroute us to Vancouver and then to Toronto, instead of direct from Seattle to Toronto. OK. No big deal. One extra stop.
We get to Seattle and they are still boarding the original flight. And they said there is LOTS of room for more passengers on that plane. But do you think that they would let us on? Not a chance. Since it is an international flight, the airline had to submit their passenger manifest 45 minutes before takeoff. We arrive 30 minutes before take off. We got to watch everyone get on and our plane take off for Toronto. Shortly after that we got on a plane to Vancouver.
In Vancouver we had to go through customs. This included getting our bags from the carousel, filling out the forms and talking to the customs agents. WE then put our bags back on a belt that checked them to our final destination.
When we got to the gate for our new flight (we called and got our seat assignments at 4:30 in the morning to make sure that we had them) they told us they didn't have room for us. What? We have actual boarding passes in hand already! Nope. They had room for one of us but not both. So I went on that flight. The rest of our business associates were also on that flight, coincidentally. So when we made it to Toronto they waited with me for bags. Which didn't come. The bag agent said they would likely be on the next plane. The next flight ended up with one seat extra and my boss was able to grab it. She was in only 30 minutes behind us. That was nice. But the bags weren't on her flight. The bag agents said they will probably be on the next one. So we ate dinner at the airport and went to get out bags when the next flight landed. No bags.
We decided not to wait on the next 2 flights from Vancouver (who knew there were so many flights from Vancouver to Toronto in one day?) The bag agent said they will be at our hotel in the morning. Likely when we wake up. It is 10:30 on a Sunday morning now. And no one knows where our bags are.
The trade show started hours ago and I'm wearing a t-shirt and jeans. So we are going shopping. But, as I said already, it is 10:30 on a Sunday. No stores open yet! So we are going shopping.... eventually. I guess we miss the first day of the trade show. At least the morning of it.
I'll post more later. This is an adventure. On the up side: this hotel has GREAT mattresses. And I get some new clothes. (but I had to buy strawberry scented pit stop at the hotel so I don't stink. strawberry? I'm not 13!).
My boss and I had a flight out of our home town yesterday morning. The flight was scheduled for 5:00 am. Which meant that to be at the airport an hour early (even at that time of day they say you should be there early) I have to leave my own house at 3:00. I didn't even know there was a 3:00 in the morning. When did they start doing that? I am not a fan.
We check in at the airport a little after 4:00. Our plane is already going to be an hour and half late. They had to change the prop. Props are important. I am a fan of all the parts that make the airplane work. The gate agent apologised for something that was beyond her control and she gave us vouchers and refunded our prepaid bag fees. It was nice. We did expect to miss our connection, however, and she had to reroute us to Vancouver and then to Toronto, instead of direct from Seattle to Toronto. OK. No big deal. One extra stop.
We get to Seattle and they are still boarding the original flight. And they said there is LOTS of room for more passengers on that plane. But do you think that they would let us on? Not a chance. Since it is an international flight, the airline had to submit their passenger manifest 45 minutes before takeoff. We arrive 30 minutes before take off. We got to watch everyone get on and our plane take off for Toronto. Shortly after that we got on a plane to Vancouver.
In Vancouver we had to go through customs. This included getting our bags from the carousel, filling out the forms and talking to the customs agents. WE then put our bags back on a belt that checked them to our final destination.
When we got to the gate for our new flight (we called and got our seat assignments at 4:30 in the morning to make sure that we had them) they told us they didn't have room for us. What? We have actual boarding passes in hand already! Nope. They had room for one of us but not both. So I went on that flight. The rest of our business associates were also on that flight, coincidentally. So when we made it to Toronto they waited with me for bags. Which didn't come. The bag agent said they would likely be on the next plane. The next flight ended up with one seat extra and my boss was able to grab it. She was in only 30 minutes behind us. That was nice. But the bags weren't on her flight. The bag agents said they will probably be on the next one. So we ate dinner at the airport and went to get out bags when the next flight landed. No bags.
We decided not to wait on the next 2 flights from Vancouver (who knew there were so many flights from Vancouver to Toronto in one day?) The bag agent said they will be at our hotel in the morning. Likely when we wake up. It is 10:30 on a Sunday morning now. And no one knows where our bags are.
The trade show started hours ago and I'm wearing a t-shirt and jeans. So we are going shopping. But, as I said already, it is 10:30 on a Sunday. No stores open yet! So we are going shopping.... eventually. I guess we miss the first day of the trade show. At least the morning of it.
I'll post more later. This is an adventure. On the up side: this hotel has GREAT mattresses. And I get some new clothes. (but I had to buy strawberry scented pit stop at the hotel so I don't stink. strawberry? I'm not 13!).
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