Psycho Babble

My week has been a week of adjustment as far as RL is concerned. It's all work related really. So, while I'm here working another lame Saturday shift, I'll tell you all about it.

Earlier this week (Tuesday) my manager was given his "pink slip". I won't go into too much depth behind the reason(s) why... All I'll say is that I don't agree 100% with how things went down. Then again I'm a mere pawn in all of this and my thoughts, ideas and opinions don't account for much.

To give you all a little history, to help better understand my mindset on all this, The dealership I work for bought out the previous owner in October 2006.
Before I was transfered here in December 2006, the 3 employees in this department were here 20 years together. The lady that took care of all the warranty claims and returns was given her "pink slip" 3 days after I was transferred. In July 2007 The parts manager was laid off and the other employee was promoted to the parts manager and 2 months later he quit, and I was here everyday for 6 weeks open to close.... not fun being thrown into the wolves like that. Stu was hired as the new parts manager and now we are up to date.

While Stu had previous management experience at other dealerships, apparently he was not doing things "their way" and was never shown how things were expected to be done, so that didn't help. So in a sense he never really had a fair chance in my opinion, but again what I think doesn't matter.


So now Al is the new parts manager. Now, it's only fair that I give you some history about him
Al worked as the parts manager in our sister store for 9 years. So he's well aware of the "right" way to do things. Seems about 6 weeks ago Al thought he could handle being a Service Manager at his store and got the position and a new parts manager was hired to replace him. Well Al's career as a Service Manager was short lived and last week he just decided not to show up for work, couldn't handle his new position and seems he had a bit of a tantrum (from where I sit).
After making a phone call to his manager, seems Al couldn't get his former position, that wouldn't be fair to the new guy... so....we'll have to let another parts manager go and make room for you. But who should we let go... Looks like Stu's track record isn't so hot... We'll let him go and You can go there problem solved!
Well, Al has been here 3 days and has already stepped on a few toes.
I expect a few changes to be made, after all it comes with the territory. For the most part I'm easy going and willing to try new things especially if it makes my job easier.
But so far all I've heard for the last 3 days is.. "Why do you do things this way?" "This is the "right" way to do it!" Yeah, that really lowers the morale, being told that practically everything you've been doing is WRONG! I have a hard time believing that since I've been here since December 2006 and I have had no complaints from the other managers.
The fact that things were done differently at his former store doesn't make it "right". I'm not saying that my department doesn't have it's flaws, or runs like a well oiled machine...but at least keep an open mind about doing things in a different way before you go bashing my methods that have been working for me... I'm sure you can imagine my frustrastion.

Seems he's not so perfect after all, questioning why I take the extra step to look up the correct fluids when the tech needs to change the differential fluids, when they have the means of looking it up. Most of these guys are flat rate, and if I can save them some time and get them the correct fluid, everyone is happy...I caught him handing out the wrong weight fluid and handing out 2 bottles of limited slip additive last night. He didn't even look it up, just went off of the fact that it was a 1997 Grand Cherokee.

On a positive note, I will NOT be working next Saturday Since Friday is the 4th of July, we are close Friday and Saturday.. Sunday and Monday are my normal days off!! That's something to look forward too... not that I have any plans, but at least I don't have to be here.

*sigh* Wow, the time sure does fly bye when you're blogging at work hehehe. It's almost 1pm and I suppose I should finish checking in the stock order and receiving it. Which btw I was shown the "new" way to do it, but I forgot So I'm doing it my way. I'm sure I'll here about it on Tuesday. Oh Well.... I'm not gonna sweat it... no skills gained.

HA!!! Now that I have checked in the order and received it, another thing comes to mind... I was questioned as to why we used the customer's name as a bin location when we have to special order a part... I said that it makes it faster to check in and match up to the special order card. You see, each part that comes in has a label stuck to it, on each label is the Part#... Quantity in the package... and the Bin Location (home) for that part along with other info.... Seems he doesn't do that nor sees the point, and when I looked at the shipper this afternoon, I had no idea which parts was for who.... I had to check the history of each part and see who it was sold to, then check it in and match it up. What a pain in the ass.... Same thing goes for a car that is waiting for a part, the Service Advisor comes up and asks if the part for Mr. Smith came in, I can check the shipper and see Smith and answer YES! I see that Mr.Smith's part came in this morning.... not let me find the card and look through a list of 70 part numbers on the shipper to see if it's here..

I don't know.... So far I've had 4 managers in less than 2 years... We'll see how long this one lasts. The only advantage Al has is the fact that he's the protege of his Manager, who just happens to be the Service/Parts manager for all of our stores....

Wake Up America!!

In this blog entry, I'd like to share my views on a few touchy political issues. I have done some research and a little homework before discussing my views in detail here on the EF.

The main topic for today is Health Care!
As it sits now, I am NOT a fan of our currant health care system.
As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, My State of Massachusetts has required that all residents carry Health insurance. The choices we have again are:
* Benefits offered through your employer.
* Benefits offered through your Spouse's employer
*A personal private health care plan
* Government assisted, Medicare, MassHealth.

I personally feel that having health coverage is very important, I'm not arguing that fact. And as much as I pay for it and NEVER use it, I know it's good to have god forbid something serious happens.

But what about the small percentage of residents that fall into the "gap". Those residents that:
* Work for a small business which does not offer Health Insurance..
* Can only work part time and does not qualify for full time benefits..
* Doesn't qualify for Government assistance, due to making a little over minimum wage.
* Get rejected by the private Insurance Companies for having a Pre-Existing Injury/ Disease such as; An old sports injury, arthritis, heart disease, cancer, acne, or are 20 pounds over/under weight. Just to name a few.
These applicants are considered "Uninsurable". That hardly seems fair.

I noticed that those people that didn't have Health Coverage at the time of filing their 2007 Tax Return were penalized Hence our nickname of Tax-achusetts.

I find it hard to believe that the US has NOT adopted a Universal Health Care system that so many other countries use. I understand that the Big Insurance companies would not make their Trillions of dollars a year, but these are peoples lives we're talking about. In many cases it's the uninsured residents that are made to wait when they are taken to the hospital, while a resident with insurance walks in after and gets seen first. This is life and death here!!!

Here are a few examples that help to make my point.
In Sweden on an average, 33% is what the residents pay in income tax. That tax pays for Universal Health Care for EVERYONE, it goes towards their retirement plan, and short term / long term disability.

In Canada depending on the Province, residents pay 15-29% in income tax. That tax pays for their Universal Health Care, their Canadian Pension Plan(CPP).

In Massachusetts, USA using me as the example, 31% of my paycheck every week goes right to the government. I'll give you a break down.
18% goes into:
* Social Security benefiting those collecting retirement checks, YTD $700.80
* Medicare, yep I help to pay for the residents that get Government assistance. Seems more like Resident Assisted from where I sit. YTD $163.90
* Federal tax YTD $901.00
* State tax YTD $442.40

The other 13% goes to;
* My Medical/ Health insurance YTD $1133.25 ( never used once)
* My Dental insurance YTD $177.75 (don't get me started on that)
* Long term disability YTD $129.40
* Short term disability YTD $34.93
All totals are Year To Date from Jan 1, 2008 to June 20, 2008.

No, you're not seeing things... I don't have any money going into a retirement fund (401K). Why? I simply can't afford to put money into one to be completely honest. From what I understand, The State has considered getting rid of Social Security and by the time I'm able to collect (in 35 years) It's gonna suck to be me. So yeah, I've been putting into Social Security for 11 years and not 1 cent will benefit me.

See, There you have it... There is NO reason why we can't adopt a Universal Health Care plan here in the States. People don't need to freak out about having to pay higher taxes, Seems we have plenty taken out of our paychecks to more than cover such a health plan. I've just proven that!!
Just for the record, I'm a single person, no kids, and before taxes, I don't even make 25K a year.

I apologize if it seems like I'm beating a dead horse with this issue, but it's an issue that makes me furious and surely I can't be the only person that feels this way.

You can choose to disagree, and you are entitled. All I ask is that you try my shoes on for size before unleashing any flaming comments.

Procrastinating....

Yep yep, Procrastinating is what I do best.... More so during my Saturday shifts at work, like now shhhhhh....

Are there things I could be doing to be productive? Yes. I could be checking in the rest of the stock order that came in. I could be finding homes for the returned/ new parts that are laying around... but instead I'm entering my 19th blog entry

Why do them today when the boss can do it Monday!!! Ok I'm kidding... I'm not really that lazy. As tempting as it is mwauahahaha...

I'm just not diggin' the fact that we are open from 8am-4pm on Saturdays... It's truly a waste of time. It honestly costs us more to be open than what we make.

Let's take today for example... I have been here 4 hours already.. And so far 1 customer has called looking for a fuel pump for their Caravan, they had a heart attack when they heard the price was over $400.00 and from the 12 items I have billed out, my dept has made $407.00 minus 1/4 for my time here.

From my experience on my lame Saturday shifts, once noon hits, business dies.... and I sit for 4 hours, trying to keep busy to make the last 4 hours go by. Or in this case, I surf the EF.

Today in particular, I am feeling completely exhausted. I know I'm not getting enough sleep and no it's not due to staying up late and partying. In fact, there is a running joke here that I'm quite the party animal. One 4pk of wine coolers tends to last me 1 month easily.

This week in particular was a bit rough. My Manager had to go out to Boston for a few training classes. That left me to work all day Tuesday from 7:30-5 and Thursday from 7:30-7 not fun.

Well I have Sunday and Monday to look forward too!! Perhaps I'll be able to catch up on some much needed rest. Maybe even indulge in a wine cooler

But in all seriousness... I've wasted a good 30 minutes so far just in posting... And I will get back to checking in the order and receiving it before the manager gets in on Monday. It's the least I could do after all That should take all of 20 mins. 4.5 hours down with 3.5 to go *sigh* Wish me luck...

Vixen78 & Jambon <3 PE Addicts In Love!!

That's right!! Another RL couple that met in PE/ EU. I'm happy to share our story.

For those of you who are avid readers of my blog already know, but for those first time readers, Jambon and I met back in December 2006 up on CND. We met one night in the Control Room and we added each other to our Friends List. We made small talk when we saw each other log in, ya know, the usual "Hi, How was your day?" " How's the loot treating you?"

It wasn't until March 2007 when I invited Jambon to join the PE Addicts in a soc hunt. Seems he was impressed with how well we all got along and could joke around, something he was not experiencing in his former society. It was shortly there after when Jambon became a PE Addict himself.

We were able to spend a lot of time ingame together, since there is only a 2 hour time difference between us. I'm from New England and he's from Calgary. That allowed us to spend many nights team hunting and getting to know each other. I found him to be very easy to talk too, and very inquisitive as well as finding out that we have a lot of the same interests and share very similar views on life and not to mention the same uncanny taste in music

It didn't take long before we started playing pm tag here on the EF while I was at work. I remember in pm in particular where I had just let him know that work was slow and there wasn't anything to do... and in his reply he asked me to dance That was the sweetest thing. Reading that made me feel all gitty like a teenager with a crush.

Shortly after we exchanged pictures of ourselves and added each other to msn instant messenger. I wasn't sure where all this was going, but I was intrigued. But I couldn't help but feel that there was something more than an online friendship, I didn't really know for sure how he felt. I know there was a part of me that thought he must be interested in more than just chatting, but I didn't want to build it up just to be let down. If that makes sense?

It wasn't until his birthday on April 27th 2007 when he kinda slipped and confirmed how he felt We were chatting on msn that night after I got home and he was getting ready to go out to dinner with his family, I wished him a Happy Birthday, told him to have a good time, we can catch up later. Later that night he messaged me, telling me about his night, and how some of his family members were sick coughing, sneezing all night. I asked if he had a good time, he said that it would have been better if I was there. hehehe the truth comes out!!

Since then, he always joked about me liking him and him being in denial and the same went for me, joking about him liking me and me not looking to get involved.

The one thing about Jambon, is that he's a go getter! He knows what he wants and he doesn't let anything get in his way. He kept talking about taking a trip out here. At the time I thought, sure .. ya know if you ever come out this way, it would be nice to meet up with you. At this point we were spending a lot of time online together, using skype and our webcams. He showed me his passport one day and it really hit me that he was serious and really wanted to come down and visit me. You can imagine my excitement!!

We planned our 1 week vacation, I took the time off from work, he booked his flight, and we started the count down!! I warned him in advance that I felt that we were passed the hand shake greeting, and that I intend to go in for a hug. Just so we can keep the awkward moments to a minimum. He expected nothing less.

June 27-July5, 2007
Naturally, I met Jambon at the airport and after we got in the way of other ppl taking pictures, I gave him a hug to welcome him! I felt excited and still couldn't believe he just flew out here to spend 7 days with me. I will admit that finally meeting him and spending a whole week together wasn't as weird as most people might think. In fact, we had a great time together. We really hit it off.
Jambon had a Plan B just in case we found that there wasn't a spark and what we had was strictly on a friendship level. You see he's from Ottawa originally which is just a 7-9 hour drive North from here. He booked a flight to Ottawa after his 7 days here so he could visit his friends and family up there and from there he could book another flight to Calgary.

August 14-October 20,2007
Well, things with us went so well, that he booked a bus ride back from Ottawa. He wanted it to be a surprise and told me he was coming August 16, trying to plan his arrival at 7pm and telling me that we'll have a nice chat session. During that bus ride Jambon experienced a flat tire 45 mins into the trip from Ottawa to New York and later he finds out that the New York to Springfield, MA bus is now going straight passed Springfield, MA and going right to Boston As you can imagine, I'm eagerly waiting to get our "chat session" started and his plans of arriving here at 7pm just turned into a 4 hour detour. Still a nice surprise though, I never thought he'd show up at my door at 11pm!!!

He's had to go back to Canada to tend to a few things, never staying more than a few months before coming back to the States.

I'll fast forward and bring you up the the present day.
Jambon proposed on Easter morning(early morning) while he was here with me and I said YES!!!
Due to the fact that he's spent a lot of time here in the States, the ppl at the Border gave him a hard time and with out certain paperwork having to be notorized, he's not allowed back in until October of this year... I don't have any paid vacation time until December... So as it sits, We are roughly 2500 miles apart. It sucks, but there isn't a whole lot we can do at the moment.
After discussing our options, I will make the Big Move to Canada, as he has already established his business and honestly the only thing that keeps me here is my crummy job. I've been looking for an employer to sponsor me since April... Now it's just a waiting game....
There is nothing more frustrating than wanting to be with the one you love and having certain laws keeping you apart. *sigh*

So there you have it!! For you non believers, You can find love online, even when you're not looking for it. Jambon and I are getting ready to share our 1 Year anniversary together in 2 weeks!!! This last year with him has been amazing. I can't wait to finally get up to Calgary to continue my life with him. Assless chaps and all (sorry for the private joke) couldn't resist.

Cookie Recipes Mmm... Cookies

You guys/gals are in for a treat
I Love to bake goodies, cookies, cakes, brownies, if it can satisfy my sweet tooth, I'm all over it
So I'm here to share my favorite easy to make recipes! So easy in fact, your kids will want to help.

First up... Peanut Butter Cookies!!

Prep Time 10 minutes
Baking Time 12 minutes
Makes About 2 dozen (24) cookies

Ingredients
* 1 cup peanut butter ... creamy or chunky, your choice
* 1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
* 1 egg
* granulated sugar, about 1/3 cup
***Optional***
* 3/4 cup Chocolate chips, or chopped walnuts, peanut butter chips, or M&M's

Step 1 Preheat oven to 350F

Step 2 Combine peanut butter, brown sugar and egg in a medium bowl until blended well. Stir in optional ingredients

Step 3 Roll heaping Tablespoonfuls of dough into 1- 1/2 balls. Place dough balls about 2 inches apart on an ungreased baking sheet.

Step 4 Dip table fork into granulated sugar. Press sugar coated tines of fork in a criss-cross fashion onto each ball, flattening them to 1/2 inch thick. Repeat dipping fork into granulated sugar to prevent it from sticking to the dough.

Step 5 Bake cookies in middle of oven for about 10-12 minutes... Let cookies cool on baking sheet for 2 minutes, Remove with a spatula, Serve or store in an air tight container for up to 1 week.

************************************************** **

Next up... No Bake Chocolate/Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies!! I must warn you these are very addictive

Prep Time 29 minutes
Cool Time 30 minutes
Makes about 5-1/2 Dozen ( I make mine bigger... and get 3-4 dozen)

Ingredients
* 2-1/2 cups granulated sugar
* 3/4 cup evaporated milk
* 1 stick butter (8 Tablespoons) softened
* 3 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
* 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 3 cups Quick cooking oats
* You'll need wax paper

Step 1 Combine sugar, evap milk, butter and cocoa in a large sauce pan. Bring to a boil over medium/high heat, stirring continually. Once ingredients come to a boil, remove from heat and stir for 1 minute.

Step 2 Add peanut butter and vanilla extract and mix well.

Step 3 Add the oats, mix well.

Step 4 Drop batter by heaping teaspoonfuls onto wax paper about 1 inch apart, Let cool for 30 minutes.

Personally, I place them in the fridge
They are way too good and I'm impatient

For those of you who do use these recipes, I'd love to hear your feedback.

Enjoy!! I'll be back with a few more recipes.

What's the Point....

Rant mode ON!!!

The topic up for discussion is Insurance, in this case Dental Insurance.

Where I live in the USA, the State I live in requires their residents to carry Health Insurance. Whether you are offered the benefit through your employer, you get the benefit through your spouse's employer or you go out on your own and get a personal plan.

In my case, I get the benefit through my employer and I also opted in for the Dental coverage. Just to give you all an idea, I have had this coverage since March of 2007. Since then I have not needed the Health part of it, and I recently went to the dentist twice, once in March and 2 weeks later in April.

Here's where the rant begins....

The cost of these benefits are automatically taken out of my paycheck every week. For a single person just for Dental, I pay $9.00/week and have been since March 2007. Which for the most part seems reasonable, right?
Once I'm at the Dentist office for my appointment, each visit costs me a $20 co-pay... So far that's 2 visits at $20/each. Then I go in and since it's my first time there and it's been a while since I've gone, I have x-rays done as a standard procedure. Next is the routine cleaning, at which point a loose tooth was noticed and the fact that I have a small mouth which I was blessed with a over crowded lower jaw... basically not having the room for all the permanent teeth to come in properly which in turn gives me a hassle of having a few "hard to reach" places and therefore not being able to clean certain areas as well as they should.

Just for the record, I DO brush, floss, and rinse daily.. sometimes twice.
So during this first visit the assistant starts the deeper cleaning and stops 1/2 way through stating that I'll have to come back to have the rest done.

So, I reschedule and 2 weeks later I go back for the rest of the deep cleaning and the loose tooth gets pulled. Truth be told I was playing with it the night before hoping it would come out before the appointment, but I was too chicken to yank it out myself

A few weeks go by and I get a bill in the mail with an itemized list of what was done and how much each thing cost and a nice fat total at the bottom
$355.00 and the billing clerk "estimated" that my insurance company would take care of $187.00 and I was billed for $168.00.... It seemed a bit high to me, but at least I paid less than 1/2.... I payed that bill in person last Monday.

A few days later I get another bill in the mail, but this one is not itemized, just a big total of $295.00. So I call them today, and get to the bottom of this. Seems my Insurance company declined ALL claims and they didn't cover any thing that was done The second statement was sent before they received my first payment..which explains why the total shows $295.00. So, I went down there today in person and sorted this out... I was told that I owed another $127.00 which I was not happy about... here I was thinking I already paid my share of the bill.... NOPE .... Instead I was responsible for $295.00 from a total of $355.00... For those of you keeping track, there is a $60.00 difference... yep that was for the cost for the first visit that the Dentist himself waived the fee after seeing that my Insurance company was good for NOTHING

My whole point is... What's the point of paying out all this money for Dental Insurance when I pretty much paid it all out of pocket!!!! My plan didn't pay 1 cent of the cost.
I was due to go back in July for a follow up appointment but screw that. That's just gonna be another $20 copay plus $60 that I'll get suckered into paying.

I even went as far as trying to cancel my Dental coverage, nope I can't... seems I have to wait for open enrollment in October Fabulous.... It's good to know my hard earned money that's taken out every week ISN'T for my benefit.

Ok Ok Rant mode OFF

If anything, word of mouth is the best form of advertisement... so for those of you wondering who my provider is... I'll just say that both the Cross and the Shield are BLUE

Common Sense, or lack there of...

For those of you who work in retail or have to deal with the public on a regular basis, you will know exactly where I'm coming from.I will do my best to keep the sarcastic comments to a minimum.... no promises.
With that said, I'll start off by saying that I work in the Parts Dept at a Dodge Dealership. The following stories and examples are TRUE as I have experienced them first hand repeatedly over & over for the last 11 years. I am aware that most customers just have basic knowledge about the vehicle they drive. They know that by turning the key in the ignition it starts, applying pressure to the pedals will make you go faster or hopefully stop you, and they know enough the put gas in their tank when the little gas gauge needle is close to "E"
But what they don't realize is that when they go into a parts store or in my case a Parts Dept looking for a price and the availability of a part, Some people are completely clueless as to what they ARE driving. And trying to ask for more information is like pulling teeth. Quoting a line from Jerry McGuire... "Help Me, Help You"! Plain and simple.
If you don't remember the year of your vehicle, fine... if you're not sure whether your truck is a Quad Cab or Extended Cab, fine... The vehicle's VIN is your new best friend The VIN is the Vehicle Identification Number and consists of 17 letters/numbers and can be found in various places. You can find the VIN on your Title, registration, paperwork signed when you bought the car, insurance policy, the driver side dash close to the windshield, and the sticker on the driver door/ panel.
Please, I beg you to have this information handy when you call us or stop in. The mere fact that you bought the car from us when it was new in 2000 and you have had your car serviced here a few times before the Warranty expired in 2003, DOESN'T mean we have you on file and NO I can't just look you up. The program we use looks up parts by application/ VIN only not by your first name and when you think you bought the car.
All parts are NOT created equal. Meaning, if you come in looking for a blower motor resistor for your 2003 Dodge Dakota and we tell you we are out of stock, we can get another one for you in 1 day.... Don't ask us if we have a blower motor resistor for a 2004 Dodge Durango stating they both are the same.... If that was the case Sherlock, then NO we still wouldn't have one, would we?
In most cases all I ask is that you provide the Last 9 digits of the VIN... You wouldn't believe the responses I get. People will count back from the end find the 9th from the end and ask, " Does it start with 3"? The answer to that... I don't know genius, you tell me since I can't SEE it through the phone of course I can't say that out loud, but that's what the inner voice is saying.
Seems in some cases counting back 9 places and reading from there is a bit too much for some people... Many times customers will read the last 9 backwards starting from the end *sigh*In doing this for so long I know that 95% of the VIN look like this 12R345678 or 1BC234567 so it's easy to see when it's being read to you properly.
But the #1 thing that customers do... Men this applies to you! For fear of sounding .... stupid on the phone, some of you get the little lady to call instead only telling her that she's looking for a price on a senor for your 2004 Dodge 4x4. Your little lady is playing monkey in the middle now because I'm asking her questions, she turns around and asks you and I can hear you answering. Get off your ass, grow a pair and make the call yourself. We are there to help you, believe me I've seen it all, not knowing doesn't make you look stupid. Pulling a stunt like that does.
In all honesty, I do my best to better educate customers about their vehicle, and give them tips to save them money and in many cases I will go the extra mile. but having to deal with customer like I mentioned on a daily basis really takes a toll on you.
And Finally.... You don't have to agree.. I firmly believe that the Customer is NOT always right.

Experience Life, Don't hold back!!

Welcome Back,

I am determined to live My Life to the fullest, To experience all the things I've ever wanted to do. There are many things I have taken an interest in and for one reason or another I have been held back.

Basically, I'm sick and tired of being told "NO, you can't" or "Why, that's just silly" and "NO, Now really isn't a good time".
With me being a "people pleaser" I have put my interests on the back burner, just to keep the peace. Never really questioning Why I can't, What's so silly about it or When would be a good time.

I just feel so frustrated sometimes, always feeling like I have to put my life on hold, while watching everyone else just do what they want. Why am I made to feel like the exception to the rule? Why do I have to work twice as hard to prove myself just to get a little recognition?
I fully understand the Life isn't always fair, You have to work hard for the things you want and I accept that. I am so tired of other people playing God and dictating what I will or will not do. It would one thing if I were 10 years old, but the big 30 is literally right around the corner. This has gone on for far too long, I have the reigns and I'm taking control for once!

With that said, here's just a sample of what I'd like to experience.

* I have always wanted to learn to knit, crochet...I had a great grandmother that knew how, but she wouldn't teach me... guess she thought 8 years old was too young, maybe she didn't have the patience I did take an hour long class a few years ago... See for me I learn better when it's hands on, I remembered what I was shown for about 2-3 days but I forgot how the add the next row of stitches... so I have all the materials sitting in a bag in my closet.
* I have an interest in learning a few different languages... French, Spanish, Italian.
* Cake Decorating... I did take the first class out of 4 that were offered. I learned the basics and have made good use of the decorating kit I bought, but I still want to learn more and get into making Special Custom Cakes.
* Traveling... Is a MUST!! I have been cooped up here on the East coast for far too long. I want to visit Europe and spend time in Ireland, Italy, Sweden, maybe even Spain and France. Australia has always interested me. Along with getting back up to Canada I have my passport... now it's a matter of getting enough time off of work.
* Dancing... If I could learn any dance, no it wouldn't be the Electric Slide, or a country line dance, but The Hustle , that's right I said it, The Hustle!!!

See that wasn't so bad.... it's not like I'm looking to sky dive or wanting to be on the next rocket to space or be shot out of a cannon. I just want to be able to express myself in a creative manner and have a little fun. I don't see the harm in that or why they need to be kept on the back burner. Do you?

It's about time I wrap this up. Thanks again for listening/reading.

Bottled Emotions...

I feel so alone, I feel so ashamed.
My life as I know it will never be the same.

What you've allowed to happen, will forever cause me pain.

Your selfish ways and poor judgement are plain to see. I bet you never thought about the misery it would bring to me.

I have tried to rekindle what we had, Make up for the years we had lost.
To make you proud, is what I wanted most.

If I were you, I'd find it hard to live with myself. Giving up your rights, while you put your children on the shelf.

Come out from your fake smile, let's not pretend. Now that it's all said and done, I'm the better person in the end.