Do You Take Checks?

So I had an order from my Etsy shop (shocking I know!) and the woman wanted to pay by check. It's kind of a sad state of affairs when I'm hesitant to take an order because I'm skeptical of the payment method. I'm a generally trusting person ... or at least I have been in the past. I just know too many folks who have gotten burned.

Lo and behold, the check arrived. I did tell her that I would not ship her order until the check had cleared (I'm thinking at least 5 days from when I cash it). I feel kind of bad about it, although if I were a customer paying by check I'd understand. There are just so many dishonest people out there it ruins it for those of us who are honorable.

I'm happy to still be able to sell the jewelry that I have already made. Saturday I had a couple of friends come over to make jewelry (and sell some of my supplies) and it did make me kind of sad. Mostly because I do love making jewelry and I just do not have time to do it. Which I realize is okay...it's not like I am giving it up forever.

My poor mom is grieving though. :) I made her an Amethyst necklace and earring set to ease her pain.

Nine Months Ago

Wow...my son is nine months old. As of Saturday. It's so weird to think that nine months ago we were still in the hospital and he was in the ICU trying to get his blood sugar back to normal. I don't think I was walking yet since my strength was so gone and I'd lost so much blood.

Now my little angel is trying to walk and crawling like a speed demon. His laugh makes my heart soar. I never thought I could love someone so much.

As exhausted and overwhelmed as I am, I would not trade a single day for live without my little guy. I do enjoy alone time and his nap time though. :) I hope that I can be a good enough mom for him as he grows up.

What Is It About Pizza?

Of all the politically charged posts I wrote on my other blog, none has gotten so much attention as the one I wrote about food stamps being accepted for pizza. I've published all comments, both good and bad because I'm not all that passionate about the issue. I don't really think people should use food stamps for Papa Murphy's, but it's just my opinion. Obviously the policy says they can.

I wrote this post nearly a year ago and it's STILL getting comments. I have no idea how people are still finding it. It's not like I write on that blog any more these days.

One poster called me ignorant, which I thought was kind of funny. How is it ignorant to want my tax dollars to be used properly? I see SO many people on food stamps at the grocery store with blinged out cell phones, cigarettes, and nice purses. Clearly they're not so hard up that they can't afford those things, but yet they are using food stamps to buy crap food. And they're allowed to use them to buy Papa Murphy's. I still think it's lame.

Feel free to disagree with me...as so many others have. Disagreements aren't bad things as long as they are polite. It kind of makes me laugh that of all the obnoxious posts I've written, this is the one that gets people all hot under the collar. :)

The Details Matter

This weekend we wanted to go to an air show but Marshal needed ear protection. I ordered him these cute blue ones that he should be able to wear from now into the next few years. Just to make sure I got them on time I called the company on Friday morning to order instead of doing it online. I specifically told the woman on the phone that I wanted them by Saturday for an air show.

And I paid an extra $60 for that overnight air shipping.

Yes, I know. The ear protection on ly cost $15. But it was poor planning on my part and I wanted my son's hearing protected.

Can you guess where this is going?

We did not get the ear muffs. After I SPECIFICALLY told her that I wanted to get them Saturday and her working to make sure I would...not so much. I got back on their website and dug around a little deeper into their policies.

Yeah...their UPS account only delivers Monday through Friday. WTH?!?

So...you let me pay an extra $60 for overnight shipping that you knew wouldn't arrive for at least 3 days. Nice.

Not cool. They will be hearing from me and I do want my $60 back. If they're cool about it then great - I'll give them a decent review. If not...oh just wait.

A Big Week Ahead

I hope everyone had a good Father's day. I don't celebrate it...or at least I haven't in the past. We would have today but hubby worked until nearly 6 a.m. and didn't get up until almost 3 p.m. I wanted us to go to the air show that was going on but no such luck. Maybe next year.

Looks like I'll have to start celebrating in the future though considering my hubby is now a father. :) I did get him a refurbished Garmin and he had a blast playing with it on the way to get groceries.

This week looks crazy on the calendar and I hope I'll be able to manage without entirely losing my mind. Tomorrow looks the craziest but the whole week is fairly booked. The problem is that when I'm swamped doing presentations and enrollments I can't work at finding new prospects, meaning my future week will be super slow. Although since the week after is near July 4 slow wouldn't be that bad.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to give myself a vacation though...it's not like I've earned any money! =) But things are slowly looking up. I'm learning more and more every day.

One thing I learned last week is that I really really really want to help people...before they no longer qualify for help. I had an appointment where a guy wanted a policy but because he had some weird health incident earlier in the year he didn't qualify. He was NOT happy. And I felt horrible because Aflac was kind of his last hope for coverage (there were some other weird circumstances).

So many young people don't think about their future but I'm glad I did. Because I started saving for retirement at the age of 18 I have more invested than my mom who has less than 10 years until retirement. I've got a good 30 years left.

Similarly, if young peeps sign up for supplemental insurance like Aflac they lock in the awesome lower rates that come with being young. Not to mention they can avoid the pre-existing conditions that knock them out later in life. I don't even know if I can qualify for life insurance now because of various issues.

Here's to a crazy busy week!

He's A Ladies Man

Marshal cracked me up today at church. Since I'm not a big fan of Father's day I went to church but stayed in the nursery. I'm SO glad I did! I would have just been crying out in the main service, and in the nursery I got to watch Marshal try to maul another little girl.

His buddy, 10 month old McKayla (not sure how to actually spell her name) got her fair share of kisses, pinches, and hair pulls. She's bigger than he is but he's more aggressive. The way he kisses is full open mouth right on the face. We were laughing so hard because he was following her around for a good five minutes trying to get her.

I kept close and tried to moderate his strength - didn't want him to pull her hair. Her cheek was still pink from where he pinched it - he moved too fast and I couldn't stop him in time when she first came in. I think they're going to get married someday. :)

How could the ladies resist?

What Do You Think?

I made a new banner and changed the template of the blog. Thoughts? I kind of like it. I'm going to try to find time to clean up the other stuff.

This week is going to be crazy busy. I've got two days of training in Bellevue, a good hour and a half from home making for long commutes. Two employee presentations - one after a full day of training. Bible study on Thursday.

I had my first group enrollment finish up last week and I'm pretty excited about it. I had four people sign up, with five policies. It was more than an interesting experience - especially for my very first one. And aside from the initial employee presentation I was pretty much on my own due to timing issues with my trainer.

I've had the Aflac Accident plan for eight years now and for at least six of those years I haven't submitted any of the Wellness benefits. The Accident plan comes with a $60 per year wellness benefit ... so I submitted six year's worth and am looking forward to a nice little check to help with bills. Once hubby and I get our icky Colonoscopies we'll be getting another couple hundred dollars from our Hospital plan and our Cancer plan.

Aflac wants people to be proactive with their health and provides wellness benefits to encourage folks to get that preventative care and testing. Not that I'm really excited to have any of the exams I need...but you know. Better safe than sorry.

It's all for the little man after all.

Nothing More Precious

Marshal was in rare form last night as I tried to get him to sleep. Generally he's a crier at night. He fights going to sleep with all of his will power and strength. I'm not sure where he gets his stubborn streek... oh wait. Yeah I do.

Anyway..last night was a weird one. He was laughing. Seriously full on laughing before he fell asleep. I was cracking up. He'd grab my nose and giggle. Then he'd "attack" with his version of a kiss - a fully open mouth slobbering on my face - and I'd start laughing and he'd think that was the funniest thing so he'd start laughing. Definitely not our typical bedtime routine. This went on for at least 20 minutes before he finally got tired enough to fall asleep.

Is there anything more precious than a child's laugh? I'm not sure I could think of anything.

Winding Down

I always said that I'd never stop making my jewelry just because I had a baby. Then again I said a lot of things before I had a baby. :)

I've been hanging on to my past pre-baby life. This Sunday at church I realized that I needed to let go of that past and move forward. Sometimes God makes things really obvious.

So as soon as hubby makes room for me in the garage, my jewelry supplies are going to be packed up and moved out. It's very sad to me but my priorities have definitely shifted in the last 9 months. I'm reconnecting with church and God. My job requires a lot of time and energy right now.

My Etsy shop is still open with pieces that are already created but any made to order items are no longer listed. My mom is kind of bummed and is trying to get me to make some pieces for her before I put things away.

What will the future bring? No idea. Only God knows.

For now, I'll try to answer his calling to be the best mother that I can and to learn as much as I can about my new job. I'll still blog every once in awhile but even that needs to take a back seat. If there is anything that you like from the shop grab it now. Once things expire I'll probably wait to relist them for a long time.