It's Wednesday Here

The one thing I love about winter - NO COCKROACHES!

Last night I was TRYING to have a special evening with K17, snuggled on the couch, watching 24, but solicitors kept calling! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

Note to Intuit: I don't like calling your tech support and getting someone in India. First, I can't understand the people's accent. I spent about one-third of the four hours I was on the phone with you people saying, "I don't understand you." Second, I don't care about the weather in India or what time it is there - I just want someone to fix my Quick Books Point of Sale so that I can go back to work!

"Do you have a sledgehammer or a brick handy ?" — Top thing you don't want to hear from Tech Support.

Super Busy Saturday

Today has been a super busy day at the store. We've already done over 1,000 dollars. Makes up for yesterday which was horrible. We have had two customers come from the Austin area and one customer call from the Dallas area who is planning to come soon to put her books on consignment.

Things I could have sold today: record books, Brownie sashes, Alpha Omega Science 9th grade set, a lesson plan book with a manly cover.

Things I undersold today: a pocket chart that rang up over 20 dollars but was priced at 9.90. :o(

Things I wish I had sold today: a Saxon Dive Advanced Math DIVE CD, everything on the 50% off table.

The bad news from last week: My computer was full of viruses and had to be restored. Was blessed in the fact that I only lost my homeschool folder, which can be redone quite easily, about 3 hours worth of work.

The good news from last week: R got a promotion! Woohoo! Way to go, R!

Well, we are ready for the big PUSH to save the store. We got a new open sign that says O-P-E-N, OPEN, OPEN, OPEN, OPEN. Looks great. Ran off 50 brochures at $1.38 each, credit applications, homeschooling flyers, and flyers for a workshop on Teaching Strategies that Work. Paid for a sign at a local high school softball field. Looking into getting pencils made with our name on them to pass out to schools. The Hershey's chocolate offered to our customers has been a real hit this week. We have received 13 internet orders this month, up from 4 last month! If you have any more suggestions on how we can save the store, please let me know. I feel like Kathleen Kelly in You've Got Mail.

I absolutely cannot stand the new format on the Well-Trained Mind boards; I am totally lost. Eek! I think that's the same format as my forums! I hope that Leigh Ann continues with the format she uses now.

Menu plans: tonight - meatballs, cream of mushroom and rice; sunday - i have no idea; monday - meatloaf

We don't have much in the way of a business strategy. Like no business plan. Which I say to torment all my friends who are VCs or MBAs. That's always entertaining. The deal is, it's a mixture of luck and persistence.Craig Newmark

Sometimes it is better to lose and do the right thing than to win and do the wrong thing.Tony Blair

Mr. Bob

Mr. Bob was a wonderful man. Above is a picture of him and "Mimi." They had been together for six years. Mr. Bob had a great sense of humor, loved to eat good food, and took such good care of Mimi over the years. He fit so well into our family; we will miss him terribly.

Simply Saturday

Woohoo! Gas was down to $2.86 yesterday!

We had workshops scheduled for the morning. Only two people showed up, that after having sent out 600 e-mails and SETHSA having advertised!

For those of you who want to join my forums, they are up and running! Just go to www.love2learnstore.com and click on Discussion Forums. I would appreciate it if you would visit there once or twice even if you don't plan to stay. That will help them get started. There are already about 10 posts there.

The man we affectionately call "Mr. Bob" is in critical condition in the hospital after having what is suspected to be a major stroke. He is my 91 year old grandmother's boyfriend. They are going to take him off of life support today. We are all heartbroken. I will try to post a picture of him sometime soon.

My double spacing has not been working, so I apologize if this blog is difficult to read.

Nicknames

Missing some of my customers today made me realize that some of our customers now have nicknames. First, there is Mrs. Doubtfire, who bears a strange resemblance to Robin Williams in a dress. Then there is Mr. B, the first initial of his last name which I can never pronounce or remember. Then there is the Spoon Lady, so named because when her children were younger, she used to chase them around the store swatting them with a wooden spoon (which did no good). And then we also have the Lady-who's daughter the sink fell on-lady. We have several "We can do nothing right, who's going to talk to her on the phone this time" ladies.

Happy New Year!

Don't everyone rush over to our website and try to start talking on the forums. They're not functioning properly. We are going to start with four forums - Chit Chat, PreK-6th, 7th-12, and Special Needs. More forums will be added if need be.

Tonight after work we're going to go buy our temporary stamps so that tomorrow we can go LETTERBOXING!!! It will be so much fun to spend quality time with the family. We may even head up to Montgomery to find one (if I can talk R into it.)

I am trying to send out 600 emails about a workshop we are having next weekend, and Yahoo thinks I am spamming. I can only send out about 80 an hour.

School starts back up on Monday. I am anxious to see how K17 will do with work and school. I still need to get her history lessons typed up. Before you know it, it will be March and time to test them again. I'm already planning next year:

K17 - Algebra 2 or Consumer Math (Switched on Schoolhouse), Worldviews 1 (David Quine curriculum), Biology (hopefully, Apologia), Government (Land of Fair Play)/Economics (Whatever Happened to Penny Candy), Health (Alpha Omega)

K14 - Algebra 1 (Switched on Schoolhouse), Worldviews 1 (David Quine curriculum), Biology (hopefully, Apologia), Study of the Constitution (Story of the Constitution), French or Spanish

I also want to teach both girls to cook and about the election process, as K17 will be voting in the general election next year. Yikes! K17 helped make stew the other night and K14 made chicken and dumplings. I'm afraid we did not mix the batter well enough and the dumplings came out bitter. Oh, well, that's how you learn to cook!

Well, I've been here two hours and just found out my closed sign was up. Duh! Time for more caffeine!

Oprah Winfrey: Cheers to a New Year and another chance for us to get it right.

Anonymous: A New Year's resolution is something that goes in one Year and out the other.

Letterboxing

Me and the family have taken up a new hobby - "letterboxing." We found two boxes on Sunday but didn't have stamps. Going to Hobby Lobby tonight to buy temporary stamps until we can design our own. For more information on letterboxing, go to www.letterboxing.org.

K17 and I finished Season 5 of 24; now on to Season 6.

K14 got another babysitting job, this time with an actual baby. She doesn't know how to change a diaper so we are going to practice with an American Girl doll and a dishcloth.

Christmas Loot

What I got for Christmas:

a statue called "Mother and Child"
a DVD player
a pair of heart earrings
a manicure
a Sugarland CD
a DVD of French Kiss, Never Been Kissed, and One Fine Day
a Sonic card for $20
a pizza pan
a cookie sheet
a PURPLE coat
a Kohl's card

I raked it in, didn't I?

Cold Turkey

I did a stupid thing. I thought I had one more refill on all three of my medications, but I don't. Numerous calls to the doctor for an appointment last week but to no avail. Called the pharmacy, which faxed a request, but the doctor (or most likely his witch of an assistant) -- forgive me -- denied the request. So that means I have to withdraw cold turkey. Anyone who has gone through withdrawal knows it is not fun. And just in time for Christmas, too!

I was going to close the store today at 1:00 o'clock due to lack of customers, but now there is a lady in here buying tons of toys and games for her grandchildren! Good thing I stayed here! If I leave early, I am going to Burlington Coat Factory to look for a coat.

Ha ha! A couple just came in looking for carbon paper! I didn't even know they made that stuff anymore! Guess I'll stick around here a while longer to see if any more customers show up.

Merry Christmas!

10 More Days Until Christmas

I always loved pictures of Jesus laughing. I imagine him laughing with the children or at a good joke. Or maybe he had prayed for rain and it started pouring down.

Thursday night the family went to a barn dance. I had hurt my back so I couldn't dance, but R danced with each of the girls. They danced with their friends and (GASP) boys! There is nothing weirder than seeing your teenage daughters dance with boys. They both had a lot of fun but K14 found waiting for a boy to ask her to dance pure torture.

Our pool pump went out and R is at home fixing it. It is slow here today at the store; I guess everyone is out Christmas shopping. I still have several gifts to get. Our tree isn't even up yet. Next week will probably do limited school and shop and wrap.

I feel like there are ghosts here today at the store. The doors keep opening by themselves (with the wind's help) and I keep hearing noises all over the place.

Thoughts about the store

A long-time customer walked into the store today and said, "Wow! Look at all that God has blessed you with!" My gut instinct was to say, "Yeah, and look at all he is about to take away!"

You know, I don't really believe that God gave us all of this to "take it away." I believe that we all have seasons of our lives, and the season for us to own this business may be about to pass. That doesn't mean that our next season will not be rich with blessings. The business has TRULY been a blessing to our family. It has allowed my kids to see their grandparents at least once a week. It has brought our family closer together, although there are times it keeps us apart and distracted. It has allowed me to be with our wonderful daughters daily and homeschool them to boot! It has allowed me to meet some of the neatest people in the world and to call many of them my true friends. It has taught the girls how to work hard, how to treat people nicely, even when we don't feel like being nice. A good work ethic is very important. It has introduced me to some awesome curriculums for my daughters, some that actually do the job. It has paid for my daughters' outside classes. It has given me the privilege of employing some of the best employees by far. It has taught me how to multi-task, given me a stiff upper lip (although I could use a little more backbone). It has allowed me to express my creativity, my interests, upgrade my people skills, my research skills, my computer skills. So, you see, it was not for nothing. Whether the store lives or dies, I have come out of it a better person. I am not a failure. I am a survivor, and I will survive the next season of my life, as well.

Many of you have asked how you can pray for us. Pray that the website will take off if it is meant to be, pray that we will be open to hear what is truly God's direction in our lives. Worse case scenario is that I will have to go back to work full-time. If it is meant to be, we will work through it. God brought me into this business kicking and screaming. Pray that I don't leave it the same way, that I will be at peace with his decision.

I have not cried yet because I know that there is hope, that we have not tried everything we can do. If it gets down to that, I probably will. But like they say in The Sound of Music, "When God closes a door, he always opens a window."

"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow."

"What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us."

"I do not want to get to the end of my life and find that I just lived the length of it. I want to have lived the width of it as well."

More OCD Funnies

The Golden Compass

All the hype about the movie has made me a bit curious. I kind of want to go see it now. But there are so many others I want to see - National Treasure, August Rush, Alvin and the Chipmunks, The Great Debaters - that I may just wait for the video.

Last night was spent watching the end of the Monk marathon, watching Santa Claus is Coming to Town, new holiday episodes of Monk and Psych.

Tonight R and I are going to the Christmas party for our Bible study class. We're taking a chocolate chip cheeseball and buffalo wings. I don't know what the girls are going to do. K17 is at work right now; K14 is at a service project for the Salvation Army.

The store has been super slow today, despite our sale. My friend R is going to stop by the store, so that should liven things up.

Y'all have a blessed day!

Some Christmas Funnies

Christmas is Coming!

I thought this was a cute Christmas picture. We have not done much school this week. K14 is not feeling well, and we are ready for the holidays. I may go to the mall tomorrow night with a friend. Would love to go see a good movie. I hear August Rush is a good one.

Please pray for my sister-in-law, C (R's sister). She just called to tell us that she has been diagnosed with lymphoma. Chemotherapy is kind of risky because she only has one kidney.

It is already dark outside, the store is decorated for Christmas, and I just want to curl up with a good book and read. I need to be working on the website more (maybe on my days off during the holidays.)

Things I would like for Christmas (hint, hint): earrings, cookie sheets, Sonic cards, a food sealer, a DVD player for the living room, a Best Buy card, free rent.

The store has been sloooooooow today. We all had Chinese food today. It was delish.

Happy December!

I've never seen an upside down Christmas tree IRL, but I would think it would be difficult to water if it is real.

If I hear Hillary Clinton say "Extraordinary" one more time, I'm gonna barf.

It's 10:45, and so far I've had one customer requesting Daisy petals, which we can't sell and one whistling man who talks outloud to himself. The icicle lights around the kiosk keep going out, so they just look stupid. I have reports to do and over 600 emails to send out. It's going to be one of those days.

Yesterday the girls and I went to Garden Ridge and purchased presents for their teachers. All of their Christmas items were on sale. We also got a special gift for a family member who shall remain nameless. We left Garden Ridge and dropped K17 off at the movies (her 3rd time to see Enchanted). K14 and I proceeded to Barnes and Noble for some book shopping. She got a Pop Star magazine. We then proceeded to the mall to meet R. We had mainly gone to buy R's family some gifts, but K14 found a sweater and cami on sale at Aripostle. We then went to the food court for a bite to eat. Picked up K17 from the movies and that was our Friday night in a nutshell.

Am currently reading a Harry Bosch novel called Angel Flight. I need to get started on that homework!!!!!

We are starting a major advertising campaign RIGHT NOW! We will run a newspaper ad once a month. We are purchasing a sign at the local high school and possibly at the Little League field. My friend D is going to start going to the Chamber of Commerce luncheons to network. Also, she is going to visit some preschools and nursing homes, offering them a chance to set up an account with us. We're going to try to be more active in the community next year, including having a float in the Holiday Parade.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. -- Luke 2:11

Marie Osmond

I LOVE these pictures of Marie! Did you see her "dance" on Monday night? It was HORRIBLE! It wasn't even a dance. I think she just gave up at the end. The whole thing was just stupid. And I could not stand her quote, "I'm a dollmaker!" UGH! Pathetic. She deserved that score. Go Bruno!

Square Envelopes

Did you know that the Post Office charges you more to mail a square envelope than it does to mail a rectangle one? Here is a portion of an article about it.

The square has four equal sides and four right angles. It is a regular shape. To the U.S. Postal Service, however, the square is "unusual." Its sorting machines, built for oblongs, can't find the address on a square envelope. People have to do it. That's why the post office imposes the square surcharge.
The square surcharge has been around since machine sorting began in 1979, yet even those who knew about it rarely knew how many stamps to put on a square letter. Postal clerks often didn't know, either, so square letters mostly got delivered anyway.
Then last May, the post office launched a new "shape-based" initiative. Mailing a one-ounce oblong costs 41 cents. A one-ounce square costs 58 cents, including a 17-cent surcharge for squareness. At a Manhattan post office not long ago, a window clerk named Thomas Merritt took one look at a square envelope and said, "Nonmachinable. I would not use that shape, period."

Guess in that case it's not hip to be square.
It is so weird letting your 17 yr old daughter go into a bank and make a deposit by herself. My fledgling is about to leave the nest, I suppose. In the past month she has also gone to the movies without a parent and to a restaurant without a parent. It makes me feel SO OLD!

I went to my new counselor, and I like her A LOT! The problem is: she gives homework and LOTS of it! This week I have to listen to another sermon by C.S. Spurgeon, who is good but I think very dry; read the entire book of Ephesians; read a small book (which I accidentally left on her desk -- awwwww); read a pamphlet, write down answers on a page about prayer, take notes on the sermon at my church this Sunday. OUCH!

I was thrilled to see the Target R2D2 coming onto the screen and saying, "Merry Christmas!" Good for Target FINALLY!

Bless us Lord, this Christmas, with quietness of mind; Teach us to be patient and always to be kind.Helen Steiner Rice

~'night all~

Cold, Rainy Saturday

It is a cold and rainy Saturday. I don't expect many customers -may close at noon.

Had breakfast at Denny's this a.m. with Kim and Shannon. Shannon is an online buddy I have never met IRL. She was very sweet, and they both came to the store to do some shopping! I do have one older couple right now shopping for preschool items.

KSBJ is playing Christmas music this morning, and it is upsetting me. I may need to switch the station. If it is only November and I am feeling like this, I don't even want to know what December will be like.

K17 went and saw Enchanted last night. She is going to take K14 and a friend to see it today.

I read a 350 page book in less than 24 hours. It was nice to do that. I hardly ever read anymore. I had forgotten how much I missed getting into a good story.

I am going to try to go back to church tomorrow. Hopefully, I will. Tomorrow, the Texans play so I will be watching and writing lesson plans for the week. Maybe do some grocery shopping, too. I wish the holidays would last another week.

Dusti went with us to Mom and Dad's. She did very well except for during the meal. She sat on the floor next to my mom and whined the entire time, wanting food, of course. She doesn't do that at our house because she knows we won't give her any. But my mom is a sucker for a cute face and has passed her food in the past from the table. This year Mom made Dusti wait until after the meal and put the scraps in her food bowl.

The pig and the chicken were on their way to breakfast, trying to decide what to have. When chicken said, ''Let's have ham and eggs.'' The pig then replied, ''That's fine for you, it's a small donation on your part, but it's a total sacrifice for me.''”

A SMILE FROM GOD!