a warning...

today I created a claim with Paypal.

Back on Jan 15, I ordered 4 items from Simon Says Stamping an ebay store,
over the past month or so, I rec'd 3 packages...but not included were the primary item, the Hero Arts Japanese Doll Stamps.

My last email with them on Feb 17, Heidi said she would be sending the doll stamps, Feb 27...still no stamps. So I escalated to a claim...now, because I put the claim as item not rec'd., She was able to provide a USPS tracking number for shipment #3, which I did receive. In the body of my letter, I reference this tracking number, letting her know I did receive it and what was in it. So, if the paypal investigator, just pushes the tracking number, they will see that I did receive the package on Feb 9....well before Heidi's last email on Feb 17.

I called ebay and Matt told me, I should have entered the claim as 'item not described, not item not rec'd" because there are other items on the order that were rec'd...and the paypal claims look at the order as a single unit. But had I claimed 'item not as claimed', it could be looked at as an individual stamp.

So, Heidi knew how to 'play the game', so it is looking like I am out $14.99 for stamps I did not receive.

So, a warning, Heidi at Simon Says Stamping, an ebay store, is 'no bueno' to work with. Too bad, they have a really cool blog and a great selection.

yay, tomorrow is Friday!

Work has been crazy. Francine has been out sick, so guess who got to fill in as CSR.
Yesterday, I was taught how to input 'easy' repeat orders, but today I was 'baptized by fire' and was inputting all orders. There were a lot of 'hot' orders that had to get in today. I just hope I did not mess them up too much.
I told dh I'm going to start wearing a 'personal alarm' and when I need help, I'm going to pull the pin!

I tried to explain to dh, I am an accountant. I like accounting, debits = credits. CSR work is like algebra, there are so many variable that change the equation. I failed 8th grade algebra, and in college I had to take 'bonehead' algebra.

We have a couple of big events to plan for.

In March, DH and I will be celebrating our 25th..so we are going to have a recommit ceremony. Nothing big, after service on the 15th, we are going to stand up, recommit, then have a church wide potluck.
(Our pastor said people have been asking for a pot luck, so we are the excuse)
Then, we will probably have close friends and family over at the 'ranch' to hang out and have dinner. Mexican, I hope.

Then we need to put together a baby shower for the girls. Nyki wants to have it at her new house, she is due in late April...but won't move in till, oh, about March 20.
Betsy is refusing to have a shower, so we decided to combine them...still working out the best date.

But picked up the new papercrafts magazine, hoping to get some ideas...both babies are girls, so I'm thinking diaper cakes. Betsy likes pink...Nyki likes purple..

I should think about making some invitations....but I'm drawing a blank.

Sarah C at 2 Paws Designs posted a montage of pics from Flickr, and it gave me an idea to do the 2 babies names as wall art...hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

this room and name art really caught my eye...

yesterday...was interesting...

it was my Monday off.it was raining/storming, so mom and I had to scrap our plans to travel to Sacramento to take her Japanese food shopping (there is nothing local)

soooo, I spent the day working on the raffle scrapbook, I had the cover page, the last page and 2 more 2 pagers. It was fun...I even put in a couple of Christmas CD's to help me get in the mood.




Then mom and I went to a late lunch...then the dollar store. As we entered the dollar store, I got a phone call from dh...one of doors was 'opened' setting off the alarm. So, I had to go home wait for the Sherrif to arrive. Came home and yes the door was cracked open...but how? I helped mom kick the dogs out of the garage, she swears she not only locked it (but also tested it)...I tried it, I locked it and PUSHED on it and could not open it...so, what happened.?

Mom is 76, could she be confused?

The Sherriff arrives and he is sooooo young ! Bet that is how people feel about my ds when he arrives, cuz he is young looking. We keep teasing him that he is going to be sent undercover in a high school.

Since we did not get the chance to go to the grocery store, we had tuna sandwiches for dinner. Oh Well! It was still good!

a quote...

from the Rock Band prompts yesterday, I found this quote:

by John Adams,
"In my many years I have come to the conclusion that one worthless man is a shame, two is a law firm, and three or more is a congress"

made me laugh,
my sentiments exactly...

Rock Band.

got this from thesplendidly imperfect Miss M's blog...I can't republish the rules, cuz my "copy and paste" function is not working, so just press her name in the right sidebar and you'll go to her blog for the rules...(my url link also won't work this morn)



any ways, my Rock Band "Torre de Collserola"
my album title "Three or more is a Congress"

and my album cover

Warm

Photohunt 150: Warm



the picture I thought of for this prompt, is of dd and friends during her visit to Boston. They decided to go ghost hunting in a Barn..so they dressed warmly for the occassion.

rough week...

at work, lots of fun, trying to help with CSR work...yuck! At least 2 nights of lost sleep. I think my 'help' caused more problems..but if I keep that up...maybe, they'll find someone else to act as backup.

at home, my photo printer would not print, but luckily by plugging/unplugging it rebooted and I'm okay.

then yesterday morn, no internet. Just would not work for us. So, last night, Patrick (the company's resident computer guru) stopped by and fixed it!!

But, today is reserved for income tax work...you know, go thru the receipts and make worksheets...yucky!

guess I'll end with a layout, this is for a circle journal swap I'm in, the topic was lazy people, so here are ds and dil and gd on Christmas...the papers used are from my Stampin with Steph December kit...

New In Town...

I took mom to see that movie yesterday. She really enjoyed it.

Now, go back to Sunday, when I told her I wanted to go see a movie on Monday. She is standing at th back of the couch watching part of "The Barefoot Contessa" on tv...she started to stomp her feet and whine, "I don't want to go to the movies"!

I ask her Monday morning..."so are you going"? "Yeah, whatever, I'll go"

Gotta say, she laughed the whole time. And so did the whole theater. It was funny, and yes, it had 'scrappers'! Too fun. (my picture of the day is the bag of popcorn)

Gotta agree with some comments on 2 peas...no WAY could 3 or 4 people scrap on that teeny tiny table!! and uhu sticks...I've never had luck with uhu sticks actually sticking. And I swear, I saw Prima flowers on the last layout...

Also, our scrap group has been working on a premade Christmas album to donate for a fundraiser at our church. So yesterday, I collected the pages that are ready...just need some finishing touches and we are DONE! Way cool. The gals of our group are so great. Ashley is also planning a fundraiser for the Walk for Life, a crop and a raffle gift, this time, instead of a premade book...we'll create a basket of goodies.

I got a new grandpuppy. DD and Dsil, got her yesterday. Of course, they just went to the SPCA, "to look"....and fell in love. Her name is 'Sadie', but the kids may change it. But Sadie knew who to 'flirt' with...teehee. So, I'm wondering how their first night was. Especially how Colby (my rambunctious grandkitty) feels about the addition. The last dog he met, he chased.!

the theme is nautical...

new theme from Photo Hunter, sorry still posting url link, can't figure out the cool little toolbar...




how about Fleet Week in San Franciso, oh about 20 years ago...


my son was soooooo into the Top Gun movie (sometimes I'd let him watch without sound, cuz it drove me crazy to hear it over and over again)

He would take one of his plastic kiddy chairs, lay it with the back frame on his lap, put on his helmet (a tupperware bowl) and pretend he is flying the plane. His first toy, he picked on his own at age 2, was a fighter jet (it had 2 red bombs you could deploy). AND as a tween, he could tell you what jet was being used in the movies...you know, the script would say its a 'tomcat'...he'd say that isn't a 'tomcat' that's an 'eagle'..okay, might not be the right names but I'm not the one who had all the models memorized.










So, here he is, as a little squirt, touring an aircraft carrier, in his little bomber jacket.


When he signed for the Marine Corps, he was being pursued by a Navy Recruiter, who was 'promising' he would be a fighter pilot. But, J, decided Marine, because the ONLY thing he wanted to do in the Navy was fly...and if he did not get that, he'd be miserable But, he knew, that no matter what he ended up doing in the Marines..he'd be happy just to be one. (Semper Fi) He did end up doing calibrations for aviation electronics...never flew in a fighter jet...but got to ride some cool helicopters!

"Mr. Cell-a-phane"

remember the song from Chicago by Roxie's husband, that is what is going thru my head right now. -0- comments all week! oh well...guess I need to change my deoderant! ha!

here are some cool views from my drive home yesterday...





wow, it wasn't storming or anything, but it had been raining...







and this one is right behind the stables, where 'the Diva' lives. She probably thought this was her 'personal halo'.









and if you look real close, you can see a double rainbow.

so which one is good for my P365?

oh, the pool, so far...

an update on the "Adrianna" pool...
so far dark hair, blue eyes is winning, 3 people have guessed it..note, Michele you were the 'winning' vote...
but not by much.

2 guessed dark hair, green eyes
2 guessed dark hair, green/blue eyes (like my dd)
2 guessed blonde hair, blue eyes
1 guessed blonde hair, green eyes...

but as my sis pointed out, her dd, my niece, was born with blonde hair and blue eyes...but now at age 16...she had dark hair and green eyes.

soooo, guess all of us could win this one!! huh?

Christmas, redux...

Its been an interesting week. We had Christmas again. on Weds, Gordon gave us his Christmas gift to us...an framed arial photo of our home. (the pic card is from him)

Then on Thursday, I rec'd a package. My Christmas gift from my sis...a NICE 12x12 embossed leather album by K&Co. (okay it may be vinyl, but it looks like leather)
with a li'l note that said "If you don't like it, send it back"..I wrote her back, "I love it, get your own". teehee.

Its been an interesting week at work. I've been pretty busy, doing some physical work. My first project for the week was finishing the CPA 'binder' for 2008. which meant finding backup from various sources..including archived boxes. So lots of lifting, searching, copying... Then some filing. One of the 'preggos' I talked about left for her maternity leave.

We do have someone in her position on M,W,F...but the filing in her area...was...a little chaotic. So, a couple of the recident OCD's (me and Francine) went in and cleared it out. I'm not 'bad talking' her, if anyone was to walk into my cube, they'd have to re-organize it also. Cuz, my thinking process...is very unique. Makes sense to me, but may not make sense to others. But while this gal is on maternity leave, there are 4 of us who need access to those files, so it needed to be standardized for us. When she comes back and she is the only one who needs access, I'm sure things will go back on the floor...in different areas...cuz it made sense to her.

So, its been a physical week for me...I need a massage and a manicure...cuz sticking those files in cabinets wreaked havoc on my nails!!

We started a new pool at work...

This one is about my grandbaby, Adrianna. Lets see, mom (ddil) has blonde hair, blue eyes. Dad has dark hair, golden brown eyes. (here is a picture of them)

So, we are 'pooling' about Adrianna's hair and eyes. Will she be a blonde? will she be a brunette? will she have brown eyes? blue? green?

Some background. Mom does have a brother with dark hair and brown eyes. But most of her family are blonde with blue, they are predominately German.

Dad is `1/4 Japanese, from me. The other quarters are Scottish, Irish and German.

I have dark hair, dark brown eyes. My dh has brown hair, green eyes. and dd has dark hair and green/blue eyes. So, with that genetic pool...what will the grandbaby have?

We are all guessing a variety of combinations. Another pool, poor Nyki!! awww, she's a good sport.

any guesses? want to join our pool?

Went Cropping...

Went to an all-day crop yesterday, we stayed from 10am to 9pm.  It was great!It was held in...how do I describe this,..a person's crop retreat.  It was on some property, beautiful home and in what would normally be a 3 car garage, was a crop room.  Walls filled with supplies, cabinets filled with more supplies.  Most for sale, a lot for use...3 big tables, where 8 could sit comfortably with lots of room.Great lighting, a small bathroom and kitchen and fridge stocked with soda. 3 tv's.I think its just about everyone's 'dream' crop space.She charges $10 per person and any supplies you purchase during the day.  We kept a list at our 'stations'.Our little group got a lot done.  I finished ds's academy graduation book. (just need to type a little journaling)so, my picture of the day, yesterday was the crop! (note, my little crop smurf)










Oh, I wanted to show ya'll this, I figured you'd understand...Sat morning while sorting a catchall box...I had an assortment of pictures.  Without really thinking about it, I put this pic of dd in Europe on top of this stack.  Under these "Snowflake Diamond" papers by The Paper Studio is her Europe Book.  When I walked into the room later in the evening, I saw this..don't the pictures look stunning on this paper?

photohunt...

saw the link to this in Sarah's blog, 2 Paws Design, and decided to 'play' along.

the prompt on PhotoHunt is bridges.



how about this one, a small bridge during our gondola ride in Venice.

some pics of my grandkitty...

dd sent me some pics..here is my li'l Colby in action.








and he is in my header, also.

Needless to say, He keeps the kids busy!

P365...

on Sunday the 1st, we had communion, so I snapped a quickie of the communion table all set up.





on Monday the 2nd, mom and I had lunch with J and Nyki, so here is a pic of one of their cats, Pollux. (I needed a J and N and Castor and Pollux fix that day, it was a tough one) Doesn't Pollux have the cutest little cat face, I think its just about perfect...his shape, his markings. I call him the Mel Gibson of cats, cuz I remember an article talking about the mathematics of porportions and beauty and that Mel got the highest mark for a man, and Catherine Zeta-Jones for a woman.




on Tuesday, the 3rd, I got a package from Luxe Designs Warehouse sale... uh huh, I'm trying not to shop!!





today, Weds, the 4th, I took a pic of Tom (our sales manager)...he left his office and started having pow-wows in our side of the room. Accounting dept says, "Go back in your office, Tom. We don't want to hear it!" ha!!! seriously, we have the quiet side of the office, and we like it that way.

Where did the week go?

Well, I didn't get the Sunday I wanted. Dh ended up staying here and inviting a couple of families. It got loud, messy...did I mention loud? But to his credit, he made sure there was nothing I needed to do. They brought their own food and cleaned after. I was soooo looking forward to a quiet day. oh well! One of the guests was a little girl @2yrs old, who only knows one volume...LOUD!! Ds was here and he was exhausted by her (he called her hyper)...I reassured him, you CAN teach your baby 'inside voice and outside voice'. Don't get me wrong, I like our guests, I just wanted a quiet day.

And Monday became a busy run around day also. So no rest for me, except Saturday, I got to scrap.


On the tv is Obama talking about the salary cap for executives taking recovery money. I kind of agree, but I think they need to go further, like politicians cannot take contributions from tax funded companies like Sallie Mae and Freddie Mac.
Oh, and didn't the Congress vote themselves a salary increase, that should be repealed.

A lot of drama at work this week. I don't want to go into the he said, she said; but this is affecting me because my husband wants me to step into a new role in the company. Lets see, I am in accounting because I don't like to work with people. Numbers don't have issues, drama, they just do what they are supposed to do. If there is an error, I can research and fix it. You want to put me in a position where I have to go between 2 departments and customers and fix the problems...hmmmmm.. what part of ARE YOU CRAZY!! don't you understand.


Its like when he wanted me to consider moving to Human Resources (since dil is preggo and not returning to work after the baby is born) I told him, "fine, I can do the work, but my first act is to put up a sign that says "I Ain't Your Momma""
She has had to intervene in squabbles, fix insurance payment issues and one employee asked her to make his dr appt for him...WHA??? NO WAY!!

Oh well, we'll just have to see what happens from here.

I'm still taking pics for P365, but its getting harder...we just don't do something original and interesting every day... Here is what I made for dinner pics just don't do it. welllll, hmmmm....

I actually got to scrap!

Mostly worked on those circle journals. This one is for the Non-postal circle journal, 3 groups of ladies create prompts for layouts to put in a Book of Me, we do our own layouts but post them online to share them. You can concentrate on your own group (I'm in 3) or add the prompts from the other groups...its your BOM. Pretty cool so far.




This one is page 2 of a circle journal..where we just send layouts, not books. This one is about 'my favorite things'. (I won't bore you with page 1, its just a list of what these things are) Using my Kodak picture printing program and HP printer, I was able to print 9 photos on a 5x7...I love having this picture printing capabilities at home!!


did a couple more, hope to do some today...more for the BOM prompts and YES, I'm still working on the Shimelle Christmas journal/album. But I'm on 12-24, so I'm getting there!!




and I've been keeping up my Project 365, though I haven't been posting them. Yesterday was the 'Diva', it was a nice sunny day, so dh let her out her pen so she could stretch and socialize with the horse on the other side of the fence...it was a fun day for her also.