"Dear..."

Dear Millstone Coffee ,

You are my favorite [home] brand of coffee, you're delish, hot or cold. When I first moved to PA you were not avaliable up here, so I forced down drank another brand until my wonderful mom mailed me some from home. Then to my SURPRISE I found you at my local market. I hoarded bought 3 bags. As of Sunday it was all gone & I am again not able to find you anywhere. I have made pleas to have some sent to me. PLEASE DON'T MAKE THIS SO HARD ON ME.

In Need of an intervention-
Coffee Addict

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Dear Mother Nature,

Please decide- HOT or COLD. Wet or Dry. Srsly. My aching body can't handle the constant changes. One day its in the 40's and rainy and then it's 80 and sunny? WTH. I prefer the latter, if you care. Also when it's all rainy and gross the satellite gets all screwy and I miss my shows! PRIORITIES. duh.

Annoyed-
Southerner who mistakenly Flew North

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Dear Hoity-Toity Woman who eavesdropped,

You now think I am a less mother b/c I didn't breastfeed. You also thought it okay to tell me that. SHAME on you. You didn't bother to ask me why I was unable to. The fact that I couldn't made my PPD even worse because I beat myself up about it. You must be think you're one hell of a mother, to be able to talk down to a complete stranger the way you did. I hope one day I can be as perfect as you someone puts you in your place.

Embarrassed for you-
Mother of a PERFECT, HAPPY & HEALTHY 2 y/o

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Dear iPod,

Hey there old guy. And by OLD, I mean 4th gen. old. Please don't die on me, anytime soon. I don't need a fancy iPod, I have iPhone that does the fancy work. I just need you to play music in my car (and be my contacts back-up for iPhone & Mac), I don't ask much of you. My OLD shuffle plays music for me when I am on the run & don't want to drain iPhone's battery. The only time you leave my car is for a quick update. I would be lost w/out you but I don't & won't have the funds to replace you anytime soon, so please stop scaring me like you have been lately.

Thanks-
Your loving owner


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Dear Skin,

I have been tanning you for 2 mons now & you look fab. I love the color you have acquired, we're almost to where we were back in '06 when we were tanning 6 days a week and out in the sun 7. I have just canceled my 'membership' as we are moving back to FL (squee!). Please in the 1ish month that we're not tanning [in a bed] please dont loose this beautiful color we've acquired. I don't want to start from scratch when we arrive in FL, okay? If you're good to me I'll be good to you. Its a give & take here.

Surprisingly [& lovingly],
A Tan IRISH girl

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Dear True Religion Outlet,

I am coming for you this weekend. Have good deals or else. I've been waiting for a long time to make it out to you.

LOTS of LOVE,
A BIG fan of a Girl who REALLY wants a pair of TR jeans!!!

...

I have ALOT of lesson plans to wrap-up this weekend. I say that every week it seems. Ah the joys of getting my Masters in Early Childhood Development & Special Education. Although I had an epiphany last night-- More on this Monday!

Don't miss a beat, keep up in between posts, I Tweet , a lot.

xo
-Kandid Kelli

"Christmas Crazies"

Ever notice how crazy people get around the holidays?

Not just about decorating but about gifts for so & so. Then there's the parties & the food etc...

People to me just seem uber stressed from a few days before Thanksgiving till AFTER New Years. That is just way too much time to be stressed, esp. during such a wonderful time of yr too!!

I used to be that way, too. Im not gunna lie, I used to run around like a chicken with my head cut off, everything had to be just so. I needed this recipe for this party & I needed to get my shopping done. Who have I bought for already? etc... Jackie remembers those days, she lived them with me!!

But idk when/what came over me & I stopped wasting my time stressing over it all & started to enjoy it more.

The holidays are a time to spend w/friends & family. Guess what?! If they are your friends (or family) they already know how NOT perfect you are & yet they still love you. They love you for your tiny flaws.

I know you have soo many ppl to buy gifts for, parties to attend or throw, cards to mail out, food to cook, etc.. Heres how I de-stressed myself:

-Christmas Cards: I ordered them before Thanksgiving. One less thing to worry about. Crossed off my list.

-I wasn't cooking Thanksgiving dinner this yr & it was not at my house. Just making a pie. Easy! Made it the night before after E went to bed.

-While the pie was baking I sat down & made a list of everyone who I was sending Christmas cards too & on the other side who I was buying gifts for & ideas of what I wanted to get them (makes shopping easier, if you have an idea)

-Then I called M & asked If he minded doing his family so It was a few less things to pack in the move. We talked about what we were getting everyone & then all he had to do was go buy it. Easy.

-I addressed cards one Saturday while E was eating lunch, dropped them in the mailbox the following Monday. No need for the post office or its crazy lines!

-The shopping. I decided that this year I was going to do it all online. So once I figured what I was getting everyone, I went on a virtual hunt for the best deals. This is so much easier then dragging E to the mall & in & out of a zillion stores. Fighting over parking spots and dealing with sick, flu-y people. No thanks. Plus most places were running great deals Black Friday-Cyber Monday.

-The parties. I have 3 to go to this yr. I decided what I was going to wear to them all last week & besides my presence (& maybe a bottle of wine) I don't need to bring anything. I am not throwing one this yr. (next year for sure!!) My parents are but Thats their stress. Not mine. I have offered help & been denied, I only offer once to keep stress to a minimum. Take it, or leave it.

I understand that if you're doing the cooking for Thanksgiving/Christmas Dinner and having a house full of people all holiday season long, due to relatives staying or parties its harder to de-stress, but there is always a way to have less stress in one's life.

Make lists so you don't have to make multiple trips to the market.

Know who/what your buying for Christmas gifts so you don't over buy & set price limits, that usually helps too.

These are all just suggestions. Everyone's lives are different. What worked for me may not work for you. I wish you the best of luck in de-stressing this holiday season....

And remember "tis the season to be jolly"-- Try to relax a little more & enjoy it and don't get so "Christmas Crazy"

Thx for sticking with me [us]... the journey REALLY has just begun.
-Kelli-Sue

"Im on twitter!" ... Are you following me yet?

"The Day After..."

Also known as:




For retail workers thats exactly what it is. This is quite possibly THE WORST DAY OF THE YR! Yes the sales numbers are great but the people & the level of crazy is enough to drive some workers into hiding.

I think retail workers should be getting HOLIDAY PAY on this horrendous day, but unless you work a double your not getting anything extra.

Back in early 05 I worked at the Starbucks located inside of a Target, so there for making me a Target employee, not Starbucks. Everything was made the same etc but I was paid by Target b/c they owned that franchise of Starbucks.

So my first BLACK FRIDAY experience was in 2005. OMG. I opened in Starbucks I had to be there at 5a. Store opened @ 6am. There was none of this opening at 5 nonsense.

This was back before the economy sucked ass, don't forget.

The parking lot had a good number of cars in it when I got there @ 5!! What the heck you crazies! GO HOME! Well by opening time people were lined up.



Guess where they come FIRST. To get COFFEE. I wanted to shoot myself. That was the longest shift & shortest lunch of my life.

Then as I am clocking out one of the Managers, Brian, asks me if I could work a cash register, someone called in sick. It was just until they could find a replacement Brian assured me that it would only be for 2 hrs MAX. Okay, how could I say no its only a few more hrs and its extra $$.

When 3 or so hrs had passed and I had barely had time to breathe I see Brian coming towards me. "Can you work the last 2 hrs of this shift? We couldn't find anyone, but we're covered later" Yah sure what the heck... I was there making money and I didnt have plans after work but to SLEEP.

OMG if something didnt ring up w.the sale price ppl freaked out like it was the end of the world. I swear I had my blinky light on for help soo many times. I had to keep telling myself "Kelli this shift puts you over, you will get OT for this" Or I would have lost it.

Seriously people come into the store with this crazed look in their eyes.

I left Target not long after BF & went to work in a REAL Starbucks, thinking it would be more low key and such, plus I got paid better & we got tips.

Well the store I applied for wasnt hiring but their "sister location" was, awesome. Well turns out the "sister LOCATION" (not store) happened to be located in a MALL. I took the job, it was Feb. Thinking I would request BF off well in advance.

WRONG.

We got a letter stapled to our tip envelopes in the the END of SEPT/BEG. of OCT. saying that NO ONE (if they hadn't already requested it) can have BF off. If they "called out" or missed their shift as a No call/no show THEY WOULD BE FIRED. Gasp. We even had a meeting/setup for BF the day before Thanksgiving.

Yah. Im serious.

Do we even need to ask how that day went down. LONGEST 8.5 HOURS of my life. Target was a cake walk compared to that. To top that off my boss asked me to stay after my shift was over. Hell no. I learned my lesson the yr before @ Target.

That was my year WORKING BF. I left Starbucks before the next one came around. I couldn't handle that... plus my boss, Lori, was a little overbearing and bitchy. No thanks. I loved working at Starbucks but I didnt love some of HER antics.

I would rather spend BF relaxing or shopping in the AFTERNOON... I will never be one of those AM crazies. I'll leave that up to the more seasoned shoppers, esp now that I have a child. Sleep is essential.

Hope everyone had a Great Thanksgiving... You may NOW start decorating for/ celebrating CHRISTMAS. Thanksgiving had its day. Although it was very much overshadowed by and [not appreciated] overbearing Christmas.

Thx for sticking with me [us]... the journey REALLY has just begun!
-Kelli-Sue

"Im on twitter!" ... Are you following me yet?