Funny stories from the tannery

I feel like every other post is an apology for my lack of blogging. I'm just a very busy girl.

A couple of funny things have happened at the tannery lately:

1) This really nice and innocent college girl(a regular) came in to tan and on her way out, asked if we were hiring. I told her I didn't know if we were, but I would take her info and availability. After that was done, she looked at me and said, "Do you guys have a certain dress code?" I looked down at what I was wearing and just started to laugh, replying "Why because I am always so dressed up?" She also started to laugh, as she realized it was a ridiculous question. I was wearing a hat and a hooded sweatshirt...at an upscale tanning salon. She tried to cover by saying I looked cute in a hat. Thank goodness we don't have a dress code, because getting up at 5:30am to be there at 7 is brutal enough, however a very fun way to spend a few mornings a week.

2) This customer came in loaded(drugs/alcohol, maybe a combo), quite positive it was a self induced neurological imbalance and started talking to me. All of a sudden she started staring at me(saying nothing), which kind of creeped me out and then blurted out, "You have really nice teeth." I said thanks, but it was a little awkward.

3) The owner came in the other day to change all the bulbs in the bed and was complaining that he couldn't find the key to unlock the beds. I told him it was for some reason in the lost and found box, but that he may not have seen it as it was covered up by a bra. He questioned as to why there was a bra in the lost and found. I replied that I didn't know. I just saw it in there when I was finding some jewelry that another client had left. He asked me why I didn't throw it out, as obviously no one was going to come back looking for it...which is true. People leave their underwear in the rooms all the time. When they are getting redressed do they forget that they had any on in the first place? Anyhow, I left it in there...so, if you are missing some under clothing feel free to come back and get it.

4) To start the bed you hit the button on the wall once. Well, this not so smart, much older man(probably in his 70s) hit it multiple times resulting in resetting the bed. I got in the computer and reset his bed and he did the same thing again. This happened 3 times. Finally, he called his "lady friend" into the room to assist him. I repeated explained what they were doing wrong and what they needed to do, but they just didn't get it. Hit the blue button on the wall ONCE, not that hard, right? Well, finally the lady friend said to me, "Do you just want me to put a towel over his privates while he lays on the bed and you can go in there and start it for him?" Ummm, NO. I told him he could get dressed and I would put him in another bed that didn't have a button on the wall. Sick, I do NOT want to see naked OLD man.

Maybe there will be more crazy stories soon....

fun fact of the day

The hand shakes original purpose was to check the person you were greeting for weapons.

Happiness... a choice?

...I think so.

Of course there are people with chemical imbalances in their brains that this does not pertain to, but in general, I think people choose to be happy or miserable.

I choose to surround myself with people that are happy and create fun in life. How great is making the most mundane things in life fun...like running errands? One prime example that comes to mind is in college we had what we called The Great American Midnight Adventure. In Iowa City, parking is just about as rare as it is in Chicago. You have to alternate the side of the street that you park on every day(unless you are lucky enough to get a spot on the first or second block of Bloomington) and the parking meter maids are VICIOUS. Parking on University property is even worse than just on the Iowa City streets... you have 10 tickets in one year(whether they are paid or not you are still subject to tow). OR you can pay an excessive amount of money to park in a private spot(an option I loved my last 2 years). So, in an amazing discovery my freshman year, we learned that the parking garage behind where I lived didn't employ anyone to take your ticket after midnight and the arm went up automatically and let you out for free. There's a catch though. If you forgot to take your car out and left if in over night...$20 ticket.

So several friends and I stealthly did the parking maneuver everyday and ran our errands in the mornings, put our car in the garage and took it out after midnight. Seems like a pain in the ass? Not really. To make this task more fun, we named it THE Great American Midnight Adventure. It had a theme song that Aaron created, but will not sing it for us to this day. It also included some sort of adventure of getting food or making a run to the 24 hour Wal-Mart or even stopping by to see friends.

So, when you are getting bored with an everyday task, give it a ridiculous name, involve some crazy friends and make it something you look forward to again.

Happy New Year

In family tradition, everyone in my family sets a resolution each year.

This year, I plan to drink more water and less soda. I drink too much soda, but I love it so much.

So, here's to water.

Getting to know you, Christmas edition

Megan emailed this to me a while ago....


Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your friends Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE !!! Just copy (not forward) this entire email and paste into a new e-mail that you can send.
Change all the answers so that they apply to you. Then send this to a whole bunch of people you know, INCLUDING the person that sent it to you...... Tis the Season to be NICE!

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?
wrapping paper

2. Real tree or Artificial?
I prefer real, but we have had artificial since I was about 5 because I almost died in a fire or something

3. When do you put up the tree?
right after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down?
whenever

6. Favorite gift received as a child?
I don't know. Maybe my yellow sweatsuit with bows and buttons all over it

7. Do you have a nativity scene?
My mom has one and I like to put the animals on the roof. She gets mad at me, though.

8. Hardest person to buy for?
everyone in my family is pretty easy to buy for

9. Easiest person to buy for?
my mom

10. Mail or email Christmas cards?
mail

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?
nothing that I can think of

12. Favorite Christmas movie?
we have a while tape of retro ones from when we were kids that I love to watch

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?
as soon as I see something that I want to give to someone

14 Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?
no

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?
my mom's Christmas candy

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?
clear or all red

17. Favorite Christmas song:
The Christmas song, All I want for Christmas is you, Joy to the World

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home?
we always travel

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?
sure can

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?
an angel that my great aunt Fern made

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning?
presents whenever we are all together, stockings on Christmas morning

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?
nothing. I LOVE CHRISTMAS

23. Favorite ornament theme or color?
hodge podge

24. Favorite for Christmas dinner?
one where I am with my family

25. What do you want for Christmas this year?
just to hang out

26. Who is most likely to respond to this?
no one, this is a blog...maybe Angie

27. Who is least likely to respond to this?
Megan. She sent it to me

Merry Christmas 2007

I was fortunate that I was able to spend Christmas with my family this year, despite the fact that it involved a lot of traveling. On Friday I went from Chicago to Burlington to Early, Iowa. After spending the night at my grandparent's farm, we headed to Rock Rapids, IA for my dad's family's Christmas dinner. This is always a nice get together, as I usually only see these members of the family every other year.

We headed back to the farm where we had my mom's side of the family Christmas on the 23rd. We had a nice dinner and played some traditional Domino BINGO. We were all winners. On the morning of the 24th, we were up early and back in the car for 5.5 hours back to my parents new house in Burlington. We had a nice dinner, opened gifts and attempted the casino...but it was closed. Christmas morning we woke up to stocking stuffed by the chimney with care. We had the laziest Christmas Day in history. I was still in my pajamas at 3pm and layed around and watched sports most of the day. We did have a vicious mid day game of Monopoly, where I cleaned up.

Tomorrow morning I will head back to Chicago bright and early.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

my crazy busy never ending life

People tell me all the time that I am too busy and I am crazy. I personally like my life busy and don't like to have too much spare time in which I am allowed to let my brain rot...and we have always known that I am a little weird.

This past week was exceptionally busy. Tuesday night, Mel came into town for a 5 day stay as she had a conference in the city. I am pretty sure she just went to a book fair, but insists it was a conference. Starting on Wednesday, I am on an 8 day stretch at the hospital, which is extra busy because we are full with kids right now.

Thursday I worked 14 hours at the hospital then went to Oak Park to meet up with Sanj and hang out for a little while. Since it is the holiday season there were even more social commitments...like a Wig Out it's the Holiday's party on Friday night that a friend from college was hosting. Mel, Lisa and I threw on out hottest wigs and made an appearance at the party. A very fun theme with some interesting hair pieces.

Saturday proved to be another long day as I worked at the tanning salon, the hospital then attended my work holiday gathering. The work holiday gathering was definitely a quality over quantity attendance and a blast. We had so much fun hanging out outside of work.

Megan was also in town for a conference so I had the opportunity to have lunch with her and a few hours of quality hanging out time before heading back into the hospital. Tomorrow is another long day of tanning salon and hospital with a break from work on Wednesday.

I really need to get to work on my Christmas cards. I am pretty excited about the one's I picked out this year, so it would be a shame if they didn't make it in the mail.

The biggest thing I am looking forward to this month is heading home for Christmas. I have 5 days off and can't wait to bub it up.

new favorite

For quite some time I have wanted to try Brussels sprouts. Well, I made some the other day and they were amazing. I love them. They might be my new favorite vegetable.