The Truth about my Break

Three years ago I decided to write a blog because 1) I love writing, 2) I wanted a place where I could share my adventures and opinions, and 3) I read so many awesome blogs and wanted to be a part of the community. One and two are still reasons why I enjoy blogging.  Number three has changed.

I remember when blogging was simple and people shared whatever the hell they managed to get themselves into that day.

Now, I stopped following the majority of those bloggers I used to read daily because they became oh so popular and now just have posts that start with “Thanks for XXX for sponsoring this post!”

I get it. You want to make money. But do you really think I need to read a “10 reasons why XXX will make your life way more amazing!!” post? No. I don’t.

I started following your blog because I liked your writing style and your jokes and you stories and reading about your [probably] mundane, everyday life.

Blogging isn’t fun anymore when the community you once joined is now just a bunch of people trying to shove products in your face that you just have to buy.

Blogging became more pressure than fun. There are more people writing “how to be a badass blogger” than ever before, and the majority of those posts include, “stage all your Instagram photos and twist your arms in weird ways to get the perfect shot and make sure your background is white and that your fingernails are painted and your hair is just absolutely perfect!”

Maybe I’m just a lazy blogger.

But, from now on, I’m blogging however the hell I want to blog, whenever the hell I want to blog. I’m not following any rules. I’m not putting time and effort into twitter.

Blogging is supposed to just be fun. I don’t want to make money from it. I don’t want to devote my life to it.

It’s just another hobby of mine. One that I hope to enjoy again one day.

Stress? What Stress?

“Buying a house isn’t as stressful as I thought it’d be,” said Blake before the karma gods came down and showed her just how stressful it actually is.

I honestly think it would not have been stressful if we were purchasing an ordinary house. We were 99% done with the process before we found out that court did not go as we hoped.

We’re purchasing a house that is in the middle of a “custody” war. The owners died and the daughter took over the will – but then her siblings or family or whoever decided “NO! She can’t have the power to execute the will!”

And hell broke loose. They’ve been in court arguing about this for over a year. Except the only person who shows up to the court is the person who is trying to sell us the house, so it just ends up getting postponed… and postponed… and postponed.

I just want the house.

We are putting a lot on the line and waiting until the next court date, which is in February.  After talking with the lawyer and the assistant judge, it looks like it’ll go in our favor. Hopefully we can purchase the house then, have a little less than a month to make it livable, and then move in before our lease is over on March 14.

If not, then sorry parentals, but we’re moving in with you until we find another house or rental. Won’t that be f-u-n?

Our Old House

Buying a house hasn’t been as stressful as I imagined it’d be, but I am preparing myself for disappointment. There have been a few hiccups, including the one that is dragging on right now. The sellers accepted our offer for the fixer upper near my parents’ house. Yay! The inspection report came back like we thought (lots of issues and repairs), so no shocker there. We managed to find an insurance company with a decent price.

Then, we had the appraisal. I was shocked to see that it came in lower than the purchase price because we’re getting a great deal on the house! I think it’s because it needs a lot of repairs and there aren’t any appliances or updates (the appraiser said it looks like the house hasn’t had many updates since it was built – 63 years ago!). We’re actually purchasing the house for land value only.

We went back to the seller and asked them to lower the price to meet the appraised value. The bank won’t loan any more money than what the appraisal says the house is worth. With the required down payment, in order to buy the house at the current price, we’d have to save thousands of more dollars – all within 20 days. I don’t think that’s possible.

We haven’t heard back from the seller about their decision to meet the appraisal price, but I’m crossing my fingers that they say yes. If they don’t, it’s a really big chance we may be saying goodbye to the house and our dreams of living in that area.

As upset as I would be, there’s really not much we could do about the situation. We’d have to just move on and find another house.

Keep your fingers crossed for us! We really want this house!

What I've Been Up To

It’s been about a month since I stopped blogging, and to be frank, I haven’t really missed it. I’ve cut down a lot on social media, going from someone who posted multiple photos a day on Instagram to someone who hasn’t posed something in about a week! It’s refreshing.

If you’re wondering what I’ve been up to this past month, I can say nothing too crazy.

Except putting an offer on a house!

We struggled picking a house and actually put an offer on two.

One, I call the Staircase House because, well, it has a staircase, is big and beautiful with 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and so much space to grow into. It is farther out of town though.

The second house, which I’ll call the Potential House, is the investment property. It is 1,050 square feet, built in the 1950s, and has 3 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. The yard is huge, so the dogs will love that! But, there is not a lot of space and the house needs so.much.work.

We had to pick between space or location, and we ultimately chose location. (Bonus that it’s less than 5 minutes from my parents!) Now we just have to worry about the price tags that come along with renovating the house and making it livable.

We should hear back sometime today if the seller accepts our offer.  Even though it’s not ours until closing, I’ve already started thinking about paint colors and floors. We also decided to knock down the third bedroom to make one big living room and dining room area. It’s not the best decision for resale, but when we sell this house in 5+ years, the next person who buys it will 100% tear it down.

I keep checking my email every 5 minutes, waiting and waiting and waiting for a signed contract so we can start the next stressful step of homebuying!

Typical Saturday Mornings

On some days, I’m a go-go-go type of person who doesn’t like to sit still for too long. On other days, I’m a lets-stay-home-and-watch-netflix type of person and can stay on my couch all day. Regardless of what mood I’m in, I love waking up early and taking advantage of the entire day.

On the weekends, unless I went to bed late the night before, I like to wake up around 7 AM and head to the dog park. Living in an apartment is hard on Zoey and Bear because they don’t have the freedom to run around and exert all their puppy energy, so the dog park (or my parents’ house) is a must!  After swimming and running and sniffing around for an hour, the dogs reluctantly let us bathe them before we head home.

Gym time is around 8:30 AM on Saturday. I like to get it over with on the weekend since we usually don’t know what the day is going to bring.  I’d hate to see something awesome happening, but then realize I can’t go because I haven’t gone to the gym yet. So if you get your workout done in the morning, it frees up your day for other things.

I’m not a big breakfast person, so I usually just eat a bowl of fruit on the patio if the weather is right. Sometimes I have a book. Sometimes I just sit there with the dogs and soak in the morning sun.

After getting ready for the day, Kevin and I usually bicker for 500 hours about what to do with ourselves. We are both pretty indecisive unless there is something going on. Since we started our new challenge, we aren’t allowed to go somewhere that has any cover charge or that requires eating food/drinking out. Fortunately there are a lot of free events around our city.

This Saturday is actually planned pretty well for us. We’re waking up bright & early to either take the dogs to the dog park or take them to a huge park downtown for a few hours (that also has a dog park). Poor Bear has a vet appointment at 10 AM, so we have to work around that. I also have to cook some snacks and desserts for our party.

We are hosting a Beer Tasting Party on Saturday night. I asked each person to bring 1-2 bottles of beer for the group. We’re going to put the beer out on the table and we can just pour ourselves samples of whatever ones we choose.

Other than that, I want to go to the mall to find a Roaring 20’s dress for my company holiday party. It’s difficult for me to find a formal dress that covers my upper arms (hides my tattoo). It’s going to be even more difficult since it has to be formal and the theme is Roaring 20’s.

I may also babysit my nephew on Saturday before the party, so that’ll keep me pretty busy for a few hours.  

Can it be Saturday yet?

No Touching!

I don’t know when, why, or how it started, but for as long as I can remember, I’ve hated when something or someone touches around or inside my belly button. I can barely get myself to touch my belly button to be honest. Simply put: I just hate the feeling.

Sometime last year I noticed a freckle in my belly button. I get new freckles all the time so I didn’t think too much about it, except that I hated it was in my belly button because I thought it made it ugly. (Random fact: I always loved how my belly button looked)

Over the year, though, that freckle started to change colors. It kept getting darker and darker until one day it was black. I knew I had to go to the dermatologist, so I scheduled an appointment the day I got my insurance cards.

I didn’t think anything of the appointment when I went in yesterday. I figured she’d look at my skin and say everything was perfect!

But when I showed her my belly button, she immediately said, “Oh this has to go!”

Ummm.. what?!

She promised it wouldn’t hurt to remove it, and I believed her. But I didn’t want her near my belly button and the thought of getting shots in my belly button is still giving me goosebumps.

She picked up a small ruler to measure it, and I instinctly but lightly pushed her arms away.

Then the nightmare started.

She first cleaned all inside it with alcohol and a cotton pad thing.

Then she gave me two freakin’ shots INSIDE my belly button!

And then she took a razor thing and scraped the mole off to send it to the lab.

The entire time she made me lay with my hands under my butt so I wouldn’t try to push her away.

I’m pretty sure she thought I was the biggest baby in the world because it only lasted 1 minute (if even that long!). 

What a Bust

Source

Prepare to read a debbie downer post…

I was overly excited for the State Fair in Dallas last weekend. Even though I knew it would be the busiest weekend of the fair, I was not prepared for how packed it was. We arrived 30 minutes before the game (UT vs OU) ended, so for a while it was OK. But when the game let out, thousands upon thousands of mostly drunk college kids poured out onto the fair grounds and the walkways were so tight I could barely move. It was hot. I was sweaty. I was surrounded by drunk kids smoking cigars in my face. And I was jammed into the worst human traffic jam I’ve ever been in.

All I really wanted was a corndog and a fried s’more. I left without getting either. The lines were too long, and I just gave up. So basically we wasted $36 to just walk around a fair – that was pretty pointless because it’s pretty much like the Houston Rodeo that I’ve been to hundreds of times. Kevin & I realized we just aren’t fair people. I like to look at the animals and I LOVE concerts, but I don’t care about going on rides or eating all the food.

After the fair, we went to dinner at a pretty cool restaurant called The Social House. The manager and our waiter were really awesome. They recognized that our drinks came out pretty late, so the manager gave us free drinks. Then our waiter gave us free shots to apologize too.  

We also bar hopped and saw some cool bars… until we went to one called the Windmill Lounge that was voted one of the best bars in the country by Esquire. I don’t know how many drinks those voters had, but let me save you a trip – it was boring and they couldn’t make our cocktails right even though they were on the menu.

We of course stopped by Deep Ellum brewery. I tried 4 beers and hated each of them. One of their IPAs tasted like Oregano. #sorryyoucantcompetewithhouston

What else went wrong? Oh! We went to Angry Dog to get the “best hotdog in Dallas!!” and were completely disappointed. It was basically soggy bread covered in mustard and chili with a hot dog thrown in the mix somewhere.

Our AirBnB house smelled like a PetSmart and had flies all over the place.

Kevin’s credit card information was stolen after we pumped gas at Buccees yesterday. Within an hour of leaving, someone charged $150 there.

And that, folks, was my weekend trip to Dallas.

I do have to say, though, the weather was perfect (besides burning up at the fair). 

Phone Habits

Emily Fisher

Instagram. Snapchat. Facebook. Gmail. LinkedIn when I’m incredibly bored.

I’m guilty of over-checking all of my social media accounts – especially when I’m bored or am waiting around (like at a red light or in grocery store line). It makes time move faster, but it also takes my attention off the real world. Instead of checking my phone, I could pick up a news magazine and read what’s going on in the world. Or, even better, I could be social and actually acknowledge the people around me.

Nowadays it seems like everyone is more interested in getting the perfect photo or snapchat that they don’t even live in the moment. They just live through looking at their phone screens.

One of my friends sends so many snapchats that it’s like he sends them nonstop when he’s out. I like watching them, but I’m also thinking: “Why do you have to be on your phone all the time? Why can’t you just enjoy the moment without documenting every second?”

I’ve gotten a lot better at putting my phone down. I don’t even bring it to the gym because I know I’d be tempted to look at my Facebook between sets. I realized yesterday that I don’t even miss having my phone there as a crutch to pass time. I instead look around or just bask in the quietness. I don’t even worry if someone is trying to call or text – I’ll get back to them when I get home.

I’m trying to break the “I need my phone” habit. Do I really care what so-and-so updated on their Facebook? Probably not. So why am I spending tons of my free time looking at my newsfeed?

I’m getting tired of Instagram and am thinking about unfollowing people because I always see the same pictures: some blogger doing the whole blogger thing with the white background and the coffee mug and glitter somewhere. You know what I’m talking about. It’s not boring to look at. They’re really great photos! But, they’re pretty much all.the.same. And it’s boring me.

I’ve realized I’m a bad blogger because I don’t care about getting the perfect photo. I don’t care about editing my photos until they’re perfect. I don’t care about twitter or having a facebook page for my blog.

/end rant

… Now stay tuned. Let’s see how many photos I take this weekend in Dallas :)

Dallas Bucket List

Via

We are heading to Dallas on Saturday, and I cannot be more excited to go to the State Fair for the first time! Even though I read that this weekend is one of the few weekends to “avoid like the plague” because it’s the UT vs OU game, I have high hopes that everything will work out and we won’t be stuck in traffic for ten hours. *keep your fingers crossed*

Instead of eating lunch at the fair, we’re going to stop by a local restaurant called Angry Dog for a quick bite to eat. I love going to local places when traveling. I don’t understand people who go to a different city and then decide to eat at Chili’s or Burger King. Why not eat somewhere that you can’t go to back home?

After lunch, we’re dropping our stuff off at our AirBnB house and then taking a cab or bus to the fairgrounds, where the real exploring begins. I’m not big on fair rides, but I’ll probably ride the Ferris Wheel (and freak out the entire time).

The State Fair is known to have fried everything. Besides having maybe a funnel cake and corn dog, I’m going to hunt down the fried s’more. I’m hoping that it’ll be as good as I’m imagining. And I’m hoping it doesn’t cost $15 because then I’ll probably change my mind.

After the fair, Kevin wants to check out at least one Dallas brewery. I’ve heard great things about Deep Ellum, so we’re going to their brewery for a drink or two before picking a dinner spot. Any dinner recommendations in Dallas?

On Sunday I hope to go to White Rock Lake park before brunch and our trip back home. 

I’m already counting down the hours to that fried s’more!

Get the Hint?

How many times do you text, snapchat, instagram, email, or call someone who rarely responds to you? How many unanswered texts do you send to that person? When do you get the hint?

It brings me back to the good old days of dating when guys would “ghost” (disappear without explanation). I’d text or call them to see if they’d want to hang out, and instead of telling me no, they’d just ignore my text or call. It was really irritating because I never knew if they just 1) did not receive my text or 2) received my text, read it, but then forgot to respond or 3) received my text but didn’t care enough to text back.  I never worried if I texted too much. I usually texted or called maybe once or twice again before I got the hint and didn’t reach out to them again.

When it comes to losing friends, though, it has always been more complicated. When I left my first job and all the friends I had at that company, we promised to stay in touch. Well, I’d text/call some of them to see if they wanted to hang out. No response. Weeks later, I’d text again to invite them to a festival or something. No response. Surely my “friends” couldn’t be ignoring me because they don’t want to talk me anymore, right? Surely they just weren’t responding because they were really busy.

I learned quickly that I shouldn’t waste my time on people who do not want me in their lives. If people really wanted to be your friend, they’d respond to you – even if it’s a day or week late. If people really wanted you to be around, they’d reach out to you every once and a while.

That’s how relationships work. They’re a two way street.

The minute you find yourself on a one-sided relationship where you are doing all the work, leave. Surround yourself with people who appreciate your company.

I used to get upset that my “friends” didn’t respond or ask me to do things anymore (I’d see pictures of them on Facebook having a great time and wonder, “Thanks for the invite. I guess no one thought about me.”). But then I realized that these people, as sad as it was to realize this, were no longer my friends. & I had to move on because I deserve better than to waste my time thinking about people who no longer thought about me.

Money, Money, Money… Mon-ayy

Kevin & I just became even more serious about our finances. As of October 1, we decided to no longer go out to eat/drink.

The rule: we get 1 free pass per month (it can be one dinner, lunch, breakfast, donuts, a night at a bar, a brewery trip, whatever).  Basically, we can spend money out once a month (excluding the grocery store, gas stations, etc.).

We’re allowing ourselves to go to friends’ houses and have get togethers at our houses. Purchasing alcohol at the grocery store is OK. Purchasing snacks/desserts/alcohol to bring to a friends’ house is OK.

Going out to eat and going to a bar and then going to 10 breweries a month = not OK.

This month is special, though, because we are going on a roadtrip to Dallas for the State Fair. Obviously, our 1 free pass is going to expand for that entire weekend, but we are going to avoid spending too much money by being smart about what we purchase.

We’re trying to save as much money as possible because we’re applying for a house loan in January. We really, really want a house with a yard for the dogs. 

A Little Bit About Love

Caleb Ralston

About a month ago my Great Uncle Jerry passed away from Kidney Failure. He was surrounded by his loved ones, including his wife – they were actually holding hands when he passed.

My Great Aunt, Martha, has been sick for quite a while. She basically lost her personality. When Jerry died, my cousin said that was the first time she saw her mom show any emotion in over 15 years. She understood that she lost her husband that day.

Jerry & Martha’s love story begins quickly. On their second date, Jerry asked for her hand in marriage. She said yes, and they’ve been unstoppable ever since.

Martha passed away last weekend (about a month after Jerry).

I don’t know what comes after life, but whatever it is, I hope they are filled with more love than they felt while they were alive. 

I'm Getting Old

I used to be “cool.”

I was around when LOL was first popular. I know what ROTFL stands for. And who wouldn’t know what WTF? stands for?

I can tell you who: Grandparents or anyone else who didn’t grow up when instant messaging and texting became overly popular. They may know what these terms mean now, but they didn’t know when I was growing up (when most of the people on social media and instant messenger were in their teens -- & grandparents/parents were thinking how lame it all is).

When older people would ask me what LOL stands for, I would roll my eyes and think ‘how could they not know what that means?!’

Via

The other day I was browsing Facebook and ran across a Buzzfeed article about parents saying “Netflix and chill.”

I didn’t understand why these kids were grossed out about it. Who cares if your dad tells you that him & your mom are going to Netflix and chill after work?

I didn’t get why it was so gross.

So I had to do what I assume many older people did when they were trying to figure out what WTF? means: I had to google it.

And then I realized that I’m not longer “cool.” I no longer am on top of the new slang terms that come out. I’m no longer a teen.

I’m getting old.

But, in regards to that Buzzfeed article, I’m sure those parents weren’t aware what Netflix & chill really means either. 

October

October is my favorite month of the year. And no, it’s not because pumpkin spiced everything fills every shelf in the grocery store. October has always been a month for new things.

October 12, 2005 – I started dating Josh (who I continued to date for three years in high school).

October 10, 2008 – I started dating Dylan (who I continued to date for three years in college).

October 10, 2013 – The day I met Kevin (who then asked me to be his girlfriend on November 2, 2013).

Guess what Kevin & I are doing October 10, 2015? Going to the Texas State Fair! I am beyond thrilled to finally go see what this huge fair is all about. People keep telling me to try every fried food I can, but I don’t want to walk out $1,000 in debt and feeling sick from eating fried butter all day. I think I’m going to pick two fried things to order. Any suggestions?

I don’t know whether to be scared or excited – but I found out that the weekend I chose is also the TX vs. OU game. The stadium is right in the middle of the fair grounds and about 100,000 people come out to watch it. Talk about a packed park!

I’m not really concerned about how crowded the fair is… but I really don’t want to sit in hours & hours worth of traffic on Saturday to get there and on Sunday to get home.  I guess I’m being a party pooper, huh?

What are some new things you’re doing in October?

Hello, World!

Add caption

I promised I would be back – and here I am. I absolutely love my new job!  I’m no longer stuck doing proposals all day every day.  I never get burnt out because I’m doing the same stuff over and over again.

My old company never had events – and now I’m planning/attending so many events at my new job! I will be in Kansas City next week to represent Texas in a BBQ cookoff challenge. I can’t promise that I’ll represent Texas well (I’ve never BBQ’d before), but I will have on a “Texas” outfit. Of course we are going as cowgirls and cowboys. I just need to find boots…

This weekend I’m going to the company picnic... and guess what. It has a petting zoo! & a lazy river & fishing & a magic show. But I’m obviously more excited for the petting zoo.

In two weeks I’ll be down at the beach (but that isn’t as lovely as it sounds since Galveston is so gross) for a tradeshow. And then a couple weeks after that, I’m going to another BBQ cookoff down the street from my office. I won’t have to cook this time. I just have to set it up and then enjoy the night.

This Saturday I am also going to my first ever cage fight. This lady gave me free tickets yesterday, so I figured I might as well go and experience it. After watching the videos, I’m not sure I will enjoy it. So much violence and blood! I’m not sure why people want to fight each other. I know it’s a sport – but wow, it looks so painful. I’m going to an amateur night so a lot of the fighters are brand new. This will be their first time fighting in front of an audience!

What are your weekend plans?

First Weekend of September

Bear & Zoey say happy Labor Day!

Shocked to see me blogging on a Saturday? I know. That never happens. But to be honest, this is a scheduled post that I wrote on Tuesday - because I don't blog on the weekends.

If things are silent here for the next few days it's because:

1: it's a holiday weekend
2: I'm outside enjoying BBQs and the last days of summer sun
3: I start my new job on Tuesday!

I'll try to keep up with blogging during the next week, but I'm transitioning to a new job and a new schedule. Traffic is about to get a lot worse for me, so that means waking up earlier and getting home later -- but overall I'm excited for this new adventure.

I will be back soon, so please stick around! Have a safe & fun Labor Day!

Port-A-Potty

No one likes using port-a-potties. They're incredibly dirty (unless you are one of the first five people to use it) and they usually don't have toilet paper.  Even if they do have toilet paper you have to really think if you want to touch it because a million other people probably touched it and their hands are probably covered in urine or worse. Especially if you're at a music or beer festival and everyone is too drunk to even stand up straight.

When I use port-a-potties, which has been pretty frequent this summer, I refuse to look down. I touch the lock with the tips of my fingers and don’t touch anything else. I squat and then run the hell out of there to hopefully a portable sink where I can wash my hands.

I remember watching a Jackass movie where someone was flipped over in a port-a-potty.  It makes me cringe thinking about that and the idiot who agreed to do that stunt.

Yes, I’d love to be covered in someone else’s pee & poop, please. I think the audience will find that hilarious!

No freakin' thanks.

I don't know if you've heard about this, but there is something else to be afraid of besides the germs.

A poor lady at a UK seafood festival was minding her own business when a forklift carried her & the portable toilet to the other side of the festival.

When interviewed, the manager of the port-a-potty company said "it does happen quite a bit" because the movers pick the port-a-potties up from the back and can't see if they're occupied.

How about this -- stop moving port-a-potties while the festival is open.

When I Grow Up

I try to push myself to grow, but I’m terrible at keeping goals. I’m the type of person who says I’m going to work out and then weeks – or months—pass before I find myself in the gym. I’m the type of person who makes bucket lists and then gets bored with them or just forgets that they exist. I’m not a quitter; I am just lazy perhaps? Or I find other things that motivate me besides going to the gym or crossing an item off a list.

I’m the type of person who likes to take advantage of every day. I like making plans, meeting people, going on adventures, traveling. I love trying new things and making memories that last a lifetime. I like parties and social gatherings and people watching.

Me. 1990 something.

I always wanted to be a mom at a young age because my parents were young when they had me and my sister. I loved growing up with young parents. For the longest time, my goal was to be married at 21 and a mom at 22 or 23. Crazy, right? I guess you could say I was on that path until I broke up with my college sweetheart and found myself single for two years.

I’m now 25. Not married. And I don’t have any kids. I don’t want any kids.

The thing with coming up with goals for when you’re gown up? They always change because you always change.

I don’t know where my life will take me over the next 5 years even. Will I be living in a different state? Will I be a mom? Will I be married? I hope so.

I can’t come up with what I want to be when I’m grown up because I change all the time as I grow and learn and evolve. I change as the circumstances in my life change.

So, I will say what I hope for my future:

I hope that I am confident and carefree. I hope that I stay motivated and honest. I hope that I’m growing old with Kevin and my friends & family. I hope that I am having fun going on adventures and seeing the world. I hope that we still spend the holidays with our families.

I hope that I’m a mom. I hope that I still enjoy grocery shopping on Sunday mornings.

I hope that I love and that I am loved. 

I hope that I don’t take being alive for granted.

Bringing Me Joy

There are probably hundreds of small things I can add, but here’s a start:

++ reading a book that I can’t put down

++ BBQs at the pool

++ trying new restaurants

++ winning some extra cash on a scratch off ticket

++ remembering there are cookies in the pantry

++ playing my favorite song on repeat

++ bowling a strike

++ weddings

++ planning parties

++ holidays

++ driving through neighborhoods to see all the holiday decorations

++ baking

++ road trips

++ playing Cards Against Humanity

++ going on adventures

++ ice skating

++ watching animal videos

++ finding a new show to binge watch on Netflix

As for big things:

++ family

++ friends

++ waking up next to Kevin each morning

++ waking up to Zoey on my pillow and Bear sleeping with his head on my legs (okay, so sometimes that makes me grumpy)

++ having the opportunity to start a new job next week

++ knowing Kevin also has the opportunity to start a new job today!

++ health (myself, my family’s’, Kevin’s, my friends’)

++ being alive

++ having the opportunity to go on adventures

What are some things that make you happy?

Abusing Restaurants & Their Staff

I just quit my job and am finishing my two weeks’ notice this week. My last day is Thursday! I have one big proposal on my to do list, but other people are taking charge of it – leaving me with almost nothing to do.

In my boredom, I stumbled across the Behind Closed Ovens series on Jezebel. It features reader submissions about the worst customers they’ve ever had at their restaurants. I have never worked in the food industry, so I can’t connect with their stories on that level. But, wow. Some of these stories are absolutely terrible!

One girl that worked at a Subway shared a story about this older man who’d come in and flash her (!!!) if she didn’t give him free food. She would call the cops, but they wouldn’t do anything since he was already gone by the time they got there. When she’d call them right when he got in the store, they wouldn’t come out because he didn’t do anything wrong yet. (Hello, what the hell kind of cops are these?! Flashing someone is illegal, right?) Anyway, how did she get back at him? One night he came in and she just pulled cookies out of the oven. He demanded free cookies, and already had his zipper down and ready to flash if she said no. She told him, “Of course you can have cookies” and she took the hot pan and threw it at him. He was covered in cookies and melted chocolate. He never came back to her store.

Another waitress told a story about a group of youngish guys she waited on at an upscale steak house. They all ordered the most expensive item on the menu and each drank numerous drinks. Throughout their meal, they’d go out for a smoke break, but they made sure to leave a cell phone or wallet as collateral to show they’d be back. Once they were done with their food, she asked if they’d want dessert. Of course, they all ordered dessert and another drink or two to end their night.  They also requested she split their check since they were paying separately. She divided the checks and handed them to the guys. A couple of them went out for another cigarette while some stayed around to finish their dessert. Then those guys went outside for a cigarette, leaving behind a cell phone and wallet. The waitress was closing up the restaurant and getting ready to go home. She kept checking on the table and after ten minutes decided to look outside to see if they were ok. They were GONE! Her first thought was about the cell phone and wallet that they left on the table, so she went back to the table and discovered… fake. The cell phone was plastic and the wallet was empty.

Kevin took me out for burgers the other night at one of our go to places, a neighborhood bar/restaurant down the street from our apartment. We were sitting by the waitresses’ cashier and bar area and overheard one of the waitresses complaining about a table. She said that these people come in all the time (Friday is karaoke night), and that they claim it’s one of their birthdays every time. I actually heard when the guy came up to the waitress to tell her secretly that it was so & so’s birthday, so it would be great if they could get a piece of cake. The waitress responded with, “Wasn’t it her birthday like last month?” When the guy walked away, the waitress went on to say that every single time they come in, the lady eats half of her food and then complains that it was terrible – so that she can get it for free. Who do you think you are? The waitress is working for tips. It’s really rude of you to take up her time and a table and then refuse to pay for something after you obviously enjoyed half of the meal.

I’ve had some pretty terrible waiters and waitresses (who hasn’t?). I once had a waiter tell me he was just in a car crash and had a concussion, but he was okay to work. He asked us about a billion times what we wanted to eat and drink. And then he kept forgetting to put the food order in. Finally, we got our food. Of course it wasn’t anything like we ordered, but at that point – after waiting for over an hour – we were just happy to get anything. Did I mention it took like 30 minutes just to get some water from this guy when we first sat down? I would maybe, probably understand if the place was packed and he was understaffed for the night. But this was a random weekday evening and there were about 5 full tables in the whole restaurant. He was only serving two, including ours.

Even with that terrible waiter I couldn’t imagine acting like these people in these stories.  In fact, we just laughed to ourselves, wondered if he really had a concussion or was just the worst waiter in the world, paid our check with a tip, and left with full stomachs.