Robot Voices are Talking to Me!

There are some things that I love about modern technology. I love my iPod, I adore my DVR, and I live for the GPS. But there are some things I could do without- like companies using the automated phone systems for their customer service.
I had my new cell phone stolen today while shopping at the West Side market... my fault for having the hand cord sticking out, plus I imagine I looked like an easy target... baby struggling in my arms, children all around me, talking and laughing. Later when I discovered what had happened I immediately called Verizon's customer service number to get my phone turned off... and there the fun began.

verizon robot lady: Thank you for calling Verizon Wireless.... blah blah blah.... 25 options later please choose a number.

me: choose something that is somewhat close to what my problem is.

verizon: Thank you.... blah blah blah... 15 more options please choose a number.

me: pick an option that is no where near what I want, but closer than all the others...

verizon: please key in your 120 digit code, the last two letters of your mother's first dog's name, followed by the keys that correlate with this series of tones.

me: hit 0 in the hopes that a human will pick up

verizon: We're sorry, that is not a valid number. Please follow our directions.

me: Attempt to key in what they want, give up, hang up and call the actual Verizon store... I know that there are people there! .............

__________________________________________________________

verizon robot lady: Thank you for calling Verizon Wireless.... blah blah blah.... 25 options later please choose a number.

me: (after initially trying the series of buttons that go with my issue and finding I am still talking to robot lady, I decide to be witty and key in as if I am wanting to be a New Customer... and this gets me an actual human!!!) Hi there, I was calling because my phone has been stolen and I need to have it replaced.

Verizon Guy (who sounds like he is all of 14): 'Mam, since you have insurance on your phone you need to call the insurance company to follow a claim. Call this number, give them this number for the claim, and remember this number which is the blah blah blah.....

me: Am I actually going to speak with a person or is this more robot
customer service people?

Verizon Guy: Oh there are people there, no worries!_________________________________________________________

Phone Insurance Company: 'Ello! This is Punjab Sayid Sayonetheolalipavin, how can I be of service to you mam? (in HEAVILY accented English)

(Do you see where this is going???)

I love getting Birthday pics done!

Here are the official birthday pictures of my girls... Gabby will be 4 in less than 2 weeks and AJ is about a month and a half away from her 1st birthday. I cannot believe how fast this past year has gone by, look how big they are getting! More and more Gabby is starting to look like me, it is crazy. (Currently AJ is resembling a lil gremlin baby, she snorts and wrinkles her nose!)

Fairs and Festivals

I am a winter person. I love the cold, the smells, the snow, everything about it. The only reason that I tolerate summer is because it is fair and festival season. This past weekend we enjoyed the Lakewood Arts Festival and went to the Medina County Fair. What a great time! We got real lemonade, bought a great decoration for the garden (that is in full blossom), saw tons of animals, rode rides, and ate all the great (but bad for you) fair food... I loved it!! Here are some of our best pics.

Surfs Up Saturday- Soapy Style

With Gabby's birthday coming up we have been asking her what she would like and everytime she replies, "Fun soap!". So we went onto Etsy and picked out all kinds of soap for her to have for her birthday. While browsing I noticed so many soaps that I would also like to have so I decided to share my finds. All of these can be purchased on Etsy for under $10!!

Cafe Mocha Soap Bar- $4.75 - by dennisanderson

Chocolate Creme Filled Cupcake Soap- $4.00- by LoveLeeSoaps

Watermelon Soap- $3.00- by adorationsoap

Milk and Cookies Soap - $4.75- by sunbasilgarden

Spiders in my Soap Dragons Blood Scent- $5.50- by DreamersWeb

Rainbow Soapsicle- $5.00- by BodyBeautiful

Future Birthday Present...

This print just caught my eye.... it would look perfect in AJ's pretty pink and brown room.... I can't wait to get it and frame it just right! Drawn by sarahjanestudios on Etsy for $24.00

Hit and Miss

When you think of a great salon the word Mullet is hardly the first thing that comes to mind. But that is the name of a fabulous new salon here in Lakewood- Crazy Mullets. I was intrigued by the name, the look, and the prices and decided to check them out. Nothing crazy, just a trim and a new set of wispy bangs. I figured that it was pretty hard to mess that up and I could have it fixed somewhere else if I needed to. But there is definitely no need... Crazy Mullets owner, Eddie, was awesome! He already owns two other salons in Treemont and Columbus with plans to open two more this year and I can see why his salons are successful. Funky atmosphere, very personable staff, and best of all- cheap prices. Where else can you get a shampoo, professional (Not Best Cuts "quality") cut, and style for under $25? Eddie took his time with the simple cut, asked a lot of questions to clarify what I wanted, and chatted the whole time about anything and everything. Klint has already been there as well as a bunch of our friends... I can't wait to go back!


Now for the miss.... prepare yourself for a rant that involves a bunny, some sisters, and good ol Adam Sandler...

As much as I love dear Adam's movies I am going to not only pass on his upcoming spoof, but join my sisters in protest... LOUD protest. The House Bunny, which opens Aug 22nd, is about a washed up Playboy Bunny who decides to become a house mom when she gets kicked out of the mansion. She tries to get with a pretty blond sorority, who quickly rejects her and points her to an unfortunate sorority house full of even more unfortunate sisters.... and this is where I have a problem. According to the websites storyline, Shelley ends up at Zeta Alpha Zeta, aka the Zetas. HOWEVER, if you watch the preview, in turquoise, it clearly says Z TA. It happens so fast that you don't even notice the space for the E, all you really see is ZTA. Nice huh?My sorority colors and my sorority name. Agh! I know that this may seem silly and trivial to some, but the last thing the sorority needs is for incoming freshmen to think that we are the unfortunate looking, nerdy, ill mannered sisters portrayed by the film or even that greek life is how it is in the movie. Not only did Adam Sandler's company use our name, our colors, and our nickname (the Zetas), but even took one of our symbols which is a bunny. A couple of other sororities were also depicted in a nasty way like Phi Mu, who are called Phi Iota Mu in the movie. I guess they are the named villians of the plot. Nationals has made a statement regarding the release as such:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 15, 2008

INDIANAPOLIS—Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity for women expresses dismay that Columbia
Pictures and Happy Madison Productions will release in August the feature film,
“The House Bunny.”
This movie depicts a sorority called “Zeta Alpha Zeta” and refers to its members as
“Zetas” and its facility as the “Zeta House.” The chapter house shown in the
movie has the word “ZETA” above the door in turquoise, one of the official
colors of the Zeta Tau Alpha Fraternity.
The Fraternity is the exclusive owner of the registered trademarks Zeta Tau Alpha and the Greek letters ZTA, and has been consistently using the term Zeta and
Zetas to conduct business for nearly 100 years. The Fraternity believes that the
use of “ZETA” in the film is improper and confusingly similar to ZTA. Zeta Tau
Alpha is working with legal counsel to explore its options.
“We regret that the production and distribution companies have chosen to release a movie that portrays collegiate fraternity and sorority life in an offensive and inaccurate manner,” said Zeta Tau Alpha National President Laura Ladewig Mauro.
“We have written a letter of protest to both companies but have received no response.”
Zeta Tau Alpha was founded in 1898 at the State Female Normal School (now Longwood University) in Farmville, Va., and has 148 active collegiate chapters and more than 195,000 members worldwide. A member of the National Panhellenic Conference of Greek women’s organizations, ZTA develops members’ leadership, academic and service skills and supports breast cancer education and awareness as its national philanthropy.

A little thought for all you gamer husbands...

KoolAid Anyone?

If you ever need something fun for the kids to do (and wouldn't mind some extra cash) have them sell not only lemonade but brownies too! Gabby raked in over $30 selling cookie bars and Koolaid to people walking around our street sale and was the hit of the block. She was so mad when she sold out, she wanted to keep selling to the masses!

This is a pic of her and her friend Emily selling Koolaid last week to all the people who walk around our street during lunch time.

Go Tribe!

I went to the Indians game last night with my sorority sister Carena and had a complete blast. The team actually played well, we got blue cotton candy, and even though we were in the nosebleeds, I still saw everything and learned a bit more about baseball- Yay! Definitely something worth repeating!!

What a day!

The activities of the week are catching up with me finally, today was the final harrah with 2 dance classes and the garage sale (where Gabby raked in over $30 selling brownies and Kool-aid!) What a week it has been, two dance studios fighting over me plus an offer to become the director of a dance program at a VERY prestigious dance and gymnastics gym in Valleyview. Yay! Not to mention all the craziness with the kids and selling some more graphic design stuff. But I wouldn't trade it for the world... life is nice with a bit of the crazies. I will surf later... for now I am going to chill and count the profits from the garage sale!