happily random

Round & Round & Round It Goes

It's inevitable: if one kid comes down with the stomach flu, eventually it makes the rounds to everyone in the family.

Implements of Wellness: Lysol, lemon-lime soda & a big kitchen pot... just in case.

This round started with Tyler on the way home from playing Laser Tag with the fam the Sunday before last, all over himself and the backseat of my Suburban. Good times.

Next Sammy got it. I think it hit her the hardest, as she was down for several days with it, while the rest of us got over it in two.

Then... me! Right smack dab in the middle of the week, two days wasted writhing in bed with a kitchen pot as my best friend. Had to cancel all my voice lessons, wouldn't you know. Lost four pounds in the deal, which seems a fair trade if you ask me.

Luke rounded out the week, coming down with it shortly after I did.

Rebekah got lucky, or so it seemed. She had finals at school last week and managed to stay healthy through it all. I thought it had passed her by, but oh no, it was stalking her too. Sneak attack Monday night and she has been down for two days now.

So, that's everyone now... except Joel. He's been holstering a can of Lysol for the week and been rather stingy with the hugs and kisses. I think he's considered moving out till the house is completely disinfected, but figured that would going a little far.

Looking forward to life getting back to normal, or at least what we call normal.

There is still such a thing as Good Customer Service

Customer Service: two words that keep me shopping at the same stores over and over and over again. Fred Meyer, Nordstrom, CostCo are a few companies that I return to again and again because I know that not only do they sell quality products, but if I have a problem with them, I know that they will stand behind the items they sell without making me jump through a bunch of hoops to get them replaced or returned.

Today I found another: Noble Collection. As a Harry Potter fan, my oldest daughter desperately wanted a Hermione's Time Turner for Christmas. Purchased by her grandmother, we received it back in October, although it wasn't opened until Christmas. When she opened it Christmas morning, we discovered that one of the screws that held it together was a little bent. A week later it fell out all together; my daughter was heart-broken. Promising to attempt to get a replacement, it sat on my desk for two weeks while I waited for her grandmother to return from vacation in Africa (yes, she was on safari... literally!) so I could get the order number from her, as yours truly had misplaced the packing slip.

Finally I got an email to the company yesterday, not holding my breath that this was going to be an easy exchange. I kept thinking I would have to go into a detailed explanation as to why we waited so long to return it if it was defective in the box... yadda, yadda, yadda. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised. In my inbox today was an email telling me that a replacement was on its way, no need to mail the broken one back in or anything. So happy that there are still companies that stand behind their products. Noble Collection has definitely earned a loyal customer.

Book Review & Discussion: Why Women Need Fat

When asked to read the book, Why Women Need Fat by William D. Lassek and Steven J. C. Gaulin, I must admit that I started the book with more than a bit of scepticism. Over the past twenty years, I have seen many diet research and fads make the news and gain popularity. I remember when I was kid, fats were bad, carbohydrates were good. Then carbs were bad, but you could have all the protein and fat you wanted. Next thing you know, it was just saturated and trans fats were good, but unsaturated fats were good. Every time you turn around, some "expert" is touting the latest diet miracle that will make us all thin.

That said, Why Women Need Fat begins with a history of our nation's weight gain and the ways that have been tried to battle against the bulge. Lassek and Gaulin take their time in explaining not only what their findings suggest caused our nation's weight problems -- processed foods and omega-6 fatty acids a couple of the main culprits -- but also how each and every one of us can find our body's true weight without traditional dieting. 

While I still feel a bit of the skeptic after completing the book, I found many of the authors' examples reasonated with me and think that their ideas certainly bear further personal investigation. Interested in finding out more? Join the discussion at BlogHer Book Club.

***This is a paid review for BlogHer Book Club but the opinions expressed are my own.

Exercise in Futility

Every day when I drive my kids to school, I drive pass several drive-through coffee stands. It's a mystery to me how a town our size supports as many coffee places as we do. There is on in particular on Ramsey that stands out to me, not because it's my favorite as I have never actually been there, but because it's always for sale. Every six months or so, some inexperienced wanna-be coffee-stand owner buys the place, repaints it, renames it and puts out an OPEN sign, not realizing that the location is terrible as it's hard to get in and out of. Not only that, but there are two quite successful coffee places barely a stone's throw away that are much easier to navigate. In the last five years I think this place has had six or seven different owners -- at least.

The demise of this stand follows the same pattern with each owner. The first few weeks, the OPEN sign is lit every time I drive by, when I take my kids into school and when I pick them up in the afternoon. Rarely is there a car in at the window, I'm sad to say, but they keep trying. The last owners even gave away free mochas for a day hoping to drum up business, and even then the response was poor. The problem is that by the time you notice the place when you're driving by, you have already passed the entrance to it. Inevitably, about a month after opening, the OPEN sign is lit less often, mostly in the morning. I guess they figure they shouldn't staff the place in the afternoon if no one is coming in. This is the beginning of the end. Usually two or three months is all they last before the FOR SALE sign is back up again.

As a small business owner myself, it always makes me sad to see a business go under. I know the work that goes into starting one up, the hopes and dreams that you have for making it a success and the stress of not quite making it. I want to post a big sign out front: "DO NOT PUT A COFFEE STAND HERE! The last 16 people who tried to make it work failed!" Whenever someone buys it, I want to stop and knock on the window to tell them, "Just close up shop now; it'll be cheaper in the long-run."

As an outside observer, I can see that this location is not a good place to a coffee stand. I've driven by it day after day and seen all the attempts to make this place a success only to follow the same fate as the others. Not that we shouldn't try to follow our dreams, but sometimes I think that we want our dreams to succeed so much that we don't make the wisest of decisions while chasing them down.

Book Review & Discussion: The Magic Room

Ever want to be a fly on the wall of a bridal boutique? Listening in to interactions between brides, their mothers, family and friends, the tears of joy, a few bridezillas, all while the salespeople try to make a sale in a tough market as brides search for the perfect dress for their special day. The Magic Room by Jeffrey Zaslow made me feel like exactly that -- albeit a very elegant, softly lit fly. The Magic Room is an inside look into the life of a family-owned bride boutique in a relatively smallish town of Fowler, Michigan. In business for over 70 years and having sold over 100,000 dresses in its lifetime, this book takes a closer look into the struggles and triumphs of a family who has given their lives to make brides look their best on their wedding day. Being a small business owner myself, I could relate to the challenges that faced the Becker family in attempting to find a balance between business and family. Not only do we travel the years with the Becker family, but we also get small glimpse into the lives of many of the brides who have stepped foot into the Magic Room -- a special room where they get to see themselves as the glowing bride they are for the first time. I found myself wanting to know more about these women, but realizing that just like they salespeople at Becker's Bridal, I will only ever get to know just a bit of what brought them into the store that day. Having not had this "magic room" experience myself, I enjoyed being a part of that experience with the other women in this book. Join the discussion and learn more about this wonderful book at Blogher.

***Blogher has provided me with a copy of The Magic Room for purposes of providing a review. I received this book at no charge to me and have been paid to provide a review this book.