Customer Service...For New Clients Only!

I have been a loyal customer to La Dolce salon for a couple of years now.  It started when I first met Alex and she worked magic with my limp hair.  She worked some kind of crazy voodoo and made it look like new hair!  I hadn't had a hair cut like it since I left LA; when I went to "Katherine's-The Salon" on Ambassador Caffery.  (If you live in LA and need a stylist, let me know, I'll give you the contact info!  OMG!  MAGICIAN!) 

Then Alex left and I bounced around the salon to a couple of stylist and I found Eva.  She did good hair, nothing like Alex (or Katherine!) but she was consistent and she listened to what I wanted so I kept going to her.  Next Eva left the salon and I started the process of bouncing again because I like Dolce, a lot, my kids even LOVE Dolce!  They think Dolce is the only salon/spa that people can go do.  You know how kids get their loyalties lined out and it's permanently ingrained in them, that's Dolce for my kids! I like the people, I like the welcoming feeling, and there are a lot of talented stylist there, but after their Groupon I think I'm salon shopping!

Their facebook page has been commenting about an upcoming groupon and I have been anxiously waiting!  Imagine my excitement when the groupon popped up Sunday!

• A haircut (up to a $45 value)
• A deep-conditioning treatment (a $45 value)
• Partial highlights (up to an $85 value)

All for one low price of $65!  Yahoo! 

We were on our way to church and I was giddy!  I said to Keith "ewww...I have to read the fine print to see how many of these I can buy!" So, I did and that's when I saw it...

"New clients only"

My heart sank! 

I hate when companies offer promotions for "new clients only" and throw their old loyal clients away.  When they do customer appreciation days, they aren't for "existing clients only" they are for anyone.  New clients always welcome, old clients are already sucked in so who cares.

AT&T Uverse has the best customer service in this area of anyone I've ever seen!  Say what you will about AT&T, but if you call them with a promotion they are running they will give it to you.  They don't care if you're a new customer or if you've been with them for 100 years!  All you have to do is call and ask for the promotion and they give it to you.  I do with they'd just automatically apply promotions, but I guess it's not too much to ask that I contribute a little too!

So, as much as I love Dolce, I'm considering going elsewhere because I find this so offensive.  I will say, they are one of the nicest salons (that I've gone to) in Carmel and they do great hair.  I will still recommend them to anyone who asks, I'm just really irritated and a little hurt!

Lastly...I just saw on Regis and Kelly that short hair is back in style but while watching beautiful Emma Watson being interviewed I can truly say...just because something is in style doesn't mean it looks good on you!  Ugh!  She looks like a very feminine boy! 

Happy Monday!

MTV VMA's 2011

I watched the MTV VMA's last night (yes, I know how old I am!) and to balance it out a little, I'm watching Good Morning America now!  ha!

A few thoughts...

I can't stand Lady Gaga.  I don't like her music, I hate that she weighs in on politics and think it matters because she sings, I think she's a cheap imitation of Madonna, and I think she was an embarrassment on the VMA's.  She was a stage whoring laughing stock!  She preformed as her alter ego Joe Calderon and that's fine, she's an artist, she's known for being a freak so whatever.  What irritated me was her attention begging when presenting Brittney Spears with an achievement award.  Okay, I love Brittney, I admit it.  Brittney has had quite a few rough patches so why couldn't Gaga shut her mouth and let Brittney have her moment?  What a disgusting human, it only drove my distaste to a new level!  I will be very happy if I never hear another song or word from that repulsive woman!

Adele...wowza!  Joy Beth has been telling me for years that I'd love Adele and I never disagreed, I just didn't pursue it.  My kids love her song "Rolling in the Deep" but after watching her perform "Someone Like You" I went on Amazon and bought the CD (again, my age...not an MP3 but a CD!)  My new Adele CD should be here by Wednesday!  Sorry Joy, you were right!

Where the heck is Katy Perry from?  I don't guess I've ever actually heard her speak before and was puzzled by her accent...Hadley LOVES Katy Perry, and I think she's fine, we censor a little but for the most part the kids enjoy her.  She seemed a little trashy on the VMA's though...I would have thought she'd present herself better.

Beyonce's pregnant, who cares. 

I think Chris Brown is a bad guy, but enjoyed watching him fly around the stage.

WHO is Justin Beiber, and WHY?  Really?  Why?

All in all, I love the VMA's.  I love music, I like the ridiculousness of it all, the wacky clothes, the attention seeking behavior, the great performances, just all of it.  I have for years!  Cori and I used to record it (on VHS-google it kids) and watch it every year!  I haven't outgrown it and really don't think I will.  I was SHOCKED to see that The Real World still comes on though!

School is Now in Session!

Ugh!  I am not a fan of school!

I'll start by saying we live in a great school district; it's safe, fun, and high ranking statistically.  We've lived in places where the private schools couldn't hold a candle to what our public schools do.  They put a lot of emphasis on morals, integrity, and honesty, along with academics.  It's not a complete love fest though because this insatiable desire to be the best, at everything, sometimes transforms students from kids to statistics (but I think all schools do that now).  All in all, this is one of the better schools.

Just because it's a good school doesn't mean I LOVE having my baby gone away from me for 7 hours a day.  It's nice that I don't obsessively worry about her safety, and it's great to know that she's going to be well educated, but it's excruciating seeing her leave in the morning and knowing she won't be back for hours! 

I heard someone say today that their child "never flinched at the newness school brings" and what a blessing it is that children are so adaptive, I wish I felt the same way.  I go kicking and screaming into every new experience!

This year is a little scary because there has been a lot of redistricing so Hadley is in a class full of strangers!  Seriously, we went through the list and there were only 3-4 kids we knew!  On top of that, last year was our first experience with full time school so we didn't really know what to expect, this year I know how bad it sucks to have my baby gone.  Last but certainly not least, I heard some less than flattering rumors about Hadley's new teacher.

Side note, I typically choose not to put too much stock into negative opinions because there can be a myriad of different reasons for someone to have a bad year.  I can think of a few of my teachers that there were negative opinions about, but I loved them!  Also, sometimes people just have crappy experiences, maybe it was the teachers fault, maybe it was the students fault, or maybe no one or even everyone is to blame.  I am a firm believer on clean slates!

Clean slates or not, my anxiety has little or nothing to do with the teacher!  God can handle the teacher!  My heart just hurts because I miss my baby so much.  God and I are working through that!

My prayer is that Hadley has a great year!  I pray that this is the year she makes the best friend that she craves so much.  I pray that she gains her footing this year and comes into her own, I pray that she does this before the "mean girl" grade comes about.  I pray that she settles in and realizes what a gift from God she truly is!  I also pray for her teacher to let this be the year she proves the naysayers wrong!  I pray that God makes magic happen in the second grade! 

Y'all pray too! 

To quote the Veggie Tales "God is bigger than the boogie man" so I know he's bigger than anything 2nd grade can throw at us!

We're Just Like You, Only Prettier!

I can't help but channel my inner Miranda Lambert when I say that!

It's so true but men don't realize it! 

I'm on the board of our home owners association (HOA) for our neighborhood.  I felt passionately about being on the board after those jerks in our last neighborhood, in WV, screwed us so royally.  I wanted to be the anti-hoa, the people's advocate, not the neighborhood police. 

It was a great year for me to be on  the board too because this was the year that the board chose to re write (for lack of a better word) the neighborhood rules.  We hired a lawyer who specializes in HOA legality.  Side note, wouldn't that suck!  $80 grand down the tubes so he can watch housewives fight about trash cans and flower beds!  With that said, we re wrote the book!  Ha!  Every time a rule would come up I would tense up because of my libertarianism (Keith says anarchist!) whatever you call it, I'm a strong supporter of self governance so rules make me nervous!  We came to a good agreement and there were ultimately very few rules that I was concerned with and I thought they were probably harmless because, let's be honest...who was going to enforce them?

Then the hammer dropped, the fire was lit, and the board was ready to RUN with the rules!  OMG!  It was like someone threw down the gauntlet and they took it as a personal challenge to make heads roll.  Ironically enough, these are people I really respect and like, I just happen to disagree with this whole "police my neighbors" stance. 

To be fair, they will say they aren't policing the neighbors, they are being proactive in maintaining our property value.  They aren't creating new rules, just enforcing the rules that have been in place for years.

Okay, enough pc crap, this is my blog so I can tell it my way!  :-)

Now to the point, or as my old boss used to say, I say all of that to say this...

I strongly disagreed with this whole mess.  I don't want to be involved and I don't want my name associated with it.  I've even contemplated resigning because I disagree so strongly.  I'm not mad and I still like and respect my fellow board members, I just don't like this and I disagree with it.  I felt like I was being pacified when I voiced my disagreements and decided that if my opinion wasn't going to be taken seriously then there is no need for me to attend anymore meetings.  Again, not mad, just realistic.

So, when I got a text from another board member (whom I adore!  Seriously!) asking if I could attend a meeting on Sunday I said no.  First of all I can't, secondly I don't want to.   Later he asked me if there was another date that would work for me.  I told him not to worry about working with my schedule because I can email a financial report (I'm the treasurer) but I really don't have any other input for the meeting.  I know this worried him because he asked what I meant by that and I meant just what I said. 

This is where I say "we're just like you, only prettier."  Men are capable of compartmentalizing, why can't they believe women are?  If the shoe were on the other foot I don't think he would hold a grudge against me, so why does he think I will?   With that said, I disagree but I don't care, I still like and respect him (and the entire board).  I am just like him, (I compartmentalize!) only prettier!  We can all disagree and still be friends!

Looks Can Be Deceiving!

In a recent blog post, Frenemy to Friends, I made the comment that Danielle seemed to have it all together.  She really looked perfect on the outside so of course I believed that must be the case.  It wasn't until she replied to the blog that I realized looks were deceiving.  Her reply stopped me in my tracks, it was so humbling and profound and I realized that maybe her life wasn't as perfect as I'd thought.

With that in mind, I was walking through my messy house today thinking, wow I bet (enter friend's name here) never lets her house get like this!  Because this friend appears to have it all together, so it must be true, right?  That's when the reminder hit me that looks can be deceiving. 

I had a friend tell me, once, that I seem to have it all together.  She actually told me that I look like I have it all figured out.  HA!  If that's not proof that looks can be deceiving, then nothing is!  I may look like I've got it figured out, but most days I'm a jumbled mess on the inside! I'm like a duck, all calm and cool on top but paddling as fast as my legs will move underneath!

I think we're all like that (maybe some of us more than others) but we are all struggling to hold it together and we're doing the best we can.  But, I also think others aren't judging nearly as harshly as we think they are.  My neighbor and I had this conversation awhile back where I admitted I struggle between being a good mom, wife, housekeeper, etc and I asked her "do you have those struggles too?"  she said "Lisa I think every mom and possibly every woman struggles with those feelings." 

If I spend too much time getting the house clean and orderly I feel like my kids don't get the proper attention, and if I spend all my time with the kids, the house falls apart and there's no dinner then I feel like Keith isn't being treated fairly.  Basically, I'm doing the best I can and although I'd like to have a model home, I just don't see that ever happening.

I manage to keep things livable and cook a good meal, most nights.  I devote as much time as humanly possible to my lovely daughters so all in all I think I'm getting it together most days.  There are things that completely throw me off kilter, like this week I have a sick kiddo who is attached to me.  I love how snuggly she is so I drop everything to baby her and my whole house seems to have fallen apart!  It's okay though, I'll get it back together sooner or later! 

The moral of the story is, I think we all spend more time like this---------->

Then we do like this--------->

But I'll end with one final thought/question...

Why does it take so long to put the house together and about half that time to tear it apart?