RIP Heather's G-Bladder

Oh Heather's gallbladder.
We will miss both you and your bile.
You put in 31 good years helping Heather digest fatty foods.
Without you Heather could not have enjoyed so many french fries and ice cream sundaes.
Now that you have been cruelly thrust from Heather's body you will always have a place on our mantel in a mini-urn next to Mom's left you-know-what.
Rest in peace little g-bladder.

Seriously, I'm glad our family members generally enjoy such good health but I hope losing body parts isn't one of those things that comes in threes. We better all stay on our toes or maybe I should say keep on our toes. Mom talked to Heather today and she is doing just fine. Hopefully she will feel better now that her pesky gallbladder has been removed. We love you Heather!

Borders Zone - 5

#5 Bathroom Etiquette

Unless, it's a family member in the stall next to me I don't like to talk to people while I'm using a public restroom. There are a few exceptions. The horrible, "Can you hand me some toilet paper?" and the awkward, "Ma'am, I'd appreciate it if your son could stay in your stall." Basically, conversations originating from within the bathroom stall should be saved for emergency situations.

But sometimes when I'm using the bathroom at work I hear this clank, clank noise coming from the sink area. It is the noise of someone trying to figure out how to dry their hands. You see we don't have paper towels at Borders. We have an automatic hand dryer. You just hold your hands under the dryer and it pops on. It is a fancy hand dryer; there is a rotating metal part where the air comes out which you can tilt upwards in case you need to dry your hair or face. But this fancy hand dryer confuses some customers. They want to push an "on" button and they bang on the tilting metal part thinking it might turn the dryer on.

Here is where my quandary comes in. These customers who can't figure out how to use the hand dryer usually leave the bathroom angry and sometimes want to complain to a manager. They leave with a negative opinion of our store. Just today as I was using the bathroom I heard a lady banging on the dryer and then cursing Borders. Should my duty to the company's reputation outweigh my reluctance to talk while conducting my personal business? And would the customer be more freaked out by my ghostly voice rising from the stall and echoing off the bathroom tiles than having to leave the bathroom with wet hands?

p.s. The dryer has a label right on top that says, "This is an automatic hand dryer"

Adventures in Swimming

Here is Laurel doing a bellyflop. She is a great swimmer and diver, but I think with the camera rolling she got a little nervous. Like the wicked auntie I am you can hear me laughing super hard in the background. When I ask her if she's okay she says, "I'm kind of sore."

Jonathan was a little nervous in the pool at first but by the end of the week he was paddling around by himself with a life jacket. He kept saying over and over, "I'm swimming! I'm swimming!" I also heard him say a couple of times, "I'm not drowning!" I don't think anyone was more thrilled than Heather that Jonnie could be in the pool without her. The kids wanted to swim all day and Heather was happy to watch them from outside the pool for once.

Here is a good one of Laurel diving. I don't want you to think she just bellyflops all the time. By the end of the week she was diving really well. Notice the way she enunciates torpedo.

And finally here is Lindsay. She is learning how to dive and working on her freestyle.

Borders Zone - 4

#4 Because We Care

Today a bunch of us were in the back working in the warehouse. Bob (the one who moves things around at Target) was sorting the new books and he said, "Hey guys, I found a good one." Then he read the title of the book he was holding "Pretending You Care: The Retail Employee Handbook ." Then someone said, "You mean the Borders Employee Handbook." We all started snickering and then just busted up laughing.

I think it is just strange as a human being to put in a situation where you are required to care about 100% of the people you come in contact with (that includes listening to strangers discuss their gifted grandchildren, strange illnesses, diet failures and successes, problems with their child's teachers, dating problems, and political/religious views). So in the retail world some pretending is required. I suppose it is good practice for trying to become more Christlike. But until I'm perfect maybe I should pick up a copy of that book to help me get through the customer service part of my job.

Earthquake Update

Lusita filled me on the details of the earthquake we had last week since she was the only one who was at our house to experience it firsthand. As we suspected quite a few things did fall down but thankfully Lusita was there to pick things up for us. A bunch of the paper goods in the garage fell off the shelves. One of the rods in Mom and Dad's closet fell down with all of the clothes on it. And the ironing board fell over. Lusita said the spa looked like it was boiling and a lot of the water sloshed into the pool.

Lusita had the back door open for the dogs and when the shaking started they all raced outside. But then they came running back in and were whining at Lusita trying to get her to come outside. She said it was really cute.

So anyways, everyone was calling me last week to see what happened with the earthquake so now you know.

Weekend of Wonder

This was a great weekend. Here are a few highlights.

1. Chick-fil-a opened on Friday and I made sure to stop by on my way home from work to support them on their opening day. I consider it a small miracle that they finally put my favorite fast food place so amazingly close to my house. Yeah Chick-fil-a! Long live chicken nuggets, waffle fries, and fresh lemonade!

2. Breaking Dawn finally came out! I finished the book Sunday night and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Brandon, Chelsea and I went to the party at my store to pick up our books at midnight. We got to jump the line since I'm an employee. I think Brandon was a little overwhelmed by all of the estrogen in the store. Thank goodness Stephenie finally wrapped things up, I mean what does a girl have to do to get herself turned into a vampire these days? I think it was easier in the old days. The other good thing about Breaking Dawn being out is that it makes work less stressful. By the time one of these big books comes out it is almost hard to be excited about it. This one was way better than Harry Potter 7. Maybe because there weren't little kids involved.

3. I got my hair cut and highlighted on Saturday. Now my graying hairs just blend in with the highlights. (And yes Mom, I do have gray hairs even if you can't see them.) My gray hair was really bugging me so I am jazzed. I was going to get my hair cut real short but I chickened out. Maybe next time.

4. Brandon and Chelsea came over to hang out with me. I love hanging out with those guys so I am always excited when they come over. We had pizza and watched 27 Dresses. Brandon left me a bunch of movies to watch so I am having fun catching up on the movies I have missed this year.

5. Mom will be home in less than a week and she's bringing Heather and the kids back with her. Mom and I have lots of fun hanging out and running errands together. I really missed her last week so I am glad that there is less than a week left now.