I volunteered for our HOA to be the photographer at the ‘Free Photos With The Easter Bunny‘ during the Egg Hunt yesterday. We had no idea how many children would show up as this was our first community event in a few years. I had never done anything like this, and wasn’t really prepared for what happened!
We started setting up at 7:45am. We put up a canopy with a green backdrop, a white chair, and some flowers (thanks to Wendy for lending me the props). We set up a table for Andrew to register people and I had labels printed to put on the back of my business cards. That way, everybody got a business card! I’m hoping, like all business donations, to get some sessions out of this.
The photos were supposed to be from 9-11a. We pushed 138 families through in 90 minutes, with two Bunny Breaks (for Bunny to breathe some fresh air). I’ve never poured on the sugar coating so much in my entire life! “Who’s next? Are you next? Oh I love your hat! That is so pretty! Oh how sweet, you are such a big girl! Would you like to say Hello to the Easter Bunny? Oh, Easter Bunny likes you, look! That looks great, how sweet!! You are doing a great job! Okay all done! Would you like a lollipop?” Bleh!
Of course we got to deal with the select few children who SHRIEKED in horror as Mom tried to SHOVE them toward this absolutely terrifying white fluffy bunny. I couldn’t help but laugh. We only had one Mom who was a total wench about it. You’d think it was Halloween with how mean she was to her child who was bawling his eyes out and scrambling for his life!
Most of the moms, like this one, weren’t that bad. What a look! This will be blackmail for later, I’m sure.
Overall it was quite a learning experience. I would do it again for Christmas, but next time I would definitely have a better handle on how to do things.
Happy Easter!
It’s about that time again! Yup – Jessica’s on the job hunt. If you know anyone in need of an awesome technical project manager, here I am! Willing to travel up to 50%. No contract work – FTE employee only please! I’m tired of disposable contracts, being forced NOT to work holidays without pay, and no vacation accrual.
Click here to download my resume in PDF format, or click here to view it in HTML format.
You’d think that after losing my job I would have lots of time to write, but it’s been just the opposite. I’ve been keeping very busy running errands, cleaning up the house, fixing stuff, taking care of tasks that I haven’t had time for… Stuff like that. I’ve cleaned up my resume and have been applying for jobs on Monster and CareerBuilder.
My sister called me last night and let me know she is coming to visit!!! She is bringing her three kids, my two neices (12 and 6) and my nephew (7), out for the last week of March to see us in Arizona. I can’t wait to see them! It’ll be nice to just relax and have a good time. She came out with her husband back in 2002, and my oldest neice visited the same week last year, but the two younger ones have never been out.
Well, time to get back to errands. See ya’ll!
You can see all the pink spines are ripe with new growth due to the frequent rain this spring. This one, around 10 years old, is about to bloom dark red.
Here’s another baby barrel, this one is about 3-4 years old. It’s about to bloom neon pink!
The flora is stunning this time of year in Arizona. Here is a beautiful example of a flower called Filaree. It is a desert wildflower.
My contract agent showed up on my door yesterday after work. She said, “I’m sorry but we are ending your contract today. I can’t offer any explanation, because nobody told me why.”
That was it. She took my laptop and pager, and was gone!
I’m sitting there, minding my own business, when Mr. Window approaches. He’s that guy who you don’t want to talk to because he’s always trying to sell you window crap for massively inflated prices.
He says to me, “So, can we fix that windshield for you? We work with all major insurance companies.”
I look at him skeptically and say, “There’s nothing wrong with my windshield. It’s just dirty.”
He looks at me, very confused… and says, “What are you saying? You can’t see that HUGE crack?”
I say, “What HUGE crack?” Mr. Window asks me to get out of the car and look with him.
He points and says, “Right there.” I look. I stare. I stare for a while. I look at him confused and say, “Where?”
He points with more veracity and says, “Right THERE.” I look some more, blink a bit, and say, “That’s a birdie present.”
He looks at me like I’ve never seen a windshield before. We change views to the front of the car. I don’t see it. We move to the passenger side of the car.
Note, my windshield was *really* dirty. Hence, the trip to the car wash.
Finally, he convinces me that this massive hole is not bird crap, but it is instead a crack in the windshield. I look closer… Sure enough, directly behind the rear view mirror, in a place that you CANNOT see from the driver’s seat NOR from the passenger seat, is a bullet hole the size of a quarter.
Mr. Window then proceeds to attempt to sell me a new windshield, which I don’t have time for today (see previous post).
I am still stunned that I didn’t see that before! Then my mind started backtracking…. When could that have happened? I have no idea. But I do know, it’s not bird poop.
That would be today.
So after all that happened at work, I ran some errands at lunch. The first place I went was the trophy shop, to pick out a trophy for our upcoming tournament winner. I chose the one to buy, and gave her the engraving information. She said, “That will be $X. How would you like to pay for that?” I reached for my purse and asked, “What method of payment do you accept?” The woman responds, “Visa, Mastercard, Discover, Cash, Check, first born child…”
Ha ha ha ha. Ha ha. Ha.
Well sorry ma’am, I can’t give you that. I won’t ever have a first born child. Or a second. Or a third. It got me thinking… why am I so touchy about this? Why do simple funny comments, familiar jokes in our culture, make me so angry?
When Sarah McLaughlin took time out after her third live song when I went to see her concert to tell us about how beautiful and wonderful it is to be a new mother, why is it that I was forced inexplicably out of my seat, out of the arena, and raving angry out of the parking lot, to go immediately home? Why couldn’t I be happy for her and stay for the rest of the show?
When somebody says, “Shoot me now and get it over with,” why is it that all I can picture in my head is the remains of my step-father’s face after he shot a rifle into his mouth? When some guy jokes, “Hold on while I go kill myself…” after making a simple mistake… why is this something I can’t seem to get over? Or when they put their finger to their head and act like they are pulling a trigger. I can’t even function after I see somebody do that.
It makes me wonder, what things do I say or do on an everyday basis that upsets other people without my knowing it? I feel like I’m the only one who just can’t move past these things and get along in society. Most people just ignore this stuff and move on, or at least, on the surface they do. Why can’t I?
“No matter what kind of stripper you use, make sure you wear protective gloves and adequate eye protection.”
- DIY Network Project explanation…at 8:30 in the morning… Sure caught my attention!
I’d like THAT kind of DIY project! Bring on the strippers!
The Town of Gilbert has an upcoming election to vote for the next term of Mayor. This election has been on the receiving end of a significant amount of press, and I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s more evident to me, now that I’m getting older…or maybe there are more press pieces making their way in front of my face because I’m paying attention. Maybe it’s just that Gilbert has nothing else to talk about, so they’re talking about the two figures bickering like a giant cockfight in the papers.
For those who don’t live in Gilbert, here’s a little background. Cynthia Dunham was our Mayor from 1997-2001. Then, she lost her re-election campaign to our current Mayor Steve Berman, who has served the term 2001-2005. Now, the two are running against each other for the 2005-2009 term.
So tell me, Mrs. Dunham… why is your campaign slogan, “Re-Elect Cynthia Dunham” this time? I understand that you USED to be the Mayor…but don’t you think the term ‘re-elect’ would mean that you are currently the Mayor? Shouldn’t Mr. Berman be allowed to use the slogan, ‘Re-elect Steve Berman’? Just because you got your signs up first, doesn’t give you free reign to mislead the Gilbert residents like that.
Mr. Berman has also got an ass-backwards campaign slogan. What’s up with “Steve Berman: Mayor Again”? Now THAT sounds like the proper way to say, “I used to be the Mayor but I am a loser, so now I’m running again this year even though I’m not currently the Mayor.” Mr. Berman, you ARE the Mayor.
Add to these campaigns the fact that about 8 in 10 residents in Gilbert can’t even tell you who our Mayor is… and you’ve got 80% of the residents who have no right to vote for one. If you can’t make an educated, informed decision, I don’t feel that you should exercise your right to vote. That goes for any election, of any kind. Just my opinion.
I’m trying to be an informed voter, but it’s hard when all that is published is information about whose slogan is right and whose is wrong, and who is bashing whom for whatever reason. All that I have been able to find is information regarding the lies, not the truths. I suppose we are being asked to vote on who we think is less worse for the job than the other?
So whether you want to vote for Steve Berman: Mayor Again or to Re-Elect Cynthia Dunham, I hope you can determine through all the crap out there which one is a lesser poor option than the other.
