Dealing with the public over the last 10 years I’ve come to learn a few things. Most importantly, you can’t change how people are, so you might as well learn the best way to handle them to make your life as easy as possible. Some people let mean/rude people get to them, and all they are doing is letting them ruin their day. I’d rather be glad I’m not that person and move on than dwell on it and waste valuable time and energy on that person.

Some people you just can’t please. The sooner you accept this, the better off you are. If you offer them the moon, it’s not going to be enough. So all you can do is tell them what you can do for them and let them be unhappy.

People would rather hear what you CAN do for them, not what you CAN’T do. Instead of saying “No, I can’t make your premium cheaper” say “ What we can do is look at your auto insurance so you can get the 20% multi policy discount, how does that sound?” Even if you can’t do it cheaper, at least they know you tried.

I’ve learned that sometimes its easier to empathize with people. I have mortgage companies call all the time and they need everything now! Since I used to be in their shoes, sometimes it takes the edge off the conversation if I tell them I understand what they are going through, I’ve been there and I hope they have a better day. (Even though I’m still a firm believer in bad planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part)

Some people are just always in a bad mood. They want everyone around them to be in a bad mood too. To these people, I feel sorry. Instead of letting them get me down, I thank my lucky stars I’m not in their situation that makes them live their life like that. I want people to be happy when they are around me, not grimace when they see my number on their caller id.

I’ve also learned you have to stick up for yourself. This was a hard one for me, because I don’t like confrontation and I want everyone to be happy. But sometimes people start out talking to you like you are an idiot and sometimes you have to politely remind them otherwise.  I know the “customer’s always right” (Even though they aren’t) but you can’t just sit there and take a beating. There comes a point where you have to tell the person to calm down and/or tell them to call back when they can act human (not in so many words of course)

I hope this helps someone out there deal with that unpleasant coworker or that client that knows how to push your buttons. I’ve learned that life’s too short. It’s best to pick your battles and know how to handle people.  I’m still a work in progress but it’s getting better as the years go by.

A friend of mine turned me on to E-mealz and now I’m hooked! I just signed up for the Lowfat Publix Plan (They have lots of different lists depending on what you are looking for. They take the current sale paper and send you a weeks worth of recipes and a shopping list already categorized based on what’s on sale. Also, it takes about 15 minutes to shop now.  Josh and I spent $80 this week ($20 less than we normally do) and that’s with me buying breakfast and snacks! Definitely check it out. If you decide to try it out, let me know what you think.

Here’s the link E-MEALZ Easy Meals for Busy and Frugal Families

For those of you who don’t know, Josh  and I are expecting our first child at the end of August.  You always hear people say how children change their lives. I didn’t realize how much that was true, and the kid’s not even here yet!

My new bed time is 8:30. By 8, I’m yawning, by 8:30 I’m out. This has vastly put a dent in my free time. By the time I come home, cook dinner, clean up, take a shower (another new habit, I have to take showers at night now, can’t handle it in the morning) and dry my hair, it’s bed time. No more watching movies after dinner. We tried that and 30 minutes in, I’m asleep. Not only that, our to-do list has grown tremendously. We have decided we need tile/hardwood floors before the baby gets here. Mainly for sanitary purposes. We also  have to paint the nursery, register for baby stuff (to which I have no idea what we need), house needs a new roof, pressure wash the siding… we’ve got family coming in 6 months to see “Megatron” (this is what we’ve decided to call the baby until we find out what it is)

Where I shop has changed. I used to go to NY and Co, and Ann Taylor Loft for all my clothing/retail therapy needs. Now it’s Motherhood and Old Navy Maternity. I must say my first realization came when my best friend and I went shopping last weekend. We went into Motherhood and the girl had to explain to me how this works (that felt odd in itself) Then I go into the dressing room to try on these not so cute clothes, and there’s a flippin’  pillow in there to show you how you’ll look down the road! I tried it on and about died! At first it was funny. The pillow was all lumpy, then I freaked.  Is that REALLY what I’m going to look like 4 months from now!? 

HOW I shop has changed. I used to be able to go on a power shopping trip and go for 5 hours straight. Now, after trying on maternity clothes, I need something to drink (and a nap, but don’t want to be a wuss) So we go on a search for bottled water. Then, we strategically plan out how to maximum shopping and minimize energy usage. “If we go this way, we can go to Store A, B and C… If we go this way, we can only go to Store D… Is Store D REALLY worth walking ALL the way over there? Not really..Okay, this way it is then” After 2 hours, I REALLY need a nap. And a snack. {sigh} I can only imagine doing this with a stroller.

Conversations are different. I used to talk about the weather, NASCAR, how my week went.. Now its “How are you feeling? Sick and tired, thanks for asking.” “Aww, how cute!!! No, not really… I’m tired all the time, and my clothes don’t fit anymore” “ It’ll get better soon… You’ve said that for 3 weeks now, WHEN is it going to get better?!”  

Alas after all my trials and tribulations we will have a bundle of joy. Despite the fears and doubts, I can’t wait to meet the little booger.

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
9 cups Chex cereal
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1. In 1-quart microwaveable bowl, mix chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Microwave uncovered on High 1 minute, stir. Microwave 30 seconds longer or until mixture can be stirred smooth. Stir in vanilla.

2. In large bowl, place cereal. Pour chocolate mixture over cereal, stirring until evenly coated. Pour into 2-gallon food-storage plastic bag.

3. Add powdered sugar. Seal bag; shake until well coated. Spread on waxed paper to cool.

1 bag of Oreos (must be Oreo Brand, other brands don’t do as well)

1 block of cream cheese, room temperature

dipping chocolate

Put one bag of oreos in the food processor until well blended (should be almost like dust) Add to cream cheese. Blend with hands until you can no longer see any cream cheese. Wrap in plastic and put in fridge.  Once, cold (about an hour), take out and roll into balls. Put back in fridge until cold. Then melt chocolate and dip balls. Put on wax paper until they set. 

* my hubby likes for me to use Mint oreos and they taste like thin mints

1 bag of butterscotch chips

1/2 bag of chow mein noodles

dry roasted peanuts

Melt chips in a double boiler until smooth (this is the best method to get the butterscotch to smoothly melt without burning it). Add in noodles and peanuts (however much you want to add), mix until completely covered. Spoon out onto wax paper.  Let cool until set.

3 cups sugar
3/4 cup margarine
2/3 cup evaporated milk
1 12-oz. (340 g) package flavored chips ( I use peanut butter or chocolate)
1 7-oz. (198 g) jar Kraft Marshmallow creme
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine sugar, margarine and milk in heavy 2-1/2 quart saucepan; bring to full rolling bail, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 5 minutes over medium heat, stirring. Remove from heat, stir in flavored chips till melted. Add marshmallow creme, nuts & vanilla beat till blended. Pour into greased 13 x 9-inch baking pan. Let cool and cut into 1-inch squares.

1 large box of Ritz cracker

1 jar of Peter Pan Peanut Butter

dipping chocolate ( this comes in blocks and its actually called candy coating – Eagle Brand is the best)

Make Peanut butter and cracker sandwiches and set aside. Be sure not to put too much peanut butter or it will melt into your chocolate.  Melt chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave until completely melted.  Dip sandwiches into chocolate covering completely. Sit on wax paper until chocolate sets (won’t be glossy anymore)

As my personal friends know, I like to cook/bake. So every Christmas I make different candy to give to my friends and family.  I had a friend come over the other night because she’s never done this before and she wanted me to help her.  We made Martha Washington balls, haystacks and fudge.  We both had a good time but something was brought to my attention. I’m a candy nazi.

You see, I get my love of baking honest. My mother and my grandmother have done this for years. So naturally as I got old enough, I started helping and then I carried on the tradition. I take for granted that I just know how to do these things. To me, they are somewhat easy because I don’t remember not making them. It’s sort of like Josh teaching his grandmother how to use the computer.  He doesn’t remember NOT using a computer, so it was very difficult for him to try to explain to her how to use a mouse. It was a real eye opener for him, as was this for me.

The candy nazi part came in when we were finished dipping the Martha Washington balls and we were talking and having a good time.. next thing I know, she is pouring extra chocolate to the balls.. my natural response was " What are you doing? You are messing up the chocolate to filling ratio!" Yep, I’m a psycho.

At any rate, I thought I would share my recipes with you so you can try them yourselves. So over the next couple of weeks, I’ll post a recipe every couple of days and I’ll add any tricks I’ve learned along the way. Please let me know if you have any questions, or if your family does it a different way. ( I recently learned that there are about 10 different ways to do haystacks.)

Merry Christmas and happy baking!! 

I have been bit by Edward Cullen. ( I wish!) As I’m sure half of those who are reading this have been. My neighbor is the one who converted me to a Twi-hard.  I thought she was insane at first. She told me how she was staying up to all hours of the night reading these books. On top of that, they were about werewolves and vampires. I don’t really like that type of stuff. She kept bugging me until I finally borrowed her book…

I pretty much fell off the Earth for about 2 weeks. I’d stay in at lunch so I could read. I’d come home and read while the oven preheated. I didn’t watch television. I didn’t do laundry. My poor husband told me he would be happy when I finished the series so things could get back to normal.  If I wasn’t reading Twilight, I was talking to my friends about Twilight. Or I was searching the Internet for Twilight related material. In doing this, I accidentally came across some spoilers, but that didn’t hinder my obsession. I trudged on until I read all 2,000+ pages of it’s glorious-ness. If a teacher had made me read that much in that time frame, I would have called it abuse.  But this self inflicted indulgence made me change the way I looked at things.

One of the main characters, Edward, is a vampire. He is VERY observant. I caught myself noticing things I’ve never noticed before.  Usually I’m so self-absorbed that I don’t really notice the people around me. I mean REALLY notice them. How often do you notice the wrinkles on someone’s forehead and wonder how many years of unhappiness and stress caused those wrinkles to form? Or wondered what happened to make that person that called you and was mean for no reason be the way they are?  We get so wrapped up in "He was a jerk." to forget to wonder/care WHY he’s a jerk. I’ve learned that people don’t think of you half as much as you think they do. My natural reaction would be, "What’d I say for him to be mean?" But most of America is so selfish that they don’t think of others feelings/needs. All they care about are themselves. But this is not the case with Edward. He is completely self-less. To the point he is willing to sacrifice his comfort and desires for the love of another. He constantly wonders if what he said came out right, or if he said too much. He has studied the reactions of humans for so long he’s a pro at it. This really opened my eyes. I encourage you to take the time to be more observant of the people you make contact with, you’d be surprised what you’ll find.

Twilight, the movie, has taken a lot of criticism. What people don’t understand is, Tw-hards are VERY critical. If the book says the curtains are white with yellow trim, the curtains in the movie should be white with yellow trim. I must say the first time I saw the movie, I was almost disappointed. My mind was constantly comparing the movie to the book. To the point I couldn’t enjoy the movie. The second time I saw it, I could actually enjoy the movie and was more understanding of why they cut out some of the things they did. (I still don’t know how it would have hurt to have the curtains right.. ) 

I think/hope the Twilight series will help correct some of the current issues teenagers face this day in age.  I hope that Stephenie Meyer (author of the Twilight Series) has raised the bar for what teenage girls expect out of a relationship. Hopefully they will want a door opening, respectful, lullaby-writing guy that will wait to have sex until they are married. A girl should settle for nothing less.