Friday, February 23, 2007

Girl Scout Cookies

Do you know what time of year it is? No, not spring or Mardi Gras; it is Girl Scout cookie delivery time. The time of year where I realize that I ordered cookies from half the know universe of Girl Scouts and they all happen to deliver on the very same day, the day I have absolutely no cash (ok, that is everyday) and have run out of checks with which to pay them.

For those of you who have not had Girl Scout cookies, I offer you my condolences; however, let me explain them to you. These cookies come out once a year and are offered in a variety of flavors that are not available anywhere else in the known universe. The range of flavors goes from shortbread to peanutbutter patties to lemon cremes to carmel delights to thin mints. I don't care if you find a variety of cookie like this in the supermarket - it is not the same! My personal weakness happens to be the thin mints. I eat them a sleeve at a time (there are two sleeves in the entire package). I usually don't start off eating them with that intention, it just happens. I tell myself I will only have one serving (4 cookies), but then I look down and realize I ate all 4 without truly enjoying them. So, I have one more, but then realize that will leave an incomplete serving of cookies for next time. Then I decide to finish off that serving, but that leaves only 4 cookies in the sleeve and I would hate to have them go stale so I eat them too.
Yes, I know I should stop eating them, but they have a power over me that is unbelievable. I often wonder if there is a "secret ingredient" added to them to make them so addictive.

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Deadlines

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit - we've got the creeping crud at my house, plus deadlines and kick-offs for a variety of activities that I chair, one being Scout Fair.

Every year scouts across the country host Scout Fair, a a full day of activities that are planned and hosted by local scout troops. Here in Houston, we have the largest Scout fair in the country. My duties are pack level - I'm responsible for ticket and ad sales for 90+ sized organization. It's the first time I've done it and I'm excited about it. Our troop gets up to 40% on all the tickets we sell which we use towards a great camping weekend in April at our local scout camp site. The more money we raise, the less it costs; so I am motivated.
Of course, there are always those who grumble when presented with new ways of doing things, and I've already encountered that one week into this project. I've chosen a different method for our troops to sell their tickets (outside grocery stores rather than having them go door-to-door) and folks are complaining about times, dates, etc. Personally, I prefer to bother complete strangers for money rather than hit up my friends and relatives yet again for another fundraiser.
They don't have to participate; I'm doing everyone a favor by planning and contacting the appropriate folks for permission to tell the tickets and no one else stepped up to take responsibility for this committee. Nevertheless, I will not let them get me down - I'll roll with whatever comes my way. Oh, and if any one wants a Scout Fair ticket, let me know: $10 apiece gets you entry into Scout Fair on April 28, a raffle entry to win a Chevy HHR, and over $250 worth of coupons from Kroger, Luby's, Jiffy Lube, Sonic, Papa John's. James Coney Island, Pilgrim cleaners, etc.

Thursday, February 15, 2007

Things to do on my day off

Due to inventory being held at work tomorrow, I get to have today off! So I'm going to sit back, relax, and read a good book...ha, ha, ha. Really, that is a lovely thought, but not possible for me. Instead I've got a 10 am dentist appointment that will probably turn into a root canal, a couple thousand boxtops to cut, count, and package, a doctor's appointment for J, grocery shopping, banking and some cleaning. Plus I have to start researching my eye surgery and plan our summer vacation. Sigh.

The weather her is cold - freezing temperatures which is very odd for southeast Texas. I love to watch how folks dress for the cold down here. They were only a sweatshirt and complain about the cold. I have to laugh - if they wore a heavy sweater, they would be fine. However, most are in denial about the cold; they believe if they don't dress for the weather than it will go away. Which is true, it will go away in about a week, but for now there are some miserable folks out there.

Friday, February 09, 2007

An 8 year old's joke

A student is sitting in a classroom, the student passes gas.
Teacher, aghast: "What do you say?"
Student: "Smelled betting going in than it does going out."

This constitutes dinner conversation at my house.

Thursday, February 08, 2007

Quote of the day

"Silence is...golden. Duck tape is...silver."