Earning Her Keep

Ellie is a pain in the butt dog on a good day. Sometimes it's hard to remember that she really is a sweet little thing. Yesterday I lay down for a minute on the couch for a little snooze. When I opened my eyes I saw the cutest sight! Ellie was stretched out on Daisy's bed by the TV. Payton was fast asleep on her stomach. It was just too sweet! Of course, we have two cameras and a flip video in the house. Did I have either at hand to catch the sight? Why no of course! I knew the minute I moved, Ellie would jump up and that's just what she did. So, no pics but a great memory!

Well, isn't that a happy coincidence?

Ellie the dog is there, and I am not.

Yippee!

Just kidding. Missing the whole family terribly. The video of the Pengin is wonderful; I am in awe of her ability to retain knowledge ( mom's DNA, for sure).

Mobilizing is one enormous project, with lots of time to get bored ( and no ways to relieve it) followed by stressful evenings ( with no time to communicate).



It is going to be a long year.

I'm told Spring is Recital Season

Payton's first really big dance recital is coming up in late May. She's doing an extra routing (why? Because she just HAD to do it!). I took this video so she can practice at home. We'll be missing quite a few practices due to vacation and starting late.

Do you miss them?

Just a little video of the girls playing. Do you miss them so?

Office Max Ink Refills SUCK!

After hearing so much about how wonderful ink refills are (they save money! They're just as good as new! It's environmentally friendly!) I sent Jim off to give it a whirl at the local Office Max. Well, that's definitely NOT something I'll ever do again. From the get go these have royally sucked. The first thing I tried to print off of them was a simple black and white screen shot for school work. It wasn't gray scale at all. It actually used color in some places. Weird. Then I did some test sheets and they were horrid! It looked like there was no red at all in the cartridge. I finally grew so fed up with the pure lack of quality, I took the time out of my day to bring them back.

MISTAKE! No, I did not have my receipt. Jim had it done and he's busy at the polls so if there still is a receipt, it's with him. I know this makes it harder but I also know there are many ways they can look up this transaction using the credit card that was used as well as the transaction date/time. The cartridge was clearly marked by Office Max indicating it was from them I obtained the refill. I didn't want my money back, I just wanted ink that worked! I was offered NOTHING. They didn't even attempt to look up the transaction. Office Max just said if I had the boxes (um, you mean the boxes that are normally thrown out as garbage?) they might be able to do something. I asked again if they could just look up the transaction with the credit card used. The Office Max clerk was vague and unhelpful. It was so surreal. It was like they just wanted me to quietly walk away with my crappily refilled cartridges.

I'm still seething over the amazing blankness of the people there. The manager was in the back and wouldn't come out so every question I had took forever to answer because the Office Max clerk had to go and ask. Very professional of them. They did run a test on them but didn't indicate what the problem was or even if there was a problem.

So, end of story. What did I learn? Office Max Ink Refills SUCK!