Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow! NOT!

Well, we did end up with about an inch of the white stuff, which was just enough to paralyze the town and shut schools down for the day, but not nearly what they were predicting, bummer! >:( Thank god Bub didn't try to use that as an excuse to play hookey from work today, 'cause the last thing I needed was having to deal with him all day, ugh! Me and Em went out to play in it right after we dropped Bub off at work, and spent about an hour scraping together as much snow as we could to clobber each other with piddly little snowballs. It was fun, but when our faces and fingers started to go numb, well it was time to pack it in! After hot chocolate for her, (coffee for me, thank you very much!) and a good snack, I told her she could pick one of her movies and just chill for a bit while I got in my morning Gazelle time and caught up on a little work. Soon after, some friends from down the street stopped by to see if she could play, and they've been hauled up in her room ever since. Only to take a break for some chicken noodle soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch, then right back in there for more exciting fun in the fabulous world of Bratz. Ahhh, what a life!

Now, to change the subject a bit. I need to rant a little 'cause you know how I am about money and always trying to find the best deals, so this one really got my goat! I already wrote about how I had just ordered Em the Bratz Rock Angelz Tour Bus for Christmas, but I didn't go into detail about the gripe I had with them over it, so here goes... When I first went to order it they were promoting a free Bratz remote control car with the purchase of this item. Of course I was like sure, I'll take a free car too! That along with the free shipping because it was over a certain amount made me a very happy camper! But come to find out that they were actually out of stock on the free car so when I contacted them about it they basically said tuff titty, it was a promotional item and you missed the boat baby. Well, maybe they didn't put it quite those words, but you get the point! Okay, so I was fine with that, shit happens, but now I come to find out that those bastards just dropped the price of the Tour Bus by $10.00, the day after it was shipped! Yeah, now I'm mad! >:( So what did I do about it you ask?? Well, knowing me I normally would have just bitched and moaned about how I got screwed, (even though I did order the thing right in between the two promotions, so it's not like they did it on purpose!) but this time I took action! I contacted them again, this time saying that since I didn't get to take advantage of either promotion, that I would like for them to please refund the price difference to my credit card, and keep a loyal Amazon customer happy in the process! I know, this is soooo unlike me, but dammit, I didn't think it was fair so I did something about it! YAY ME!! So, what's the verdict you say? I just got a message back saying they're refunding the difference to my credit card, apologizing for the inconvenience and thanking me for remaining a loyal customer! YES!! Now that's what I'm talkin' bout!!

I also did something the other day at the auto mechanics that made feel proud and empowered as well. I was sitting there in the waiting room, (going on my second hour of waiting) happily reading away on my latest book, (A Man Named Dave, which I'll expound on more at a later date) when I started to notice the choking smell of cigarette smoke filling the room. Now, I used to smoke a long time ago, when I was a stupid kid and didn't have enough sense to not do things that could potentially kill me, but as I said, that was a long time ago, and now I don't personally choose to expose myself or my daughter to it, ever. So when I look up and see this old geezer standing right next to the (closed) door inside the waiting room with me, just puffing away like nobody's business in between his intermittent hacking coughs I might add, well, I was annoyed to say the least! Now my clothes and freshly washed hair were all gonna smell of the nasty stuff, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it! Oh but wait, there was something I could do about it now! I wrestled with it in my head for a moment, not wanting to deal with any sort of confrontation of course, but then I blustered up my courage and excused myself to Mr. Chimney Stack, asking him if he would kindly take he and his cancer stick outside for the remainder of his smoke break. Of course I didn't actually use those words, in fact I was quite polite and very appreciative of his immediate compliance. He quickly apologized for lighting up in the room, and excused himself right outside to finish his cig in solitude. Again, YAY ME!! Perhaps I really can develop a backbone here! Hmmmm, if that's really the case then I wonder what else I could possibly take on?? ;D