I hope Santa brings me this CD

When I feel better and get some free time before Christmas... or I can wait until the New Year... there is no rule that requires me to give gifts at Christmas... I will give to some special people these goodies. You can find the recipe here

http://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/cranberry-nut-chocolate-bark-recipe

Hope your day is fun and don't forget to laugh out loud!

xoxo Inge

I love this movie and this scene!

My new job has caused me to reflect about who I am and where I am in life... mainly it has helped me realize some things I might not have thought about... like I am definitely not as young as I used to be. Who is really? We get older with each minute. I think of myself as still 20 something at times... ok... most of the time. I like to dress like the 20 year olds but then so does
Gloria Steinem... have you seen her in a mini skirt? That girl can still rock it in her late 60s! But so can Tina Turner and loads of other women.
For me though, I feel it most in the mornings. I stretch 99% of the time before I go to bed and 50% of the time in the mornings. I watch these young servers carry these very heavy trays of food all day... well 5 to 6 hours a day. But even so they still have lots of energy. My GM who is probably somewhere in his 40s requires only 4 hours of sleep a night and he is back in the game. I am sick and have been for a few days now... nothing earth shattering but a bad cold just the same. I can't keep up... There I said it and I hate to admit it. Those 10 hour days are taking its toll on me and I have only been doing this for a little over 3 months.
Let me back track a minute. I have a new GM. I was transferred a couple of weeks ago to another restaurant located inside a mall. This is my 4th store in 3 months and it's like starting a new job all over again. Each one operates differently even though they are part of the same restaurant chain. This also is an hour commute from home each way so I am gone 12 hours a day. Three days a week I work the closing shift and 2 days I open which means I have to be there 6 am... have I mentioned I am NOT a morning person. My GM tried to schedule me to work a closing shift ( 2pm - 11pm) and come back the next day at 6 am... who can do that ???? I cannot get maybe 4 hours sleep and be expected to be alert and run like mad for 10 hours. I just can't. I do know some people that can. Goddess bless them but I can't. We compromised and I will work the mid shift and leave at 8 pm... that still is not enough time for me to be rested and did I mention we are inside a mall? You know it's the holiday season and we are busier than hell. Hungry holiday shoppers... you can only imagine the type of mood these people are in! The movies they show on t.v. this time of year are quite accurate as far as how crazy and impatient people can get.
I am trying to hang on through the end of the year... it's only a few more weeks and then I have to look for another job. It really sucks because I had such high hopes for this job. Management... it sounds good and the pay is more than I ever got but the job really is about baby sitting, refereeing and lots of ass kissing to customers who really don't deserve it because they are only looking to get free stuff... have you heard of people complaining their food was terrible after they ate the whole thing and demanded to get the meal for free? It happens all the time at the restaurant and I have to give them the meal for free and sometimes throw in a free whole pie for them to take home because they threaten to contact the corporate office... that sounds a little like extortion to me. Oh well,like my hubby reminds me... they aren't taking money out of our checking account.

I'm off the next 2 days and plan to rest up. Hope your week and holiday experience is fun and don't forget to laugh out loud.

xoxo Inge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v20R8GytQSg

Since we are in the midst of the holiday season, I would like to showcase some shops on etsy.com that sell goodies for the animal lover and their pets. As you know I am an self proclaimed animal nut and proud of it! I also believe in buying from small businesses and individual artists, especially this time of year. Here are a few etsy shops I would like to give a shout out to...
http://www.etsy.com/shop/PoochyCouture
http://www.etsy.com/shop/jenell1
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=33483945
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36213664&ref=sc_5
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=34958440&ref=cat1_gallery_6
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36531113&ref=cat1_gallery_20
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8390664&ref=cat1_gallery_13
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=29376606&ref=cat1_gallery_1
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36538448&ref=cat1_gallery_16
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36516024&ref=sr_gallery_19&&ga_search_query=dog+treats&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36504350&ref=sr_gallery_5&&ga_search_query=dog+treats&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=2&includes[]=tags&includes[]=titlehttp://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36517603&ref=sr_gallery_17&&ga_search_query=dog+treats&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=35669845&ref=sr_gallery_20&&ga_search_query=CAT+TREATS&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=2&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=36527931&ref=sr_gallery_3&&ga_search_query=bunny+TREATS&ga_search_type=handmade&ga_page=&includes[]=tags&includes[]=title
Happy Holidays!

Calling All Animal Lovers!

I was looking at one of my fav blogs http://theqipapers.blogspot.com/2009/12/counting.html
and found another site who foster cares bunnies. http://renorabbits.blogspot.com/2009/12/foster-buns-need-your-help.html
This person needs help and since it is the holidays...
Hope your day is fun and don't forget to laugh out loud!
xoxo Inge

I am finishing up my 2nd day off... in a row! How delicious it was... even though I had to mop and wash the floors and dust. I also felt brave enough to color my own hair this month. I usually go to the local beauty school to give me my vibrant red hair color...but I am watching our budget and decided to color my own hair. It did not come out perfect but it's good enough and I don't look like Ronald McDonald... so I can honestly say it is a success!
I am back on the computer... looking at some of my fav blogs ... I ran into one that you might like to check out, especially if you have kids... called http://www.littlebirdiesecrets.blogspot.com/
Hope your day is fun and don't forget to laugh out loud!
xoxo Inge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORzl5OD6cXE

Hello. My name is Olive and I decided to try my paw at this blogging thing. Mom is catching up with her favorite television shows so I asked her to let me do a guest blog. Mom and I follow Francesca and Sharkey at the Daily Wag blog and I have wondered what it would be like to have my own blog. I am a very busy Chihuahua though and I don't know if I have the time to blog regularly so I thought I would do a guest blog ... just to see what it is like.

Since mom had the day off and dad got home from work early we all got to go to our favorite dog park. The weather was great... especially for November! We met up with some regulars and even met some new friends.

The local "watering hole"

I am sharing some fashion tips with my new girl friends.

Another successful visit to the dog park.

Like my mom says... hope your day is good and don't forget to bark out loud!

Olive

It's 1 am and I have been home 30 minutes. John is asleep and so are most of the critters, except for Jinx my long hair kitty. He is laying next to me purring and hoping I will pet him while I blog and surf the net. I found an interesting blog you might be interested in
http://www.blogcatalog.com/blog/heart-of-a-cowgirl. The author or is the correct term blogger? has a lifestyle that I would enjoy... she lives on a ranch with an assortment of critters and she makes beautiful western style jewelry. She has a shop on etsy too. I sure do miss making stuff and having that small booth in the antique mall last year. Running around that restaurant for 10 1/2 hours a day is not my dream job. It does pay the bills for now but I want to have my own business... I have trouble which route I want to go though... will it have something to do with critters? antiques? shabbly decor? handmade jewelry? a shop that features local artists? I think my indecision has to do with me being a libra... actually virgo/libra - depending on what is going on at the time... sometimes I am so grounded and other times I am a complete airhead. I do know that this restaurant thing ain't for me in the long term. I need to get to bed but I think I will surf the web a few more minutes.
Hope your weekend is fun and don't forget to laugh our loud!
xoxo Inge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKBIHcy9s7M