You Need This

Here is some advice, from a person who loves to cook, but still loves short cuts: go out and buy a rice cooker if you do not already have one. Seriously. Buy one now. Or put it on your Christmas list. But it's the most amazing thing ever. And I found out about them through... my husband! He put it on our wedding registry. I did not grow up using one, my my kids most certainly will. Here is why they're amazing:

-The rice is never, ever undercooked. I don't know how it does it, but it's seriously amazing.
-Mine is completely non-stick (I'm assuming most of them will be), cleaning could seriously not be easier.
-It doesn't take up burners on the stove, so you can have other things going.
-It's great for that college student who loves to cook but doesn't have the budget to buy every size pan. This will work perfect for steaming vegetables, too. So you can actually do two things at once!
-It doesn't take nearly as long to cook.

So just get one. They're awesome. And I totally discovered this today (it's probably been done before, but whatev), if you add heavy whipping cream to the rice and water, your rice will come out ridiculously creamy. I originally did this with coconut milk, but I don't have any of that right now and I still wanted creamy rice. It worked out wonderfully, and it's perfect for those of you who would be afraid of coconut milk.

Go rice cookers!

An Ode to Rachel

This is our Christmas present from Rachel. Isn't she AWESOME??????? Yup, she is. Thanks bunches and bunches, Rachel!

A Very Retail Christmas

It's that time of year, everybody! I'm working long hours in the retail business, and even though it's supposed to be a time of rejoicing and happiness, customers are at their most evil, it seems. I was reading my friend Ashley's blog, which reminded me that I have had some cranky customers as of late, and since I haven't written much of anything lately because I've been so busy, I thought I would write about them. And the puppy is sleeping, so it's perfect timing.

Customer Numero Uno.

I was not working on the first day she came in, but a customer, who claims to know everything about everything (don't you just LOVE those people?), bought some Chinese algae eaters and some guppies, I believe. Well, apparently, the algae eaters she bought (and she bought 2, nobody needs 2 algae eaters, they don't even do anything) had a "sickness" and they died, then killed everything in her tank. I'm willing to bet it was the water quality or the fact that she over populated her tank, people have a tendency to exaggerate the size of their tank. Anyways. Together, these 2 fish cost $4. Just $4. We were happy to reimburse her (we do have a 14 DAy guarantee), but apparently that wasn't enough. She was "distraught." So "distraught" that $4 wasn't going to cut it. So instead of calling us, she directly calls our corporate office to complain. About the death of 2 algae eaters and the effect it had on her fish. And for the record, the fish did not have "a sickness." We haven't had any algae eaters in that tank die in the last few weeks. So it's definitely not that.

So what does she get? A $50 gift card. Yep, because completely reimbursing her wasn't enough. And every time she calls our store, she hangs up on my PetCare manager. I think she should have to pay us to deal with her. She came in the other day, and my manager made me work with her because she knew I would be nice and doesn't have a grudge against me- yet, anyway. She wanted guppies, but the whole time she kept complaining that we didn't carry the beautiful guppies she had before and she didn't want to get a guppy from "that tank" because "that tank" had a dead fish in it. (Who wants to be the one to inform her that our tanks are all on the same system??? Haha not me.) Well, she ended up getting 18 fish. I can guarantee you a lot of them are going to die because you should never add that many fish at once to a brand new tank- even an established tank. I am allowed to refuse a sale like that, but I had a feeling no matter what I did, she would eventually get angry, so I just gave her what she wanted and tried to talk to her a little as possible. If you think you know everything, lady, you should know that adding 118 fish will overwhelm your tank with ammonia. Not my problem anymore. And fyi, my manager did back my decision to just give her what she wanted, even though it will probably result in more dead fish. We didn't want her calling corporate to complain about the associates this time. Fish, fine, but we didn't want to give her a reason to complain about me.

Customer Numero Dos

This older lady (apparently all angry customers are ladies, who knew?) came in looking for a filter for her tank. Her problem? Her tank is only one gallon, one of the little betta starter kits we sell, and it comes with a filter. Why, I have no idea, one gallon aquariums (if you can call it that), don't need a filter, especially one with a betta in it. They don't like any turbulence. Well, we don't sell one gallon filters. I am not sure the reasoning behind it (probably because they're not necessary), but it is not MY DECISION what we do and do not sell in the store. She was getting very irate with us, telling me, another associate, and a manager that we need to talk to whoever decides what we carry and tell them we need to carry it. We told her she could just buy a new set up, which is only $10, but then she went off about how she shouldn't have to do that with the economy going down the toilet and it's not good for the environment and such nonsense like that. Well, lady, if you're looking for a new filter, you're probably going to spend that much on it anyway. Then she mentioned how she should just shop at WalMart since she can get the same tank for about $3 less. And then she said "I have seen nothing here that will bring me back" and she walked out of the store. Ok, whatever. Go shop at WalMart, where the employees know nothing about fish care and the aquarium you buy with a filter will probably break in a weak or so. Good luck with that.

I don't understand why everyone has to be so cranky. Remember, as a retail associate, I have the power to lie to you so you never come back. Or I can hide so you can't find me. If you're nice, I'm nice. I will be sympathetic with you and help you in anyway I can, but if you're mean to me, I'm not going to want to be nice to you. And contrary to belief, the customer is not always right. I do not have to put up with abuse from you.

House is Decorated for Christmas!

Well, folks, the time has come! My birthday has come and gone, so it is now time to decorate the house for Christmas! Today Matt and I quite enjoyed our first day off together in about a month by purchasing a Christmas tree at the local Kroger (we are boycotting WalMart now and our lives are better for it) and decking out the house! I have rather humble decorations since I do not have the income to go all out, but it will do for now, I guess! Here are some pictures of our humble Christmas house:

The wall that I have decided will grace the Christmas cards. Go Cari for being on top of your game getting Christmas cards out!

Ironically, the 3 ornaments I have that my cousin Hayley has made for me ended up right next to each other!

Me trying my hand at photography

And of course I had to buy a Jack ornament!

My nativity scene

The table centerpiece!

This is supposed to be an ornament, but it's usually too heavy, so I use it as decor. I think it's cute!

The side table in the hallway. Those snow globes are from JCPenny's from Black Fridays past as a kind of door prize. Sadly I did not get one this year :(

My table all decorated!

The only place I could think of to put the extra lights I had

And of course we had to decorate for Jack Bauer

I love this candle holder. And the candles smell like Christmas tree!

Our stockings

The tree

Gotta keep the stockings out of the way of the cat and dog

Finally! The hat kind of stayed on!

See him drooling?!

It's very hard to keep a Santa hat on your dog's head.

Um... that's not fair

So I am being positively, 100% screwed at work. It's SO unfair. Let me explain.

My store manager- and let me just point out I have been on company's payroll LONGER than him- has been telling me for over a month that he's bee trying to fast track me into being the store's support manager. Cool, I thought. I was kind of apathetic towards it, but I always told him, if you offer it to me, I'll take it, but if there's someone here who is going to be here longer, obviously hire them over me because I can only guarantee you a year. Which is fair of me to say, right? I'm at least being honest, and I DO deserve it, having worked for the company for 5 years.

Well, guess what. Apparently he has been telling this to EVERYONE. Or at least promising them things like this, but then he denies them. I found out the other day that he has already interviewed other associates for the job and given the position to someone else. First off, let me say that I am not upset I didn't get the job. Well, maybe a little, since I have given so much to this company and I do deserve it, but there are definitely perks to not having it. I love working in the PetCare department, and since I'm not a manager, I can always just pawn off annoying customers to managers. That's a definite perk. I'm irritated because this is completely unfair. I HATE people who are unfair. I know the world isn't always fair, but that doesn't mean a person can't try and be fair. And there's absolutely no reason why he should have just brushed me to the side. He should have at least interviewed me. Or taken me aside and told me, "hey, we're interviewing people for this job, we're only interested in people that will be here for the long run, I just wanted to let you know that so I'm not interviewing you. Or I can interview you, but we most likely will go with someone else." I would have understood that. I really would have, I mean, I said that to him. Maybe he figured I would turn it down, but he still should have interviewed me. At least the job went to one of our associates who is really nice and works hard.

Another thing. I don't know what it is, but I am also being screwed in hours. I'm the PetCare employee who has the least amount of hours. And I'm THE LEAD. That means I should be getting about 35 or so hours a week. But hey, next week, our associate who works THE LEAST and spends most of his time flirting with one of our other associates, is getting 6 more hours than me. Granted, I did discover this is mostly cashier hours, but still. I should be getting more hours then someone who does no work at all. And what's worse is that all the other managers know this. They have told me this and are just as frustrated working with him as I am, yet he gets more hours than me. I don't get it.

I really try hard not to complain about the people I work with (customers I will complain all I want about them, they come and go, but you're stuck with your associates), but this is getting on my nerves. Apparently he's rubbing everyone else- including his managers- the wrong way. It's clear he hates it hear, but that's no reason to take it out on everyone else. And if you're not going to follow through with what you say, KEEP IT TO YOURSELF. He's a nice guy, but a horrible manager. The littlest things that don't matter all that much he makes a huge deal out of them, and then stuff that actually is a big deal he doesn't care about. Argh.

Oh well. Hopefully we move from here sooner or later, or he decides to quit and we get a new manager. I'm not going to quit, I like my job too much and it gets me out of the house and talking with people.

Oh, life.

Reading

I had 3 books delivered to me on Monday courtesy of Amazon. I don't count the Books a Million here in town as a real bookstore. It has quite a few great cookbooks, but other than that it doesn't carry anything I read. Maybe some of the Christian fiction (we are in the Bible belt, after all), but their selection is slim. Anyways, off topic. I bought The Best of Me (Nicholas Sparks' latest novel), The Princess Bride (because I have yet to read this book), and A Hopeful Heart (which is a Christian/historical fiction book- approved very much so by my lovely friend Rachel ;). The last two were suggestions by my cousin Hayley, since she and I like reading the same things (holler one for Jane Austen and J.K. Rowling! So holler two, I guess).

The point of the story is that I'm already finished with one of the books! Any guesses which one I read first?

Yup, the Nicholas Sparks book. Now, I will be the first to admit that his novels are getting quiet predictable. I just had a feeling one of them would die, and then when the heroine's oldest son was in a car accident, I knew then that the hero would die. Then when the son needed a new heart, I knew that magically the hero would be a match and the son would get the hero's heart. (I'm not spoiling anything, right? I mean, none of you are going to read this? If so, I would suggest reading Mr. Sparks' other books first, any will do, and you will soon see what I mean). All his books are basically the same- BUT THEY'RE SO AMAZING. I have no idea why. I probably prefer some of his earlier stuff since it wasn't so obvious, and it would be nice if his next book didn't have a character die in it. Oh well. If he keeps writing, I'll keep reading. If you read any, read The Notebook (duh) and A Walk to Remember. I think those are his best novels, and they aren't nearly as predictable and are of a slightly different style.

I think I'll read A Hopeful Heart next, since it will probably be faster than The Princess Bride. As much as I do read, I'm still a slow reader.

Hopefully I haven't bored you all too much, maybe I'll post a few more recipes in the next few days, since it's December, which seems to be the month that everybody enjoys sharing recipes.