Francine Rivers: Tyndale Giveaway!

Tyndale is giving people the chance to register to win a Francine Rivers library. Just follow this link for your chance: http://www.tyndale.com/blog/?p=1042

Good luck!

Happy Spring!

I'm not kidding...someone cross country skied in front of my house today...

Good-Bye Blue & Red - Let's Try Purple

You might remember that last year I had some fun with Delta Airlines and Big, Fat, Stinky Leroy. Well, I took some of the color out of my blog post and submitted an official complaint with Delta. This is what they had to say:

Dear Mrs. Beery,

Thank you for your e-mail to Delta Air Lines.

I appreciate your comments concerning your recent experience with our Reservations department. We treat any report of customer dissatisfaction very seriously and regret your disappointment with His reply. The airline industry is very competitive, and the goodwill of our customers is important to the lasting success of our company. Your feedback is important to us and we incorporate customers' views and opinions as we make decisions.
Please accept our apology for the unfavorable impression you received in this instance. We appreciate your selection of Delta and will always consider it a privilege to be of service.

Polite and to the point, but it really doesn't mean anything to me. In fact, they did a nice job of making this response all about themselves - our industry is competitive, you make us successful, feedback is important to us because we can use it later. By the time I finished reading it I didn't feel like they cared about my experience as much as they appreciated that I told them about it. Of course, by the time I read this my opinion of Delta was already pretty low, so it would have taken something exceptionally generous and personal to make an impact. This didn't quite cut it.

Still, I had high hopes, but not anymore. My flights were okay. Nothing spectacular. I had to pay for everything: luggage, food, headphones (I refused to pay for those, and am glad - people kept complaining that they could hear the video anyway). Sure, Delta's rates were originally the cheapest, but by the time I tacked on everything else, I barely saved anything. I'm not sure I want to save $50 to be treated as if I'm as important as a piece of luggage.

And I never did get a travel voucher from anyone.

It may not be a lot of money to Delta, but flying 2-4 times a year adds up for me. Even when I use points programs for free tickets, someone is getting that money, and I refuse to continue to pay people to treat me like crap - as if I owe them something for flying with them. I'm sorry, but my $500 should be enough for them. It obviously isn't enough for Delta.

That's why my next trip is booked with Southwest. My sister has never had a problem with them, and they actually compensate travelers if they change/cancel flights (unlike Delta, who told me to make the change of cancel my ticket). Yes, I have to drive four hours (instead of 40 minutes) to get to the airport, but it'll be worth it to be treated like a human passenger and not just a revenue-earning piece of cargo.

Okay, Southwest - show me whatcha got.

Now That's Progress!

It's up and running, folks! The Elk Rapids Progress is now available on-line. Here's a letter from the editor explaining why we started it. You'll most likely find me in the Student Elk section, though I may occasionally get another gig.

I hope you'll stop by and get to know my little town.

Cry Babies: What Dems and Reps Teach Each Other

Time and time and time again I get really worked up by goings on in the world. I can absolutely handle it - I don't expect everyone in the world to agree with me, and I don't think everything will always work out the way that I want. I'm okay with that. However...I get really riled up at double standards (and really, who doesn't). Sometimes it can be difficult to bite my tongue.

I mean, closed door meetings have not place in politics. Neither do congressmen who push through bills without letting everyone read what's in them. Who in Wisconsin thinks it's okay to abuse their majority power and push through a bill that is obviously controversial and not approved by all?

I'm not sure, but I think I've seen this before. Closed door meetings. Long bills that no one has read. And suddenly we have nationalized health care.

Where did the Wisconsin Republicans learn their tactics? Probably from the Federal Congressional Democrats.

And isn't it those Federal Congressional Republicans that are promoting hate in this country? Did you see how they yelled during health care debates? They interrupted people, used their outside voices, and generally lacked respect for the legislative process.

I suppose that's where the Wisconsin Democrats learned how to behave during the recent collective bargaining debacle.

So who's the bad guy here? What we should be upset with is the fact that these people don't seem to be able to act like adults - if they can't have it their way they either exert their power with no regard to others, scream like children, or run away so they don't actually have to do their jobs.

Everyone had a chance to voice their opinion - it's called VOTING. In 2008, the majority of the country favored a liberal government, so we got healthcare. In 2010, the majority of Wisconsin favored a conservative state, so they're losing collective bargaining.

It's time for everyone to RESPECT THE PROCESS. The current government reflects the people. Let them do their jobs. If Wisconsin is making a mistake, they'll realize it soon enough and then the state can vote in another group of people to represent their desires. That's what makes this country great - we can change the balance of power every few years, but if we don't respect the way it works then we might as well close the voting booths and kowtow to the loudest whiners.

Your voices have been heard. Now go home, go to work, and let the government represent the people.

Didgie & Buck

Now that I've finally taken the time to learn how to use Skype, I spend way too much time playing with my niece and nephew (I'm pretty sure I'm my sister's emergency babysitter). When I'm chatting with Pudding Cup and Butter Bean, I like to walk around the house and show them different things. Two of their FAVORITE things to see are my cats - Midgie and Bucket. Two year-old Butter Bean affectionately calls them Didgie and Buck.

Puddin'...Butter...these are for you...

They love you, too...

Kitty TP (subtitle: Yooper Stewart Saves the Night)

Sunday afternoon my four year-old niece got to attend her first ever jewelry party (that's a big deal for any princess). Unfortunately for my Pudding Cup, her tummy hurt. It hurt so much that she sort of turned into a stinker and her mom called Daddy to pick her up.

Daddy did as he was asked. He picked up Pudding Cup and took her to Costco, where she promptly puked. She barfed again on the way home, and a few more times over the next 24 hours.

Yeah, that's gross. Vomit is never fun. I felt pretty bad for my sister (and my niece) until I went to bed that same night. Nothing could have prepared me for the horror that is my lil' Midgie.

Midgie Moomer is one of my cats. She's mostly white with some big black and brown patches. She is a true princess kitty - she'll cuddle with you when she's good and ready, but not a moment before.

During the winter Midgie likes to be roasty, toasty warm. During the day she lays on her big brother, Bucket, to soak up his heat. At night, she prefers to crawl under the covers and snuggle up to her mama. While it can be annoying when she steps on my bladder, I usually enjoy our cuddle fests. Sunday night she jumped right on the bed as soon as I turned out the light. I held up the edge of the blanket and she scurried on under.

Like many cats, Midgie has to investigate many possible resting locations before she'll commit. Sunday night was no exception. She walked in circles, stopped so I could pet her, then stepped onto my gut, backed up, walked up toward my head, crossed my chest and scouted out my left side.

During all of this, I continued to pet her. Midgie loves to get petting, and if you do it long enough, she drools. Yuck. Sunday night she drooled. Gag. I wiped it on my t-shirt.

Then she farted.

Then she drooled some more.

Then I noticed that my hand wasn't wet from being near her mouth...I was petting her hips.

Hips. Wetness. Stinky farts.

I whipped back the covers, turned on the light, and forced the bile back down my throat. Midgie had dingle berries. Wet, sloppy, dingle berries. I did what any tired, disgusted woman would do.

"Oh, God - Midgie!!"

Yooper Stewart woke up and did what any protective man would do when his wife starts yelling the cat's name - he pinned her to the bed.

"No! Let her go!!"

The cat escaped, but her damage was done. Poop smear on my duvet, hands, teddy bear, and pajamas. I ripped everything off the bed and jumped in the shower. When I came back, Midgie had finally realized there was something amiss in her butt region and cleaned herself.

And because we each have our own twin sized down comforters for the winter, Yooper Stewart was sound asleep again on his unscathed side of the bed.

Give me a puking kid any day.