Coach Follow-up

Deb hasn't heard anything from Coach (not that we were expecting that, given their record thus far of poor customer service), but you'll be happy to hear that Deb did get her purse back from the shoe repair guy and it is in wonderful working condition once again.
I just thought you might want to hear what Deb's husband, Peter, had to say a out the whole thing. He was the one who purchased the purse for Deb in the first place.

Yeah . . .I . . . REALLY dont think Coach even tried to fix it.   The thing about it is that it was such a simple fix.   I think the purse got sent to Coach and there is a person sitting between the "incoming" and "out going" box.   There job is to "transfer" from one box to another.   Kind of has that "Willy Wonka and the chocolate factory" feel of the type of workers. Peter  

There you have it!

Winter Has Finally Arrived

It's been slow in coming (and I'm not complaining about that), but it appears that winter has finally appeared. We are getting below zero windchills and temperatures for the first time this winter. I don't ever remember making it this far into January without having any days below zero.  It is such a bizarre winter!

Anyway, now that the cold has arrived, my mind begins to wander here...






And in 38 days, my body will join my mind, and this pale Minnesota skin will be soaking up the wonderful sunny rays in Alabama!:-)  Oh, happy day!!!

Check It Out

Once again, I have a band for you to check out :-)

I really like them!

My Apologies

To those of you who are still waiting for my annual Christmas letter, I send my sincere apologies. No, I have not removed you from my Christmas letter list, nor have you fallen out of my good graces. Quite simply, I never made the time to write the letter before Christmas. I told some of you that I would write an MLK Day letter instead, but alas, here it is Martin Luther King Day and still, no letter.

What's a girl to do?

Truth be told, those of you reading this already know what happened in our lives in the past year (not that information has ever been the purpose of my Christmas letters). Those of you that have read previous Christmas letters, know that they tell you very little about anything, but are the source of a smile here and there. And since there are too few smiles going around, maybe I will go ahead and write it anyway....perhaps for Valentine's Day.....or Presidents' Day.

I Got A Nikon Camera

I love to take a photograph,
So mama, don't take my Kodachrome away!


Okay, we don't use Kodachrome anymore,  but it's a great song anyway AND we just got a new Nikon camera.  Chris has wanted a digital SLR for a looooong time, and now, thanks to a little extra Christmas money, he was able to get one.

I'm not sure I'll be using it anytime soon, but Chris and Molly are both having a lot of fun creating.


Check this out...

So, you can take a picture and the camera will make it look like a drawing.  How cool is that??

Speaking of cool, now for your listening enjoyment, so you can go through your night with this song stuck in your head, just like me.


Oh, and one last thing: Paul Simon is a musical genius!!!!

Coach is Not First Class

Once again, I must come to my blog to draw attention to a company whose customer service is sub-par.  Surprisingly, today's poor service company is Coach, as in the handbag company.

Here's the story:

My sister owns a Coach bag (a gift from her very sweet husband).  She has had it a few years and the zipper has separated - as in, it doesn't stay shut.  Counting on Coach being a company that stands behind their product (like other companies mentioned here and here), Deb brought the bag into the Coach store and told them of the problem.  They took the bag and $20 and said they would send it in to get the zipper fixed.

All sounded like it was going well, but it was not so.  When Deb got the bag back (supposedly fixed), she opened and closed the zipper twice and the same problem occurred.  Deb went back into the Coach store, retold them of the problem and they sent the purse back to Coach once again.  This time, she received the broken purse back with a note saying that it could not be fixed, and a 40% off your next Coach purse coupon.  What??  They can't fix their own purse!  Really?

To make a really long and painful story short, after talking to several customer service reps (who were polite, but unhelpful) and one customer service supervisor (who was condescending and not helpful), Coach refused to either fix or replace the bag.

To top it off, my sister, totally exasperated by her experience with Coach, brought her bag into a local shoe store, where the gentleman said, the zipper itself doesn't need to be replaced, just the slider.  He is, right now, fixing it for about $20!  So, not only did Coach fail to fix the bag, but they totally failed to even properly identify the problem.

Over refusing to make a $20 repair, Coach has lost my sister, everyone in our family, and hopefully everyone who reads this blog, as future customers.  Readers, for the $198 cost of a Coach bag, you can buy SIX $30 bags.  They may not last as long, but combined they'll last longer than the Coach did!

The moral of the story is don't "fly" Coach if you're looking for first-class service!

So, I Was Thinking....

Um, I guess I'll just blurt it out....

I'm thinking of getting a tattoo!


There!  I said it....outside of the confines and safety of my home.  I've been thinking about it for quite some time, but wasn't sure what I wanted.  Well, I have finally settled on what I want my tattoo to say, and here it is...

Ὑμεῖς γὰρ ἐπ’ ἐλευθερίᾳ ἐκλήθητε

You say, it's all Greek to me?  Why, yes, it is indeed all Greek.  I wanted words, significant words, but I personally don't care for English word tattoos.  So, once I settle on the words I wanted, I chose Greek. 


I'm thinking maybe I won't tell you what it says....would that be mean of me?  Maybe you should look it up for yourselves, hmmm?


No, I guess I will tell you.  It says..

"You because for freedom were called"


Translated into proper English, it says "For you were called to freedom,"  which is the first part of Galatians 5:13.  

The whole verse says, "For you were called to freedom, brothers.  Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another."  (But that would be too many words to fit around my ankle)

Now, some of you are asking the ever important question....WHY?

Those that know me well know that this past year has been a growing year for me.  A year in which I have gained a fuller understanding of the freedom I have in Christ and His unconditional love for ME.  I have also felt a more firm conviction on his calling in my life.  He has called me to live for him in a way unique to me, just as he calls all believers to live in a way unique to them. 

So, there you have it.  Not sure when I'll get the tattoo...I need to overcome my fear of pain first, but you can be sure to see it here first, once the deed is done.