Saturday, July 25, 2009

Sold some stuff, made some new friends

First an update on the boy.....took him for his Dr. appt on Thursday for his pre-high school, yearly checkup. He was 5'8 and 140. WOW! Where has my little boy gone? He is now officially 4 inches taller than his mother.

Spent Friday getting ready for the Scrapbooking yard sale. Pulled stuff out that I've been dragging to the last three or four Scrapbook yard sales. Went into my scrapbook room (can you still call it that if you haven't scrapped in at least two years?) and pulled out some "new stuff" to add to the pile.

Sale was today and if you missed it, you missed it. There appeared to be great deals. I can only discuss what was on my table. My friend L. was there and she was my guardian all day. She wouldn't let me even think about buying anything. Just the sort of friend I needed. I did meet a lot of nice people and made some new contacts. Looking forward to touching base and see if we can't get together and actually USE some of our craft stuff.

Spent the afternoon with a dear friend and former co-worker. She has an adorable house and it is decorated exactly the way I love. Had a nice visit and then I headed home and spent some time with DH.

Finally watched Slumdog Millionare. Guess I had no idea about the plot except for the obvious-TV show. Reinforced my feelings that I do not want to visit INDIA. No offense meant. It was very depressing. Glad we finally watched the movie and did enjoy the love story of it. Our favorite line was when the main character asked his brother about a "Girl" (if you've seen the movie you understand) and the brother says, "Still?". We could relate.

Doing some work on the computer while DH watches his Nascar. Going to send some emails to the people I met today and then will call it a day.

Hope you had a great day with your friends/family. HUGS to all my friends and family that are under the weather or recovering from surgery. Hope you feel better soon.

OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....I almost forgot......I got to see my favorite little man today. Hi ROOOOOOO!!

Til later..................

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Scrapbook YARD SALE

If you are a crafter, or want to be, and are in the Tampa Bay Area...check this out:

SCRAPBOOK/CRAFTS Yard SALE

When: Saturday, July 25th
Where: Messiah Lutheran Church
14920 Hutchison Rd Tampa, FL. 33625
Time: 10am-2pm
Cost for entry: FREE

There will be at least 13 vendors set up with TONS of stuff for sale.

Hope to see you there. Feel free to share this information on your blogs/websites. We have enough stuff to sell to make everyone happy.

Monday, July 20, 2009

ALL YOU magazine changes coming


I've been offering the ALL YOU magazine subscription for almost a year. It's a FANTASTIC magazine in content, plus the $30-60 a month manufacturer coupons each month.

As a Southern Living at Home consultant I've been able to offer 24 issues for $19.95. I donate $2 a subscription to our charity, CUT IT OUT. Well, I'm sad to say that all great deals must change.

Effective August 1st when the new SLAH catalog comes out, the number of issues we can offer goes from 24 to 12.

Don't get me wrong, 12 issues at $19.95 is still a much better deal than WALMARTS $2.24 (or more-I haven't checked lately) an issue or the $23 for 12 issues that ALL YOU offers.

BUT....

24 issues for $19.95 is a MUCH better deal.

To get in on it before it ends, go here:
https://www.southernlivingathome.com/wbslah/skins/s05/catalog.aspx?repid=389581
2. Click on:
"How to Purchase"
"Hostess page:: Type in your Hostess/Click "continue:" (Use Cheryl (first name), Hinton(last name)
Click on "name"
Type "40776" in the Product search field/click "GO"
Click on Item #
Select this item

3. Finalize/Continue to Check out
4. Fill in your address & information.

*** There is no additional charge for the magazine to be delivered directly to your home. The $10 charge mentioned is only for the direct shipment of PRODUCTS. PLEASE do not click that box! (unless ordering products too. See information below)

*** The confirmation statement about stuff being shipped to the hostess only applies to Products, not magazines.

*** Orders will be submitted to SLAH on the 30th to be sure to get the great deal. I can not submit without payment so make sure you follow the payment instructions or email me for assistance.

You should start receiving your issues approximately 6-8 weeks after the order is submitted to ALL YOU.

**********If you would like to take advantage of the SUMMER SALE specials before they are gone, go here:
www.southernlivingathome.com/hinton

and check out the flyer. You can add those to your magazine order but will need to pay Shipping & Handling as described on the invoice for products.

If you are local, I will make arrangements to meet for delivery. If you are out of the Tampa Bay area, please add the additional $10 for the Direct Shipping fee to your home. If your order is $75 or more, I will pay the extra $10.

These subscriptions would make great gifts for the person that has everything.


Email me if you have any questions about anything.

Til later.................

Time to head home

Sunday morning came MUCH to early. I didn't really go back to sleep once the first alarm rang. I had a couple of hours after the last roommate left to get myself ready and check emails before the big day-o-travel.

Caught a ride to the airport with a consultant I met at the convention. Had a short wait and then on to Atlanta.

Thankfully, my fabulous Step son was able to meet me and take me away for a hour. Got to grab lunch and then swing by his cool loft apartment to check out the "Man cave". So cute and hip and such a great place for two young, single, college age guys. Great view of Midtown/downtown ATL. Got a picture of the boy for his dad, threw down some food and then ran back to the airport.

This next part is the best part so WAKE UP...................

I made "friends" with the Flight Attendants for my ATL to TPA flight. They are based in Tampa and were happy to be heading home for the final leg of the weekend.

I won't bore you with all the details but lets just say, Someone ended up getting bumped up to First Class on the flight.

SWEET!!!!

I made friends with the gal next to me, who had also been bumped up for offering to fly on a later flight, and we acted like the Beverly Hillbillies in First Class. So true. We even had our new best friend, HI VICKI, take our picture.

True. I'll show you when Holly sends me the picture.

Arrived in Tampa, was FIRST one off plane, FIRST bag off the conveyor and as I walked outside my DH was just driving up to get me. Home by 10pm. Perfect end of my trip.

Exhausted but excited for the future. Don't you wish you could have gone with me? You can. I'm going to be actively looking for team members.

Did I mention that next June, they are sending qualified consultants and directors to the ATLANTIS in the Bahamas????? For 5 days? All inclusive? I'm sooooooooooooooo there!

Til later.......................

Winding down in the Big D-Day 3

Saturday was a very full day with meetings, training sessions, a HUGE lunch and then more training.

Guess who I ran into, outside the lunch venue?

If you said "the Director that was in charge of the team meeting that I DID NOT attend" the night before, you score 10 points. She asked where I'd been and said that they had missed me and.............................I'd won a trophy.

WHAT????? Apparently, once they took out the directors from the mix, I was 5th top Salesperson for consultants in our line. Sweet.

Saturday night was a MAJOR dinner and awards event. I went, had a fabulous meal, got my trophy from the Director, stayed for some award announcements and then headed for the room.

My roommates got back a couple hours later and we were up talking for AWHILE. Since they were needing to get up at 4am on Sunday, we finally stopped talking and got a couple winks of sleep.

Til later..............................

Dallas day 2-Big announcements

After a rush to get three "High Maintenance" gals and me ready (just kidding peeps) we went down to the HUGE ballroom for our meeting. Imagine 1700 women, LOUD music and flashing lights first thing in the morning.



After a long day of travel, three glasses of wine and a tummy full of sugary snacks.



Fun.



Serious, it was ok. They started out with a big production number (we always have Broadway performers) then our Director of Marketing and Field Development (Gary Wright) came out on a Bucking Bronco ala- Gillys and Urban Cowboy. (if you didn't get the reference, you must know Bonnie--LOL--Hi PEEP!!) He made some announcements and then introduced the NEW owner of our company. We had known the company was for sale but they didn't finalize the deal until 2pm on Thursday. I won't bore you with the details but the new owner is someone that worked for SLAH back in the beginning of the company. He talked about new incentives that will be very exciting. Sounds like now is a good time to join my team if you have been on the fence.



Several more people spoke and then Gary came back out and started announcing the top 10 consultants for Magazine sales for the past year.



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If you read my facebook page you already know that, yours truly was announced as the 5th highest consultant.



I screamed and went into the UGLY Cry!!!!! Seriously. Check it out....























After I got down from the stage and finally stopped crying, I went out and called my DH. He was so happy and proud!!!

The rest of the day was spent attending more meetings, trainings and then I was supposed to go to a Team recognition party.

I ended up doing my own thing instead. I've never been to Dallas, I wanted to check things out, so I took a free shuttle to Grapevine--Texas. It's a cute little town with OLD buildings that have been made into shops. I walked around and was trying to decide where to eat cheaply when I discovered a vendor faire going on with Artists and best of all.............FREE FOOD from local restaurants.

SCORE.

I ate my fill and then walked down the street to the trolley station to wait for my ride. Once back to the hotel, I walked across the property to the top of the parking garage to wait for the fireworks show. It was shot off across the lake from the hotel and was beautiful.

Next stop.....my room and sleep.

Til later...................

Southern Living at Home-Dallas-day 1

When I scheduled my flight to Dallas, it said I'd have lay-overs in Atlanta going west and coming back. At the time it seemed ok since I have family in ATL and parts North.

Never put your eggs in a college students basket.

Actually, it's not the Poodle headed boys fault. His car decided to act up and he had to get it fixed. On the day I flew to Dallas. Darn.

I ended up with a 5 hour layover.

To cheap to pay for Internet in the airport.

Laptop bag, CPAP machine and Pocket book (why didn't I empty that thing before I left??) were to heavy to lug around. Thanks to our Post 9-11 world, you can't leave stuff anywhere and they have removed all the lockers. I sat and stared at a restaurant across the terminal from me for several hours, debating if it was worth it to drag the 50 pounds.....plus my big-o-butt over there.

Nope.

Finally arrived in Dallas at 5pm their time, found a ride to the Hotel, located my room, ran up-dumped my stuff, ran down to the convention registration, then ran across the hotel to my first "Meet and greet".

Let's just say that by that time I was glad to see free wine. Three glasses in fact. Quickly. Chased down with some appetizers. Feeling much better.

An hour or so later, it was time to run back to my room to change into my PJ's for the next event.

Yep. PJ's, Pajamas. About 30 of us in a Directors suite. So cute!

Changed to Coke Cola and candy at that event. As you can imagine my tummy wasn't really happy with me at this point.

Stayed about 90 minutes and finally retired to my room. My roommates were there and we finally got a chance to "meet" and get to know each other.

What a sweet, adorable three gals they are!!! HI PEEPS!!!!!!!

Laughed and chatted until much to late then time for sleep...at least for a few hours.

Til later....................

So much to tell you #1

I've been updating my facebook account so I'm going to assume that's why no one has missed me here.

My feelings, my story, sticking to it.

Rather than bore you all at once, I'm going to spread the love over a few posts.

The mystery shopping trip to the local restaurant was good. My DH really enjoyed the food. I submitted the information and faxed the receipt. They said I didn't answer all the questions but I don't believe it. I went back over the form several times before submitting it so I'm really confused as to what they think I missed. I got 9 out of 10 as my score. Guess I'm getting alittle anal in my old age. I want a 10! They sure better pay me my $25.

I had a job interview last week. Faced off in front of 5 people. YIKES!!! I decided to go for broke and tried to use humor. Some seemed to get it, some looked at me like I was crazy. The really ironic thing, one of the interviewers had worked with my DD's & DS's dad back in the day. What are the odds? I asked her not to hold it against me. LOL.

Left for Dallas Thursday morning......

Til later......

Monday, July 13, 2009

Mystery Shopping & daily report

Shhhhhhhhhhhh. Getting ready to leave in a few minutes to enjoy a nice dinner at a local restaurant as a Secret Shopper. I've done this a couple of times and it is fun but stressful. You get reimbursed your meal costs but you have to fill out a detailed form and you can't take notes at the restaurant (at least not where anyone can see you). Hope I remember all the details. I'm taking my DH but he'll be no help. LOL. Not an insult, he'd agree.

Spent the better part of the day on line submitting resumes, updating my resume, updating my profile on a Network site (sorry if you got an email to join" me and were bothered by it. I tried to send it to my business contacts but a few may have leaked through), dealing with my Healthcare company, working the SLAH sale.....btw..if you haven't placed your order yet....WHY NOT????? Don't you like to save money?

Better run. Supposed to be at the site between 4-9. It's time!

Til later..................

Friday, July 10, 2009

Public service announcement for the Unemployed

In the interest of keeping it real.

Helping my peeps.

Educating you on things you may not be aware of.....

I bring you tips I have learned while seeking employment for the first time since 1998.

Those of you that were in grade school in 1998 can kiss my grits and disregard these helpful tips.

If you are to young to recognize the phrase, "Kiss my grits", you may also disregard these tips.

1. If a company contacts you saying they saw your resume on XYZ website and think you are PERFECT for their organization. They are probably looking for a SALES person.

2. If you arrive at an "interview" and there are already 10+ people in the lobby and a steady stream of people come in while you are waiting, they are probably looking for SALES people or are a multi-level organization and you should run.

3. If they inform you that you will be attending a "Session or Presentation" that explains their company and or the position, they are probably looking for SALES people.

After several of these experiences, my DH taught me key questions to ASK when being set for an "interview" to avoid falling into one of these traps. These may seem logical to you but as stated above, I'm rusty at this stuff. Cut me some slack.

1. What exactly does this position require, ie: what will I be doing? The ad/job posting can be tricky.

2. How is the position compensated? NOT the same as asking what does the position pay. If they tell you COMMISSION, it's a sales job--NOT Customer Service like the ad claimed.

3. Where will I be located? If they say, In the Field.....it's SALES.

Like I said, most of this may be obvious to most of you but I've discovered the ads can be tricky and I didn't feel comfortable asking questions BEFORE the interview.

I now know better.

Trust me, when you are unemployed-you need to save gas. Don't go-if you don't know. Even if they represent themselves as a well known company, they could be a "Marketing company"...hiring SALES people for the "well known" company.

Marketing....another Buzz word to avoid.

You're welcome.

Til later.........................

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

Dinner and a movie

It was brought to my attention that I was fuzzy about the Dinner and a Movie plan. Add to that, the fact I never shared what we ended up doing and I'm sure you are all on pins and needles to be brought up to speed.

Are you sitting down? You may want to grab a bite to eat. It's a fascinating tale.


Seriously.

Well, not so much but it's a story my DH says will age well.

As you may recall, we had 2 tickets for a FREE movie and a BOGO for Ruby Tuesday. Well as it would turn out, the movie we wanted to see, Star Trek, has apparently left most theatres for a Galaxy far, far away. On July 4th it had limited seating/theaters where it was being shown. None matched our time schedule.

We decided to go to our local theater, PAY to see a movie and that resulted in us deciding to use a $10 off coupon I'd received for my birthday at a local restaurant.

Yes, those of you paying attention may realize that my birthday is actually in AUGUST not July. I'm not sure why the restaurant thought I had a birthday in July but I wasn't about to argue. Besides, we don't have a Ruby Tuesday near us or the local theater.

Hold that thought.

Soooooooooooooooo, we decided to go to the Matinee of our local theater and see Public Enemy. At the risk of offending some readers that I know have already seen the movie and LOVED IT, let me just say....Johnny Depp--great actor. Christen Bales--Ok actor.

Movie.....full of holes. At one point the woman behind us actually said--very loudly..."Oh come on!!". I must admit the same scene had seemed ridiculous to me too. I have a very high threshold for entertainment so was willing to let it slide.

Over all, I gave it a 3 1/2 stars out of 5 and my DH wanted his money back. LOL. If you knew his recent track record in picking rental movies, you wouldn't hold his opinion very highly so judge for yourself.

After the movie we went to the restaurant. My DH had his reservations when we pulled up and it actually said *****Restaurant and LOUNGE. He looked at me like--are you kidding? I offered to go somewhere else but he said, "No-It may have great food."

We walked in and as we were being seated we had to walk by the people getting ready to:

wait for it........

SING KARAOKE.

OMGoodness.

Now again, those that know me--know that wasn't a problem for me. My DH looked like he'd been shot. LOL. Not that he was afraid they would ask him to sing, just that he was going to be in the same room as people that were going to be singing.

Yes, this is the same man that LOVES the audition shows of American Idol but he doesn't enjoy Karaoke of any sort.

I know.....we are VERY different.

So once again I offered to leave before we ordered and he said no...he'd be alright. We ended up being there for at least an hour and he didn't fall out of the booth.

I'm not saying he will admit he enjoyed himself but at least his eyes didn't start bleeding. Of the four people that look turns singing, 1 was good...the others made us laugh behind our napkins. The best part was at the end when a 80+ year old blind man (I only say that because the waitress kept bringing it up. Didn't she ever hear of Stevie-Jose-Andre?) got up and sang two songs. He was really good. BTW, the food was good!

After surviving the restaurant we drove up north a bit, to the same parking lot as last year, and watched the local Fireworks. Nice!

Remember when I told you to "Hold that thought"? Guess what we passed on the way home from the fireworks?

Extra points if you said RUBY TUESDAY. Poop! The same Ruby Tuesday that we have eaten in before. Yes, I lost my mind.

There you have it,the fascinating-true story- of our 4th of July.

You may now resume your lives.

Til later....................

Monday, July 6, 2009

Butterfly Project


Just when a hint of worry crosses my mind, God sends me a reminder that I have a wonderful life and that this latest "situation" is just a bump in the road.

If you haven't already heard of the Butterfly Project, please go here. It's ironic (not really considering the source of ALL knowledge) that my DH is watching "Defiance" which is about the Holocaust, just as I became aware of the project.
I've always been touched by the stories of that awful time in history. I visited Auschwitz in the mid 70's and I swear the buildings that housed the ovens still smelled. I became so overcome with the "souls/presence" of the murdered, that I had to leave the tour and return to the bus. Last year I dragged the Boy to the museum in St. Petersburg. I tried to get him to read The Diary of Anne Frank but he never would.

Please consider contributing to this project or support your local museum. Go, take your family, discuss and help those events never occur again.

Til later................
If you need more proof that your life is precious and never as bad as you think, read this. (read all the comments too-you never know who you will see there..HI Loretta!!!!)
Another beautifully written post by the CF husband. If you still have not read his blog, you MUST go to the link on my side bar, take a few minutes (hours) and read the story of Gods love in these amazing people.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

Happy 4th and other thoughts

So I said, when I was laid off, that it would mean more time for blogging.

Apparently, I lied.

It's not that I don't have alot of "time" now, it's just that I feel like I should be spending my time seeking employment.

I enjoy having a roof over my head.

I have spent time running errands and visiting with former co-workers that are still my friends. I went to CVS yesterday and enjoyed getting $30 worth of products for $6 OOP. Just like the old days. I've watched TV with my DH. I haven't really slept in, I still wake up when the sun comes in my windows

I've spend hours getting my resume updated and posted on various "employment" websites. I'm hoping the non-responses received is due to the Holiday weekend and not my lack of appeal.

ON paper , I'm very appealing.

I found a great "interview outfit" at my favorite thrift yesterday for $6.25. Best thing is that it was half of that because it was "Red". It fits nice and will also make a great outfit for my SLAH convention.

Today we are going to keep our "tradition" of seeing a movie-having dinner-then going somewhere to watch Fireworks. We'd planned to do it for super cheap as I have a coupon for BOGO dinner and 2 free movie tickets. Problem is, the movie we want to see isn't playing very often near the restaurant we have a coupon for. Our quaint little local theater has another movie we are interested in but no free tickets for that location. The BOGO coupon is for a restaurant we don't have near that theater. I did get a FREE meal coupon (for my upcoming birthday) to a local restaurant we've yet to try, so we'll use that. We'll end up playing for the movie but it will be OK. That leaves us tickets for another night.

What are you doing today? Take a moment to thank your stars (I prefer to thank God) that we live in a country that is FREE. I may not have a job at the moment but at least my country is a billion times better off than most. I will find a job or figure out a way to legally make enough money to cover our needs.

God Bless the USA.

Til later.....................

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

End of Catalog Sale has started

Southern Living at Home has two catalog a year. When one ends, they have a great sale. The new catalog starts in August and the sale was just announced. Check THIS out and if you see anything you want, email me ASAP. Items sell out quickly so act soon!

Taking today to run errands and will be seriously looking for a new job soon. If you hear anything, let me know.

Til later....


*****I have set up an on line order to save time. If you see something you want and are local, go here, click on Our Products, How to order, Hostess and type in Cheryl H and you can order on line using the item numbers on the flyer. If you are out of the Tampa Bay area-place an order of at least $29.95--in NON SALE items and then you can order as many sale items as you want. If your order is over $75-I will pay the $10 Direct shipping charge to have it delivered straight to you. (Regular shipping & tax charges still apply)