Goings-on

I am now officially into my second week of not drinking any pop. The first few days of my illness I had a throat so sore the thought of any carbonation passing over it made me cringe and preemptively gag. By the time my throat was feeling better I was well into the expected caffeine withdrawal headaches, so I decided to ride it out and use the initial aversion to my advantage.

Water, even in massive cups full of ice, is starting to get old so today while at Walmart I picked up a few flavoring options. Typically I do not really care for such packets because they are too sweet, but Crystal Light has a few flavors that aren't too bad. Today's find includes Green Tea Peach Mango and Raspberry Lemonade. I won't be able to drink water flavored with these packets all of the time (the artificial sweetener would really start to get to me) but once in awhile they will be a nice change.

I have my third care package ready to send to the troops that I decided to adopt. I have a Marine squad that is based in the Horn of Africa until September. I do not know if my first two packages have been received, but I figure I'll just keep sending the packages until I'm told not to. It's amazing how much you can fit in what are actually rather small APO/FPO boxes. This particular package, along with the snacks that I always include, also has a lawn game. Does anyone remember the Velcro-covered ball and the two mitt/paddle combo things used to "catch" said ball? That's the game I am sending, properly colored in Bronco blue and orange, of course. I look for things that can be fun and entertaining but that don't require batteries. Suggestions are always welcome!

Work has been interesting this week. Saturday is the last day of our fiscal year, so there has been a big push this whole week to end the year with a bang... a.k.a. big sales. Saturday will be the most interesting as there is a company-wide "New Year's Eve" competition, broken down by region so that there will be more winners. If you are thinking of going shopping at Christopher & Banks this weekend do it on Saturday and do it in my store. Can't come into my store? Call me at work and have me order what you want online for you. :) In case you are wondering, one of the prizes for being a top-10 store in the region is the privilege of wearing jeans to work for a week. We desperately want that prize.

I have been in one of my moods lately that any of my past roommates would recognize by the presence of multiple episodes of "The West Wing" playing on the television. I do not know how else to describe the mood other than quiet and a bit reclusive. I have just started season 4 ("20 Hours in America", especially the latter half, is, in my opinion, one of the best episodes of the entire series) and since I only own seasons 1-4 I will be coming out of my current state of mind shortly.

Cadbury Creme Eggs are back in stores in abundance, for which I am very happy. The original is the best.

Love!

~g