Help for the Jersey Shore!

Hope for Ella ( HopeforElla on Facebook or HopeforElla on the web ) is helping at the Jersey Shore, THIS Saturday, September 21! Please join Ella at The People's Pantry in Toms River. Here is the description of the day:

After Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, our Jersey Shores were left devastated. Many lost some and some lost all. It is hard to imagine losing everything you own and having to start over. Although much work has been done and some communities have been restored there are still many displaced and longing to resume their lives. In an effort to lend a hand we will be joining The Peoples Pantry in Toms River to pitch in where needed. Please come out and join us for a day of community service. Kids (with a few adults) will stay back at the pantry and help with sorting and making happy pictures to beautify the pantry. The big kids (ages 14 and up) will be headed out with clean-up or demo/reno projects. Plenty for all!!!

Starts at 9am. For more information send an email to hopeforella@gmail.com, message the HopeforElla FB page. Click HERE for more info on The People's Pantry.

The Hills are CRYING!

Please, tell me this is a joke!

To quote myself:

I love Carrie. But NO ONE can ever be #MariaVonTrapp except #JulieAndrews. Or me. I do a great spin. Otherwise NO ONE. #SoundofMusic

Planks...and stuff.

Still doing the plank challenge but I had to adapt it for my own strength, or lack thereof haha. Here is how I've done it so far:

Day 1:    Plank hold 10, rest 10, 3 times.
Day 2:    Plank hold 15, rest 10, 3 times.
Day 3:    Plank hold 20, rest 10, plank hooooold darn almost to 20, rest 10, hold 15, done.
Day 4:    They think I'm ready to jump to 25? Ha! Repeat of Day 3.
Day 5:     Um, really, I tried to get to holding 25.
Day 6:    Plank hold 25, rest 10, 3 times, YES!
Day 7:    RESTED!

I've gone back to increasing my squat amounts along with this program and went back to using weights with my arms. Tonight will be a Plank night again.

Yesterday was just an off day with organization. As the week progressed I was doing less and less of the "extra" post-it notes, and by yesterday felt very down with accomplishing none of the tasks on the extras. I pulled out my planner at the end of the night to write in what I had done for the day. Before I started transferring the finished tasks into my planner (from the calendar post-it notes) I wrote "bad day" off to the side of the day's planner entry. I looked at the list in my planner and was pleasantly surprised to realize I had done all of my routine tasks plus a couple extras. Without realizing it! I had been feeling discouraged all day and almost let myself give up and chalk the less than stellar week of tasks off to my hurt foot...thankful I've kept up my "program" so I can see for myself that I actually am still getting things accomplished. Those are the days when I can see why Pam and Peggy ( Side-tracked Home Executives ) so strongly recommend attempting such big changes with a buddy (or several), to cheer each other on even when we feel like throwing in the towel.

Off to play some frisbee in the sunshine!

What Happened to Customer Service?

During late spring I signed up for the Courier-Post, a Philly area newspaper. They were running a promotion in which new subscribers would receive an AMC gift card. My paper started but I never received a gift card. I tried contacting customer service for this paper but could never hit it at the right time. I called my carrier who said she had no control over the gift cards. 

I did not pay for the following subscription period so that I would end the subscription; the company certainly "reached out" to me then, with collection notices and emails! I spoke with someone and told her I would gladly pay AND renew, IF she would guarantee I would receive the gift card. She did, as did the supervisor that got on the line to verify the order. That was in the beginning of August and my subscription was to start the 2nd weekend of the month.

The weekend arrived but no papers appeared. The newspaper has a subscription line to call and report no paper...if you manage to catch the limited window of hours available to call. I used the website to send an email but got no response and, when another weekend came and went with NO PAPERS again I took to twitter, thanking them for the scam to get customers to sign up! (hey, I was really mad!) I did get a twitter response within hours with an email address, to which I sent the requested information. The person on twitter told me I'd hear from someone by the next day (which was last Monday). I finally got a call on Wednesday and the gentleman took my information, apologizing and explaining there was a new carrier that was working the route now but that he would forward my info to customer service. Thursday a voice mail was received by me and I was a bit too annoyed to return the call. The woman said that the gift card promotion required me to sign a premium form and, since they "still" had not received that from me (implying it was all MY FAULT!) they would send a new form to me and get my subscription straightened out. 

Hey guess what--that's right, nothing in the mail and no paper on Saturday. This morning I got a Sunday paper: laying on the sidewalk, no plastic bag, no special Sunday sections, no comics, no inserts, and NO COUPONS. I left the woman that called earlier in the week a voice mail and have tweeted. This is ridiculous and unacceptable. Where is customer service? Where is the thinking that "the customer is always right"? I understand that there are loads of people that stretch the limits of customer's always right and they have made things difficult for legitimately dissatisfied consumers; however there comes a point when a company representative needs to be able to look away from the computer screen and try a human response! I am taking to the electronic option since this seems to be the only way to get their attention. I hope I have reason to update this entry with a positive outcome. 

PS At this point do they still really believe that a $10 gift card is going to fix everything??

Plank Challenge Day 1, Done!

I would have been on Day 6 of the the plank challenge I had been doing, but with having found the one I posted yesterday and having at least one FB friend doing this with me, I decided to restart. It already feels more doable and I'm certain using this method is working my muscles more efficiently.

Getting my foot put in an orthopedic boot today (if that's what it is called) is NOT going to sideline neither my fitness nor organization goals, no way, no how! If I have to adapt some things a bit I will but as of today I am staying on track. Are you with me?

Here is the challenge in case you missed it yesterday :)