I'm Not Ready For Winter and Other Things to Whine About...

I had an unofficial plan in the back of my head for Saturday.  I hadn't shared with my family, but it had been a somewhat difficult week (to be explained further in the below bullet pointed whining) so I thought it might be nice to do something together as a family on Saturday afternoon (because on Saturday morning both the boy and I have a dress rehearsal for a Christmas Cantata and Sunday morning is the performance).  It included lunch out and a longish drive to take in some holiday decorations and general Christmas cheer. But in light of the 3" - 5" of snow that were are supposed to get on Saturday, I've pretty much tabled that.  Sure, it's not that much snow, but I really don't think it's all that wise to drive needlessly during a storm.  While I've come up with a backup plan (watch a move or two and cook a nice roast which will warm up our stomachs and the house while it cooks), I'm not happy that I had to cancel my plans.  (And I really have no other free time to do what I wanted to do.)

So, let me say it plainly, I'm not ready for winter and I don't WANT winter.  And while I realize that snow/winter has come even earlier this than in past years, (who can forget the Halloween Blizzard back in 2011?), 'tis the season to be whining (just ask the kids), so I'm fa la la la laing my bitching and moaning (with tongue in cheek). So what other "horrors" have I encountered recently that is worth a paragraph or two?

• Weight Watchers changed their plan this past week. Touting itself as Freestyle; more food items are now 0 points.  This is great, except for the fact that the majority of the items, are things that I can't eat due to food allergies:  poultry, shellfish, eggs, etc.  This in itself is not a problem, but as a result of these "freebies" they've lowered my daily point allowance by 7 points.  That's A LOT of points and since I WAS using all my daily points (and sometimes my weekly points too).  Let me be perfectly clear, I HAVE been successful on the plan.  Since I started (or restarted as the case may be) this journey, I've successfully lost 17 pounds.  I want to continue this but this new reduction in points is NOT going to work for me due to my unique situation.  Weight Watchers on line customer service is of no help (the sessions time out...this has happened to me multiple times), so I guess I'll be cancelling the program before the next pay period.  This will save me money, but it's a shame Weight Watchers won't work with me on this.

• World Market will give you a 10% discount if you sign up for their emails on line, but their service is slow and doesn't help you if you're in the store.  I'm not a World Market shopper and I won't be one going forward either.  Many stores I know offer you a discount if you sign up in the store.  Not World Market.  I tried to sign up in the store and waited to get a confirmation email; a day later and it still hasn't shown up.  Way to entice me into your store.  I paid the "regular" price for the items that I needed and I won't be returning, even though there were some items in the store that called out to me.  And here's where I whine about the fact that these items were not available in their sister store, And That! (by Christmas Tree Shops) where I DID have a $10 coupon.  The first time I went to And That! there was a $10 coupon available as you made your first purchase and now that I'm on their mailing list I get more coupons.  It's no secret that I'm a BIG And That! fan... So why doesn't their sister store do the same thing?  While I'm on the subject; both stores are owned by the Bed, Bath and Beyond Corporation, so why aren't all of their coupons interchangeable?

• Huntington Learning Center kept my son for nearly 5 hours on Wednesday night instead of the usual 2-1/2.  Mistake #1 in their court is they didn't call me when they decided to keep him longer.  So, I ran up (trying NOT to panic, but you know me) to find out that they meant to call but didn't.  He was having some trouble with an assignment, so they we working with him.  They invited me to wait, but I had to be somewhere so I told them to call my husband when he was ready to come home.  When I texted my husband an hour later, he STILL wasn't home.  How long did they think I'd want to sit in their waiting area?  Son, who left home at few minutes before 4 did not get home until nearly 9.  He was tired, hadn't eaten and felt that the experience was demoralizing.  He DID, however, feel that he was helped.  I have no problems with their methods; I DO have problems with their communication; or lack thereof.  Needless to say, I went with him the next day and spoke to the director.  She immediately pulled me in with another woman who works there and, I felt, tried to throw her under the bus for not calling us.  While it may have been this "underlings" mistake, I believe that as the director of the franchise, she needs to take some responsibility.  Furthermore, she immediately said that my son was NOT demoralized.  Well, maybe not from her perspective, but she's not a 12 year old boy who just wanted to go home and while her intentions of having multiple teachers/experts work with him, HE, as a tween, felt he was being ganged up on.  I felt that MY concerns were not being heard (so how could my son's?) and she spent the time focusing on what they were changing in his sessions to help my son.  While I appreciate that and understand (and I made that known), I think the whole thing was handled was unacceptable, but my words were not being heard.  I'm NOT throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so my son will continue to go there, but I will keep an eye and ear open and have already contacted their corporate office, as I feel this director needs some training when it comes to communication and listening.  No word back from corporate yet; but you can BET that I will not give this one up.

Three's the charm when it comes to whining and I don't want to "gift" you with too much with the holidays close at hand.  (I didn't realize that Hanukkah was next Tuesday!  Yikes!  And I have a 2 day company meeting/conference starting Tuesday.  But I can't bitch about that...I'm capping my whining off for now...besides there will be plenty of time to bitch and moan in another post!)  Wishing you all a great weekend...snow or not!