My Birthday!

Last week I had another birthday. Yep, funny how they creep up on us like that.
At work, I managed to keep people from knowing for about 2 hours...until....one of my co-workers arrived at 7AM and she had a donut for me! She put it on the break room table with a piece of paper that said, "Happy Birthday Sandy!" Well, I was outside at the time working a flight. When I walked in, others had already seen it! The cat was out of the bag, so to speak!
Each month at work, 2 cakes are brought in on a random day of the month, that have been made in honor of any employees that have a birthday for that particular month. The names of each individual is written on it so that everyone knows who they are honoring. During the month of February, there are only 3 of us that happen to have a birthday. Well, the cakes happened to be brought in on my birthday! By the time I thought of getting a picture of one of them, people had already cut into them so some of the names didn't show. However, mine was still on there! So I took a picture with my cell phone. It was very tasty!
I hadn't gotten around to baking anything myself so this served as my official birthday cake.

The partially eaten cake!

After I got home that day, I baked a batch of brownies. They are great to eat no matter what day it is! I had many phone calls from friends and family. I also had many greetings on Facebook. It was so fun to hear from so many people and it made my day completely!

I will be getting together with some of my friends today too. Thank you everyone for all the birthday wishes!

Gavin Turned 5!

Today was a special day. My friends' Trisa and Jamie had a birthday party for their son, Gavin. He turned 5 on the 15TH of February. But because there was so much happening for so many people that weekend, they decided to wait one week.

They held it at Boingz! It's a great place for lots of kids to play together and not terrorize one's own home! They have little party rooms to keep it more private for individual groups. Pizza was served for the kids. One of my other friends, Halli, (remember this?) makes cakes. So she made a cup-cake cake! It was shaped like a Ninja Turtle. Gavin loves them and he loves anything from the movie Cars.

In each room is an inflatable king size chair. So here are Dillon and Gavin.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Gavin who is all smiles looking at his cake!

Jamie, Trisa and Gavin

All the little kids had so much fun sliding and jumping on all the inflatable items. I managed to get a lot of photos of them! It was funny to see their little faces glow with excitement! On the other side of the arena is an area where one can play some arcade games or grab a snack and drink. Lots of space to chase children!

Me and Trisa
All the girls.....Back row: Halli, Trisa, Dee, Lisa. Front row: Me and Tammy

Madison and Logan

Liberti on her way down!

Madison impersonating a jumping bean!

Gavin taking one of many turns on one of several slides!

The cup-cake cake! Chocolate and vanilla with whip cream frosting.

It was a great turnout. There were about 17 kids present along with all the adults. Some people came that had no children....i.e. ME! It was fun for me just to watch the little ones. A great indoor activity for chilly days!

Tastefully Simple on Tour

Well, after a short hiatus, I've been a little busy this weekend. On Friday and Saturday I attended a Tastefully Simple conference. The theme was "Rev It Up" Tastefully Simple on Tour 2009.

One side of the stage...

There were 5 people from headquarters in Alexandria, MN to get things rolling. We found out what the new spring and summer line of products is going to be, effective on March 9Th. So if you haven't already talked to me, get YOUR home party booked! The new season is going to be a great one!

Friday kicked off at 12:30 and several awards were given to those with huge numbers. By that I mean anyone that had the largest sales in our region, those who recruited the most people, those that climbed the ladder in leadership, etc. We had representatives there from several states: MN, SD, WY, NE, CO, TN, ND, KS and MS. Hopefully I didn't forget anyone! There were approximately 200 people in attendance! It was held at the Regency Marriott here in Omaha.

Later in the afternoon they began introducing some of the new line to us. During one of our breaks, we got to sample some of the new products. WOW! Very tasty indeed.

When we returned from break they gave out more awards. At the end of our first session, we had enough time for me to go home and change clothes. My own team mentor was treating our team to a little party and evening meal. She also gave out awards to some of the team leaders. Side note: I have only been with Tastefully Simple since August of last year. So I haven't promoted to anything other than Consultant quite yet. But as soon as I do, you'll know!

Then it was back to the conference for more awards (so many categories!) and the night finally wound up at 9 PM.

The next morning they began with continental breakfast at 7:30AM, to which I didn't go. I slept in instead. But I was there for the beginning of our next session at 8:30AM. There were several speakers on many of the tools we use as consultants. Host coaching, booking parties, recruiting and general sales. I brought home many new ideas on ways to improve my own business! They also unveiled more new products for the spring and summer line. In all, 25 new items! I can't wait! We watched many videos as well. More awards were given. One of which was to my team mentor, Tami Allen. She was one of the top recruiters in our region. Way to go Tami!

The top recruiters....Tami Allen, my team mentor is standing in the back row, far right.

The photographer is blocking some of the others in the photo. It's the only picture I was able to get.

We took a break for lunch which consisted of....take a guess....all new products! Yep....the hotel prepared it for us too! At each place setting, there was a product for us to take home. After lunch we were given yet another product for our own use. After sitting down and handing out more awards and hearing more speakers, there was a huge surprise for all of us. About 4 PM, coming in from the secret passageways of the hotel, was our President and CEO, Jill Blashack Strahan!

It literally brought tears to my eyes to hear her voice! She is such an inspiration to so many people and a very classy lady. She has had a rough life having lost a brother and her first husband within 8 months of each other back in 1997. This was two years after she started the company. She is a great speaker and has a natural ability to add humor where you least expect it! We were hoping to see her this weekend but because it was late on Saturday and our conference was nearing the end, I'd lost all hope. But she made it! After a standing ovating for her, she finally had a chance to speak! She did a question/answer period and then she left as quickly as she appeared. But it was the icing on the cake for me.

Every summer the National Conference takes place in Minneapolis, MN during the month of August. I'm hoping to be able to attend that as well. This is when everyone in the company that can be there is there. Cross your fingers for me.......

I was exhausted from the fast paced weekend and being well fed when I arrived home Saturday night. But it was well worth it!

New Snow at Last!

All week long, we've been hearing from our weather forecasters that there was a snowstorm moving in from the west coast. It was still off shore but was looking as though it would be moving in our direction. On Thursday night they were predicting that we would get between 4-6 inches of the white stuff.
I wasn't too concerned because I knew that I didn't have to work in it. I had a 4 day weekend ahead of me! Friday and Saturday I would be attending a two day conference here in town so it could snow all it wanted!
Friday morning I awoke early only because I'm so used to rising at 'O-dark-thirty (that's 3:30AM to all of you!). But no snow. It actually didn't start snowing until roughly 8AM. It was just flurries. In no time at all it had started to come down fast and heavy. The flakes were huge! Visibility dropped soon there after to half a mile. The forecast was right! I left home about 11:30AM for the conference. By this time there was a lot of snow on the ground already. And it was very wet and heavy.
During our break between the meeting and our evening session, I had a chance to come home and shovel my driveway. The temperature was 28* and the snow was already melting! It took me a little longer than normal to shovel due to the weight of the snow. I definitely got a work out for muscles that I forgot I had! When I was finished, I had literally broken a sweat because of the coat I had on.
But I knew that if it hadn't been done at this time, I may not have gotten around to it until Saturday night because I wouldn't be home very long. I'm glad I did....the sun melted what was left of it on the driveway during the day on Saturday and dried it off.
So after I got home I snapped a few pictures to show you our new piles. We ended up getting about 7 inches, depending upon which part of Omaha people live in.

My next door neighbors took advantage of the wet stuff and made a snowman!

This week the weather went from 60* on Tuesday and no snow in sight, to 7 inches of the white stuff and 15* at night! (hey, that rhymes!) That's Nebraska for you....

The Super Bowl Game of Games! - XLIII

I enjoyed watching the game that had the Pittsburgh Steelers playing the Arizona Cardinals. (For those of you that don't like sports, it's the NFL. I.e., National Football League!)
This is the time of year that all NFL fans love because it is the culmination of a season of ups and downs, wins and losses, and injury plagued members of their favorite teams. Beginning with all the pre-games that start as early as August, all the way through the holidays and playoffs, this is the big one.
I was visiting at my friends Tammy and Steve's house. There was a large group of us all there to eat, drink and watch the game. Some were only there to eat, some only to drink and the others mainly watched just the commercials that are so widely popular across the country. This is the one day of the year that most everyone looks forward to the advertisements in between game time! Weird, huh? But they are known for the hilarity that comes along with them and I'm one of the guilty ones that looks forward to them. Especially the Clydesdale's and the Bud Light ads. Some of the ads even required 3D glasses. These were free at most stores in town.
The half time entertainment is usually quite classy as well. This year, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band were the highlight. I, having grown up listening the them, found it very entertaining. Members of his band include his wife. She is a red head and plays guitar. Another member, Steven Van Zandt, made his mark on the TV show The Sopranos as Silvio Dante. He wears a bandanna and plays guitar along side Bruce Springsteen.
However, that's not the only thing I like. I do enjoy watching the game itself. I happened to be cheering for the under dog Arizona Cardinals this year. I thought they were going to win it for a while. And the best part of any game is when it actually isn't over until the very last few seconds! That's what makes it a great game!

We had lots of food for everyone to share. Many of us contributed to the typical sports gathering feast. Hot dogs and the regular toppings, cheesy corn bread, mac and cheese (for the kids), chips, crackers and dips, a meat and cheese tray and dessert which was a confetti cake and Truffle Fudge Brownie Mix. And if you hadn't figured it out, I brought the two desserts!
After the game was over, I headed home along with 3/4 of Omaha! There was so much traffic. I believe that no one stayed home to watch the game! Everyone went somewhere else. That's how it seemed.
How many of you took part in Super Bowl game festivities? Maybe you took the next day off from work. I was fortunate to have the next day off because it's my normal schedule.
I hope you had a great Super Bowl Sunday....whether you watched the game or not! I can't wait for next fall!