"No Solicitors"

Maybe not everyone knows what that means. Maybe instead the sign on the door of my workplace should read, "We will NOT buy or even act interested in anything you are trying to sell us. Please go away."

As the person who's at the front desk, I have to deal with all the human spam that walks past the no soliciting sign. Today I had a particularly poignant example of this...

Three young guys with their button-down shirts and their khaki pants strut into my front office. They proceed to give me their sales schpeel, even after I point out that the sign on the door says that we do not like solicitors coming into our workplace. The ringleader grins, folds his arms, and leans across my counter, continuing with a lame sales pitch. I tell them, "no, we really aren't interested." They continue. I tell them very emphatically, "we are really not interested. thank you." They finally get that I'm not biting and leave. Here's what I wish I would've thought (and had the nerve) to say:

"Look, bucko. One: There is a "no soliciting" sign on our door, and you are clearly soliciting. Two: DO NOT try to flirt with me to sell your stupid stuff because it's condescending and I'm married. Three: Clearly you have no idea what kind of business this is. We do behavioral interventions with autistic children, and we receive all our clientèle through referrals from school districts and regional centers. We don't need your advertising. and Four: I don't even like baseball! Go away!"

Ah... Vacation

Last week was refreshing. We spent Tuesday to Sunday on the Oregon coast - in a beach house with 14 family members! It was nice not to have a schedule and to be with people who really "know" us - people with whom we can have a "bad day", but who know that's not really us all the time.
We've realized that this past year, while exciting and new, has been stressful with relationships. Because we're trying to get to know so many people, the ends of our evenings sometimes feel like "do you think they liked us?" and "do you think what I said sounded stupid?" rather than being assured that "of course they like us, they've known us forever!" Ya know?

Anyway, it was a great week of seeing wildlife, playing games, watching sunsets, eating GOOD food, and getting big hugs from loved ones. Here is a quick pictorial review (for the rest, go here):

New TV Show Idea

As we sat waiting for our $3.50 screening of The Bourne Ultimatum to begin on Sunday evening, Jon turned to me and said, "They should do a makeover show called, 'Pimp My Pimp.'"

When I got home yesterday evening...

My Friday was pretty ho-hum yesterday. Jon and I had argued before I left for work in the morning, and then again at lunch. When I came home at 5, though, things were different. We apologized, I cried a little from relief, and then I noticed these on the table. "Those are the first apology flowers you've ever given me!" I was pleased. :)

Then I noticed a large box that had been delivered. Worried that I'd ordered something that I couldn't remember, I began opening the box. Inside was a milkshake maker... Very cool, but did I really order this? I pulled out the packing list - "Happy Belated Birthday, Miss Grete!" it read, "Love, Sarah." What a great gift from my awesome cousin! Of course I made a pre-dinner milkshake right away.

After our dinner of waffles and omeletes (yum!), Jon and I walked down to the Paseo Colorado where their outdoor summer swing dancing had begun. Our friends Dave & Krissy and David & Maria waved us over to the dance area. We'd missed the lesson, but joined in with the basic swing step... over and over. (We decided we'd need to learn more before doing it again soon.) After strolling down the street and garnering free gelato from guys offering them outside their store, we ended up at the Pasadena City Hall. We chatted, walked some more, and then parted ways.

To top it off, I slept really well last night on our amazing new mattress.

Summary in Pictures

Ever feel like you have nothing to blog about? Not a lot has happened that merits individual posts, but here are a few pictures about what I've done recently...

We miss having a dishwasher. This particular time we had dirtied every bowl and utensil we own... And then finally found a block of time to clean them all!












As Jon noted on his blog, I began reading a couple pages of the 7th Harry Potter, realized I'd forgotten who characters were, and pulled out the 6th book to review the end.

One week later, after finishing the final Harry Potter (yay!), I read all the websites where J.K. Rowling answered readers' questions - I had a few of my own, which were luckily posted there.

While I was reading, Jon had turned on our A/C unit, and the oscillating fan was pointed directly at me. So I did what anyone would do - turn off the air build a mountain of pillows to block the cold flow of air.

Oh yeah, we also went out to eat (a rare treat!) recently at Souplantation. Jon obviously loves his greens!

Finished!

I just had to post this as a follow-up to my previous post. I'm am finished reading Harry Potter! Feel free to discuss it with me. :)