What's wrong with this picture?

Was this supposed to be a clever add or have I been missing 2 days a week?

What did I just agree to?

I am not a huge shopper but I do like clothes. Being short and wide its hard to find something that looks good and is comfortable. So why did I just agree to Karyn's Challenge here?
I have been accused of being a bit of a tree hugger, and I do really hug trees sometimes as illustrated here:



















(photo by ryan gwillim)

However, I don't always do my part to save the planet. That's right, I admit that sometimes I get lazy and use plastic bags instead of washing out my sandwich Tupperware and reusing it. I often forget to bring my reusable bags to the store and although I try to have them stuff everything in one bag I don't always say anything when they double bag it.
I do want to do my part in simple living though. I want a garden I actually use and I want to be able to say that I am honestly trying to live more green without thinking of my horrible consumer habits in the back of my mind. And I don't want to be a trend that fades in a couple months. If I don't do my part who is going to do it for me?
So even though I feel like I am signing a contract that scares the crap out of me, Thank you Karyn for kicking me in the butt and making me live up to the accusations of tree hugger in at least a small way.
As Karyn puts it "in the name of recycling, living simply, and polar bears. I vow not to purchase any new clothing for the next 2 years." (Although I might change the polar bears to owls, they are cuter.)
Anyone else in? You should take the challenge too, everyone is doing it. (note the peer pressure...)

Spoons

Did you ever have a favorite spoon when you were a kid? The one spoon you always looked for in the drawer when it was your turn to set the table just so you could make sure to get that spoon. The one with the pretty flowers. Not that it was any different function wise than any other spoon but it was your favorite.
Confession: I have two now. Selfish? yes.
I think I could literally get rid of all my other spoons and be content with just the two. One long tea spoon and one wide soup spoon. They certainly are shaped different than the other spoons in the house but there is absolutely no real reason they should be my favorites. They just are.
There was no reason for this blog. Just my thoughts on spoons.

United Sucks

Apparently I am not a fan of United Airlines, as evidenced by the onslaught of annoyed texts I sent Katie in my traveling frenzy Sunday.
I am not really one who complains to companies about their service. Actually I don't think I have ever sent a formal complaint to a company. There have been times when I should have, like when the Best Buy jerkface made me cry, but still did not feel the need. However if you mess with a senior citizen you will be messing with me.
I have always had a soft spot for Seniors. From their stories of old times to their set in their ways attitudes. There is history in their eyes that you just can't read in a book. Sunday a very unhappy flight attendant decided to take her attitude out on the poor guy sitting in my aisle.
Below is my letter to the airline and their response:

Hello,

I just returned from a trip last night flying with United for the first time and was greatly disturbed by the way one of the Flight Attendants treated the elderly gentleman sitting next to me on my flight 859 from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco, CA.

When it was time to serve the complementary drinks the Flight Attendant took my order and tried to grab the man's attention, however he was looking out the window and quite obviously hard of hearing. I turned and tapped him on the shoulder for her but when we turned back she had already walked away to get my drink.

Upon her return he quite politely asked for a drink and to my utter astonishment she scoffed at him giving him a very nasty look, nearly spitting on me while doing so then walked off grumbling to herself. When she returned she shoved the drink into his hand and he politely thanked her only to receive a very hard smile in return.

I understand that the drink service is complementary, however I would think that like most airlines, United would strive for their employees to serve with a smile, complementary or not. What's more, being that the gentlemen quite obviously did not or could not hear her I would have never imagined she would have treated him with such disrespect, its common respect for another human being.

I have done my share of travel domestic and international in the past and I have never come across the amount of hiccups I had while traveling with United. Most were small and not worth mentioning as I am not one to usually complain. I could not however in good conscious disregard the Flight Attendant’s actions.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. It is my hope that United might find it in their best interest to send some sort of apology to the gentlemen in seat 22A who was the unfortunate blunt of United’s unhappy Flight Attendant.

Best regards,

Tamara Leeper

RESPONSE:

Dear Ms. Leeper,

I regret to learn from your report about the unsatisfactory behavior of
one of our flight attendants.

To begin, customer satisfaction is an integral part of our commitment to
you, therefore, we expect our employees to treat our guests with
courtesy and respect while providing attentive, professional, service at
all times. The unprofessional conduct you report is unacceptable and
never tolerated. Rest assured, I have shared your comments with the
In-Flight Management Team for their internal review with the flight
attendant involved. Please know reports of this nature are taken very
seriously and are given our complete attention.

Please give us an opportunity to provide you the service you expect from
United Airlines.

Regards,

No United, I don't think I will. Thanks though.

I never claimed I was a Geometer

I flew to Oregon to see Ryan who took me to see wilderness that is actually green. Yes folks/fellow San Diegans, hiking destinations that are green.
Yesterday we hiked 15 miles and I saw so many waterfalls that I actually started getting picky with which ones I was impressed with (oh, thousands or millions of pounds of water pressure pounding into a pool from 200 feet? If you like that sort of thing I guess it is cool. Nature and all, whatever.)
The hiking and views were of course AMAZING and everything was so HUGE. I managed to forget my slight fear of heights for the day and walk a foot away from 100+ foot drops and cross bridges (even standing on the hand rails of one!) that looked over huge ravines with water flowing below.
Besides the excellent hiking there has been side splitting laughter and the inability (unability) to actually articulate anything I am saying. i.e. Geographer is equal to Geometer and Portland is next to the ocean (it is not FYI). Also they use metal forks here apparently, to which I showed my utter amazement. In actuality I thought Ryan had a metal spork and exclaimed "Is that a metal FORK?!?" only to have Chris and Ryan look at me as if I had lost my mind.
Anyway click here for pictures from the hiking! And a couple below too....

Excited, An understatment

This month I, Tamara Leeper, get the distinct pleasure of flying to Portland to:

1. See Ryan and Chris who ditched the San Diego friends to be cool and live in Oregon like everyone else eventually does. I can't even poke fun at them cause they are not even posers as proved by their incredible photograpy.
   
2. Hike in the Oregon wilderness with the promise of waterfalls. Something that has been on my list of things to do for years because Oregon = green and reminds me of Nor Cal unlike the desert of So Cal.
3. See Karyn, who sadly I have not seen in like AT LEAST 5 years and that is stretching it. I love Karyn :)

So thank you William Shatner for your incredible negotiator skills.

Menthol Monster

My sister is weird. I love her and I am practically her myself however, sometimes I think, "whaaaaa?"
Yesterday I received a package from Jenni containing three things:

1. A card, of course. With piglet on it and mushy gushy stuff like "I love and miss you" I am okay with that mushy gushy stuff.
2. An awesome handmade scarf that is super soft.
   
3. And finally, last but certainly not least, the reason for this blog entry entirely: the menthol smelling sock monster below

I do not pretend that I get this little monster in the least. It has given me quite a few laughs though. Jenni WHAT is it? LOL