Morgan's First Birthday Party

Remember that old song that went like, "it's my party, and I can cry if I want to"? Well, Morgan not only cried, but held her breath and then puked!! But again, it was her
party, so she can do what she wants. Morgan won't officially be one until next Saturday, but this was the only time we could do the party. A Saturday night, after work on a holiday week-end. I bit tough, but fun none the less. Below are some pictures of "my kids & family"! And if you notice the tv is also on it was because of the Laker play-off game. And that just added to the noise level of little kids running around cracked out on eating the cake frosting!!







Yes, that is Carolina under the table!! Why? I'm not sure but it did make a cute picture! You know, these are the things in my life that mean the most to me. Not extravagant, not a huge formal affair, just spending time with those that I love. I couldn't be happier! And since it "is" Monday, the morning after "BSC" Sunday, I'm trying to focus on Morgan's birthday than our crazy day yesterday. Here is how it started. Some knucklehead stole the padlock off the bathroom door! Why do you steal the lock without a key? Do you know the answer, I do?? Because it was "BSC" Sunday!!!!

I Can't Go There Sundays

The look on my son Bryce's face pretty much sums up a day at Country Roads on a Sunday. He is tired from leaving the house at 3:30am yesterday to sell at "Vet's", the Long Beach Flea Market. If there was a picture of me here, I would have the same look on my face from working all day at Country Roads. The public, they leave me speechless. If you work in this business, you know what I'm talking about. I can't EVEN go there this morning. People, at times, leave me speechless! After work, my family all got together at this little family owned Mexican restaurant last night to celebrate Brande's birthday. We were upstairs, and everything echoed which the girls loved. As you can tell, "my girls" weren't tired at all. They had a great time. I like to do business with small, family owned businesses. I KNOW how hard they work!! This is a picture of one of our front window displays. It is difficult to take pictures of the window displays because of the glare. I LOVE this display. I pulled a bunch of stuff from my house and gave Bryce and idea of what I wanted, you know, a fun summer themed window. And here is what I got!

Bryce is really good at displaying, and because I love summer and the beach, I fell in love with this window! One of the reasons the window is so hard to display is because we only have about a three foot ledge. Nonetheless, it turned out awesome. With all that said, I best get ready to head out the door to the happiest place on earth, Country Roads! I've got my fingers crossed that customers are nicer today, and checks I take are not "rubber"!! After work, I get to go see a 3-D or 4-D ultra sound of my new grandson. I want to see what my baby boy is going to look like! Have a happy Monday, and behave yourselves in public ;0}

"BSC" Sunday!

We have been so incredibly busy at Country Roads these past three days! I'm so grateful, thankful and appreciative! I'm also SO tired this morning, as I prepare to go back to "the store" today. We had a nice surprise on Saturday. Rachel Ashwell stopped by to shop. I have to tell you, I've known Rachel for many years now, since the early days of her TV show. And Rachel is such a compassionate, strong woman. It was really a pleasure to see her on Saturday and have some time to chat. That was the "good" part of the the week-end at the store. Then there was yesterday!! I knew I was in trouble when I went out to get my newspaper, wet hair in a towel, enjoying the quiet morning. Then I heard "her" as I walked back up my driveway! "Ma'am, excuse me but I have a question". I had to stop and think where I was because it sounded like a customer at the store, until I remembered I was at home. I turned and smiled, and she continued, "do you ever sell anything out of your yard"? I'm pretty sure she didn't know I had a store, so I simply replied, "no". There was no stopping her, "I have another question, do you find a lot of the stuff you have in your yard very often". I tell her I have a store, Country Roads, and it's only twenty minutes away, and we have a garden full of this stuff, and it was nice talking with her. . .then I am cut off! "Here's what I'm looking for" as she lists her requests, and continued to ramble. Finally I had to politely excuse myself telling her I had to get ready to go to work and she was welcome to stop by Country Roads anytime. I wanted to add that she was not welcome to stop in my front yard at anytime though! We were slammed all day and there were a few of the "BSC" customers on the loose. There was one that I swear, I could have "b-slapped". She "throws" a price tag she has pulled off of something on the counter in front of me. Then she continues to tell me how this thing she wants is waaaaay over priced at $79 and the dealer should sell it to her for less!! I simply said, "sorry, I can't help you, and she left". And the bathroom on "BSC" Sunday was the most popular place in ALL of Southern CA yesterday. We ran out of toilet paper before noon! I will not share anymore details on that subject!! After work, my family all got together for dinner. It started off a bit rocky, Riley hit her lip and started crying, which caused Morgan to start crying, and I was the crazy lady with the camera taking pictures through that and our dinner. Here are some of my favorite pictures from our Mother's day dinner!




No matter what kind of day I've had, or if my kids have been fighting with each other or me, I'm always reminded of the importance of family on nights like last night. And to any of you that were dining at the El Torito on PCH in Long Beach, I do apologize for the craziness of our family and my camera with the flash going off all night. But, hey it was "BSC" Sunday, and I felt it was my turn to participate!

"Whoo-Whoo's On Fire"

By the picture above, you have to know what day yesterday was. . ."BSC" Sunday!! The past couple of weeks our Sundays have been nice, they have been mellow and I was beginning to think those "BSC" Sundays of the past were gone! Sadly, they made up for lost time yesterday. Maybe it was the big, bright full moon, maybe the "BSC" customers have been gone for awhile, I'm just not sure. The day started with a big furniture pick-up and two men just watched as Carol & Yesi struggled with carrying out big pieces of furniture. While this was going on, I think all bathrooms in Orange County must have been broken. Everyone, and I mean "everyone" needed to use the bathroom!! After a report we were out of toilet paper, and Carol went to get some, she noticed a box of Clorox Disinfective Wipes was open. You know the wipes you use to wipe down sinks, a toilet seat, etc? Well, our customers decided to wipe their "whoo-whoo's" with these. Now think about, don't you think that just might set a few "whoo-whoo's" on fire? When I was a kid, my dad always called our crouch area "whoo-whoo's"! I have NO reason why, and actually had forgotten about that until a couple of years. So, yesterday was a day of shoppers with "whoo-whoo's" on fire. Maybe that contributed to their mean and ugly attitudes. Then I watched this guy take the bathroom key three times. After the third time, he approached me to report that there we NO paper towels in the bathroom! I just looked at him and said, "there are NO paper towels in the ENTIRE store", which was true. Wouldn't it be nice if the City of Orange actually had public bathrooms? Just saying! I seriously could go on and on about all the "BSC" customers yesterday! It was like a bus just stopped at the store and let set them free. Then towards the end of the day, I'm starting to walk down the aisle when I see him! I was almost blinded by the sight. This man, who probably at one point in his life should have had braces appears before me. His shorts were plaid, his shirt was a tropical print, white socks with stripes on the top and loafers!! Do people ever actually look in a mirror. Then he begins to talk which is even worse than his appearance. He asks me if that picture above is "of somebody". I am trying to be polite and say, "somebody who"??? Then I believe he said, "you know an Eisenhower". At that point, I just shook my head, and said "sorry, not a clue" and ran away as fast as I could. So, with all that said, it was a rough "BSC" Sunday yesterday, especially with people running around with their "whoo-whoo's" on fire!!

"BSC" Sunday!

I'm back, sorry my guest writer bailed on my for last week's "BSC" Sunday post. Thanks Brande, not! This "BSC" Sunday was so ever special. We also had all the streets in Old Towne Orange closed for the annual Orange Rotary Car Show. This "is" supposed to be for charity which I think is awesome, but none the less, it doesn't make doing business any easier when the streets surrounding your store are closed and customers are pissed off because they actually, are you ready for this, had to WALK!And before I go any further, please note that Brande took a couple of pictures with my ever so special handicapped camera and then came back yesterday and told me that my camera sucked. Then the battery died! And I looked at her and said, "duh, you think it sucks, I KNOW it sucks"! I try to be easy going on a day like yesterday. You come to open the store, the car dudes have their chairs and beer coolers blocking your front door, etc. But I do have to say they were cool about moving, but none the less it is a struggle. They have some really cool cars, which periodically during the day, a male owner of said cool cars is encouraged to turn on said car and rev up the engine as loud as they can go. No problem "dude", I will ask my customer that is begging to use my bathroom because they are going to pee their pants, right there, in my store, to just "hold on just a second". The City provided nice portables for the public but somehow the "special customers", well, they just couldn't "go there". Ours was closed for the day, with a note on the bathroom door and front door that I wrote. It said, "sorry, due to customer abuse of our bathroom it is closed for the day". So even though people have read the "sign", they stand in front of you either squeezing their legs together, doing the pee-pee dance, asking where you go to the bathroom (please), or begging to use yours anyway. Nope, I was NOT handing out that bright blue letter "B" key today!! And it was so nice not to have to repeat "bathroom directions" a hundred times a day! The day was a mixture of "pee-pee dancers" along with some really nice customers, to Brande scoring this awesome bike for $75! Hidea, you rock! Not too long into the day, IT happened. We have some very exceptional special customers. It's like you glance up and just say, "shit"! Then your strategy is to pass them off to one of your unexpecting co-workers. And when THAT happens, they say, "shit"! The first one that came in is draining. Brande had never worked with her before and said, "no, I think she is disabled, her hands shake". I said, "no" but knock yourself out to help her. It wasn't long before Brande knew what I meant. Then, I swear, within 30 minutes I look up and one of our other "special" customers came through the door. You can always identify her, she is the one with the black rain cloud over her head!! I knew we were screwed. This ONE will stay, and stay and the ONLY thing she ever, ever talks about is how bad she feels, how bad and awful her husband is, and about how awful life is and on, and on she goes. She is the poster child for www.my lifesucks.com!!! By then, let me tell you we were on a roll! We had a customer that spent over a half an hour trying to decide which doily she should buy. Seriously, if you give a doily that much thought, how do you get through the rest of your day? Of course we had the usual customers that tried to convince us they wanted the stuff they picked out for free, or it should be cheaper because it looks "old and used", you know, maybe as in vintage! On and on it went. It was a never ending day. I looked at the little bus across the street from us, pictured above that was all decked out. Did I see a bar in the back of it? And I was waaaaaay ready to board the "Over the Hill Gang" bus, as long as it would just get me the hell out of Country Roads and Old Towne Orange! And then you will never, ever believe what happened. It was like the clouds parted and an angel walked through our "door" and she came up to the counter to see me with a brown bag in hand. She smiled and said, "here"! I touched the bag, I felt the bag, I hugged the bag because I knew what was inside! My angel has a name, Sandy Kiwana. I'm hoping I spelled her name right. She brought me six, cold Coronas! Sandy has been a customer from the early days, as in when we first opened. She follows our "BSC" Sunday posts. I've got to tell you, I think that is the best gift I have ever, ever received on a "BSC" Sunday!! Seriously, you rock Sandy and thank you so very much. You made my day. It is nice to be appreciated by our customers, they are the best. So, with all that said, it's Monday and I have a whole new week ahead. Oh wait, Monday, damn, I have to go back to "the store" today! Let's hope for mellowness! And again, thank you Sandy!

BSC Sundays, Easter Sale, & Earthquakes!

Wow, I really thought "BSC" Sundays wouldn't hit yesterday; you know with it being Easter and all! I should have known I was in trouble when all three of my kids went "BSC" on me. I think everyone was arguing with each other BEFORE the store even opened! Good times!! Country Roads did start out pretty mellow, not very crowded and people were pretty easy going. Then by late afternoon, the "BSC" in some of our special customers started to come out. I knew we were in trouble. One was paranoid we wouldn't tag her layaway. Three of us tried to reassure her that we may "look" like we know what we are doing, but trust me, we've been doing this along time and know exactly where it is. Another "special" lady continued on a tangent about getting an item that was marked 20% off for even less than that. She was like a dog with a bone, wouldn't let go! I think we all took a turn with her! One of these days, I promise you, I'm going to look at one of "those" people and say, "hey, about FREE"!! Morgan stopped by for a visit in her Easter dress. Brande introduced her to our mascot, the bull with the cop hat. I tried to edit the "red eyes" but one remained red. Maybe she is signaling us that it WILL be a "BSC" Sunday! As we neared closing, and the customers were becoming more and more "BSC", it happened, the big 7.2 earthquake. Katie is wrapping a plate and asks me, "are you jumping on the loose board"? We have a platform at the counter and one of the boards is loose. I told her I wasn't and she thought she was not feeling good. Katie sits down, says she feels dizzy. And me and my Japanese customer, we continue with her order still don't notice anything. THEN, all of a sudden, this older hippy biker says, "wow, this is like a drug trip from the 70's, we're having an earthquake and it's STILL going"! I still don't feel it. But at that point, I too felt a bit light headed but started looking around the store. Chandeliers were swinging for quite awhile. A big wicker swing kicked into action as well. It was a little creepy to see all the stuff moving for such a long time. When I got home after my "BSC" Sunday, I looked outside at my pool. The cover on the filter had been knocked off, about an inch of water "left" the pool and was on the deck along with a big puddle of water in the street where the overflow water goes. Did I mention, I hate earthquakes! With all that behind me, all my family arrived for Easter. My sister Teri, and her partner, Linda kindly brought over the entire dinner and set it all up as well. I can't even begin to tell you how awesome that was! The girls went on their Easter egg hunt, and as usual, they both spent some time in "my boy Bryce's" lap! I do want to thank all of you for shopping with us, I appreciate it. I also want to thank the "special" customers for shopping with too, as they give me a story to write about!

"BSC" Sunday

You know if this is the first picture you see on one of my "BSC" Sunday's, it means it was a BAD day! The day started off rather mellow, as most Sundays do. With the time change, that helped us have some time to face the public and their craziness. It was really a beautiful day outside yesterday. The flowers were blooming in our Johnnye Merle Gardens, the store was peaceful and I "started" to enjoy taking pictures. Here is a tip for anyone that thinks they can save some money when they buy a camera that was a display model. Even if you get 30 percent off, there is a reason! My camera button that you push to take the pictures got stuck. Then the camera button that turns the camera off and on would get stuck. How did Brande help me fix it? You have to take the battery out. You know that battery that I had just charged and was dying by the end of the day. About the same time as the camera issue, our day started! When Brande had gone to Starbucks someone had spray painted the above on on of the walls in Old Towne. I would like to think it was the two, fancy most OBNOXIOUS women of earth that we all wanted to strangle. Brande encountered them on the sales floor first. It was $32 chair. They basically wanted it for free. I was at the counter with Brande when they came up to pay. The more obnoxious of the two started, "you guys are killing me, can't you give me a break here". We just said no. Then she persists, "can't you just eat the sale tax", this is when I REALLY wanted to suggest she personally "eat" you know what! Instead I gave her the lecture of how in the state of California you are required to actually charge tax. I told her if she didn't want to buy it, no worries, which she did end up buying her stupid chair. As Brande said, "if you are going to act like a fancy, rich, you know what" then why be an ass over $32! People are truly BSC!! On a much happier note, I want to wish Arianna (Carol's little girl) a big happy birthday! I can't believe she is four years old today. I remember going to visit her after she was born at the hospital and it didn't seem THAT long ago. This Azul, who is Ari's little brother. Every time you ask him to smile for a picture, you get the same little look on his face. It's his pirate smile!! And the vintage egg crate he is clinging too that holds fake eggs? Azul's new thing is to climb into the refrig at home, search for the eggs, then he throws them one by one on the floor. Azul likes to watch them "explode"! Boys, and I'll have my own here pretty soon! Let's hope my customers today are kinder and gentler!

I just got home from another equally trying Monday at Country Roads! Thank God I'm off for the next few days. I did have to add something, that I forgot to put in this morning. At the very, very end of the day a guy walked up to the counter. I quickly said, "I'll be right with you" without really looking AT him! When I went over to write his order up and actually "looked" at him", well all I can say is he was the most "beautiful boy" ever! I'm guessing in his late 20's! He caught Brande's attention as well. His eyes were ocean blue & they sparkled, full head of sandy blonde hair, with a scruffy unshaven look. He was beautiful, and nice. He was asking about all the boardwalk we use in the store that use to be the boardwalk in Laguna Beach. When I told him, he was so into it and smiled and said, "shut up, awesome"! He lives in Laguna Beach. So we chatted a bit more as he told me what he was going to do with the stuff he bought. I just stared, seriously, I just stared at the most beautiful boy I think I've ever seen. As he left, I noticed how nicely his Levis fit him! I guess there is a word for people like me. Is it that "cougar" word???

Monday Madness

Monday morning, running short on time! I've got lots to do today. In a few minutes, Riley & I are going with her mommy and daddy to take a peek at her baby brother. See how he's cookin' in the oven! We are going to the 3-D ultra sound then I'm off to work, a bit late though. I'll have to catch everyone up on our BSC Sunday later. Let's just put it this way. I watched part of the Academy Awards at El Torito. I needed to have a delicious Pomegranite Cadallac margarita! It helped me get over BSC Sunday! Also, I was so, so happy with all the winners of the Academy Awards. I love Sandra Bullock, Jeff Bridges, Mon'ique and to see the first female director EVER to win an academy was totally awesome. So, as I'm still trying to wake up and head out the door for a very busy day, I just wanted to thank all of you that shopped with us this past week-end. Even are favorite BSC customers. You never let us down!!

My Boy Bryce

Bryce "hit the highway" last night to sell at Alameda today. I look out my front window, his truck (that he just got out of the shop after weeks of repair) is loaded beyond your wildest imagination. It is raining, it is raining hard! I watch him pack for his trip. He comes out of his room with a lime green tote bag,which has a big cartoon panda on the front with green bamboo shoots behind the panda bear. I'm guessing it's Morgan's bag?? He fills the bag with several small bags of chips, water, soda, and I don't believe I saw anything resembling nutritional food get tossed into the bag. He grabs a few other essentials, and tells me his headed up to LA first to meet David (another young dealer at our store). They are following each other on theircaravan to Alameda, which for those that don't live here is near San Francisco. He tells me it should only take them six hours and he will text me in the morning. I watch out the window as he pulls away and I say a little prayer that he will arrive safely. He texts me a short time later to thank me for my help. I text him back and tell him to text me in the morning that he got there safely and that I love him. His text back, "K, love you too". I go to bed feeling somewhat better. I wake up this morning, and is there a text waiting??? What do you think? It's "my boy Bryce", off course not! I text him, he arrived safely, and sent me these pictures to share. I have NO idea why the pix's are tiny, damn iphones!!




He's learning this business well, and I know (hope) as he gets older, he will slow down a bit, take his time more, plan better, all the things that will help ME sleep better. I'm also a realist, so I don't count too heavily on this wish of mine! When I look at Morgan these days, and I see so much of "my boy Bryce" in her. I say a prayer thanking God for giving him a girl!! I couldn't imagine what it would be like for Bryce to have a son! A "mini" Bryce might really do me in!! Bryce makes me crazy as is, although I've always had a bit of that craziness in me as well. Not like our "BSC" Sunday customers, just a little crazy! Oh no, I just realized what day it is. It IS the dreaded "BSC" Sunday!! Better savor my last quiet moments here at the computer before I enter the world of the "BSC's"!!!

A Busy BSC Week-End!

Usually, we are only fortunate enough to experience a BSC Sunday. But I'll be damned, we had our BSC customers ALL week-end long! And I want to give a special "shout out" to the moon that shined so brightly all week-end long! It really intensified the atmosphere for our BSC week-end. Yesterday we got a break from the rain and the sun came out for awhile. But it was still cold. I had stepped outside of the store to throw something in the trash on the corner. I noticed cars slowing down, my customers looking across the street and staring. As I turned to see what everyone was looking at, well, this is what we all saw! I'm hoping that this young lady was just enjoying our California sunshine! But, I have to say one thing. I do believe that even when tanning on a dirty city street, your legs should be together and less of your body should be in the gutter and street! Again, that is just a suggestion for the next time anyone decides to soak up the rays of the sun! And to the rest of our BSC customers that visited us this week-end, well, "bless your little hearts" and I apologize for not being able to sell you any and everything in the store for five bucks! When I flew over to Maui last week, the surf was awesome! Actually, I went to Maui in my dreams. This is the surf down at Sunset Beach yesterday. AND, this beach never has waves this size! Go figure.Brande has decided to go for an early morning bike ride before working at the store yesterday morning. As she peddled "down" to Huntington Beach, things were fine. However, when she turned her bike around to head home to Seal Beach, it was a whole different story as you can see. And what is always amazing in situations like this is when little cars think they can just drive through a flooded PCH like they are driving a Hummer or something! This is the Seal Beach parking lot by the pier after high tide! All I can say is I'm glad I was on my way to work and not parked in this lot! So, all and all between the full moon, the BSC customers ALL week-end long, and the high tide, my days, as usual, are never boring!