Witnessing History

Well, it is probably pretty clear that they type of history I am witnessing is not the type of history I had hoped to witness, but I cast my vote, as did the rest of America and our country has spoken - loud and clear. I truly believe the first day the bottom fell out of the market was the day the nail was hammered into McCain's coffin.

We will see if Barack is a talker or a doer. It also appears the Dems will be in control of Congress...I just hope that someone keeps control of the checkbook and does not start giving them blank checks. It will be interesting to see how the market reacts to all of this - according to my financial advisor, the markets tend to respond more favorably to a Republican than a Democrat...I have already watched my hard earned money decrease in excess of 10%. Although everyone says "you won't need that money for a long time and it will come back" it is definitely discouraging to see it continue to fall - esp because I have been very disciplined about saving a fairly significant portion of my paycheck for retirement.

So for all you Obama supporters, congratulations - we will see if your man walks the walk as well as he talks the talk.

Traveling is hard work

I have forgotten how much traveling wares me out. I have come back to the hotel for the last 2 nights and have napped before dinner. Yikes!! This upcoming weekend, I am headed to Cali to see Adrienne before going to Las Vegas for a conference for work, and the thought of getting on a plane is not my favorite right now. Hopefully, the ride home tomorrow will not be bad - we were able to come here to Indiana on the Corp Jet, but have to fly home from Midway (my company HQ is about an hour away from Midway Airport in Chicago).

I know, I know, you all can get your violins out...

My Agility Weekend

Hello everyone,

Well, after a not so great start to my weekend, I rebounded to finish with three straight Q's! My fellow competitors and I had some difficulty with the first jump of the weekend on our standard run on Saturday - I did not just tick the bar with my little toes, I barreled through it. I told mom not to fill the dirt in behind the first jump, but to dig it out, so I had some traction - filling it in gave me no traction to be able to jump. Jesus lady - in all those years you played ball, did you ever fill the batters box? I think not - I do believe you dug it out. Thank god mom is a fast learner - she made sure there were not dirt piles for me to run through to get to the first jump today.

I am now two Q's away from earning my MX and MXJ, my last titles before my MACH. I earned one dbl Q and 19 MACH pts for my efforts this weekend. Mom forgot treats this morning, but thankfully my friend Webster's mom shared his treats with me. I also got banished to my friend Grant's house after the competition was over, so mom could go shopping. I got to play in Grant's HUGE backyard with him and his sister Sandy. Mom FINALLY came and got me, and FINALLY took me home for dinner.

Thankfully, my old lady is going to work tomorrow. I have to rest from all my hard work this weekend. Have a great week everyone!!

Very Sincerely,

Chelsie Belle

PS From Mom - bad news for you my little bean. Grammie is coming to get you in the morning. Mommy's suitcase will be coming out tonight!! :)

All the Republican in me...

Its probably crystal clear what my political position is, and I normally would not post something like this, but I laughed pretty hard at this. What even funnier is who it came from - it came from this guy my mom used to work with, and I can totally picture him sending something like this. Enjoy - and join me in thanking God that it will be over on Wednesday. Be sure to cast your vote on Tuesday!!

I seriously just had this conversation?

Be warned...this is a shallow post, probably more like a rant than anything.

My new favorite store (even after this incident) is White House, Black Market. I had a coupon that expired today, and was in search of this beautiful shirt I loved, just not at the full price it was when I tried it on. It had gone on sale, so I called the stores here locally and they said they sent it to the outlet. I call the outlet, they have it, they hold it I go down there - to find a huge sale. One item on sale was this pair of black pants - I have a pair I paid full price for, and have absolutely zero regrets about, because every woman should have a pair of black pants that make her feel this good. They don't have my size, no big deal. But as I got further away, I decided I needed to have them see if they could find another pair, because they were only $30.

Like I did before, I called the store and told them I was there earlier, they did not have pants in my size and could they call the other outlet to see if they had them? This is what the girl told me:

"We don't answer calls from other stores on weekends because we might be too busy. You have to wait and call the other store in the morning."

I was dumbfounded - I asked her what they did if a customer was standing there and wanted something they did not have. She repeated the above. I said, fine, whatever, and that I found that incredibly hard to believe given the high level of customer service they have always provided when I have been there.

Please, gentle readers, tell me you think the nature of this conversation was as crazy as I do - especially given the current situation for retailers in this economy!!! I still can't believe it. The next time I go into the store here at Easton or UA, I am going to say something to the manager about this. I find it absolutely astonishing that this would indeed be the policy from this store.

It should be noted that I got 3 shirts, 2 pairs of pants, a dress (that definitely challenges my comfort zone - but is "sh*t hot" as my friend Diane would say) and 2 necklaces for $162. I had a coupon for $50 off $200 or more, plus my White House member discount (that 5% adds up!) I also FINALLY found some decent turtlenecks that were not $70 at the Ann Taylor outlet...thank god. If anyone can tell me where I can find a black winter cardigan type sweater, I would greatly appreciate it - I need one that is a little heavier than I currently have, given that my office has an entire wall of windows...

What night for college football!

Wow! The end of the Texas Tech/Texas game was amazing!!! Can anyone explain to me why Texas kicked off and gave the Red Raiders a chance to run it back with a minute and 30 seconds left??? They ran it back over halfway down the field!!! What a game!

I am sure you have all noticed the songs I have added to the blog...I couldn't help it. I mean, its fall and I live in Columbus, Ohio!!! For all my softball girls out there, I hope hearing these songs brings back special memories of fall and football. I got chills just hearing them as I loaded them on...be sure to listen to the Carmen Ohio version I have on here...I love it, it is so, so awesome.

For all you non OSU grads out there, my play list is a list of songs that are near and dear to every fan's heart. The one missing song on here is Script Ohio, there was a load problem with it from the playlist website. You have not lived until you have come to an Ohio State Football game and seen Script Ohio!!

HEY, BUCKEYE FANS, WHAT TIME IS IT????

Growing Up so Fast...

So, as you all probably read on Belinda's blog, I went up and handed out candy last night. Bryce and Teagan were just too darn cute all dressed up in their costumes!!!

It had been about a week and half since I had seen them, and as I was driving away last night...it hit me how much they had changed just in that short time period. About the only notable physical difference I can call out is the little curls that suddenly have appeared over Teagan's ears, but Bryce seemed just all of a sudden seems to have just really grown up...all in a week and half.

I better watch out...a few weeks from now, he may be driving something other than his trains on the floor in the living room. We love coming to hang out with you Bryce and Teagan!!! (and I guess you too Mark and B! :) )