Super daisies!

Seemingly overnight, these daisies popped up out of nowhere. I had completely forgotten about planting them last spring. I love that about perennials! And they really "pop" against our freshly painted house (finally!).

Happy Birthday Dad!

Today's my dad's birthday. Happy Birthday!!

May has been a crazy month!! I can't believe there are so many activities associated with the final weeks of school. By noon tomorrow, we'll be done!! Yay!!! No more homework, no more books ... :)

Other highlights included Mother's Day, our 13th anniversary, a garage sale, high school graduations (friends) and a baby shower for Amber! And last week we hosted a couple college students who are members of the California Baptist University choir. They were soooo talented and such friendly girls. We enjoyed having them with us for a night.

The GM strike put a slight kink in our otherwise regular schedules. Mike was off work 14 days, and he returns tomorrow for one day; then he's on vacation Friday and doesn't have to go back until Tuesday. It was nice having him home to help with the kids and household chores. It definitely would have become uncomfortable (financially) if it lasted too much longer, though. We're thankful they resolved the issues.

In only 70 more days I'll get some time off work, too. I leave for Brazil July 31. I can't wait to get a break from my routine and see what life is like in another culture. I'm anxious to find out how it will change my perspective.

In the meantime, Nicholas and his fellow Crawdads have started the baseball season looking strong. Go Crawdads!

Thanks, Starbucks

I didn't really expect a response to the message I sent to the Starbucks Customer Service center via their Web site ... I figured after I hit "send," my words would go into cyberspace, and nothing would happen.

Imagine my surprise when I received an email from Starbucks within eight hours of lodging my complaint! They had already followed up with the manager of the location I had visited, AND they assured me raspberry syrup was now in stock. They also promised to send me a package of coupons -- a nice, simple gesture that demonstrates that they DO care about their customers and want to keep them.

Thanks, Starbucks!

No bucks for Starbucks!

For the third time in eight days, I have not been able to get my fave drink --raspberry mocha -- at Starbucks because they were out of raspberry syrup. Nor could I get my second or third choices -- peppermint mocha or cinnamon spice mocha -- due to depleted supplies. The first time this happened, I opted for a drink the cashier recommended, but I didn't like it. On my second and third visits, I refused to pay $4 for a drink I really didn't want, so I left empty handed.

The service offered in these situations was severely disappointing. At no point did anyone offer to give me a coupon for a free cup of coffee -- or a free pastry -- ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to acknowledge my inconvenience or their desire to please (and keep) a frequent customer. On each of these visits I spent at least 10 minutes in line only to leave empty handed or with something I didn't like. Do you like having your time wasted -- especially in the morning on your way to work?

Today (on my third visit) I entered the store optimistically -- I even picked out a new coffee mug while I waited in line ... only to find out they still had no raspberry syrup -- nor the ingredients to make my other favorites. I expressed my dilemma to the barista, and I got a very weak and unsympathetic reply -- "It's not our fault. They ship stuff to us on an automatic schedule." Was that supposed to make me feel better??!

On my way out of the store, she smiled and said in her caffeine-induced chipper tone, "You can write Starbucks a letter." I'm sure glad SHE was willing to do something about the situation!
So I did. I sent Starbucks a letter via their Web site describing my experiences and ended with the following question: Can you give me one single reason why I should continue to be a loyal Starbucks customer?

I think it would be great if they shipped me a box of coffee, mocha powder and raspberry syrup, don't you?!