Who Are You Calling Little?!?!

What's the deal with the blog title, one might ask? Even my husband didn't even know why I named my blogsite "Who Are You Calling Little?"! So here is the story:

Years ago, actually almost a decade ago(!), I worked in the Telephone Information Center of a financial aid office at a large university. I started out as a lowly phone counselor, talking to students, parents and other seeking financial aid information all day long, day in, day out. It was pretty routine, most of the time. One day, a department advisor from the Fine Arts college called on behalf of one of his students. (Department advisors are there to help the students who declare their major in that particular department). This advisor was, of course, seeking more aid for his student, who was probably sitting in his office either sobbing or carrying on in some dramatic fashion. Anyway, this advisor got a little snippy with me when I told him his student had been awarded all the aid he was eligible for. And of course, said advisor demanded to speak with a 'supervisor', threatened to complain to a higher power, etc. etc. etc. (yes, this happened all the time and I was quite immune to his rantings). I told him I would put him on hold and speak to my supervisor about this student's case (BTW, I rarely ever summoned the supervisor; this is something that people who work in customer service do all the time to get the irate person to shut up and calm down). I didn't even put the call on hold, merely pressed 'Mute' so I could give him a 'telephone time-out.' But the annoyed advisor really thought I had put him on hold, so while he was waiting, he started trash-talking me! It went something like this:
"That little bitch actually put me on hold! Who the hell does she think she is? Blah-blah-blah . . ." I'm fairly sure he was talking to his student, and I have to say, *such language* in front of our young and impressionable college kids!
I was more than a little irritated now, so I cut the 'Mute' button and told him "Just so you know, I can hear every word you're saying while you're on hold, Sir."
His response? "Oh." And then, in a whisper to the invisible student, "She can hear me!"
I think I ended up patching his call through to some other counselor who had $$-granting powers so I wouldn't have to deal with his snippy self anymore. Meanwhile, my friend sitting at the cube next to me was cracking up as I had already told her what Mr.-Snippy-Advisor had said about me, and she said I should have picked up the phone and yelled "Who Are You Calling Little????"
The moral is: You can call me a 'witch with a B', but I will not stand for being called LITTLE by someone who doesn't even know how tall I am!!!

The Cake Bu$ine$$

My friend Rachel emailed me the most fabulous cake decorating article. Apparently there is a new movie coming out (or already out in some cities) about 2 rival, high-end cake decorators! Cake ladies have hit the big time!!! I can't wait to see it. In the movie, the cake decorators charge something like $20,000 per cake, or $20/slice! I wish . . . ! Actually, I have definitely noticed a growing interest in cake decorating in the 8 years since I started, and judging from the recent demand for new, technically challenging Wilton Method Cake Courses, people are quite interested in cake decorating as both a hobby and a 'dream business.' I am happy to be a small part of all of this! 'Small' as in $2/slice!
The Mom of one of my daughter's friends told me yesterday, at the 2nd kids birthday party of the weekend for which I made the cake, that she really envied me because of my cake biz! Wow! She said she wished she could do the same, so I told her to 'just do it!' All you need is some really supportive friends to get you started . . . oh, and a little bit of talent. . . . !

Old Enough

For some reason, I feel like I should be starting each post with the words "Dear Diary"! I kept a journal, on and off, for many years, starting in elementary school through graduate school. It amazes me that scores of people now have their own online "diaries" out there, and many of them available for anyone to read. Whatever happened to the notion of the diary with the lock and key?! Incidentally, I am actually old enough to have had a diary (from Hallmark) with a brass lock and key, which made me feel so important when I was 9 years old!

Speaking of being "old" . . . turning 35 has been such a shock to my entire system-- physically, emotionally, etc. Turning 30 was really kind of a nothing, simply a continuation of my free-wheeling 20s. But I really hit the wall with #35! Beyond the physical markers that I've passed this year on the gameboard of Life, I find even more surprising the little cultural markers along the way too. For example, just yesterday I realized after reading a snippet in the paper about the new 'Superman' movie that I am actually old enough to remember both the 1st 'Superman' movie from the 70s as well as the remake. Then I realized that I am old enough to have lived through 2 releases of totally different 'Batman' movies (Batman 1989 and Batman 2005) as an adult!

Now that I am 35, I have also found myself looking back at my childhood quite frequently with a flood of nostalgia. Part of this is because I am a Mom, and truly do relive aspects of my childhood each and every day with my girls. Part of it is also because looking backwards can be so much fun, and sometimes quite revealing. I have even found myself searching online for obscure 70s phrases and themes that I remember from when I was young. 'Battle of the Planets', anyone?! That's the thing about getting 'old' too--when you look backwards, everything is a little bit hazier the further back you go, so I find myself trying to 'sharpen' my memories a bit by delving into them. I'm not entirely sure why this is important to me, but it probably has something to do with turning 35!

"PRICELESS"

5 year old daughter's Dance Recital Fee : $80

Hair stylist to put 5 year old daughter's hair in regulation-bun for Dance Recital: $20

5 year old daughter's Dance Recital Costume: $67

CD of Dance Recital Music: $5

2 year old daughter left at home with Babysitter during Dance Recital: $68

1 pair of matte pink tights required for Dance Recital: $12

1/2 page ad in the Dance Recital Program: $100

Parking downtown during the Dance Recital: $18

Watching our daughter for 6 minutes onstage: PRICELESS!

There are some things money can't buy. For everything else, there's Dylan & Melissa's MasterCard!!!

Ha ha ha . . . I joked the other day to a friend that our Dance Recital experience last week would make a splendid MC Priceless commercial, so then I decided to write my own! It hurts (my wallet) to think about it! But in the end, the Recital (just like everything else in life) costs what it costs, and it's always exciting to see your kid having her 'moment' onstage! Even when she forgets the ballet steps . . . !

Backstage, Thalia & friends just can't keep still!

Editing Myself

My oh my! I haven't posted a blog since last Fall! But *in my head* I have written some fantastic pieces . . . really! My OFFICIAL reason for not blogging is the lack of time I've had since last Sept. The real, deep down reason is that I am secretly afraid to put words down on paper (ok, computer) that represent me, my thoughts, my opinions, etc. Even when I know no one is reading them! Strange? Silly? Yes! But there you go . . . it's true. So I must simply "get over myself" and "get out of my own way" and just type my thoughts away, without editing myself as I go along. Who cares what someone who might actually be reading my blog thinks? Not I! (anymore!)

That has always been a problem for me-- editing myself. Or rather, selling myself short, thinking I am uninteresting, uninspired, unskilled, incapable, and a host of other words that start with 'un' or 'in' that are negative. Fear of something or other, even if I'm the only one who knows it, has stopped me from doing/saying many things in my 35 years. Aren't I finally old enough to do/say/think the things I really want to do/say/think?! Yes, I think I am, so welcome back to my blogspot, Me!