Life at the Lumberyard

I never was a big Elf on the Shelf fan. I liked the premise (somewhat), but found that elf to be freaky and his ways of making messes to not only be annoying to me (the mom) as I need to make the mess and clean it up, but also not the greatest message to our children. Last year, I read about Mary on the Mantle and my girls LOVED it. I thought I would share what I did in case you want to copy or modify it for your children this Advent season! I bought a pregnant Mary statue. I really wanted to get a plush doll, but couldn't find one last year. I got this one and it actually worked out better than I thought. Because she was breakable, the girls seemed more reverent and aware. Because she wasn't a doll they could throw in the toy box, she was more special. I hadn't thought about that, but it was a positive. Here's what mine looks like: I have ZERO time for anything extra in the mornings before my kids get up. So Mary travels our home while we are gone. Pro Tip: I buckle th

 Let's lighten it up. I'm going to tell you about the time my mom left me a voicemail about lemonade.  To preface, my mother is the greatest of all time.  She has a heart of gold, but smokes like a chimney, cusses like a sailor, and over 80% of her spine is fused metal so she stands up very straight all the time.  I. ADOREEEE. HER.  We don't agree on everything, we don't see eye to eye often, but she is literally my most favorite woman on the planet. I got married in the fall and my first holiday as a newly married woman was fast approaching. I asked what side dish I should bring because "I'm an adult now." She said she couldn't think of anything and being one of the older grandchildren and married, nobody had thought of me to bring any covered dish.  Fine. However, the night before the get together I get a voicemail from Linda (that's what I call her more than mom; it's an old habit.)  I kept it on my phone for the world to enjoy: "Hey. *

  A few months ago, a customer ordered some siding.  It was a specialty color. And production of this color has and had basically halted. Other colors in the line had and have not. At the time the order was placed, this sidings was 8-10 weeks out - and we made the customer aware of this - even padding ourselves saying to expect 10-12 weeks.  8 weeks came and the customer called asking where her siding was. We didn’t have it in yet. I called the supplier and they were out another 3-6 weeks. (2 or so weeks over what we said.)  So what was the hold up: 1.) Resin availability - they cannot get all the components/parts to make the product. 2.) Shipping - they do not have trucks and/or drivers. 3.) Workers - many are either not working/are not coming to work or the plants are understaffed (no one fulfilling the jobs). Okay. I called the customer to relay the message.  And our customer lost her mind throwing a royal temper tantrum.  I let her do her thing.  I’m sure it’s frustrating.  But wha