It's NOT The Thought That Counts, When No Thought Is Used...

So here it is, 6:45am and I've been sitting here for 15 minutes. I woke up with a coughing fit for reasons unknown to me. Coughing, wheezing, and sneezing. I think it's because it's been so nice and dry out and today it's wet, rainy, and gray. Bleah. Change in weather will do it to me, for sure. Well, I'm just stickin' to that theory.

Work is still going really well. I still love it a lot. I just don't love Fridays when my paycheck is deposited into my account and I see it's the same amount I used to make in A DAY at my job in Boston. Meh. But I'm happy. So I guess being happy at a job I love outweighs the crappy paycheck. At least for now.

I'm still looking for a higher paying, with-benefits job, but I admit - I'm dragging my feet. Like I said, I like my job and don't really want to leave it. But the reality is, I will have to before too long. There's no way I can pay my bills on what I get paid right now. That's kind of a bummer.

Speaking of bummers, as some of you know (I'm assuming), I belong to a bunch of swaps on swapbot and flickr. There's one that I was hoping would be a ton of fun to both give and receive. For the past two months I've spent a lot of time researching my swap partner and making swap packages that she will LOVE. For instance, if she has listed that she likes the color purple, scrapbooking, and rubber stamps in her profile, you better believe I'm going to include those things in her swap package. And conversely, if she says she doesn't like cats, the color yellow, and yarn, I'm going to leave that stuff out, too. It's all about sending stuff you'd want to receive. And so far, I've done a good job.

This is the second time (I've only been doing the swaps for two months) I've received a package filled with nearly everything I listed under "dislikes". For example, I got a dark chocolate bar, tacky jewelry, and an extremely strong bar of scented rose soap when I specifically stated I disliked that stuff. And my partner sent me a bag of Japanese Ramen noodles. I am seriously confused on that one since she's from Texas and NOT Japanese. *Scratches head* Anyway, the only thing in the entire package that went along with any of my "likes" is a jar of pink sprinkles for cupcakes. Everything else in the package just left me really sad, and kind of mad. I put so much energy and thought (that's the key word here) into my swaps that it's maddening when I get a box from someone who didn't even bother to look over my profile (which is required) to see what I would love to receive as opposed to what I am allergic to/do not like. What I received was a box of stuff that barely followed the color scheme and is filled with stuff you'd buy at a dollar store. My partner sees my reaction to her poorly put together swap as being ungrateful, and that I should be happy I got anything.

This is just the attitude I'm talking about. I would like to thank her for proving my point.

I decided to sign up for one more swap. If I'm sent another crap package, I'm done. Out. Fini. I can't be bothered wasting weeks of my time, putting together a swap tailored for a specific person in mind when all I get back is stuff that is listed on my "please do not send" list.

The "Kitchen In A Box" swap was awesome and I got a lot of really great stuff, so that was a positive experience. But, I'm thinking of starting my own swap so I can finally swap with equally creative people. If you're interested, let me know and together we can think of a theme. Oh, and I started a new recipe swap. The last one was a hit. So sign up here if you're interested. Oh and I have a BBQ Recipe swap going, too :)

and for Lucas, here's a cute picture of Lola: