Gifts

I actually hate returning gifts, probably because I don't like to shop very much. I didn't have much money growing up, and shopping just depressed me. Charity has a much more balanced perspective - just because you shop doesn't mean that you need to buy. Plus, she is 13 and likes to hang out at the mall with her friends - I guess that I did that too.

So, in addition to the wonderful curio I got, Roger's sister and mother got me sweaters. I am thankful that they thought enough about me that they shopped and purchased. My own mother hasn't sent me a Christmas gift for years, so it is nice to be remembered. Unfortunately, both did not fit. I guess that they are under the impression that since I am short that I also wear a size small - not the case. We make a family trip to the mall - Charity was so excited to be in the mall with a cellphone! I go to return the two items - without receipts - didn't want to offend the in-laws (walking on eggshells around his sister as it is). One store offered me .98 cents for the item. I knew that she bought it on sale, but this was crazy. I then went to Macy's. My sister-in-law bought the item from The Bon Marche in Seattle which was purchased by Macy's. Not even a can I check into this for you - the customer service was horrible, and by this time I was extremely frustrated. THIS is part of the reason why I don't shop at Macy's - Cabela's has better customer service. I would buy a sweater from there anytime!

So, here I am trying to figure out what to do with these gifts that don't fit and I can't return. I finally just called Roger's mom and she sent me the receipt for the one sweater. I drove back to the mall - about 25 minutes away - I they still would only give me .98 cents since it was purchased back in February. Then I thought - who buys gifts that early? My mother-in-law. I sort of made a scene and explained that I just got it for Christmas and drove back there a second time with the receipt. I then exchanged it for and item worth $9.99. I was even willing to got over the purchase price of $19.99, but after the hassle I didn't. Again, what happened to the good old days of customer service? I have to get brave and call my sister-in-law for the other receipt. That might be a blog for another day.

Thanks for reading.

Cyndee

Roger's Sister

Roger’s sister, Tammy, and her family came to visit us from Seattle over Christmas. We love Tammy from 2000 miles away. As the movie, When Harry met Sally says, she is high maintenance. And I have noticed that most women that can be classified in this way don’t seem to mind. They know it. I guess that maybe it is us low maintenance kind of women that are somewhat bothered and bewildered by the whole process.

How long does it really take to get ready to go shopping? My entire family was up, dressed and had breakfast and on the road by 9am. On a work day this somehow occurs by 7am. We had a plan – see a movie at the Science Museum, get Roger’s hearing aid fixed and then head to the mall to return or try to return (look for a blog on this) some Christmas gifts. I called Roger’s mom from the mall at 1pm that day and they still had not left to go shopping as they had planned. Most of her day was gone. Her parents, as well as I, were baffled by this.

Is this how she really functions on a daily basis? Is she ever on time to work? She works the afternoon shift, so maybe this would explain her timetable.

We all want to be “normal” – whatever that means. But the reality is that we all have this distorted view of what that should be. John Ortberg has a book called “Everybody is Normal (until you get to know them)”. This book explains how we all have an “AS IS” tag. Some people, like clothing, have minor defects like an uneven seam or a missing button. Other people, (and I put myself in this category) have bigger flaws, like a missing zipper or having one pant leg longer that the other. The truth is, nobody is that “normal” that we all think that exists. We need to function in a world of “AS IS” people.

So, when I got married, I thought “Now this is a normal family”. The longer I function in this new set of family dynamics the more I realize that my family was not so weird afterall. Okay, so all of our flaws were very noticeable – but at least nobody was surprised at what they were getting. I have learned that in the Riesgraf family you don’t talk about anything bad – divorce, miscarriages, bad behavior by family members, etc. The flaws were to remain hidden – especially by those outside the family.

So, back to Tammy’s visit. We all brace ourselves for her visits. She often makes what could be an enjoyable experience very stressful instead. The world must revolve around her. We ended up spending Christmas Eve and Christmas Day without her. They were supposed to leave Seattle Friday the 22nd but could not manage to get packed and ready to go until Sunday the 24th. We had a relaxing celebration without her.

She arrived with her family, husband and two daughters, on Tuesday the 26th. After they rested from 48 hours of driving, we celebrated Christmas together on Wednesday night the 27th. The girls, Caileigh and Courtney, are always such a joy to see. Dinner was good and I held my tongue while we opened presents. I discovered that the gift giving was all about her as well. It wasn’t really about receiving a gift that you really wanted/needed, but how the gift reflected on her – how much time she spent finding it, or the amount of money it took to buy it. She called tons of times about ideas for gifts for the kids – apparently they didn’t sound good to her, but my kids would have enjoyed those gifts much more than what they got. I held my tongue and said thank you. I did my best to not rock the Riesgraf boat of silence.

When we wanted her to open her gifts, she got very huffy. The strange this is that this part really is about her and she didn’t want to enjoy it. Maybe because the outcome was something she could not control. She could only receive what was given – kind of scary for a control freak.

They are on their way back to Seattle in the snow that almost got here. Our lives will return back to “normal” – whatever that is.


Thanks for reading

Cyndee

Raining on New Years's Eve

The weather is always a safe topic in Minnesota - as it was in Colorado. I seem to have picked two states that believe that if you don't like the weather, what an hour. Well, that has not been the case this winter. I feel like I am living in Seattle. We rejoiced over the one inch of snow that we got the Saturday before Christmas - this is very unusual to have to wait this long for snow. I was wishing that I was stuck in the storms in Denver. We haven't seen a good old fashioned blizzard in Denver in many years. Here in MN, we were just wishing for snow instead of rain. We watched the storm with quiet envy - especially the snow mobilers. We had hoped to go snowskiing today - isn't going to happen since the temp is 40 degrees and rain. It just doesn't seem right to ski in the rain? I am praying for my family in Denver.


Thanks for reading.

Cyndee

Christmas 2006

I have truly enjoyed being the parent at Christmas time. The kids don't get everything that they want - only three gifts! It is a different philosophy, but we figure that Jesus only got three gifts, so why should they get more? It really makes us think about the best gift based on our budget. As they get older, they get more expensive. We have decided that even though babies have expenses - it is nothing like having a teenager - phones, computers, clothes, etc. The baby is happy with a bottle and a clean diaper. How life changes so quickly! The big gifts this year were all electronic. Charity got the cellphone she has been begging us for and we got Eli a gameboy advance sp. He had a gameboy already, but the screen did not light up.

I got the corner curio that I had looked at at IKEA. It is a simple design. We did have one delimma. For those of you that have purchased from IKEA, the furniture needs to be assembled. The directions have not words - only pictures. The picture forgot to mention one minor issue - that the predrilled holes for the door had to be placed on a particular side. Most of the time the directions are great - not this time. Roger and I had a choice - go back to step 4 from step 20 or move the magnets and predrill a couple of holes. We choose the seconde option. The door is now on the opposite side then the picture in the catalog shows. I guess that things in our life are not always picture perfect.

Roger got his coffee maker 1200 DCC brewmaster. He has been needing (?) a different coffee maker for awhile. He is sort of a coffee snob and the old standby Mr. Coffee just wasn't cutting it. So, now he has a timer with different settings. Much more complicated than our VCR settings.

I hope that you all had a great Christmas with family and friends.

God Bless

Cyndee

Lense implants

I am basically blind without contacts or glasses. Many people that I work with have taken the huge jump and commitment and gotten lasix. I went in before school started in September to see if this was a possiblitlity for me. It really isn't. Apparently, my cornea isn't deep enough to cut anything off of. I was greatly disappointed after finally getting the nerve up to call about the procedure. I really don't mind wearing glasses or contacts. I have dry eyes caused by the climate I live in as well as being on thyroid medication. Wearing the contacts just makes the whole thing worse. I can wear them for about 10 hours before I get an eye headache - you know that kind where you just want to dig your eyeballs out of your head. So, I have been exploring other options.

My eye doctor is part of this lense study. They are trying to get this particular type of lense approved by the FDA. The lense is implanted inside the eye, behind the cornea. This requires surgery where they make a tiny incision and place the lense. This lense has been used in Europe very successfully for the past ten years. There are always side effects anytime you have surgery - especially elective surgery. I just can't imagine waking up seeing... I could get an infection - in fact, this is the most likely cause of problems. Sense this is still experimental - the cost would be almost free instead of 3-4 thousand for each eye. I am thinking of pursuing it. I have a introductory appointment Jan 4th. They will run some more tests to see if I fit the qualifications for the experiment. After all this worrying, I may not even qualify anyway.

So, if you are into praying, say a quick one that I make the best choice.

I will write more after Christmas.

Cyndee

Wanting a surprise for Christmas.

I love my husband and all the wonderful things that he does. I appreciate that he kisses me with bad breathe and doesn't complain that I am wearing those sweat pants again! He is my opposite - concerned about housecleaning items that I didn't even know needed cleaning - like behind the refridgerator or the stove. He is much more into exercise while I prefer sitting (I do that very well!)

So, because he loves me, he tries to get me gifts that I want for Christmas. I try my best not to guess what it is. I like to be surprised. It is hard since we share all bank accounts - he must wait until after the December Visa bill comes to shop. I think that I know what I am getting - exactly what I asked for. It will be a great gift. The kids are doing a great job not telling me that they went to IKEA when I had conferences. It is hidden is several boxes throughout the house, and I have been advised not to snoop. I don't mean to snoop, I just pick up toys and have to go under the bed for stray matchbox cars. I really don't want to know!

I am actually thankful for whatever it is. He is a practical man, wanting the gifts to be used and not just sit on a shelf. I guess that in that way we are very much alike.

I hope that you get all that you want this Christmas.

God Bless,

Cyndee

The story of Riezzee

Many might be wondering where the "riezzee" for my blog came from. My family is quite familiar with the story - and I am sometimes embarrassed and flattered by it all at the same time. I have always had a nickname - but it has usually been negative - not really something that I would want to be called or share with someone.

I am a high school chemistry teacher. I teach 10-12th graders - intermingled by grade. Sometimes this makes for interesting combinations of students. Well, last year I ended up with lots of boys that were devoted to the sport they played. For the first semester, I pretty much had the entire varsity basketball team - not in the same class, but spread out fairly equally. In the spring, I ended up with a couple of wrestlers and one of the senior pitchers. It turns out that throughout the past few years I knew most of the baseball team as well. So, I finally used one of my fringe benefits of teaching and attended some of the games for free - Eli accompanied me. He isn't so much into the sports as he is into running around the gym/ballfield and getting snacks during the game.

Anyway, somehow-throughout the term-they coined the name Riezzee from my last name. My husband wasn't sure about the respect issue-finding that our youth is lacking that. To me it was still respectful-and I have been called many disrespectful things. It was borderline. I warmed up to it and that is who I am to this group of boys. I never really want to be liked as an equal with my students, but it is a hard line to walk. How do you impact them without getting to know what is most important to them?

Most of them are seniors this year - and so goes the name. I have always wanted personalized license plates, but never quite found a phase that fit. So, with the renewing of my plates, they now say "Riezzee". It only took me ten years of teaching to find my stride - so for me this is a shining moment.

Thanks for reading

Cyndee