...I don't have a title because frankly, there are no words for the massive amount of topics that I would like to discuss, all the time. Its like a constant battlefield inside my brain...what should I talk about? How much detail? Etc.etc....its hard to explain I guess. For that reason, I think that many people underestimate me as an individual. I'm a fairly private person. In other words, I don't put a lot out there. And by "a lot", I mean pretty much everything that pertains to all aspects of my life. For example; my past, my family, my occupations. So maybe that's what has led to the "problem" I mentioned in the beginning. I'm thinking about trying something new though. No people, I'm definitely NOT talking about a therapist here. I'm talking about the healthy release of who I am through many means...blogging, health and resolution, just to name a few. I think I should start with a basic picture for now, as the past is too much for me at the moment, I don't think I'll be blogging about that particular part of "me" for a while. Now then, a little background information on yours truly. My name is Kaileigh, as many of you know. No definition can be applied to me really. Many know me as a bubbly person. And some, umm, well not so much. Personally, I am a mother. I am a wife. I am many things, I suppose. Professionally, I am a member of the United States Military. Now I want to touch on the military aspect a little more in this blog because of a particular experience that I had this morning with a very young American, which I will share in a moment. First things first...let me just say that I proudly serve my country. I will wear my uniform with dignity and honor for the rest of my human life. Much to my husband's dismay. Unfortunately we live in a very tough world that's full of people who absolutely hate the uniform I wear and what "we" stand for. So of course I'm very careful. When the military sends me away for training etc. I practice my security skills. If I order pizza, I requests that the pizza man goes to the clerk, and then the clerk calls me to come to him. Of course, that is a very simple thing to request. I carefully check the hallways to make sure nobody is watching me enter my room etc. As you can see, I am very aware of my surroundings while I'm in my uniform. I know the realistic side of being a target I've never admitted it before but it scares me, I think. BUT, not enough to make me quit doing what I love! As if I wasn't already resolved in that area....as I mentioned above, something happened to me this morning that I just have to share. Why? Because I will never forget it. It touched my heart and every corner of my soul.
This morning, while eating my complimentary breakfast, I happened to overhear a young child ask his parents "what is she wearing daddy? Its ugly."...and the conversation is as follows:
The father laughed..looked over at me and smiled sheepishly. I smiled back and continued to eat my eggs and bacon...father says, "Its not ugly. Its a uniform."....son makes a funny face "Why?" ....father answers "Because she is in the military."...son still makes a face...I smile and almost tear up at how cute the little boy is. While I finish my breakfast, I continue to listen. "She, along with many other people who wear that same uniform protect us. They are very brave. And we should thank them." ...At this point the little boy seems to understand. I was just finishing up when that family started to leave....and the little boy came up beside my table...smiled and said "Thank you ma'am."....all I could say was "Thank you...." with the biggest smile ever of course.
Cute, right? I know it sounds corny but something inside me stirred. I think maybe the healing process has started its rusty gears. Well, that's enough for now I think. Unfortunately, I tend to dwell on things too often. Maybe that's why I don't talk about it? Because I will honestly think about it for days...it will literally keep me up too. Phew.. well, I digress. For now.
....in the meantime! I'm missing my family very much and cant wait to go home this weekend! Sounds like Daddy and baby girl have had lots of fun in my abscense. *kisses*
6.17.2010
6.10.2010
Drive-Thru Etiquette
Okay so in today's fast paced world, fast food has definitely stood tall and proud. No matter where you're at or what you're doing you can guarantee that you'll be able to find your next meal in a jiffy. The colorful and easily recognizable signs can be seen from the highway miles away...and we breathe easy knowing that we'll be eating food, super fast, super soon. Drive thru's are a tool that almost every single fast food establishment utilizes. Who could blame them? The average American is "go-go-GO!". Busy parents can pull their van-full of sleeping kiddos right on through, without so much as a single tantrum. But as Americans, we want it all. We may demand fast food, but the demand for healthier options with that value meal are on the rise as well. Boy oh boy! Look at that! Fast food establishments have already met that demand! (That was fast.) Lets take a look...hmm, we've got all natural chicken here, apples and bananas there, and yummy salads and yogurt! Oh my! These are just a few things that are new to the menu board across the world. So with all these new options, drive-thrus everywhere may be teensy more packed, huh? A little intense maybe?
Well, I'm sure as many of you know I am in management at a pretty big fast food chain. Here lately I have compiled a mental list of manners that I believe everyone should be aware of. And here it is! Please add anything to it that you believe would further improve it!
Okay. Here we go...
1.) Guess what? The crew that is working that grill, or taking your order....they are actually human! Yeah! Isn't that weird? And since they are human beings don't cha think they deserve a smile too? Or maybe you should return that greeting? How would you feel if you said "Hello! How are you today?" a hundred times in a day ...just to be ignored? Yeah. That makes me sad. :( So rule number one... be kind and mind your manners there sonny. Just a quick, "I'm good! Thanks.." will suffice. I mean, we don't want your life story, don't get me wrong. ;)
2.) Please don't make our ears ring. Haha..okay I'll elaborate. For some reason, many fast food goers find it necessary to literally scream their order through the speaker box. We live in the year 2010 people. The technology around these parts is kinda advanced. We can hear you as if we were standing right next to you.... so please don't start your order off as "YEAH!!! I WOULD LIKE A NUMBER 3!!!!" .... it literally hurts us. And because we have to pull off our headsets in an effort to save our hearing, we may not get your entire order, which could be painful for both parties in the end. So rule number 2...talk in a normal, steady voice. Adjust if necessary (i.e. if there's bad weather.)
3.) Ask for it in advance. If you need extra napkins, ketchup, salt, or any other condiment; ask the individual taking your order. "Oh sir/ma'am...could I get a cup of ice and some ketchup too please." This will help insure that you can grab your bag and go...literally. We want you "in and out" as quickly as possible and when the person who hands you your food has to grope around for sauce or another bag etc...yeah, it would just be easier on both parties.
4.) Please...if you know in advance that you are going to up size your meal say that first. "Yea, I'd like a LARGE number 1." The reason I say this is because many fast food goers like to personalize their burger, which is totally coolio with us..BUT the way many registers work nowadays, there are TWO separate buttons for that combo meal you're requesting. So there's a medium meal and a large meal. The very first step to ringing up that meal is to select a meal size. Okay, now keep that in mind. Ahem..."Yea! I'd like a number one. But I wanna add mayo to it, no pickles, lite cheese..the yellow kind not that other cheese you have! ..oh and make that patty well done for me please and no salt on anything!!"....So, we ring this all up. (Normally its the responsibility of the cashier to ask what size but sometimes we may forget or just be caught up in making sure that your order comes out correct.) Anyways...we ring it all up and then as an afterthought many will say "Oh. Can you make all those meals large?" ...Thanks. ARGH. So nowwww we have to cancel every single thing out and re-ring it up as a large and THEN we have to re-personalize the burger etc. Now while we're doing all this busy finger dancing on the register..your probably getting impatient now huh? You want your food huh? Sick of looking at the speaker right? Well darling. This could be avoided...say large first. Now if you want to up size later because you forgot then we're totally coolio with that too of course.
5.) Huh? WHAT? Speak up son!! ....just because the cashier may ask you to repeat something DOES NOT mean you need to raise your voice and talk to us like we're special. M-kay? Its just rude. It is VERY VERY loud behind the counter, so every now and then the cashier will ask you a question just to clarify. Its not to slow you down, its so they can get your food right the first time. So appreciate that they care enough to ask, and move on with your order please. Geesh.
6.) Its always polite to have your money ready.
7.) Please...PLEASE.....I'm begging you!! Dont say in a sarcastic annoyed high pitch voice.. "Umm! HHEEELLLLLOOOOO!!?!" We...are...there. If the cashier said that they would be with you in one moment then there is definitely a reason as to why he's making you wait.... could be dealing with an unruly customer, or a counterfeit bill, or maybe our battery operated headsets are beeping to us that their little lives are about to end. Irregardless.....don't do that. Its like nails on a chalkboard. Ick! Its rude to boot. How would you like it if I walked up to you while you were helping someone else and impatiently stomped my cheaply attired feet at you and said "Umm! HEEELLLLOOO!?!?!", even though I was just told that you would be with me in a moment. Yeah. Just ewwww.
8.) Last time I checked crocodiles were NOT allowed to drive....so please don't SNAP at the crew.
9.) For the love of cheeseburgers! Please don't try to order something additional when your at the second window (the one you grab your food at.). The people sitting patiently in line behind you are wanting their food as well.....we don't want it to get cold. That's all. :-) Kthx.
The above things I have incorporated into my life seamlessly. I will not do this to any other employee no matter where they work. Because my experience has taught me better. I understand. I feel empathy towards them. I still have a few areas to work on...for example, bad waiters/ -resses. Irks me when I have nothing to drink for half my dinner. But I guess I've never been in their shoes. So I normally get very annoyed very quickly at restaurants in general. Oops.
To me the bottom line is that we all treat one another like decent human beings. Smile at a stranger and ask "how are you?" ...when passing the threshold of Wal-Mart greet the "people greeter" before they greet you (its fun! Throws them off track! lol)... and just have a few more nice things to say , ESPECIALLY to those who are obviously being as kind as possible to you. Just sayin'.
Peace! ;)
Well, I'm sure as many of you know I am in management at a pretty big fast food chain. Here lately I have compiled a mental list of manners that I believe everyone should be aware of. And here it is! Please add anything to it that you believe would further improve it!
Okay. Here we go...
1.) Guess what? The crew that is working that grill, or taking your order....they are actually human! Yeah! Isn't that weird? And since they are human beings don't cha think they deserve a smile too? Or maybe you should return that greeting? How would you feel if you said "Hello! How are you today?" a hundred times in a day ...just to be ignored? Yeah. That makes me sad. :( So rule number one... be kind and mind your manners there sonny. Just a quick, "I'm good! Thanks..
2.) Please don't make our ears ring. Haha..okay I'll elaborate. For some reason, many fast food goers find it necessary to literally scream their order through the speaker box. We live in the year 2010 people. The technology around these parts is kinda advanced. We can hear you as if we were standing right next to you.... so please don't start your order off as "YEAH!!! I WOULD LIKE A NUMBER 3!!!!" .... it literally hurts us. And because we have to pull off our headsets in an effort to save our hearing, we may not get your entire order, which could be painful for both parties in the end. So rule number 2...talk in a normal, steady voice. Adjust if necessary (i.e. if there's bad weather.)
3.) Ask for it in advance. If you need extra napkins, ketchup, salt, or any other condiment; ask the individual taking your order. "Oh sir/ma'am...could I get a cup of ice and some ketchup too please." This will help insure that you can grab your bag and go...literally. We want you "in and out" as quickly as possible and when the person who hands you your food has to grope around for sauce or another bag etc...yeah, it would just be easier on both parties.
4.) Please...if you know in advance that you are going to up size your meal say that first. "Yea, I'd like a LARGE number 1." The reason I say this is because many fast food goers like to personalize their burger, which is totally coolio with us..BUT the way many registers work nowadays, there are TWO separate buttons for that combo meal you're requesting. So there's a medium meal and a large meal. The very first step to ringing up that meal is to select a meal size. Okay, now keep that in mind. Ahem..."Yea! I'd like a number one. But I wanna add mayo to it, no pickles, lite cheese..the yellow kind not that other cheese you have! ..oh and make that patty well done for me please and no salt on anything!!"....So, we ring this all up. (Normally its the responsibility of the cashier to ask what size but sometimes we may forget or just be caught up in making sure that your order comes out correct.) Anyways...we ring it all up and then as an afterthought many will say "Oh. Can you make all those meals large?" ...Thanks. ARGH. So nowwww we have to cancel every single thing out and re-ring it up as a large and THEN we have to re-personalize the burger etc. Now while we're doing all this busy finger dancing on the register..your probably getting impatient now huh? You want your food huh? Sick of looking at the speaker right? Well darling. This could be avoided...say large first. Now if you want to up size later because you forgot then we're totally coolio with that too of course.
6.) Its always polite to have your money ready.
7.) Please...PLEASE.....I'm begging you!! Dont say in a sarcastic annoyed high pitch voice.. "Umm! HHEEELLLLLOOOOO!!?!" We...are...there. If the cashier said that they would be with you in one moment then there is definitely a reason as to why he's making you wait.... could be dealing with an unruly customer, or a counterfeit bill, or maybe our battery operated headsets are beeping to us that their little lives are about to end. Irregardless.....don't do that. Its like nails on a chalkboard. Ick! Its rude to boot. How would you like it if I walked up to you while you were helping someone else and impatiently stomped my cheaply attired feet at you and said "Umm! HEEELLLLOOO!?!?!", even though I was just told that you would be with me in a moment. Yeah. Just ewwww.
8.) Last time I checked crocodiles were NOT allowed to drive....so please don't SNAP at the crew.
9.) For the love of cheeseburgers! Please don't try to order something additional when your at the second window (the one you grab your food at.). The people sitting patiently in line behind you are wanting their food as well.....we don't want it to get cold. That's all. :-) Kthx.
The above things I have incorporated into my life seamlessly. I will not do this to any other employee no matter where they work. Because my experience has taught me better. I understand. I feel empathy towards them. I still have a few areas to work on...for example, bad waiters/ -resses. Irks me when I have nothing to drink for half my dinner. But I guess I've never been in their shoes. So I normally get very annoyed very quickly at restaurants in general. Oops.
To me the bottom line is that we all treat one another like decent human beings. Smile at a stranger and ask "how are you?" ...when passing the threshold of Wal-Mart greet the "people greeter" before they greet you (its fun! Throws them off track! lol)... and just have a few more nice things to say , ESPECIALLY to those who are obviously being as kind as possible to you. Just sayin'.
Peace! ;)
6.06.2010
Fishies and Mermaids!
Phew! What a long day. The Millers and family went to the Georgia aquarium today. And all I can say is "wow!". I absolutely love that place. For those of you that arent local, its the largest aquarium in the world! Cool, right? http://www.georgiaaquarium.org/explore-the-aquarium/
Its a very fun and exciting experience. I cant even begin to describe all the exhibits.
It was especially neat for our little Clare Bear though. Her favorite movie right now is The Little Mermaid. She loves to sing along with Ariel! And she knew what a shark was too because of that one scene at the beginning, where the shark chases Ariel and flounder through the shipwreck? Yep. She gets super excited during that part. Its too cute to watch her! Anyways, she loved looking at all the fishes, and especially the HUGE whale sharks.
Its a very fun and exciting experience. I cant even begin to describe all the exhibits.
It was especially neat for our little Clare Bear though. Her favorite movie right now is The Little Mermaid. She loves to sing along with Ariel! And she knew what a shark was too because of that one scene at the beginning, where the shark chases Ariel and flounder through the shipwreck? Yep. She gets super excited during that part. Its too cute to watch her! Anyways, she loved looking at all the fishes, and especially the HUGE whale sharks.
Catch up catch up!!!
Haha..so yep! Here's a little update on what we, the Millers, have been up to lately. We just celebrated Chris's 25th birthday. (Yippe! He's almost ripe!;) Thanks to a really good friend , we ended up having a family style bbq at her beautiful home. (Thanks girl!) I made the party for 6:30 in the afternoon thinking that surely my dear old hubby would be off work by then...NOT! He didnt get there till almost 8 pm. Which, unfortunately, is per usual with his unpredictable job. But I wanted to plan it to where he didnt have to worry about a bedtime, since he normally has Sundays off you see. Anyways, so everyone but the Birthday boy was quite punctual. ;) We set the kiddos up with a pool in the front yard to keep them busy for a few, well...minutes. Haha! Gotta love the toddler's attention span. But unfortunately the mosquitoes in Georgia are absolutely ridiculous, so we had to bring them all inside since they (the mosquitoes) are apparently immune to citronella candles..lol! But then I experienced a parenting fail. My brother in law borrowed my car so he could "quickly pick Chris up from the house...he'd be right back!". So of course I didnt think of grabbing Clara's bag that contained all the necessities that come with having a toddler (In my defense I thought he would literally be RIGHT back since we pretty much live in the same neighborhood! AND, I thought we would be outside with the pool a lot longer then we actually were. Dangit!:) So as I'm doing the hostess thing, trying to keep everyone happy until the Birthday boy arrived, the other parents start to herd all the toddlers back into the house. I pick up Clara to take her bathing suit off and put her in dry clothes. So this is where the parenting FAIL comes into place. I get her wet bathing suit off, and I start looking around for her stuff (as I'm holding a bare butted baby..lol!) And then I thought "CRAP! He still has my car and all her stuff is in it!" So yeah, luckily I was able to borrow a diaper...but unforunately she had to stay nakie till the car was brought back to me. BUT THATS NOT ALL FOLKS!! LOL! ....Clara spotted a toddler potty and took her diaper off in the middle of a room full of people , and sat on it. She didnt actually "go"...but it was just too funny!! She has no shame! LOL!
Anywho! So we went ahead and started getting the food ready since we had waited long enough. And the griller burnt all of our hotdogs to a crisp! They were quite pitiful! ;) But at least we had hamburgers as a backup...lol. But Kaileigh forgot the 2nd grocery bag full of buns...sooo, not everyone got a bun. Dang...again!! But all in all, I would say it was a great success.
Good company, pretty decent food, and a house full of laughter. Gotta love life! Happy 25 years of life Chris! We both love ya muchly! :*
Anywho! So we went ahead and started getting the food ready since we had waited long enough. And the griller burnt all of our hotdogs to a crisp! They were quite pitiful! ;) But at least we had hamburgers as a backup...lol. But Kaileigh forgot the 2nd grocery bag full of buns...sooo, not everyone got a bun. Dang...again!! But all in all, I would say it was a great success.
Good company, pretty decent food, and a house full of laughter. Gotta love life! Happy 25 years of life Chris! We both love ya muchly! :*
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