need to vent...

i just need a little venting...it's over something very very miniscule, not even in the realm of important but it's still bugging m.

Recently, I was a vendor at the McDowell School craft sale. When I signed up for it I made sure to ask the lady in charge if it was ok for there to be more than one vendor with similar products or if they were looking to keep it very diversified. She assured me that there would probably be quite a few different vendors with similar products but that was ok because it made for better shopping for the customers. I even made a point of NOT bringing certain items with me because they were pretty much the same as another girl's "bowtique" items.

I have been a customer of hers since mid summer. I have been making clips for my daughter since early spring after seeing some that my sister-in-law had purchased at a store local to her home. After the sale, where my "competition" did very well regardless of my presence, she blocked me on facebook from seeing her personal profile (along with my daughter and husband) and removed all 3 of us from being fans of her fan page. Even after clicking "like" again, thinking it was just fb acting up she removed us once more and blocked us from being able to comment on the wall or on pics. This didn't bother me terribly until last night's bash, where items were offered for sale prices in a game type setting.

After a few emails back and forth where I felt I was more than polite she made it possible for me to comment under photos but I still cannot even do a fb search under her name. Meaning, she has me blocked. I proceed to participate in the bash only to find out she can't see my comments. Again, because she has me blocked. This is not only a piss off to me but to others as well because by her not seeing my comments but others able to it throws off the count of comments (which was how you "won" by being a certain # comment). She then states that she knows why she can't see them but acts like I have her blocked. Hello?!?! I may be juvenile but not that much.

Then I get sent an invoice for 1 clip that someone told her I was the "winner" of. By winner, it means I win the chance to purchase it. I love the clip, it is a pink leopard print flower, it would look great in cassie's dark hair!! Along with the price of the clip I am being charged $3 shipping!!! You have got to be kidding me! I saw on other comments on the fan page that 2 other women have shipping charges of $2.50 each and they won quite a few items. So why the outrageous shipping fee? Not to mention I still have a $5 credit with her from an online party i hosted this summer. I emailed requesting if I could apply it to this. Waiting to hear back. If not I won't be buying it!!

I understand that she feels I am in competition with her for her customers/sales but really, I only did the one craft sale (and I had other items than just hair products that she doesn't carry) and I haven't attempted to sell any clips since. She told me she felt "conflicted" because I started out as a customer and friend and now i am making "direct imitations" of her original work. Umm...original? not a chance sweetie. I actually found a website offering FREE tutorials on how to make ALL the items she claims are her own ideas, which is where I learned how to make all the ones I make. Ok, so because I make clips I can't buy from her? The items I wanted from her were ones I have no interest in making myself even if I think they are adorable! An analogy I used was this, if I owned a bakery would it mean I couldn't buy bread at the grocery store?

Did I mention her prices are a little inflated? By little I mean almost double what other "bowtiques" charge. Don't get me wrong, I believe in a healthy profit margin for the retailer but when an item cost $3 to make, and others sell it for $10-12 and she asks $18 its a little out of my personal budget.

Again, she has some really nice stuff, and for someone who isn't inclined to make it themselves it's great. But I don't much care for her customer relations.

After discussing this with a few people I have come to the decision to go make a go at my cassabella bowtique, although i may change it to boutique as it will be more than just hair accessories. I also have appliqued shirts, onesies etc, reuseable snack bags, crochet (by me) hats, and depending on my newfound sewing skills I may even have handmade clothing. For now until the new year I won't be doing a whole lot, just the inventory I have already, but after that I will make an honest go at it!!

Sorry to any of you who read this and know who I am talking about and are her friend. Maybe I should keep this to myself but hey, my blog, my rant right?!?

my son is going to be a serial killer....

I can see it now.

Or maybe he won't be but I am seriously worried about it after tonight.

You know how they look back into a murderer's past and say, "dude used to torture small animals, it only escalated from there", well document today people because it's the milestone in my three year old's serial future.

Cohen. killed. our. cat. I'm not even kidding. The poor thing loved him even though he was sooo maul-y with him. Cohen would grab the cat (have you noticed yet the cat had no name? an omen perhaps?) and bundle him in a blanket and sit down to watch tv. The cat would stay put (he knew how the boy rolled.) Then after Cohen was off in dreamland, you'd find the cat all cuddled up to Cohen purring away. (What's that about victims being sympathetic to their abusers?)

Cohen is a mischievous boy, to say the least. Once I found the cat in a dresser drawer. Another time in the portion of the coffee table top that opens into a storage area. Once he shoved the cat down into the back of the couch and to get it out Rob and I had to flip the couch onto it's front. So I guess he sounds a bit sadistic right about now but he really did care about this cat. He fed the kitty, and pet the kitty and kept the puppy from using the kitty as a chew toy. (poor kitty)

What happened tonight was very tragic and yet morbidly humourous at the same time. Wait, you'll see why. After school our neighbours 5 year gets off the bus and stays here until either parent or his grandma pick him up. Tonight he wanted to stay longer so I agreed. In retrospect this was the defining moment. His presence here meant I had 3 wired boys as opposed to 2. They were WILD. This boy also loves the cat. He loves it as much as Cohen does, if you catch my drift (shit a neighbourhood full of potential inmates-Cohen might just luck out with a cell mate from his choldhood).

Ok, this is what we gather happened, Cohen and neighbour kid hunted out the cat. At some point Cohen attempted to put the cat in the aforementioned coffee table cubby. The cubby has a hinged lid type area. Cohen was ON the coffee table. Poor kitty ended up half in/half out of this cubby and somehow Cohen ended up squashing him. I'm pretty sure it was instant since NO ONE noticed. Including the 10 year old and 8 year old who were in the living room watching tv.

Poor kitty. I really miss him. But here's the morbid humour. Cohen didn't realize anything was wrong with kitty.(you see where this is going?)  He chased his older brother and the neighbour boy around the living room/dining room/kitchen/foyer circle holding the cat out as if the cat was "gonna get them". Still NO ONE NOTICED!! At this point Rob declares it's time for neighbour child to head home as it's getting seriously loud and wild and out of control. I go into the living room to settle them down, turn to Cohen who was lying ON the cat (not abnormal for him to this either). As per usual I shoo Cohen away from the cat so the cat has a chance, however slim, to escape for a few minutes, when I realize the cat is NOT moving. I panic and call Rob over thinking Cohen had just suffocated kitty. We realize at this point that this had not just happened and of course my big mouth had just informed 5 kids that the damn cat was d.e.a.d.

Cassie starts bawling, Ryan was more curious than anything, Neighbour boy didn't seem fazed at all and Cohen wanted to play with the damn thing. Ashton was crawling around, had to keep him away. My oh-so-manly husband would not touch it. He went to get the dustpan (it's a really small 7 month old cat).

I took Cohen aside to try to find out how and when this all went down. He put his two little hands on each side of my face, looks me in the eyes and says, "Don't worry, mommy, cat is dead. In 2 or 3 days we'll have a new one." I think maybe we need to reconsider video games, he now thinks when things die you wait a bit and they come back. Not quite pet sematary here kid. (that's how the movie spelled it right?)

I miss the cat. Right now he would be cuddling on my bed, purring away. Instead, he's in a shoe box in the back porch.

And I am not going to bed until my future Ted Bundy falls asleep. Gotta watch my back from now on.