Seen at In-N-Out This Week

Working for In-N-Out is definitely an interesting job. My coworkers are friendly, while the customers unceasingly fail to amuse. Recently, I have been assigned to the position of "Drive Hand-out." This job is fast-paced, sometimes stressful, and always different.

People/things I have seen while working the drive window this week:1) Cecil O. Samuelson, President of Brigham Young University, my alma mater. Cecil was a pleasant man. We bonded. I'm a Cougar and a Cecil too. What's not to love?

2) Aaron from Ken Garff Nissan of Orem. No lie. Aaron as in the finance department of the dealership who tried to royally screw us over. He drove up to the window, and the smile froze on my face...in horror. I continued to smile and stare him down. He was so ashamed (I suppose) that he looked down and couldn't look me in the eye. I handed him his food and was nice about it, but I DID NOT say the usual: "Thank you! Have a good night."

3) An androgynous person- I STILL have no idea whether one customer was a man or a woman. I was so confused that I couldn't stop staring. The amount of time spent staring did not result in ANY answers! Either it was a woman with a somewhat masculine face and nose or a man with beautiful hair and eyes. Perplexing to say the least. I'm really not trying to be rude.

4) A woman dressed for work at McDonald's. Her name tag identified her as Ashley...the details underneath her name identified her as "manager." OUCH, McDonald's.

5) A gentleman wearing an apron, chef's hat, and name tag which identified him as a Hibachi chef at Tepanyaki. I guess the rice there hasn't been hitting the spot.

6) The manager of Costa Vida. How do I know it was him? He was driving the HUGE Costa Vida van and volunteered the information.

7) Two girls who paid for their $4.32 meal in PENNIES. SERIOUSLY! They didn't even have the decency to count them BEFORE getting to the pay window. Needless to say, this little stunt backed up orders and traffic for ten minutes.

8) A man who purchased nine meat patties...and fed them to his dog.

9) People who ask for a cheeseburger with no cheese. People- This is a HAMBURGER!!!!!!

10) A man who yelled at me for saying: "Hi! How are you?" And then told me he was frustrated with how stupid and happy we were, before reaching over and snatching his food out of my hands. I almost cried.

11) My friend Joe and his wife Tina. Thankfully, they came two cars after the rude customer who nearly made me cry, and completely saved me from having a horrible night. Yet another example to me of how God looks out for us. Sometimes it's just really nice to see a friendly face.

So guys, when you happen to crave fast food in the future, remember drive-thru workers can be overly sensitive too. And if you happen to be in Provo and want fast food, please come see me! I would love to see you.

Please Guess....

...the gender of my child.

My Playlist is Psychic

As some of you may have noticed (and been annoyed by), I have a playlist on my blog which plays several songs I particularly love.

Back in December, Nathan made me rearrange the songs so "West Coast" by Coconut Records didn't always play first. "Haiti" by Arcade Fire assumed the number one position.

Throughout the summer, I was pregnant, sick, and confined to my bed. I listened to the Arcade Fire album and this song in particular every day between hours of playing Snood and watching Lord of the Rings and Jurassic Park. Seriously, guys. I did that about everyday. You might think that sucks, but

IT. WAS. AWESOME.

In short, the song makes me happy. And after the disaster in Haiti, I thought I would leave it up on my blog. I also decided I would post the lyrics, which are eerily haunting:

Haïti, mon pays,

wounded mother I'll never see.
Ma famille set me free.
Throw my ashes into the sea.

Mes cousins jamais nés
hantent les nuits de Duvalier.
Rien n'arrete nos esprits.
Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see.

In the forest we lie hiding,
unmarked graves where flowers grow.
Hear the soldiers angry yelling,
in the river we will go.

Tous les morts-nés forment une armée,
soon we will reclaim the earth.
All the tears and all the bodies
bring about our second birth.

Haïti, never free,
n'aie pas peur de sonner l'alarme.
Tes enfants sont partis,
In those days their blood was still warm

OK. Well, until this moment I never realized the song was THAT depressing or that half of the words were sung in French. How strange. How could I possibly not have noticed that?!

And according to iTunes, I have listened to the song 238 times.

("Fidelity" by Regina Spektor wins out).

***Addendum: Said playlist has now been removed because it is just too annoying.

Deal or No Deal

The car fiasco came to an end last week. I stand by my claim: Ken Garff Nissan of Orem is actually of the Devil.

After going back and forth with the sales representatives, Nathan and I were promised a "deal" by the manager Tyler, who partially owns the store. He promised to do the paperwork himself so we wouldn't have to deal with Aaron, the finance manager who tried to take advantage of us when we signed our contract. He told us the date and time to be there. We came. We were prompt. He was nowhere to be seen.

Sales representatives showed us more cars and pushed us towards a Nissan Murano. They assured us they were working on Tyler's behalf and that the car would be well within our price range. We made sure they were aware of the special "deal" Tyler had promised us, meaning we would get a car at trade-in value. This time we were smarter and researched the car for sale. Blue Book listed its trade-in value at $13,500. That's what we expected to pay.

Well, SIX HOURS LATER....we were still waiting. The representatives estimated the car would be $17,000 (after our deal). We said: "That's only 5oo dollars less than the asking price. ANYONE can talk a car down by 500 dollars." So they would call Tyler at home, and he would make another offer. Each time we said: "No deal."

It felt like he was the banker and we were the poor schmucks left to wait for a better offer.

We couldn't wait all night, though. At ten, they offered $16,500. We refused again and said we would talk with Tyler after the long weekend. We had planned to leave for New Mexico that afternoon after purchasing our new car; I didn't know we'd be there all night. We told the salesperson: "We'll just take the amount you paid for our trade-in and not have a car after paying the balance off." They were shocked. How could we refuse such a good deal!?

We fled the dealership like Lot and his wife fled Sodom and Gomorrah. I know that sounds a little exaggerated, but leaving the dealership sans car was AMAZING. We walked to Applebees while we awaited Brandon, my brother-in-law, to pick us up. We knew we were making the right decision.

Nathan tried contacting Tyler on Tuesday, but we heard nothing. Finally, the man had the nerve to call us back. Nathan asked for the money, he offered a car. We said: "No deal." He found another car and then another, calling us with his various offers.

No DEAL.

Finally, after being backed into a corner (knowing we weren't going to be spending any of our money on one of his over-priced cars), Tyler played his ace in the hole. Behold the following conversation:

"Hey Nathan. It's Tyler! I think I got the deal that is going to work for you. I mean, I think this car is it. So yeah....I got your car back."

WHAT!? He just got our car back? Twenty minutes earlier, our car was sold. Something did not makes sense. Visions of a black Sentra parked in the Nissan dealership lot came to mind. I had seen a car that looked like mine only a few days earlier on the lot. And then I thought: "BUT WAIT! This IS a Nissan dealership!?"

I asked the sales rep: "Is that my car? You know I can just go look at the VIN number on the window and see." To this he responded: "Don't be crazy! That's not yours." Lie. Lie. Lie.

As soon as we could, we drove to the dealership. A representative met us with the keys out front. He told us our car was at the back of the dealership....and guess what!? Our car was the one I had seen just days before. They had NEVER sold our car; They just wanted us to spend more money buying a new one. They didn't think we would turn down the chance to "own a brand new car!"

JERKS. I was furious. No! Better Business Bureau, my claim was NOT resolved like the dealership claims it was. I DID NOT leave with a smile on my face. The person who "bought" my car only put 6 miles on the car in a month? LIKELY STORY.

In the end, though, Nathan and I were victorious. We got our car back after it was detailed and completely checked-out (this includes a free oil change and tank of gas) all free of charge. Best part of all, we managed to get a keyfob!

...and the dealership told me it would cost $300 dollars when I inquired about it before. Suckers. God helped us big time here. Prayer works!

Gotcha!!

She Sleeps!

Better yet, she sleeps in her crib!

Before Eliza was born, Nathan and I discussed what our plan was for baby regarding sleep. We agreed we wanted to co-sleep until Eliza was at least six months old. However, things didn't exactly turn out the way we planned...with anything! Because of her colic, Eliza needed to bounce constantly in her Amby bed to sleep. As soon as one of us stopped rocking/bouncing her/patting her back, she woke up screaming. Although her colic has ended (thankfully!), Eliza has grown accustomed to bouncing all night.

Our continuing sleep deprivation led Nathan and I to copious amounts of research and differing opinions regarding healthy sleep habits for baby. Nathan opted to adopt some of Dr. Ferber's methods. Like I said previously, I was opposed to letting Eliza "cry it out," but realized I couldn't stay up all night rocking her to sleep. Furthermore, I didn't want this "habit" of hers to become too deeply entrenched in her psyche. Eliza cried for an hour the first night and only twenty minutes last night. Tonight, she cried for less than five minutes.

Of course, Eliza still needs to be fed and checked on throughout the night, but her learning how to fall asleep on her own is amazing. I hated the idea of letting her cry, but Nathan and I checked on her every ten minutes while she was awake so she would know she wasn't completely alone. We did what was best for us. I'm sure with our next baby, it will be a different story!

I must admit, though: sleeping without Eliza is like sleeping without the blanket I had throughout childhood (and adolescence...eek!). It's sad...but she seems much more well-rested! Look at this happy face!

Team Parenting

While I was working tonight, Nathan Feberized Eliza. I don't know if I approve.

She cried for over an hour, and now she sleeps in her crib....for the first time ever. However, when Nathan works tomorrow night, I know right where Eliza will be- in bed with me.

Perhaps I shouldn't sabotage his efforts.