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Time for a Brain Dump!

Jan15

It has been a while since I just rambled on about a variety of topics that are totally unrelated, except that they are all stuck in my head together. So, yes, it is time to spill my guts, purge my thoughts, make room for new thoughts, get it all out……..a good old-fashioned Brain Dump!

First up…..I went to the book store in town, yesterday, to pick up a book by a local author (and former teacher of mine) and left with four books by local authors – including the latest book by a life-long friend of mine, Bonnie. I had been meaning to order her book – a collection of poetry called Dancing with the Spirits of Shadowplay - the third in a series of books she has had published. So, when I walked in the store and turned left to the “Local Authors” shelf, it reached out and grabbed me from the top shelf! Happy for the reminder and excited to see it there, I snatched it off the shelf and continued to look for the one I went in to get and also decided on the others, as well. I paid for my purchases and left the store. Later, I sent a note to Bonnie on Facebook to let her know I found her book in the book store. She was SO excited to hear it! All her previous books were only available via mail order – none had been displayed on a shelf in a brick and mortar store! Her comment was, “I wish I could have seen it!” My heart sank! I missed an opportunity to do something nice for someone I care about – I never even thought about taking my phone out of my purse and snapping a photo of it! I started to comment back with “Crap! Sorry, I should have taken a pic for you” when I stopped myself and realized I could fix it! Today, I took the book back to the book store and told the owner the story and asked for a favor — she laughed and not only let me put it back on the shelf and snap some photos, she also helped me move another book to make room for it right where it was when I found it the day before! Soon thereafter, the photos were posted and tagged for Bonnie on FB! YAY! There is a solution for everything……if you think about it and make it happen! :)

I watched two movies on pay-per-view in the last couple of weeks. One that utterly disturbed me – it was called Compliance. I really wish I hadn’t watched it, but I did and once I got into it, despite the bad acting and incredibly unbelievable story (which they implied at the end was a true story that happened in multiple states across the country), I could not stop myself from sitting there in shock through the whole thing! I could not believe that several grown adults would do such horrible things to an innocent teenager just because a twisted man claiming to be a police detective on the phone tells them to do it! The story is that a manager at a fast food restaurant gets a prank call from this guy saying he is a police detective investigating a theft claim at their restaurant by a young teenage employee. They strip search her, inspect every inch of her body, and the male non-employee the female manager gets to “watch” her does far worse than that at the instruction of the caller until another male – an off shift janitor – comes in and is the only adult who thinks for himself and puts an end to it all and calls the REAL cops! I just can’t believe there are people out there (if it really was a true story and not a work of fiction) that are so stupid, gullible, or whatever you want to call it, to just blindly do whatever they are told just because someone claims to have authority over them! Unbelievable!!!!

The second movie I saw was The Words with Bradley Cooper, Jeremy Irons, and Dennis Quaid – very good! This was about a writer who can’t get anything published until he happens on a handwritten manuscript with no author credit that is so good, so intriguing, that he publishes it with his own name as the author! The real author reads the book and knows that it is the story he wrote and frantically lost so many years ago! He confronts the young writer, who is now faced with a moral dilemma. I very much enjoyed this movie!

The weather has been CRAZY lately! We had a TON of snow over Christmas and the week or so following. Then, it stayed really cold for a while, so the snow wouldn’t melt. Then, all of a sudden – in mid-January – in Western NY – it warmed up……..into the 60s and even hit 70+!!! WOW - SPRING!!!  Well, spring for a day or two or three…….then, yesterday and today it was super cold, again, and that awful four-letter word that starts with “S” is expected to be back by the end of the week and into next week!

With the heavy snow over Christmas and some predictions of a rough winter this year, I bought myself a snow blower! I got one that is self-propelled and has an electric start so it would be easy to handle. The day I got it, I went out to learn how to use it……what a riot!!! The driveway had been plowed and packed down and rutted, so there was uneven ice and packed snow under the new layers I was trying to blow away. That made it difficult to operate the snow blower - I kept having to wiggle it and maneuver it to get it over the hard ruts and ice. But, I did it – I learned how to use it! It took a little time for me to get used to it, though! I couldn’t seem to make myself remember that all I had to do was let go of the throttle handle and the machine would stop! Instead, I was practically running behind it, holding it at arm’s length, trying to keep up with it! Must have been a hoot to watch me! :)  So, now I think I’m used it it! And since the snow has all melted, I will be able to start fresh and run it before the driveway gets all packed down and rough to run over!

When the snow is fresh and soft and fluffy and deep, the girls LOVE it! They don’t want to stay out too long (they are still southern girls, you know) and they don’t like it once it freezes and gets hard to walk on, but when it is fresh and fluffy, they get out there and roll around in it and leap around in it and run all over the yard and bury their noses and faces in it! It is so fun to watch them play and wrestle in it!

I’ve been working on finding all my high school classmates so I can compile a mailing list to prepare for our 40th class reunion! FOURTY YEARS! WOW! It has been fun searching for them all. I’ve found probably two-thirds or more of them, but still have some to find. The reunion will be in 2014, so we need to start figuring out what we’re going to do, where we’re going to have it, and all those details. So far, just me and a couple of others have been kicking around some preliminary thoughts, but I’m working on a survey and planning a meeting to get more ideas and helpers. This is going to be so much fun — planning the event and then seeing all the ones I haven’t reconnected with, yet! I’m excited!

Well, speaking of meetings, I have one to get to……so, this is all I’ll dump out of my brain, for now!

Spring Fever

Mar8

I definitely have Spring Fever!  It is an illness I get about this time every year.  It isn’t necessarily tied to the calendar, but sort of is.  Mostly, it is tied to the point in time when the weather starts to break after the winter months.  This year, though, I’m a little bit concerned that it is premature – a false sense of “springishness”.  I’m not in NC, anymore – where the first signs of spring typically mean we’re in for a couple of weeks of really lovely weather before the summer heat starts to invade us!  I’m in NY, now – where there is a chance of wintery weather through April and even possibly May!  But, then again, it has been an unusually pleasant and mild winter, so who knows – maybe we are done with it, but I’m not counting those chickens quite yet!

The symptoms of Spring Fever:  you start thinking about getting your spring/summer wardrobe ready, you get the itch to be outside more, you start thinking about what flowers you’ll plant and how you’ll decorate your patio for the summer, and you get a little more giddy-up in your go!!!

The causes of Spring Fever:  turning the calendar page and seeing “First Day of Spring” on one of the days, first signs of warmer temperatures, and anticipation of switching to daylight savings time!!!

Yesterday was the first really nice, warm day of the season — we hit 60!!!!  I loved just putting a sweater on to go out and run my errands.  As soon as I turned the calendar to March and noticed the first day of spring marked on the 20th and started hearing that we’ll turn the clocks ahead this coming Sunday, I started searching the catalogs for new clothes for spring and bought some new tops!  I thought about putting out my wicker patio set, but it was a little too windy, so decided to wait.  And, I had a real strong urge to put the top down on the pony…….but, it isn’t THAT warm, yet!!!!  I’m making a mental list of day trips and things I’d like to do once the weather is sure to stay nice – let the adventures begin!!!

The forecast shows a drop in temps tonight and a couple of days back in the 30s, but then it is supposed to go back up into the high 50s and low 60s for much of the next couple of weeks!!!  YAY!!!  Guess I need to go ahead and get that wicker patio set out on the patio and go shop for a patio table, chairs, and umbrella and a grill!  It will soon be time to start spending quality time outside in the fresh air and sunshine…………………do they have that in Western NY before August?  hehehehehe  Of course they do and I am soooooooooo looking forward to it!!!!

Yep, I have Spring Fever, but I’m not looking for a cure any time soon!!!

Weekend Words

Mar20

What a great weekend this was……perfect weather (until it got a little cooler today, but still nice), and lots of thoughts clanging around in my brain!  So, it is time for  a brain dump and to just ramble on about the things I did this weekend and other random thoughts.  Not sure where to start, really, guess I should just jump in with the weekend activities and go from there.

Thursday was St. Patrick’s Day – we had Irish Pub music playing in our office area all day, which was interesting.  I went by Southern Jewelers to drop off the items I gathered for their Scavenger Hunt contest – I am now in the running for the Grand Prize – a pair of 1/2 carat diamond earrings!!!  Yes, that is a 4-leaf clover on my cheek!

Friday evening wasn’t all that special.  I thought about going out to eat, but ended up just staying home.  I didn’t want to be out too late, anyway, because Friday night is my night to watch “The Defenders” and “Blue Bloods” on TV.  I LOVE those shows!  Yeah – I DVR them, but I’d still rather watch them when they air, unless something really special takes priority over them.  But, when I got all settled in and comfortable in front of the TV, I discovered that – for the second week in a row – both shows were preempted by basketball games!  Uugghh!  When is the basketball season done so that we can have our TV back???  At least last week, was just local games, so there was a “new” episode of each on and I was able to catch them on HULU the next day.  This week must have been wider spread coverage or they were reruns, because I haven’t seen new episodes posted on HULU, yet.  So, I ended up watching a couple of hours of back-to-back “Say Yes To The Dress” episodes – most of which I saw before, but sat through again cause there wasn’t anything else that interested me on!

Saturday was cool, though.  The weather was FABULOUS!!!  80+ degrees, sunny, and totally enjoyable!  The weather has been very good the past several days, but Saturday, I actually got to enjoy it because I wasn’t inside working all day!  I bummed around the house and played with the girls most of the day and took a much-needed afternoon nap.  Then, I got ready and went out for the evening.  First, I had a perfectly cooked rib eye steak dinner at Cafe 121 – YUM!!!  Then, I went to the Temple Theatre and got a ticket to the Saturday performance of the current show – “Proof”.  The show wasn’t to start for an hour, so I took the opportunity to stroll around downtown and enjoy the gorgeous evening.  It was still 70+ degrees and so quiet and peaceful.  I looked in all the store windows and just wandered around in an attempt to walk off just a little of the delicious dinner.  I got back to the theatre and it was still a little early, so I sat on the bench outside and continued to enjoy the evening.  Between dinner, my stroll, and my time at the theatre, I was able to say hi to several people I know and that was so nice.  The show was good — as always, the Temple Theatre did a very nice job of bringing the performances to life.  After the show, I went back home and had the chocolate pound cake I got “to go” after dinner at Cafe 121.

The other neat thing about Saturday night was the moon.  It was not only a full moon, it was a super “pedigree” full moon!  Apparently, it was the closest it has been to the Earth in about 20 years, so it appeared much bigger and brighter than the typical full moon.  It was quite beautiful.

So, today – the last day of the weekend, but the first day of Spring – is Sunday!  It was cooler today – a friend on Facebook said it best:  “Only in NC can the last day of winter be 84 and the first day of spring be 54!”  But, I don’t care – it is still the first day of Spring and I am so happy to see this day come!  It was a rough winter for just about everywhere in the country this year!  I love Spring!  It is my favorite time of year – with the exception of the pollen weeks!

I went out for a little bit.  I needed to fill my gas tank — something I dread, along with most of the rest of the world!  I started to head to Lowes Foods to fill up there, but decided to go to the Murphy Express station at WalMart, instead.  I’m glad I did!  Along the way, most of the stations I noticed were posting gas prices of $3.50 – 3.51 a gallon and there was one place I noticed that was $3.49.  Murphy Express price was only $3.46!!!  Five cents cheaper than most other places.  Then, I was REALLY glad I went up there, instead of Lowes Foods — I went by there on my way back and their price was $3.52!!!!  What’s up with that???  I thought they were supposed to be a discount gas station!!!  I usually go there because it is closer, but will definitely go to the other end of town from now on!  Six cents a gallon less is absolutely worth the drive to save!

Then, I had lunch at the Dairy Bar and went to get some groceries. 

Other thoughts:

  • The Food Lion on Hawkins Avenue is going through major renovations.  I mostly like the changes – looks more like some of the higher end grocery stores and is very pleasant to shop in.  The only problem I have found, so far, is the produce section.  They have fruits and some vegetables on old-fashioned looking market carts – very appealing to the eye!  But, they are high to begin with and then they put some of the items in baskets on top towards the center of the cart – nearly impossible for short people (and I’m sure some elderly people) to reach.  I wanted to get some pears – they were in those baskets – I looked around to see if there were more somewhere lower, but there weren’t and the baskets were no longer full, so the pears were down inside the baskets, almost hidden from my view.  So, I stood on my tippy toes and reached the basket and pulled it forward to dump a few pears out onto the next shelf so I could pick out a few and then put the rest back.  The same thing with the sweet onions I wanted to get!  So, I stopped by the Customer Service counter and told the lady there that I had some feedback for her about the new design.  I said it all looks great, but that the carts in the produce section make it very difficult for short people (and also mentioned the possible elderly it may impact) to reach.  I told her my story about what I had to do to get some pears and sweet onions.  She seemed genuinely concerned and promised to pass the information on.  Even just putting some both in the baskets and within reach would be a big help.  I know - all stores have high shelves that have always been a problem for us short folks, but I can deal with that - I can usually get up on my toes and use my finger tips or a pen from my purse to knock a box off the top shelf and if there aren’t any within reach that way, I either get a different brand or sometimes a kind fellow shopper reaches it for me.  These baskets are different – you have to reach over the lower shelves on the cart and then down into the basket!  Not good!  I hope they fix it!
  • Pet peeve of the day — people who think they are the only ones in the grocery store and that no one else needs to get down the aisles or look at the stuff on the shelves!  I linger longer than I probably should when trying to decide what to get, if not something I normally buy, but I do try to stay over to the side and watch for people who may need to get around me or may want to get something in the section I might be blocking. 
  • I had to get new tires on the pony this week.  Ronald changed my oil last weekend and noticed several spots with exposed threads and bald sections!  So, I went to Perry Brothers and got new tires and a front end alignment.  The guys at Perry Brothers were great, but it was still a hefty expense I wasn’t planning on…….oh, well!!!  Them’s the breaks!  (oh, dear – don’t let the use of the word “breaks” be a trigger for new “brakes”, too!)  The old girl may be 6 years old, now, but she only has 52,000 miles on her – I would think that tires would last longer than that!
  • With all the stories about purse snatching and other such crimes we hear about far too often, it was a real joy to read the letter to the editor in today’s Sanford Herald about the happy ending for the lady who left her purse in the cart in WalMart parking lot.  Apparently, when she realized she left it, she went back assuming it was long gone, but discovered that someone actually found it and turned it in – there it was waiting for her!  Sad, though, that the person who turned it in didn’t leave her name so she could be properly thanked! 
  • I got a little bloody nose this morning — I was wrestling with Megan on the bed and we were having fun, until she rolled around the wrong way and banged her hard head into my nose!!!  It didn’t bleed much, but man, it was sore for a couple of hours and still tingles a little!  That’ll teach me!  hahaha

I think that’s all I have to talk about today………

Smile – it inceases your face value!

Mar13

My last post was about the joy that a good cry brings.  Now, I think I’ll give smiling some equal time.  And, yes, the title is a quote from Steel Magnolias - Truvie, played by Dolly Parton, said it in the movie that always brings a lot of both smiles and tears when I watch it, so it is fitting to use for this post.  Afterall, aren’t laughter and tears so closely tied you often find them all wrapped up in the same emotional situations?

When I first sat down with the idea for a post on smiling, it was going to head in a very different direction than where my thoughts ended up going.  I intended to focus on things that make me smile.  When thinking of a good title, I immediately thought of using the Steel Magnolias quote (duh – isn’t there a great Steel Magnolias quote for every situation?) and that led me to wondering what other quotes are out there about the value of smiles.  So, I ran a search and found a ton of them.  Then, I started thinking of songs that talk about how smiles hide inner pain or deception.  And then, I started thinking about the close ties that smiling and crying have – as I’ve already talked about in my opening paragraph.  I soon realized that the topic of smiles is so much deeper than just coming up with a bulleted list of what makes me smile.  So, this will be a mixed bag of all that the word “Smile” brought out in me this morning.  And, yes, there were tears along the way – but not sad ones!

I’ll start with what makes me smile – my original intent for this post – in no particular order, except for the first three:

  • Family
  • Friends
  • My dogs – the girls
  • Daisies – the happiest flower on the planet
  • Yellow roses
  • Pearls, opals, and amethysts
  • Root Beer
  • The wind blowing across my face
  • A beautiful blue sky
  • Babies
  • A job well done – especially if it was particularly challenging
  • Fond memories
  • Listening to the sounds of nature breaking the silence of a quiet morning
  • The pony with the top down on a warm spring day (like later today, for sure)

The following picture makes me smile and it just screams “life is good”!  You may not see it, but I do.  It is of my Poppie – the main reason it makes me smile, but that isn’t all.  To know why it screams “life is good”, you have to look really close and know more about the bigger context.  First, he is on the phone doing what he loved to do – working on his locksmith business – in this case, it looks like he was placing a parts order.  He is surrounded by drawers and racks of tools and little bitty pieces and parts on the shelves behind him – he LOVED stuff like that and it simply sent him into a tizzy of happiness just knowing he had everything he would ever need to fix anything that would ever need to be fixed and it was all within reach at all times!  He is sitting in front of his computer – something else that brought him pure joy and a hobby of building computers for friends and family.  Then, on the wall beside him there are photos of the grandchildren and others and above that, where you can’t see in this photo, is a photo of him with all his siblings with their mother on her birthday.  The filing cabinet behind him has a clipping of his niece’s engagement announcement, a plaque that reads “It’s nice to be important, but it’s more important to be nice” – something that describes him to a “T”, and the name “Marilyn” – his wife, my mother!  So, yes – this photo makes me smile every time I come across it – it looks like a busy mess, but it is a perfect image of who he was and what meant the world to him.  Of course there was a lot more that he found joy in and every photo of him makes me smile, but this one says so much all in one brief snapshot in time. 

What is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of a smile?  Maybe a big toothy grin – like the ones in the Pedigree Doggie Dentures commercials or Whoopi Goldberg in The Color Purple when Shug Avery finally makes her realize that she has a pretty smile?  Maybe  something funny, like perhaps a clown?  Clowns – there is a word that can bring a lot of depth to the topic of smiles.  Aside from the evil, scary clowns, the typical image that comes to mind is a clown with a big smile painted onto their face.  But, not all clowns are happy clowns.  Take Emmitt Kelly, for instance.  Arguably the most famous clown ever, Emmitt Kelly based his clown on the depression era and always had a sad, worried look on his face.  I loved the image of Emmitt Kelly.  I used to do ceramics and did a figurine of Emmitt Kelly for my Mom, who also had a soft spot for the famous clown.  We also had a large portrait of Kelly in our home for many years (in fact, it is on the wall beside Poppie in the photo above) – one that I would love to find out where it ended up and put in my home.

Thinking of Emmitt Kelly and the old saying “Tears of a clown” brings to mind two Smokey Robinson songs that focus on how a smile or someone who is trying so hard to make you laugh may be hiding heartache.  The first song was titled “Tears of a Clown” and the other was “Tracks of My Tears”.   If you want to listen to them, you’ll need to click the link that comes up to take you to YouTube because of licensing issues (definitely something that does NOT make me smile whenever it happens).

A song that focuses on the deceit that smiles can hide is one by Undistuted Truth called “Smiling Faces”.  Oh, and by the way – if the big white afro wigs don’t make you smile, nothing will! 

 

Like I said earlier, I found tons of quotes related to smiling.  Here are some that stuck out for me – most reflect my opinion that it is so much healthier and easier to go through life with a positive outlook and find the joy in things that make you smile.

  • “A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”  ~Phyllis Diller
  • “A smile confuses an approaching frown.”  ~Author Unknown
  • “Before you put on a frown, make absolutely sure there are no smiles available.”  ~Jim Beggs
  • “A smile is the light in the window of your face that tells people you’re at home.”  ~Author Unknown
  • “Life is like a mirror, we get the best results when we smile at it.”  ~Author Unknown
  • “I have a tickle in my brain.  And it keeps making the corners of my mouth point toward the heavens.”  ~Jeb Dickerson
  • “Keep smiling – it makes people wonder what you’ve been up to.”  ~Author Unknown

And finally - a video full of clips of Charlie Chaplin – the MASTER of mixing tears with laughter.  I dare anyone to watch this and not break out into a smile at least once – even if only from listening to the song that comes along with it!

Now – go out and find something to smile about……I hope this post put one on your face! 

To close out this post, here are the lyrics to “Smile” – by Charlie Chaplin
Smile
Tho’ your heart is aching
Smile
Even tho’ it’s breaking
When there are clouds in the sky
You’ll get by
If you
Smile through your fear and sorrow
Smile and maybe tomorrow
You’ll see the sun come shining thru for you.
Light up your face with gladness
Hide ev’ry trace of sadness
Altho’ a tear maybe ever so near
That’s the time you must keep on trying
Smile
What’s the use of crying
You’ll find that life is stillworth while
If you’ll just smile.

Saturday Morning in Sanford

Jun12

I had the best Saturday morning in Sanford today!  The weather couldn’t be more perfect – hot, but not too hot (but, just wait until the afternoon, I’m sure), with a nice breeze and a gorgeous bright blue sky!  I had stuff on my “to do” list, but nothing that I needed to rush around for!  And I just plain had fun!

I started out driving through town with the top down on the pony, Sanford’s WFJA 105.5 blarring out classic rock hits on the radio, and me singing along at the top of my lungs!  I was bee-bopping and singing and having a big party in my car when I came up along side of a lady in an SUV with all her windows rolled up tight!  I could tell she could still hear me or at the very least knew I was singing and having a party all by myself!  When I noticed her starring at me, I smiled and waved and she instantly looked away as if to say “oh, no, the crazy lady saw me looking at her – don’t make eye contact – you might catch what she has!”  hahaha  I just kept having fun and enjoying my lovely Saturday morning!  No prissy lady in a big SUV that doesn’t even want the breeze to come in her windows is going to spoil that for me!!!  {giggle}

Then, I went to Marcello’s and Aprille gave me a much-needed pedicure - I now have soft, well-maintained feetsies and toesies and I feel so good!!! 

From there, I went to Southern Jewelers to check out the new stuff my friend Lora Wright got at a show in Las Vegas!  I fell in love with two amazing rings that I just had to have!  So, that’s my shameless gift to myself for the day!

Then, I went out to the annual Arden sale and bought a really pretty umbrella for my patio table — just $35.00!  Arden has a manufacturing site here in Sanford – they make high-end patio cushions, umbrellas, and other stuff like that!  Each year about this time, they open up a warehouse full of discontinued pattern stock for sale – CHEAP!!!  I just got all new cushions last year and they are still good, so I didn’t need any cushions.  But, a big wind picked up my umbrella – table and all – and threw it across the patio and landed upside down, breaking the post and umbrella in several places!  I loved that umbrella, but wasn’t terribly upset because I got it at Arden last year for $35.00, so I wasn’t out the big bucks it would have cost me in the store!  So — I did need a new umbrella!  I’m loving this one!

A biscuitville biscuit for brunch on the way home ended my morning adventure…………..now, I think I’ll curl up in front of the TV and risk falling into a nice nap!!!

Are you kidding me????

May2

I’ve been away for the past week – I went on a cruise with my Mom!  YAY!  But that isn’t the topic of this post – nope, the juicy cruise details will come after I get some much-needed sleep and get settled in – maybe in a day or two!  The topic of today’s post is strictly devoted to the events of May 1st…..the day from hell……the nightmare I don’t care to repeat!!!

Our day started at 6:00 AM when the wake up call broke into the approximately two hours of sleep I was able to get last night.  We knew we would have to get up early to get breakfast and prepare to debark the ship first thing in the morning…..the end of a relaxing adventure to Key West and Nassau.  But, knowing we would have to get up early created some anxiety that wouldn’t allow me to fall asleep.  Also, the ship’s crew were busy in the hallway loading up suitcases and squeaking their carts and banging on the walls…….who could sleep?  I dozed off a few times, but didn’t really fall asleep until around 4:00 or so and even then, it was broken up by my waking to peek at my watch for the time every 1/2 hour or so!

Here’s how the rest of the day went:

  • Our 6:30 AM breakfast was good and the debarkation process went smoothly and quickly once they got to our zone and we were allowed to start making our way off ship at about 10:30.  So far, so good!
  • The news was reporting severe weather in Nashville – where our connecting flight was – violent thunderstorms and tornado warnings!  But, they were supposed to expire before we would get there.  So we kept an eye on it, but weren’t getting too excited.
  • The Carnival bus took us to the airport and could only make one stop – instead of dropping everyone off in the center somewhere, they dropped us all off at the far end and, of course, the Southwest terminals were at the opposite far end! 
  • Jacksonville, Fla airport was crazy crowded and the limited lanes through security couldn’t accommodate the mass confusion and congestion - what a zoo!!! 
  • We finally got to our gate about 12:30.  Our flight wasn’t until 2:00, so we had time to grab some lunch.  Just up from our gate was a sit down restaurant with some good-looking sandwiches and there were only a couple other tables occupied, so they weren’t busy - we decided it was worth a try!  The waitress took a long time to notice we were there.  When she came over, she never looked at us – just asked “would you like to order something?”  We ordered and she walked away without saying anything else.  I realized I forgot to tell her “no cheese” on my sandwich, so I went to the bar and caught her as she was entering the order.  She gave me a blank stare, rolled her eyes, and went back to the computer.  She brought the drinks and I apologized for the confusion and she didn’t acknowledge I was there, let alone that I actually spoke to her.  The food came and to my surprise, it actually was the way I ordered it – no cheese!  The food was very good!!!  She brought the bill without saying a word – never checked to see if everything was OK or if we wanted more drinks or anything – and never came back for the money!  So, I took it to the bar and she cashed me out without so much as a split second of eye contact or speaking to me!  We reluctantly left a tip, but if I had it to do over, I wouldn’t have…….
  • We got on the plane in Jacksonville to head to Nashville!  Everything was showing “on time” and no apparent issues.
  • The guys behind us were also on the cruise and had obviously spent the morning on the Lido deck drinking the time away waiting to debark!  They proceeded to have two more drinks a piece on the plane!  The result was a string of very loud, obnoxious, and……well, let’s just say colorful vocabulary filled conversations that were non-stop from the time we got on until we landed!  They also kept kicking or punching the back of our seats and pulling back on the top of them – a couple of times catching my hair and pulling it as they did so!  It was all I could do to keep from getting up out of my seat and giving them hell!!!!
  • As we got closer to Nashville, the flight got rough!  Really rough!  Mom doesn’t like to fly, so she was really getting nervous and scared!  Frankly, so was I and a little rough weather doesn’t usually get me worked up!  The Captain came on and said that there are dangerous storms around Nashville and he was waiting for instructions and would keep us posted.
  • Just then —- LIGHTENING HIT THE PLANE!!!!  REALLY – IT ACTUALLY HIT THE PLANE!!!!  RIGHT BY MOM’S WINDOW!!!!  We heard a loud bang and a bright flash of light and knew exactly what it was!!!!  Everyone gasped and let out some yells!!!  I’ve flown in some pretty nasty weather, but that is the first time that has ever happened!  I was in shock and had to force myself to start breathing again!!!!
  • The pilot accelerated the plane and came back on to say that he was attempting to fly away from the storm and that he was still waiting for instructions – he said they wanted him to circle for at least 45 minutes to wait out the storm, but that he DIDN’T HAVE ENOUGH FUEL FOR THAT, so they were assessing the field again!!!! 
  • Someone tried to get up to use the restroom and the flight attendant made the announcement that everyone had to remain in their seat because it was too dangerous to be up for any reason!  Someone pressed their call button and he said to reset it and only press it again if it was a medical emergency because it was not safe for the attendants to assist anyone for any non-emergency reasons!
  • LIGHTENING HITTING THE PLANE……NOT ENOUGH FUEL……TOO DANGEROUS…..NOT SAFE……OK – DEFINITELY THE WORST WEATHER SITUATION FLIGHT I’VE EVER BEEN ON!!!  And it had to be with Mom, who is a nervous wreck on a normal, calm flight!!!!  I pretty much decided that if we landed in Nashville or anywhere close, we wouldn’t get on the connection to RDU with bad weather – I was going to just rent a car and drive here!!!
  • Then the decision announcement came — “Ladies and Gentleman, we just don’t have the fuel to do what Nashville wants us to do and the storm is not letting up, so we’re going on to Columbus!”  That plane was already scheduled to go to Columbus next, so that part made sense…….but…….they didn’t have enough fuel to hang around Nashville for up to 45 mins, but they had enough to go all the way to Columbus, Ohio???  Really???  My mind started to wander with thoughts of the next announcement being “sorry, folks, we’re not going to make it to Columbus, but there’s a nice looking corn field we’re going to try to land on!” 
  • The loud, obnoxious drunks behind us were still at it through it all…..now they were making sure the entire plane knew how going to Columbus was ruining their plans to attend a Jimmy Buffett concert in Nashville tonight and that they fully intended to rent a car in Columbus and drive back to the concert!  They made the stressful situation worse throughout the bad weather and now the whole way to Columbus!!!  UUGGHH!!!! 
  • My thoughts went to what I could do for Mom — since Columbus is so close to home for her and she was only going to be here for a couple more days, it didn’t make sense for her to go through getting a flight to RDU.  So, we talked about getting her a flight to Buffalo or maybe me renting a car and drive her home and then get a flight back here tomorrow or Monday or something……I am still on vacation from work until Weds!!!  That could work!!!
  • We landed in Columbus and they very quickly got us all rebooked!  I asked about a flight to Buffalo for Mom and mentioned the option of renting a car and driving, but they said they couldn’t change our final destination and we’d be in Raleigh tonight and it wasn’t likely they could get us in Buffalo tonight, anyway, and that our bags were already pulled and on their way to our new flight that was boarding NOW!
  • So, we were whisked away to another gate and on our way to Baltimore to change planes to head to Raleigh!  OK, so it was all working out and it looked like we were only going to be about an hour delayed from our original arrival time in RDU.
  • We arrived in Baltimore about 6:30 and our next flight was scheduled to leave at 8:05, so we got a Subway sandwich and made some calls (my brother still doesn’t believe our story)!  Both flights were smooth and uneventful and we made it to Raleigh a little after 9:00.
  • I went to get the car and bring it around while Mom waited for the bags!  As I pulled up to meet her, a porter came out to flag me down and proceeded to tell me that our bags weren’t on the flight and needed my baggage claim tags.  Mom and the porter came out a few minutes later (luckily, a very nice security guy let me sit there and wait, so I didn’t have to keep circling around).  They said the bags were still on the original flight from Nashville and it was scheduled to arrive at 9:30……then they found out it was delayed until 10:00!  So, we waited……and security allowed me to stay parked there, so long as I didn’t go inside and leave it unattended. 
  • About 10:30, the last of the bags on that flight were done going around the carousel……and our’s weren’t there!!!  We weren’t the only ones, though – others that were diverted with us had the same problem – apparently, none of the bags were pulled and loaded on the new flights, as we were told!
  • We were first told that they were on the next flight, but then they found out they weren’t, so there was no need for us to wait for it!  We gave them all the information about the bags and how to contact us!  They “think” they are going to be on the flight that is set to arrive about noon tomorrow……we’ll believe it when we see it!
  • Finally home about 11:30 PM….exhausted!!!

After a week on a relaxing cruise, I was rested and totally de-stressed!!!  Today totally unraveled all of that!!!  And we’ve been around a block or two in the past week…….Starting with Raleigh to Fort Lauderdale to Jacksonville on Sunday, out to sea, then Key West, then Nassau, more out to sea, back to Jacksonville on Saturday, almost to Nashville, then Columbus, then Baltimore, and finally back to Raleigh!!! 

So – my Saturday was LONG and MISERABLE!!!  How was your’s???

Hhhmmm

Jan9

Well, all I can say is “Hhhmmm”!  Today’s thoughts and activities have been all over the place  – some border on “strange” and some just plain left me speechless!  But…..a blogger never has a problem turning “speechless” into the written word!  hehehe  I’ll start with today and maybe I might even add in some other odd things or thoughts that have plagued me lately!  I’m going to bounce around and go out-of-order, because the first one – although it happened last, so far – was the one that beat it all….the perverbial “nail” in the coffin, so to speak!

My finger nails have been growing nicely, lately.  I tend to go in waves where they will be nice and long and strong for a while and grow like weeds…………then, they start to snap off and soon they are all stubbles, look like crap, and I can’t get them to grow back out for love nor money!  Anyway, my right hand nails have gotten pretty long (I’m not sure why, but that hand always seems to grow faster/better than the left hand) and I was concerned they would start to crack or break because I was starting to catch them on things, so I made an appt to get a manicure this morning.  I got there and asked Aprille to cut them back a little so they are the same length as the nails on the other hand, which were all a nice workable length  - look good, but don’t get in the way (except the index finger, which I broke over the holidays and was still little more than a stubble)!  She did and I left with nice, well manicured nails!  Happily, I went on to run a quick errand and then go to Cracker Barrel for lunch.  The chairs at the tables there are heavy and don’t slide well, so I reached down to pull the chair forward so I could sit closer to the table…………just as I pulled the seat forward, the chair decided it didn’t want to do that and my hand slipped off the seat………..and bent THREE nails on my right hand backwards – the three that were long and getting in the way a couple hours earlier, but were now the perfect working length and polished to perfection!  My heart sank as I pulled my hand up to assess the damage!  It looked like they survived!!!  I didn’t see any cracks or missing/hanging nails!!  And then, I saw it – the nail on the index finger had a crack that started on the side and went across to the center of the nail!  I pulled it back and sure enough, the nail was broke and had to be cut off!!!  To keep from catching and tearing it, I carefully pulled it off and went on with my lunch!  So, now I have BOTH index fingers snapped off to nothing!  Way to ruin a beautiful manicure!  But – the good news is that if that had happened BEFORE the manicure, I probably would have lost all three nails and I would have been even more upset!!!

My lips are a little chapped this morning – it started to be noticable yesterday.  I get chapped lips a lot in the winter and have to be careful what I put on them to avoid or repair chapped lips.  Chapstick and anything with menthol or other medicinal type ingredients all make my lips break out!  Not sure how Chapstick falls into that category, but it does.  So, I typically use Burt’s Bees in the little round tins or Vaseline Lip Therapy – they are about the only ones that work, yet don’t make my lips break out!  The reason I’m bringing this up isn’t to let you know I have chapped lips or to warn potential kissers……it is to tell you where my thoughts went when I sat here this morning wondering if I had any of either of the above mentioned products or if I had to run out and get some!  As I sat here, I remembered and started thinking about when I a kid.  I always had problems with chapped lips – worse than I do now!  But, I used to try to keep them moist in a different way — I would lick my lips way beyond the lip part and get them good and moist – then, I would put the palm of my hand over my mouth to hold in the moisture!!!!  My lips would get all red and chapped way up and down around and beyond my lips, so I would do it more to try to moisten them more!!!  It took me years to realize that what I was doing was CAUSING the problem, not solving it!!!  By getting the skin good and wet and holding it on there so it couldn’t dry, it was chapping it even worse and beyond the normal area!!! 

I didn’t want to get out of bed this morning.  I woke up several times, but rolled over and convinced the girls to let me go back to sleep for “just a little while longer”!  In one of those short snooze times, I had a dream that I had a hair appt this morning and that I went in saying that I needed more than just a trim and asking that it be cut shorter cause it was starting to stick out around my ears, stick out over my collar, look too thick on top, and look like a shaggy dog!!!  I woke up and realized my appt today was for a manicure, not a hair cut, but when I looked in the mirror, I realized my subconscious was right — I DO need a good shape up!!!  Luckily, I have an appt the week after next — I just hope I can hold off that long without starting to whack at it myself!!!

I was in a store the other day (not in Sanford – don’t worry) and said something to the clerk (I don’t even remember what) and she looked at me and said, “Yur from somewar up thar in the North, arn, ya?” – in a very slow, drawn out way – kid you not!  It wasn’t just a southern accent, it was just like something you hear on those shows that overly exaggerate the uneducated way some talk way back in the mountain woods!  So, I just smiled and said, “yes, I’m from Upstate New York originally, but I’ve lived here about 24 years now.”  She looked at me with wide open eyes and said in a shocked voice, “New York?  Really?  You don sound at all like dem New York people talk!  I kin understand you, I cain’t understand dem from New York at all!  WOW, I jus don know how ya’ll kin stand to live in dem big cities, like dat!”  I thought about explaining that I was from way upstate in Western NY and that we don’t typically have the same accent as those in NYC and that there is a whole big beautiful state outside “the city”, like I often do, but I decided to just smile, nod, take my change, and go on my merry way!  But, this, too, caused the thoughts to run rampant!  I thought for quite a while after that as I drove back home from the store…….I thought about how I lived the first 28 1/2 years of my life in NY and the second 24 1/2 years of my life in NC and that, although I don’t hear it, I apparently have developed a subtle mixture of accents.  Around here, I often get told that they can tell the minute I open my mouth that I am a Yankee.  But, when I go home, I often get told that I’ve been in the South too long cause I’ve picked up a little Southern Twang!  I think I’ll be fine, so long as I don’t start ending sentences with the word “AT” — such as, “Where you at?” (instead of “Where are you?”), “Where do you stay at?” (instead of “Where do you live?”) or “Where’d I leave my keys at?” (instead of “Where did I leave my keys” or “Where are my keys?”)!

The good thoughts of the day, though, came after the errand I ran between my manicure and lunch at Cracker Barrel!  I ran by The Painted Pedal to pick up a form and drop off a check for the deposit for the group cruise my Mom and I are going on in the spring!  A friend of Mom’s is going to go with us, now, too – so I had to get the information sheet we need to fill out for her.  Up until now, I’ve thought quite often about the cruise and how nice it will be to do one with Mom!  This will be my third cruise, but her first!  So, I want it to be a really special experience for her AND I want it to be a special memory that we can share!!  We had such a great time going to Vegas together and I want this to be right up there with it or exceed it in terms of amazing memories!!!  But, as of today, we have real money invested and it just seems more real — like it’s gonna happen, instead of just something we’re planning to do!!!  So, I sat through lunch thinking about being in Key West and pictured us in a tropical setting in Nassau — listening to calypso music and sipping drinks out of fruit shells with straws and umbrellas in them!  I could suddenly feel the warm sun on my face and hear the waves crashing on the shoreline!  DANG — I wanna go NOW!!!! 

OK — now it is time for a nap!!  The girls are already in on the bed, snoring — think I’ll go join them!!!

Day Fit For A King

Jan8

Today – January 8th – was a day fit for a king!  Yep, the King, Elvis Presley, would have turned 75 years old today!  But that wasn’t the only notable thing that happened, or for that matter, didn’t happen today!  I have a lot of thoughts about today and the last few days rattling around in my head, so this is sure to be a good old “brain dump” so I can make room for the thoughts I hope to have over the weekend!  Weekends tend to generate a ton of great thoughts, so it would be nice to have some space available for them when they start pouring in!  So, here goes…….

Elvis — it is hard to believe he would have been (or is, depending on your belief) 75 years old today!  WOW — I grew up watching the young, handsome Elvis in movies like Viva Las Vegas and Kissing Cousins (my two favorites).   I remember watching the ’68 Come Back Special and falling in love forever with that skin-tight black leather outfit and the guy in it!  I was 12 years old — do you know what something like that does to a 12-year-old girl just starting to bud into her teens?  Yeah – it was a lasting vision that still melts my jammies to think about!  I would lay on my stomach on the floor inches from the TV watching anything that came on with Elvis in it and CRY my eyes out!!!  I played the Elvis songs loaded on my iPhone all day at work today — most set me to be-bopping, many put me in a mellow moment, and some brought tears to my eyes!  Ones that will ALWAYS bring tears to my eyes are “You Gave Me A Mountain”, “If I Can Dream”, “Are You Lonesome Tonight”, and “One Night” – my personal favorite Elvis song out of all Elvis songs!!! 

The thought of Elvis also makes me think of and remember my dear friend, David Whittier!  David was the lead singer of a local band called Defiance and a very close friend of mine.  David always made me think of Elvis – he sung some of his songs (“If I Can Dream”, “You Gave Me A Mountain”, and “Polk Salad Annie”, to name a few) and sounded very much like him.  When he sang anything, he would bring tears to my eyes!  So, David was always a trigger to get all emotional about Elvis.  David passed away tragically way too young from a horrible accident!  Now, when I hear Elvis, I think of my dear friend, David, and get the warm fuzzies all over!  I know that Elvis and David are jamming together in Heaven and they will forever link memories of each other in my heart!

It is no secret that I grew up and spent the first 1/2 of my life in Western New York in a small town about half way between Buffalo and Rochester just off of Lake Ontario in the Buffalo snow belt!  I have seen some pretty massive blizzards over the years — some that required earth movers to come in and cut through mountains of snow to clear roads.  Even though it snowed several months out of the year, we had very few snow days from school – if they closed school because of snow, we never would have gone to school in the winter months and some spring months!  So – I will never understand the panic that goes on in Sanford, NC when the weather man even mentions the word “snow”, even if it isn’t part of the forecast!  This week, the weather guys all predicted a potential for some light snow on Thursday night / Friday morning.  The forecast was for “a trace to 1/2 inch” possible in some areas, depending on where the cold front passes through.  So, by 2:00 on Thursday afternoon, most of the counties, including the one I live in, decided to put the schools all on a 2 hour delayed opening on Friday morning —- BEFORE they even knew IF we’d get any snow and if we did, how much and what impact it might have!  As it turned out, there was NO snow and NO ice Friday morning!  But, since they already announced the delayed opening, parents had to scramble around because they had kids that would be home alone for two hours in the morning if they didn’t either arrange for their care or be late for work!  All for nothing!  Jeez!!!  I will never understand the reaction to the threat of snow here!!  Someone on Facebook today made the joke that maybe the grocery stores and the weather people are in a partnership to boost sales of bread and milk — Kroger, Food Lion, etc. call the local TV stations and say “hey, we’ve got a bad surplus of bread and milk on our hands!  You think you might be able to create a snow scare so we get to sell out of our stock?”  The weather station kick into gear and say the word “snow” and BAM – all bread and milk across the state flies out of the grocery stores within minutes!! 

We’re working on some exciting things for CARA!  On Friday, February 5th, Cafe 121 is hosting a “First Friday” fundraising event benefiting CARA – 50% of the sales for dinner that evening will go directly to CARA!  We’re working to generate a lot of interest in going to Cafe 121 for dinner on the 5th!   Then, on Monday, February 22nd, we’re having our annual Bella Dinner at Bella Bistro!  An amazing 5 course meal with wine pairings and a champagne reception before the dinner starts!  Tickets are on sale for $75 each and sponsorship opportunities are available.  All proceeds benefit CARA’s Holly Fund to pay expenses for homeless animals with special needs.  If you’re interested in attending this event, please leave a comment here and I’ll get you the info you need to get tickets or be a sponsor!

I talked to a dear friend today that I don’t talk to as often as I would like to — just a matter of busy schedules, which is absolutely no excuse!!!  There are some people who I just plain need to commit to make time for keeping in touch with them more often!  She is one!  It was great talking to her and we plan to get together for brunch and a movie soon!

2010 is off to a kick-ass start!!  Hope it keeps up! 

Life is back to normal

Aug29

WHEW!  My life is back to normal – sorta – whatever “normal” means!  So, what do I do with my time, now?  Do I sit on my laurels and twiddle my thumbs while I enjoy some peace, quiet, and relaxation?  Um – NO!  I’m not the “sit and do nothing” type!

I admit, this past week was filled with a lot of nothing during my non-work hours, but that stops now! 

I just realized that it is the 29th and I almost forgot about the CARA event – “Run For Their Lives” – happening in Kiwanis Park this morning.  It started at 8:00, so we will be a little late, but Katie and I will be heading that way in a little bit to take part in whatever activities are left when we get there — or just to check out all the other dogs!  Katie loves going on adventures and I am always happy to support CARA!   Megan and Amy would love to go, too, but I can’t handle all 3 in situations like this — they get WAY too excited!  Katie is the calmest, so is best to take to something like this - Megan and Amy will get their turns at something fun! 

If you haven’t heard, “Run For Their Lives” is a fun run and walk with lots of other great activities with proceeds benefiting CARA – Carolina Animal Rescue and Adoption.  It is from 8:00-12:00 TODAY at Kiwanis Park.  If you read this in time, come on out!!!

Ronald started on the renovations to the garage this week!  My garage was in BAD need of organization!  A few years ago, my Mom and I put up some plastic shelving units around the perimeter so that I could get stuff off the floor.  But they ended up being junk collectors with no organization what-so-ever!  They also started to buckle under the weight of some of the things I was storing on them!  (one was about ready to collapse at the slightest bump and crash the contents onto my precious pony — uugghh!!!)  So, I sold some of the shelving units at my yard sale a couple months ago.   I kept 2 for the garage and 1 to put out in the shed so I can also organize that (another story for another time)!  I decided I wanted to put up peg board on some of the wall space so that I could hang things up and have them take up less space than being on the floor or on shelves that took up a lot of space, as well.  I also wanted an overhead shelf to put seasonal stuff up out of the way.  The shelves will now only be used for anything that can’t be hung up and that I don’t want to stash up high (not gonna put anything up there I need to get to very often – I am short and scared of ladders/heights)!  We’re also going to paint all the walls and peg board the same color – LaFonda Boulder, which is a slightly darker beige than what I used in the living room, but not a lot darker - and put that pretty garage floor sealer that has speckles in it on the floor!  It is going to look so good when we’re (and by “we”, I mean “Ronald”) done!  A perfect home for my beloved pony!  Here is what the garage looked like when I first moved in and some “in progress” shots – so far, he’s only got the peg board up.  It is on the entire end wall and on about 10 feet of the left side wall.  I think that’s enough!  The overhead shelf will be the entire length of the end wall up over the peg board.

Garage

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Speaking of the garage, we discovered a leak in the water heater!  It definitely wasn’t leaking a few days ago when I was out there getting a screwdriver!  And each day, it looks like it is leaking a little heavier!  So – before it lets loose and floods the garage, we will be replacing it!  I imagine it is about time for it to decide to die on me!  I’ve lived here 5 1/2 years and I don’t know how old it was when I moved in – it could be as much as almost 10 years old, if it is the original one!  At least water heaters are fairly inexpensive appliances and Ronald can easily install it for me – especially since it is right out in the open in the garage!  (we had to replace one in my mobile home that was inside the wall between two closets in the guest bedroom – that was NOT a fun replacement when it let loose and flooded the carpeted room and soaked the wall it was behind up several feet!!!)  So, working on the garage and replacing the water heater are on the agenda for this weekend!

We still have the master bedroom and bathroom to paint and put back together, but that will be on the agenda NEXT week! 

I’m also gearing up for a two week visit from my Mom in a few weeks!  WOO HOO!  It will be great to have her here!  My brother and his wife are coming for a long weekend during the time she’ll be here, too!  I can’t wait!  We’re all planning to go see “Bingo” at the Temple Theatre while they are here!

So — resting on my laurels?  Yeah, right, I wish (actually, no I don’t wish that)!  ha-ha-ha

So – Katie and I are off to Kiwanis Park for the “Run For Their Lives” event for CARA!!!!  Hope to see you there!!!

Hang on to your hats, boys!

Aug17

This is going to be a WILD week — seat belts and helmets required!!!  We’re down to the wire with the CIS Dancing with the Lee County Stars event.  Friday is the big nite!  So — the week ahead will be wild, rough, and fun…fun…fun!!!  Here’s what the universe has in store for me:

  • Of course, I will be working every day at my day job — you know, the one that pays the bills….
  • Monday evening:   Dress rehearsal, meeting with the restaurants, and final detail discussions all at the Civic Center!
  • Tuesday lunch time:   Wing Man Tam – the dancer that is representing the company I work for – and I will be outside the Cafe at work collecting cash for votes from the employees and keeping the excitement going!
  • Tuesday evening:   CIS Board meeting to review the event details and what everyone needs to know!
  • Wednesday evening:  Create the restaurant menu tent cards, finalize the design and details on the sponsor boards, and any other preparation details!
  • Thursday evening:   Drop off supplies and start preparing the Civic Center!
  • Friday:  Get off work at noon, run by the Civic Center to set up the Taste of Lee County and other decorations, run home to get changed into my fancy duds, and be back to the Civic Center by 5:00 to get ready for the doors to open for the event at 6:00!
  • Friday night – late:   CRASH!!!!
  • Saturday morning:  I actually have a 9:00 am hair appt — what was I thinking when I made THAT appt???  I knew that the morning of the 22nd would be the morning after the event and that I would likely still be in a coma from a week FULL TO THE RAFTERS with late nights, stress, and excitement!!!  But — if I reschedule now, I won’t get in for weeks and my hair soooooo needs a trim and a root job!!!

WHEW!!!!  I’m tired already — just writing it all down has totally exhausted me!  But, it is going to be GREAT — I can’t wait to take in every wild and crazy second of this week!

Hope you already have your tickets to the show — it’s sold out!!!