I just realized....

...that I am currently in the process of reading 4 books at the same time. Not sure how that happened. I've been known to read 2 at the time, but 4!

I even amaze myself sometimes! (It really happened by accident and I won't bore you with the details of how.)

Haiku Time

It has shown its rage

blazing in all its glory

the sun finally relents

I've not said anything until now.....

...but I do believe the heat wave has broken. Today's high will be 92 degrees which sounds wonderful to me. No signs of Fall yet, which is my very favorite season of the year, but it can't be too far away.

Off to work I go, I go

I have to close again tonight at the store. Who makes that stupid schedule anyway???

All By Myself

Some days I wake up calm and collected. This is not one of those times. This morning I am not calm and no where near collected.

What I am feeling is the fact that this life of mine won't last forever and I need to learn not to waste a moment doing things I don't like or being where I don't want to be. Sounds easy to fix but it's not so easy for me. And so I wonder why it's not. Am I my own obstacle? Why do I constantly feel so alone? How is it that I ended up all alone? It wasn't suppose to be like this.

Excuse me while I feel a little sorry for myself, but don't worry, as my friend always says, "This too shall pass." And so it will.

I'm really needing.......

....some of this in my life at the moment. I'm feeling restless and bored and ready to have some sparkle in my life! And from experience I know I should be careful what I wish for! But hey....bring it on, I'm ready!

Just Wondering

Even if I were dealt a perfect hand, would I know how to play it? I never was very good at poker!

WHY??

Why must I over think everything to death? Can't I just KNOW what I want to do and be done with it?

SURPRISE! (kinda)

My mother turns 70 this year and she is expecting a party. She knows she is going to have one but she doesn't want to know what it is going to be. A surprise party that's not really a surprise! Anyway, her birthday is in November and I've been doing a little planning today. I'm thinking of just sort of a drop in thing between such and such hours on a Saturday afternoon. Unlike myself, my mother doesn't mind being the center of attention so as it should be, this is going to be all about HER.
Some ideas I have are having finger foods. Having a PowerPoint presentation of pictures of her throughout the years that will be projected on a screen during the event. I'll ask the guest to write a comment or funny story about her that they remember and I'll have a jar at the party that they can drop those into.
So far that's all I've got. I need a theme. Her favorite color is red, perhaps I'll just decorate in red. There's a plethora of things you can buy online for such an event. So we'll see.
I'm hoping the big surprise will be that her grandson whom she's not seen for a few years will be able to be here. That will be wonderful.

The Verdict Is In

Ok, remember the jewelry I made for my Daughter in Law's mother? Well, I got a very nice phone call telling me how much she loved it all. That made me really happy because I know she will wear those pieces and enjoy them. I get great pleasure in making the jewelry but even greater pleasure when somebody really likes it and actually wears it.

Interesting Fact

"In his later years Pablo Picasso was not allowed to roam an art gallery unattended, for he had previously been discovered in the act of trying to improve on one of his old masterpieces."

I came across this and it blew me away. Really gifted people never really know how good they are. They are always seeking what they think would be perfection and that's really sad in a way. So often they are never really happy with anything they accomplish, in every aspect of their lives. Maybe it is a trade-off.

Isn't it funny...

...how us women bond when we get together sometimes and tell each other deep dark secrets? I wonder if men do that??

Company Perks (well deserved I might add)

The best part about getting to go out of town and working in another store is you get to stay in a hotel and eat out and it's paid for by the company! Our boss booked us in a pretty new hotel (I LOVE NEW HOTELS!) and when we got there we were told we had been "upgraded" to one of their best suites. Alrighty then, we did not argue with that a bit.
They had a nice indoor pool but the bad news, we didn't bring swimsuits, and the pool closed at ten o'clock. We worked later than that but....we were such VIP's at the hotel we got a special pass to use the pool after hours and after finding clearance swim suits at Walmart, we enjoyed a wonderful swim and then relaxed in the hot tub!
Not being gals who don't appreciate good food, we had two great meals while we were there. Thomasville folks are really nice, everywhere we went and so even though we worked our butts off, we had lots of fun, and I needed that!
So, today I go back to my store but with a real appreciation of my associates and the way our store looks.

Back Home Safe and Sound

I'm back home, tired as can be. We worked as hard as possible for the two days. But we got a lot accomplished and we had a fun too.
I needed the change. More on the trip later. Here's a small example of how things looked when we got there.


And after a little organization it looks a little better.

Purple Haze

I dreamed in purple last night. Not sure what's up with that, purple is not even my favorite color! I don't remember what was going on in the dream much, just that everything was in purple! Go figure!

I'm off to work! Happy Monday.

Something Different for tomorrow...

...and Tuesday. As I mentioned I'll be working in another store. It's only a couple of hours away but I'll be leaving early in the morning. I'm not taking my computer and I'll be back Tuesday night.

I'm going to a little town called Thomasville. Joanne Woodward, Paul Newman's wife was actually born there. I think they moved when she was in grade school, but hey! That's something huh? She was and actually still is really beautiful.

This very moment in Time....

...moving to Washington seems like a no brainer. If I could move right now, this very moment I'd do it!
We'll see if the feeling sticks!

Reminds me of that song, "One Moment in Time." Oh great, now I'll be singing that song the rest of the night! But you know what? Those lyrics(although written for athletes in the Olympics) say it pretty well for me and my journey. Especially the part about racing with destiny, or maybe I'm just racing with TIME! Time is going by really fast as I get older and my granddaughter is growing. And I need to be there! My son has been telling me for at least three years now that I'm just putting off the inevitable. Maybe so Son, maybe so.


"Give me one moment in time
When I'm more than I thought I could be
When all of my dreams are a heartbeat away
And the answers are all up to me
Give me one moment in time
When I'm racing with destiny
Then in that one moment of time
I will be
I will be
I will be free
I will be
I will be free"
(part of the lyrics of "One Moment in Time" that Whitney Houston sang)

For the Love of Books

Yesterday my granddaughter had her first trip to the library, you can read about it here. It got me thinking about my own experience as a child. I didn't live in a town that had a library but what I did have was a bookmobile.


OH, how I did love that vehicle. It got me to wondering if the bookmobile still exists. So I did some research.




Apparently it does, in many shapes and forms and not just in America. Read about this one here.

Movie Review...Premonition

First of all I really love Sandra Bullock so even though this movie didn't get that great of reviews from the people who do that for a living I figured I'd like it and I did.
IT's all about a woman who wakes up one morning, goes through her day and then finds out her husband has been killed in an auto wreck. The next morning when she wakes up her husband is in the shower. It goes on like this for a week.
In the end the pieces fall together, sort of. It's hard to keep up with what is real and what is the premonition. I guess if you are one who has to completely understand things, this might not be the movie for you. I like movies that maybe can be interpreted differently for different people.
It definitely keeps your attention and the actors are great and plus the guy in it is Julian McMahon and he is easy on the eyes for sure!
IT's definitely worth renting and the ending is surprising. So I give it 8 stars!

Movie Night

Confession

I'm a little bit in love with Albert Einstein.

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." Albert Einstein

Albert didn't start speaking until really late and his parents were convinced he was slow. In school his teachers told them not to expect much from him. HA!

Another Night

And here I am awake at nearly two in the morning!

Stupid Indecision!!!!

Ok, excuse this post but I have to vent here! I am not really a person to get "mad" really. I can get hurt and feel betrayed, sort of a martyr personality I have I guess but I can really get MAD at myself. Right now I am so angry because I can't make a decision about moving to Washington. One morning I wake up and I am ready! The next morning I wake up and think, "What in the world am I thinking??? I can't do that!"
Actually this is not like me! I usually can think about something, make a decision and be done with it. Or maybe not, maybe I've let life just happen to me without really making any important decisions.(the martyr coming out perhaps.)

People keep telling me it is fear and maybe it is but I don't feel afraid. All I know is I am so tired of going back and forth on this. I've a friend that I'm able to talk about most of my fears and concerns, sort of but maybe I'm not being completely honest with him, or myself.

I have got to decide what I want to do and either move in that direction or put it out of my mind. This indecision is DRIVING ME NUTS! And sitting on this particular fence is getting PAINFUL!

Inside and Out

Schedule change at work today and I have to close tonight which means I go in at 12 thirty and work until nine thirty or so.

Last night I went to sleep early, thinking I was just tired but I'm not feeling all that great. Nothing much, just not feeling my best.
In another post I talked about Orange Cream but personally I seem to be in a Pomegranate stage. For the inside and the outside. I've been reading where the juice is good for you, (in moderation, it's quite sweet) and this one has blueberries too so it has double power.

The lotion smells so fresh and clean I'd like to eat it, but I won't I promise. Here's how the bottle describes the lotion. "Juicy red pomegranates sparkle like rubies in moonlight.(Notice the name is Midnight Pomegranate) Enticing. Fiery. Seductive." Ummmm.

When I was a child we had a neighbor who had a pomegranate tree and I couldn't wait until they'd get ready. The fruit was magical to me. Along with those memories I can still hear my mother saying, "Don't get the juice on your shirt, I can't get the stain out!"

Remembering...

..30 years ago today. Can you believe it?

The Collection

Ok, here's the whole package. This is for my Daughter In Law's Mom. It's her Arrowhead, I just wrapped it for her so she knows that's coming but the Turquoise Nugget and the bracelet are a surprise. I hope she'll like them.
And you know it is almost two in the morning here? One of those nights when I'm not sleepy. But I got to get up in five hours so I'm going to try!

Whatcha Think?

OK, Which one? The one on the right is the first one I did and showed the other week. On the left is the second try & I added a turquoise bead and changed the design.

Temporarily Crowned

Ok, I'm now the proud owner of a crown but it looks nothing like this one. Actually after two and almost a half hours in the chair I have a temporary crown. It really doesn't look much like a tooth right now, just sort of a tooth colored orb or something. Nobody can see it unless I really laugh with my mouth wide open (which I hope I don't do!). The real crown arrives in two weeks and I'll go back and get it hammered on! One thing about having a root canal, that tooth doesn't care what you do to it much, it has no feeling.

So, a few more trips to the dentist and maybe this ordeal will be over. I hope.
Now, I'm going to stay where it's cool the rest of the day and enjoy the afternoon of not having to go to work.

Remember....

....in life things aren't always as they appear.

My Granddaughter......

....learned to ride her bike today! You can read about it on her mom's blog here. I am so excited about it for her and I can only hope she learns to love her bike as much as I did mine when I was a little girl.

MY bike wasn't just a bike you know. At any moment it could become a wild Mustang that I rode fearlessly or a police car chasing crooks. It could be a cool motorcycle where I pretended to ride cross country and sometimes I turned it upside down and pretended the wheel was a steering wheel of a car that I drove recklessly through the town making wild turns.

I hope she doesn't learn how to ride without hands or try to ride a friend on the handle bars. (I have scars on both knees proving these are not the smartest things to do). At any rate I hope she has as much fun riding her bike as I did and I hope her bike is a magic one just like mine was!

Off to work ....

Today being Tuesday is the day I go in to work at noon thirty and work until closing, so it's not my favorite day at work although working a night does give me time to catch up on paperwork (that dirty word I dislike).
I talked earlier in the summer about my teeth problems and the fact that I would spend a lot of time in the dentist chair and so tomorrow is the first of a few more appointments. I've got to get a crown for the root canal-ed ( I know, I made that word up, but it's my blog and I can do that you know) tooth and then some fillings and in the meantime I'm afraid another tooth way in the back has chipped, it feels rough to me and if he tells me I have to have another root canal I'm going to cry, real tears too! Hopefully it's not that bad.

Also while I'm out and about I have to have a haircut tomorrow. I am the type of person who is kind of uncomfortable with people too close to me so going to the dentist and having my hair cut in one day is a BIG thing for me. So that will be my day off.

Next week I get to do something a little different. On Monday and Tuesday I'll be working in another store. Another manager and myself will go and get it a bit organized and ready for a new manager to come in. We'll stay overnight and I'm looking a bit forward to it. I really like the other manager I'll be with a lot and that's a plus.

So, that's the plan. For now, I must get myself to work!

Pondering....

.....Is it better to have just a little bit of something you love than to not have any at all?

Sort of like, "Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all." It's a question I ask myself often, and struggle with.

When you have just a little of something doesn't it make you just want more? But if you get too much of it whenever you want, does it take away the specialness? I wonder!

An Affirmation For Today

I woke up this morning early because I have the dreaded conference call as I do every Tuesday morning.

I also woke up with feelings of thankfulness. Thankful for this world provided for us. Isn't it cool how things work on this earth and in this life? And even though I forget to appreciate this from time to time, the sun never forgets to rise and the air we breathe for survival doesn't forget to be there all the time. In fact if you think about it everything we need has been provided for us. Sometimes we forget that. We wish for "things" that we want, material things that may or may not be within our reach but really, all we need is right here in front of us for the taking. A gift to us from our creator. It is evident that we are a part of this great gift, we come from it and we go back to it. And no matter who you conceive that to be it is that creator with whom we are all connected. We are the sun and the moon and the stars, we are the oceans & the wind. We are a part of the animals that walk among us, and the plants that provide us with such beauty. And in the center of all of this is the force that has created us and all that surrounds us. This morning that brings me much comfort knowing I am a part of this. Just a tiny little speck am I in the scheme of things but my little speck counts. And so this morning I am grateful to be a part of this beautiful creation we call life and if I listen, really listen to the voice inside of me, getting past the barrier of my own voice and fears, my direction in life will become clear. This morning I know this to be true.

Look What I Got!

Catherine Mary over at ::atelier:: awarded me this pretty award and I am quite honored and especially appreciative. Pop over and read her kind words about my Cedar Chest. Take time to read her beautiful & elegant blog. Her photography is wonderful too. It's a nice relaxing place to visit. I love her thoughts and the way she expresses them in such a beautiful way. Thank you Catherine Mary so much.

Throwing Fish Today

If you've ever been to Seattle and visited the Pike Place Market then you've probably seen the guys at the fish market there that have a blast at work. They've become world famous and once you see them at work, you never forget them. You can read their story here if you want to. They even have published books and made videos that big companies have bought and used for seminars and such on building a better team and reaching goals.
The whole thing is attitude. If you go to work and think you're going to have a bad day chances are you do.

My morning started out rough, I was alone for the first hour and the phone rang constantly, customers lined up, everybody wanted to pick up their glasses. I'm a veteran in the retail world, I've done it more years than I care to mention and so I know I can either do my best and keep a smile on my face and keep my customers or I can frown and be rude and let the whole situation defeat me and probably loose customers in the process. And so I do what I learned a long time ago, I smile and do my best.

When the rest of my day's staff got there they followed my lead and we had the best day. We laughed with each other, at each other and with the customers. All day long, no matter how hectic it got, I could hear someone laughing and I can't tell you how happy that makes me.

Wouldn't you rather go into a store where the people are happy and jovial and actually act like they like each other rather than a store where everyone who works there looks miserable? I know I would. And I can't help but feel proud when I look around and see my staff members smiling as well as the customers. IT means we are doing something right! And it's showing in our success, little by little. We may not become "World Famous" but we can be the best we can be and that's what we strive for everyday.

I'm Back...

..in the real world now. Finished my book (it wasn't a very big book) and I'm exhausted! I went through 80 years of a Chinese woman's life, and what a life it was! Very good book though, I enjoyed it.
My most favorite novels are written in first person. This one was. I have another book to start now that I want inhale like I did that one. It should last me for the week.
And so the weekend is over and tomorrow we start all over again.
My Sunday went way too fast!

Retraction

Ok, I take it back, it is still pretty hot this morning. I decided to do some chores before I get settled back into China and woo wee! It's hot! But I did get them done, fixed a bowl of salad and a bowl of fruit salad to munch on today so no cooking required. I got things cleaned up so now I can read in peace and without worrying about stuff that needs doing. LIFE is good for the moment.

Oh, and speaking of my book in China, my feet hurt all night because I read about the process of foot binding! We'll talk more about that later! What a terrible thing!

Just Popping in........

....to say this morning feels cooler to me. It's still humid and sticky and hazy out there but it is definitely not as hot as it has been in the mornings this past week. Forecasts say high of 99 today so that's better. I'm going to spend most of the day reading my book. I also have a movie to watch called "The Painted Veil". Happy Sunday to you all, hoping you have a peaceful calm restful day!

Weekend Get Away

There's only one thing that can keep me off the internet for any period of time and that's a really, really good novel that I can sink my teeth into. I'm picky and although I read a lot, only a few books really grab me at the beginning and don't let go until I'm done. And then the characters live with me for days, months, sometimes even years as if they are friends of mine. And they are. That being said, I think I'll be gone for a little while. I'm going to visit 19th Century China where a girl named Lily lives. See ya!


Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See

A bit on my aging Mother

As we age we really don't know how we'll change and how other people will see us. When my grandmother was alive there were things she would do after she retired that drove my mother nuts! And so now it's my turn.

For example, I live on the same property as my mother my stepfather. If we have bad weather she never ever calls me or checks on me, and that's ok, I don't really need her to or expect her to. But tonight her husband is on his way back from a trip out of town. He called her and told her they'd been through some bad weather. She in turn called me and instead of saying she's scared to be there alone if bad weather comes, she says, "Since you're alone, if the weather gets bad come up here."

My mother's never been afraid of nothing much but with old age comes fears that we'd not had before. But my mother will not admit these fears, ever! She will work it where she's the one who comes to the rescue.

She's also starting to get things a little confused and it scares me sometimes. The other day I was visiting. Visits with her are always about her and if I do tell her something about my life she really isn't listening or she gets just enough of a gist of what I'm saying to interrupt me and "up" me one on whatever I'm saying. Most of the time I don't say anything. But I wanted to share with her the story of the man who served in Vietnam. She says right in the middle of my story, "Your Daddy served in Vietnam."

"Ah, no he didn't, he served during the Korean War." I tell her.
She immediately agreed that was right. "Yes, he was in Korea."

Ok, that is wrong too. He didn't go to Korea, he was in Alaska, or at least that is what I'd always been told. "No." I say gently, "He was stationed in Alaska."

"HE went to KOREA too!" she snapped.

I didn't argue with her. I gave her that one because after all, what does it really matter?

She's will be soon 70 years old and her body is very healthy. I hope her mind keeps up, please.......let her mind keep up.

Although she has never been the easiest person for me to be around, I'm thinking with age it's going to get much worse. And that's when I start doubting again doing what I really want to do and that's moving thousands of miles away to be with my son and his family.

It is true, if she and her husband decided to sell this property tomorrow and move, they'd not worry about me. And is it arrogant of me to think that she might possibly need me one day? Is it just a hope or the same old guilt she's put on me for years when I do something she doesn't think I should do. Same old questions brew up again. The same ones I can't get passed. And the funny thing is, just like she won't admit to being the one who didn't want to be alone during the bad weather, she would never ask me to stay here. She'd let me move so she could moan about it behind my back.
So here I am again, as time is ticking on, at this same cross roads. My oh my.

Searching for Calmness

In my constant search to become a calmer more serene person I found these tips for having a spiritual summer from one of my favorite sites.

1) Unplug the television

2) Swim in real water

3) Gaze at the night sky

4) Make flying friends (with butterflies and the like)

5) Take a meaningful workshop

6) Walk barefoot

7) Make or buy presents for those you love

8) Sit under a great tree

9) Consider where you are burning out

10) Read eternally beautiful things. Amen.

My Breakfast

Fresh Berries and Yogurt with a tiny drizzle of honey. Yummy too and it was so pretty I couldn't resist sharing.

Have I mentioned that it's HOT????

It seems that this week all I've blogged about is the heat but it is hard to not think about it, it is relentless! They kept saying the 3 digit temps were going to be over by today but is not so! Same thing today, seems Nature is saying, "Lets see how high it can go!" And since we have no control over this we'll also see how high it can go.

Up until yesterday the customers at work had been ok but it's wearing on us humans and although they weren't really rude or ugly to us, they were a little dense and hard to communicate with. I watched people in the parking lot a little while yesterday and it's as if you are looking at things moving in slow motion. People are walking so slowly, and through the haze of the hovering heat rising from the asphalt, things look a little surreal.

One of the things that really makes it bad is that you can't even depend on relief when the sun goes down. It's eight thirty here now in the morning and almost 90 degrees. But anyway, enough about the HOT, I'm going to try and concentrate on other things.

We are on FIRE!

An hour earlier when Steph left work this said 110 degrees! It had cooled off a bit by the time I got off work.

Confession

I'm addicted to magazines.

It's Still HOT!

Another 3 digit temp day today. They keep telling the older people to stay in their houses but I think they are tougher than those of us who aren't all that old. These people are the ones who didn't have air conditioning until they were grown. These people worked the fields during times like this. They washed clothes outside by boiling water on a fire, they slept five and six to a bed with no air conditioning or fans! And they are tough let me tell you!

The ones of us who have never lived without air conditioning are the ones who need to be careful.

A Special Lunch

Back in June our store was among the top stores to sell a bunch of a certain brand of contact and so the Rep for that company treated us to lunch today. I forgot to take a pic of the tray but here's what it looked like, from a sub shop here in town. We didn't have the salad, we had chips and a platter of cookies. It was a special treat and I'm proud of my team for winning it.

The Heat Goes ON

Nothing much going on here except the HEAT. Dangerously hot temps again, it was 106 degrees here yesterday (real, not index) and should be that hot today too.
No relief until maybe the weekend. The nights don't cool down all that much so even the early mornings have such a good start that it is hot first thing.
Today is my day off. Not too much planned. We'll see how the day unfolds in this blanket of heat.

Will I ever go back....

...to where I spent carefree summer evenings catching lightning bugs under the Pecan trees? It was a place where Bachelor Buttons bloomed in the apple orchard and we chased big yellow butterflies to their hiding places.

Will I ever see again the garden where we had tea parties and ate jelly sandwiches cut out of triangle shaped bread? We'd pick peaches off the tree and bite down into the juiciness, feeling the sweetness run down our chins.

Someday I'll go back there and stay awhile but I know you won't be there. Do you remember me as I remember you? Are our memories the same? Do I play as big of a part in your childhood memories as you do in mine?

If I close my eyes on these hot summer days in the present, I can hear our laughter, I can see our sun kissed faces and suddenly I know without doubt, if I go back, you'll be there too. You'll be there in my heart because that's where I've carried you for these years.

For As Long As I Can Remember....

..I've had a passion for rocks and stones.

When I was little I couldn't understand why everyone didn't see the beauty and value in every stone I found. I loved them all, they didn't even have to be that unique. To me they were jewels that were there for the taking. To hold a stone in my hand makes me feel the strength the earth gives us. Something solid, something real.

I have a friend that knows this about me and so this morning he called me to tell me that this past week a new Poet Laureate was named. He is Charles Simic. He had heard him recite a poem called "Stone" and he thought I needed to read it.
And he was right. IT speaks to me so I wanted to share it.


STONE

“By Charles Simic”

Go inside a stone
That would be my way.
Let somebody else become a dove
Or gnash with a tiger's tooth.
I am happy to be a stone.

From the outside the stone is a riddle:
No one knows how to answer it.
Yet within, it must be cool and quiet
Even though a cow steps on it full weight,
Even though a child throws it in a river;
The stone sinks, slow, unperturbed
To the river bottom
Where the fishes come to knock on it
And listen.

I have seen sparks fly out
When two stones are rubbed,
So perhaps it is not dark inside after all;
Perhaps there is a moon shining
From somewhere, as though behind a hill—
Just enough light to make out
The strange writings, the star-charts
On the inner walls.

OH NO!

I was afraid this would happen one day!
Click Here!

Dreamin' of Cooler Things

There's a place is China called Harbin. Geographically it is located in Northeast China and is under the direct winter cold that comes from Siberia. In the summer time the average temperature is around 70 degrees F, and in the winter the average is 3 degrees. At times it can get as cold as -30 degrees.

The really special thing about Harbin is that every year they host an
Ice and Art Festival. How spectacular would it be to see that?

(The heat index here today was at dangerous levels and I'm dreaming of cool places.)

Native American Wisdom

"Give thanks for unknown blessings
already on their way."

There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle.
Albert Einstein

Rough Day at the Office

As you may imagine, back to school means business for those of us in the optic business and that's good but this week has been hard. Dealing with insurance issues, associate issues, customer issues, Dr. issues........well, it's enough to make you wish you were on a tropical island somewhere hiding out until it's all over.

I had to work until closing tonight and that means it's nearly ten o'clock when I get home and I can't begin to tell you how it feels to go non-stop for eight hours serving the public, always with a smile and then to finally get to come home and kick off your shoes and just go ahhhh!

Because I have to eat supper pretty early at work when I close, sometimes I need a little something when I get home. So tonight I remembered the pear my mother gave me from her tree the other day. A pot of green tea, and a slice of cheese sounded good to go along with it. And then it's going to be time for me to sleep. It should come fast and it should be sound.

Trends

You know how things come and go in the world of products all in the name of getting us to buy them? Some work, some don't. Like for instance we were introduced to "gel" products. There was toothpaste and then pens and then the next thing you know, everything goes "gel". Cleaning products, candies, candles, hair products, bathing gels, face gels, gel shaving creams! Gel products must have been a success because they're still around big time!

Lately here's what I'm noticing. "Orange Cream Flavor". This past week alone I've seen a hamburger place boasting about its new "orange cream milkshake." At the grocery store I saw orange cream cakes and muffins. Just tonight I see an orange cream cake recipe (actually sounds yummy) on my favorite recipe site.

I'm sure if you looked for it you'd find orange cream sodas, shampoos, and fingernail polish.

It's the name I think. I mean doesn't it sound good? Orange Cream.....it sounds so lovely. I hope they don't go too far with this though and try and make something orange cream gel! YUK! Anyway, just wondering about what's up all of a sudden with ORANGE CREAM FLAVORED everything! In the meantime, try this out.

Recipe: Orange Cream sickle

1 cup orange juice

4 scoops vanilla frozen yogurt



l. Pour the orange juice into the blender jar.

2. Scoop the yogurt into the blender jar.

3. Blend until creamy.

SOLD!

Today at work we met a licensed auctioneer (who knew they even needed a license?) and the really cool thing was she was a woman!
I couldn't let her leave without asking her to do her thing for us, (it's called chanting)and she did! Well, she did after I promised her a discount on her glasses but it was worth it! She was good.

People who can do that amaze me! If you knew me you'd know why. I have a bad case of what you'd call being "tongue tied" and I can barely speak at a normal speed! I have to hang out with people who can finish words for me that I can't pronounce! But hey, no body's perfect!(It's part of my charm you see!)

I hear people....

...complaining all the time that they have asses for neighbors but I really do! This little guy stares at me every morning and and every afternoon as I pass by. He has a buddy but he was camera shy this morning. And as far as neighbors go, they are pretty quite. They share their space with a bunch of goats too but they weren't around this morning either.

Finding Both Glass Slippers!

Ok, I admit it, I'm a sucker for a good love story with a happy ending and there are millions of movies available to get a fix on that but I really, really, love it when it happens for real life.

I have a friend that I met through work, she is a fellow manager and she and I are about the same age and we were promoted to managers about the same time. We were both sent to a week of training and we shared a hotel room. We got to know each other during that time pretty well. At the time she had just left her husband of almost 30 years. I'll give her the name of Angie here so I'll have something to call her.

Angie is a soft spoken, very petite woman. She and her husband had two sons. For years and years Angie had lived with an alcoholic, verbally abusive man. When the boys were grown she woke up one morning and decided she didn't have to live like this anymore.

During the time her kids were growing up, Angie had mostly stayed at home or worked part-time jobs that paid hardly nothing. She took the job with our company to get out of the house and it was full time because the boys were grown. Once she was promoted to manager she was making enough money to move out on her own. And she did, and that was the time in her life I met her.

She admitted to me that she really thought and hoped at the time that the shock of her moving out would maybe make her husband stop drinking and clean up his act to try and get her back. That didn't happen. He left her terrible message after message on her cell phone telling her how stupid she was and that she'd fall flat on her face and how she'd be back in no time, that sort of thing.

Angie didn't file for divorce right away, I think she still had some hope but finally after a few years she decided he was never going to change and she got her divorce.

She loved her job and it along with her children and grandchildren became her life. About the time she became divorced a friend of hers died. Angie and her husband had been close to this couple when they were younger but through the years had somewhat lost touch with them. When Angie heard of the wife's death she attended the funeral. A few months later the widower called her and asked her out for coffee. Soon they realized how much they had in common and she fell head over hills in love. He was so different, she had never known a man who opened doors for her, took her out to eat, bought her gifts, sent her flowers. This man did all that sincerely and he loved her. They were married this spring.

And if that's not enough, he's worked his whole life and has invested his money well and she doesn't even have to work anymore. But Angie loved her job and decided to keep working. Today I found out she is quitting. (She and I have talked a lot about how hard managing is, the customers can be abusive, the associates are hard to deal with at times and it's just hard sometimes.) She and her new husband have two homes, one in town and a country home and she has fallen in love with the country home and wants to spend time there. It is really too far to drive to her job and she's had some trouble lately keeping associates and it just got to be not worth it!

I am so happy for her, she deserves so much happiness and I just love it when things like that happen in real life. Though I will miss her as my roomate when we go to meetings, I understand her decision, (had it been me, I'd have quit right off!). So that my friends is a True Love Story with a happy ending.