Quirks and Pet Peeves

We all have them.  But I've recently discovered that one pet peeve of mine just tops 'em all. 

Without going into graphic detail, I just have one suggestion:  when you use a public restroom, TURN AROUND before you walk through the stall door and leave whatever it is you leave behind...  NO ONE else wants to see what you left behind. 

This has been a public service announcement.

And quirks?  Lord knows I have a few!  So just so you don't think I'm perfect, here are a few of mine, in no particular order:

1. If I have to remember something the next day, I "write" it on my forehead in reverse writing so it would be readable in a mirror, remembering to "wipe" the board "clean" between words.  It hasn't failed me yet.  (No, I'm not nuts, I swear!)
2. I toss my bag, my coat, my scarf and gloves on the nearest chair or sofa when I walk in the house and they can stay there for days.  (I walk through the foyer and right past a coat closet to get into the house.)
3. I make my bed every single day, without fail, but I can go weeks with clothes piled on the chest at teh foot of the bed.
4. I can't go to bed with dirty dishes in the sink but I can go weeks without dusting.
5. I pay for my Weight Watchers membership every month but haven't been to a meeting in I don't know how long.
6. See #8 but replace "WW" with "gym" and "meeting" with "the gym."
7. I am newly addicted to meringue cookies.
8. I am very competitive and HATE to lose at board games, Words with Friends, or any other game.  This is why it's best I play Bejeweled against myself rather than against others.
9. I am addicted to my smartphone, despite denying it every time my husband accuses me of it.
10. I don't care if the inside of my car is messy.

I have many, many more, but since I'm writing this at work because I don't feel like working, I'll stop at 10.

Miscellaneous October

1. Reading JK Rowling's The Casual Vacancy - So far a tough go. There are NO similarities to any HP characters!
2. Loved these gold flats from PayLess. Asked J what he thought and he didn't like them so I didn't buy them. Going back to the store later this week to get them.
3. Yes, I am THAT customer. I'm $200 poorer but I own makeup that makes me glow... (See photo below!)
4. Made chicken cutlets today, in an effort to eat out less. Are you sitting down? This is the first time I've made them! I've made fried eggplant. I've baked chicken breasts. But this is the first time I fried up some chicken cutlets. The first batch? Perfect. The second batch? Burned. The third batch? Perfect.
5. Went to Outback on Saturday night. We shared some hot wings and a Bloomin' Onion. Yum!!!
6. If the photo of my new Sak is sideways, sorry! Can't figure out how to fix that in the Blogger mobile app...
7. Love these lamps from JCPenny, especially the owl one! But I like that empty glass base, too...
8. That glowing face I mentioned above... My skin looks much younger than its 51-almost-52-years...

Blog Your Heart

Okay, just me, my soldier, and our 4 little chicks is one of my favorite blogs.  Stephanie is a military wife, mom to 4 beautiful little girls, and someone with one of the biggest hearts I've seen in the internet world.  She's raising 4 future phenomenal women and she has a strong, faith-filled, love-filled marriage and home, and I love reading her blog.  I found this Blog Your Heart idea on her site. Here's how it works:

1. blog whatever is authentic. whatever is truly on your mind and in your heart.

2. it can be serious, silly, short, long. note:no one said it has to be serious. but it should be authentic.
3. no judging allowed no snarky comments, no making fun, no passive agressive digs.if you are going to read the blogs linked below, don't be mean. nothing here is whining. it's me honestly sharing my feelings. if you feel that it's whining, then you don't have to read. :)...

So here we go...  Sorry if the first few sound like whining and complaining on my part...  But I'm going to get a couple of things off MY chest and out of my heart...

-- I grew up thinking, believing my life would include children.  I would be a mom, no matter what.  Well, life works in mysterious ways and I fell in love with a man who didn't want more kids; he had two from a previous marriage.  Thankfully, I now have two step-children.  I may not have birthed them from my loins, but they are the children of my heart.  And it hurts me that there is someone very important in my life who refuses to acknowledge that I am a mom, a mother, that I have kids even if I didn't give birth to them.  This person does not acknowledge me on Mothers' Day, and it hurts.  And it makes me mad.  I can't understand how this person can totally ignore the fact that I HAVE two children, children who love me, children I helped raise, put through college, support now as adults.  Would it really kill you to wish me a Happy Mothers' Day once a year?

-- We go to two churches, one at home, the parish which both my husband and I attended as young children, and another near our vacation home which we attend 1/2 the year, if not more; we're there almost every weekend.  Lately I've been unhappy with the lake church.  I'm very traditional, and I don't like changes to hymn lyrics to accommodate political correctness ("Let us walk with each other" instead of the original "Let me walk with my brother").  I don't like the new music they're using for the Alleluia before the Gospel.  It sounds like a polka.  Where's the accordian?  And I don't need a tambourine keeping beat while we sing every song or prayer.  It's not presented as a folk music Mass - get rid of that tambourine and stop playing carousel music in church!

-- Okay, let's admit that I don't like change much in any aspect of my life.  I guess it all tracks back to loss of control.  There's so little you can control in your life; why does something have to change all the time?  What happened to "if it ain't broke, don't fix it"???

-- I am the luckiest person in the world.  No, I didn't win the PowerBall lottery - that would make all of YOU, my family and friends, very lucky!  I'm lucky because I'm married to the best guy on this earth!  Yea, yea, yea, I know you all think your husbands are the best, but, sorry!  J is awesome!  He has the biggest heart of any man I know.  I have no doubt, not for one second of the day, that he loves me and cares about me.  He loves his children totally and completely.  He will do anything for anyone.  My biggest regret about my marriage is that my Dad isn't here to be father-in-law to this man I married.  That would have been a great relationship to witness - they knew each other superficially, so I draw comfort from the fact that my Dad at least met the man I married, even if it was years before we ever started dating.  And I SO regret that I wasn't able to have a FIL/DIL relationship with my father-in-law, who died after hubby and I got back together but before we got engaged or married.  I had THE BEST mother-in-law; I know my father-in-law would have been equally wonderful.

-- Speaking of my mother-in-law, I miss you, Mom!!!

-- I love my neighborhood.  It's the very definition of "neighborhood" - we all know each other and watch out for each other...  I know we're not meant to stay there forever; we're starting to think about relocating after retirement.  We're going to be taking some weekend trips to scout out different states and neighborhoods - DE, MD, VA, FL...  Mom is the dealbreaker, of course - she's either going to have to come with us, or we're not going anywhere for the next 25 years or so, 'cause I plan for her to be around for at least that much longer!!!

-- I want to retire.  I want to take cooking classes, photography classes, I want to take my mom out to lunch, keep my house clean, do my laundry when it's not dark in my basement 'cause the only time we have to do chores like that is at night...

-- Speaking of the lottery...  IF we were every lucky enough to win "the big one," our lives really wouldn't change much.  I wouldn't move, or change houses.  I wouldn't buy a new car.  Admittedly I'd be traveling more, but I'd be coming home to the same house, the same clothes, the same husband...  Oh, I'd have a dog.  But my family?  Ah, THEIR lives would change so very much!  Their mortgages would be paid off, their children would have money to go to college when they're ready, their credit cards would have zero balances and their bank accounts would have a LOT more zeroes before the decimal point!  Okay, my life would change a lot - I'd be able to be much more generous than I am now...  I guess that's a really nice way my life would change, and I'd be so very happy to see that change come my way...

-- I've been lucky in my work life.  For the most part, I've had jobs I loved, or worked with people I love, or been lucky enough in one of my jobs to have it both ways, so I can't say I'm miserable getting up in the morning to go to the office.  I'll admit I wish my day started later - I've recently become less of a morning person than I was before - I've always been a "stay up and watch TV until midnight" kind of girl, but now it's getting harder and harder to get up before 6am to get ready for work.  NO, I'm NOT getting old...  I'm just more tired...

For an unplanned Blog Your Heart post, I've really hit a few big ones...  Well, it's off to work...

Finally!

I've been back to the gym twice, last week.

I've attended two yoga classes.

J and I have gone on three neighborhood walks.  The first one was not long, just around our 3 blocks.  The second one was about 5 blocks, just one block over for a different view.  THEN we walked from our house to Alwood Road, down that mother of a hill (!), back to our street, and up to our house, a grand total of about 2.14 miles.  Anyone that lives in our area knows the Allwood Road hill - I really did walk up it once, and thought I was going to die, so downhill on foot is all I'll even consider at my advanced age...

Then we slacked off all weekend, and putzed around on the rowboat on Saturday, tanning ourselves and relaxing.  We drove home, showered, then we walked around the old car show at Whiskey Cafe for 2 hours.  Boy, do I love that!  I really don't need to do it every day, but it's a lot of fun every week or two.  The music is great, straight out of the 50s, and the cars are awesome.  J laughs at me because I get mad when there's a car there from the late 70s, early 80s, because "How can a car manufactured when I learned how to drive be a classic???"  "Because that's way more than 25 years ago, Krys!"

And today I had a salad for lunch.  I actually bought too much; I couldn't finish it even after picking at it at my desk for 2 hours!  I'm going to try to move more and eat well, to use the name of an online health class I'm signed up for but not actively participating in right now!  But I'm going to try to play catch up over the next couple of weeks.  I guess I found my mojo!

Yesterday we went to our family picnic at C&A's house in Caldwell.  I'll post pictures in a day or two; I only took a couple with my phone.  They have an old Tudor-style home with a beautiful pool in the backyard.  It's a steep lot, so you walk downstairs to the pool...  If you follow me on Instagram, I posted a picture on Saturday...  They had the obligatory hot dogs and cheeseburgers, sausage and peppers, penne and broccoli, ziti, sesame chicken, green bean salad, two different pasta salads, and a bowl of AH-YIVS, or olives unless you're my 2-year-old niece...  Mmm, I like olives!  For dessert, each family had to bring something:  peach cobbler, pineapple upside down cake, chocolate balls (don't ask: they were crushed and moist oreo balls covered in milk chocolate!), watermelon, cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, sugar wafers, chocolate cherry cake, sugar cookies, chocolate marble cake, and some other things I didn't even look at...

We were sitting there chatting, the aunts and cousins and me, and niece C came up with a "project" for J.  Apparently someone noticed that when you were standing in the pool and you used the metal handrail, you felt a tingling/electrical current!  I stepped into the pool, with one leg, held onto that same rail, and felt nothing.  But they shut off the breaker to everything at the pool, and an electrician will be summoned tout de suite!

I'm a bit of a braggart when it comes to my baby grand-niece, in case you hadn't noticed, but I found out from her mommy that when her daddy went to the dentist the other day, the hygienist told him how much I bragged about little E!  I hope her daddy didn't think I was stealing his thunder!  She's just so adorable and I love her so much!  If DSD M has a baby, I'm going to be in major trouble!  I'll be sharing that grand-baby with the world!!!!  You'll probably get sick of hearing about him/her!!

This morning we had one of the WORST thunderstorms we've had in a long time.  I got soaked just running out to the car, decided en route to the train station there was no way I was standing on an open platform in that storm, and drove myself to work.  So that will be another week paying daily rates; you save on a week, but not enough to buy the week's pass for 4 days...  Next week I'll be able to take advantage of the monthly pass.  When I got to work, my clothes were still wet from getting in the car, but by mid-morning, after freezing in the A/C for a couple of hours, I was dry again.  It's a good thing I keep a fleece shawl in my office...  I was huddling under that for 2 hours or so!

My sister in that western state had a bit of a scare this morning.  A Rottweiler that was loose wherever she was walking her dogs attacked them.  Her Samoyed Miko was actually hurt, but thank goodness, it wasn't too serious.   A HUGER thank goodness it didn't attack HER!  She's waiting now to speak with Animal Control, and I hope she pursues the owner paying for the emergency room costs.  With the town involved, I would hope it would be easier to get some money from them!  I'm not a particularly lawsuit-happy citizen, but when someone is responsible for damage to your property or a family member, they have to pay!  Somehow...

I went to Kohl's yesterday and bought three summer blouses, spent $60 and got $10 back in Kohl's cash, so I'll have a bit more shopping to do next week!  Here are the blouses I bought: 
in white:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/womens/tops_shirts/tops/PRD~1023533/Croft+and+Barrow+Macrame+Tank.jsp
the blue floral:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/womens/tops_shirts/tops/PRD~1114567/LC+Lauren+Conrad+Floral+Tank.jsp
in blue:
http://www.kohls.com/kohlsStore/womens/tops_shirts/tops/PRD~1057402/ELLE+Scroll+DipDye+Crinkle+Tank.jsp

I'm wearing the white blouse today, with a pair of khaki cargo capris.  I wore the blue floral top yesterday for the picnic with a pair of short white capris made out of a linen-y type fabric with drawstring details at the knees.  And I can't wait to wear the other crinkle blue top!

Well, my blogging break is over so I'd better get back to work!

Why my blog is subtitled "it's not much, but it's all I've got!!!"

Two or three jobs ago, I was working for a privately owned company.  I could spend hours and hours and many, many blog pages telling you about the characters who worked there.  [If I was ever interested in writing a book...  my goodness, it would be a bestseller for sure!] 

There was a day when there was a very severe snowstorm, so severe, in fact, that 40' tractor trailers were spinning out on the road in front of our office.  When I saw that, I left early to go home.

Early = 4pm.

Instead of 5pm.

I'm not talking about noon, or immediately after I got to work, people!  I'm talking 4pm.

I was called into the vice president's office the next day; he also happened to share the same last name as the owner of the company.  He was the owner's son.  I was called in and he sat there, behind his desk, and told me that he had spoken to F, the owner's secretary, and he told me SHE was authorizing the payroll department to dock my pay an hour for leaving early the day before.

I was a salaried employee.

To this day, I can feel the heat rise in my face, burning my ears.  But rather than tell him to F off, I very calmly, although my voice was shaking, told him he could do whatever he wanted.  He could okay the paycut, but "I had a life, it wasn't much, but it was the only one I had," and I wasn't risking it to stay another hour at work during a snowstorm when tractor trailers were spinning their wheels in front of the building...  I reminded him that I was salaried, that when I worked extra hours or didn't take a lunch, I was NOT compensated, and that I'd be happy to change over to an hourly employee if he or F would prefer to pay me for the hours I worked.

He knew he was wrong.  He knew F was wrong.  He simply placated me, though, saying he understood my position but it really wasn't fair to pay me for time I wasn't working.

I reminded him again of the definition of a salaried employee, excused myself, and went back to my office where I didn't do a lick of work for the rest of the day (but got paid as if I did), created all sorts of new and anatomically impossible curse words, and complained to all in the vicinity about F, who thought the boss' money was hers to manage because...  Oops, I'm not going there...

Suffice it to say that I was NOT docked an hour.  He decided he had a pair and stood up to the secretary. 

But I never forgot my comeback:  "I have a life, M.  It may not be much to you, but it's all I've got!"

And I thought it summarized my blog rather well.  I will never have hundreds or thousands of readers, but I have you guys and while I might never be the most interesting blog you read, you'll be reading what really goes on in my little ole' life, no holds barred.  Admittedly it's rather boring most of the time.  We don't travel a lot.  We are not fighters.  We don't do anything real exciting most of the time.  It's usually just breakfast, work, lunch, work, dinner, tv, sleep.  And then start all over.

But I'm really happy in my life.  I have family and friends who love me.  I have a job I like (even though I'm playing the lottery and hope to win and retire early!).  I read a lot, watch TV and scrap, and that occupies my free time.  We are blessed enough to have a vacation home which is why we don't go away very much.  I live in a safe and boring neighborhood, but we like it.  It reminds us of when we grew up, when we knew all the neighbors and the neighbors knew us.

My stories aren't edge-of-your-seat-exciting, but they're my stories, and they're my real life.  Not much, maybe, but it's all I've got!!!

Something never before seen in my house...

A C.L.E.A.N. and decluttered closet!

I tried on every pair of black and gray pants I own, and put 1/2 of them in a pile to donate!  HALF of them!  I hung the rest of them on nice pants hangers, along with the 2 brown pairs I own and hung them on the left side of the closet.  I took out all the heavy winter sweaters and left a few lightweight and mediumweight sweaters there for the rest of winter/early spring.  I took out the jackets I won't be wearing because they're for winter, not spring, and cleaned out the sweatshirts and t-shirts and casual clothes.  I packed up what I won't be using until next winter, made a giant bag to donate, and will begin working on shoes and bring down spring clothes later in the week.

I have been feeling heavy lately, not only pound-wise but stuff-wise.  I have been saying I want to discard it all and start new, but realistically I know we can't do that.  So I've decided to just get rid of what I don't want, need, or wear, or haven't worn in 2 or 3 years or more (yes, I have clothes that old that I take out and put away each season).  I will be hanging frames, with or without pictures, because if the frames are on the wall in the hallway, I won't want them to all be empty and that will force me to choose and mat my pictures.

I have already gone through our collection of water bottles and gotten rid of NINE of them!  And I still have probably a 1/2 dozen in the cabinet!  Next on the kitchen list is mugs.  I have publisher mugs, movie mugs, coffee mugs from my mother-in-law, mugs both J and I bought when we lived alone.

I will be choosing a project a week, perhaps the junk drawer, perhaps the pantry, perhaps my lingerie drawer - no matter what, I will be spring cleaning to beat the band, until I am lighter in more ways than pounds!!!

Yay, me!!!

On Being a Woman...

I'm not a feminist.  That's the last word I would use to describe myself. 

I think it's because I just automatically and unconsciously (until I really think about it) put a negative connotation on the word "feminism."

And I'm wrong to do that, I know.  I'm where I am today, in my life, in my career, in the world, because a lot of women stood up for themselves, their mothers and aunts and grandparents, and for their unborn children and younger sisters and cousins, stood up and shouted, "We're not going to take it anymore!" 

We vote.  We work.  We own homes.  We have valued opinions.  Sure, a feminist can be still be stereotyped to be a bra-burner, a political rant, an in-your-face, gruff sort of woman always fighting the men even when she doesn't need to, but of course, not all of them are...  It's a stereotype that needs to be tossed.

But I do think sometimes that many women DO still fight a battle that has been raging for generations, whether we know it or not.  And I ran across this blog post today on The Wild and Wily Ways of a Brunette Bombshell.  I don't know the author of the blog, and I never saw the article she's reposting, but man, did it strike a chord with me today.

There are some women I know who are living this every day.  And I probably encourage them to fight back a bit more than I should:  after all, I'm not living in their shoes.  I should really support them any way I can, and not tell them, "You should fight back!"

I'm lucky to be married to my husband, a man who respects me, my abilities, my brains, my heart, who believes in me, believes that I can do anything I put my mind to even when I'm doubting myself.

The women mentioned in this article (original author is Yahsar Ali) do exist, even today, in 2012, after all we women went through in the 50s, 60s, 70s, and on...  They're still living with those sly little comments that do nothing but demean them, even - and I do truly believe this - even when the men in their lives don't realize what they're doing! 

We've learned, women, now let's teach the men in our lives to cut this $&*# out!!!  Be sure to teach your sons and nephews and husbands and brothers NOT to make comments like "You're overreacting!  You're so sensitive!  Get a grip:  I was just kidding!"

Bottom line, guys?  If you have to say that after we react to whatever it is you just said?  IT WAS A STUPID THING TO SAY AND YOU SHOULD HAVE NEVER SAID IT!!!

Me: I just feel like sharing...

I was visiting Carolina Girl and she posted some random facts about herself and I've always loved these kinds of posts, so I thought, "What the heck?  It's not like you have a lot of work to do..."  And of course I can't do it exactly like the instructions say...  What if I don't have SEVEN random things to share?  What if I don't have a "best feature"?  So let's just see where "random" takes us...

Here you go...

1. I spent the first night of my freshman year in college under a pool table, in the midst of a hurricane warning.  No hurricane, and no pool-ball related accidents...
2. The only time I ever got a "B" in gym class was the year I cut gym.  If I attended every class and tried my hardest, I only ever managed a "C."
3. And I'm married to a gym teacher.
4. I spoke English and Polish equally for the first 4 years of my life (or at least from when I started talking until we moved out of my grandparents' house to our house 2 miles away...).
5. I have forgotten almost all of the Polish I ever knew.
6. I read every organizational book I can get my hands on and still my house is just a few uncontrolled months away from being featured on Hoarders:  Buried Alive.  (OK, a slight exaggeration about the condition of my home... let's just say I have a high tolerance for clutter...)
7. I'm going to cave and get a smartphone of some kind in December; I'm a Verizon customer - any suggestions?
8. I don't know how to swim even though I took 2 classes at the Y.
9. I've never been to Europe.
10. I used to work with my best friends.  Now I work with friendly acquaintances who think they're my best friends...
11. [edited out 09/11/11]
12. My other sister is a fine artist.
13. I am addicted to reading.  I always have several books going, with several backed up and ready.  I read the cereal box in the morning, the can of hairspray in the bathroom, street signs while I'm driving, etc.
14. I skipped senior year in HS to attend the Freshman Honors Program at the University of Delaware.  We spent our first year on the Wesley College campus in Dover, DE, then moved to main campus in Newark, DE (then I got stupid!)
15. I've visited 25 of our 50 states.  Admittedly, some were business trips only, to one city, one conference center, but still...
16. I was once diagnosed as having gout.  Turns out it was bursitis.
17. My mom was born in Poland and traveled to Siberia, then through Russia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Kenya, Uganda, Egypt, to the UK, and then finally to the US where she met my dad, fell in love, got married, and the rest is history...  (and yes, I realize that's not about me, per se, but it's a cool fact anyway!)
18.  I could go on, but I'll save some for another time...

Favorites and Bests... (most borrowed from Carolina Girl)
Favorite Color:  it was purple for all my life but since I got married I'm liking green, too
Favorite Song:  A Love Like This, by Dan Fogelberg (our wedding song)
Favorite Singer:  Dan Fogelberg
Favorite Dessert:  Cream Puffs (unhealthy) and watermelon (reasonably healthy)
Favorite Candy:  Candy corn or circus peanuts (those orange marshmallow ones)
Favorite Actor:  Clint Eastwood
Biggest Pet Peeve:  when someone doesn't say thank you
When I'm Upset:  I either cry or slam things
My Favorite Pet:  My Samoyed Belle
Black or White:  Black (unless it's summer and I have a tan, then white is okay)
Biggest Fear:  Fire
Best Feature:  I can't answer this 'cause by nature, I'm too picky about myself
Everyday Attitude:  Generally pretty positive, although when I am cranky, watch out!
Perfection Is:  Being in love with the person who's in love with you at the same time
Guilty Pleasure:  An ice cold mojito!
Favorite food:  pizza or fried eggplant
Burger King or McDonald's:  Burger King all the way!
Favorite Author:  Ayn Rand (fiction) or Richard Bach (fiction)
Favorite Book:  Jonathan Livingston Seagull (Bach) or Anthem (Rand)
Favorite Movies:  Pretty Woman, Ghost, While You Were Sleeping, You've Got Mail, Dirty Dancing, Gone with the Wind, and of course - anything with Clint Eastwood in it
PC or Mac:  PC but only 'cause I never used a Mac and can't afford one...  played with one in the store and I can see how easily I'd become a convert
Surgeries:  appendectomy (I was 8) and back surgery in 1991 (I was 30)
Contacts or glasses:  Both!
Favorite Number:  2 or 3
Favorite TV shows:  What Not to Wear, Castle, Hoarding, House Hunters, Big Bang Theory
Favorite Holiday:  Christmas all the way!!!

I know usually I'm supposed to tag someone, but I'm not going to!  If you feel like posting some random facts about yourself, though, let me know!  I'd love to visit and read all about you!!!

100 things about me

1. I am addicted to reading.
2. I finally learned I have some artistic talent at the ripe old age of 43.
3. I love babies.
4. I take pride in my work.
5. I'm registered as a Republican.
6. I love unsweetened iced tea.
7. My favorite colors are purple and green.
8. I really believe time goes more slowly at the lake house.  That's why weekends seem longer there.
9. I would like to visit Paris.
10. I skipped senior year in high school to attend the University of Delaware as a Freshman Honors Student and graduated from there in 1981/1982.
11. I used to be smart.  (See #10)
12. My husband built me bookshelves in our library for a Christmas present several years ago.
13. I would have gotten engaged on July 3, 1998, instead of July 4, 1998, IF I had let my then-boyfriend win at Rummikub.
14. I love to drive.
15. There were only 107 people at our wedding, including the bride and groom and our attendants.
16. I've made some wonderful friends on the internet.  (Hello to all of you!)
17. I miss my dad every day.  He died March 16, 1987.
18. I became best friends with my best friend on January 30, 1978.
19. I love snow.
20. I am VERY myopic and have a bad astigmatism in my right eye.
21. I was 30 years old when I had my ears pierced.
22. Amethysts are my favorite gemstone.
23. One of my favorite books is Anthem, by Ayn Rand.
24. My favorite singer/songwriter is Dan Fogelberg.
25. I love everything about the Christmas season.
26. I could watch What Not to Wear all day, every day.
27. Along with House Hunters.
28. I have owned 4 cars in my entire life.
29. I have a stepdaughter and a stepson.
30. I love pizza.
31. My childhood dog was a Samoyed and her name was Belle.
32. If I could be half the mom my mother is, I'd consider myself a HUGE success in the parenting thing.
33. I've only had one real boyfriend in my life and I married him.
34. I love computers and gadgets like my GPS, my iPod Touch.
35. I go to Weight Watchers, but I don't stick to plan very well.
36. I would like to take a class in photography when I retire.
37. I'd like to retire.
38. I'm a Harry Potter fanatic.
39. I love riding on my husband's motorcycle with him.
40. I like wood floors SO much more than I like rugs and carpet.
41. I used to like gold more than I liked silver, but now I don't have a favorite.
42. My baby grand niece has me wrapped around her tiny little finger.
43. My favorite cake is yellow cake with milk chocolate icing.
44. I miss my sister and wish she didn't live so far away.
45. I spoke only Polish until I was about four-and-a-half, except, I guess, with my dad, but I can't speak a word of it now!  (But I can understand most of what I hear if I concentrate.)
46. I love scrapbooking.
47. I don't like NYC and would avoid going there if I could.
48. I like love to eat.
49. I remember watching Romper Room and Wonderama as a child, on our black and white television.
50. I'm 50 years old!!!!  (It just doesn't seem possible!!!)
51. Coffee, not tea.
52. I love my dentist!
53. If I miss church on a Sunday, it just feels like something is missing, and not right.
54. My dream car would be a Turbo Lotus Esprit from the mid-1970s, in yellow with a black interior.
55. I bought a cross ring the day my dad died, and have never taken it off since then.
56. I volunteer every other week by reading for a 2nd grade class at my husband's school, for a Read Aloud program my company sponsors.
57. I leave my Santa Claus collection up year round.
58. I've only had four full-time jobs in my lifetime, and one for only two months, and only 2 part-time jobs.
59. We attend two different churches, one at home and one at the lake on weekends we're there, but we're only registered at the one near our primary residence.
60. I'm Catholic.
61. I was a microbiology major for the first two years of my college career.
62. I'm really quite shy and modest.
63. I can remember not having to dial an area code unless it was for long distance, and I can also remember telephone numbers that sounded like this:  (PI)lgrim3-7407.
64. The first LP I bought for myself was the double Saturday Night Fever soundtrack.  It cost $11.00 and that was more than HALF my monthly allowance in 1977.
65. I'm a homebody and would rather be home than away.
66. I love to window shop.
67. I had only two rules in my house for my nephew and my niece:  no whining, and pay attention when I speak to you.
68. As I get older, I truly think I suffer more and more from some sort of seasonal disorder.  I NEED some sunlight!!!
69. I hate the Twilight series.
70. I'd like to take a cooking class when I retire, too.
71. I love notebooks and pocketbooks and can buy one at the drop of a hat!
72. I spend every Monday night at my sister-in-law's house where we gossip and drink coffee and eat dessert.
73. Irises are my favorite flower.
74. I like to fly.
75. I'm not a big stew person, although I like soup once in a while.
76. I had an emergency appendectomy in January, 1969, and back surgery in July, 2001.
77. I'm 1/2 Polish, and 1/2 American (of Dutch, British and Lenni Lenape descent)
78. When I was a freshman in high school, my dad picked me up one day dressed as Santa Claus!
79. I never went on a real "vacation" until I was about 13, and that was to Washington, DC, and Longwood Gardens with my family.
80. We spent a couple of weeks each summer in Seaside Heights, NJ, while my dad stayed home and worked, or took his vacation and painted the house or did other jobs around the house.  He'd come and visit on weekends.
81. I got Cs in gym class until the semester I cut class, and THEN I got a B.  And then I married a gym teacher.  Go figure.
82. I worked in a photochemical company for 5 years - wonder if I glow in the dark?  This was WAY before we took so many precautions with hazardous chemicals...
83. My wedding dress was the first one I tried on, NOT the one I dreamed about for years before I got engaged!  (THAT one looked AWFUL on me!)
84. When I retire I want to learn to quilt.
85. I make awesome cole slaw with my mom's recipe.
86. Thank God for that show, Hoarders.  It makes me feel better about my pack-rat tendencies.  I'm nowhere NEAR as bad as those poor people!
87. I make better quick and easy chicken soup with pre-cooked rotisserie chicken than I do chicken soup with a fresh/raw chicken.
88. I don't like to cook meat - I like it well-done and I tend to think "it's a bit too pink" and then I leave it in a little longer and it becomes shoe leather!
89. I like cold chocolate milk more than hot chocolate.
90. My favorite Starbucks drink is an iced caramel macchiato.
91. Dogs.  Not cats.
92. I love to play slots at the casino!
93. I don't like lobster.
94. I can't wear heels higher than 2 inches or I'm sure I'd twist an ankle!
95. Speaking of ankles, I love ankle bracelets.  And I never thought I'd like toe rings, but I do!
96. My favorite weekly crime show is Criminal Minds.  I will rearrange my schedule to be home to watch it.  And the other show we refuse to miss is Castle.
97. I would leave my husband for Clint Eastwood.  I'd come back, of course, but I'd have to go!!!  He's a god!!!
98. My favorite engagement ring setting is a simple Tiffany setting - and that's what J got me.
99. I like salty snacks better than sweet snacks.
100. Mojitos rock!!!

Want vs. Need

1. I NEED to win the lottery.
2. I need to not work.
3. I need to be able to sleep past 5:45am.
4. I need to be independently wealthy so that I can do #1, #2, and #3.
5. I need to lose a couple of difficult customers and perhaps "need" in numbers 1 through 4 could be changed to "want."
6. I need to be a better housekeeper.  (I most definitely do not WANT to be a better housekeeper.)
7. I hope to be a better daugher, wife, sister, aunt, friend, cousin, employee.
8. I need God to smile down on me and help me to achieve numbers 1 through 7.  I know I can't do it alone.

FOCUS - My One Little Word

I'm taking an online class from Ali Edwards called One Little Word.

We had to choose a word to be "our word" for 2011.

I thought about "create," "try," "faith," "healthy," and so many more.  Then I realized what they all had in common was that what I wanted to do was "focus" on my creativity, on my faith, on trying to whatever, on eating more healthily and working out a little more...

So I chose "focus."  It sort of covers it all.

So I treated myself to a necklace from Lisa Leonard, personalized with my One Little Word.  Here's a photo:

It's going to be my anchor, my reminder, my touchstone...

3 Hours in the ER that I'll Never Get Back...

We went to Atlantic City on Wednesday, for a credit union seminar.  We had the usual fun, I lost the usual funds, and then won them back, thank goodness!   We ate at Morton's Steak House on Thursday evening, and I had a delicious dinner. 

I had noticed that my elbow was a bit puffy, similar to when I had the cellulitis attack a couple of weeks ago.  So on Friday, after we got home, and after we picked up Neen's car from KD's shop, I decided I had to go to either the Immedicenter or to the emergency room.  I really didn't want to go to the ER - really?  for a swollen elbow?  But the Immedicenter guy had warned me two weeks ago that if the infection didn't respond to the antibiotics within 48 hours, I should go to the ER for an IV-antibiotic.  I only had to worry about a systemic infection, nothing too serious...

So after consulting with hubby and mom, off we went to the hospital. 

Three hours.  Three hours I'll never get back.  Three hours we spent laughing and goofing around while we waited for a doctor to come in.  Three hours where we sent a photo of me in the hospital bed to my sisters and to my sister-in-law, and to our friend G who was still in AC.  I just LOVE having a camera in my cell phone!!!  That was rather entertaining, counting down the minutes to the return phone calls and the panicked queries.  In the photo I was lying in the hospital bed, laughing, and pointing to my elbow in one of them. 

The upshot?  A FIFTH diagnosis:  bursitis, with cellulitis thrown in for good measure 'cause I just can't have a simple ailment...  Apparently from sitting at my desk for hours at a time, I have caused my bursa to become inflamed.  That doesn't necessarily mean it will get infected all the time - I was just lucky this time around!  Since I took my last antibiotic THAT VERY MORNING, the ER doctor thought it might be a good idea to give me 7 more days of Bactrim, to be on the safe side.  So I'm back on the antibiotics, and for sh-ts and giggles, she wrapped my arm in an Ace Bandage and asked if I wanted a sling!  [An aside:  FINALLY, Ace Bandages with Velcro on the ends - no more metal clips!!!]  I have a sling at home so I turned that down (why pay for a second one?!) but you can bet I'll milk this at work if I can, for as long as I can!

I tried this:  Since I can't sit with my elbow on the desk without hurting myself or having chronic bursitis, I should quit my job and live off my husband.  To his credit, he just shrugged.  But dang, I can't do that!  I need what little money I make...  Ah, well, perhaps a health-related early retirement is closer to reality...

Anyhow, we're at the lake and I have to catch up on some blog reading - I haven't checked my favorites since Tuesday!  I'm just a little behind...

Back soon...

Today is my Blogoversary!!

I started blogging in 2006!!!  4 years of my life, committed to words and pictures and to cyberspace!!!
Glad you're along for the ride!!!

True Stories

Hello, if you're visiting from Shimelle's True Stories class!  And hello, even if you're not!!!

Today we started a new class, and I can't wait!!!  We're going to write.  Write about us, about our lives, our stories, what we want to put down to pen and paper, for future generations or for just us!  I've already dived into the Forums - LOVE those message boards!

I've been so busy lately that my blog has primarily been some quotes about books vs. e-books (if you scanned any of them you'll know I'm a die-hard book person!); I've been cutting and pasting some quotes that I've run across in my daily RSS feeds that strike a chord in the debate, just so my blog doesn't sit here, unloved, unused,... 

Perhaps with all the writing I'll be doing for Shimelle's class I'll get back into blogging...  I don't know that I'll transfer all my notes to the blog, but some of the stories will most likely make it here!

Here's a bit of an update...  I went home sick from work on Friday, chills, fever, and a wicked sinus headache.  So bad, in fact, that I didn't go out to a local bar to meet some girls from my high school class!  I know I disappointed them by not coming, but I swear, ladies, I'll be there next time!!!  I dosed myself up with some Advil Cold & Sinus, and went to sleep.  I woke up on Saturday with a left elbow the size of a plum!!!

You might remember, you 2 or 3 regular readers, you! that last year my doctor thought I might be suffering from gout, or pseudo gout.  After some blood work, it turned out that, no, I was not an older alcoholic man sitting in front of a fire with gout in my foot and a cane!  (That vision of a person with gout comes straight out of my Harlequin Historical Romance reading years!)  My blood work was normal; they thought perhaps it was just a flare up of arthritis or bursitis or some other -itis...

Well, I work up this past Saturday, as I mentioned, with an elbow that was the size of a plum, bright red, and HOT, HOT, HOT to the touch!  And my arm hurt so much I couldn't straighen it out.  So on Sunday I went to the Immedicenter and the small, young doctor told me that I had (drumroll, please!) cellulitis.  (Yes, another -itis!)

From Wikipedia: 
"Cellulitis is caused by a type of bacteria entering the skin, usually by way of a cut, abrasion, or break in the skin. This break does not need to be visible. Group A Streptococcus and Staphylococcus are the most common of these bacteria, which are part of the normal flora of the skin but cause no actual infection while on the skin's outer surface.

"Predisposing conditions for cellulitis include insect bites, blistering, animal bite, tattoos, pruritic (itchy) skin rash, recent surgery, athlete's foot, dry skin, eczema, injecting drugs (especially subcutaneous or intramuscular injection or where an attempted IV injection "misses" or blows the vein), pregnancy, diabetes and obesity, which can affect circulation, as well as burns and boils, though there is debate as to whether minor foot lesions contribute. Spider bites are also known to cause cellulitis."

The doctor told me right up front, before even examining me, that it was cellulitis.  I had all the classic symptoms:  inflammation, redness, and heat at the site.  He did examine me to make sure that I didn't have a spider bite or something, but no, just my usual dry cracked elbows!  Apparently it doesn't have to be an open cut to allow the bacteria in under your skin.  Lucky me!

He gave me a prescription for Bactrim and said if I don't see an improvement in 48 hours, I should take myself to the Emergency Room.  I did a literal double take!  For what?  Apparently there's a risk of a systemic infection if we can't nip it in the proverbial bud within 48 hours.  Thankfully I already have some relief after an injection yesterday of rocephin, an injection in my gluteus maximus, might I add!  I picked up my prescription and started my antibiotic this morning.  I'm also taking some Advil to help with the inflammation and the pain...  Ahhh, sweet relief!!!  Although I still can't lean on my left elbow and if I bump it, oh, do I see stars!!!

Anyway, I need to rush off and get back to work...  More blogging to come!!!

10 Pet Peeves That Irk Me (and There Are More)

1.  Typos, especially when I hit "send" or "post" and don't catch them until it's too late.  And if I can't delete the original message and it has to stay out there in cyberspace with a mistake created by me?  OMG.
2.  Words that don't exist but eventually, due to usage, make it into the dictionary:  staycation, edutainment, ugh.
3.  Taking 40 minutes to drive 9 miles to work.
4.  People mispronouncing words like "sangwich" (THERE IS NO "G" IN THE WORD!).
5.  Business buzz words like "proactive," "actionable," best practices," especially if they're not "real" words!  (For some fun, visit http://www.unsuck-it.com/)
6.  People/women who wear clothes 4 sizes too small for them.  I GET it when they're a little tight, we all have some "thin clothes" we like to think we still fit into, but once the size difference is in multiples, give it up!  It all just looks like sausage casing!
7.  People who think they're better than me and act like it.  If you really are, more power to you, just don't be an arrogant prig.
8.  People who don't say "thank you" or "you're welcome."
9.  People who don't hold the door for someone immediately behind them.  I don't need you to wait for me to catch up if I'm half a mile away, but for crying out loud, if I can hear you chewing potato chips, I'm close enough for you to hold the door for me!
10.  People who use their titles to impress others.  Quite honestly, it doesn't matter to me if you're "Ambassador Dimwit" or "Dr. So-and-So," if I have a 45-minute wait for a table, and you came in after me, YOU have a longer wait!!!

About me

So I was reading the blog that belongs to a follower'o'mine (and there are so very few of you it will be easy to figure out who you are!) and she posted some of her art journaling and I decided to steal borrow the basic idea of creating lists about me, and perhaps someday, if I'm feeling creative, they'll be more than just words on a blog page; they might even hit my art journal, too!

So, without further ado, since I have nothing else to blog about today and I know you all really, really care about important things about me...  (Might I remind you that you might very well be playing a trivia game someday and you could TOTALLY win by knowing all this stuff!)

10 of My Favorite Authors (not my 10 Favorite Authors, Just 10 OF My Favorite Authors)
  1.  Richard Bach
  2.  Ayn Rand
  3.  Dean Koontz
  4.  Tami Hoag
  5.  Tess Gerritsen
  6.  Jodi Picoult
  7.  Kay Hooper
  8.  Karen Rose
  9.  Iris Johansen
10.  Sandra Brown

And yes, with the exception of Richard Bach and Ayn Rand, they are pretty much contemporary fiction writers who will probably not save the world and most likely don't make my brain work too hard when I'm reading their latest (except for Jodi, who teaches us something every time!), but I'm just coming off summer and "summer reads" and "beach reads" tend not to be all that educational or esoteric...

My New Year's Resolution is to post more in my blog.  Yes, I know it's not January and yes, I know I'm setting myself up for more failure, but if I can use filler like My Favorite Dish Detergents or A List of the Last 10 Days We Ate at Burger King So I Didn't Have to Cook, well, I just might be able to post more often!

Today is the first day of the rest of the week...

Doesn't sound like much, does it?

Until you think about the fact that I'm starting full work weeks again - and yes, I'm totally obsessed by the fact that I have to work 5-day work weeks again.  After 5 or 6 weeks of 3- or 4-day work weeks (that's how I took some summer vacation - I was lovin' Mondays and Fridays!), it's not only my 1st 5-day work week in over a month, it starts my 10-hour days, too!

You see, J is a teacher and he decided, 18 years ago, to implement and run an after-school care program in the school.  He's the director, which means, given his sense of personal and professional responsibility, that he stays until the last kid is picked up, even if that's 7:20pm (a record).

The after-school care program ends at 5:30pm, just so you know.

He likes to be at work early, and he works the early breakfast, so I'm at my desk by 7:30am, and he picks me up, IF he's on time and all the parents are on time, at 5:45-5:50pm, depending on town traffic.

Do the math.  That's 10 hours at this desk. 

I'll have to post a picture of my cubicle so you can see how very exciting the idea of 10 hours in my orange desk chair really is...  Yes.  Orange.

Well, it's 4:57pm and I have about 45 minutes or so to go before I leave work.  I'm going to go and check the weather; maybe I'll leave early and walk on over to the school...  I have tons to carry so I'm not sure... 

Anyway, toodles!

Just popping by with an update...

Is it possible to update, well, nothing?

I'll give it a shot...

Hubby is back at school.  Praise be to God!  Hallelujah!  Thank you, Jesus!  Although of course, now there aren't enough hours in the day for him to do it all, whereas before, there were too many hours to fill when I didn't have a "Honey Do" list ready for him...  I tried renting him out to the neighbors, but for some reason, he was hesitant to do work in someone else's home unless it was my mother's...

It's Happy Hump Day, and this week, that means that it's the 2nd day of my last 4-day work week until Columbus Day week.  I spent all of August working either 3- or 4-day work weeks.  For the record, I really do enjoy taking Mondays and/or Fridays off in August.  I would, also for the record, enjoy doing the same all year round but I'm thinking my boss might not be so enthusiastic.

I have gone for my 2nd visit to the accupuncturist.  I chose one who is also a medical doctor, a man I met at the accupuncture school where my mom goes for treatment.  I saw him in the lobby when I was waiting for Mom and we chatted and he seemed so sincere when he said how much he respected my old back doctor, who I loved despite his distinct lack of a bedside manner (fodder for yet another blog post some day...).  I can't really tell you if it's working although, coincidence or not, I am not using a pillow to support my left leg to alleviate the discomfort, and according to my mom, I'm walking up stairs a bit more easily.  What that means, I'm not sure, 'cause it sure feels to me like I'm hurting when I walk up them...

I will be starting to take 2 capsules of Jarrow Formulas' Curcumin 95, a dietary supplement that is actually 500mg of turmeric concentrate.  According to the doctor, he's been taking 2 a day for years and he says that even though his family tends to get arthritis bad, in a big way, he feels no joint pain 90% of the time, and turmeric is what he recommends.  This was after I told him I don't like to take Advil or anything like that too often; I wouldn't mind if it wasn't for all that potential liver damage...

These 2 capsules, along with 2 1 calcium tablet (I'm supposed to take 2 a day but I forget the morning one all the time), 1 Vitamin D tablet, another daily pill that I take -- do the math.  That's 5 pills a day.  And I'm in good health!!!  What's going to happen in a few years when I'm old(er)???

I start a Yoga Basics class next Wednesday.  I've been assured by a friend here at work that I will enjoy it and I won't quite 'cause it's too much like exercise...  The doctor said I need to work on my flexibility and endurance...  Updates on this fiasco to come weekly...

And it's 3:35pm so I'm going to head out and go home early.  'Cause I can.  'Cause my boss said I can.  'Cause next week I start my after-school hours:  I'll be at work from 7:30am to 5:45pm.  5 days a week, except for every other Wednesday when I have to go to the nail salon with my mom.  (Yes, life is hard... NOT!)

From my past (revisited)

So this is a repeat of what I posted on my sisters' blog, with a few additions...

I was visiting a blog I recently found, written by a single dad with multiple children in his care, and he was mentioning his childhood, a childhood that started before the 1980s. It got me to thinking, as I'm much older than he is, that there must be quite a bit I'd forgotten about... Here are just a few things...

1. Marlin Perkins & Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
2. The Wonderful World of Walt Disney
3. Pilgrim8-7407
4. manual typewriters and the race to get 1 of the 10 electric typewriters in Mrs. Costello's typing class
5. riding in the back seat without a seat belt
6. Channel Lumber
7. Great Eastern Mills
8. Kresge's
9. Two Guys
10. signing up at the Computer Lab to access a computer in college (OMG, I'm truly O.L.D.)
11. Gino's
12. American Bandstand
13. Saturday Night Fever (edited:  I spent $11 of my monthly $20 allowance on the double album)
14. Abbott & Costello
15. Korvette's
16. Creature Feature
17. Seaside Heights when you could walk on a beach without stepping on cigarette butts
18. crabbing in the bay with Uncle W
19. TV without a remote
20. black and white TV 'cause that's all there was
21. Romper Room
22. The Bowery Boys
23. Wonderama with Bob McAllister
24. Captain Kangaroo and Mr. Green Jeans
25. My Favorite Martian
26. My baloney has a first name, it's O-S-C-A-R...
27. Apollo 11
28. the Manson Murders
29. the birth of the bikini and the mini-skirt
30. The Munich Massacre at the Olympics
31. gas rationing and even/odd days
32. Watergate
33. Pope John Paul II
34. The Me Decade
35. the famine in Bangladesh
36. life before the VCR
37. bra-burning
38. Mr. Ed
39. Pixie Stix
40. Jack's Deli (only if you're from Bloomfield, NJ, will this mean anything to you!)
41. Bradlee's
42. B. Dalton Booksellers
43. Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips on Saturday afternoons when we went to the library
44. baton twirling class at the Civic Center
45. the swings at my grandfather's house
46. the lily pond at my grandfather's house
47. Tommy as Santa Claus at my grandmother's on Christmas Eve
48. my cousin singing Olivia Newton John's I Honestly Love You
49. the start of the Electric Company and Sesame Street
50. HR Pufnstuf
51. Land of the Lost on TV
52. The Greatest American Hero (okay, yes, I love TV!)
53. Lawrence Welk
54. Guy Lombardo
55. The first Rockin' New Year's Eve in 1973
56. The Edge of Night
57. The Secret Storm
58. Luke and Laura
59. the Son of Sam murders
60. Ted Bundy
61. Dirty Harry (1971)

Anyway, some of these were happy memories, some were newsworthy (and not so happy), but all of them were from my youth, in the 1960s and 1970s.  I skipped senior year in high school to go to the Freshman Honors Program at the University of Delaware from 1977 to 1978 and went back to my high school to graduate with my class in 1978.  There are many memories from that first year of college that I could have put on this list, but I didn't.  The most valuable memory is meeting my friend Chris in November 1978 and becoming friends with him "officially" in January 1978.  We've been friends ever since.

I remember getting our dog, Belle, in 1970.  Belle was a beautiful Samoyed and she's spoiled me for any other breed of dog.  If and when we get a dog (we're planning to get one when he/we retire) I'll be pushing for a Samoyed, although I know hubby dearest is pushing for a chocolate lab or a black lab.  The one thing we agree on for sure is no small dogs!  I remember the kids in my school stopping to pet my dog through the fence.

I remember learning to ride a bicycle on M DeF's bicycle; we didn't have a bicycle when I was young.  It was purple and had a banana seat.  I thought I was SO very accomplished when I didn't fall down and go boom!

I remember the first time I had a crush on a guy, Rick G. from my grammar school.  In our 8th grade mimeographed "yearbook" there was a Remember When page.  Totally by accident, I'm sure, the editor included "Remember when Krys C. has a crush on Ricky G.?"  Oh, if only they'd gotten their tenses right!  I can so vividly remember being mortified.  And I blush really bright red when I'm embarrassed!!!

I remember calling white German Shepherds "lemon shepherds" when I was small.

I don't remember this, but my mom loves to tell the story of how I walked around the neighborhood, a mere not-yet-5-years-old new kid on the block, knocking on doors to introduce myself and ask if they had any children I could play with - obviously I was still an only child at this time!

I remember walking to grammar school and back and thinking I was such hot stuff because I could walk alone.  We lived 5 houses from the school.  I really wasn't that cool!

I remember TM getting in trouble in the cafeteria in grammar school for blowing the wrapper from his straw across the table.  Sister Adrien used to stand in the choir-loft-that-would-eventually-become-the-library and ring the school bell if anyone misbehaved at lunch.

I remember when she retired, my dad made her a gavel out of a piece of wood whose grain looked like the Virgin Mary.  People thought she was so strict, but I really liked her a LOT!

I remember getting hayfever for the first time during the STA summer picnic in the summer of 1977, at just 16 years of age.  Never had allergies before that!

And I suppose I could go on forever, but this has been enough of a break.  Gotta go back to work.  I reallly loved remembering these things.  Would love to read YOUR childhood memories...

I'm Not Perfect (in case you were wondering!)

Okay, I read these two posts today (reality check... and my real reality) and that proverbial lightbulb went off inside my head!!! I'm NOT perfect, and I know there are a bunch of you reading this that would agree wholeheartedly!

Stephanie Howell blogged about how one of her friends talked about women scrapbookers in the industry being obligated to make their lives look perfect. Stephanie's opinion? And I quote: "a resounding no." Thank goodness! That would rank right up there with the false idea that all American women are a size zero. (For crying out loud! They didn't even HAVE a size zero when I was younger! And by the way, I really resent going into a store and seeing size 10 or size 12 clothes tucked and pinned to make them fit the size 2 mannequin - why not use real size mannequins??? Okay, I'm off my soapbox!)

I'd love to live in a neat, clean house. But I like "stuff." I have a lot of "stuff." And my "stuff" is all over my house. And I don't make a boatload of money so I can't afford to spend any of it on a maid. (Sure, if I didn't buy clothes and scrapping stuff, I could pay to have a maid... hmmm... hold on, I'll be right back! Gotta check my finances... Yea, I could afford one, but dear hubby doesn't want one!)

I admit that, right now, right this minute, if I could, I'd chuck it all and start from scratch, get a smaller house, choose light, airy colors, keep a LOT fewer tchotchkes around the house, hang more pictures on the walls, and JUST.HAVE.LESS.STUFF. But my house isn't there (yet). And I don't clean my house all the time.

We have two. Houses. I leave Friday night to go to the lake house, which is actually a little better simply 'cause we're not there all the time (but I DO need to clean off my island and my dining room table up there). We leave before 7am to go to work, five days a week, and get home 12 hours later. When exactly, after a full day at work, am I supposed to cook, clean, vaccuum, wash, dust, sort, put away? Deep down inside, yea, I want a neat, clean house. But if it looks a little lived in, perhaps a little messier than it should, I figure (1) I don't have bugs, it's just a bit messy and dusty, and (2) if you're coming over to visit, you're coming to see me or my husband, not a neat and clean house. Deal with it!

Here's my version of the "not perfect me":

• I'm NOT perfect
• If I can be 1/2 the mom my mother was, I'm already WAY ahead of the game
• I am a terrible housekeeper
• My husband does the laundry
• I don't cook very well
• I don't want to be perfect
• I wear the same clothes all the time even though I have quite a few more
• I spend too much money on books and scrapping supplies
• Yet I don't scrap as much as I'd like (it's all at the lake so I have only the weekends to do it)
• I can't remember the last time I dusted
• I missed my best neighbor friend's birthday
• We eat out several times a week 'cause I don't cook
• I really want to throw away everything I own and start over
• I have too much stuff
• I am not the best wife I can be (although I beat the first one, hands down!)
• My husband does all the gardening
• I need to lose weight
• I need to save more money
• I should bring my breakfast and lunch to work, and just treat myself once a week
• I should pray more
• I should gossip less
• I need to exercise more (Who am I kidding? I need to exercise - period)
• I have really strong opinions
• I'd rather read than do anything else
• I also like to play on the computer and watch TV
• I waste a lot of time at work on the computer

And then there's...

• I'm a decent daughter, sister, wife, aunt - even though I could do better
• I believe in God and go to church each week and try to live a good, honest life
• Although I'm not as smart as I used to be, I think I do okay (I try to live by my dad's "Use it or lose it" manifesto!)
• I care
• I am a loving mom
• I'm a good friend
• I have really strong opinions

I started to do the "good" list and I had trouble; I'm not big on tooting my own horn. But I do know that although I'm far from perfect, I'm not going to H-E-DOUBLE-HOCKEYSTICKS, either. I am a good person, with a big heart, and I would do almost anything for my family and friends (I draw the line at anything illegal!). But perfect? Huh-uh. Not so much.

And that's OKAY.