While I Was Snapping Photos

I'm back from my March Photo Challenge. It helped to lift me out of an 8 week, self-imposed hibernation in the cave of depression/anxiety. It was pretty cozy under the blankets of my bed for 16 hours a day.

Luckily I have Mr Sunshine, Sorority Girl and my Bestie Betsy who will drag my ass out into the sunshine every now and then.

SG had a 3rd grade student performing in a children's theater academy production of Cinderella. It was really enjoyable and Boy! are some of those kids talented. SG dragged my ass out of bed to sit by the pool and for a couple of shopping trips. I bought this cute dress at H&M...

Mucho Cute with bright yellow accessories.

Betsy dragged my ass out of bed for a trip to the beach and a trip to the movies to see...

I love George Clooney. My brother looks a little like George. Someday I'll do side by side photos (or as my Canuck grandfather used to say, "side by each").

Mr Sunshine dragged my ass out of bed for the Arnold Palmer Invitational Golf Tournament (see March 23) and a trip to Outback Steak House for steak and lobster.

While I was undercover, I watched this...

If you are the Muppet fan that I am, you MUST SEE this! It was so good, I may watch it again. It's on Netflix.

Have a nice Easter Weekend!

Is It Weird Or Am I Weird?

Is it weird that I have already started wearing winter PJ's in October?

The first 2 winters I wore shorts and tshirts to bed. The next couple of winters I wore winter PJ's during excessive cold snaps...like the nighttime temps going down to the 40's. I have worn winter PJ's for the past 2 nights because the nighttime temps fell to the 60's. Apparently I have become a wimp because we have the apartment thermostat at 72 deg  and it is ALWAYS 72 degrees in here!

Is it weird that Casey Anthony wore a disguise for her videotaped deposition last weekend?

A) We all know what she looks like. B) She's not in the Witness Protection Program. C) She was in a private office with her attorney.

Is it weird that I had to walk through a gaggle of vultures on my walk?

There wasn't a roadkill in sight. Were they waiting for me to pull a KlutzPrincess move and fall into the street? It was right around lunchtime and I was a little nervous.

Is it weird that the Shower Gel store already has the Christmas displays and products?

I know, they're just trying to keep up with CVS. Who wants to smell like a Peppermint stick in October? If I was still working there my head would have exploded at the floor set. Now the associates have to spend the next 4 weeks convincing the customers to BUY IT NOW!!! IT WON'T BE HERE AFTER THANKSGIVING!!!

Is it weird that I have started saying I'm a "stay-at-home Mom"?

I stay home and my 23yr old goes to work or school with a lunchbox containing a lunch that I made for her. I buy her Honey Nut Chex, hummus and a variety of other food that I never eat. It's my purpose in life.

Is it weird that I am composing blog posts about Halloween Flashbacks and Mom-Crushes on 20-something yr old celebrities?

Saturday Snippets

I had such a nice afternoon yesterday. I asked my friend to go out for lunch and an afternoon of exploring a neighborhood full of consignment shops and thrift shops. One huge thrift shop had AMAZING prices on name-brand clothes. Entire racks of shorts and skirts for $1.92 and $2.92. I'll go back this week when I feel like trying things on.

Sorority Girl and I hit Burlington Coat Factory for purse shopping on Thursday. I got a PERFECT small shoulder bag...originally $59 for $12.99. 

I want TOMS shoes. THESE TOMS shoes. Sadly these TOMS shoes are being discontinued and they no longer have my size. I am sad.

I'm keeping an eye on this little tropical system.

Extend those projection lines and it goes right over FL. I am starting to think about filling jugs of water and stocking up on a few other things. If it turns into a Tropical storm and/or hurricane it will be Emily.

Did I ever tell you that I think I died in a hurricane in a previous life? I am OBSESSED with hurricanes. I'm not afraid of them but I have to know where they are at all times. When there is a hurricane, Jim Cantore from the Weather Channel becomes my new best friend and I'll watch him report for many hours. And hours. And hours.

I just read (my not-so-secret crush) Steven Tyler's book...Does The Noise In My Head Bother You. Amazing that he's still alive.

Happy Weekend!

And Then...

Sorority Girl moved home last week. Among other reasons, the house she was sharing with some college friends has been put up for sale. Some stuff came here and we took the rest to our storage unit.
AND THEN...

While we were at the storage unit place, I lost my wallet. Which means I lost my Driver's license, Insurance card, Grocery store savings card, Library card, Mr Sunshine's Library Card, Costco Card, ATM card and my Barnes and Noble Gift card (that made me weep...luckily I had already spent most of it)
AND THEN...

I talked to my Mom and she went to her 3 month post-back-surgery appointment and the doctor said she might need a hip replacement surgery. Second opinion to follow.
AND THEN...

Our internet modem died. I took it back to the cable company today and traded it for a new one. While I was there I decided to get a DVR box for Sorority Girl's bedroom.
AND THEN...

It started POURING. Like, MONSOON POURING! Large items were flying across the cable company parking lot!
AND THEN...

I accidently locked my keys in the car.
AND THEN...

The awesome free road service on my car insurance came and broke into my car and got my keys.
AND THEN...

I realized it is Fourth Of July Weekend and I got a massive craving for Stuffed Quahogs, so tomorrow I'm going to the fish market to find out if you can even get Quahogs in Florida.
AND THEN...
...to be continued (let me know if you want the recipe)

More Scattered Brain Droppings

Found a few more scattered brain droppings under the bird feeder.

I did the math, yo.
When I buy 2.5 pounds of Dunkin Donuts coffee at Costco
 + 1000 yellow packets of sweetener at Costco
+ 100 coffee filters at the dollar store
+ we make a pot at home every morning

=14.8 cents per cup for the win!
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A disgruntled patient with a gun killed a beloved transplant surgeon in the parking garage of the local hospital the other night. The doctor was 41 and has 4 kids.

A local guy (with a permit)went into the local rib place the other night with a loaded gun in his pocket. The gun went off and shot a woman in the leg. I didn't realize the rib place had gotten so scary that you need to take a loaded weapon with you.

But we all know the crazies have a right to their loaded concealed weapons.
NOTE: I didn't mean to insult everyone with a gun permit. I am just afraid of the nut cases out there that endanger me or my family. More views in the comments~LMSS
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Sugar-free Fudgsicles. 20 for $4.69. Buy 1 box/ Get 1 free. There are now 40 Sugar-free Fudgsicles in my freezer. Take one down, pass it around, 39 Sugar-free Fudgsicles in my freezer.
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I spent the evening building crappe Tarjay shelves for my walk-in closet. Of course, one of them came out of the box with a big chunk missing....back to Tarjay for an exchange.
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I'm building crappe Tarjay shelves because I am reorganizing my closet. I also got rid of all the clothes that are more than 1 size too big. I sent 2 huge bags to the dumpster and 2 huge bags to Goodwill.
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So You Think You Can Dance.....YESSSSSSSSS!
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I want to read Tina Fey's book Bossypants. So do a lot of other people. I'm on a waiting list at the library.
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The Space Shuttle is flying into Cape Canaveral at 2:35am. We will probably hear the sonic boom as it passes over Central Florida.
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Scattered Like Bird Seed

I can't string two consecutive thoughts together...so here are my scattered thoughts...like bird seed under the feeder.

INSOMNIA sucks lemons. Insomnia+neck spasms=5 day headache.

WORD MOJO GOLD and MAH JONG SOLITAIRE...addicted and refuse to believe it contributes to my headache.

EMERALD COCOA ROAST DARK CHOCOLATE ALMONDS!!!!

CAPE COD KID...is now the official Chief Instructor at the KungFu school. He'll spend non-teaching time recruiting new students with PR and events. It is enough pay that he could quit his former day job. He'll keep the Security job with the dance club... his girlfriend works there too, so they get to spend more time together. He sounds SOOO happy.

FINGERNAILS...mine...If money was no object I would get a weekly manicure.  I clip, I file, I buff and I try to manage my ratty cuticles. Yesterday I gave up and cut and filed them down as fer as they would go. Hello stubby looking fingers!

BOOKS...I keep thinking I should review some books here, but now I'm behind by about 30 books and it seems overwhelming. Currently enjoying Clara And Mr Tiffany...that one is going to get a dedicated post.

CAMERA...my Mother's day gift was a new Nikon Coolpix S3100. So far I have read the manual twice and haven't taken one single decent photo. I may need a NIKON FOR DUMMIES book or trade it in for a no-frills point and shoot CAMERA FOR DUMMIES.

CASEY ANTHONY MURDER TRIAL...happening in my back yard. 2 yr old disappears... 3 years ago, Mom says a non-existant nanny kidnapped the kid, body is found buried 2 blocks from home, 6 months later,  Mom is a chronic liar, every time she gets caught in a lie, she creates a bigger lie. Defense attorney has called her a stupid liar in his opening statements...

...but we are to believe the defense that the grandfather found the baby in the bottom of  the pool, grandfather got pissed at the mom and grandfather (former cop/detective), doesn't do CPR or call 911 and he decided to cover up the death. Supposedly Mom partied for 30 days after the baby died because she was in denial and afraid to tell the truth about the grandfather because he abused her over 10 years ago....but she let the baby live with the grandparents and she requested that her father visit her in jail. It's like a freaking train wreck that has been in the news on a daily basis for 3 years now...and I can't. stop. watching.

ART...Trying to teach myself how to draw. I have a couple of "how-to" books and I am playing with a sketchpad, colored pencils and extra-fine Sharpies. I think I'm being way too OCD...but I'm keeping at it. I might post some of them and let you all have a crack at giving me some feedback.

That's all the scattered bird seed for today.

I Want My Lost Hour Back

Did we lose an hour today when we did that "Spring Ahead" thing? I know I slept a little later than usual.
I stayed up way too late into the morning hours, watching this...

...So good. When I went to the Tower of London I was a little breathless when I stood in the spot where Anne was beheaded and then a little speechless when I went into the chapel where she is buried.

I figured I could squeeze a nap into this afternoon but I got a little ambitious. I found this recipe on HuffPo to recreate those boneless ribs you get at the Chinese restaurants. They're marinating in the fridge right now. This recipe!!

I'm also baking bread today. We're doing as much whole grains in our diet as we can. I don't like the taste of Whole Wheat, but I do like white wheat. I went to the Fresh Market yesterday and found this...

YES! King Arthur! 100% Organic! White Whole Wheat! This recipe!! From the Baking Bites blog.

I love that time of year when the clementines show up in the store. They were $4 for a 3 pound bag yesterday so I was very happy....until I tried one last night and it was TERRIBLE...dry and tasteless.

Sooooooo disappointed. Do I have time to schlep them back to the store?

Do I have time to finish the NY Times Sunday crossword? And read the paper? And do a load of laundry? And go for a walk? And wash the kitchen floor? And make coleslaw and cook rice to go with the ribs?

I want my hour back!!

Google That Sucka!

My Mom thinks it's weird that I always have my computer turned on. During phone conversations she'll ask me a question and I'll say "wait a sec, I'll google that sucka".

I google a lot of things. I have Diagnoogled myself when I'm sick. Play along with me now as we

GOOGLE THAT SUCKA!

1. Steven Tyler is now a judge on American Idol. I wondered how old he is, so I googled that sucka. He was born in 1948, so he'll be 63 in March.
2. There is an a capella group that plays the Warblers on Glee. I wanted to know if they were a real singing group, so I googled that sucka. They really ARE a group from Tufts University...The Beelzebubs!

   3. I was watching ice skating and wondered whatever happened to Jamie Sale and David Pelletier. I hadn't seen them in a while. So I...you guessed it...googled that sucka. Apparently they got married, had a kid, divorced and still skate together in Stars On Ice, which I can't see because the glare of the spotlights on the ice gives me migraines.

 4. I made a walking playlist for my iPod. I wondered what the best songs were for a brisk walk so I......wait for it......googled that sucka. The best songs for walking are 120-135 beats per minutes. How can you figure out the beats? Google THAT sucka. You turn on a metronome and listen to your iPod. One day soon, I'll post my playlist. While on the iPod subject, the Goog also taught me how to delete 750 songs from my iPod,so now I have room for another 750.

5. I was watching the Gilmore Girls. As Rory walks in to a meeting with a Harvard Alum she says "Ish kabibble?" Huh? I needed to google.....that....sucka. Ish Kabibble was a comedian in the late 1940's who supposedly took his name from a Yiddish-ish saying "Ische ga bibble"...meaning "I should worry?"

6. Finally, in my new sucky diabetic life i get cravings for things I haven't had in 7 months. Today it is Chocolate Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting. What did I do? If you said "GOOGLE THAT SUCKA"  you scored 27 points, because I just took the Sugar-free Chocolate Cake out of the oven and I'm getting ready to make Sugar-free Peanut Butter Frosting. I'll share the recipe if anyone wants it, but be prepared. it takes OBSCENE amounts of Splenda.

I guess I need to find out what are the long-term effects of Splenda on humans. You know where I'm going from here!

What's In A Kid's Name

How did you choose your kid's name?

I recently read an article that said most people choose their child's name because they heard a celebrity with that name and they liked it. That usually means your kid will start kindergarten with the same name as 6 other kids in the class.

When I was pregnant for the first time we kicked around family names. For a girl, I liked Amy Bernadette (Amy is my best friend, Bernadette was my grandmother). For a boy we didn't want a Junior, so we changed one letter in Mr Sunshine's name. When Sorority Girl was born I actually chose her name from a song I liked (here's a hint...Elvis Costello) and her middle name is the same as my sister and my mother-in-law.

We looked at the baby name books. I didn't want anything too popular. Cape Cod Kid was #26 in 1985. In 2010 he wasn't even on the list. Sorority Girl was #47 in 1988. In 2010 it was #51. My father-in-law had one request..."please choose a name that will be dignified when they are 65"

Some parents are naming their kids after some of the girls on a TV show called "16 and Pregnant" (which is a whole other topic). Explain to your child how you chose THAT name. If we had chosen names based on TV characters of the time, my daughter might be Winnie (Cooper from The Wonder Years), Sue Ellen (Ewing from Dallas), Murphy (Brown), Darlene or Becky (from Roseanne). My son could be Ben (Seaver from Growing Pains, but there were already 3 Bens in the family) Norm or Cliff (from Cheers) or Bobby (Ewing from Dallas, but there were already 2 in the family)

We also decided to rule out all the ones that rhyme with our last name, so none of my kids are named Gerry, Harry, Kerry, Larry, Mary, Sherry or Terry.

Out of the 2010 popular names I actually like the girl's Top 5...Sophia, Isabella, Olivia, Emma and Chloe. The boys are Aiden, Jacob, Jackson, Ethan and Jayden.

 I knew of a kid named Justin Case and a girl named Candy Kane.  You couldn't have paid me to pick either one of those.

One Liners

• I worked 9 days in a row.
• I have been sleeping 18 hours a day since last Friday.
• I had a VERY long discussion with the Boss of my boss.
• My new bathing suit is 3 sizes smaller than my last bathing suit.
• I just finished reading Cutting For Stone. SO GOOD it is now in my Top 5 favorites.
• Mr Sunshine keeps talking about getting a new cat.
• I'm not sure how I feel about that.
• Disney next Monday with the NEPHEWS!
• The shit that is supposed to go down at the so-called "Church" in Gainseville is making me sick to my stomach.
• New season of Sons Of Anarchy! I had to DVR the first episode and hope to watch it today.
• I am seriously missing sugar in my diet. Apparently I was addicted to Peanut Crack&M's.

Very Short Stories

My face looks much better.

I may have permanent brain damage. I haven't been able to finish a crossword puzzle in a week.

Tigger is alive, but pathetic.

Work sucks. I'm drinking adult beverages on a daily basis. It hurts when the glass bumps my nose.

Mr Sunshine State has perfect blood glucose levels. He's rockin' the diabetes treatment!

Reading: The Girl Who Played With Fire. Love it, so far.

My first niece turned 28. LORDY, I'm old.

My roots are now 2 horrific inches of grey. This will be rectified on Monday afternoon.

I found the perfect nail polish color. It is a cross between silvery/purpley/grey.
(OPI-Will You Marry Me)

This Is All Kind Of New To Me

Lately I feel like I'm being bombarded with a lot of things that are new to me. Considering the fact that I'm not on any anti-anxiety medication, I'm handling it all pretty well.

Work is presenting itself with all kinds of drama. I have some serious misgivings about a new employee, but for now I'm just going to keep observing and see if her behaviors become long-term habits. My boss has also given me a HUGE challenge. Deep in my heart, I don't think I can do it, but I'm going to give it 150%.

I have new hair! Well, it's still my old hair, but it looks new. I've been coloring it myself and was just "bleh" about the results. I couldn't get the color right...too light, too dark, too dull.
This week I decided to see a professional. I wish I had taken a camera to get a picture of the darling Sandy who did my hair. She looks like she's about 15 and her long, gorgeous hair was 3 shades of brown and ORANGE! She did my base in 2 different shades of warm brown, gave me some awesome caramel highlights and a great cut. I like it, I really like it!! It was worth the 8 and 1/2 hours I had to work to pay for it.

When my old cat, Buddy, died in 1994, he was 15 years old and healthy until the morning I found him hemorrhaging all over my kitchen floor. It was an instant decision to take him to the vet to be euthanized.

Tigger is not doing well. He is about 14 years old. In the past year he has aged so much. In the past month is has become so obvious that he will not be with us a lot longer. He has no strength in his back legs, so he can't stand up on the kitchen floor. He slides around, so I put a small rug from the living room to his food bowls. He can't jump onto the bed anymore, so we pick him up to get his bedtime snuggles while we read. He only makes it into the litter box about 30% of the time.

He still eats and drinks, cuddles and purrs. He doesn't really seem to be in distress. I know I'm losing him a little bit each week and I need to do a little research about when the time will be right.

I'm dealing with all the new by BREATHING, relaxing, trying to get enough sleep and staying away from too much junk food.

March Was Madness

March is OVER. Thank God.


The last time I was here, I mentioned that I was having a hard time with some generic Trazodone. That was a gross understatement. After a week of misery with nightmares, I decided to get off the meds. THEN the misery really began. My anxiety level went sky-high. All I did was work, sleep, work, sleep, read, work, watch TV, sleep.

I still take a lot of naps, because I wake up about 7 or 8 times during the night (have you met my friend, Fibromyalgia?). I'm not even thinking about going back on the trazodone. I can't be in a drug haze when I may need to function at work at 9am

In the middle of my nervous breakdown, poor Tigger got really sick. I had bought a different cat food....not a different BRAND, just a different FLAVOR. It brought on a week of....too upsetting to describe. Let's just say there was a whole lot of floor-washing, carpet-cleaning and cat-bathing up here in the treehouse.

We put our pathetic baby on a 24 hour fast, and then back on his usual FLAVOR of food. It took another week to get his stomach straightened out, but it's better now. The whole episode really aged him, though. He doesn't seem to have the strength to jump on the bed anymore. Tom had to pick him up last night, to put him in between us, for his nightly snuggles while we read.

On top of the stress under my own roof, the ground-floor apartment in my sister's Massachusett's house flooded. My nephew lost almost all of his posessions and the insurance company isn't covering it. My aunt (who has been seriously ill since December) is still having complications from her treatment. My Mom's other sister, who is famously obnoxious and bossy, added another layer of her stress onto my Mom.

I haven't been commenting much on blogs or facebook, but I have been keeping up with all my favorites.

So far, April seems to be bringing back my Sunshine. It has been warm enough to sit by the condo pool. Easter Sunday we went to brunch at a nice little local restaurant. I feel like my batteries have been recharged.

How Can I Work AND Blog?

I have been working every day. And I mean EVERY day. Most of my shifts are under 6 hours and I'm actually enjoying my job. Today will be the 9th day in a row. I may or may not be considered for an upgrade in position. I want it, my boss wants it for me, his boss....not so much.

There's a file in my brain marked "bloggy ideas" that is getting full. I'll give you the short (extremely short) versions, because I don't know when I'll get around to actually turning them into real posts.

FACEBOOK- I really enjoy spending (too much) time there. I only play Bejeweled Blitz. I enjoy the Chat feature.

BOOKS- I read Sacred Hearts by Sarah Dunant, Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg and now I'm reading The Help. I LOVE this book! The book sparked a conversation with my husband, that I'm sorry I started. It was about childhood memories. It was a little bit painful.

CHILDHOOD MEMORIES- My husband thinks kids don't remember the first 5 years of their lives. Geez, I could write a book!

POLITICS- I've decided that I probably won't ever discuss politics with anyone outside of my family again. The resulting conversations give me anxiety attacks.

OTHER PEOPLE'S BLOGS- I haven't had access to my computer for a few months. My list of favorite blogs are in there. My 1,000 photos are also in there. There are blogs I haven't read in at least 2 months, because I can't remember the names of the blogs. I miss some of those blogs and have tried to find them on search engines, with no success. I really need to create a blogroll here.

SORORITY GIRLS- I know they get a bad rap, but I need to write about some Sorority Girls that I think are pretty awesome.

I need to get ready for work. Have a great weekend.

Just Say NOvember

I've been quiet. Yes, I'm sure any family members that are reading this are laughing out loud. "Jeanne?? Quiet?? HAHAHA!! She needs a tattoo that says I'M TALKING AND I CAN'T SHUT UP"

There's too much in my head.

When I write what's rolling around in my brain that is causing me to be quiet, no one comments, so I assume it was either too depressing or too badly written.
When I write a post that is silly or pure fluff, I get 12 commenters to tell me they loved it.

Last Thursday I was glued to the coverage of the shootings at Ft Hood.
I could have ranted for days about mental illness and gun control and family in the military, but my brain said "No".

Last Friday there was an office shooting in Downtown Orlando and my brain said "Oh, God. No." It's only about 15 minutes from here. I was a little edgy until I could get a text message from my daughter that she was home.

I picked up the phone at work about a week ago. It was a new co-worker. I haven't worked with her yet, but apparently she had a personality transplant between the time she was charming in her job interview and starting her job. She didn't know who I was, but she was extremely snippy with me on the phone.
My brain said "OH NO, YOU DON'T" . She hasn't met me yet, but I have a little info for her. When you decide to use that tone of voice with me, I WILL throw you under the bus. And I did.

But there are a few things that made me say YES-VEMBER!

Look at our store window and try not to smile!

His head rocks back and forth and his Jingle Bell collar lights up and his name is Jingles!

I signed up for REALSIMPLE Magazine's Cookie of the Day e-mail.

I say YES to yummy cookies in my NOvember!

The What The Hell Weekend

It's been kind of a What The Hell Weekend. Not necessarily in a bad way. It just seemed like every couple of hours I found myself saying What The Hell?? There was so much What The Hell?? that I can't even do a bullet list!

Some Sorority Girl What The Hell??
The past 2 weeks have been All Sorority-All the time. They had alumni week and then Recruitment/Rush week. It turns out she was closely and repeatedly exposed to Aggghhhh!!! SWINE FLU!!
Being the cautious child that I raised, she decided to spend this weekend getting rest and staying hydrated.

And speaking of Sorority Girl, she starts her SENIOR YEAR!! of college this week. When did my baby girl grow up and become a senior in college?

Some W-Mart What The Hell??
Last night I got out of work at 7pm. I strolled next door to W-Mart to pick up my prescription. While I was on vacation they started a MAJOR overhaul and re-organizing of the store...while it is still open. I had to shop for a toothbrush and deodorant in a CONSTRUCTION ZONE!! With 10 million back-to-school shoppers. And the pharmacy CLOSED AT 7PM!!

And dear lady in the pet food aisle, the large tattoo on your calf, combined with the seriously stubbly legs? Are you headed over to the aisle with the disposable razors?

Some Weight Watchers What The Hell??
Last night I made a healthy dinner from my WW cookbook. I had been a good little weight watcher all day. The dinner of salad, grilled chicken breast with a black bean salsa was so delicious. I got up and weighed myself this morning and I had GAINED 2 POUNDS!!

Some Grocery Store What The Hell??
In Massachusetts they had Georgia peaches for 99 cents a pound. I come back to Florida, which is thisclosetoGeorgia and the store has CALIFORNIA peaches for $2.49 a pound!!

Reading labels was depressing. Every third item I picked up had HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP!! I'm a BORDERLINE DIABETIC here! Do you really have to put that crap in fat-free half and half?

Okay, I'm done What The Helling.

Upcoming fun from Little Miss Sunshine State: pictures from my Mom's Very Merry Un-birthday Party. She was so cute! And a combo post where I'll do some book reviews AND it will be a Poverty Party post because of free books and used books and discount books. I might even entertain you with some scrapbook pages I've worked on recently. ~~NERD ALERT~~

What I Learned This Weekend

This past weekend wore me out. Not the good kind of tired from working hard or exercising or accomplishing . I'm talking about that kind of worn out when you fling yourself into bed at night and your body twitches and your mind races.

I try to find the lessons in things. I hope I learned from the past two days.

When you have a choice between unbearable pain and suffering the side effects of pain meds, it's sometimes better to choose the side effects.

Facebook is not the place to get into a spitting contest with judgemental people.

Never believe the boss when he calls you to say "Ummmm, I think we're going to cancel your shift today". Because when you change into shorts and a t-shirt and throw your hair in a ponytail and don't put on makeup and go grocery shopping, your boss will call and say "Gee, we're really busy, do you think you could come in?"

Don't start the NYT Sunday Crossword at 9PM. The old brain cells have already gone to bed by that time.

People REALLY hated Michael Jackson. Because he was creepy and looked funny. If we made a list of all the artists in time that we're supposed to "hate" because they looked or acted weird, it would be a VERY long list and we would have missed out on some really good art and entertainment.

Vacation starts in 72 hours. it's a good thing because my brain really needs one.

Photos: Just Stuff

We went to the Orlando Magic-Philadelphia 76ers playoff game the other night. As you can see, we were sitting in the nosebleed seats, not quite the O-Zone,that was about 5 rows higher (for $22 we weren't complaining). All the blue and white on the seats are the free T-shirts for everyone attending the game. Orlando won 91-78.
Our Spring decor in the store included these butterfly mobiles.

This is my little Lemon tree. I have already transplanted it once, but I think it's potbound again. Yes, those are still the snowflake Christmas lights on the patio.

This Bamboo started as a little $7 bundle from the flea market. I think it needs a bigger bowl. The candle is Fresh Bamboo (Slatkin & Co) and the little silver lizard was a 99 cent napkin ring from a clearance bin.

My Mom is in a choir that sometimes sings at Chapel By The Sea in Ft Myers Beach, FL. This is the stained glass window in the back of the church.

How many little bottles of purse-sized antibacterial gel do you think I've sold in the past 2 days? I'm not a germ freak. I usually only use this stuff after touching germy bathroom doors and germy grocery store cart handles. I also keep one in my car because it's good for taking the smell of gas off my hands after I fill the tank.

With the amount of cash I handle in a day, and the fact that the virus can live on non-human surfaces for many hours, I'm using the gel at work.

They are on a pretty high flu alert in Central FL because of the number of international travelers at the the theme parks. A LOT of people have been tested but so far only 3 samples got sent to the CDC.

Do-It-Yourself Spa Day? No WAY!!

I read one of those simplify your life articles last night. It was how to have a do-it-yourself spa day. It involved a luxurious bath, a homemade facial, healthy snack, music, candles and giving yourself a manicure and pedicure.

This is supposed to simplify my life, how? I started thinking about what this spa day would entail.

Soak in the tub with some nice bath salts or bubbles. Get out of the tub, gather up the wet towels and put them in the washer, clean the tub.

Go into the kitchen, cut up fruit, clean the trimmings out of the sink, wash the cutting board and knife. Make a facial mask with oatmeal, honey and yogurt. While the mask dries, eat the fruit and wash the bowl from the fruit and the bowl from the mask. Wash off the mask and take the towel to the washer.

Round up nail clippers, nail file, cuticle softener, cuticle stick and a bottle of nail polish. Find a chair low enough to reach toes without straining back. Clip, file, remove cuticles, polish. Repeat with fingernails. Put all the nail accessories away.

I don't mind doing my own facials. It's the mani/pedi routine that I leave to the professionals.
The last time I went to the Aveda Spa, I spent over 2 hours having a really sweet, lovely woman from Central America pamper me. She gave me a manicure, then I sat in a massage chair, in a room that smelled like Rosemary and Mint. She massaged my legs and feet with a heating mask, then a cooling gel, then wrapped them in steaming towels, then massaged them AGAIN with a lovely smelling lotion, then she gave me a pedicure and painted my toenails a pretty pink.

All this for the amount of money I can earn in 6 hours at work. It was worth every. single. penny.

Do-it-yourself spa day? Not for me. Not relaxing. No way.

WisDUHm

WisDUHm #1- If you walk into the store and rudely wave me away as I'm walking up to ask if you need any help, I might not be too thrilled about helping you the next time you come in. I'll smile and help you, but I won't go above or beyond like I do with our pleasant customers.

WisDUHm #2- If you are a JV Girl's soccer coach at the high school that you went to with my kids, DO NOT have sex with one of your 14 year old players, even if you think she ( and the whole team) is flirting with you. You are an adult, she is a child, it's a small town and everyone knows your parents. Idiot.

WisDUHm #3- If your beloved Black and Decker Iron dies and you replace it with a cheapo $8 iron, it WILL NOT get the wrinkles out of your clothes and 6 months later you will be at BB&B buying a new iron. Little Miss Sunshine State LOVES her new SUNBEAM iron.

WisDUHm #4-When you buy Reese's Peanut Butter Eggs and leave them in the car while you spend 2 hours at a spa and then go grocery shopping on an 80 degree day, they will become a bag of chocolately-peanut buttery mush. I resuscitated them in the fridge and ate them anyway. (Yes, the whole bag in 4 days. I didn't give up chocolate or peanut butter for Lent)