Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Lesson from the doghouse

DSC_0045

Having a dog is teaching me all sorts of things.  My training is well underway.  We are now ending the first week of puppy ownership, and we’ve had two whole days now of no accidents !!! 

Since Frankie is still a puppy, albeit an older puppy, she still needs eyes on her at all times she’s not crated.  This means of course, the baby gate has been resurrected.  I’m flashing back to toddler time. 

I’ve discovered, I’ve been living life rather haphazardly.  Doing a little of this, a little of that, never quite completely finishing anything, before something else demanded my attention, (like the internet).  Miss Frankie, however, has required I be more focused on my tasks.  It’s a lot easier to block out distractions when I’m laden with guilt about my adorable puppy being crated so I can clean the bathroom. 

Yes, mommy guilt apparently extends to puppy mommies.  But sometimes, though I’m not a big fan of guilt in general, if mommy guilt is channeled into a positive and motivating force…well why not?  Things are getting done more efficiently, and I find I have more time to relax and play with the puppy. 

And she’s so sweet.  (I may have mentioned that before) 

This puppy is really kind of an ego boost as well.  Nothing like being greeted by the wagging tail.  Wagging butt, truth be told.  I highly recommend being adored.  It’s great.
 
And now for something completely different.  My six year old had an assignment, “If I were President of the United States I would...make a rule that everyone must have a pet.  And, only be able to eat one piece of candy a day to be healthy.  And, only one hour of play time in the snow."

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Welcome Frankie Donut

Well, she’s not going to win any beauty contests, but she sure is sweet.  And good.  And sweet.  Did I mention she’s sweet.  We took her to the school bus stop Friday morning.  It wasn’t long before this little gal was holding court, surrounded by admirers.  Just goes to show you, how much little kids don’t care about looks.  (I did mention she wouldn’t win any beauty contests, didn’t I?) 

She’s a wire haired dachshund and Jack Russell terrier mix.  (not officially, mind you, she’s a rescue dog) Which makes her an unofficial “Jackshund.”   (not to be confused with the Jackalope”, which would be a North American folkloric cross between a jack rabbit and an antelope…though, admittedly, she is about the same size as a jack rabbit.  Ooh, I think we know what Frankie Donut will be for Halloween.  I just need to find a set of antlers to put on her !!)

The kids named her Frankie Donut.  Frankie, cause she’s part wiener dog, and Donut….well Donut, because they are kids.  I have dubbed her Frankie Shifu.  Cause she’s got this little goatee and Fu Manchu and looks a bit like Master Shifu from Kung Fu Panda.  And she’s got kind of a lopsided mouth.

But she sure is sweet.  And I’ll go so far as cute, particularly once you get to know her.  I mean who wouldn’t love a little dog that DOESN’T BARK, has a crookedy lopsided mouth, a goatee, and a Fu Manchu? 

And so, this past week has been spent keepin’ an eye on this four month old puppy, which has had me corralled in the kitchen, while I try to house break the sweet lil’ critter.  Oh, excuse me…I’m not supposed to say “house break,”  too negative, I’m supposed to say “house train.”  Today, we begin bell training.  The downside of having a quiet dog, is we don’t notice when she needs to go out, if we don’t have eyes on her, because she doesn’t make any noise.  At least the messes have been on the tile floor.  Clean up’s a breeze !! 

And she’s really sweet.  Which totally helps, while deploying the “Natures Miracle” enzymatic pet odor cleaner.  Hopefully, I won’t be buying this stuff by the gallon.  We already had to buy a crate, toys, bowls, a bed, poopy bags to attach to her leash, puppy food, and baby gate.  (In addition to the cost for the adoption)  Yikes !!  But totally worth it, cause she’s really sweet. 
Welcome home, Frankie Donut !!  Did I tell you she’s really sweet?

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

A trick to get the house cleaned

Gypsy: Dachshund, Dog; Issaquah, WA

We are getting a dog.  We finally made the decision yesterday.  The hunt is now on for the perfect pound puppy (no, not puppy, exactly - but a rescue dog that's been fostered and housebroken )  We are meeting our first candidate Wednesday evening.  Very exciting.  And yes, the dog we are looking for is a small dog of the lap variety.  A "useless" dog, if you will.  But cute, snuggly, wiggly, fits into our lifestyle, and makes small poop.

The kids spent the morning "dog proofing" downstairs.  I told my youngest to be on the lookout for anything of hers a dog might chew up.  You'd be amazed at what sort of motivation that gave. In fact, my daughter was pestering me to pick up my stuff as well.  She even used the old, "Mommy, if you leave your stuff laying around, it tells me you don't really want it anymore."  Hmm, gonna have to reassert my alpha female with her, I see.  And it was only a book I left on the coffee table.  Sheesh, lighten up kid.


Having this dog might also help loosen Samantha's stranglehold on "Baby" and "Silkie".  I love lovies as much as the next mom, and I think they serve a great purpose, but at almost seven, I'm thinking they should really be more of a bedtime thing.  Baby and Silkie are seriously starting to show their age.  They've been around since shortly after her birth, and have been boon companions ever since.  Baby recently underwent a stuffing transplant operation, and is looking much better, but Silkie...poor guy.  Silkie is frayed at the edges, and is more knobby and pilly than silky.  I'm not sure how many more washings he's got left in him.  I'm already washing him in the delicate cycle in a lingerie bag.

I wonder why we gave Silkie a male persona?  I mean, he's silky, and he's pink.  Or grayish pink now.  Still, not really characteristics one associates with a male.  Except with all the pilling on him, he does sort of have a five o'clock shadow.  Besides, after all these years, changing his gender on him would be rather confusing.  Then he would have to undergo extensive counseling....Better to just accept the fact that Silkie is a sissy boy and love him for what he is.   

So a dog ought to make life more interesting, and provide for lots of good blog material in the coming months.  I can't wait to go to obedience school, and make fun of the things the trainers say !!!

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Want to know something weird?

Having my groceries delivered saves me money.  I know, a luxury premium service, that SAVES money?!!  It's true.  Cause I did the math, and anyone who knows me, knows how I feel about doing the math.  I do virtually nothing, without doing the math first.  (I am after all, a recovering accountant) 

In my part of the world, Safeway delivers and Amazon Fresh delivers.  I'm sure there are more.  But I've no time to do an internet search, cause I'm doing all this math, you see.

"Mom, I need two sticks that are at least as tall as the couch."  That would be Samantha The 6 Year Old's first request during this blogging session.  Stay tuned, as I'm sure there will be many more.

Where was I?  The nice thing about blogging, is you only have to read back what you've just written to find out where you were.  Unlike in real life, where us mom's really have very little hope of remembering what we were talking or thinking about when interrupted by our children.

"Mom, I'm hungry."

Oh yes, I was in recovery.  So here's the thing.  When you grocery shop on line, it's kind of tedious, and somewhat irritating, cause the websites for the major retailers that offer delivery are, how shall I put it...less than user friendly.

So what I end up doing, to make it go more smoothly, is I start out with a list of things I need.  Crazy idea huh?  But it really works. 

Then, list in hand, I use the search button on the website to find the things I need.  Boom.  Only that thing ends up in my shopping cart.  My "virtual shopping cart" I should say.  The wheels don't actually stick on these kinds of shopping cart.  Just a little bonus I thought I'd point out. 

No wandering down the aisles, cause I have no patience to wander down aisles on poorly designed websites, no impulse buys....well, a lot fewer impulse buys.  ( I am nothing if not honest ) 

The proof?  I carefully categorize all our spending in Quicken, then I run reports at the end of the month.  Quicken will even compare current spending to prior spending.  And there it is...in black and white, in a tidy little column.  My grocery expenditures went down by 17% once I started ordering my groceries for delivery.  And that's with the delivery fee, and possibly inflated on line delivery grocery store prices. 

I know what you're thinking...you're thinking, "That's just wierd, categorizing all your expenses in Quicken and running reports - you stay at home mom you.  I'm not going to do that, because I have a life, or because I want to think I have a life." 

But you don't have to, cause I already did it.  And you can believe me.  (remember, I'm nothing, if not honest)

Don't even get me started about the joy of having my groceries delivered.  Whoops, too late. 
  • Money Saving, cause I have fewer impulse buys.
  • Grocery shopping in my jammies.
  • Grocery shopping without children. (well they are still home, but if you wait until they go to bed, they don't bug you to buy Cocoa Puffs)
  • I open the door in the morning, and whoomp, there are my groceries. 
Now if only they had an unpacking service, like movers.  I'd surely give up my 17% savings to have my groceries put away.  No, wait a minute, let's think this through.  They'd probably put stuff away WRONG, then I'd spend  15 minutes looking for my long grain organic brown rice.  (which should of course, be in the freezer !)

Friday, February 17, 2012

Watch Out...

...world, cause I'm feeling wacky and wordy.  (Don't worry, "wordy" is completely different than "mouthy")  Could be interesting though, cause I didn't fall asleep until after 2:30 this morning.  And I'm hopped up on coffee and cold medicine.

Cold medicine??  Wait, wasn't I just sick?  Didn't I just write a post about being sick EXACTLY two weeks ago?  Why yes I did.  And yes I was.  Only today, it's mid winter break for the kids, so there is no big yellow school bus to come lumberin' down the road to give me 6 hours of blessed rest. 

"Yes my darling daughter, you can watch TV." 

It's ok though, she's not watching MTV or worse yet, Nickelodeon.  A year ago, I did the math, and discovered we were paying over $800 a year for the privilege of having a whole bunch of channels I don't allow my children to watch.  We boldly cut the cord.  We didn't go completely cold turkey.  We kept basic cable. So I guess you could say, we boldly cut most of the cord.  She's watching PBS.  "Sid the Science Kid," I believe.  Which just goes to show you how desperate she is for entertainment...cause she's about to turn seven, and Sid is a show for preschoolers.  (yes, I caught the cold from her)

It's been kinda rough, this no cable thing.  For me.  Oh, I suppose it's been tough for the children too.  But for them, it's for their own good and character building.  For me, it means no HGTV or Food Network.  It's hard.  To lose your Paula Deen, just like that.  One day it's all "Hey y'all".  Next day, re-runs of Jacques Pepin on PBS.  Now Jacques is a fabulous chef.  And makes some wonderful food.  Food, I believe I could actually prepare...and he makes it with a lot less butter than my gal Paula.  Which is odd of course, because he's French and we all know how the French feel about their butter.  But he lacks a certain Paulaesque, je ne sais quoi.

Whoa, if only you could see what I see, I totally just freaked out spell checker.  The last paragraph is all lit up with little yellow boxes.

By the way, as a brief aside.  I saw Paula Deen in person once.  If only I had known how to work my camera phone.  She was at Costco.  Here, in the Pacific Northwest.  At MY Costco.  She was on a book tour.  And can I just say...she's GORGEOUS.  (My mom did tell me though, that Paula probably wears a wig, so I feel better, and am planning to wear wigs too, starting on the day I turn 60) 

So here's to coffee and DayQuil !!  May my cup runneth over today.  'cept I'm almost out of coffee beans.  Good thing my new neighbor works for Starbucks Corporate.  They always have an extra bag. 

Ah, life is indeed beautiful.  (Calgon...take me away!!)

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Orange anyone?

OK, the winter blahs are officially set in until the Spring thaw. 

Only one thing left to do. 





Paint my toenails tangerine!













Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Parenting Nuggets

Before I was a mom, I was giving my 4 year old niece some grape juice in a cup.  I asked her dad how much to give her. 

His reply, "only as much as you want to clean up when it gets spilled."

Cut to today.  My six year old has hit the spilling phase.  Pretty much a day doesn't go by, that a cup of something doesn't get knocked over. 

Then it occurred to me...instead of putting her drink in a cute, yet unbreakable, plastic princess cup, why not put it in a heavy glass?  We have these seriously solid "French working man" glasses.  Takes two hands for her to lift.  Takes lots of force to knock over.  Our spills have been greatly reduced. 

Other great pieces of advice I've received:

  • When your child says they are going to throw up....believe them.
  • Underpants for small children are inexpensive...it's okay to throw them away after a poop incident.
  • 2 weeks worth of socks and underwear is not an excessive amount.
  • Not everything needs to be negotiable.
  • Sometimes you just gotta say "knock it off"
  • There's no such thing as too much snuggling.
  • It's only paint.
  • Don't be afraid of a little dirt.
  • Say yes, more than you say no.
  • Children should have an expiration date.  Somewhere around 18 years after they are born, at which point it's not unreasonable to expect them to behave like an adult.
  • Think of the teenage years as "grownup practice."
What great pieces of advice have you received?

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Love, Love, Love....

I can't tell you how many songs are running through my head this Valentines Day.  Songs about love.  Yet, though I love my husband so so so so so much, and I still think he's really cute, and really wonderful, and really everything, today I find myself applying the love songs to my friends.

I've finally lived in one place for more than ten years.  This is a huge record for me.  Prior to this, from the time I was a young teenager, I've never lived anywhere for more than three years.

Now I live in a town where I always run into someone I know, pretty much wherever I go.  I have official "girlfriends." 

Girlfriends who rallied around me when my mom was diagnosed with cancer and when she died two months later.  They brought us meals, they sent encouraging notes, they took care of my little daughter, so I could be with mom.

Girlfriends who aren't afraid to get goofy.

Girlfriends who like coffee.

Girlfriends who work out, and don't bug me cause I really don't.

Girlfriends who are ok with eating the organic health food I have at our house.

Girlfriends who are gabby.

So, "To all the girls I've loved before....I'm glad you came along, I dedicate this song," to my girlfriends.

Monday, February 13, 2012

The beauty of a bookmark

Guess what I discovered this weekend, while cleaning out my office.  (still working on it....it's gonna take some time)  A cache of bookmarks - that's what. 

There's the one someone made for me, with a picture of my husband and I at the beach, looking particularly in love.

There's the bookmarks from different retreats I've been on. 

There's some freebee bookmarks from bookstores, and a couple of just because bookmarks I've probably gotten in my  Christmas stocking over the years. 

I wonder though, why I found these in a box on a shelf?  Shouldn't they be, oh I don't know, in a book?  Marking something like, oh I don't know, where I should start reading again.

Heaven knows, I'm reading at least 4 books at any given time, in addition to the instant download gratification books I'm reading on my electronic e-readie gizmo thing-a-mabob.  ( I did discover, when the power is out, and your e-reader's battery dies, it's good to have a physical book backup)

Here's what the books I'm currently reading are marked with:
  • Last weeks grocery list
  • A receipt from the paint store dated Mar 2010
  • Laying open, spine up, on the nightstand
  • The instructions for my new alarm clock
  • a pen.
  • a business card from a cutie little art gallery.
In ten minutes, all those are going to be replaced with my actual in fact bookmarks.  (though, the art gallery business card is really pretty)  And I will have acheived two of my goals.

  • Not be such a hoarder of stuff I never use
  • Surrounding myself only with things that make me happy.
And these pretty bookmarks, make me happy. 

Friday, February 10, 2012

Why I like Junie B. Jones

Junie B. Jones is a brat.  She's mouthy, she's naughty, she's sometimes mean, she uses words I don't allow used in our house.  She usually means well, and often just gets in over her head and doesn't know how to get out.

As mom's and former kindergartners ourselves, we totally get Junie B. Jones.  (Once you get over the initial shock, and once you stop feel guilty for allowing your precious and impressionable child to read this)

Our children are either a) Junie B. Jones...or b) plays with someone just like Junie B. Jones. 

In short, Junie B. Jones and her behavior is nothing new to our precious and impressionable children. 

Junie B. Jones books do require parental involvement.  I read each one aloud to my daughter.  Snuggled on the couch, or cuddled up under the covers in her bed.  Junie B. Jones give us lots of "learning opportunities" and "talking points".  We talk a lot about how she would deal with someone who was like Junie B. Jones.

My daughter thinks Junie B. Jones is funny.  She thinks burping is funny.  She thinks knock knock jokes without a punch line are funny.  "knock knock, who's there, bunny, bunny who, bunny ate a rock"  (cut to fits of giggles)  She's seven.  (almost)

My daughter will spend an hour sitting on the couch, reading Junie B. Jones to herself.  Cover to cover.  Then read it over again.

Only guess what, that's why I like Junie B. Jones.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Tickled Pink, and all kinds of other colors



I bought this book at Half-Price Books today.  For $3.99 plus tax.  Why?  Well, it's certainly not cause I want to or plan to do any "Landscape Drawing in Pencil." 

You see, I think it was sometime after my grandpa came home from serving on a destroyer in the South Pacific in WWII.  He wanted to work on his drawing skills.  My grandma said he went to the library for several days with his drawing pencils and practiced. 

He came home with several wonderful pencil drawings, some of which my grandma had framed.  Four of them hung over the sofa in their living room, until my grandma passed away 17 years ago.  Then my mom got two, and my aunt got the other two. 

A few years ago, my cousin rejoined the sets and had really good copies made for all five of the grandkids.  I now have my set framed and hanging throughout my house. 

Today, I was looking for a book on drawing flowers, because I want to design a header for this blog that includes pansies.   I love pansies. 

I pulled "Landscape drawing in pencil" off the shelf, thinking there might be some pansies in there.  (there aren't)  but right away on the cover, I saw the boat drawing that I have hanging in my entryway.  I flipped through,

and there was the cottage with the little girl, which hangs in my daughters bedroom





then I found the windmill,









and finally the covered bridge, which hang in our bedroom.




All four of the pictures.  All meticulously re-drawn by my grandfather in the 1940's from a book he found in the library.  This book.  Originally printed in 1936, and reprinted in 2006, and now in my hand from Half-Price Books in 2012. 

Wow !!

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Let's see, where was I??

About a week ago, I boldly proclaimed, in writing, that by the end of the next day, I would have touched every piece of paper in my home. 

Then came "An abrupt change of plans."  Life came to a screeching halt the next few days as we worked through our shock at the loss of our friend and as we nursed our first grader back to health.  She went back to school on Friday, and I started sneezing as the school bus pulled away.

I'm not one to get sick.  Rarely do.  But, my daughter needed a great deal of snuggling as she dealt with the fever and sore throat she had.  It was inevitable.

Funny, nobody wanted to snuggle with me over the weekend as I dealt with my fever and sore throat.  Might have something to do with the fact I hid myself away in the bedroom for most of that time and groaned if anyone came in. 

I did however, get twelve whole hours of sleep, all in a row.  So there is a silver lining to being sick.  And the sick fairies were working it for me, since I didn't get sick until the weekend, when my husband was home to take over the child rearing and child feeding and child chauffeuring. 

In fact, all in all it was a rather peaceful weekend for me.  Very nice indeed. 

Vacation is over though, cause that pile of papers in "the studio" (my mom cave) is still rather strewn about.  And I have a sinking feeling the light bill is in there somewhere.  So, by end of business tomorrow....wait, wait, not sure I want to make such a bold proclamation again.  Oh what the heck, by the end of business tomorrow, that pile shall be disappeared !! 

No really.  This time I mean it.  I can't wait to post the after picture.  No way am I posting the before picture.  Way to ashamed at the mess.  Way...

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

french 101



Might as well jump on the the French Parenting bandwagon.  BTW, does anyone actually know what a bandwagon is, and are strangers really welcome to just hop aboard?  I see an internet quest coming.

One of my favorite blogs is Design Mom.  (my all time favorite blog is "Methods of a Mostly Managing Mom...yours too, right?  Right? )   Her post today was regarding this topic. 

Then, on the way to finding "Curious George" on PBS this morning, we made a brief pitstop at "The Today Show", and they were talking about French parenting. 

French parenting was also the topic du jour amongst the bus stop moms and our token bus stop dad this morning.

All of this came about because of this Wall Street Journal Article last Saturday.  "Why French Parents are Superior."  I highly recommend reading it, if you haven't already.

The crux of the article, written by Pamela Druckerman, an American living in Paris and author of the book "Bringing Up Bebe," is that French parents have somehow managed to teach their children to be patient and wait nicely.  Like in public.  Like at restaurants.  Restaurants in public.  All the time.  Without meltdowns. 

The book is being released today.  Oh yes, I will be giving this book a read !!  Yes I will.

Monday, February 6, 2012

My latest invention

For the past few years, I have been treating myself to a pair of boots at the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale.  I am now the proud owner of a gray pair, a brown pair, and a black pair.  Never in my whole life have I owned three pairs of boots.  Seems, well frankly, frivolous.  Oh well, something I'll have to live with. 

Now, my older boots have started to topple over in the closet.  Apparently, you need some sort of thing to stuff in them to make them hold their shape. 



So I bought this thingy from the Container Store.  It's a spring loaded boot shaper.  And it cost $9.99 for a pair.  I only bought one set.  No way was I going to drop $30 without testing it out first.  Turns out, I hate it.  In order to make it work, you have to squeeze it together real hard, at the bottom, and jam your hand and squozen boot shaper all the way to the bottom.  Turns out, that's kind of a pain.  Turns out,  I stopped wearing the boots they were shaping, cause it's a pain to get the thing in and out.  (out = same process)

I come from a long line of inventors, starting with my grandma.  My grandma, who was losing her hair as she aged, collected all the hairs from her brush over time and made a little hairball looking thing out of them, which she plopped on the top of her head, before combing her remaining hair over it, into a somewhat fashionable grandma up-do.  I actually didn't know she did this, until one day when she was sick, I saw the thing laying on the counter in the bathroom.  Freaked me out !!  Genius, mind you, since I didn't know she wore it...but still, disconcerting when seen on the bathroom counter.

So back to my boots.  A couple of years ago, I started saving plastic bags of all sorts, cause I can now throw them (appropriately bundled) into our recycling bin.  YES !!  Still, seems less than ideal to me.  Surely, my inventor genes could come up with something for all these bags. 


Boot stuffers !!  I took a bread wrapper bag, filled it with other bags, into a rough cylinder.  Twisty tie at the top and bottom (to help keep the appropriate shape) and Voila !  Boot is standing upright.  Yes that's right...I said boot.  (I still need to make some more)




 Maybe next year I'll think about prettying them up a bit.  Hmm, I see a colored duct tape project coming !!!

Saturday, February 4, 2012

A few of my favorite things

Show of hands...who knows how important it is to floss your teeth? 

Now, who actually does it everyday?  Me neither.

Reach Flosser....floss on a stick, for the floss impaired
Until my dental hygienist sent me home with a Reach flosser.  Basically, it's floss on a stick, for the floss impaired.  No pulling out a length of floss once you actually find the floss.  No cutting off the circulation to your index fingers because you've wound the floss too tightly.  No cramming your hand inside your mouth.

Does it work as well as old fashioned flossing?  No.  But it works a whole lot better than not flossing at all, says my hygienist...and she'll take what she can get !

Pinned Image
Nutrition Now Multi Vites
avail at Fred Meyer or Drugstore.com
Take your vitamins.  Yipes !!  Have you seen the size of a multivitamin lately?  And have you ever had a bit of an upset tummy from the multivitamin as it's dissolving down there?

Enter, what I like to call, Gummies for Grownups.  These are all natural IE nothing artificial.  And, dare I say it, DELICIOUS.  Like a really fresh gummy bear.  They don't have Iron or calcium, so you'll need to make other arrangements for those. 

Best of all, no water necessary.  Pop a couple in on your way out the door. 


Comes with a warning "though you may be tempted by this product, please treat it as a supplement"  It really is that delicious !!
avail at Fred Meyer or Drugstore.com

Speaking of calcium, I've saved the best for last.  These come with a warning "Though you may be tempted with Adora Calcium please handle as a dietary supplement.  Daily intake of calcium above 2500 mg is not advised."

They are indeed, that tasty.  um-hmmm.  For real. 


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Friday, February 3, 2012

Uh-oh...or maybe not

As usual, I'm a little late to the game.  I generally resist technology and the latest social media craze.  I only started texting last year, and it's still my last ditch strategy for contacting people.

Well, I just discovered Pinterest.  In fact, I was so excited about it, I made a friend of mine send me an invitation to join while we were at a planning meeting for our upcoming women's retreat.

Time suck vortex, or organizational wundertool? 

It did take me 20 minutes to figure out how to put the "pin it" button into my "toolbar favorites." (Time suck)

I haven't actually pinned anything yet.  Wait, I did.  I found a solution to my wall to wall bathroom mirror dilemna that doesn't involve ripping down the mirrors and trying to cut them.  (money saving organizational wundertool)

Next step, adding the "follow me on Pinterest" button to my blog.  But, of course it'll be a lot more interesting, if I actually have content on Pinterest. 

And if you do follow me on Pinterest, and you see a bunch of, hmm how shall I put it nicely, bizarre people I'm following, it's cause when I started my account, I innocently answered some questions about my interests, and it randomly assigned a bunch of strangers for me to follow.  I'm still trying to figure out how to make them go away.  (time suck)

uh-oh, I seem to have more parenthetical "time sucks" than "organizational wundertools."

The first step is admitting you have a problem.......

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Random Acts

Have you ever had this happen to you? 

  • You're in the drive thru line at Starbucks.  You place your order, you pull up to pay and find out the driver in the car in front of you paid for your order. 


  • Someone walks up to you at the store, and tells you your haircut is perfect for your face.


  • Somebody offers to take your grocery cart back for you.


  • A swinging door is held open for you when you are approaching with a stroller.


  • You get a note in the mail from an old friend, who just wanted to say "hi."


  • Your neighbor brings you a plate full of just made cookies, for no reason.



In the last few years, all of the above has happened to me.  And on those days, my day was made.

I was totally tickled. My faith in humanity restored just a little bit.
I have now vowed to do this more myself.

Hope you're in line behind me at Starbucks !!!!