To shop at Wal-Mart or not to Shop at Wal-Mart

I just got back from a morning trip to my friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart. O.K. I’ll admit it; I have been shopping at Wal-Mart for years. Yes, yes, yes all that junk from China, Guilty! However for about a year or so, I have found myself shopping there less and less.

     I know that many people feel strongly about the world’s largest corporation and its lack of responsibility to its employees. If asked I would have to agree that low wages, long hours, overnight lock in’s of its employees and high medical coverage is wrong, very wrong. It just so happens that my reason for not shopping there is much less political.

     My problem with the Wal-Mart in my neighborhood is the ridiculously, inconvenient way they redesigned their parking lot a year or so ago. They have taken the entire front half of the parking lot and not only reserved it for handicapped parking; they have also designed the spots for parallel parking.

     Now I am not saying that I am against handicapped parking. No way, I am all for anything that will make their life any easier. I am just saying that they have used ½ of the parking lot for these parallel spots that are 90% empty almost every time I go to that store. That means that the rest of us are enormously unconvinced, especially if it is pouring down rain. For absolutely no reason at all. There is no way they will ever need that many handicapped spots. Not Ever!!!

     Luckily, a Walgreen’s opened up right across the street about the same time as the parking lot dilemma occurred. Walgreen’s has plenty of front door parking including an appropriate number of spots for people with handicapped permits as well. So problem solved, we all win. For all of those quick stops that use to be made to Wal-Mart, I can now run right in and right out of Walgreen’s.

     All of that aside, I did stop in to Wal-Mart today for some copy paper and a few other office supplies. I came out with all of that plus a cute new night gown for the summer, 2 new shades of nail polish, a tiny umbrella for my purse and a bran new blue jean skirt. YAY!

     When heading to the check out line, I saw for the first time, the 4 new self checkout stations. I just had to give it a try even though I felt a little guilty knowing that they have probably put at least 8 cashiers out of work. They actually worked great. You put your merchandise on the belt, scan everything yourself and place it in bags that are sitting on scales. Hint- if you try this yourself, make sure to get rid of any hangers or shoe boxes before you put things in the bag or the machine scolds you. There is no receptacle to place them in mind you but the machine will say, “take unscanned item out of the bag please.” I scanned everything, slid my ATM card through and I was on my way out the door really quickly. It even takes cash and gives you exact change. But their was no nice smile or friendly have a nice day like with a real person.

    I doubt I would use it again, even though it was super convenient. I want to do all that I can to insure some body keeps their job.

 

*** Coy ***

 

 

My daughter is working with my sister now. YAY! Last night when they were driving home, they called and invited me over for dinner. I had already eaten but jumped at the opportunity to spend a couple of hours with some of the people that I love the most in the world.

     It was nice; Brittney (my niece) had prom pictures to show off… pretty, pretty!  Chris’ sister Lisa was over with her baby Jack… cutie, cutie! Lot’s of joking around, some not so appetizing cosmo talk over dinner and some plain old catching up time. One of my favorite kind of evenings.       

     My sister works very hard to keep her business and all of her employees up and running. She lives her life running 100 mph at all times. I work 6 days a week 3 of them until 10:00 at night so I don’t see her as often as I would like to. Maybe that will change a little now that she is spending so much time with Mandy, I sure hope so!

*** Coy ***

New Furniture for the Florida Room

 

     In Florida, we have Florida rooms. I don’t know what you call them in other parts of the country, but in Florida they are Florida rooms. It’s not a den. A den is usually darker, maybe with wood paneling a desk and bookshelves sometimes a couch with pull out bed for when we have company. It’s not necessarily a Cabana or Pool House room. Not a game room or a basement. Maybe closely related to family room or a sun room only it’s in Florida.

     Well regardless of why it’s called a Florida room we just got new furniture for ours. Beautiful leather Lazboy Reclining Furniture. Now this is not going to be a commercial for Lazboy or anything but you really should try these recliners out next time you are furniture shopping.  They give full body support in any position. Hey, they are more comfortable than my bed. I’m going to spend a lot of time reading here.

     The reason for this entry is the indecision about adding the accessories. Sometimes less is more. I think that is very true when it comes to overkill by way of pillows. Check photos above and let me know what you think. If every one agrees then back to pottery barn we will go to get it right.

     By the way, we have to wait for the cable guy to move the cable to the other side of the room. Untill then I guess the TV stays here in the middle of nowhere.

 

 

*** Coy ***

       

Weekend assignment

2nd Favorites.

Definitely not as easy as First Favorites!

 

Here’s my list…

 

Movie- Dirty Dancing. It’s also my 1st favorite,  as a matter of fact it is my only favorite. I always feel like I am there when I watch it. Rarely will I watch a movie more than once.

 

Book- How to win friends and influence people, 1936 book by Dale Carnegie. Should be required reading for all teenagers. Although technology has affected the way we communicate with each other,  the basic principles are still the same as they were way back then. Good book, 2nd favorite.

 

Album- Tom Waits, The heart of Saturday Night. Still love Tom waits after all these years. Most of my music collection is exactly the same as it was in the 70's and 80's only in CD's not vinal. No Disco.

 

School Teacher- Mr. Rupert, my Jr. High Band director. We all loved Mr. Rupert. He looked so much like Abe Lincoln that they asked him to pose for a painting of Abe that hangs in theWhite House.

 

Ice Cream- Strawberry Blonde from Cold Stone. Yum… Mandy use to work there.

 

Sports Team- The Florida Marlins, but not until they got close to making it to the World Series last year. Then they became interesting. Still can’t believe they won. My first favorite team has always been what ever little league team one of my kids were on when they were growing up.

 

Comfort Food- Not much on mashed potatoes or Macaroni and cheese. My comfort foods are 2nd Favorite,  Boiled Crawfish, 1st Favorite Sushi. If it were not for the love of seafood, I would have become strictly Vegan years ago.

 

Celebrity Crush- Never really had a celebrity crush, guess I’ll go with Patrick Swayze. My very favorite Celebrity of all times is Oprah, I think she should be president.

 

Ways to Relax- 2nd Favorite, A day at the beach with a good friend, a good book or Mandy. 1st favorite is sort of private.

20th Annual Pompano Beach Seafood Festival

  Spent this beautiful spring day at the 20th Annual Pompano Beach Seafood Festival. By now most of you know how I feel about the beach. (I Love The Beach.) I thought I might find something that I could take pictures of plus I always want to make sure I don't miss anything. "Didn't want Parades just passing by me." Isn't that a song or something?    

     There was something for everyone there today. Disney was doing it's version of Star Search, karaoke style. I saw some pretty talented kids up there. There were booths filled with exotic trinkets and I always look for the Herb guy, I love habanero pepper dip. The guy from the keys was not there but there was a different guy there from Vermont. No Habanero mix had to settle for Jalapeno & Garlic. Not the same but close.   

     I saw a beautiful sand sculpture of a seafood chef in the making, should look great by the end of the day tomorrow. Now that is art. There is lot's of entertainment scheduled through out the weekend. and mostly their was seafood, lots and lots of seafood. Enormous, Gigantic, Massive amounts of seafood.

     For the past 5 weeks it seems I am living my life through the lens of my digital camera and through the pages of this journal. Don't know if that is good or bad but is the way things are right now. Like any new creative project I get involved in, this journal has become almost an obsession. I do work 6 day's a week and I do spend a lot of time being Mandy's mom but other than that, right now learning to use this journal is what I do with my spare time.    

     My friend Dan built my computer in November, I have enough software loaded to publish my own magazine, I just don't know how to use it all. I plan to spend the next year teaching my self to become really good at this. I thought I would start with something easy like this journal, master it in a week or so and move on to the tough stuff.  hugh... as you acn see I am still using you've got pictures to load my photos. But I am getting close, so very close to getting it figured out. If I could just have a 2 day weekend like everybody else I could get it.     

     Once I started here I got hooked. I spend so much of my time in search of new photos and new thoughts to put into words, not to mention all of the time spent reading all of these other wonderful journals I've found here. You all have such interesting lives. I guess I'll just relax and stay a while, I like it here

                                             *** Coy ***  

             

New schedule, new routine

     It's past midnight, Mandy is on an after party pick up with my brother in law. It's part of her new job at Party Perfect. Have no idea what time to expect her home so as the Mom that means I have to sleep lightly until I hear her come in and I know all is well.

     New schedule, new routine. It's a good thing and so is that new cell phone incase it gets to late and I start to worry. YAWWWNNNNN

                                     Think I'll call it a night

                                           *** Coy ***                                 

Was home by 2am, I waited up. Well, sort of.

Pocket Money

     Mandy volunteered her services to clean my car today. She is sort of between jobs right now, her last job was at Cold Stone Creamery. She loved this job it was fun very social with between 10-15 kids her age on staff singing lots of Cold Stone songs, kids being kids. However, even in Florida there is not that much ice cream business in the winter.

     So annoyed with the lack of hours being offered to her she decided her efforts would be better spent getting as many hours in as possible at Cosmo School. Day and night classes almost every day and Saturdays too. All I could say to that was “balance Mandy, balance.”

     Finally feeling the crunch of being out of balance and having empty pockets on weekends, she decided she would ask my sister for a job at Party Perfect. Good idea, should work out great, won’t be easy. She started last week still 1 week till payday.

     So… today is Friday and I guess the only way she could think of to put a couple of bucks in her pocket tonight was to offer to clean the car for 10 bucks like she did when she was 13. It worked. Clean car for me, couple bucks for her. Win, win for us both.

     Only 10 bucks you say, well I left out the part about the promise I made to her a few weeks ago. I told her if she would seek balance and get a part time job so she could start paying her cell phone bill again, I would give her my cell phone and get a new one for my self.

    Oh, you're thinking that is a little selfish on my part, right? She does what I ask and I get the new phone while she gets stuck with the old one. Well if you knew that I have had the same old phone for 4 years and she has had 3 or 4 phones in the past 2 years, you might change your mind. Should she always get the new one? Should I have to keep the old one for all of eternity? I think not!

     Turns out it was not at all cost effective to transfer the old # to the new phone and the new # to the old phone so guess what? Yep, you got it. Mandy nice new phone, Mom same old phone. Where is the justice in that... I ask?

   

 

                         Mmmmmmmmm nice clean car!

 

*** Coy ***

         

Statistically speaking

.

      A friend of mine reminded me on the phone last night that I am a statistic, that’s right a statistic. Like most marriages mine ended in divorce. He also reminded me that most people remarry within 2 to 5 years of getting a divorce. He is much more familiar with the percentages than I am, maybe because he has been single longer. Who knows?

     I have been separated for over 5 years and divorced for 3. I doubt very seriously that I will remarry within the next 2 years. Would seem near impossible considering I have not really even started dating again yet. Did not seem fair to drag someone else I care about into the drama of my not so amicable divorce. (Don’t even ask, it is the stuff that lifetime movies are made of.)

     Things have settled down a lot in my life in the last year or so and maybe I will start looking for some one to join me soon on this wonderful journey I call life. It’s just hard for me to imagine getting back into the dating game, seeing different people looking for God knows what. (That’s not me)

     I also doubt that I will be in a hurry to remarry the first guy that comes along just for the sake of being married. (That’s not me either) I do hope to find some one some day, someone that I really like, really trust and can learn to really love. my soul mate, arma cara, my best friend.

     Until then I do have lot’s of friends, lots of family and lot’s of co-workers to keep me company. When I do feel lonely (as I often do) I can go out into the world in search of a large crowd to be part of or I can talk all night to David on the computer or the phone and let him tell me I am a statistic.

*** Coy ***

Exciting talk of healthy foods and cleansing diets in J -land

           All of this talk about healthy foods and cleansing diets (Slomo and Freepeace) is so exciting. In my minds eye, I see myself as trying to live a holistic lifestyle, healthy foods, plenty of exercise, vitamins, exercise, meditation, yoga, a little sun and lots and lots of water.

     It is always so easy to get side tracked and no doubt that there are times in my life I am much more disciplined than others. I know what I should be doing and when I should be doing it but putting it all together is not always so easy.

     Not many people I know have any idea what cleansing is and most everybody I know survives on the S.A.D. standard American diet. No one to share a shot of wheat grass juice with or high in enzyme, raw foods recipes from Hippocrates Institute. It happens to be right here in West Palm Beach. Some times I think I should live in California where they put avacado and sprouts on everything.

     Photo above is from my shopping trip this morning. Did not drive the extra 5 miles or so to the Whole foods market like I do when I get serious about making healthy changes, but Slow mo’s journal photo did have some influence over what I decided to put into my cart today.

     Maybe next week I will pull out the juicer, drive out to the whole foods market and get really serious about a spring cleansing diet. Until the I will enjoy the one thing in this picture that doesn't belong with the others.

                      *** Coy ***

To me this is home

    Mandy played hooky from school today and she and I headed for the beach. I know, bad Mom, bad Mom. (actually she opted for night classes instead tonight) It was a little cool and very breezy early in the day but other than that it was a gorgeous day in paradise.

     On Mon, Tue and Thurs I don't go into work until 3:00 in the afternoon so every chance I get I try to head to the beach for a couple of hours in the morning. Their is something soooo relaxing about all that fresh air.

      I love the smell of salt water and sun tan oil, the sound of the waves crashing and children playing, the sight of the seagulls, blue skies and sunshine. And what about the feeling of sand between your toes and the warmth of the sun beating down on your well oiled skin mmmmm.

      The best part for me is just being there in the middle of a large crowd no formal dress code required. Time to relax, read a book listen to music and do a little people watching. I love being part of a large crowd. It always makes me feel less alone.

     I told Mandy that this is exactly what I think of when I think of home. Not the house in Ft. Lauderdale that I grew up in, not the little pink house I live in now that has held host to so many family gatherings over the years, not the house in Louisiana that I raised my children in or the Mountains in Alabama where 90% of every person I'm related to lives.

    No, the greatest feeling of home to me is right there on the sand in the same spot I sit in every chance I get. The same spot I have been sitting in as often as possible since I was a little girl and God willing the same spot I will be sitting in as often as possible until I'm 90 or more.

     I mentioned this to Stella at work last night. She joked around saying "that sounds just like a Hallmark card, almost brings a little tear to my eye." She can't fool me, that is one girl that loves the beach almost as much as I do (we go together when wecan).

     It is probably a good thing for her that she does not read this journal. All this sentimental stuff would probably make her want to puke! Can't help it, as always I just write what I feel and don't care if anyone one else can stand to read it or not!

                                               *** Coy ***

John Scalzi's weekend assignment

     Reading Freepeace journal today and noticed that she did John Scalzi's weekend assignment. 25 random facts and I wanted to play too.

     Like many of you I just recently I did a 100 things about me entry so I figured I would take a few of the most important facts from there and come up with a few more new ones. I read the entry again and decided that all of the facts were important and the list was pretty thorough so I am just going to link back to that entry.

     Now if I can just figure out how to add the link again. Don't worry I will catch up to all of you before you know it. I noticed that Johns journal has lots of help and also Shooser1. I am going to do my homework this week (and invite my daughters friend Lindsey over and beg her to help me) I want my journal to look as awsome as all of yours.

                                     *** Coy ***

Click below to see my weekend assignment list.

http://beta.journals.aol.com/coy1234787/dancingintherain2/

Glad to see them-glad to see them go.

     I got a visit today from 2 of my favorite little people. Ryan and Derek. Their Daddy brought them over for an impromptu visit. I am so glad that he did, they brightened up my day. Mandy will be soooo sad that she was not home to see them.

     When Mandy was 14 she took on a babysitting job for her best friends sister. Derek was only a couple of months old and I must say it made me more than a little bit nervous.

     They live very close to us and their mother only worked a few blocks from home, their Grand parents lived across the street so I guess we felt that we had Mandy covered in case of emergency.

     She never did have an emergency that summer and she worked at least 40 hours per week. In the fall she worked after school, she did that for a couple of years.

     Being with those boys taught her a lot about love, a lot about life and maybe it taught her how important it is to wait until you get your feet planted firmly on the ground before you start a family. Dear God I hope it taught her that.

     Today we laughed a lot, we played the duck game and they finally get it, we fed the fish and chased the birds, took pictures and they did a lot of running around in the back yard.

     When their Daddy was ready to take them home I was not sad for a single moment. As usual I was glad to see them- glad to see them go. I am also looking forward to their next visit.

     No No No... I am not ready to become a Grand Mother. Not yet please!!!

                                          *** Coy ***

 

photo friday (almost)

Just past midnight. It's officialy Saturday. Reading Slomo Journal I saw her Photo Friday entry and the others she recomended and wished I would have played. Didn't see the rules but it looked like everyone did a self portrait so heres mine at just past midnight. I look sleepy.

     Was hoping not to have to use you've got pictures but I have not figured out how to insert photos into html yet. HELP!

Praying for Steven

     This past Sunday morning a friend of mine had the Police show up at her door telling her that her son Steven had been in an accident the night before. Every Mothers nightmare.

     Steven moved to New Jersey about 2 weeks ago with a friend. 19 years old looking for a change of pace and a little adventure like kids sometimes do at that age.

     I'm not sure exactly how this could have happend but they were driving at a high rate of speed, door opened and Steven fell out of the truck and they think another car ran him over.

     Steven has had multiple surgerys on his brain this week. They have had him on a respirator and in a drug induced coma. Lucky for Steven his family cares very much and rushed across the country to be there at his side. His Mom and Dad, 1 of his brothers and 1 sister. He may be there for quite some time.

     Steven grew up with my kids so everyone here very sad and we are all praying for Steven. Our friend Tracey and her husband will be driving out there this week to bring their truck to them and to bring another brother and sister to see him.

     Tracey is always there for Dot when she has an emergency and Dot has always done the same for her. They are both blessed by the friendship of the other and I too feel greatful to call each of them my friend as well.

                             Praying for Steven

                                  *** Coy ***

 

Wrapped around her little finger

     Went last night to see Genevieve the Romanian Princess. You may recall from a previous entry that my friends adopted this beautiful little girl from Romania and had to wait soooooo long for her to get here.

     It was so sweet to see her bubbly personality (at almost 3) bouncing around that house just jibber jabbering away in both English and Romanian. A few more weeks and she should have this English stuff mastered.

     Her personality demands to be center of attention as she works the room making sure that she has each of us wrapped around her little finger.

     Her parents in their 40's (God Love Em) seem to be very relaxed and open to taking each day as it comes. I know that they will do an extra ordinary job of teaching her to live, to love and to learn OMG she is sooooo smart.

     What an amazing adventure ahead for the 3 of them, what an amazing adventure ahead for those of us that love them...

                                      *** Coy ***

Easter with my Dad.

     My Dad was in town for Easter this year. Not a holiday plan just coincidence that he and 3 of his friends were leaving for a 2 week Caribbean Cruise out of Port Everglades on Monday.

     We drove down to meet them for Easter Brunch at the Hilton and quickley changed our plans, moved the party to the beach. The Oasis Cafe'. It was the first time George (Dad) met his Grand daughters. Mandy 17 and Brittney 18.

     Lunch was great, we did some reconnecting and the Easter Bunny even made an apperance right there on the beach. (Poor hot little bunny.) Sister has bunny pictures on her camera.

     After lunch, Brittney and Chris had to head back to Boca. Theresa, Mandy and I checked into the Hilton and the party continued. We went to Jalapenos for lots of great Margaritas. (Virgin for Me and Mandy)and was I really glad in the morning. I dont drink much plus somebody had to drive.

     Stayed up late, much catching up to do. Some of Mandys friends drove over for a couple of hours. We were not far from home. Up early, for a trip to the Swap Shop before our visit was over and their voyage continued. (I want to go with)

     We fell in Love with his friends. Seems that they travel together a lot. (a lot, a lot) Dad is the baby in his group at 63. I hope that I have awsome friends to continue my journey with when I am their age. Like my dad, I wont want to miss a thing.

     Big plans to stay in touch, talk more, visit often. It is never to late to pick up where you left off with those relationships that mean the most.

Happy Easter 1 day early at our house.

    Big changes in our Easter plans this year. Went to Ft. Lauderdale on Easter Sunday so our family dinner got moved to Saturday.

     Not only did the day change but the guest list and the menu as well. Instead of Traditional Easter Fare we decided to have a Mega Seafood Boil instead. Our usual guest list of 20+ people ended up being only 5.  "Talk about a big change for us" Not even our own kids were there. 

     Back yard in full bloom, orchids etc... Only a few favorite Easter decorations scattered around the house this year, seafood for a crowd without the crowd and a long evening of dominoes (chicken foot). Plenty of aimless chatter and laughter as we enjoyed the opportunity do do a little catching up with each other. With everyone's hectic schedule it seems like it's only on Holidays and Birthdays that we slow down enough to focus on each other and just being a family.

     Pretty sure this was the first time that we were all gathered together without any of the kids in over 20 year. It was fun and the seafood never better. ( The crowd should only know what they missed.) King Crab, Dungeness Crab, Lobster, Jumbo Shrimp, Clams and all of the Veggies one would expect at a really great boil.

     It was a Happy Easter at our house 1 day early! 

Lucky day for sean and Mia

     Creative juices flowing today. Sean and Mia (my moms co workers) have birthdays this week. She wanted to bring them something to make their day special. So we created these really cute Birthday hats along with matching balloons some orchids from the yard a comedian  straight from NewYork with some really dumb New York jokes, a birthday game, a cake and Wah-Lah birthday is special.

I have to admit that when my mom asked me to help, I could think of a million things I would rather be doing. But as usual once we got started I was really glad I helped.

I had to wait a few days to post this. No journal access. YaY 25,000 characters even though I like short entries some times you just got a little more to say. Lady bug hat made me think of you Penny.

Do you ever really know someone else?

     My Dad is going to be in town this Sunday and Monday. I have not seen him in over 10 years. He and 3 of his friends are going on a cruise that leaves out of Port Everglades so Theresa and Chris, (my sister and husband) Mandy and I are going to met them in Ft. Lauderdale for brunch on Sunday. (I know it's Easter) changes our Traditional Family Plans but he is family too.

     I am 41 years old and hardly know my Dad. I can't name his 3 closest friends, or what his long term goals are. Don't know what he likes for breakfast or how he drinks his coffee. I couldnt tell you what makes him laugh or the last thing that made him cry. But I do know that I love him and I know that he loves me too.

     George is Gay, lives in New Orleans and left home when I was 2 years old. I searched for him and found him when I was about 18. For the next 3 years I spent as much time with him as I could until my children were born. During those years I feel he did his best to apologize not for who he was, but for the pain that he had caused.

      

continued

     Infidelity within a marriage is no small thing and can't help but cause great pain to those involved. He made choices that affected all of our lives but I am sure he did the right thing by leaving and that he did his best to allow everyone to keep their integrity intact. It was best that he not keep my Mom holding on to false hopes that he could somehow change who he was. Still I am sure it was not an easy thing to do, leaving 2 daughters behind.

     So here I am at 41 having Easter Brunch with my Dad that I hardly know. I supose that it doesn't really  matter because each day we are given new opportunity to reinvent ourselves and our relationships. Besides, do you really ever know someone else? Given how little most of us even know about ourselves, I doubt it.

     It will be a day's adventure to meet with my Dad and his friends. I am looking forward to it and I will let you know how it goes.

                                  *** Coy ***

100+ things about me

     I have been reading through so many of your journals, I'm hooked on some. Look forward to seeing new entries every day. I Noticed that a lot of you were making a 100 things about me list. I thought I would give it a try. I was a little surprised to see how easy it was to come up with 100 things to list. If you have not made your own list yet, you should give it a try, you just might learn something about yourself. Click  to see my list1http://beta.journals.aol.com/coy1234787/dancingintherain2.

                                                 *** Coy *** 

Hatsume Fest

     I love going out, camera in hand to search for a new favorite photo. The 1st photo above is my newest favorite. It was taken at the Morikami Japaneese Garden a few weeks ago when I went to the Hatsume Fest (celebration of spring).

     A garden like this is designed to be pleasing to the eye no matter which direction you look. Through the lense of a camera you can almost feel the creative energy of the gardens designers and you just know that the frame work for a perfect photo has already been assured.

     The walk alone through the garden in search of a favorite photo was a meditation all on it's own. It was the first time I had ever been there alone before and it was a perfect way to relax and clear my head. Chances are good that I will do that again soon and often.

                               *** Coy ***

 

 

The rules: What happens on Friday night...

     I would like to describe details of an amazing adventure on an exciting night in Beautiful South Florida on a Friday night in April. Instead I will tell you what really happend.

     Although we did leave the house open to all promise and possibility of truly finding adventure the night was actually pretty quiet. We did drive down the Avenue in Delray where adventure may have been waiting but if it was we passed it up. There were lots of beautiful people dining alfresco along the street under the stars but we didn't stop.

     We drove to Boston's on the Ocean where my friend Rona works. We like the food there and thought we would catch up with Rona which is always an adventure in it's self.

                                                                                  continued...

Friday night continued.

     The place was packed, it looked like parking was going to be a problem and I heard Mandy, the voice of reason say "Mom, its a school night and the place is packed. Let's go somewhere a little less crowded and we will come to see Rona a little earlier next time." (yes, beauty school on Saturdays.)

     The voice of reason, sometimes it's hard to tell which one of us is the Mom. Truth be known she wasn't feeling her best. Mandy has also always been known for her preference to instant gratification, especially when it comes to food. She claims that she is working on it. Doing her best to slow down, savor the momennt and enjoy the company a little more. At least she knows it's an issue. I'll let you know how it goes.

     We ended up at Carrabbas Itialian Grill. Very quiet, the food was good and we had lots of time to talk. Not sure when I'll have the opportunity to spend 7 or 8 uninterupted hours with my 17 year old daughter on a friday again, just happy I got to last night.

                                   *** Coy ***

     I read in the news today that a busy Atlantic Hurricane season is predicted. Possibly 14 named storms 3 of them intense hurricanes and a great chance that at least 1 of them will make landfall.

     So many people are understandably terrified and panicked at the thought of a hurricane. We watch the supermarket shelves become bare as hurricane supplies fly out the door and people rush around boarding up windows and battening down the hatches. While others of us (and you know who you are) are secretly thrilled about all of the excitement and mystery involved in the unknown as storm warnings intensify.

     Not the feeling of excitement that would make you want to become a hurricane hunter and fly aircraft directly into the storm for scientific purposes. More the kind of excitement that would make you want to drive to the beach even after coastal evacuation had been recomended.

     The whole world seems to be on stand still awaiting Mother Natures decision on just how much fury she intends to unleash. You can expect to find many of us on the beach to witness up close and personal the excitement of the storm, and you can bet the waters will be filled with surfers taking advantage of the changes in the surf. Oh also, the shelling in Florida is usually at it's best right after a big storm.

                                     *** Coy ***

 

     I get off work at 3:00 on Fridays, YAY! Had plans to come home and do little tonight except play around with some new software I put on my computer this week and maybe do a little journaling. PMS-ing today Uggggg.

    I got home and Mandy was home, almost never happens on a friday afternoon. She was getting some sun in the back yard, PMS-ing too, Uggggg again. I joined her for a while until we got attacked by love bugs. Must not have been mating season because those most times horney little critters were flying solo.

     I asked what her plans were for tonight she said that she has none. I told her that my plans were to veg out in front of the computer and little else. She thought we could do better than that if we put our heads together. It doesnt usually take much to convince me to get up and go. So we each took a couple of Alive and a long hot shower.  Mandy is blow drying my hair (benifit of having a daughter in beauty school) practice, practice, practice and then we are off to find adventure in beautiful South Florida on Friday night in April.

                                *** Coy ***

Fallujah photos

     The graphic immages ><The savage acts in Fallujah >< The Jeeps burning ><The bodies being dragged through the streets of the city >< The mangled bodies hanging from a bridge >< The smiling faces of cheering Iraqui children as they watched >< All I could think about all night  >< My God what have we done?

 

"Seize the moment," every chance you get.

     It's was very late on Tuesday night, I'm on my way across town to pick Mandy up from a friend's house. My cell phone rings and the voice on the other end says "MOM, we're starving. Do you feel like going out to get something to eat?" (We is Mandy and her close friend Stephanie.) Well of course being the most times conservative and logical voice of reason I say, "No not tonight, it's late, it's a school night and tomorrow is my early morning at work." Well could you at least pick us up something from Mickey D's then? I agreed and hung up the phone. 

     I called right back and said, "I changed my mind,"  I'll see you in 5 minutes and we will go out for a while if you promise to fill me in on the latest details about what's going on in your lives this week. OK? OK they agreed. I thought why should I pass up a perfectly good opportunity to be amused live and in person by the rants and raves of my favorite 2 Cosmo Girls? For what, a couple more hours of sleep?    

     We went to Denny's they lived up to their end of the bargin. The next couple of hours were spent being entertained by their teenage wit and humor. The waitress was charmed by them as well. On the way out the door she said " your girls were a pleasure, they are sisters aren't they?" When I said no, she said "we were all just saying, now that's what sisters should act like!" 

     If you look at the pictures you will see why people often mistake them for sisters. Oh yea, this was also a perfect opportunity to get a few quick shots of the girls together even if one was in her  P.J.'s           

   I sent photos to school with Mandy Wednesday morning. I love my camera and my computer, their is nothing like instant gratification.  

                              *** Coy ***