Betty Boop needs to stay home!

I would never claim to be a fashionista and in fact, would be thrilled if Stacy and Clinton (TLC’s What Not to Wear) would show me how pull the various aspects of my life into one cohesive wardrobe; something that says “daytime office professional”, “laid-back yogi”, “dig-in-the-dirt environmentalist”, and “Wow, you don’t look that old” all in one closet. But working at my fun job in retail has shown me a side of people I would just rather not see and I can’t believe they walk out of their houses dressed the way they do.

Now the shopping area I’m talking about is in an upscale part of town; Lebron James lives just up the street. Yet the way I’ve seen people dress while shopping absolutely stuns me. Last night a couple came into the store wearing pajama pants! And I’m not talking about casual athletic pants. I’m talking about cartoon character jerseys! The only thing worse would've been if they matched. No, Spiderman and Hello Kitty were doing their own thing. How on earth they felt they were appropriately dressed for shopping is absolutely beyond me!

And now for the scary part. While looking for images I could use for this post I came upon a website that is just too disgusting. It’s pretty much like a train wreck…you don’t want to look, know you shouldn’t look, yet can’t help yourself. I present to you PeopleofWalmart.com. Please don’t shoot the messenger.

Day 30: The end of my 30-day blog challenge!

I did it! I posted for 30 straight days! I learned a couple of things over the past month: 1) I CAN be brilliant everyday [tongue SO in cheek] and 2) I wouldn't want to be a daily columnist! The pressure! The pressure! No, I think I will be quite happy to go back to posting two or three times a week or when the spirit moves me. That schedule allows time for me to mull an idea around for a day or two while going about my normal business. Then when I actually sit down to write it, it's pretty much already done.

I'm taking a vacation day today to extend my already long weekend and while I should just chill, the taskmaster in me says I must do at least something productive. I'm hoping "the dishes" is enough to satisfy that internal slave-driver. :)

Day 29: TIMBERrrrrr!

Having resolved that today would be a better day than yesterday, I was NOT a happy camper when I awoke to this lovely sight!

When I went to bed it looked lovely. When my daughter went to bed an hour later it looked lovely. But sometime during the night it toppled...and dumped the full water basin on the carpet as well as the gifts Kelsey had just so lovingly wrapped! Ugh, my life! I wasn't all that upset about the tree but I was really worried about the gifts. (Because most of them were for me haha) I had no idea what was wrapped and I was worried how Kels would react when she woke up and saw this mess. On top of it, I had no time to mess with it as I had to go to work AND Kelsey was heading back to school today (and I didn't even get a proper goodbye).

Fortunately, she laughed when she saw it (and thought it was a hoot that I took a picture of it). Nothing was damaged. She and her friend readjusted the tree in the stand. And I will tweak the ribbons and ornaments tomorrow when I'm not so tired. (Long, busy day at the store). I felt completely fine with the whole situation once I knew she was ok with it. Here is the before and I'm sure I'll be able to get it pretty close:

I could work on it tonight but I think I'm going to work on a little scrapbooking instead. Less stressful and I need to do something just for me. And then of course there's wine. :)

Day 28: The sun will come out tomorrow...

Have you ever been going through a stressful situation, think you're handling it quite well and then all of a sudden have a mild meltdown?

I'm having one of those tonight. Maybe I'm just exhausted. Maybe I'm tired of fooling even myself that I have things under control. Maybe I just need a good cry.

Tomorrow is bound to be better.

Day 27: My Black Friday was more gray

Today was my first experience of Black Friday...well sort of.

I did NOT get up at the crack of dawn to go stand in line someplace to get a deal on something someone probably doesn't need anyway. In fact, I didn't buy a single thing today. No, my experience came from the other side...the retail side. I was hoping for a crazy busy shift. One, to make the hours fly by and two, because it's more fun that way. Unfortunately, my shift was 5-9pm and by that time it seemed most folks were "shopped out". It was slow and boring. There wasn't even much to restock as the shift before me had kept up pretty well.

Tomorrow I have an afternoon 5 hour shift scheduled and I'm hoping for a much busier experience. I'm hoping to get the people who still want the weekend deals but didn't want to brave the chaos of earlier today. I seriously don't blame them.

Day 26: Life is good and I am blessed

Much has happened over the past year; sometimes painful but mostly good. I've grown to accept my new life and while I didn't realize it at the time, I know I can now move forward with joy and contentment. I envision great opportunites and anticipate wonderful surprises in each and every day.

I am truly thankful for my family and friends who have helped me weather the storm. I am also thankful to be able to keep my home. I am thankful for a good, secure job. I am thankful for plenty to eat. I am thankful for my health. I am indeed blessed! :)

Day 25: Keeping my stuff to a minimum

I just read a great blogpost called The Season of Stuff and quite frankly I couldn't begin to say it any better.

I'm still in the process of clearing stuff out of my house that was collected for over 22 years and deemed absolutely necessary to keep at the time. [Note: Not by me!] Turns out in the end it wasn't all that important afterall and was left for someone else (ME) to deal with and get rid of. I admit I too go through periods of "saving" when I'm trying to figure out how I can reuse or recycle something. But every couple of years when I haven't figured it out, I purge those collections and send them to the thrift store or recycling center. My trash = someone's treasure.

I invite you to think about your gift purchases this year. Are you buying that gift just for the sake of giving a gift or is it something the intended will truly use and cherish? Think about your purchases for yourself this year. Do you really need it or will you be stashing it in the crawl space in a year or so? Don't get me wrong, I like stuff. I just don't like dusting it or trying to find places to put it so it's out of my way and doesn't clutter things up. No, I like stuff just fine...just not too much of it. :)

Day 24: My baby girl is coming home!

This is going to be a quick one. I just got home from a long day and Kelsey will be arriving shortly. Well we did see each other at the hair salon (her appointment followed mine), but she drove straight there and hasn't been home yet and I want to spend as much time with her over the next four days as possible before she heads back to school. While I communicate with her nearly everyday, it just isn't the same as when she's home. There seems to be so much to talk about and do that we can't seem to get it all in. Of course I have to share her with her hometown friends and other family members, which is tough for me, but we seem to work it out ok. Actually I've discovered that the older she gets, the more she stays home. We'll be spending much of Thanksgiving Day together, probably several hours on Friday morning and then some time Saturday evening with dinner and putting up our Christmas tree. She forgets that we have to factor in my weekend/night job now too!

Oh, I think I hear the garage door! Until tomorrow. :)

Day 23: Could it be prana?

I don't know what's going on with me but all of a sudden I have an abundance of energy! Here I am working two jobs, taking care of the dog, working on redecorating projects around the house/yard in addition to normal maintenance and winterizing, reading, writing, painting, etc. AND I'M NOT EXHAUSTED! Oh, and for the record it's not caffeine because I eliminated that from my system months ago. This has been going on for a couple weeks now and I have no real explanation. Normally when I get home at night I'm beat and on weekends I wake up already anticipating an afternoon nap but that's not how things are now.

My yogi friends would say, "Welcome to prana" and I'm inclined to believe they would be right. I don't know enough about Pranotthana (the release of pranic energy) but the little I've read makes me think this new feeling could indeed be the gradual release of prana. I'm trying to do everything right as far as my yoga practice goes through asanas, pranayama and meditation. I'm also getting plenty of sleep (8 hours average) and eating a primarily vegetarian diet.

Whatever it is, I LIKE IT and I think I'll just keep doing what I'm doing! :)

Day 22: What NOT to do with a sisal rug

I learned something new today: Natural fiber rugs (sisal in particular) need warmth, else they get moldy! Let me explain.

As part of my winterizing around the house, I decided to close off the study. I thought why heat a room that I'm rarely in? So I closed the heating vent and closed the door. Over the last two months, I entered that room maybe once a week to upload some pictures or file away paperwork.

So today I went in to put plastic on the last two windows of the house and I noticed a greenish tint on the edge of the rug. Upon further inspection, I noticed it had spread over the entire area rug! Noooo! Not my sisal! Fortunately, with a little wiping, sweeping and vacuuming I was able to clean it up and I made a decision.

The heating vent was reopened! The pennies I'd be saving on my gas bill couldn't possibly equal a new sisal! It's only one room for crying out loud.