Crazy Town has left the building

I have had a crazy week, and I am blaming it on jewelry. I know we are suppose to take ownership for our lives but let me explain. In April, I attended a night called Diva Dialogue and met the most fascinating person, Lesley Cameron. To be in this woman presence is like being with one of your oldest friends. She instantly makes you feel at ease and at peace. She talked about her incredible journey to becoming a healer to the stars. Now you are probably all thinking dread locks and tie dye. But, she is a hip and happening sassy red head with the most intriguing story. Lesley makes healing bracelets and her company was featured at the Golden Globes and 2011 CNN hero awards in the celebrity gift bags. Each piece of jewelry has its own energy, blessing and story. On this night in April she offered her "soul power" bracelet. Soul power in a brief description is about knowing right and wrong. I have been wearing it since I bought it and haven't taken it off. She said that evening that these bracelets become a part of you. "Ha" my skeptical self said. Part of me? Nothing is part of me except my Starbucks Americano. So back to blaming my bad week on jewelry. I wanted to test her theory on energy so I took the bracelet off. The first day I didn't feel any different and wondered if my new friend had sold me some kind of snake oil. Well, by day 5 it was crazy town over here and I had lost my mind. My close friends are nodding their heads in agreement as they are reading this. I couldn't make the full week, by day 6 my bracelets were back on, and so is my head. Crazy town has left the building.

Lesley is a Karma Sister and decided that we need our own bracelet. So, we (she) made the most beautiful piece based on the concept of "simplicity". I wear both of my Essence bracelets everyday... all-day. I admit it, they are a part of me along with my americano.

If you need a boost of Karma sister simplicity, or want to try any of her other 20 bracelets with titles like light, faith, healing, inspiration, soul power, and joy. Whatever energy you need you will find it. She is giving all Karma Sisters a discount of $25.00. Just put in her discount code box KS2011. http://www.essencebracelets.com/

Message of Simplicity
Laughter, Love and Hopefulness….

Simplicity means always travelling close to home. Home is where we are calm, centered and peaceful despite what may be happening in our lives. While appearances can fool us into thinking that we need to be on the lookout for the next impending disaster, all we really need to remember is how to laugh, love and be filled with the promise of a new day. These simple qualities teach us to take it easy when we feel ourselves rise, and help us to disengage from any unnecessary drama we may find ourselves involved with. Simplicity is the choice to see life as it is – not as we would like it to it be, or not like it to be, but as it is. With this simple recognition, we are able to embrace what lies before us with open arms and loving hearts, being guided only by faith, trust and surrender. When we have momentarily lost sight of the truth, simplicity brings forth the clarity to assure us that all of our experiences exist for the sole purpose of teaching us who we really are. Let simplicity lead you back to the gentle understanding that happiness comes not from our lives being perfect, but from our willingness to accept ourselves as we are – as beings of pure perfection.

Granting peace

There is a moment in the Catholic mass that I love.  Now, not being a Catholic I can honestly say that I don't find the one hour of service engaging.  However,  about 3/4 of the way through we get to shake hands with our neighbors and grant them peace.  If you're sitting with family you give a kiss and a small squeeze.   It really is the heart of the service for me.   I was thinking about this in yoga today as we all wished each other Namaste, which means honoring the light in you.  We say this after every class, and occasionally the teacher asks us to turn to each other and offer this yoga blessing to each other.   Why are we saving peace for church and yoga?   We should be sending it out by the truck loads to each other.  What can we do each day to grant more peace?   I have lots of ideas.  How about a wave when someone lets you merge in?    Letting a fellow shopper  in front of you who only has one item.  Buying the car behind you a coffee in the drive thru.  A heartfelt thank you to someone who deserves it.  Forgiveness to yourself...   We are caught up in all the problems of our lives and forgetting about granting each other some peace.  Peace be with you Karma Sisters.

Big girl panties

Big girl panties are hard to find somedays. I lost every big girl pair this week... I have had five days of disruption. My life circumstances seem to be bogging me down. I was losing sight of who I am and where I am going. I spend a few sleepless nights thinking about packing up my life, the girls and moving to some exotic island. Then I got a face-book message today from someone in my life that was once considered my family. Just 4 sentences , 4 sentences that made such a difference. A note to say hello and that I was missed. I needed this message. I have been hurting, and didn't realize it. I was feeling left out and mourning my old life. The new me knows this is crazy as I love my life. Sometimes the old me and new me don't talk. New me says "wake up!". Pity party is over, big girl panties on, head held high, and stepping back on the high road. Four cliches in one long grammar stricken sentence. This must be my new record.

My Kate, and the last days of Elementary

Kate and I were enjoying each others company tonight watching a very slow moving movie. As I pulled out my laptop out to start brainstorming about my blog, I asked Kate if she wanted to "guest" blog, she agreed. So here is our Jr. Karma sister talking about her last days in elementary school. I remember being in her shoes, kings of the hallways after 7 years and now time to move to the bottom of the food chain again at a new school. Lots of new friends, new classrooms and a legacy from two older crazy sisters.


The school year is almost over which means backpacks full of old school work and books you never touched. For Grade 6s all the classes are done because of P.A.T.S (fancy name for final exams). My Grade 6 class is now moving on to Jr. high. Some of my old friends will be going to a different school. There's no work left to do, which means a talent show. All the kids want to show off their singing,dancing or just something really random! Everyones loves the end of the year but the parents. The parents will have friends over to plan party's, even vacations. Parents enjoy the school year while it lasts.

Own who you are.

Own who you are... do it every minute of every day. Why are we compromising who we are for other people? I have a voice in my belly that tells me what is right and wrong. What fits me and what doesn't. It unfortunately has taken a complete life shuffle to learn to listen to me. I was conditioned to not make waves . I didn't speak up when I should have. We are surrounded by catch phrases like peer pressure and keeping the peace. This type of thinking no longer works in this world. Where has it gotten us? Living true to who we are every minute of everyday. What a difference we could all make in this world.

Bullies

Bullies.... it's one of those topics we have as mothers on the playground. The school systems have created entire programs around the prevention of the school yard bully. There will always be one kid who thinks they can push around all the other kids on the monkey bars just because they can. At 43, I find myself now dealing with a bully. How at my age is there someone that can get away with putting people down? Why do they think they can say and do without any recourse? The mother in me is giving bully advice, ignore them, call their mother, or rally the neighborhood for a support group. At my age the only solution is to walk away, let reputation and character carry me through. Its unfortunate, but when someone is so unkind, it shows their character not the character of the victim. Always be careful of those who speak poorly of others, as when you turn your back they will be talking about you. This is not anyone I want to hang out with on the monkey bars.

My Mom Jackie

I took my mom out for dinner tonight. One on one time is rare. Usually we are surrounded by a loud demanding family and unable to get more than one sentence of conversation in. I like my Mom, even when she is crazy. We have many "jackie" ism in our family. Mom threatened to drown the family fish if we didn't clean out the tank in about 1983. We laughed for hours, she wasn't as amused. She can handle mountains of pressure but when she explodes it is like a volcano and then it is over. She is an amazing person. She has beat stage 4 liver cancer, has nicer skin than me and can walk 18 holes at Silver Springs golf course. She wore a pair of high heeled sandals tonight that most of my friends wouldn't attempted. She is a widow, not a whiner. She is talking about going to Florida for four weeks in the spring on her own. She is strong, makes no excuses and lives her life. She is always on the move, and never a green blade of grass under her feet at 74. I am blessed with an incredible gene pool and an incredible mother.

Carving out space

Interesting conversation today about one of our favorite topics... Time. All kinds of inventions have been created to assist us in life, but no one has ever figured out how to make more time. As a matter of fact those great inventions like computers, end up sucking more of it up. Therefore, looking for more is truly a waste. Here was the great twist, what about carving out space, instead of finding time? Creating space for all the things that we are waiting to find more time for. My big question is what am I looking to carve into my life? New relationship? Maybe (I am a work in progress), my business plan for KS, or just stillness. I love this word, makes me think about all the glorious things that we can carve, like pumpkins, really frozen ice cream and now space.

Happy birthday my gift

June 21 the first day of summer and the day my "gift" was born.   Each of my daughters has a special name, something that started from my Dad.   Billie is my gift and she is 8 today.  She was a baby that wasn't in the family planner and has brought so much joy.    When her sisters arrived at the hospital to see her the first question was if she was a girl, the thought of a boy in our family was out of the question.  The second question was what  was her name?  Billie... there faces dropped and they said " I thought she was a girl?",  "Who names a girl Billie?" Well,  we did and for many reasons.  She has a beloved Grandfather name Bill, one of my favorite singers is Billie Holiday and when your the youngest of four sisters you need a name that stands out.  She owns her name and loves it.  Billie with a' ie' is a girl she proudly announces,  a 'Y' is for boys.   There is nothing in this world that she won't be able to achieve.  She has no barriers at 8 and  knowing  life will create some, she has the tenacity to climb over.   I have included this photo of her in the red head band that was taken at soccer last week.  It so captures who she is surrounded by her friends.   She could be counting the number of goals she wants to get, all the kinds of slurpees at 7/11, or just who is coming to her birthday party.   Happy Birthday my gift.

turn off the time

Today was the first day the girls were gone to their Dads, and I spent the day cleaning their rooms. This is what Mom's do, we look for the carpet underneath all the garbage, dirty clothes and other random items like clothing tags. For some reason my girls think tags belong anywhere other than the garbage. Cleaning rooms always starts out of frustration but today I ended up sifting through their childhoods. Old photos, homework, and clothes that don't fit them anymore. I have been getting very nostalgic lately, probably because Cassidy is graduating next year and I feel the clock picking up speed. I remember when she was in Kindergarden and on her very first day all the mothers were gathered around the door waiting for them to come out, and the conversation went to graduating year, 2012. Seemed a lifetime away in 1999, now its next year. She already has plans to go away for school and then she is gone. I feel my bones creaking, I am getting old. Someone unplug that time clock, I am not ready for her to grow up.

Happy Fathers Day

As I was watching the girls get ready to go to their Dad's house this week, they were busy packing up their fathers day gifts.  The two elementary students  were loaded with cards and crafts telling their dad why he was #1.   The two older ones were scrambling to meet the deadline, it is  just the way teenagers work.  My girls think their Dad is the greatest Dad in the world, and so they should.  Shouldn't that be every Fathers goal to be #1?  They sell mugs and t-shirts in every store for the winner.    I know I think my Dad was the greatest and could argue it for hours.   When my Dad passed away he had a file for each of us and  kept those crafts and notes from all the years.  As I drifted through page after page of "why I love my Dad" it gave me great comfort to know that even though I don't remember, I did appreciate him and told him at least once a year.   It was important enough to him that he kept a file.  Actually,  I have to make a writers note here as my Dad had files on everyone.  He was like the CIA of our community, he loved to do a " PI" on any new friend who walked in the door.    This is another Johnny O story to be shared on another day.    I love you Dad,  you were the greatest Dad in the world.  

Here is a photo of my and my Dad.  I am not sure why I was hiking in a suit, but I always did have my own sense of style.  

The DH

I have a group of friends who we call the "desperate housewives" . There is about 12 of us and we live in a four block radius. We are like the 50's housewives without the cigarettes and vodka. Replaced by Starbucks and wine. Usually, around 4:00 someone has offered up their house for wine. If you offer, you can't have Friday night plans. I can honestly tell you that this is a different group of women. Some of the girls are closer than others, some are members of the golf course, some go on vacations together & two have been friends for 20 years. Our kids all range in age from 25-2, and our age ranges from 35 to 54. They greatest thing about this group is no one ever feels like they are left out . A secret is a secret whether you tell one or all 12. The husbands hate the "DH" . If you are hosting a Friday night, you know it might be midnight when the girls leave with their kids. If you are waiting on the other end, phones usually are not answered only because the laughter is usually louder than the ring. We love to have parties and planned a few tonight, we have a 25 yr wedding anniversary (bridal party), Vegas (the hangover DH style) and our November birthdays (Divas). Honestly, I am not sure whether we like the parties or just the dressing up. My daughters always shake their heads when they hear stories about the DH. Isn't that the greatest when your children are embarrassed? When I think about this group, I always get a smile. I know the conversation will be wild and the laughs will be endless. It is power to the sisterhood.

Bring it!

I have been working with a friend who is helping me settle in to my new life. One of my biggest challenges is all my "stuff". The universe is speeding up so why should I have any expectation that my life will slow down? (It doesn't help that on this rainy day I had 10 shots of expresso) We talked about using my strengths and bringing them into my life. Right now I have a lot of whens... when July comes, when I get divorced, when I decide what I want to do. She made the most brilliant suggestion to me. What about taking the whens out and say bring it! Step up to the challenge, bring out the competitive taurus and take on my stuff. I thought about it for a moment, she was right. Life isn't going to slow down, as a matter of fact, it is going to speed up. Lots of great things are happening and my life is only getting bigger and better. So, out go the when and in comes the now. There is no greater power than the power of now. Now, lets win the lottery.. Friday 23 million... Costa Rica Sisters?

Been there done that

Have you ever laid in bed and wished you could stay there all day? Well today I did. I had two appointments cancel and had nothing else on my schedule. For me nothing planned is confusing. I always have a plan and without one I am lost. So after dropping off the girls at school I brought my coffee upstairs and I crawled back into bed. I answered all my emails and returned phone calls. Then I read my book in peace and ending the morning writing. All of a sudden it was 12:00 and time for lunch. After I quick salad, back under the duvet I went for a nap. I am not sure what happened to all that energy I harness, or my ADD girl who always has things to do, but just for today I was, with no guilt. I know on Thursday I start behind but I can now say when that conversation comes up, "don't you wish?" Been there done that... Its fantastic and highly recommended.

See ya monkey

Tuesday is that night where all my kids commitments line up. I drop off, pick up, drop off and pick up. Miraculously no one is left waiting for this crazy red headed mother to arrive. I left my house at 6:00 PM tonight and arrived for a glass a wine at earls with my girlfriends at 10:30.. This is my life. Its a full time job. Factor in the morning prep including making lunches, the scrambling of hormonal girls looking for outfits , and the final pressure cooker question from the Mom, "do you have?". Then pick up again at 3:10 to unload back backs, making sure homework is done, drive to lessons, sports and make dinner. It is at least 8 hours in each and every school day. Now, being a single mother of four, requires some skill in time management. So, if I spend 8 hours of my day dedicated to my kids, why are people always asking when I am going to get a job? At some point laundry, bills, housework, volunteer commitments factor in. What about me? As stay at home mothers, we feel guilty when we go to yoga, get a coffee or the greatest indulgence, lunch downtown with our friends. Why do people try and make us feel guilty for having a reverse life? My real work starts when the most important people in my life need me. Wow, it took me 15 years of staying at home to get here. I just lost a Monkey.

In Class

Zoe and I found ourselves in another course tonight. After 27 years of friendship we have sat in a few classrooms together. We have taken some not so main stream classes. Like knitting when we were 18. I showed up for the first class and found it frustrating and far to much work to make the sweater I wanted, and was it was much easier to buy. Then Sewing, when I started sewing the legs of my shorts upside down Zoe took over and finished it. Asian cooking, the only thing I took away, was how to make a great pot of rice. And now we are sitting side by side in parenting through separation. This is a mandatory class for anyone who is separated working towards divorce in Alberta. How many best friends end up getting divorced in the same year? We knew walking in that we were condemned to 3 hours of videos, sharing with the class and very very stupid questions. I saw a couple of things tonight. First , if this is my dating pool, I will remain single forever. Secondly, there are some really crazy people raising children. As one of our classmates asked another irrelevant stupid question, Zoe leaned over and said "seriously, I am missing the bachelorette for this!" I burst out laughing, It was like we were 16 again. One laugh in 3 hours, and only because I brought a friend.

Big Mac

We have a family computer in the kitchen which we call "big mac". She is six years old and full of all the most important information. She holds all the school projects, all the music, and most importantly all the family photos. My mothers guilt is plaguing me about this issue. I first want to give myself some recognition for even having photos, especially of daughter #4. Big Mac is slowing down and I am worried about the crash. If she goes, so does all the photos. How will I create a embarrassing montage for their wedding slideshow? Here is the dilemma, what to do with 6 years of photos? I can't print them, then "someone" has to put them into photo albums. Even worse, the most expensive and extensive mother guilt trap ever... scrap booking. I could put them on discs or create online books for each kid. But both of those options require hours of sorting photos online. There was something so simple about film cameras. The pictures might not have been as great but I always got them printed. Photos and closets have been my winter project for the last 5 years. I will just add it to my winter project list again and hope that big mac holds on. Mothers guilt, it is as endless as our love.

Papa K

Saturday is that day where I am on the road driving to every point of the city in record time. Today it poured rain and as I was pulling away for my third round of drop off/pick up, my neighbor, in his rain gear, was on a ladder fixing my ease troughs. Water has been flowing like a river off that corner for over a year and I have a mental note to fix it, or just simply get it on the long list of " to do's". The water doesn't effect his property, would never flood his basement and quite frankly I am completely shocked that he even noticed. But he felt the need to fix it. My village is taking care of me. There are all kinds of saying's "what comes around goes around" or "you get what you give". These neighbors who are really more like family than friends are always giving and not complaining. I am not the picture perfect neighbor. My yard is a gypsy camp littered with bikes and garbage. Four girls, no fence and a dog named Kaos they could make my world difficult, but they don't. It was just kindness what Papa K did for us today. Just so he knows, that he made a difference in the world today. How many people can say that?

Eeyore

Energy is infectious good or bad. I have several people in my life that when they walk into a room the energy level is lifted up. Which in turn always effects the moods of everyone else. These are the people you always want at your party. The best remedy for the blues is being in company with a infectious positive energy. What about the other way? We all know those Eeyore's in life that never have a good thing to say about anyone, anything or any situation. They bring the dark cloud on a sunny day. Long term forecast always sucks. I released my Eeyore this week, I can no longer try and bring my sun to this dark world, it is just to hard. I had to ask myself why I was holding on to a relationship that hurts me? I have really tried this year to be kind and now realize that sometimes finding kindness has to start with being kind to myself.

June...

June.. is that month that I dread. Everything comes to a head. Most of the nonsense circulates around the kids. New activities have started, which in our house is soccer, soccer and soccer. With 3 kids playing, it is a 7 day a week commitment. Lots of winter activities are ending, so add in a few recitals. School is almost over, and some teachers are cramming in the remaining work and exams. Not to mention the clean out happening in the classrooms. Everyday a bag of **crap**comes home to sort through. How many journals do you keep for the memory box? Shake on some mothers guilt as you load up the recycling bin with artwork, and novels created by the girls. Schools love to plan year end activities, graduations, celebrations, fun days, and talent shows. Parents are always invited to come, and the kids expect you to show. On top of all of that I have a Birthday to plan. Billie was born of the first day of summer and the party must happen before all her friends leave for the summer. Life is so crazy that I can only look one day at a time. I made a attempt today to put all the June commitments on the calendar and ran out of space on Tuesday and Thursdays. Now here is the kicker, somehow I have to fit my life in. How come my stuff is always last? I enrolled in three courses all next week, it was a great idea in February, now it just makes my stomach hurt. At some point something is going to give, and I hope it's not the margarita machine. Come on July... Serenity.

**crap** used in this context is not meant to hurt the artist or budding novelist, however this work requires only one copy brought home. The rest should remain in the schools recycling program.

passion in kids

I was just watching Ted T.V. for those who are not familiar with Ted, it is a website full of brief interviews on any subject from science, arts and relationships. As I was scrolling down the list of talks from men and woman from all over the world I could see a common theme, regardless of the subject all of these people have a vision driven by their passion. Passion is one of the road block to many people to making changes in life. One of the biggest excuses to staying stuck in unhappy. It usually sounds like " If I could only find my passion then I could get on with my life". Why does your passion have to be something that is earth shattering? It makes any baby step forward look so daunting. I had coffee with a friend recently and over the course of the hour we didn't have that 40 something conversation about our higher purpose and the meaning of life. I was thinking about it after and wondered what she was doing that made her life so fulfilled. I had to know so I sent out the message and asked. She responded quite simply, her kids. Thats simple enough, what a world this would be if every mother put more passion into their kids.

I can't tread water for 2 min

After-school today Billie and I took Kaos out for a walk, The great thing about having someone on one time with a 8 year old you get a newsfeed on what is important in their little world. To her the problems in her life are epic. For example, Joden pointed with his middle finger in class today, just as a gesture, for no other reason and one of the girls tattled on him. Mosquitos have taken over the fields at the school and they really like her. I have a hard time arguing with this, she is really sweet. The big tear jerker was, that in swim class for two minutes she couldn't tread water in the deep end, it is just to hard for her. I listened to her relay all these stories while she chocked backed her tears. Once she had regained her composure, I assured her that although her problems seem to be EPIC as she described, none of them would matter next week. She looked up at me with those big beautiful blue eyes and felt better. Wow, how can I make myself better? It is so easily preached by the Queen of the Karma sisters. So, I began running through the long list in my head of my own epic problems. Turning the 8 year old advice that I had just given to Billie to my own life. Really will my epic problems matter in 5 years? My new favorite thing is looking with old eyes at my life, so back I went to June 2006. I honestly can't remember what robbed me of sleep. Just so we all understand, at 43 I know that I can't tread water for 2 min in the deep end but I know that I am still fantastic.

Ssubi means hope.

Tonight I met the most amazing person, Philip Ndugga. I will admit that I didn't feel like going out this evening. I had a list of reasons in my head, tired, busy, feeling blue but none big enough to explain to my friend hosting Diva Dialogues. So off I went to hear about someone I didn't really know. The only piece of information I had was that he was from Africa. The great thing about walking into unexpected is that you get unbelievable. Once Philip started talking all those excuses that almost kept me away, flew away. Here is the evening recap in blog style... He is from Uganda and moved to Canada in 2000, he has started a foundation called Ssubi, which means hope in Ugandan. Ssubi supplies entire Schools. Not just books and pencils, he removes the shacks that once held children with dirt floors and leaking roofs and builds school structures in 30 days. Unheard of in a culture that bragged in a video, it takes 26 days to build a grass hut. He supplies desks, books, paper and pencils to a village that has been torn apart from civil war. Ssubi brings hope to children. How did he do it? His answer would be love. My answer would be knowing. He just knew he had to help the people of his country and walked his way step by step to a solution. Philip has taken "it takes a village" global. Thats inspiration.

Check out his foundation and the work he is doing. Powerful.

SSUBI - Building Hope

www.ssubifoundation.org

The Ssubi Foundation is a registered Canadian charity that seeks to provide poverty relief to underprivileged Ugandan children and their families through educational initiatives and the provision of micro-financing. Specifically, this includes:

I miss Canada Post

Frig! I am behind with the mail, not canada post mail, email. Remember the days when the only mail was paper? And was delivered to your mailbox outside your house once a day? Now it comes all the time and all times of the day and night. It doesn't care that you are on holidays, it always find you. So here was the problem, I have neglected my inbox. Only choosing the emails that I wanted to look at for the last 20 days. All of a sudden tonight around 8:00 I got that feeling, you know that dull pain in your stomach that says you are missing something. Something important, a time bomb wrapped up in all those unanswered and ignored emails. So there I began with the 228 messages ready to face my consequences. The thing about 228 messages is that 100 of them are online advertising, easily deleted. Who has time to look at those ads? Then the reply all, email feed. Reply all is not a button everyone should have on their computers. It is always the same culprits, not all information needs to be shared, out went another bunch. Now comes the tough emails. The ones that need a response, the ones that require work and attention. I have now created an entire Monday of phone calls, follow ups and apologizes. This is precisely the reason why I have been ignoring them. I really miss the paper mail, there was something fulfilling about putting it into the shredder when I was done. Maybe I just need a fantastic sound effect, like roaring lion, or a bull dozer. Just added another thing on my monday to do.

Weight gain

Well I did it, I stepped on the scale today to try and uncover the mystery of the tight pants. It is the true sign of a good your vacation by how much weight you have gained. I must have had a fantastic time as I gained 8 pounds in 7 days. I did not deny myself anything, as a matter of fact drank things that I would not in Calgary. Margaritas in the sun taste way better than in the rain. And the only exercise I got was walking to the pool. I hate weighting myself, I always have a self commentary. Shouldn't have eaten that, should have swam at the pool, didn't they have treadmills at the resort? As women we are always battling that number, our goal weight, maybe it was what we were in high school, or pre-pregnancy. How about just wanting to put on those skinny jeans that hang in the back of the closet? At some point I just have to learn to be comfortable in my own skin and my pants. I just need to keep a few bigger sizes for post vacation. Just another reason I love shoes, it doesn't matter how much you weight, your shoes always fit. Maybe I should just take the batteries out of the scale. It is summer, and I do own a margarita machine.

So pretty woman

Last week I walked into a jewelry store with Jill who has been shopping for a replacement wedding ring. Jill is not a typical diamond ring buyer, she wanted something a bit out of the norm, so she had her heart set on a panther ring. Into the store we went, and the wall of salesmen quickly sized us up, We had just landed in Phoenix and had not dressed for the occasion. We looked like two people who just wanted to day dream or possibly steal something. They pushed the newest associate out to greet us. Jill explained what she was looking for and jewelry cases opened up. She tried on the first ring, which was solid gold and just to masculine for her tiny hand. The next ring was on the other side of the store. As we were walking over the sales lady explained it was "povaide" I had no idea what that was, it sounded like a great dessert to me. So I asked the stupid question, What is povaide? (Jewelry just is not my thing). The wall of salesman watching all rolled their eyes. As it turns out, it is just a fancy term for lots of diamonds. I have found a new confidence to ask the so called "stupid" questions. I am now asking all the time. I have found out the most interesting things.. everywhere. How many other people wonder but are afraid to ask? I have decided asking questions makes you curious not stupid. Well, Jill got her wedding ring and the new sales associate got her sale, and the wall of salesman learned a valuable lesson about sizing up the rift raft who are now "povaide". So pretty woman.

sister vacation

I am coming off my seven day vacation and I am feeling exhausted. Vacations are not for rest and relaxation. I spent four fantastic days with my sisters then three days in the quiet on my own in paradise. Two different vacations wrapped up into one. The first four I spend behaving like I was not 43 and the last three behaving like I was. Being on vacation by yourself is an interesting thing, I learned that I like my own company, which is a plus when you can't get away. It also required some fearless behavior, like getting dressed up and going out for dinner all by myself. At one restaurant I requested a table for one and the hostess apologized. I am not sure for what, but for some reason I felt the need to comfort her for my single status. You really can never explain to someone that being single does not mean being lonely.