These are a Few of My Favorite Things...

I have two very favorite places to visit. One being the A.C. Moore Craft Store and the other being PetSmart. I know...this doesn't sound all that exciting or adventurous, but these places truly make me happy. I actually get excited when I wake up on a Saturday morning and plan my adventure to see what I can buy.

A.C. Moore is a death trap for me. Not only do I love crafts, but you can always find "stuff" for just $1.00. I went there last weekend and got a whole bag of "stuff"...Valentine's Day window clings, stamps, stuff to send my niece, wire cutters for a course I'll be taking on flower arranging, and of course the much needed magnetic paper pad for the refrigerator. Sad thing though...I awoke yesterday, got myself shower and dressed, and headed again to my store of choice. I actually went there to get a huge foil valentine for my door - the tackiest thing you would ever want to see - but non-the-less I had convinced myself that I truly needed it. This heart decoration was not on sale last week, and when the circular came out this week advertising it for just $3.99, another trip to the store was inevitable. When I got to the store, though, the large foil heart was just a ugly and shiny as it was last week...so I didn't buy it. I did shop, though, leaving with more stamps, more "stuff" for my niece (who is only 22 months by the way), another pad of paper, stuff to make Valentine's Day cards, a calligraphy pen, and various other "crapola". I'm sure that if I hadn't venture out to A.C. Moore that day I would have lived...although before I left, I couldn't have convinced myself of that.

Then there's PetSmart...the Disney World-of-stores for animal lovers. They have every brand of food, every type of bone, every outfit you would or could ever need for your dog (mine are all TOO big for outfits) and they even have an adopt-a-pet day on every Saturday. Yes...I have many PetSmart stories too tell...some funny, others quite stalker-like (me being the one who is doing the stalking - usually just hunting down the animals that are in the store and giving them all a pat on the head). I'll have to blog another day to share some of my funny antics about my adventures at PetSmart...but until then...on a scale of one through ten, these "places" are a few of my favorite things!

The Time Line...

I work in an elementary school with both regular-ed and special-ed students. In social studies, the other day, our assignment was to learn how to create a "time line." We browsed through our social studies books at the time lines of historical events...but the teacher that I collaborate with created a time line of his life (on the white board) to show the students how to order the events in our own lives. The problem...you should ask? Well, the teacher placed 1981 as the year he entered kindergarten. I marched right up to the board, drew a bell next to this same year, and proceeded to tell the class that this was the year that I got married. A little time warp here...a generation gap maybe? While I drew my wedding bell on the board I hummed the song "Here Comes the Bride," and saw the shock in the students eyes as they realized I was ALOT older then the teacher that I worked for.

I left school that day with an added burden to my mid-life crisis mood and knew it would be a long time until I put my dates on another person's time line. I woke up the next morning, though, with a new idea on this whole matter. I thought about the time line, and just how old I was in comparison to this other teacher. I realized then, that if I turned my time line into "lines that time created," (which I seem to have acquired a lot around my eyes) then my age didn't work against me but for me. My own little time line, on my face, may have been caused by some of my failures, but in whole, I think my lines of time are probably a true story of my richest successes.

How much a pound was that meat?

OK...so I haven't blogged in a few weeks. My excuse - I was waiting for my husband to reconfigure my daughter's old lap-top so that i didn't have to sit down in the family room with the desk top computer. I wanted the lap-top so I could sit upstairs, comfy and cozy on the couch...leisurely and author-like. Sure...does my excuse sound good enough?

I'm almost 50 (don't really want to admit that) and going through a sort-of mid-life crisis. My kids have all left home and my mommy time seems to have worn out its duty. I keep contemplating going back to school, taking an adult-ed course, starting a new hobby, and just trying to figure out where I fit into this vast universe. When I get home from work each day I am greeted, lovingly, by my four dogs, who seem to fill my need to take care of something at this point in my life. Now the kinda sad thing, though, is that I started dinner early today (breaded Italian chicken cutlets) just so I would have meat to cut up to put in the dogs dinner tonight. Now tell me...why am I coming home from work and starting dinner just so that my dogs have something delicious to eat? Not quite sure about that! But the worst thing was when my husband, who I dearly appreciate, went grocery shopping for me this weekend, and came home with hamburger meat that cost $5.19 a pound. "How much a pound was that meat?" I yelled. Once I realized that he bought the prime rib of hamburger meat I decided that he was definitely going to be the one to do the shopping from now on as I thought that I could get use to eating like a queen. At that point, I started dinner early, so the dogs could have something good in their food that night. OK...what is wrong with this picture? Mid-life crisis, nesting syndrome...or just a crazy love of my animals!! I think I better get my act together and figure out what to do with the rest of my life...besides cooking for my dogs. Any way you look at it though...that hamburger meat sure cost a lot!

Those Handy Hotels...

Have you ever been on vacation and stayed in a hotel with one of those great "free" breakfasts that are included in the price of your room? Well, I'm here right now...visiting my sister in Michigan, and our hotel has a quite delicious all-you-can-eat free breakfast menu. Yes, they not only have coffee, tea, juices and the regular choices of dry cereals...but you may also choose several flavors of yogurts, cin-a-buns, donuts, eggs, french toast, bagels, and a partridge in a pear tree (I think)! Well, what this hotel didn't count on was the four of us (I am here with a few family members) and myself having breakfast every morning and then taking a "second" breakfast with us to my sister's house to share with the rest of the crew. Is this honest...I'm not so sure...but it sure does come in handy when you are hungry, and have a multitude of food available at your fingertips that costs you nothing. Share the wealth...that's my motto - but I'm not quite sure I should be doing it at the expense of the poor hotel that I'm staying in. Sorry...but those cin-a-buns are just too tempting!

A New Beginning...

O.K. - so I've finally decided to start blogging. Yes, I have advanced into the era of almost-2008, and my sister got me interested in this most appealing journaling online. Now, I'm not quite sure what to write yet, but I'm willing to step outside of my box and take the first step. Yes, I am willing to take the first jump...and I've heard from a very wise dog that it's okay to miss the bed on the first jump. If you do miss the bed...just try again. I'm sure that blogging is much like aiming for the bed, and I will have to try, try again to be successful. I'm sure that blogging will be comfortable for me, just like my bed is, once I finally land there!