Checking it twice

Last week Pepper bused to a mega once a year shoe sale. All name brand   high end shoes for dirt cheap. The women were crazed hoarding piles of foot fitting candy. I have no desire to fight a crowd for shoes thank you very much. Not a parking spot to be found when I picked her up. 

This year it was all sales final. In past years women would buy forty pairs then return thirty nine. So they changed the policy. She found a pair of comfy rocket dog high wedgie forties style Mary janes. The clerks all but kissed her when she asked a non shoe related question. Why are people so insanely rude over material possessions? 

We decided to split a burger for lunch.  Asking the guy at our favorite burger joint  if there were any deals, politely, three times. I still couldn't understand what he said. In the end it was "  no deals today." We drive around the corner, on the side of the building a big poster advertising a deal, almost half the price. Annoyed we feel duped, feeding each others anger about the Tuesday special we're missing out on. One car length    from the window I  psyche myself up for the big " WE WANT THE DEAL" talk.  My daughter is more upset than me. I Iook to the poster again, then back at her,  pause  while she finishes her rant. Then trying to contain my self I tell her "It's NOT TUESDAY!!!"  We both burst into hysterics!!!  Not gunna lie, I rather enjoyed being wrong before I hit that window and make a total ass of myself!!!

Sunday Scribblings "Dinner"

Sunday Scribblings Prompt this week is "Dinner"

Dinner

She’s tucked in a booth with girlfriends
when the ex and  his partner wander  in
Plunk  down at the table near by
Discretely eying his every move she chatters on,

hiding acute discomfort behind the half smile

My back shields me  from the face of ugly memories
unreasonable wrath and bullish behavior ,
I’m reprieved  from acknowledging his presence

Warding off any chance eye contact

Hoping he will dine, and disappear

 
We  laugh and joke, forgetting for the moment
The hue of hostile history a few tables away
A late comer from our party straggles in
Greeting him like a comrade in high esteem
Reiterating too many times, excitement at seeing him

Flabbergasted, my contained  ire escalates,  
Have years wiped out his dreadful behavior?
Does time diminish abuse, or erase a perpetrators history?
If a child or animal were battered would we greet the attacker 
like a pal, writing off the  injustice ?  I’m perplexed!

Has time muddied the truth of those stormy nights
huddled, fearful in the dark of power outages?
When the innocence  of  a sweet mother fell into hibernation
To  ward off  the wolf who gobbled  her youth
And left her with a mountain of angst and cubs to raise.

We munched away on dinner, making more small talk
I’ve not forgotten the bully who badgered a friend,
the crime is not abolished in my mind

Theft of trust, youth, hope, security,  

Friendly as he may appear, I'll say it here

"He is NOT vindicated!!!!"

Powder room

 Acrylic done for the powder room

 The bulk of  the floor renovations are almost done. A bit of chaos to put right,  finishing bits to place and seventy five percent of the floors are done. Eventually we'll

tile the kitchen, entrance way and all the bathrooms then re carpet the bedrooms.  I seriously think it would be easier to build from scratch than refurbish.  In the next couple of weeks I'll post some photos.

On a lighter note there are more crazy signs of aging.    I was at our corner market the other day with Bryan.  Heading through the check stand I overheard two young girls talking about booking a trip to New Zealand. I couldn't contain myself. Jumping into their conversation, I  mentioned that my friends daughter just went five days ago for flying school.  Bryan asked me if I just said "flying school"..then  corrected my mistake,  telling the girls that it was skydiving school she was attending... Glad he was there to save my butt!  Today while bathing I had a loud giggle to myself. I can only imagine what they must have thought.....Nut case....I should have said " yeah I bought her a wand too, cause when she graduates, she'll be a full fledge fairy!!!"

Lovable Sweetie

Yesterday I hung out with Bryan’s precocious four year old niece. I love how children are unedited.  What a doll this child is. Together we created the above cartoon character on the computer paint program. She chose all the clothes and colors to her liking.  Everything was specific, the words on her shirt, the same striped socks she was wearing, down to her favorite tone of pink. Which she noted was slightly different than what she was wearing but exactly how she liked it. She wanted a round face like the angels on my wall, with dark hair, she's a natural blond.  Every time I did something to her agreement, she’d drag out the word P---E---RRRR—FECT in her exuberant voice.

She played delicately on our piano, it sounded lovely unlike most children who bang on it!    Like her uncle  she tends to put  intonations on different syllables than the average person. When she speaks it’s melodic and happy. She seems excited about every tiny thing she learns. Observant in every way she’s an interested remarkable little girl. Today I found my self mimicking    P---E---RRRR—FECT with the same inflection   she uses. This bright little spirit is a born leader. Can’t wait to see what kind of disease she cures, or sonata she writes, or building she constructs.One thing I know for sure,  this kid is special and will go far…did I mention she’s super lovable too!! Who says babies can’t teach you things!!! 

So grateful while living in Chaos

 
I had my paints out to finish a few  canvases, Bryan bought wood for a window seat he's been itching to build when  we get the call the guys coming in three days to lay hardwood in the family room, kitchen eating area. 

Oh man, with Bryan working full time  it was a huge struggle  to move furniture putting felt on each piece not to scratch our  living room floor,  pull the carpets, the moldings and part of the lino in three days. But the man, marvel that he is, did it!  With   ibprophen as his best friend, taking the edge off joint pain. 

Every  morning   I forget we have no family room or T.V. hooked up downstairs.  I miss my cozy space where I plop myself down to eat my bowl of multigrain cheerios with that first scrumptious cup of roasted ground beans! 

On a good note,    I am incredibly grateful for  the   wonderful sectional brownie pan I received from my dear blog friend, scrabble partner Queensize funny bone....what a doll, I had no idea it was coming and cried with delight when I opened it. Unfortunately with all the dust blowing around in the kitchen we haven't been able to bake any yet! I have a feeling it will be very soon though! I'll post a photo a soon as Pepper does, she wants to Christen it!

I also received a parcel from my blog friend Keith  in England. He sent me copy of the antics he wrote about his friend Rosy, along with my new favorite mug sporting  the illustration I created of her.  It's a pretty quick read although I've only had time for half of it, I couldn't stop smiling   with every chapter. Rosey is such a hilarious fun character, I have to choose my words carefully  because she reads my blog. But this young woman see's the world through some what naive eyes which makes her so  endearing!  She reminds me of a character from my favorite  English Carry On gang in the seventies!  It's been a glorious week of unexpected welcome surprises, yet my house is a haberdashery of chaos! Now there's a word for ya!

Sunday Scribblings "Deadline"

 1996 My dogs Puppies, Harmony and Chance

Sunday Scribblings " Deadlines"
They were late posting too!

Deadlines, and time in general are not my forte. I’ve worn watches but only  around my neck  out of necessity. I have terrible time management. Yet in previous years I accomplished more than most .  Living on  four hours sleep for years. When I finally crashed, I was forced to reimburse the  sleep bank , and have been doing so for a long time now.  

Not sure if it’s a rebel spirit in me, or self sabotage, except for anything pertaining to my daughter I am usually late.   When she was a toddler I made a conscience decision not to burden her with my  tardiness habit, (inherited from my mother).  Consequently my child’s not been late for work or school on my watch. As a conscientious mother  I would also  arrive  early to collect her from any event.

For some reason I’m unable to time things correctly  for myself.  I excel at many things,  deadlines and time are not one of them. Before my  dogs passed  they were my  excuse for chronic lateness. Truthfully there was always some mini catastrophe  as I was about to walk out the door. Whether I  tripped  over them with a special dip in  hand, spilled their water, had to clean muddy feet after a jaunt outside, or heaven forbid the last minute poopy bum  I was  forced to address before my exit….in fact I think that one  happened too often during  my thirty five year stint as a dog owner.  (Note to self, something you don’t miss about not having a dog)

However there are certain  things  I’m never late for, court dates, crucial appointments, and the hairdresser. Only because it could affect others in a detrimental way. Nothing worse than a furious hairdresser holding scissors against tresses.  Nothing makes a hairdresser more annoyed than when you put all her appointments behind schedule. If you've ever had a bad hair cut, think back if you were late!

I’m expected to be late where ever I go,  I never disappoint. In my defense I am quite vain about my appearance liking things to be just right when I leave. Maybe it’s a numbers thing, you know how much I  abhor those. I always think I have more time than I do!  I can’t seem to figure  in red lights, traffic jams, and  other unforeseen delays, like no thru roads.  Yes deadlines are not my friend I get frustrated with those who arrive early and throw me off my game! Some say being late is ignorant…I’m never hours late….just perpetually a bit late! You tell me, what’s my problem???

P.S. I've even had people lie about the time I was to arrive telling me a half hour earlier to get me there on time!  I know, THAT'S........ BAAAAAD!!!

Pass it on

 It's chilly yet sunny out today, hard to believe this was taken 

March 6th, 2010, very early blossom arrival

Finally pulled my paints out late last night  to revamp a large canvas in my powder room. Needs one more session to be completed then  I just may like it. Maybe it's the  kick start I needed towards consistent creating!  I'll post it soon.

My very together  hiker friend mentioned how it seems more difficult to get a dinner together now than it did when she was young.  I am pretty darn fast in the kitchen, but my heart is rarely in it  anymore. There was a day when I had company weekly, I'd put on the Ritz too. Scallop St Jacque, special coffees, and yummy well thought out meals.  I can barely think of anything new to cook to save my soul. I am slow at organizing now.  So coordinating a clean house with a good meal can be overwhelming. Which I only take on with the kids help. If I lived alone I'd probably only have one person over at a time, maybe two. On my own I'd eat completely different too.  More seafood, sandwiches, and leftovers. I'd probably have more lean cuisine type meals too, because cooking doesn't interest me the same anymore!

Last week I had a friend over, we had wine and coffee. Pepper put out freshly made chocolate cupcakes, there were jelly beans and chocolate eggs. My friend was on lent, giving up chocolate for forty days. It didn't even occur to me to put something more out until she was gone. Then I felt stupid, because she is such a good hostess and I used to be. I think there comes a time, when we just have to pass the torch to our kids, and the younger folk. Sadly I have too many brain farts to proudly get a big meal together the way I used to. I was hoping it would eventually pass, but my friend is seven years older.....not sure that gives me much hope!

New Header

I'm in a bit of a funk lately so I thought I'd try and change things up to get me out of my stooper. Hence the  new header that I'm not that thrilled with. I  wonder if these lulls aren't just time to rejuvenate, gather information and inspiration. It's so easy to get into bad habits, Like playing daily facebook scrabble words, feeling unattached to the game.  It wasn't until firefox kept booting me off scrabble, and internet explorer was painlessly slow to load did I notice I didn't really miss it.  Winning seems to have no feeling of satisfaction either. There is just too much of a disconnection from my opponent. It became a time consuming habit....after countless tries to get on the board to no avail, I've given up. I feel slightly guilty, that I can't finish my games having left my friends waiting for my return. Seriously though, it would be much more productive for me to paint or write instead. So for now, I'm back on wordbiz to get a quick full game fix, taking  a look at some projects on my list, and maybe blog daily. My  blather may be boring until I'm able to get my groove back! Ho hum.....