Wine & Cheese ~ 62nd Serving

Romantic lunch setting with wine and food for twoWelcome to Wine & Cheese, my weekly, Wednesday whine session.

Many weeks on Wednesday I devote a blog to whining.

Despite being a really happy, positive person, I do have things that annoy me at times.

I never let anything grate on my nerves for long but thought it would be fun to vent them periodically in my blogs.

I also feel that good things, the cheese in life, should be acknowledged as well. I’m even going to throw in a bit of dessert, a piece of virtual chocolate, something that made me laugh or smile just a bit more than normal.

If you’d like to read the past editions of Wine & Cheese just click HERE for all of the past postings. Sit back and join me now for the 62nd  serving of some wine and cheese!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

WINE

:(  I am most unhappy with myself at the moment.  I logged in to my Sparkpeople account and was very disappointed in myself.  I had set a goal to get the weight off by my 50th birthday…and I failed.  Mostly because I never bothered to TRY to get it off.  I grew very comfy with the ‘curvy’ me that so many men tell me they like.  But I know it is not healthy and with high blood pressure and heart disease floating in the family, not to mention cancer of a few forms, I need to stop ignoring that my being a few pounds over weight is NOT a good thing.  There is nothing sexy about  poor health.

:(  I forgot my running shoes today.  I don’t run, but I do love to walk and when I was shopping for good shoes the folks in the running store fixed me up with these saying it would be better for me support wise etc.  I meant to bring them so I could walk at lunch.  I have on my work tennis shoes but those aren’t supportive enough.

:(  I just looked up my nightly glass of wine to see how many calories it has, and I’m not happy.  A 4oz glass (seriously who has a 4 ounce glass of wine?? that is a sip!) has 80 calories.  I’ll not be indulging in that for a while.

CHEESE

:)  To make it easier to stay motivated to get the weight off, the 3 oldest of us in the Diva Den are in a friendly little competition of Biggest Loser.  Mom and Boo are doing it through work, I am going up against them at the home front.  I plan to win.

:)  I had such a yummy lunch today!  Subway is just down the street so I opted for a 6 inch sub, building my own online to make it fit my calorie plan before I went to buy it.  Gotta love technology

:)  I love the perks of my job.  Not only my own office, blue jeans is acceptable attire, but I also have a 26″ HD flat screen in my office.  I’m munching lunch, watching the Reds game, and can watch all day if I like while I work.

:)  It is such a beautiful day outside!  I’ve got the office front door propped open, can hear the trains nearby, birds singing, this is really sweet!

DESSERT

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Farting In The Shower

farting-kittenBefore anyone panics, this is NOT a post about flatulence, at least not the bodily function.  It is more just an out pouring of what is rolling around in my brain of late.  Which, by the way, can be every bit as frightening to open up for a peek inside as what one will encounter after someone has farted in the shower.  Some days, equally offensive, no doubt about it.

And heck, we all know with a title like “Farting In The Shower”, more than a few of you high tailed it on over here to read this post because you simply couldn’t resist….sickos!

Did you have one of those weekends that just took it’s time going by?  I love those!  Time did NOT fly when I was having a great time and I’m so thankful for that.  I spent all day Saturday (close to 13 hours) with my friend who shall be known as the Teddy Bear.  Make no mistake, within that adorable, teddy bear exterior there is a grizzly bear.  But unless absolutely necessary, he is a gentle giant.  We met some years ago on a dating site and a friendship began.  We’ve been trying to get together but schedules were being most uncooperative until this past weekend.  But that is another post, it was too nice a time to fall in under a blog post title containing the word “Fart”.

Could someone please tell me what the fascination is with the show, “Duck Dynasty”???  I admit that I only watched about 10 minutes of one episode before scrambling for the remote.  I would have rather watched grass grow than another minute of that insanity.  Maybe I should have stayed with it?  I cannot imagine what draws anyone to it, so please, enlighten me.

*SIGH* It is only 7:13pm, too early to be sipping wine so I’ll have to stick to a cup of coffee for now.

Honey-Boo-Boos-Mother-has-a-BoyfriendSometime in the past year or so, I saw this lovely photo moving around Facebook.  At first I found it rather amusing, especially coming out of a divorce and several heart breaks since the end of the 22 year marriage to Lord Voldemort.  I had slammed on the breaks in dating and relationship land, vowing to remain single for a full year to rediscover me.  I am growing used to the idea that no one keeps me and that would tend to lead any normal person to believe that perhaps they are somehow flawed or unlovable.  Or both.  Though really, Honey Boo Boo’s mama has a boyfriend…someone is keeping her!  Granted, she is likely quite well off with all this reality show life they live so the man would be a fool to toss her aside.  Then again, he has to look at her, and be with that woman as she belches and farts on a regular basis and does disgusting things like chews food and then hangs her mouth open to give a view of it all.  I may have my flaws, but holy mother of all things real, I’m not that bad!

As if that isn’t enough, today on the commute home, I’m listening to the radio and it is the entertainment news update.  The headlines: Honey Boo Boo’s mama and her boyfriend, Sugar Bear, who also happens to be Boo Boo’s baby daddy, GOT MARRIED!   In a wedding complete with a camo wedding gown.  Someone please tell me that he married her for the money, that she is his sugar mama.

923163_10200263105398770_1205204837_nI’m seriously a bit concerned here.  Just this weekend I was told I am: sexy, cute as a button, fun, intelligent.  And yet I remain single while Honey Boo Boo’s mother is M-A-R-R-I-E-D.  Has the world gone off it’s rails entirely????

I can deal with the whole turning 50 in less than 2 weeks, even embracing it to be honest.

I am comfy with the fact that I now view life through bifocal glasses, and that if I get contacts again, for distance, I will need to purchase readers or wear bifocal contacts.

I was even able to find the humor in receiving a temporary AARP card and application in the mail.

What I am struggling with is the idea that me, the woman who loved her husband with every cell of my being, with every part of my heart, that adored the man, still got excited at his touch and butterflies in my stomach when he came home, who is certainly far from ugly or disgusting, yet is adored by men then tossed aside once they have my heart (which by the way is never easily given),  is single and seemingly destined to be a crazy cat lady!  I did not sign up for this, could someone kindly show me where the customer service desk is, I’d like a refund!

935647_512630128785121_734655800_nOR maybe, just maybe, the problem is not me?

Maybe I am really the amazing woman I was told that I am by all those men who have since walked away, and it is simply that they cannot handle (read: control) me because I am anything but easy?  And therefore, in reality, they were not at all worth it?

Hmmm….I think NOW it is time for that glass of wine.

Wine & Cheese ~ 61st Serving

iStock_000003890177XSmallWelcome to Wine & Cheese, my weekly, Wednesday whine session.

Many weeks on Wednesday I devote a blog to whining.

Despite being a really happy, positive person, I do have things that annoy me at times.

I never let anything grate on my nerves for long but thought it would be fun to vent them periodically in my blogs.

I also feel that good things, the cheese in life, should be acknowledged as well. I’m even going to throw in a bit of dessert, a piece of virtual chocolate, something that made me laugh or smile just a bit more than normal.

If you’d like to read the past editions of Wine & Cheese just click HERE for all of the past postings. Sit back and join me now for the 60th  serving of some wine and cheese!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

WINE

:(  I have been SO busy that I’ve neglected my blog.  It isn’t an intentional thing, only that it isn’t as big a priority as getting work done for my full time job and Avon business.  But hoping that I can fix that this weekend by writing ahead a bit and using the schedule feature to get things posted.  I miss writing!

:(  Where is Spring???  I am so tired of being cold, having my nose run, having to scrape my car off and warm it up in the mornings.  I want to roll the windows down and feel the breeze, get on a Harley and be someone’s fender fluff, sleep with the windows open in my room.

:(  My favorite TV shows are all coming to the end of their seasons.  This is both good and bad.  Good in that I won’t have to try to squeeze those in from Prime Time On Demand, bad in that, well…I’ll miss Daryl on The Walking Dead.

CHEESE

:)  I am loving my job!!!  I didn’t think I would like being back behind a desk and computer but it is SO much more than that!  It is an awesome feeling when you are helping people who have watched their lives turned on end in minutes due to fire, flood or storms.  Knowing that what we do restores their homes and memories is a super way to spend the day, and our days fly by!

:)  I keep being mistaken for being some years younger, and even asked a few times recently if I am my daughter’s sister.  I am not going to lie, I totally embrace turning 50, my new bi-focal glasses etc, but it does the ego very much good to be guessed or assumed younger!   I credit my skin care regimen!  You can read about that on my beauty blog.

:)  It’s Wednesday!  Middle of the week and we can see Friday if we stand on our toes!  YIPPIEEEEEEE!!!

DESSERT

Oh SO guilty!!!

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Day 8 ~ 30 Days Of Thankfulness 2012

Today I am thankful for my kids.  Both are amazing adults, amazing people and have amazing hearts.

Both have become people I am very proud of!

In their own unique ways they never fail to cheer me up, make me laugh til my sides hurt and I’m crying.

Both would give a stranger the shirt off their backs, and both have reached out to help the under dogs in life.

They both had dreams for jobs and went after them, never looking back.

I love you both, you are major lights in my life, and I’m so very thankful to have you.

Things That Go Fuzzy In The Night

No, not things that go ‘bump’ in the night, though thanks to things going fuzzy there was plenty of bumping going on.  I mean fuzzy, as in my cat’s very favorite toy.  Her Fuzzy.  I don’t know what else to call it other than a fuzzy, as that is what it is, a little fuzzy thing.   She hides it between the wall and the dresser to keep the other cats from getting to it.  So far back in fact that she cannot get to it either.  I have to stick a ruler or hanger back there to retrieve it when she wants it.  Well until the other day, not sure where she had it hidden but it was somewhere under my bed.

During the night, around midnight, I woke up to what felt like demons under the bed.  Pixel was under there digging around for what I later would learn was her Fuzzy.  I drifted off to sleep again only to wake to the bumping noises as she was playing kitty cat soccer with her Fuzzy behind the desk, under the desk, under night stand, under the bed, and on and on.  I got fed up and crawled down on the floor, found Fuzzy and got back in bed.  With Fuzzy clenched in my hand I started to drift off to sleep again.  I felt whiskers, then she licked my fingers, then she started to paw at my fingers in an attempt to get to her Fuzzy.  I guess I fell asleep because later I woke to the bumps in the night…again.

I am a patient woman but this was getting to be a bit much.  Kitty soccer and then she was in the bag with a blanket I’m working on, then out of the bag and I had just about enough again.  I crawled out one more time, this time taking Fuzzy and when I got back in bed, it went under the pillow.  Pixel hunted high and low around the bed until she realized where it was, then she climbed up on my pillows and stared down at me like a furry vulture for a while.  When that didn’t work, she curled up next  to me, never  taking her eyes off me until she fell asleep.  She was still there this morning waiting for me to give  her back her Fuzzy.  Now she is curled up on the bed, sleeping  on the spot on my blanket where Fuzzy is safely hidden underneath so the other cats cannot find it.

I wish I could get that focused on any one area in my life!

Fuzzy

Wine & Cheese ~ 55th Serving

Welcome to Wine & Cheese, my weekly, Wednesday whine session.

Many weeks on Wednesday I devote a blog to whining. Despite being a really happy, positive person, I do have things that annoy me at times.

I never let anything grate on my nerves for long but thought it would be fun to vent them periodically in my blogs.

I also feel that good things, the cheese in life, should be acknowledged as well.

I’m even going to throw in a bit of dessert, a piece of virtual chocolate, something that made me laugh or smile just a bit more than normal.

If you’d like to read the past editions of Wine & Cheese just click HERE for all of the past postings.

Sit back and join me now for the 55th  serving of some wine and cheese!

~*~ ~*~ ~*~

WINE

:(  Where are the road crews??? I am so sick of driving on rough pavement!  It isn’t pot holes, this is pavement that is all beat up and bumpy, and frankly is so annoying.  Makes the car feel like there might be a flat tire or something.

:(  The new kids on the street seem like a nice bunch, except they have no apparent boundaries.  They just ride their bikes through yards, go into front and back yards of folks they don’t even know, and don’t seem like they get it that when a car is coming down the street, THEY need to move.  My parents would have had a canary if we did stuff like that!  And even my own kids, they knew better than to ride their bikes through someone’s yard or go nosing around other’s property.

:(  Pledge drives on the radio are SO annoying.  Don’t get me wrong, I get that it is necessary to keep a good station like KLOVE on the air, but when I’m cruising along in the car I need music, songs I can sing along too.  It is the only time I get to sing loudly without scaring anyone.

CHEESE

:)  I love my job.  Really love it!  Not only do I make money selling Avon, but I get to help others who need some extra income or a new career to launch themselves toward financial freedom.  I also get to meet and hang out with some of the most awesome women, and a few good men.  Never hurts that I get a sweet discount on products.  Why pay retail when you can get it wholesale?

:)  My allergies are improving thanks to Benadryl now.  I gave up on all the other stuff and just started taking that and it has helped SO much.  I can breathe.  And my cat can hang with me again and not make me sneeze or stuff up my nose.  Which is super nice because we have a routine each night and morning where she comes for a love fest of head and chin scratches and purrs her little whiskers off over all the attention.  Then at night she goes and snuggles against my leg.

:)  The trees are changing, and while I don’t care for the chill in the air, I love all the colors and vivid blue skies that go with this time of the year.  And the smell of fireplaces burning.

:)  Prime time television programming is rocking my world lately.  All of my favorite shows are back on and I am SO loving that.  Especially Sons Of Anarchy.  It is a bit edgy but wow is it exceptional this season.  Kurt Sutter has out down himself this season with the writing of this story line.  Well worth staying up to watch each Tuesday even if it means I’m going to be dragging in the morning.

DESSERT

This is dedicated to both of my children.  My daughter who will get down on the floor at work, alone in a room with a very angry Rottweiler and have him all calmed down in a minute, and my son, the police officer who puts his life in harms way each shift…and yet they both scream like a girl over a tiny little house spider.  They are both into the whole Zombie Apocalypse and planning their teams for surviving it. Yeah, about that.

Monday Memos

Dear Neighbor,

I want to first tell you that I love animals, especially dogs, cats and deer.  The cats I am quite certain you’ve picked up on as there are 3 of them in this house and whenever there are open windows they all sit in the window watching the world (we call this kitty cat television with surround sound when the window is open).

You know I love dogs as I have been known to doggie sit my daughter’s little Yorkie, Penny, when she is away.  We’ve had the Akita on the back deck for a day too, though we regret that she was not allowed in the house as she views the cats as 4-legged snack food.   But I’m hijacking this memo….

I love deer, and that is one thing I dearly love about living in this house, the woods behind us and the deer that are often seen grazing in the back yard.

What I do NOT love is your obnoxious dog that never stops barking and has kept the deer away.  Put him out to do his business then bring his sorry, barking tail inside so we don’t have to hear him all day and the deer will return.

Kind Regards,

Growing Tired Of The Barking

:)

Dear Bengals,

That really was not an impressive game yesterday.  Last week’s win was not very pretty but then I’ll take a win any way we can have it.  But really, when you are down by 4 so close to the end of the game, is 4th down and 5 really NOT a good excuse to just freaking GO FOR IT????? What did you have to lose at that point?  SIGH, being a fan of your stripes is not easy most Sundays.  Please, get it together.

A disgruntled fan

P.S. – Bravo Colts!

:(

Dear Kurt Sutter,

I got hooked on your show after being an ‘old lady’ to a biker for a while who was a member of an outlaw motorcycle club.  I love the show, the realism of it all, but really, did it have to be Opie????  I suppose it IS realistic that way, but wow did not see that one coming!  I’m on the edge of my seat this season, cringing, crying, laughing and cheering on the bad boys each week.  By far this is the best season you’ve written.  I’ll forgive you for killing off main characters, as long as you leave Gemma, Tara and Jax alone.   I think we need more episodes of Jax & Juice without shirts on. *panting*

Sincerely,

A devoted Sons Of Anarchy Fan

:)

Dear FarmVille2

I hate you.  No offense but really I hate you.  I have a business to run, and while I’m out there building my team and trying to keep the business going, I’m back to worrying about crops withering in fields and chickens going hungry.  Please, help a farmer out here and get an app for that please!  At least then I can milk the cows while on the go!

Regretfully,

Farming Pixel Produce Again

:(

Dear Cyber Stalking Chick,

Shame on you!  I am told you lost someone to suicide who was a victim of being  bullied.  They also tell me you were under psychiatric care yourself for being a victim of bullying.  And now you are yourself a bully!  You should be ashamed of yourself!  By the way, be careful dear, not everyone is really your friend, and they have tossed you under the bus this time.  What  you are doing is  a crime, move on and fascinate someone else, my patience is wearing ever so thin.  Get a life that doesn’t involve me or mine.

Fed Up,

Time For Serious Legal Action

Dust Bunnies From Under The Couch

Last week while mom was in the hospital, my sister and I cleaned the house.  Oh I mean we REALLY cleaned the house.  As in moved the furniture and vacuumed, dusted, purged (read: threw out all the crap).  If you know anything of my sister-in-law from over at Martinis Needed, you know that her sweet, OCD self must have everything “Mr. Spiffy” clean.  For those not familiar with Mr. Spiffy, I recommend you watch the Backyardigan’s episode, “What’s Bugging You”.   We jokingly say it ain’t clean if it ain’t Angie clean.  Mr. Spiffy would likely fall short of her standards.  We were shooting for Angie Clean.  We came close!

It is always an adventure to move anything around here and look under it.  Assorted dust bunnies are a given, but with 3 cats also in residence, you will find secret stashes of their various stolen treasures.  One of the cats used to swipe coins from around the house and hide them under the rug in the kitchen.   That came to a halt when we discovered it a few too many times, and we’ve yet to locate her new hiding place.  Not sure if she was saving up for a bus trip to escape but she always had at least a few dollars in random change.  This time, we found not only cat treasures, but enough plastic food to stock a small, toddler grocery store.  Seems when I was in the childcare business here, the little people were shoving it under furniture.

Me and my granddaughter, Little Red, this past Monday.

Memories can be a lot like those dust bunnies, until you actually go looking for them or the couch of life is moved, you don’t know they are there.  My son, his wife, and my adorable granddaughter stopped over Monday for a visit.  HIJACKING: I absolutely LOVE being a grandma, best role in life EVER!!!  One reason being in order to be a grandparent you had to have been a parent, and I have the best kids.  *Return to Blog*  Somewhere the topic came up of our blood types and I mentioned I knew my son’s because it was on his crib card in the hospital.   He asked if I still had that so I went up and brought  down my memory box.  It is a wood box with a hinged lid that my brother, Yatz, made for me in high school.  I have special, “in case of fire” items in there.  I had to explain that means in case of fire in the house grab that box while exiting.  I have in there the outfits my kids came home from the hospital wearing, their crib cards, their bracelets, and countless other items.  My granddaughter had a lot of laughs looking at old photos of not only her daddy, but her uncles, aunt and grandma too.  It was a lot of fun going through that box again, and if your past photos popped up on Facebook, blame my son. :)

The winds of time blew the Long Beach dust bunny out from under the couch of life.  I know, very interesting timing.  Right in the middle of writing my post the other day about the Biker and I going our separate ways, I  received a text from him.   I didn’t even have his phone number anymore, was clueless at first who was messaging me.  Last time I had heard from him he was vowing to change my mind about all men being pigs, contrary to what the ex-husband told me, and I was dumping live piranhas in the mote and pulling up the drawbridge to this princess’s castle!  He had NOT changed my mind, by the way.   He tells me he is coming this way in a few weeks or so, to take me to dinner.  I will believe this when the food and the drink land in front of me on the table while I’m listening to him tell me about himself in his delightful, Irish accent.  If by some miracle this actually happens, I assure you there  will be a photo to prove it. (don’t hold your breath, dear readers, I’m certainly not!)

Another dust bunny was found beneath the couch of life today.  A former neighbor growing up (we’re talking when I was very young), found and commented on a blog post of mine. Pat is his name.  He used to live next  door and after hearing about the health of another former neighbor, dear sweet Annie, decided to look up our family and track us down to say hello.   A few shared remembrances there, very pleasant ride down memory lane again.

And here I thought I’d have nothing to write about today!

Soggy Doggies & Other Oddities

My sister and I were invited to attend a leadership trip to Avon’s Zanesville, Ohio, distribution plant today.  We had to leave home at 4:45am, so right about now (6:16pm) I am ready to pass out from exhaustion.  This was a total and complete honor for us, and OMG was this amazing!

As is usually the case with the two of us, we had entirely too much fun on the ride up there.

We stopped at a McDonald’s to grab more coffee and use the ladies room.  WOW, have things  changed since I had small children.  I closed the stall door to a spacious ‘potty’ spot, sat down and found myself looking at a chair mounted on the inside of the door, complete with straps.  Frankly that  kinda creeped me the heck out.   Oh don’t get me wrong, having had to use the bathroom with a small child in tow in my distant past, I get the need and the idea is really a good one as it keeps the little  crumb crunchers out of trouble in a germ infested area.  But my first, very sideways and wrong thought, was “oh, a midget bondage chair!”  Yes, I know, wrong and sick.  My Biker appreciated the sick humor when I shot him a picture of my view from the top of Mount  porcelain.

We got lost, sort of, thanks to mapquesting the directions.  We left the highway 2 exits too soon and the address turned out to be a high school.  But that is okay, because while driving through that area we found some rather interesting businesses.  One called the Splash And Dash car wash.  Next door to that is the Soggy Doggy pet groomer.  The topper was the strip bar in what appears to have been an old church.  Ice the cake with what appeared to be life size iron sheep, horses,  cowboys and some other barnyard critters on the one sidewalk, and well you have one very interesting little town.  We were in tears from laughing.

The rest of the day was, to us Avon reps, the beauty industry version of crack for druggies!  It is a fabulous distribution center, high tech, and totally amazing!  It makes me appreciate what I do for a living all the more.  It was a huge shot in my mojo.  Doesn’t hurt that all of us that went are a peppy group of ladies bursting with excitement for the brand, Avon.

See what one misses when they don’t run with a totally crazy person like myself?  :)

OMG! WTF?

I’m not even certain randomness is a word, though spell checker isn’t flagging it so I suppose that it is indeed.

I am SO thankful it is Friday.  Been missing my Biker this week, work and life getting in the way of our fun.  But the weather is going to be outstanding so my hope is a lot of throttle therapy.  Frankly I’d settle for some serious snuggle therapy and a few naps, I’m exhausted.

My vampire hours are back, oh the joy.  I expected it last night, between my mind being an over active jumble of thoughts and the Mucinex I took for my stuffy nose it was a sure fired way to be awake half the night.  When I was sleeping it was a lot of screwed up, fitful Twilight Zone style dreams I could have lived without.  It gave me plenty of time to lay there contemplating the bizarre  stuff I see in life that leaves my face contorted in  puzzled thought.

Example…do people not realize that when inside their car, unless they have tinted windows, they are still visible?    I’ve noticed a good number of people cleaning their ears with keys (not a safe practice by the way), shaving,  applying makeup, and picking their nose, examining what was extracted then snacking on said item (stomach turning), sneezing into their hands and wiping in  on the seat or their shirt sleeve…seriously people, knock that nasty crap off!

Ladies, unless your rear luggage rack is in excellent condition, do NOT wear white pants/shorts.  And under NO circumstances should you wear anything that is a mix of spandex.  Yes, curves are sexy to some men, like my honey.  Others, like the ex-spouse think twigs are hot.  Now, what I am about to say is acceptable coming from me, as I have a somewhat over sized load back there:  if you have a large caboose white pants do  not make you look fresh and summer like. They make you look like a major appliance that grew legs.  There is nothing appealing about looking like a refrigerator wrapped in white plastic.  Be comfy in your skin and all that, but  please learn how to dress in ways that compliment your curves.

Gentlemen…what is the fascination with reading in the bathroom???  It is the least comfortable place in any home or office and yet when they need to spend any amount of time in there, most every man I know grabs the sports page or a magazine and struts off  to the commode.  Shortly after the work day started and they had consumed their first cups of coffee, the guys in the office could all be seen making their way to the men’s room with a portion of the newspaper or a trade magazine under the arm.  Come on fellas, we all know what you are doing in there, and it ain’t going to smell pleasant, why would you want to linger over the baseball scores from last night?  Can you seriously not find a better place to call “the library”?  Especially when it is obviously a group activity based on the numbers entering.  If you need to be in there long enough to read anything of length perhaps you should consider an increase of fiber in your diet to move things along.  Get in, get out, and use some air freshner for the sake of all following you in there, please!

One last peeve…when standing in line at the grocery, thumbing through magazines, please do NOT LICK YOUR DAMN FINGERS to turn the page unless you are buying it!  That is just nasty and gross! Not to mention you may be picking up the germs left by the last digit-licker that browsed through it.  Same goes with wetting the finger tips to then count out paper money…you don’t know where those bills have been and that poor cashier  doesn’t want to handle the money after you’ve slimmed it.  Besides, she may give it to me, the next one in line, in my change and then I’m going to run you down with my shopping cart!

100 Marvelous Facts About Me

I’m in a totally fragmented, random kind of mood.  Nothing deep, just typically odd for me.  I’m freaky like that.  Some call me weird, I say gifted.   Regardless of how you define it, I’m so very unique.  Quirky, fun, funny, odd, sarcastic, kind, loving, forgiving….yeah like that.  I have NO idea where this is headed, just random things in my brain.  Consider it a peek into the garden, and be thankful. I don’t open that gate often to the world.

  1. If it is pink, it will catch my eye immediately.
  2. If by chance it is pink and has any amount of bling, I’m on it like a fat kid on a cupcake.
  3. I am fairly certain I am ADD, based on studies regarding stimulants & treating ADD, caffeine and adults.  I over consume but yet sleep even on a full pot of java.
  4. I am OCD about a few things…the bed has to be made for me to get in it, I will check the stove multiple times before I go out of the door, it may be hanging in the art museum but if a picture is crooked, I will straighten it.
  5. I mix my veggies in my mashed potatoes.
  6. Ketchup on roast = awesome.
  7. I snore.
  8. Everybody poops.  At least that is what the book claims, but I cannot prove it as I’ve yet to take a poll on the  matter.
  9. I am not an abstract thinker so I cannot do algebra.  I need concrete stuff to get my head wrapped around it.
  10. I have a big butt.  Hey, I do, why deny it. I can live with it.
  11. I have big boobs too, thanks to the ex and my surgeon.
  12. I love wind chimes.
  13. I think true beauty in a person is what they look like in the dark.
  14. If you don’t understand #13….you aren’t for me.
  15. Coffee is it’s own food group. So is chocolate.  Both are on the bottom of my food pyramid.
  16. One of my favorite things is chubby baby feet.
  17. I drink my coffee black.
  18. I prefer diet colas, cannot handle the sweetness of regular.
  19. I buy wine based on the amusing labels.  If it tastes good to me, I’ll buy it again. I don’t care about the price.
  20. I  just stopped in the middle of this to dust the box fan in my room because it needed it.
  21. I am afraid of the dark so I need a nightlight.
  22. I sleep with a teddy bear, wrapped around it just like a kid.
  23. I actually read and follow the washing instruction tags on all of my clothes.
  24. I only did the laundry when I was married because the ex did NOT read the tags.
  25. Tanning was a way to fight depression during the winter for me. I miss it.
  26. Procrastination is my middle name.
  27. My best work has always been accomplished at hour 11.5
  28. My cat always bathes herself before going to bed. I think this is wise, one just never knows….
  29. Grandma said wear clean undies in case you are in an accident…I just don’t bother wearing any, hee hee hee.
  30. I need a line item in my budget for over due library books.
  31. Reading is an addiction, I will get a quick fix reading shampoo bottles in the shower if necessary.
  32. My lucky number is 13.
  33. Don’t piss me off, you will end up in my novel.
  34. Christmas is my favorite time of the year/holiday.
  35. I despise being cold, but love snow for the beauty…from inside sipping coffee.
  36. I HATE surprise parties, do it and I WILL walk out.  Try me.
  37. Not real big on surprises at all to be honest.
  38. I believe in ‘ghosts’ and think some are demons, some are dead folks that won’t move on.
  39. I hate  wearing shoes, but don’t like being bare foot.  I go through a LOT of footie socks.
  40. I love tattoos.
  41. I have a nose ring, a small little ‘diamond’ but one day will have the real deal.
  42. I’m considering getting my eyebrow pierced.  I don’t really know why, just want too.
  43. Sometimes I spray pink in  my hair, because I LIKE it.
  44. I’m a reformed cat hater.
  45. I’m about 1 bad relationship away now from owning 12 cats.
  46. I am very allergic to cats.
  47. I own a cat.  We’re a package deal.
  48. I love post-it-notes, in anything adorable or pink, not because I  need them I just buy them cause they are cool.
  49. I love anything Hello Kitty, but I’m only just beginning to collect such items.
  50. I’m allergic to bee stings, not deathly, at least not yet, but it is progressing each time.
  51. I cannot, in conversation, just get to the point.  Believe me there is a reason for what color underwear someone was wearing in a retelling of a story that has nothing at all to do with ones drillies.  It makes sense to me so don’t interrupt.
  52. If I don’t write it in my planner/calendar,  it isn’t real likely to happen.
  53. I love the term “fartin shimmy” and I know what one is.
  54. My favorite flowers are equally lavender, pink and yellow roses.
  55. I gave someone a lap dance once to earn their beads – a really cool set of fire fighter ones.  No, you cannot have them.
  56. I’ve posed naked for photos (in my early/mid 40′s), they were published on 2 websites.  Yes I still have them. NO you may not see them.
  57. Because I’m afraid of the dark, very afraid, I keep a flashlight right by my bed. It needs NO batteries, and it’s a cat, eyes light up :)
  58. I’m terrified of storms when they get severe or loud.
  59. I’m terrified of fire, so I will not live in a house that I cannot easily escape from via windows that are not too high up.
  60. I change smoke alarm batteries far more often than necessary.
  61. I’ve been told I talk some in my sleep.  I wouldn’t know for sure, I’m asleep when this occurs.
  62. I have a piggy bank.  It is not pink, as this one matches my bedroom, but I actually do put money in it.  I love it.
  63. If what my ex tells me, that sexy is 90% attitude, then I ooze sexy from all of my pores.
  64. I want to live to be 100 years old.
  65. I’ve always gotten along better with men than women.
  66. My shower gel, body lotion, skin softner, deodorant and cologne…are all the same scent.  It’s just one way I roll.
  67. I don’t hold a grudge forever, even when I try.  I’m just too forgiving of a person.
  68. I prefer to be at peace with all people if at all possible.
  69. There are 2 people on the face of this earth that you can note a significant rise in blood pressure just by mentioning my name.  I’m powerful like that! :)
  70. I currently cannot see a damn thing. I own ‘hoopty’ spectacles.  One arm on my glasses broke and I’ve not replaced them or my contact lenses to date.  Another way I roll.
  71. Yes, I really was part of the swinger lifestyle once.
  72. It is very unlikely I will ever run for public office.  (see #56 and 71 – enough said)
  73. I don’t get emotionally attached to things anymore, as the ones that should have meant something (like my wedding rings etc) proved worthless in meaning.
  74. I am a reformed pack rat.
  75. “All a girl really wants is for one guy to prove to  her that they are not all the same.” ~ Marilyn Monroe.  I’m still waiting.
  76. I’m perfectly imperfect.
  77. I’m looking for the guy that will love every imperfect part of me, and find it all to be perfectly adorable and love worthy.
  78. Inside this woman that is so confident, sexy, brazen at times and fun on the outside, is an inner child that is shy, scared and needs to be loved unconditionally.
  79. I believe the minute you start finding fault with someone you ‘love’, you’ve begun applying conditions to your love, you show that you don’t love them, but want to mold them and control them.
  80. While I do enjoy being around people, a lot, I am somewhat of a loner at times too.
  81. < – that is the year I graduated from high school.
  82. I have been in 3 countries outside of the U.S.
  83. I’ve been in about 40 of the states in this country.
  84. There is SO much to see right here in the land I love that I would be happy just traveling around seeing it all here!
  85. I LOVE light houses.  My favorite is the one in Cape Hatteras.
  86. I believe that the beach is God’s therapy couch for us, and the sounds of the waves hitting the shore are the most soothing of stress.
  87. In 54 days  I will be 49 years old.  This bugs me way the hell more than turning 50 will.
  88. Every once in a while I enjoy reading a really trashy romance novel.
  89. I struggle with my weight, goes with being a Taurus…we love food.
  90. It’s important to me to be able to achieve my goals and be financially independent.  It isn’t that  I don’t want to be loved and cared for, but I never want to NEED a man to support me.
  91. No man ever keeps me.  They gain my heart, then suck my love dry  and leave me.
  92. I still believe in true love, the forever kind of love.  Just not sure it is meant for me.  Once  the infatuation wears off, they don’t really love me after all.
  93. My dream table would have at least 12 settings of china, each one different from the next.  Each a complete place setting, but no two alike.
  94. I’m working on my bucket list.  Not that I plan to die soon, I want to live to be 100, but time IS going forward.
  95. I enjoy all genres of music…the mood I am in or  I want  to be in, or the atmosphere I wish to create dictates what I am listening too.
  96. I hate plucking my eyebrows, it makes my eyes water like crazy, so I just shave them, CAREFULLY.
  97. Over the past 2 years I’ve learned that happiness is the journey, and a decision, not a destination.  No wonder I’m happy.
  98. I love my family something fierce.  I will protect them even if I don’t agree with their choices.
  99. Sometimes I sleep with music on softly on one of the music channels (Sound Scapes), it helps me unwind if I’m stressed out.
  100. This has not even put a scratch in the surface of who I  am….

#32 ~ 365 Reasons Being Single Rocks

Coffee – IS Good To The Last Drop

#32

No one takes the last cup of coffee, or ‘almost’ last cup, and leaves a swallow or an empty pot behind.

Nothing sucks like wanting a cup and discovering the last person (and only other person in the house that drinks coffee) took it all and didn’t make more.

Hot coffee, you always know exactly how much is left!

#27 ~ 365 Reasons Being Single Rocks!

Toilet Seat

#27

One nice thing about being single, male or female:

The toilet seat is always just as you left it!

Leave it up, it stays put.

Leave it down, and there it will be next time you use the bathroom.

Personally, I prefer to keep the lid closed, keeps cats from drinking from it and from knocking things IN to the commode.

#25 ~ 365 Reasons Being Single Rocks!

Tootsies!

#25

Seriously, when was the last time I painted my toes?

Hmmm…..before the camping trip I think, around Halloween.

See, I was dating The Count back then and so I kept the piggies all pretty.

Now that I am single?

Screw it, who cares?  Still a peek of red polish left on a few toes and I just don’t care!

Hot Flashes? Marriage? HELL NO!

I’m in like the 3rd week of daily doses of hot flashes.  This sucks.  Really it does.  I love summer, love warm to hot weather.  But walking around in my own mini-tropical climate has got to go.  I keep a hand fan nearby, and when I cannot find it any envelope, folded paper, Avon brochure will due.  Winter and there I sit at my desk, bedroom door closed so I can maintain my personal ice-box, made by opening my bedroom window.  The cats love it, they see it as full theater experience cat-television when they can sit in an open window.  But I think I’ve seen icicles hanging from their whiskers. Knowing my luck they’ll get pneumonia and die and I’ll be left with the guilt.

Thankfully I live with all women because more often than not, when I’m not babysitting, I’m parading around in a sport bra and pajama pants, fanning myself.  A truly magnificent sight, no doubt, especially with the beads of sweat running down the small of my back and between the twins.  I am I’m used to getting these in spurts of a week or two every so often over the years, but this time they seem to have moved in and paid advance rent for a while.  I’d love if I could purchase a few packages, say a years supply, of this mini-heatwave to have the karma bus drop off to all my ex-boyfriends and the ex-husbands.

Today is one of the weird weather days in these parts.  Actually seems weird pretty much all over the midwest.  It is January 17th, when we are supposed to have cold and maybe even snow.  Instead we had thunderstorms and it is 55 degrees outside at the moment.  Instead of blizzard or snow storm warnings, we have flood warnings.  Lovely.  It is NOT cooperating with my need to open the window in an effort to reduce the portable sauna I’m carrying around.

I think there is a conspiracy going on to make me retract my year of no relationships.  A few subtle types have tried to weigh things in their favor with “hey, let’s get some dinner, and a few beers sometime and chat”.  Sly devils, they know my weakness for food and adult beverages.  And then there is one known as Sir Lancelot who has pretty much just parked himself and his horse on the one side of the scale, a scale tipping over achiever.  I haven’t figured out how my granddaughter (well soon to be but to me she is already in my heart, why wait til the wedding?) fits into all this but if I didn’t know better I’d swear someone was slipping her payments to help their case. Today in the kitchen, she gave me a hug and the following conversation ensued:

Ryann:  I love you, grandma Marti

Little Red - full of mischief

Me:  I love you too Red.

Ryann:  You need to get married again.

Me:  Why would that be??? (trying  to mask the horrified look on my face, and shear terror at the word “married”)

Ryann:  Because you need a husband.

Me:  Why do I need a husband?????

Ryann:  Well, because you do, and then I’d have another grandpa!

It is tough but I had to tell her it is most unlikely that is on my horizon.  Not on my current agenda in life, and it requires finding Mr. MaybeRightThisTime and that spells heartache and well I don’t even want to go down that road of thought.  The fact that I have had a recurring dream for the 3rd night in the past week, about the ex-hubster and I reconciling and remarrying did not help her case.  In case you are wondering, hell is more likely to freeze over and the Mayans to be correct that December this year marks the end of the world, than me and the ex ever reconciling.  Once I was set free from that cage that I lived in while married, I REFUSE to ever go back inside.  My ex would not have me as I am, the REAL me, so no worries there folks.  He’ll find a much meaker, mild mannered woman to conform to his mold, and maybe one day I will find my white knight that prefers to enjoy this bird as she is, no clips, no cage.

Meanwhile, I’m just fanning myself and enjoying life as a single chick.  The bright pink one in the midst of the pale yellow ones.  Unique, wacky, quirky, sassy, crazy, nut-case and untamable.  The way I like it.  Marriage?? *shudder* Not likely kiddo, not likely.  I’m scared to death of getting in a relationship again.  Not only because I don’t want to have my heart broken but I’m also afraid of hurting someone else.  Why I’m not sure, as no one keeps me so I’m the one left hurting each time.  The very idea of being married again is enough to cause a panic attack of epic proportions and put me in the hospital.

#8 ~ 365 Reasons Being Single Rocks!

Mornings

#8

We’ve all seen the commercials for mouth washes that claim to rid us of morning breath.

The nice thing about being single means NO worries!

Cats and dogs seem intrigued by nasty morning muck mouth.

Others…not so much.

Being single means you can just breathe those green clouds with no mercy!

Secrets Under My Bed

I am very much in a mood to write today, but for some reason I cannot get my ADD brain to narrow down a topic.  I hate when this happens.  My fingers are dying to be typing away and my brain is a jumble.  Kind of like restless leg syndrome, only it’s restless finger syndrome, which just sounds ‘wrong’ on too many levels to call it that and idol hands are the devil’s workshop and…never mind.

I wish I could blame the inspiration issues on The Backyardigans but we’re not watching them of late as the baby I watch just isn’t quite into them yet.  I reached for a box of Table Topics in desperation for just ONE idea rather than the fragments floating around in my head.  Sadly, at 3am this morning when I woke up I had several great topics in mind.  I know, I should have written them down, but there was nothing handy except the white board on my closet door.  That meant getting out of the bed.  The bed on which the electric blanket resides, keeping me warm all night.  The bed that is SO comfortable that I can justify hitting my snooze alarm 10 times on any given morning so I don’t have to leave the warm, cozy place I don’t spend enough time in lately.  I was sure I’d remember what I had woke up thinking about.

Anyway, I promised myself I would write about whatever topic I pulled from that box.  I should really just not write because this could be a dangerous thing to do sometimes.  And believe me, it COULD have been very dangerous and yet oh so juicy, as I pulled the card that says, “What’s under your bed?”

Now I will be completely honest, I wasn’t sure.  I can feel my friend over at Martinis Needed cringing now, because under a lot of beds one will find clutter.  Three weeks ago I know that I had 3 rolls of Christmas wrapping paper under the bed…from Christmas 2010.  It served to be a good place to shove it in a hurry after wrapping gifts that year, on Christmas Eve, just before the entire family descended on the house.  After that it proved to be entertaining to the cats, because cats like things things that make crinkle noises.  Those rolls are no longer there, as I had to wrap things again this past Christmas and I used it all up. :)   But I never actually looked under the bed for the paper, because I could just reach under and feel it.  I wasn’t entirely sure there was not more until now.

I pulled my handy dandy, never needs batteries, black cat flash light off my vanity and got down on my hands and knees to have a look under the bed.  By the way, it never needs batteries because it  has a little lever that pops out on one side and you pump it up so to speak to charge it.  This thing is so cool because most of the time, when a flashlight is needed, Murphy’s Law dictates the batteries within are dead.  But back on track here as I’m hijacking my post.  Brace yourself, this is top secret stuff.

What is NOT under my bed:

There was no body. Shocking, I know, as I have 2 ex-husbands and a recent ex-boyfriend that is a pompous ass.

There are no dirty clothes. I actually put all my laundry in a hamper now, in my closet, and do my own wash.  SO unlike when I was a teenager and had to walk past the laundry shoot going to and from the shower and instead of sending the clothes down the hole to the basement laundry area, I shoved them under my bed like any logical teenager.  How else could I later have a fit over the fact that I had no clean clothes and blame my mother for losing them?  Not even a stray sock was under the bed now.  I only buy white, little footie socks, no hassle when it comes to mating those puppies.

Sorry dad, no dirty dishes, or cups of mold.  In high school I was working on discovering a cure for cancer and the development of a super antibiotic.  At least that is what my father would tell you.  Whenever there was a shortage of coffee cups he went to my room to find them.  I had a habit of getting a cup of milk and sugar with a little coffee (I drank java like daddy did), taking it to my room, drinking half and then forgetting it.  In an effort to find a clear spot on my desk to do homework, or the nightstand for another cup of coffee, I would stuff those cups all over the place.  Dishes too.  Never mind that I went up and down from my room to the kitchen a dozen times a day and could have taken the dirty dishes with me.  It is no small wonder we never had a problem with rodents or roaches.

No bizarre objects that cannot be defined, no hair ties (mine is too short to tie in anything), no pencils, pens, books, old mail, mismatched shoes….no none of the standard things you might find under any female’s bed.

What I found under my bed:

A power strip.  My phone charger cradle, 2 vanity lamps and a small fan on the vanity are plugged into it. The small fan because I’m moving about in an on again/off again personal, tropical climate known as hot flashes of late.

1 pair of slippers.  Not bad, as I own 3 pair.  I have to be coordinated even when it comes to sleepwear (even though single) so I have slippers to go with any of my jammies. Laugh, but when my fat butt is being carried out of a window due to a house fire, when you see the footage on the 11pm news  you’ll remark how cute I look in my PJ’s and matching slippers.  You know you will!

1 pair of running shoes.  I wear them for better support when walking.  I own several pair, but only one is under the bed, the rest are neatly in a shoe rack in the closet.

1 box fan.  Look, there is no where else to put that thing right now, so I layed it down and pushed it under the bed.

Yep that is it.  The deep, dark, naughty secrets of what one will find under the Marvelous One’s bed.  Nothing exciting, not even one of the cats.  Actually they are busy trying to figure out how to get in my closet, where mine recently discovered 2 very large, feather boas from costumes gone by.  She thinks she made the kill of the century when it comes to fowl and keeps trying to drag them away.

I’ll have to work on getting a body or two, or some blood evidence under there, something exciting at least.

Toilet Training Cats?

It is a running joke around here, since we have 3 cats, that it would be great if we could toilet train them.  One handles the litter box just fine.  One gets the general concept but when it comes to covering what she leaves behind…well she was orphaned shortly after birth so she wasn’t taught.  I’ve done all but get in the box and show her how this is done but face it, I wouldn’t fit.  We’re thankful she uses the litter box.  The third one? Well she is mentally challenged on her best days.  She digs the hole then stands in it and craps outside of the box onto the floor, then scoops litter OUT of the box onto her floor deposit to cover it.  Brilliant, eh?

So I decided today to look into the idea of actually toilet training our cats.  Heck we already have a phantom pooper (that person that never flushes but no one owns up to it), why not the cats?  Heck if we can train them to go maybe we can train them to flush too!  That would raise them above the phantom!

I actually thought it was a joke, as I really haven’t known of anyone that accomplished this feat.  But then I googled “toilet training cats” and found out that this can, in fact, be done.  Or at least according to the website and a number of videos it is successful.  I’m still skeptical but willing to look into it.  The first one I found, Litter Kwitter, has videos on it’s site to show how this is accomplished when you purchase their training kit for your cat.  For $49 you can buy it and frankly that is worth it if I never have to purchase litter again.  I have since found less expensive versions, as cheap as $16.  I’m totally wanting to believe this can be done.

I had to include the video, I just knew you’d want to know.  They even sell a special package for multi-cat households, like mine.

2012 – The Year Of Embracing ME!

I am SINGLE.

I love ME.

I do not need a relationship.

I am not looking for a relationship.

In fact, I’m looking to avoid a relationship at this point.

2012 – my year of JOY.  And part of that joy is going to be in being single.

One thing I learned after my divorce in 2010, I had lost me in the 22 years of being married.  We ALL do this in relationships.  HOSSO (he or she significant other) doesn’t like our nails with color on, so we get those nails done in a French manicure all of the time.  Those cute little airbrushed designs on the nails? Nope.  Tattoos, what you have is what you get, HOSSO doesn’t want you to get anymore, or maybe doesn’t care for your choice of designs so you don’t get the desired ink.  Feel there are situations where using the word FUCK is appropriate (outside of the bedroom)? HOSSO doesn’t like that word so you just don’t use it.

These are minor things really but over time we all make changes, burying parts of ourselves to please our HOSSO.  I looked in the mirror at the end of the marriage, after moving out, and realized the person looking back at me was a complete stranger.  Oh she looked familiar, but I didn’t really know her anymore.  I had buried so much of myself that I was a screwed up mix of a person that looked like I had melted in the kiln, I wasn’t recognizable any  longer.  Heck maybe that is why the marriage didn’t work out after 22 years, I kept trying to adapt to my HOSSO’s specifications instead of standing up and being ME from day one.

In peeling back those layers to find the real me underneath, I’ve learned a LOT.  Baggage is not a bad thing.  We all have baggage we drag through life.  You know what? I opened mine up and took a long hard look.  I even went as far as to pull out some of the items and put them back ON.  See, every experience in life is in those suitcases we pull along with us. It is who we are and it is not a bad thing to have baggage.  If we dumped it all, then all that is left is the empty shell of the vessel that is us.  The canvas would be white and blank and BORING!  I don’t want to be dull, I want to be ME.  And ME is in all of that baggage.

I’ve decided that in order to really free myself from any remaining layers piled on me, I need to take a year to just enjoy being Marti.  Marvelous, wacky, destined for old maid/crazy cat lady status, MARTI.  For 2012 I do not want a relationship.  I want to enjoy being just me. Not Marti & ______ (fill in the blank with whatever male counter part name).  I want to embrace being the odd woman out, the 5th wheel.  I have plenty of male friends I can go hang with for a football game, a beer, dinner or whatever.  But I do NOT want to date anyone, I don’t want to be known as anyone’s woman, girlfriend, or significant other.  Being single is my CHOICE.  I can have a relationship, long term if I so chose.  But my choice for now is to just be single, sassy, marvelous ME!

I’m going to start a new category and page on my blog, Sassy & Solo – reasons why being single ROCKS.

The Marvelously Sassy One! yes that will be my new, crazy cat lady name.  :)