Odd Coincidence

Lately when I'm describing wonderful and sweet Mr. B to someone, I get a flashback memory to, of all things, the Manchurian Candidate. Brainwashed Frank Sinatra was describing deranged Raymond Shaw as follows:

And to clarify, any similarities between what I say and the above quote are purely coincidental!

Cookies, Comedy, and Compliments

Today was a good day, even though it is a Tuesday masquerading as a Monday.

First off, one of my co-workers gave me two boxes of Girl Scout cookies, including thin mints, just because. Score!

Then, our new mail guy stopped by to drop off and pick up the mail. He's new, cute, and one of the office gals has an unrequited crush on him. I've never officially met him but today when I was making copies, he was grabbing the mail next to me. I said good morning, he did the same, and then he told me I looked very nice today. I said thank you. As he was leaving he said "actually every day."  That was unexpected and made me blush as I stammered out another thank you.  No, I'm not interested in thirty-something mail guy as I'm with sweet Mr. B but it was flattering.

The rest of the day was busy, busy, busy getting ready for a company meeting for all employees. The meeting turned out great, which included me saying a few words and participating in a skit. Being a ham with an audience feeds my inner stand up comedic soul.

Now here I sit, texting back and forth with Mr. B, lounging on the couch watching Bridget Jones The Edge of Reason, and eating thin mints.  Yep, it's been a very good day. 😊

Finally a Dent in the Clothing Nightmare!

This Sunday I finally began in earnest putting away my clothes. Ended up sorting them - tees, underwear, and clothes to be hung. That's as far as it went but that was a big task.  Also cleaned my main getting ready bathroom. It's a start!

Began developing a wicked bruise on my arm which I'm sure came from mowing the yard. Not sure how but something happened.

Spent sometime painting rocks today - a few for co-workers and some to hide. 

And that's it for my Sunday!!

It's the Little Things That Make a Big Difference

Saturday I slept in then did a bunch of running around before I had to get ready for Jordan's birthday dinner.  The plan was to meet at 4pm at Sizzler.

Well, of course I was running late with no chance of meeting later. I hopped in the shower about 3:10 and was on a mission. Fast makeup, then dried my hair into its natural mess as there was no time to straighten it. Threw a few iron  curls into the 'fro,  whipped on my clothes and screeched into the Sizz at 3:50. Gotta be a personal record for me.  I was the first one there. Jordan and Candy showed up quickly followed by Mr. B.

Introductions made then we went inside to order and visit. Mr. B actually got Jordan a card - with a cat on it, one of Jordy's favorite animals. It was unexpected and such a nice thing for him to do.

Dinner was fun and of course Jordan had me cracking up the whole time.

Dinner over I followed Mr. B to his place. Meanwhile, due to the heat and humidity, my hair seemed to be growing bigger and bigger. It had a life of its own!

Mr. B's place was very nice, landscaped, decor was tasteful, clean, and warm. I stayed over and we had a great time talking about everything under the sun. Before bed I saw that he had plugged my phone into a charger. This morning when I was leaving I told him he didn't have to walk me to the car and he said "of course I need to."

After not having had this kind of treatment for a long time, it is so wonderful to be with someone so thoughtful, kind, and genuine.  I could really get used to this! 😊

Today son Sam has been avoiding my text so I had to take matters into my own hands and mowed the front yard - with the bagger. Hot, sweaty, but the job is done and I can hold my head high in the neighborhood again. Only problem was the mower gas cap seems to have dissappeared.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day and I'm happy I took it off. Perhaps it will spur me on to hanging up my clothes. Perhaps.

Beach Please

The day off work and Friday to the beach was excellent!  Especially since we had awesome weather.

Forgot to cancel my 5:30 alarm so rose early as always. Got my coffee, cleaned the kitchen, then took my filthy car to the self service car wash.  Cleaned, vacuumed, threw out about 200 empty water bottles floating around in the rig, then washed it with the power spray. Car always looks so good when it's wet but once it dries...egads the dusty patches still left. Sprayed some Febreze along with stink pretty spray and it was good to go.

Off to Walmart I went then to Goodwill. Made it home, showered, primped then on my way to Mr. B.

We cruised to Long Beach all the way into Ocean Park. It was the start of the Memorial Day peninsula garage sale so we scoped out sales to hit on our way back.
Some sales were good and some were lame, ie cribs and baby clothes. Mr. B picked up a lamp and IPod shuffle while I found some wooden kite line holders, weather worn buoys and rope, and a license plate sign that reads Life is a Beach. The latter was from an older gentleman who appeared to spend all of his free time creating signs, bird houses, and keyrings out of license plates. It was cute and creative and of course I pass no judgment based upon my rock hobby. 😉

At the end of the day we had dinner at Roos, am Australian themed restaurant.  My dish was fish tacos and they were out of this world delish! Corn tortilla, tempura halibut, slaw, spicy sour cream, and a pickled pineapple salsa.  Gonna steal this recipe to make at home.

Was a great day with lots of conversation.  Tonight Mr. B will be joining us as we celebrate Jordan's birthday at Sizzler. And today is sunny once again, which always makes for a great weekend!

Hump Day Happenings

I hid my rocks around 7pm last night and before 8pm they were found!

Lazy evening this Wednesday as I browse Pinterest and avoid cleaning the kitchen. Will be a long day at work tomorrow as some VIPs are visiting so there will be lots of meetings followed up with a retirement party at 5pm for one of our directors.

Good news is I took Friday and possibly Monday off!  Friday will be heading to Long Beach with Mr. B.  Saturday night dinner with the kids and Mr. B to celebrate Jordan's birthday. Sunday and Monday relaxing, unless I decide to go into work on Monday. Looking forward to a fulfilling weekend!

Happy 24th Birthday Jordan

Happy 24th birthday today to my oldest son Jordan!!  Love you son!!

Clueless You Are

Oh some men can be so clueless!

I'm currently seeing Mr. B, who is sweet, kind, and cute. I took this Friday and Monday off from work so on Friday we are taking a road trip to Long Beach for the day. Can't wait!

Perhaps it's my pheromones that are in overdrive due to Mr. B, but my phone was blowing up today with texts from a variety of exes, dates, and psychos.

• Old Boyfriend sending text of "Hi Gorgeous" along with calling me.  Umm did you not get the memo it was over?

• Mr. Prolific Texter aka Crying Emoji Man texted me on Sunday to invite me to the Home and Garden show.  Um no. After all the crying emojis you sent me, do you still not understand I'm not interested?

• Car Guy the Ghoster texted me today. This was the dude with whom I talked with every day then disappeared after two dates. I even sacrificed a painted rock to him!  He texted me last week and I didn't respond. I responded to his text today, briefly. He then asked what I was doing on the weekend and proceeded to call me. Sorry Charlie - you had a chance and blew it. After his last text stating he wanted to talk to me, I responded with a simple "No thanks I'll pass."  Clueless!!

Yes, I'm venting.  Need to lasso my inner bitch and unfurl some whoop ass on these people.  However that's not my style. I initially take a kinder, gentler approach but these people are getting on my last nerve?

The First Screening Went Well

My new Mr. B came over Friday night. We watched movies and talked and he was able to meet Sam and Jimmy when they stopped by. Both later gave thumbs up on Mr. B, due to the fact he enjoys sports as well as comic book movies. For me he is, like myself, a trivia freak, including movie trivia.

Saturday I rode with him to Vancouver and we had lunch at Fat Daves, which I hadn't been to in forever. Super juicy burger which hit the spot.

It was a fun day and I'm learning more and more about him. No red flags yet and in fact the opposite is true - he is kind, caring, funny, intelligent, and a gentleman. I'm looking forward to more adventures with him. 😊

Mint and Apple Ice Tea

By happenstance or coincidence, my kitchen contained the ingredients necessary to make my favorite ice tea. Mint with apple juice.

I first tried this concoction many moons ago but I don't remember where. It's simply peppermint tea with apple juiced added to it. I make my ice tea, add Stevia, then put in the fridge to chill. When ready I add one part juice to three parts tea. So yummy!! You can top it with a mint leaf to get fancy; if you think I had that in my fridge you are beyond delirious!

May Not Be Pretty But It's Progress!

Finally gathered up the hootzpah to tackle the back yard. It was out of control and the spawn of my loins did not come over to mow it for their dear old mother, despite the significant amount of guilt tossed their way.  So I had no choice but to begin mowing it last night.

The evening was still warm so I left my shorts on and began to mow. It was a molasses job....stop and go slow.  Tried different mow maneuvers until I found the one that worked best - backwards. Made a dent in the rainforest before calling it quits.

Those shorts I wore? Wrong move. My legs were itchy all over; along with that my allergies from hell rose their ugly head so had to pop a Benadryl this morning. When I arose from my drug-induced coma, I felt refreshed enough to battle the yard again.

Left long sweatpants on this time. Did ya know hot weather and sweatpants weren't made for each other? Yep learned that nugget of knowledge today. However, with sheer will and determination the mower pressed on. After more than an hour, including ice tea breaks, it's almost done. As for me, I'm finished mowing for the day. A shower calls my name, at which point I can admire the lovely farmers tan sprouting on my face and arms.

Friday Here At Last!

TGIF!!

This weekend is gonna be sunny!! Life is good!!!

A Big NO

No, just say a big no to this look.

Coffee and Conversation

And here we go again. Had a coffee date last night with Mr. B. Lovely person - kind, giving, and a great listener.  Tall, super smile, and laughs a lot. We really hit it off and spent two hours talking about everything under the sun. Have a good vibe about this man. Ok, with my track record that may not be saying much but he seems to be a positive person.  Plus he is intelligent and can spell and use grammar correctly! What more could a gal ask for?

Here's a picture of last night's sky. Glorious!!

The Manipulator's 6 Steps to Idealization

Ran across the following describing how a psychopath works when it comes to dating.  Scary!!  Probably because I've been there, experienced that, and brought home the t-shirt!!

The Manipulator's 6 Steps to Idealization

The idealization phase in a psychopathic relationship will be unlike anything you’ve ever experienced. You will be swept off of your feet, lost in a passionate fantasy with someone who excites you on every level: emotionally, spiritually, and sexually. They will be the first thing on your mind when you wake up in the morning, waiting for their cheerful, funny texts to start your day. You will quickly find yourself planning a future with them—forgetting about the dull realities of life. None of that matters anymore. They’re the person you want to spend the rest of your life with.

While all of this is going on in your heart, their thoughts are occupied by something else entirely: “Good. It’s working.”

Psychopaths never truly feel the things they display. They’re observing you, mirroring your every emotion and pretending to ride this high with you.

Because the higher you rise, the lower you’ll fall.

Idealization is the first step in the psychopath’s grooming process. Also known as love-bombing, it quickly breaks down your guard, unlocks your heart, and modifies your brain chemicals to become addicted to the pleasure centers firing away. The excessive flattery and compliments play on your deepest vanities and insecurities—qualities you likely don’t even know you possess.

They will feed you constant praise & attention through your phone, Facebook timeline, and email inbox. Within a matter of weeks, the two of you will have your own set of inside jokes, pet names, and cute songs. Looking back, you see how insane the whole thing was. But when you’re in the middle of it, you can’t even imagine life without them.

So how did they do it?

Aside from gifts and poems, the psychopath uses a variety of brainwashing techniques to win you over. They will emphasize six major points during the idealize process:

1. We have so much in common

We see the world the same way. We have the same sense of humor. We’re both so empathetic, constantly helping out our friends & family members. We are perfect for each other.

The psychopath repeatedly drills these points home, often times even going so far as to say: “we’re practically the same person.” They spend most of the idealize phase listening to you and excitingly responding that they feel the same way. You will eventually come to think that they’re the only person you’ll ever meet who’s so similar to you. And you’re right. Because it is flat-out impossible (and creepy) for two people to be identical in every way.

Normal people have differences. It’s what makes life interesting. But psychopaths can skip this complication because they don’t have an identity. They do not have a sense of self. They don’t have life experiences that shape their needs, insecurities, and fantasies. Instead, they steal yours. Like a chameleon, they will transform every part of their personality to become your perfect match.

2. We have the same hopes and dreams

The psychopath will consume your present life, but they will also take over your future. In order to raise the stakes in the relationship, they will make many long-term promises. This ensures that you are highly invested in the relationship. After all, who wants to stick around for a romance that has no potential future?

The psychopath takes this a step further, quickly discussing major life events like marriage and moving in together. These are decisions that typically take years in a healthy relationship. But you don’t need all that time. You already know you’ll be spending the rest of your life with them. If you’ve always dreamed of a family and kids, they will fit that role perfectly. If you want to start a business, they will be your right-hand man/woman. If you’re in an unhappy marriage, they will have a plan ready to replace your spouse. You will notice that these plans always seem to involve some sort of sacrifice on your end—never theirs.

3. We share the same insecurities

They will never actually say this, of course. But psychopaths can sniff out vulnerabilities in a second. They will mirror your insecurities to drive up your sympathy—so that you attempt to heal their problems with the same care you might hope to receive yourself.

Empathetic people are not attracted to blatant butt-kissing and over confidence. You’re attracted to the innocent, sympathetic person. This increases exponentially when you also recognize their insecurities as your own. You see someone feeling inferior, and you believe that you know how to make them feel better.

The psychopath is like no one else, because they genuinely seem to adore all of your efforts. They compares you to past exes, idealizing you above everyone else. It’s as if all of your energies finally have a purpose, after likely being frustrated with the unending, not-so-appreciative complaints of others.

If you perceive the psychopath in a sympathetic light, your natural instincts kick in, and you do everything you can to prove how much you care. Psychopaths see insecurities in a very different way—a tool for manipulation and control. Their childlike “baby” routine is a perfect way to mask these intentions.

4. You are beautiful

Psychopaths are obsessed with the way you look. You will never meet another human being who comments so frequently on your clothes, your hair, your skin, your pictures, or whatever other superficial quality they choose to focus on that day. At first, these feel like compliments. They can’t believe how beautiful or handsome you are—they don’t even feel worthy of being your partner. They walk around the park and can’t find a person more attractive than you (how this is a compliment, I’m not quite sure).

Going along with the above point about insecurities, you begin to return all of this flattery. You want to make sure they feel adequate—that they understand how attractive you think they are. And that’s what they’re aiming for. By showering you with compliments, they know they can expect the adoration to rebound shortly. Suddenly, they become very comfortable sharing photos of themselves with you. Your relationship becomes an unending exchange of praise and approval.

You begin to place your self-esteem into their words, because they are so reliably positive. You can actually feel yourself glowing. Your body goes through changes as your confidence rises with their every word. You spend more and more time improving your appearance to keep them impressed.

5. I’ve never felt this way in my life

This is where the comparisons begin. They hold you in high regard, far above all of their other relationships. They explain—in detail—every one of the reasons you are better than their exes. They can’t remember the last time they’ve been this happy.

You will constantly hear sweeping declarations like, “I can’t believe how lucky I am.” Statements like these play on your innate desire to make others happy. They convince you that you’re providing them with a special sort of joy, something that they cannot find in anyone else. This becomes a point of pride for you—knowing that you are the one they want, despite all of their other admirers.

The psychopath will refer to you as “perfect” and “flawless”, which becomes an overwhelming source of cognitive dissonance when the words inevitably change to “crazy” and “jealous”. As you work through these memories, remember that their compliments were always shallow and calculated. They do it with everyone. For each target, the idealize phase will be different. However, one thing remains true throughout each relationship: they really have “never felt this way” in their life. Psychopaths do not actually feel the love and happiness that they so frequently proclaim. They oscillate between contempt, envy, and boredom. Nothing more.

6. We are soul mates

Psychopaths love the idea of soul mates. It implies something different than love. It says that there are higher powers at work. That you are meant to be together. It means that they consume your entire being—mind and body alike. It creates a psychic bond that lasts long after the relationship has ended.

Perhaps there is a small part in all of us that longs for a soul mate. The perfect person to complete our lives. Someone with whom we can share everything—a lover and a best friend.

And there is nothing wrong with that. I cannot stress this point enough. Psychopaths will manipulate your dreams and fantasies, but that does not make them weaknesses. After being discarded by a psychopath, many survivors denounce everything about their past life, raising a permanent guard to protect themselves from more abuse.

Please don’t do this.

If you believe in soul mates, you will find a real one. You will meet a man or woman who is full of gentle compassion & kindness. You will never question your heart because of them. Your love will blossom on its own, without all of the manufactured intensity. The psychopath was not your soul mate, and they never will be. To be your soul mate, they would—of course—need to have a soul.

Dating Disasters

Okay, my dating life has now evolved into the weird, the odd, and the just plain strange.  Over the last weekend the following occurred which has now solidified my standing as queen ultra psycho magnet: 

·        After a few red flags, set New Guy free with the standard answer “It’s not you, it’s me.”  This has now evolved into prolific texts from New “Now Psycho” Guy which go on and on about such things as “Your sunny smile was winning but now it’s a case of the rain;” “I’m humbly asking for a reconciliation;” “It’s too soon to profess my love and unending devotion but I see the potential in you;” and on and on ad nauseum.  Received a huge text at 5:30am this morning that he had written around 1:30am.  Enough!!!

 

·        Sam picked me up yesterday for Mother’s Day dinner with his bud Jimmy.  Sam actually had his dad in the car as he was giving him a ride home.  I then had to listen to my ex ramble on and on about how cute I am, how he loves me, how I’m so special.  Barf!!!  He couldn’t get out of that car fast enough.

 

·        On Sunday I received a nice Happy Mother’s Day text from my last boyfriend.  However, yesterday he began messaging me on POF stating “Hi gorgeous” and “I miss you.”  Why are you contacting me on POF when you have my phone number to text?  And why send these messages?

 

Because I am a glutton for punishment, I’ve got a new meet and greet set up for tonight at a local Starbucks.  He seems nice, normal, intelligent – but don’t they all in the beginning??!!  Someone told me once that you have to get through 20 people before you find the one that works for you.  I have high hopes but low expectations so we’ll see how it goes. 

Happy Mother's Day Mom

Still miss you every day!

Another One Bites the Dust

Oh dating why do you torture me so?!

High hopes for the latest guy; however, he began to exhibit traits that reminded me of my last husband, commonly referred to as Psycho.  Thus, we had a parting of the ways yesterday. It was only a week we went out but there were a lot of sad and crying emojis coming my way following the text split.

Here's to waiting for the right one!! And wading through the numerous amusing as I wait!

On Line Overload

Since I met New Guy, a ton of POF messages have been flooding my inbox. Young, old, hamdsome, sad...just a wide variety who want to message or meet me. When it rains, it pours!

However, I've come to the decision that I'm a one man person.  It makes sense to play the field but it's something that's not in my nature, especially if I'm seeing someone who piques my interest.

So it may be time to close my account just to be done with all the communication, which is distracting. Although some are very humorous and keep me entertained.  Humans, especially men, can be very weird creatures!!

Young and Old Love Abounds!

So Monday I met up with New Guy for dinner. It was a wonderful meal with good company and lots of conversation. We followed the meal with a tour of memories from when he was growing up.

Today we exchanged a ton of texts. He's intelligent, thoughtful, and very sweet. We met after work for a walk in the park. He brought one dog and I brought my Stubbs. The dogs were feisty with each other at first then they calmed down when we began walking. Stubbs was having a grand time. At the end he was pooped and wanted me to carry him. I only gave in and did it for a bit as it was interfering with our handholding.

Before we left the park I hid 3 rocks for the finding. So New Guy is aware of my rock obsession and made no judgments. 😉

After our walk we hit Lexis for dinner. Was a perfect evening.

Even though he's 10 years older, I'm finding that doesn't make a difference. It's been insightful getting to know each other. He is so respectful but quick witted and has gorgeous blue eyes.  Yep, I believe I'm smitten!

When I got home I hit the Facebook rock page. One of the park rocks had been found along with several others that were found or rehidden. So cool to see the travels my rocks have made.

On Tuesday I also played matchmaker for son Sam. There's a very sweet girl at work who fits Sam's type - thin, dark hair, and she loves Batman.  I sent her pics of Sam and sent him pics of her. They both appear to be interested so now it's up to them to contact each other. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Happy Hump Day all!!

Romantic Overload

Began chatting with a local guy yesterday morning. Nice, polite, and interesting. We set up a meet and greet at the lake for 2:30.  I was only a little stressed. Threw on jeans, tennies and my Mariners tee along with a casual, I don't care vibe which seemed to reduce my anxiety.

He showed up with his two long-haired chihuahuas and three 8 week old puppies. Beyond cute!!  They were quite the draw for attention with lots of kids coming up to hold them.  He also brought me flowers, which was a sweet surprise.

Only downsides were he is 62 - 10 years older than me plus his name matches my first ex-husband's name. But a friendly, positive person so we shall see where this goes.

After the meet up I promptly headed to Lynn's to fill her in on all the details. Washed down a red beer then Jay brought home pizza for dinner.  Was a great evening!

This morning it's Monday once again and I woke up with a swollen lip which means a cold sore is looming on the horizon. Ugh.

Here's to a hopefully sunny week ahead!

Rhubarb and Rainier

Received a big batch of rhubarb from a gal at work so today I made a strawberry rhubarb slab pie. Also froze two baggies of sliced rhubarb to use in the future. Love me some rhubarb!

Had inspiration from a picture someone posted on Facebook along with a trip back from Rainier so used those pics to paint some more rocks.

Working the One Stroke

Way back in the day I was into Donny Dewberry one stroke painting.  It's a technique of painting flowers and foliage with two colors at one time.  Of course I had to whip out this knowledge to use on the rocks.

Began painting then remembered that, somewhere, I had an instruction book for this technique. Probably hidden in the garage. Shockingly, when I began my search in the amass of overflowing stuff, I found it right off the bat.

The last few nights I've been painting Donny Dewberry style.  While not perfect, they definitely turned out acceptable.

Friday Night in Stitches

Last night I had a surprise visit from not only son Jordan and his wife Candy but son Sam stopped by as well.  It was so great having everyone together!  Telling stories and cracking jokes - something about Jordan's viewpoint on life puts me in hysterics every time I see him. He was telling me a story about their new cat - between his relaying the cat's antics and his physical imitation of the cat I was laughing so hard my gut ached.  And both boys play off each other so comically that it was a real kick in the pants.

To top it off Jordan began mowing the jungle that is my backyard. Plus Candy went through my huge pile of discarded clothes, keeping what she wanted and bagging up the extra. So helpful and appreciated!!

Here's to a night of reminder of how blessed I am with such unique, talented, and humorous kids!!!

Runny Nose and Rocks

Ugh...battling the allergy bug today. Why?  Because I decided to trim and bathe my little Stubbins last night. His dog hair flies all over, into my face and nose, and I end up paying for it.  But my pup sure looks and smells a lot better!

Yesterday I painted a couple of rocks for Lynn and brother Jay. Monday night I painted a dog rock per a request from a fellow Facebook rocks member. I left the rock for her and she left a very sweet bunny rock that had been painted by one of the more talented artists in the group.  Score!

Happy hump day all!!

Rockin In the Free World

I ended up hiding my painted rocks outside of work today when I was leaving.  I posted this news on Lewis County Rocks but the person who found some of them was a boy who lives in Vancouver.  His mom posted on Cowlitz County Rocks so that was cool.

One of the rock members asked me if I'd paint a picture of her Greay similiar to another dog rock I painted. She's going to trade me for a rock painted by one of the fantastic artists on the site. I just finished it up tonight and need to seal it.  I'm just loving these rock adventures!!

Sister Julie also gave me a rock she painted - a fishing creel with salmon.  Yep, got her on the rock bandwagon!