Seaside and Sunshine

Happy to report that today turned out successfully! We drove to Seaside, walked the main drag, and stopped by brother Jay's new shop, which was impressive!

I picked up a cute mermaid from the Carousel Mall then snagged a sweet framed picture for $5 from the local thrift store. 

We followed up browsing, stopped for lunch, then took a slow cruise home via a detour toward Vernonia, which gave us plenty of time to gab. It was a fun day and the best part? Blue sky and sunny!!

Filling Up My Friday!!

Oh Mama Mia it's been a busy day but at least it's Friday!

Today on my way to work I stopped and got gas. Then I took an early lunch so I could get my nails done.  Ran over to Target after work then quickly cruised to my hairdresser's house. Right now I'm sitting under the dryer while the color cooks on my head. My roots needed some serious attention!

On Wednesday I had a coffee meet-n-greet date. Yes I'm back on line for shits and giggles.  Nice guy and we had a good conversation. My one regret?  I drank full strength coffee rather than decaf. I was up until midnight!!

Tomorrow meet-n-greet guy and I are going on a road trip to Seaside, where I will be able to visit my brother's new shop. Should be a fun trip or at least I hope so. Nothing is worse than being stuck with someone all day who turns out to be a pill.  Cross your fingers that I don't have to pull out the "Uh oh emergency at home" card to end the adventure.

Here's to having a great weekend!!

Tis Done

When I set a goal, I accomplish it!

I spent today cleaning my room, putting all my clothes away, fresh sheets, and vacuuming. Like 2 hours worth of work!!

This afternoon I just finished cleaning all three bathrooms, taking out trash, and mopping. Ugh. Had to pop an ibuprofen to counteract all the scrubbing, bending, twisting, and lugging along with the arm and shoulder pain I'm feeling from pruning those trees and bushes.

Proud of myself!! The garage will happen another day as I'm beat!!

Of Chowder and Embarrassment

Well I didn't clean my room (yet - it may still happen) or clean the garage but I did accomplish something today.

This morning I braved the chilly weather, grabbed my large trimmers, and cleaned up the trees and bushes in my backyard. Trimmed my snowball bush, pruned back a hydrangea bush, and cut several branches off a dying tree. Resulted in a big pile of refuse that my lawnmowers will haul off the next time they are here.

Moved to the front yard, snipped the bushes into shape, then pruned back another hydrangea bush.

All done, I grabbed the garbage can and wheeled it over to the first pile of clippings. Cleaned those up then went to move the green monster to the center of the yard to finish picking up my mess. Lid was down and I saw no need to put it up.

Aye, there's the rub. Should have thought Safety First. Instead, I proceeded to wheel the can onto the yard, tripped on the lid, knocking the can down and me along with it! I wound up inside the overturned can, knee bruised but it didn't hurt as much as the painfully hot surge of embarrassment washing over me.

I crawled out of the can, jumped up, and pulled the can upright. I had to laugh at the absurdity of it all. Looked around and thankfully no one was in site, although there could have been a few of my neighbors who witnessed the morning entertainment as they sipped hot coffee inside.

After finishing, I relaxed then showered and ran to the store for supplies.  Tonight for dinner I made some salmon/shrimp chowder. It turned out so tasty and was perfect on this rainy, cold night.

Enough Procrastination!

Really digging my new job but still happy when Friday rolls around!

This weekend I'm seriously going to clean my room and try to start cleaning and organizing the garage. Perhaps do a little at a time so it's not so overwhelming.  Also need to get the extra bedrooms in order and figure out how I'm going to use them. Been procrastinating about these tasks but now is the time to get moving!

Mermaid Wishes

When I was working on my friend's bottle today, I ran across a mermaid stamp.  I ended up stamping some old sheet music, sprucing the image up with Sharpies, then putting it in a little frame. Turned out cute!

A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Store

Yesterday I was running around doing typical Saturday errands. I was wearing my overalls along with a blue cardigan. At about my third stop, a sales clerk came up to me and whispered "I'm going to tell you something that I'd want to know. Your sweater is inside out." Sure enough, I had tossed on my cardigan with the tag sticking out. I giggled over my mistake as it was just one of those kind of days!

Friend Susan recently gave me a scotch bottle she wanted me to turn into something creative. Today I spent my morning decoupaging, gluing, and ribboning the bottle to give it some vintage flare. I hope she likes it.

As part of a fundraiser at work, I get to wear jeans all week. We normally just get to wear them on Fridays but I figured why not do my part. Not sure I'll be able to remain in jeans all week as I'm normally dedicated to my skirts and dresses.

Let's all have a great week!!

Keep Your Eyes to the Sky

I ran across the following quote from Stephen Hawking, who passed away yesterday.  It is oh so true! 

Monday morning when I was driving to work, I saw a person walking. Couldn't tell if it was man or woman as they wore a hoodie pulled over their head and down their face. They walked with their head completely slumped down, staring at the ground. I could only see a few wisps of red hair poking out. This wasn't an elderly person battling old age; this was a younger person able to easily walk so it wasn't the physical that made them adopt this posture. It was as if they wished to hide from life, covering themselves to become invisible.

One of the phrases I've heard and I try to live by is "Shoulders back and head up!"  When I catch myself neck down or shoulders curled, I remind myself of this tip. I feel better, look better, and it gives a little boost to my self esteem.

So look to the stars, quit looking at the pavement, and life will be more promising!

Back Off Scammer!

I'm so tired of all the freaks in this world! Lately I've been getting a bunch of friend requests on Facebook and Instagram from a variety of men. These people live all over the world - Texas, Africa, London.  Do I look that gullible to you? They've got SCAM written all over them.

I've occasionally made the mistake of friending some when we have mutual friends. Next thing I know they are blowing up my messenger or in box with questions to get to know me. No thanks buster and delete away.  Good thing I went in and changed my security settings so that anyone had to get the approval from me before they can follow this diva!

Okay vent over! Now if a handsome, rich gentleman wants to drop down out of the sky into my lap I may not delete him but I'm not holding my breath for that!! 😉

Bun Head Saturday!

Today I rocked the bun head. It turned out pretty good considering I shoved in about 20 bobby pins to secure it.

I sent sis Julie a pic of my do. We must have been on the same wavelength because she promptly sent back a pic of the bun head she was rocking today!  Twinning at its finest!

Pinning the Unattainable

For those of you not familiar with Pinterest, you view items of interest then pin them to your own personal boards to view later. If someone else pins an item from your board, you are notified of this.

I've saved tons of different posts - makeup, fashion, crafrs, recipes -but the item of mine that is re-pinned over and over again is the following:

Cool huh? I love those colors and obviously everyone else does as well!

Kindness Overflowing

On Thursday I posted to Facebook that I had been going through a storm in life with unemployment and bad boyfriend but I had pulled through, loved my new job, and rid myself of the boyfriend baggage. Several people made positive comments but the one that stands out was written by my former boss for whom I had worked for 21 years, as follows:

Hi Alicia, I’ve seen you grow professionally over the last few decades and through several last names and few health issues—I still see you sitting in your office with that bald head.  You are strong, you survive, you strive and you thrive.  One of my best and favorite employees, ever.  I’m proud of you and am glad you are in a great place!

Wow! Such kind words and they gave me a warm fuzzy.  As a lifetime career woman, it shakes your core when you are unemployed and no one hires you. It makes you doubt your capabilities and question your entire professional skill base. Receiving unexpected compliments like this can really restore my self-doubt and confirm my reality that I have been an outstanding employee.

Along this vein, last night Sam and his friends, including my unofficial third son Jimmy, stopped by.  Their visit turned into a real love fest. Jimmy, who lost his mom at 18, went on and on about what a wonderful, intelligent, caring mom and human being I am and how he is grateful I'm serving the mom role in his life. The rest of them echoed his comments and it turned into a contest of who could hug Mom the most and the longest. Was the highlight of my week!

But enough about me! Back to sitting in the massage chair while my toes are being polished. Been a long time since I've gotten a pedicure and figured why not celebrate my #1 employee and mom status! 😉

Laughter is Good for the Soul

Met up with Jordan, Candy and Sam tonight for Chinese food. It was fun catching up. That Jordan just kills me with his humor. I was laughing. I was snorting. My guts were aching he was on such a roll.

Tonight I tried to watch the Orson Welles movie Touch of Evil. I expected much more. Charlton Heston in dark pancake foundation pretending to be Mexican. Marlena Dietrich with her German accent playing a gypsy in Mexico.  It was all a bit much so I stopped it halfway and put in Meet Me in St. Louis. Judy Garland and Margaret O'Brien were much more my speed this evening.