Ouch.
Posted: August 3, 2011 Filed under: random 1 Comment »
I love Chick-fil-A as much as the next guy. And, I recognize that there are additional costs/licensing/etc. to providing food service at other venues – in this case, Kings Dominion. But, this just seems like price gouging. Even at the airport, it’s substantially less than this.
Shock, review, and happiness.
Posted: July 24, 2011 Filed under: family, home, kids, random, the boys 1 Comment »Shock
Notice anything strange about this soap? Like the fact that it is unused? Yes, folks. I just unpacked this from one of my sons upon his return from 4 weeks at camp. All I can say is that I hope he gave the shampoo double-duty. Otherwise, ewwww. Just ewwww.
Review
I was sent a full size sample of the NEW Downy UNSTOPABLES™ from Vocalpoint, so fter researching to be sure it was safe in a high efficiency washer, I decided to give it the test of all tests. 
Yes, I’m talking about the musty, filthy, disgusting clothes the boys brought home from camp.
I’m not big on a lot of scents, so I started slowly. The first load came out smelling amazing! So, I tried a little more in the next. And the next. And now, I might be hooked.
Yes, I’m still going to need to burn some of those clothes. They may smell fresh, but they’re never (and I mean never) going to get clean. But the clean clothes? They’re both clean and fresh and the boys’ rooms smell better than ever since I hung the clothes up in their closets. Win/win.
I am a happy mom.
Happiness
But the real reason for my extreme happiness? We’re all back together again!
Awkward.
Posted: May 19, 2011 Filed under: friends, girlfriends, inferiority complex, mood, morals, random 2 Comments »Maybe I’m alone.
Maybe I’m the only one who feels awkward and inadequate, at times.
I mean, it could be just me.
My world is so big. And that makes me smile.
Over the past many years (I’ve been hanging out online since the mid-eighties), I’ve had the good fortune to meet and forge relationships with so many wonderful people. I’ve met some of them in person, some I have not. But I’ve have spent hours on end ‘talking’ and ‘listening’ to them online. Some are among the friends I admire the most.
I’ve read what many of you have written about how online friendships are real. And about how much camaraderie you feel toward these friends – how much support you get and give.
I feel those things, too.
Deeply.
And yet, it feels so intrusive sometimes to know the really personal, the gut-wrenching, the traumatic goings on. I see it on my screen. I ache for them. I care. I really care. But were those messages and posts put out there for me to read? Or are they there for others – who are closer or more connected?
But I feel so unsure sometimes. Should I comment? Is it creepy or kind?
Do my comments read as sincerely as I mean them?
I’m so confident and secure in so many aspects of my life.
But sometimes, I just feel awkward. Like an outsider who is peering, and maybe even inserting myself, into people’s personal lives.
Mr. Potato Head
Posted: May 14, 2011 Filed under: random Leave a comment »
He’s in my window facing out. But he’s not alone. He’s with his wife – Mrs. Potato Head and their two little tater tots.
Why are they there?
Well, the cardinals keep crashing into our windows and a wise woman told me to put dolls or people-like figures in the windows to stop the birds. And we had these potato heads.
Weird, I know.
I’d like to.
Posted: March 26, 2011 Filed under: random Leave a comment »40 years later; this sure still resonates.
Posted: March 22, 2011 Filed under: random Leave a comment »
Just came across this and laughed. Thought I’d share.
The vortex.
Posted: January 5, 2011 Filed under: random 2 Comments »
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about friendships, work relationships, family and the collision of all of these. The vortex.
Back when I started blogging – a long time ago – I met some wonderful people. While my real-life friends were baffled by it, these people became my friends, too. I grew to genuinely care about them. To really know them. And in fact, to know some of them in real life – in person. People like Lori. Like Leah.
And my world got bigger.
I found that there were people who I could learn from, enjoy, appreciate who I would never have met in my offline life.
Did people laugh at me? Yes. Did that stop me? No.
At the same time, my work has allowed me – for 15+ years now – to work with some amazing people that I knew only on the phone and online and then, later, some in person. Like Jen. Seriously, Jen, how did we actually meet originally? I have no idea anymore. I feel like I’ve known you forever! And there are some colleagues that I have never met in real life, but I know them. I really know them.
As my offline world got online more, they started to understand. And the worlds started to collide. My offline friends met my online friends (online and in person!) and their world got bigger. And then, I met some of my friends’ new online friends and so on and so on and now….
My world is huge.
I know some of the most wonderful and amazing people in the universe.
In the universe!
People like Shelly and Alli and Heather and Danielle and Megan and Aliza. And so many more. Honestly, if I listed everyone I admire in this post, you’d be bored to tears. You might be already.
What I really love is that I’ve had the chance to spend real time – on the phone, in person, online – with some of them. It’s real connections. Real people.
And I’m really lucky.
What’s the point of this post? No point. Just something I’ve been thinking about lately.
Mwah!
I was thinking.
Posted: December 18, 2010 Filed under: parenting, procrastination, random 4 Comments »
So that’s me thinking.
Well, actually, that’s me playing with my iPhone.
I’ve often heard that it’s the traits we like least in ourselves that we’re most critical of in others. And that said, I’ve been putting off writing this post. I suppose that’s because other things just seemed to be more important. Or rather, I just couldn’t get this to the top of the pile.
I’ve been procrastinating lately.
Not the regular stuff. I’m not missing deadlines at work. The laundry is clean and sometimes folded before the creases are so permanent that I need to consider using the dreaded iron. I do have some Swash in case of emergency.
The kids’ tests and midterm reports are signed on time. The house is moderately clean. Clean enough.
But I haven’t gotten to two important things. First, I promised myself I’d take time and start painting again. And second, I want to think, plan, strategize for business. How is it that these keep getting shoved to the bottom of the pile?
I’ll ponder that tomorrow. Tonight, I’ll put my feet up and do nothing. And while that sounds like procrastination, it’s not. It’s a choice to turn off and relax with my crew.
Sing.
Posted: December 14, 2010 Filed under: random Leave a comment »
We’re watching The Sing Off. And we watch Glee. And yes, I admit that we also watch American Idol.
I must so be a gluton for punishment.
Why, you ask?
Because I can’t even carry a tune. And boy, oh, boy do I wish I could.
I sing in the car when I’m alone. And sometimes, much to my sons’ chagrin, I sing in the house.
I LOVE TO SING.
Sometimes, people say they can’t sing and they’re looking for people to say, “oh, no, you sing nicely.” But I am not that person. Don’t waste your breath. Not that you would.
I. Really. Can’t.
But that will never stop me.
Small world?
Posted: October 6, 2010 Filed under: random | Tags: thoughts 4 Comments »
People say it’s a small world.
And in terms of everyone being connected in some way, I totally agree. In fact, just today, I realized that two people that I know well actually know each other and it was really odd. Strange also, is that since my mom started working on a family reunion for her grandmother’s family – The Owrutsky family (I know, right?) – that I have more cousins than I ever realized. Well, I started ‘hanging out’ with all these cool people I’m related to, but don’t really know well IRL on Facebook over the past year, also. I love my cousin Eric (who I might get to see at the end of the month!) and I’m back in touch with Mindy and of course, there’s Howard and his wife, Risa, who I have known since I was 5… and there’s Lois, who I haven’t talked to in ages. And I have 6 first cousins and various first cousin spouses – many of which I see on Facebook daily. But there are tons more. Tons, I say!
But I have totally digressed here. That is all about the small world.
Now, the point. (I had a point?)
It’s a huge world out there. Huge.
I grew up and knew the people who lived on my block. Then I met the kids at elementary school. Add to that the friends I made at religious school.
Then, I went to camp out of state. Now, I had friends in Pennsylvania and New York, too. In junior high, I met a whole bunch of kids who’d gone to a different elementary school.
Then I joined youth group. Met some folks from different junior high schools. And then came high school where there were kids from two other junior high schools. Sprinkle in the people I met from working at Gino’s. (Everybody goes to Gino’s, ’cause Gino’s is the place to go….)
One of my great friends went to a private school nearby. So I met some kids from there.
My world had grown.
A lot.
Then, there was college. And like all our college experiences, there were people from all over. I learned from them. Met people from different backgrounds, with different beliefs, different family situations, different dreams and aspirations.
But still, my world was somewhat insular.
As I entered and grew in the business world, I met more and more people. It was like the Breck commercial – because each new relationship increased the number of people that I came in contact with exponentially.
I started hanging out online in the 80′s and started to meet people from all over. People I’d never have met. Never. But they were awesome. I loved how my world was expanding.
Turns out that it was just the beginning.
I am amazed at how wide my world is, how many amazing people I know. I am honored and humbled by the connections I have made and the introductions that have happened. My life is enhanced.
Big time.
I was just thinking about some of the people I talk to online almost every day who I would never have had the chance to know. And I’m grateful.
Even more rewarding is how my online and offline worlds have merged over the past several years. I love introducing you all to each other and love that you all introduce me.
And I feel beyond lucky to have such a big world.
I can learn. Grow. Open my mind. See other viewpoints. Share myself. And become a better citizen of the world.
Because of you.
