A Confession and A Question

from here.

While shopping for a pair of sandals today, I realized that I am officially old.  How do I know?  Well, when comfort trumps style.....you are old.  I found myself heavily considering buying some hideous looking sandals just because they felt like walking on clouds.  So I did the only sensible thing to do in a situation like that.  I walked away. 

That was my confession, by the way.  Here's my question. 

What do you guys use to buy/download music?  I am in serious need of creating my own cds and I pretty much am not sure where to start.  I know.  Obviously I have been living under a rock and still buying full albums.  Hey, I told you I was old.  But there are some songs that I want to listen to without having to hunt down and buy an entire cd.  Advice?  Pretty please. 

And, you're welcome.  You know.....for the picture.  Yeah. 

What's Been Happening

from here.

I read blogs just about every single day, but I fail to write anything on my own. 

So, for your reading pleasure (whoever is actually reading this), here's a little collection of random musings.

*Do you know when you had your last tetanus shot?  You should.  Last week at work I got a few nails jabbed into my shoulder.  I assumed that my tetanus shot was up to date.  I was wrong.  Very wrong.  I was due a tetanus shot in 1992.  That was a long time ago!  So I got one this morning.  Think it's no big deal until you get cut?  I suggest you Google tetanus.  Seriously.  I mean, do you even know what it is?

*You know how bad I despise cleaning my bath tub, right?  If you don't, then you have never actually read my blog, obviously.  Well.....my mind was completely blown last week when I decided to spray my tub down with my lovely smelling Method multi-purpose cleaner.  I walked away for a few minutes, came back and the gunk just wiped right off of my tub.  Amazing!  Truly amazing!

*One should never assume that customers know anything at all about the business that you are in.  Ever.  We are doing an extensive remodel on a home, which has turned into almost a rebuild, instead.  Just because a customer has a fancy plan drawn up by a supposed "engineer" does not mean that said plan will work or that the customer will understand why you are pretty much tearing his entire house down in order to achieve the house that he expects to get.  Communication, folks.  It's priceless. 

*Hummus has never been on my list of favorite things to eat.  That is, until I tried a local brand that made all other hummus taste like dog food (or what I imagine dog food tastes like).  Roots hummus is so good that I can finish a whole container of it in a few days, all by my little self.  The Extra Spicy Chipotle is my favorite flavor, but Spinach is dang good, too.  

That's all for now, folks.  I'll see you on the flip side. 

Hell Yes, Boys

from here.

Let me just say, I love a man in jeans and a tee shirt.  There's nothing better, really.  I love the way a soft tee shirt feels when hanging on the strong frame of a man.  And a well chosen pair of jeans..... I'm getting off subject here.  

But every once in a while.......... just every once in a while, it's a perfect suit that gets the heart to pumping.  Don't you agree?  

There is this Fred Astaire movie where Fred is dancing around his room while getting dressed.  He's tapping up a storm and tying his tie (perfectly) all at the same time.  There was a real ease and elegance to what he wore and how he wore it.  He wore the suit.  It did not wear him.  The suits above remind me of the looks that Astaire wore.  Nice and sharp, but with a certain ease.  

I will never dismiss the jeans and tee combo, but you just have to admit that every girl's crazy for a sharp dressed man.  A flattering suit makes quite an impression.  

(clearing throat)  The tattoos sure don't hurt, either.  ;)

Trying

from here.

I was talking to a friend in the grocery store last week.  We were discussing our respective divorces and all that comes with that territory.  He said something to the effect of "Well, I guess now you can get more stuff done."  To which I quipped back "I have no choice.  I have to totally rely on myself now." 

It was a tiny little exchange in an otherwise heavy conversation, but those few words brought on a realization that was bigger than everything else that had been running through my head for the past nine months.  I am responsible for my own life. 

In the past, my decisions about everything revolved around the fact that I was married.  I did not call the shots.  What my future looked like was not in my hands.  I was not a co-star.  I was simply a supporting actress.  This was a fact that afforded me to be quite lazy in my endeavors.  But now I have no leading actor to take the spotlight while I waste time and twiddle my thumbs in the corner.  He walked off stage and here I stand with everyone watching and asking "What's she gonna do now?" 

I can't be lazy anymore.  I can't hide behind someone else's hopes and dreams.  I can't just give up and let the tide of life carry me where it may.  I have a life to live.  I have bills to pay.  I have goals and ambitions (believe it or not).  I have a future to build.  And I have to give it my all, because I'm depending on me.  It's trying times, and I must say, finally...........it's time for trying.  

On Being Lazy

When someone threatens to wash your dishes if said dishes are still unwashed the next time they come over, it's very tempting to not wash the dishes and see if that someone will uphold their part of the bargain.  However, I know that they would actually wash my dishes and then I would feel like a real piece of crap for letting them. 

In my defense, there really aren't that many dirty dishes on my counter.  It's just that I switched which side of the sink the dish drain is on and, rather interestingly, it makes the dirty dishes much more noticeable. 

I hate washing dishes.  And cleaning the bathtub, for that matter.  But it has to be done.  And normally I can force myself to do those sorts of tasks, because it's necessary.  (and it makes the house smell less funky.)  But this isn't really about being lazy.  It's about having a depression problem.  And the fact that when it hits, I pretty much don't care about the state of my kitchen counter.  But I'm not here to whine about it.  I'm here to tell you that I'm trying something new for it.

Yep.  And I am happy to report that I actually had the focus and determination to sit down and draw for two hours straight the other day.  That may seem tiny to you, but to me....it's HUGE.  

HUGE, I tell you!

About Pinning

from here.

When was the last time you cleaned up your pin boards?  I had a little cleaning party last night after being informed that some of my pins were too inappropriate for my teenage cousin to be perusing.  Oops!  This coming shortly after receiving an email from Pinterest informing me that they had removed one of my pins because it "apparently contained nudity".  I find this rather entertaining considering that I have seen some straight up porn floating around Pinterest many times, and without even looking for it!  But such is life.

Anyway....... after my little cleaning frenzy, I decided that it would behoove me to clean up my pin boards more often.  I mean, come on!  It's impossible to remember every little thing that you pin, especially months after you pinned it.  It was like when you unpack stuff that has been in storage for a very long time and you are so excited to see all those familiar yet somehow totally new things.

I dare you to try it.

It was also interesting to see how many things didn't even merit a response from me anymore.  Easily deletable.  And, thus, taking up precious space on my boards.

Instead of trolling what's new on Pinterest this weekend, I challenge you to dig through your own pin boards instead and see what you find.  I guarantee your time will be filled with several "Oh, yeah! I remember that!"s and "What did I pin that for?"s.   Let me know how it goes.  (Really.  Let me know.  I get lonely around here with no comments.)

*BTW.....If you have secret boards, you may want to know that you cannot move pins directly from your public boards to your secret boards.  You have to actually repin them and then delete the original pin from your public board.  Just a heads up.  

Relationships

can be purchased here.

One of the things that a divorce inevitably results in is the deep consideration of relationships and what makes them work or fall apart.

Breakups hurt.  Divorces hurt.  And, I think we can all agree, relationships hurt.

I've spent a whole lot of time thinking about what went wrong in my last marriage.  I've tried to pin-point how on earth we went from being in love and happy to the place where one of us was willing to give up completely.

If you think about it, almost every relationship starts out the same way.  There is infatuation and adoration.  Chemical attraction and soaring dopamine levels.  Both parties confess their affection and make promises of devotion and undying love.  But, with time, all things change.  And of all the things that make or break a relationship, I truly believe (from the bottom of my heart) that the very most important component of love is RESPECT.

Many people will argue that trust is the most important quality in a relationship.  But how can you trust one another if you don't respect one another?  You can't.  In my opinion, without respect you have nothing.  You must respect the person you are with and they must respect you.  Once you lose that respect, it is almost impossible to get it back.  And that is where most relationships falter.

The day my marriage died was not a few months before my husband walked out the door.  It wasn't even a few years.  My marriage died when the respect for one another was lost.  And that happened within the first few fragile years of being together.   
We loved eachother very much.  And there were so many good qualities to our relationship.  But without the foundation of respect, we had nothing to stand on.  We were trying to build on sinking sand. 

End of story.