Happy Mother’s Day…

I know…it’s Mother’s Day and I DO wish all the moms out there a Happy Mother’s Day.  But I have to say, after being out at the stores earlier today and listening to all of the clerks and other workers wish me a Happy Mother’s Day, I started to wonder about how that makes other people feel.  Don’t get me wrong…there’s nothing about it that bothers me (except that I’m not a mother–unless you count my cats) and I don’t find it to be “politically incorrect”.  I think way too many people have gone overboard in that direction.  But, I wonder…for those women like me who are not mothers by choice, does it bother them?  Or, even worse, for the women out there who have tried and tried to have children and can’t, how does it make them feel?  I hurt for them.  It can’t be good.  And what about those women who’ve lost a child?  I know they are still mothers, but it has to hurt.  

Where do we draw the line before getting into that dangerous zone and cross into excessively politically correct?  I guess, we smile, we thank them and wish them a happy day, too.  And we hope that women who find it too hurtful avoid the stores and restaurants and all the other public places that are bombarding us with Happy Mother’s Day wishes and specials. 

So, to all those non-mothers out there…Happy Day! 

“I think you have to judge everything based on your personal taste. And if that means being critical, so be it. I hate political correctness. I absolutely loathe it.” ~ Simon Cowell

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Why Mangle the National Anthem?

I know I’m feeling a tad bit irritated by the performance of The National Anthem tonight at the Super Bowl, and I know that I should just let it go.  After all, I’m only one person and my opinion probably doesn’t mean much.  But when I see (and hear) such an atrocious version sung at a huge event that is broadcast nationally (and to our military globally), I have to express my ire. 

I know that singers want to show off their vocal acrobatic skill (or maybe it’s a lack of ability to hold a note?), but why do people feel the need to do this to The National Anthem? Aren’t there certain songs that should just be sung as they were written? Aren’t there any people who hold that song as something above the average song? It is a representation of our country’s history. And it is a solemn reflection of our honor for those who have sacrificed so much to keep our country free, an homage to the victories that made us a nation. It should be much more respectful and not treated like the next single sung on the radio or MTV. We need to take back our traditions, our honoring of our past and the heroes who gave their lives for our freedoms. 

Let’s go back to the beautiful version of The National Anthem that was written for us so many years ago.  And, more than that, let’s hold our hands over our hearts, showing the rest of the world that we still appreciate and love our country.  And, lastly, get the lyrics right!

“The superior man understands what is right; the inferior man understands what will sell.” ~ Confucius

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Housework…my never-ending agony

How I hate to clean house. I love the end product, but there is so much to do that is much more enjoyable (translated–less boring, less tedious and less frustrating)). I love to read and I love to watch Food Network on the weekends.  I also love to shop and enjoy going to basketball games at a local university.  These are all activities that can (and usually do) trump doing housework.  So, I told my husband how much I hate it. 

We finally came to the agreement that since I work full-time and so does he, neither of us are that excited about doing housework.  In fact, he will vacuum, but refuses to dust.  I’m allergic to dust.  He will do the dishes (except the pots and pans) and helps a great deal with laundry.  Beyond that, we don’t want to do anything major…like windows, scrubbing floors, the bathrooms, etc.  So, we decided to hire someone.  A year ago.  And we still haven’t.  You might think this is another symptom of wanting to do fun things instead of work, but it truly isn’t.  We can’t agree on how to hire someone. 

I want to hire someone who comes highly recommended from someone we know or hire a lady at work who works in the housekeeping department.  She cleans houses on the side.  My hubby wants to hire a service.  I don’t want someone unknown coming into our house.  He wants someone who is covered by a big company’s insurance and has been screened.  I think that the people I was looking at HAVE been screened.  By the ones recommending them! 

So, a year after we decided to hire someone, we still haven’t.  Which means, I need to cut this short and start the housework–and do the necessary stuff and hope that we can come to an agreement before I have to break down and do the windows! 

“When it comes to housework the one thing no book of household management can ever tell you is how to begin. Or maybe I mean why.” ~ Katharine Whitehorn

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Earworms and Other Irritants

Sometimes I find myself singing the same song or commercial jingle all day long. A friend of mine calls those earworms. They can drive a person crazy or give you such an uplifting feeling (depending on the song or jingle). Recently, on Facebook, I posted a part of a jingle from an old commercial and someone told me she couldn’t get it out of her head and wasn’t too thrilled. I felt bad…I remember the time I kept singing the same song all day long…and it was one I hated. You know the one…from that annoying purple dinosaur that all the children loved so much a few years back?!  What earworms drive you nuts? 

Another unpleasant sound is traffic noise.  I know.  I live in a very large city and spend a lot of time on the road during rush hour.  You’d think it would fade into the background.  Instead, I can hear distinct differences between all of the cars that go by or those idling near me as we creep along.  That’s with the windows up.  So, I try not to add to the grating on the ol’ eardrums by adding to the noise with the radio.  I choose to listen to the radio when the traffic is almost non-existent.  Maybe I just can’t handle the sound overload.  I’m not sure of my reasoning, but I’ve come to enjoy the relative quiet of driving with the radio or CD player off.

And then the other noise that sends me nearly over the edge…a dry pen, scratching across paper.  My skin crawls…almost as much as fingernails across the chalkboard.  Those two sounds can almost bring me to my knees. 

What bugs you?

“In antiquity there was only silence. In the nineteenth century, with the invention of the machine, Noise was born. Today, Noise triumphs and reigns supreme over the sensibility of men.” ~ Luigi Russolo

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Eye-Yi-Yi

Oh, boy.  I should know better by now.  I’m old enough.  Yesterday, I went to a make-up makeover, because it sounded fun, a little glamorous to have someone else do my make-up and also like I would be pampering myself.  Don’t get me wrong…I fully enjoyed it.  And then…this morning I woke up with puffy eyelids and my eyes feel dry and a little itchy.  But it’s mostly my eyelids.  And since I’ve been using the particular company’s eyeshadow for years with no difficulty and love their mascara (that’s another weird eye story), I don’t think it’s that.  HOWEVER, the lady did use some eyeshadow base and I think that’s the culprit.  I look like I have pinkish-red eyeshadow on and my eyelids are puffy, puffy, puffy…like I’ve been crying for days.  You know what I mean.  It’s when your eyelids look like they are starting to puff over your eyelashes to the point that there is a “seam” with stubby little hairs sticking out.  Yikes!!! 

Needless to say, this isn’t my first eyelid disaster when it comes to make-up.  I warned the lady that my eyelids are very, very sensitive and that I can’t use ANYTHING with a red or pink undertone.  But in looking later at the eyeshadow base, it was very faintly pink.  Hmmmmm! 

Anyway, now to explain my previous disasters that should have warned me not to try anything new, product-wise.  Years ago, when I first discovered my allergy to make-up, I was wearing a purplish color of eyeshadow (because I have green eyes and purples and blues make eyes look VERY green).  I know…they say that vanity is a flaw.  I guess it did me in.  I wore that purple eyeshadow all day.  And that night, I washed my face and went to bed.  But my eyelids were itching.  The next morning, they were really itching and were sore.  I looked in the mirror and to my horror, they were red and looked like they were breaking out in some kind of rash.  As the day wore on, my eyelids got worse and worse.  Eventually, I had red, cracked skin, oozing sores and…well, never mind.  It was just disgusting!  I am VERY allergic to red dye in make-up evidently.  It was at least a week before I had normal eyelids again.  I didn’t wear eyeshadow of any kind for a few years.  In those years, though, I continued to wear mascara.

Now, for my mascara story that I mentioned earlier.  Being someone who was always looking for a new item to try (do you see a pattern here?), I tried a new brand of mascara when I “got bored” with what I had been using.  BIG mistake!  My eyelashes looked great with this awesome mascara.  Unfortunately, they didn’t look great for long…on my eyelids.  They fell out!  Yes, suddenly I had bald eyelids.  Oh, boy…do eyelashes take a really long time to grow in!  It was so embarrassing to have bald eyelids, I felt like wearing sunglasses for months.  Okay, they weren’t completely bald…I had a few eyelashes left–very few.  And I took very good care of them!  I didn’t wear any mascara and I was careful not to rub my eyes for fear they would fall out, too.  When my eyelashes finally did grow in, I switched back to my tried and true mascara.  And there are only two brands I now use…ever! 

So, now I tell myself I’ve learned (again) a valuable lesson.  I will no longer experiment with new eye products.  (Until the next time.)  Sometimes, vanity just gets in the way of sensible behavior.  Now I have to wait for the puffies to go down and hope and pray that my eyelids don’t break out again in that crusty, crackly, oozy mess.  Keep good thoughts for me, will you? 

  “Our vanity is the constant enemy of our dignity.” ~ Anne Sophie Swetchine

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Flying…then vs. now

I can remember when I was a little girl, flying on an airplane was quite an experience.  We got dressed up!  We were treated like we were visiting a high-end hotel or restaurant, the seating was comfortable and the planes were impeccably clean and well maintained.  The stewardesses (yes, that’s what they used to call flight attendants in those days) were extremely professional, polished, poised, and looked like models.  They catered to the passengers requests and did everything they could to make sure the trip was special.  And that was coach.  I can’t imagine what first class must have been like.  I never dreamed that I would ever experience it.  And by the time I did, flying first class was like coach was back in the day.  I must admit, first class now is pleasant.  In fact, far better than coach.  But I really wish I’d had the chance to fly first class back when it was REALLY something. 

Travel has changed so much.  Now, the flight attendants frequently make jokes while doing the safety presentations, rarely make sure you’re comfortable, and if you have a complaint or an issue that needs resolved…good luck!  I have to admit, some airlines are still far better than others.  I just wish we could go back to the days when the passengers were treated as if they were guests, not cattle.  Of course, that could be because some passengers act more like cattle than guests!  I’m amazed at the atrocious behavior of some of the people I’ve seen on planes recently.  I don’t know if it stems from the lack of good treatment, so they misbehave or if they misbehave, so they are treated poorly. 

I was actually flying first class recently coming from Chicago to San Antonio and a man sitting in the front row actually took off his shoes and propped his bare feet up on the bulkhead at about head level.  He was making himself quite at home.  I personally don’t care to see his bare feet, smell them or even have his footprints at my eye level if I’m the passenger who has to sit there on the next flight.  His daughter spent most of the flight running up and down the aisle to see her sister and mother who were in seats two or three rows behind her and her father.  As a child, if I’d attempted that, my mother or father would have quickly taken care of the situation and I would have only been up and down the aisle to go to the restroom and that would have been monitored closely by them.  No playing on the plane.  And I grew up flying internationally.  This was a 2 1/2 hour flight.  What could have been so important or urgent?? 

On another recent flight, in coach, my shoes kept sticking to the carpet at the base of my chair.  No matter where I placed my feet, they stuck.  I hadn’t had that problem until I sat down.  Upon examining my shoes, there was no gum on them.  They were just sticky.  Evidently, someone had spilled something on the carpet and it hadn’t been cleaned up.  My airline magazine in the pocket of in front of me was stuck to the bottom of the pocket by a big wad of chewed gum.  The baseboard on the bulkhead next to me was being held on by duct tape.  I’m still not quite sure why I didn’t write a letter of complaint to the airline.  Maybe it was because I knew I would get a form letter saying that the short turnaround times on flights didn’t allow them to clean the planes properly and that maintenance costs were rising while they attempted to keep the ticket prices down.  I don’t care.  I would gladly pay a little extra to fly in a clean plane!  I had to wash off my shoes in the restroom of the airport when I arrived at my destination, because my shoes were so sticky.  And I was too afraid to use the seat pocket because I didn’t know what else was in there.  Especially after the flight attendant told me I wouldn’t believe what some people put in there.  Needless to say, if a passenger can’t deposit trash, dirty diapers, dirty Kleenex and ”barf bags” in the trash, maybe they don’t need to be flying.  That trip reminded me of a trip I once took on a bus and what a horrible experience that had been. 

So, I am calling all disgusted (not disgusting) travelers to join me in a revolt.  We are revolting against the revolting passengers that can’t seem to keep their body fluids and trash where they belong, can’t be civilized in public and can’t seem to be polite to the crew and the other passengers!  Let’s step back in time a little when travel was a treat!

“Civilization is just a slow process of learning to be kind.” ~ Charles L. Lucas

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Neighbors

I know people who have neighborhoods that are friendly, cohesive and practically extended family.  And then there is our neighborhood.  I have never seen a place that is more distant and disfunctional!  At one time, I had tried to be friendly with some of the neighbors in our area, but it was to no avail.  The guy next door runs a business out of his home and stores the trailors and trucks in his driveway and along the street (including in front of our house).  It is annoying to say the least.   It wouldn’t be so bad, but when we moved back from Germany (over six years ago), he said he was getting a location to store everything in a couple of months.  That never happened.  I guess he spends so much time on his business that his house has become really rundown and at one time, he had a rat problem.  And this is a fairly nice neighborhood.  I mean, the houses aren’t mansions or anything, but it is a decent, clean neighborhood.  And there is mold along the eaves of his house and there is decaying wood trim.  And the house isn’t even 15 years old!  I’d hate to see the inside!  The worst thing about him is his lack of anger management.  I’m really not sure to this day why he did what he did…I was driving up the street from the mailboxes and passed his house (and vehicle).  Evidently, he thought I should have stopped and let him pull away from the curb, even though I had the right of way.  He threw his big truck into drive (I was in a compact car) and pulled away from the curb as I was passing him.  I honked, in case he didn’t see me, but all he did was give me the finger while yelling something at me and he drove off.  Nice neighbor, huh??!!? 

We had some really friendly neighbors across the street, but they moved away and a young bachelor moved in.  He keeps to himself.  Two other houses across the street had neighbors that would at least wave and say hello.  One is being rented now by a young couple with a baby.  They’re very, very nice…probably our best neighbors at this point.  But they’ll be moving away in the next year.  And directly next to them is a couple that moved in about 9 months ago.  I have seen them three times.  The first two times, I waved and said hello.  They ignored me and went into their garage and shut the door.  On the other side of us are three four(?) young people all living together (okay, I’m really not sure who all lives there) and they have two very, very bark-y dogs.  They all seem pleasant, but hardly ever speak to us. 

The only explanations I have for why this is so, is because it’s a neighborhood subdivision of mostly young people who’ve only lived here a short while or maybe it’s because it’s such a big city that people become insular.  No matter…I keep telling myself that someday, I’ll live in a smaller place again and have pleasant neighbors, not just people who inhabit the same subdivision! 

“A bad neighbor is a misfortune, as much as a good one is a great blessing.” ~ Hesiod

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Too Much to Catch Up On…

I have been so preoccupied lately that I have let my blog time go. And I somehow feel guilty. I don’t know if it’s because my friends who come here to keep up with my life have no idea what’s been going on with me or because I haven’t given myself the opportunity to vent, relax and write my thoughts down. No matter the reason, I do feel guilty. And now, I want to catch up. But I know there’s no way it can happen in one day. So, I’m planning on being here at least every other day for a while to fill in the gaps.

Not long after the last time I posted, Beau and I took off on vacation. We had a wonderful time visiting Sedona, Flagstaff, the Grand Canyon and Las Vegas. We flew into Las Vegas and picked up our rental car…by the way, I do NOT recommend Payless Car Rental as an option. HOLY COW! We stood in line for almost an hour to pick up our rental car, just to have the girl behind the counter treat us rudely and then we were given a car that actually had two different colors of side-view mirrors and dings and dents all over it! And the car rattled and pinged it’s way to Sedona. And it wasn’t enough of a bargain to put up with that. But we went ahead and drove to Sedona anyway, because we had plans for the evening and needed to get going. The drive was really nice. We talked and listened to music and enjoyed the desert view. And we also drove across Hoover Dam!! It will only be about another year or so that people will be able to do that. I was a little freaked out by the heights (as usual), but Beau loved seeing it. I was relieved to get to flatter land!

When we arrived in Sedona, we checked into our hotel and then went to visit Beau’s sister. She took us over to the hotel where she works and we had dinner. It was a nice night, but we were tired. However, we decided to stay up a little longer and went out to the bar she frequents and had a drink and sat around chatting. Then we dropped her off and went back to the hotel to sleep. The next morning we woke up and went to breakfast. We still hadn’t seen the red rocks (as we arrived after sunset and our room didn’t have a view). But after breakfast, I took a walk outside and WOW! The rocks were right outside the hotel!!! The picture is of the rocks right across the road. I loved the view. After that, we drove around to get our bearings and then picked up Laurie (Beau’s sister) to head over to Sedona (we were actually staying in the Village of Oak Creek outside of Sedona). Our trip to Sedona will be posted tomorrow. I want to be able to break down the days as much as possible, so I can post some wonderful pictures, too.

 

 

“The ability to see beauty is the beginning of our moral sensibility. What we believe is beautiful we will not wantonly destroy.” ~ Reverend Sean Parker Dennison

 

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Still no car…

Well, it has now been almost 7 weeks. I went to pick up my car on Friday (after they had to replace more parts due to a problem with the paint on some trim that “peeled off” during my car being washed by the collision place and then when they replaced that trim with new, they broke another part and had to replace it, too. So, when I finally got to go pick up my car, someone at the shop had opened the car door into something and dented the bottom corner and scrapped off some paint! When I pointed it out, the rep seemed surprised. Of course, I couldn’t figure out why he wanted to move my car out of the sun and park it in the shade, so I could check it out. Makes me a little suspicious! My car is now not expected to be ready until Monday or Tuesday. I’m not holding my breath…

I’m so sick of dealing with this. I’m so worried that they keep fixing things they’ve screwed up and keep making something else a disaster. By the time they’re done, they will have either repaired or replaced 1/2 of my car!!

“Once a job is fouled up, anything done to improve it makes it worse.” ~ Finagle

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Monday is 6 weeks…and counting

I have been without my car for 5 weeks and 6 days. And I miss my sunroof! What makes me even more frustrated is that I’ve had to do without my favorite feature on my car for the best weather San Antonio offers…the short-lived spring. We are now into the dog days of summer (and believe me, they last a long time here), so I won’t be utilizing the sunroof during the heat of the day as I HATE HOT WEATHER!! Yes, I know…I live in the wrong area. Talk to my husband! He hates snow. So, we swelter our way through the heat of San Antonio and I long for the days of living in areas that actually have 4 seasons. It is in the 90′s today and it doesn’t look like the weather will drop down into the perfect daytime temps of mid 70′s (as far as I’m concerned) until late October or maybe November, if I’m lucky. Oh, well. Like they say, we do have 4 seasons in San Antonio…hot, hotter, hottest and warm. It makes me laugh when I see people breaking out the winter coats when it hits the 50′s. Yes, not just coats, but gloves, scarves and hats…and don’t forget the boots! I have been known to wear sandals year-round here. My investment in my German Birkenstocks have been my salvation.

As for why I am without my car, see the car wreck posts, if you haven’t already. My poor car is still in the shop. After the body work was done (almost 3 weeks) they had to realign the car…and that was when they discovered the suspension damage from the other driver also hitting the front tire on my car (front-wheel drive and I’m not happy about the suspension damage).

My car was supposed to be ready on Friday. We now are holding out that it’s ready on Monday, so I don’t have to go into week 7 in this horrible rental.

Keep positive thoughts that my little white sports car with the sunroof will be ready on Monday! I’ll still be able to use the sunroof in the mornings on the way to work. (Those are my cheeks getting sunburned from the sunroof being open.)

“Heat, ma am! It was so dreadful here that I found there was nothing left for it but to take off my flesh and sit in my bones.” ~ Sydney Smith

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