Saturday, February 18, 2006

Catching up on Patrick's Saturday Six

I have seen several great "Saturday Six" entries over at Patrick's place so I am going to take the liberty of picking and choosing which ones I want to include in my journal. This is Episode 89, from December. Enjoy!

1. Which of the following generally costs you more: a normal trip to your barber/hairstylist, your usual lunch at your favorite restaurant, the most recent amount you paid to fill up your gas tank, or your biggest single contribution to a single charity in 2005?

It would have to be the amount of money I spent at the hairstylist. While my cumulative contributions are more, a single visit to maintain my low-maintenance hairstyle ranks higher than a single contribution.

2. What drink -- alcoholic or not -- do you drink entirely too much of?

If you know me, there is no doubt. I'll take a straight Dr Pepper any time!

3. Did you receive a Christmas card from anyone you didn't send one to? Did you send them a belated card in return?

Since I was moving right before Christmas, I never sent any Christmas cards. I had good intentions so now I am stuck with a ton of Christmas stamps that require a 2 cent stamp companion.

4. Take this quiz (if you haven't already!): What is most important in your life?

Career is most important in your life.



Having a high focus on career indicates that you are extremely focused on furthering you career right now. You don't mind working late at the office or sucking up to your boss because you know it will pay off soon.


Life Piechart - QuizGalaxy.com

Take this quiz at QuizGalaxy.com


5. Before taking the quiz, which of its categories (career, love, money, health, family or fun) would you have said would be your answer?

Since my kids are grown and on their own, it does not surprise me that my emphasis is on Career. I know in my heart that my family comes first.

6. Do you believe in soulmates? Do you think that there are at least one out there for every person, that there is a single "true" soulmate for every person, or that there aren't soulmates for everyone?

Yes, I believe there are soulmates and I believe there is one out there for everyone. It is a wonderful thing if you are fortunate enough to find yours.

Friday, January 27, 2006

Memories floating back...

I lost a friend this week and her passing caused me to stop and reflect over the many ways our lives had woven a tapestry in the last 25 years. We attended the same church while we were raising our children and K often commented that she wished her son would marry my daughter. In later years she just wished her son would marry anyone's daughter! We often tried to fix him up with first one and then another but he was shy and it never worked out. (Looks like he does have a serious girlfriend now. 'bout time!) When I returned to Texas last year K was one of the first to greet me and welcome me home.

There's a group of old friends that go out to eat every Sunday night after church and K and her husband were always there when she felt physically able. We often laughed and talked about events from our past and she was an appreciative audience of my silly side.

Driving home from visiting with K's family the other night I remembered something that made me laugh out loud. Another of my embarrassing moments I had not thought of in years!

Shortly after my ex and I divorced, the kids and I were invited to join several other families that were camping over the Labor Day weekend. These other families had trailers, campers, RVs, etc and were very experienced. K's daughter and new son in law came out for a day and brought their ski boat that could easily hold 8 adults or a dozen kids! Throughout the day, everyone was in and out of the water, having fun skiing and Mike patiently took a group out, brought them back and headed out with another load.

When the big innertube was tied to the back, I decided to take some pictures of my kids being bounced across the lake. Soon it looked like too much fun to pass up and the teens reluctantly let me take a turn. I had gone on that run as the only adult supervising the young ones while Mike drove the boat and had not intended to get wet again. I had changed into clothes that were the mode of the day, jean shorts and a big shouldered tshirt. (It was the early 90s and it was the days of bangs that defied gravity and designer tshirts in every color with coordinating earrings the size of half dollars. Anyone remember those?)

My young teen took pictures that preserved his mother making a fool of herself and after a few batterings from the wake, I had raccoon eyes from my mascara running and I looked like a drowning cat. But I was having a blast and laughing so hard at my feeble attempts to stay on and "ride the waves." Finally, I lost my grip and Mike dutifully came back around to pull me from the lake.

As he trolled up slowly so that I could swim over and climb aboard he tried to say something but he was a bit tongue-tied and stammered that he thought I had "lost something." Mike pointed next to me in the water and there, a few feet away, were two massive shoulder pads that had worked their way out of my oh-so-chic shirt and past the lifejacket. They were the flesh colored foam ones that were large and rounded on one end and tapered to flat on the other end. I could tell he was embarrassed, not certain of what he was witnessing from this friend of his mother in law. I scooped them up laughing, tried to squeeze out the water and show him, "They are just my shoulderpads!!" With a beet-red face, he just nodded his head, "Yeah, okay." and turned away.

After Mike and his new bride headed home that evening I shared the story with K and the other adults around the campfire. No one enjoyed my tale more than K. She would be pleased that I remembered and shared it here.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Old Habits Die Hard

“Hellooooo!” she said in her best Mrs. Doubtfire imitation. Yes, I am back after more than a month without access to the computer in my new home. I have missed reading your journal entries on a regular basis and I have really missed adding my own journal posts!

So often, in the last few weeks, something would happen and I would think of adding to my journal. Getting everything to work again, after the move, has been a technological nightmare but I have to credit my daughter with finally reconnecting me to the outside world.

I love to keep things light and funny in this little piece of cyberspace so let me recap some of the events that would have been part or all of a journal post in the last five weeks:

1. Chasing my prescription from the dentist across two parking lots, a street and a field during a recent windstorm.

2. Five visits to the dentist. My random thoughts while under the gas were certainly blog worthy!
3. Losing a temporary crown just as visitors from Corporate came to see our new office operations. That post would have been titled “Fixodent: A Little Dab Will Do Ya”
4. Having a cricket jump up my pants leg while I was on the phone at work.
5. Right after I moved, I unexpectedly found myself with no electricity in the middle of the night. I almost broke my neck stumbling over boxes as I tried to find candles and matches using the only available light … the glow from my dying cell phone.
6. “Fun with Duct Tape” (I had no idea it came in camouflage!)
7. Casino Night at the company Christmas party. I could do no wrong that night playing Texas Hold ‘Em poker and wound up going head to head against my boss.

Things are very busy at work and I am still trying to dig out from under the schtuff I felt compelled to move but I will make a concerted effort to get back in the habit of adding to my blog. I have missed journaling and am soooo glad to be back.

Make it a great day!


Donna