889.

Good morning good people! 💃🏽

I hope everyone is somewhere safe and happy.

Yesterday was busy here. I visited our William (who was still in a little pain but doing better by comparison). Baby Bliss was there, as were his dad and a few other visitors. I didn't stay long because he does need his rest but I wanted to say hello and show support in person as well as pass on well wishes, prayer notifications, etc.

It seems he'll be going home soon for close to a week before he'll be back in hospital for another round of treatment.

Thank you all for your continued prayers for William's healing. 💓

There was also continuation of a project for a client. We are co-creating dynamic new projects for 2020.

🌻 🌻 🌻

And now it's Dream Time!

Today's* dream scenes:

1. At my grandma's old house in our old home town. A man I was involved with (I think) was sleeping in the middle bedroom with me. I think we were in a sleeping bag. We didn't want anyone to know we were sleeping/had slept in the room together because we weren't supposed to sleep together at grandma's so we were vocalizing the lies we could tell if we got caught, to make it seem like one of us had just gotten to the room and hadn't been there all night.

2. We were were in the yard of a friend's home (or maybe it was a family member's home) out in a rural area for a family picnic. Maybe we were too loud for some because some other folk began complaining.

My family said not to worry because the other folk didn't live there but were only renting a nearby property for the day.

My cousin (the mother of the boy from yesterday's post) needed to go potty and found an outhouse. Bernie Mac (may he rest in peace) must have been mad at my cousin because he decided to set all the grass on fire near the outhouse. He also set fire to an abandoned house near the outhouse.

I told him I was gonna call cousin's husband (a big mean guy in waking life) and he (Bernie Mac) would be sorry. He bucked and talked trash, saying he didn't care, etc.

As I called 911, I realized I didn't know the address. 😬

Baby Bliss and I needed to go potty. We went to another home in the area and began exploring. When we were leaving, a young couple came to the door, trying to get in. I think they were with the "rental" folk. Baby Bliss pulled out a knife of some kind and as the young couple tried to walk into the house, she used the knife to manipulate the lock on the inside of the door so the door wouldn't open from the outside.

Before she pulled the door to, I realized I was barefoot and ran back in. My shoes were nowhere in sight but I did see a cute pair of chunky Dr. Scholl-type shoes on the floor just past the living room. I said to myself, "Cute" but still wondered where my shoes were.

3. I was on the front porch of a house with my friend R. (In waking life, I haven't seen her since last year. She is part of my intentional family, like K., who visited us over the 4th of July holiday. At one time the three of us worked together.)

R. and I were waiting for her youngest son to return to the porch. There was a huge cat perched on the porch railing. I played with kitty's luxurious fur while we waited and R. told me how much they loved kitty. Her son returned with his new kitten.


(*Usually my dreams take place on the same day I blog about them because I rarely go to sleep before midnight, with some exceptions of course.)

879.

Happy Sunday folks! 😀

Hopefully everyone is enjoying this beautiful day in peace and harmony. It's warm and sunny here and I'm resting for now.

Up until this moment, this weekend hasn't been what I thought it would be.

 My expectations: restful quiet with snacks, music, crochet, needles and thread...

Instead I got lots of conversation(s) with my friend, a lost-dog crisis, a bug-in-the-house crisis, and a dearth of rest/sleep.

- Sleep deprivation is not news around here. 😒😣

- The bug incident had my heart racing. I've lived at my current residence for seven years. I can count on one had the number of big bugs I've seen in here.

I turned on the bathroom light and there it was, on the floor. I began screaming. Baby Bliss et al ran out to see why. I said, "Cockroach". Her boyfriend said, "Water bug".

Either way, my adrenaline shot up as I ran in search of something to spray it with.

Febreeze was the first thing I saw.

I blasted that sucka but it didn't stop him. Baby Bliss came with a shoe and a screaming-shouting frenzy ensued.

The sound of a bug "splat" is horrendous. Worse is seeing it happen. 😰😱🤢🤮 But she smashed it. I dare not describe the mutilation I witnessed. Thankfully the boyfriend cleaned up the debris.

After all that drama and mayhem, my nerves were shot. It sent me on a tear. (See definitions 1 and 2.)

Bugs like paper and I have lots of it in here: waiting-to-be-filed: manuscripts past and present, receipts, etc. as well as waiting-to-be-shredded.

Some of that paper will see the inside of our dumpster as soon as I go out today.

Perhaps it was a reminder from the Great One that I need to get my ass in high gear regarding my ongoing quest to free our living space of Things Which No Longer Serve Us.

As discussed in one of the many conversations I had with my friend yesterday, I keep stuff. He said I'm a hoarder. I consider myself a sentimental preserver because I keep things of remembrance: greeting cards (I have the one my mom gave me for my 16th birthday as well as the cards I got at Baby Bliss' baby shower 20-something years ago); some of Mr. Bliss' clothes/shoes/important papers; Baby Bliss' childhood artwork and report cards; old diaries and journals; income tax filings dating back to the 80s including those spanning several marriages...

Some documents I've retained because of a few scary incidents in my past that necessitated me having to prove I did or didn't engage in some thing that could have had serious consequences (fines, penalties, and/or jail time) had I not been able to prove my involvement or lack thereof in said activity.

Seriously.

However, I do acknowledge that some of those documents could probably be disposed of without negative repercussions.

I also know that to move forward, one must be willing to leave the past behind. Or, as my friend and I discussed recently (and on a few other occasions), "What are you willing to give up to get what you want?"

Part of me feels like I've given up so much already, unwillingly (Mr. Bliss, my dad). I know trying to hold on to that which cannot be held is ultimately foolish and possibly dangerous. I also know that memories are ours to hold in our hearts forever, until we are only memories.

Life...

It's a combination of so many things. Two of my favorite songs sum up those feelings for me.

One is Vivir Mi Vida.

The other is Rie y Llora.

- Once again, my neighbor's dog got loose and ran away from her. The first time was back in early fall, when the dog and my neighbor were new companions. She took the dog out for a walk and thought it would go potty faster off the leash. 😑

The dog decided to explore the land.

Alone.

My neighbor was devastated. The dog was returned to her by animal control several days later.

This time the dog ran off when it was frightened by a different neighbor.

Allegedly.

My neighbor called me several times to tell me but I was otherwise engaged and couldn't answer. So she climbed my stairs and knocked at my door.

I had to talk to her as I peeked around the side of the door because I wasn't dressed. 😶  She told me the dog had gotten away again. I told her I'd get dressed and come down.

Long story short, we looked for the dog for a while and made a few stops to inquire and inform. No dog and two hours spent.

When I awoke this morning, there was a text from my neighbor saying the dog had returned.

Hallelujah.

- My friend and I have been enjoying excellent communication for a couple of weeks now. We talked numerous times yesterday, starting at 2 a.m. and ending close to midnight. We've talked twice today.

It feels like we're ramping up the excitement leading up to our anticipated visit and I'm really digging our interaction. According to him, he is too. 😊

I was anxious about going home but now I'm eager to get on the road.

Oh happy day! 💃

Time to change the scenery y'all. Gotta henna this head.

Ciao darlings. 💋

863.

Hello and Happy Happy Sunday y'all!

Daddy and I have had an eventful weekend.

Friday night, we stayed up late to watch "Deja Vu". I had seen the movie several times but daddy saw it for the first time. It's one of my favorite thrillers and daddy liked it too.

I remember my first time seeing it. Not the date i saw it but my reaction to it. I'd been seeing previews and hearing about the movie but I resisted seeing it because I assumed I knew what it was about and I thought it would be boring. The same way I'd done with LOTR.

Silly me. 🤪

I thought it was just some kinda regular ole Denzel romantic thriller. To my surprise and delight, it was much more complex than that.

Just another lesson in not rushing to judgment. Which is totally different from following one's intuition. 😌

🌸 🌸 🌸

Although we were up late Friday night, when we got up Saturday morning, daddy and I decided to head to the mountains. Previously we'd said we would go this coming Friday but Saturday morning just felt like a day to head for the hills. ⛰

Daddy said he wanted to go but he was moving very slowly, lollygagging on his bed instead of getting it in gear. 😆 I had to remind him that the ride was two hours and we needed to hustle a bit so we could get to our destination before noon.

We actually made it to the car a half hour earlier than expected but I had to come back for a few things I'd forgotten. 🙃 (I really must create more lists and alarms. It's become the only way I can be sure I'll remember everything. Almost everything...)

The weather was beautiful. Cold but sunny. We were bundled up just enough but the wind was nippier than expected. I could have used a pair of gloves earlier in the day.

We didn't have a set schedule but I knew where I wanted us to go. We hit every spot and in just the right order too.

First I took daddy to see a beautiful college campus I visit when ever I'm up that way. It has a nice lake area and daddy loves water. Everyone was nice and helpful, telling us the best place to park and offering to help daddy up the short set of (steep-ish) stairs.

Next was lunch at my favorite BBQ joint. Wouldn't you know it, daddy had fish.  🐟🐠🐟 At the BBQ joint. I didn't even know they sold fish. 👀

We then went to one of my favorite thrift stores. Even though I don't always find things to buy there (I did in June) it's always an interesting place to browse. I thought it would be crowded because it was the weekend. Surprisingly, it wasn't.

Daddy liked the shop too. He found lots of interesting things to look at and he seemed very comfortable there.

The store only takes cash, which I had forgotten. I also forgot to get cash but thankfully I had about $40 in my wallet. We left with a pair of pants and a couple of shirts for daddy, a re-usable shopping bag for Baby Bliss, and a cone of some cool-looking yarn for me. (Which is now double-bagged in my freezer, in case there are any critters lurking in its darkest recesses.)

We headed for the next thrift store (Goodwill) but made a pit stop first at my favorite independent grocery store. They always have deep discounts on healthy (and sometimes international) goodies that are sky high everywhere else. Sometimes it's because the expiration dates have come and gone so one must pay close attention.

Daddy wandered around the store which was cool because I like him to feel that he doesn't have to be within my grasp at all times.

What I didn't know until later was that he was in search of junk food. He brought an iced pastry to me and asked if he could have it. I told him no but I would find him a healthy snack. He said a curt "okay" then tossed the pastry on the nearest shelf. 😯

Well okay Mr. Shade Thrower. 😑

I spent quite a bit of moola in that store, as I always do when I shop there. Some things were for Baby Bliss and her significant other, as we were stopping at their estate on the way home. (It's on the route.)

Goodwill was our last stop.

The store is new and it's big. Initially daddy seemed reluctant to venture off on his own. Possibly because the store was bustling with other shoppers and he was maneuvering with his walker. He tagged along behind me briefly then I lost sight of him.

Eventually we both ended up in the men's section.

We left with a whole lotta stuff. For me: two summer dresses, a bunch of books, a beautiful drinking glass that matches one I already have (and possibly got at that store), two small framed summery art pieces for my office. For Baby Bliss: a black purse, a set of cut crystal wine glasses, a beautiful book about cats, a set of mirrored Asian art pieces for her s.o.  For daddy: a pair of pants, a sweater, a couple of shirts, a piece of art for his bedroom wall.

An hour later we were crossing the moat at Baby Bliss's home.

(Seriously, there's a moat.)

As we drove up the hill to their driveway, I could hear the dogs barking. They were so excited to have company that we had to wait for their parents to reign them in so I could park safely.

As soon as I opened my door, their newest baby (a boy named Blue) put his head in my lap and looked up at me with puppy dog eyes. Such a sweetheart. You would never believe what I've heard about how he's torn up the house every day since he's been there. 😂😇😈

I got out and Blue jumped in to greet daddy.

A dog with his butt in my seat. 😩🙈

Our visit was short but pleasant. The house is huge. And cold. They have that youthful blood so I guess heat isn't a priority.

(Side note: As a mommy, I am a bit worried that they're not prepared for winter. It was already cold and that area gets real snow. I've been texting them daily, asking if they have shovels, salt, a generator, and other winter necessities. Better to get those things early and not get caught in a mad rush at the last minute.)

The kids are friendly with the long-term neighbors and on close terms with one of them so that's good. I need to tell Baby Bliss to give that neighbor my number and give her's to me.

We saw the neighbor's horses while we were there. 🐎

Gorgeous creatures. Social, intelligent, graceful.

One came over to the fence to seemingly converse with the dogs. I don't know what was conveyed but it must have been good.

The dogs began to run the length of the fence in the direction the horse came from. I was amazed to see the horse take off right behind them, on his/her side of the fence. The dogs came running back and about a minute later, three more horses 🐎🐎🐎 came to the same spot at the fence to talk about... us?

Maybe. 😉

The first horse hung back a ways, seeming to let the newly-arrived have their time with the dogs. A few minutes later, the three galloped over to the first horse and they all ran off to the part of the pasture that runs behind the house where we could no longer see them.

Fascinating and very moving. I'd only seen such on telly or in movies prior to last night.

It was close to dinner time when we were about 30 minutes from home. When we got closer to home, we stopped for dinner at Cracker Barrel.

Both daddy and I had a taste for fried chicken, which I've had at Cracker Barrel before and it was quite tasty. 🍗

Must have been a good cook that day.

When our chicken arrived, there was so much breading on it, I was reminded of armor. 😰 It made the chicken appear almost twice its normal size. Whyyyyyyy? Just a waste of good chicken.

It's bad enough that Cracker Barrel has only been selling the fried chicken for a short time. Now I will never feel comfortable ordering it again. 😭

And the dinner is four pieces of chicken which is half a chicken, right? No way to order just two pieces. 😒 I guess we could have ordered one dinner and one of us ordered extra sides. But who would have gotten which pieces? 😩

Maybe God was telling me/us that if we want fried chicken, I need to learn to cook it at home. If I do, it will be the oven-fried chicken that Baby Bliss used to make. It was delicious and it was easier and safer to cook it in the oven.

I do not like grease popping in my kitchen. Doesn't matter who's cooking.

🌸 🌸 🌸

In the last bit of news for this entry, I talked to my friend Saturday morning.

We talked for 30 minutes, while I did my morning chores and waited for daddy to get up.

The first few words of our conversation were surprising in a pleasant way. Then it became pleasantly funny.

We rang off with each of us reminding the other to be safe in our travels.

A great start to a fantastic day. 😊

And now my good people, I bid y'all good night. Time for 🛌. I'm beat.

Sweet dreams folks. 😴

853.

Happy happy Tuesday y'all!

I hope everyone is somewhere safe and that everyone has enough.

There's a cricket somewhere near. It's loud. But I can't tell if it's inside or out. I'm hoping it's out because bugs inside are a no-no.

My living room windows are open and I'm sitting on the floor in front of the sofa, enjoying the breeze. I can also hear the sound of hundreds of gallons of water being wasted because my neighbor forgot to turn the spigot off after she used her hose. 😩

I texted her but it's late and dark. Maybe she'll turn it off tomorrow.

🌸 🌸 🌸

Sunday's date was fun, despite a few red flags. We met at a place I've had many dates, one of my favorite restaurants down in the big city.

We shared calamari appetizers, had a few drinks (my favorite non-alcoholic beverage for me). After we finished our respective main courses, we headed out for a walk.

Back story: We'd met online a week or so earlier and talked by phone for a few days before agreeing to meet.

I already knew it wouldn't be a love match. But he really wanted to meet me so I agreed. I was already heading to the Big City for another event so we agreed to meet at the location I was already headed to.

Unless one is psychic, which is always the exception to any and all rules, one can't possibly know if a romantic relationship will be successful long-term just by talking to the other person on the phone. ☎

This guy was just too gung ho about our future together, before we met. 😕

It felt like it was the future he'd been planning for himself for a long time; he just needed a woman -- maybe any woman -- to plug into the empty space.

A turn-off. (I was glad he was planning a future but I happen to prefer discussing life goals then making plans as a couple, if we get to that stage. 👫)

But back to the date...

The food was good and there was lots of laughter and good conversation, three things I love on a date. But he also tried to get me to commit to agreeing to do something I'd previously told him I don't do. (Nothing illegal or immoral, just something I have zero interest in doing.)

Another turn off. No means no, regardless of the topic or reason.

It was a four-hour date and while I enjoyed hanging out with him, there won't be a second date.

He did ask to see me again before we parted and I said yes. However he seemed to have lost some of his original enthusiasm at some point on Monday.

We talked a few times while he was at work. We also talked a couple of times after he got off work, as he was (allegedly) heading to eat dinner before going home. The last two calls were short. Before we ended the last call, he said he he'd call when he got home.

I guess he never made it home but I did receive two cryptic texts from him. I responded generically to the first and the second shall remain unanswered.

As I wasn't counting on a white picket fence with dude, I'm good with letting things drift into the ether.

Here's to good dates. 🥂

May they always end with a smile. 😀

Be sure to read post 854 to hear my current Mercury retrograde tidbits and more. 🎺🎻😁

Correction: Should be post 855.

794.

Good morning and Happy Friday y'all!

It's another day of emotional overload for me. It's definitely a confluence of several things: my feelings about what happened between the Hunk and I, the current Mercury retrograde, whatever hormonal phase I'm in right now due to my menstrual cycle and peri-menopause...

When I woke up, I felt fine. I've had a busy day talking to friends, doing laundry, washing dishes, fixing and eating lunch. It's only been in the past hour or two that I've begun to feel like I don't want to see or talk to anyone.

I went out to sweep my porch about 20 minutes ago and a hummingbird flew up to me, inches from my face. It looked at me, fluttered it's wings at hyper-speed for a few seconds, then flew back the way it had come.

Shocked and delighted, I immediately thought of the Hunk and burst into tears. 😟 One of the evenings we sat intertwined on his front steps, we observed and talked about all the hummingbirds flitting about in his yard and his neighbor's yard across the street.

I've lived here five years and while I have seen a few hummingbirds from a distance in the past several months (a downstairs neighbor one building over has a bird feeder in her yard), this is the first time in my life that I've had a personal visit from a hummingbird.

Blessed be!

Tears streaming, I googled the hummingbird totem and was immediately comforted by what I read.

If any of you want to know what it was, it's here: Hummingbird Animal Totem and Symbolic Hummingbird Meanings and here: Hummingbird Medicine (I love this one. 💕)

Speaking of Mercury retrograde, I know some of you are wondering if any of the exes have come calling.

Of course they have.  😎

One guy (who I won't name but who's been mentioned more times than any other guy I've dated over the years) contacted me online asking if he could call me. Short story: the answer was no.

Another guy -- let's call him the Jock -- (who I had one date with last year and didn't care to see again and who's been asking me off and on for another date for a year) invited me out last weekend. I went because I'd been inside all week and wanted to get out.

It wasn't what I'd call a date. He was out of town for an event and visiting family. I drove up Friday afternoon, hung out with him until late afternoon, met his grandma (a sweetheart) and mom (a pistol and a lot of fun), hung out with him and his mom that evening, slept on his sofa overnight, and headed back home before noon the next day.

There was a Goodwill up the street from where we stayed. Of course I had to make a pit stop on my way home. Two hours later, I left with a skirted bikini bottom in navy blue.

All in all, it was a pleasant enough distraction.

So now, a week later, homeboy is still calling and texting me. I'm not sure what his end game is but my bad for hanging out with dude.

Yes, yes, yes, it is true that I am a woman with a certain je ne sais quoi. And I know it makes me irresistible to a certain segment of the population. 😘

However, nothing remotely romantic happened between the Jock and I. We talked, laughed, ate, went to a social event (where about 95 percent of my time was spent with his momma because he was otherwise engaged), and slept in the same room.

He did bring up the fact that he'd recently retired from his second job and was contemplating retiring this year (a year early) from his decades-long career in sports. He also casually (?) mentioned that he could expect a rather hefty monthly income in retirement due to a canny investment made early in his career.

Ummm... Okay.

I have a rule about discussing money with people, their money or mine: I don't, unless it is absolutely necessary. With a few rare exceptions, I stick to this rule. There are friends who have known me for decades, know nothing about my finances, and never will.

The Jock's revelations made me uncomfortable. One, because I don't need to know anything about his money. Two, because I wasn't sure why he told me.

My guess is that it was bait of some sort.

Although I sometimes joke with my family that my next marriage will be for money (because I have always married for love), I am not and will never be the much-maligned gold digger.

True, my next partner will be a generous man of means. 😉 But there has to be so much more than that. Any man who would woo me using his money, influence, or acquaintances is a man who believes one or more of those things is the best he can offer me.

And sadly, if he believes it, it is so. 😔

No thank you.

My man and I will be good to and for each other, madly in love, best friends, incredible lovers, and compatible in all the ways that will make our relationship Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.  😍😍😍

Seriously.

Any who folks, this post has taken way too long to write. I've taken a lunch break, laundry breaks, bathroom breaks... 

I think I need a nap. 

I also have an offer of a date at 7 with a guy I've gone out with before. He knows we're not each other's type. He just wants someone to hang out with tonight. 

He's cool so we'll see. 😄

739.

Big Sister Bliss retrieved her baby an hour ago.

Hallelujah!  💃

It was fun but nerve-wrecking. 🙀 Like when Baby Bliss was a baby.

Earlier I'd planned to make a late night run out to my post office box and my snail mail box but I'm a bit out of it.

More likely, I'll be running to a pile of pillows soon.

Good night folks.

Sweet dreams...  💤💤💤 

738.

Weird news of the day:

I'm babysitting my youngest grand dog. He's only a few months old. (See post 722.) His mama, Big Sister Bliss, dropped him off en route to work an hour ago.

When he realized she was gone, he whined for a while then said, "Hey, look! A whole bunch of new smells to explore!"

So he ran all over the living room, sniffing and licking; licking and sniffing. He's still at it. He's also running to the front door, drinking water, playing with his toys, tearing up the pee pad in his cage, and humping my legs.

Yep, that's right. He's humping my legs.

Why? 😕

I know dogs do it, but puppies?

My lesson of the day...

Here's the little critter at the door, watching my neighbors.

722.

Good afternoon and Happy Saturday y'all.

Power to the people! ✊🏽✊🏿✊🏻✊

I'm thankful to be in a jolly mood today. No tears yet.

Today is a busy day for me: re-packaging the meats for the freezer, laundry, filing, a bit of cleaning, taking out the trash, tightening my locs...

Yesterday was busy too. I did about a month's worth of shopping in a few days: my local healthy goods store, Aldi, TJMaxx, Ross, Dollar Tree, lunch at Chipotle.

I spent a couple of hundred bucks, excluding lunch. Most of it was spent on groceries; some was spent on one small gift for each of my grand dogs.

The babies: one girl (top) and one boy (bottom).

I no longer like pets in my living space because fur, parasites, fleas, vet visits, cleaning up the poop of another living being... No thank you.

Growing up and into my early 20s, I had cats. I adored them; they loved me too, in their own way. (You cat people out there know what I mean.)

But once Baby Bliss was born, I lost the desire to have breathing balls of fluff laying about the house.

Call me a bad parent if you must but the only pet Baby Bliss ever had was a tetra named Sylvia. Sylvia lasted a few weeks with us. She died because Mr. Bliss kept turning the heat down despite it being a cold winter and me telling him the living room was too cold at night for Sylvia

Ah well...

However I did allow Baby Bliss to pet sit one weekend, to earn a Girl Scout badge. She was also allowed to pet sit for family friends at their homes, under my supervision. We also have family members with pets and she's spent lots of time with those critters as well.

So yes, a well-rounded childhood.

Any who, the real reason for this post has yet to be divulged.

Let me get to it.

This morning's last dream featured the author John Grisham. (Click the hyperlink if you aren't familiar with his work.)

He had come to visit at my friend's house. I don't know why.

(The friend in the dream is a former friend in waking life. She and I were friends from ninth grade until we parted company around age 33. The details of said parting are not to be divulged at the present moment.

In addition, why was it John Grisham and not Stephen King? I've read a Grisham or two in my life. I was even an extra in one of the movies made from one of his books. But King is one of my favorite writers. If we look at it in terms of how much of his writing I've read, King is my favorite author.

Grisham, who I've never met in person, didn't look like his photos at all. I guess he was the dream Grisham so what he looked like probably doesn't matter. And maybe he was just there as a representative of writing itself.

Okay so I'll take it that Grisham was the latter. Maybe Stephen King would have been too much for me, even in a dream. Yeah...)

So Mr. Grisham was at her house as was I. The exact wording of our conversation escapes me but I recall him offering to read some of my work and encouraging me to write more.

When I awoke, I had a renewed sense of purpose and I'm thankful.

I was starting to feel ambivalent about my writing. Not the aspect of it that I do for clients. Rather the writing that I'm supposed to be getting (back) to, with the goal of getting it out to the world via one or two online portals that will allow me to do so.

Other than this one of course.

Not that I don't appreciate the audience I have here. I do, I do!

I appreciate how each and every one of you takes time from your schedule to drop in here and have a read. Even if you don't comment, keep coming back. Hopefully there's something here that you find useful or entertaining.

What ever the reason, don't stop.

And when I get settled at one or two of those other places, I hope you will all join me.

Stay tuned for the invite.

Well folks, I hate to leave y'all but I'm hungry.

Gotta eat!

Toodles.

p.s. 

706.

How-do y'all.

Well, I'm happy to say it was a fun and funny day.

My date and I had a good ole time.

We attended a rollicking festival at a vineyard about 40 minutes from my home. It wasn't my first time so I knew it would be a blast, based on previous attendance.

The fete began at noon; we arrived at 20 after and found that available parking was already threatening to have us walking to the pavilion from the boondocks.

Judging from the number of vehicles, I expected us to have a hard time finding an open table. Oddly, there were several tables that appeared entirely empty. We chose two seats at one, dropped the cooler, the extra bag, and my jacket (to hold our seats) then galavanted off to greet other attendees and check out the vendors and food trucks.

We met one couple who I think we both enjoyed meeting more than anyone else we met.

They were Cynthia and Tom Wilson, vendors at the festival. Not only are they really cool people but  they have the awesome job of raising the much-loved alpacas that are part of their extended family.

Two of the alpacas, mommy Mocha and her baby Luna, were on-site. The others stayed home to keep the other farm family members minding their p's and q's.

Neither my date nor I had previously seen alpacas live and in person before today. We both fell in love with them. They are beautiful creatures, mostly gentle-natured but also high-spirited on occasion.

We asked a ton of questions and the Wilsons were kind enough to share the fascinating story of their alpacas with us.

If anyone is curious about the alpaca, Open Herd is Cynthia and Tom's website.

There were lots more vendors but only one other caught my eye long enough for me to stop.

A woman named Kristina Tomkie, who runs "my little design company", designs and creates greeting cards by hand.

Lovely little things they are.

As a creative spirit, I have an appreciation for the time and effort others put into their works of art. Not all of it is enticing enough to get me to open my wallet but greeting cards just happen to be my thing because I actually like sending actual cards via snail mail.

There's something delectable about receiving a card in the mail. Even if there's nothing handwritten in it other than a signature, I feel like someone was thinking about me for the amount of time it took him/her/them to buy and sign the card, address and stamp the envelope, mail the card, wait for me to acknowledge receipt.

Over time, I have amassed a collection of hundreds of greeting cards. Partly because I have a tendency to buy a card for a special occasion, bring it home, lose it, then return to the store to purchase another.

Sometime after mailing the subsequently purchased card, I find the first one et voila, an extra card for my collection.

Any who, while I can (and do) get greeting cards for cheap I don't mind paying a little extra from time to time for something original.

It satisfies my impulse to encourage other creative folk and I hope the recipient can see that I thought enough of him/her/them to send something different.

Without going further afield (because I'm nodding), if anyone wants to check out Kristina's cards they're here: My Little Design Company.

Okay y'all, I'm outta here.

Good night everyone.

Sweet dreams...

567.

God, you sure have a way of getting my attention.

I remain thankful for the message even if I'm not too fond of the messenger(s).

Amen.

If Praying Mantis has crawled into your space;

Usually the Praying Mantis makes an appearance when we’ve flooded our lives with so much business, activity, or chaos that we can no longer hear the still small voice within us. Taking a step back and some simple meditation would be in order here because the external din we’ve created needs to be quieted so that we can come back to our own truth. The Praying Mantis always comes to us when we need peace, quiet and calm in our lives.

Spirit-Animals

395: getting it together

hey y'all.

i spent some of this weekend organizing the closet in my office. it's where i store my crafts stuff and that space was just getting out of hand.

shortly after we moved in, i bought two of those inexpensive sauder wood-look bookcases to go in my office. i hate the flimsy backings that go on those things. so i did the measurements and went to home depot (alone) to get a big sheet of plywood (?) cut to fit the backs of the cases.

(i had no idea that they would make me buy the whole sheet, they'd cut it, and then offer me the leftovers. of course it makes perfect sense but how was i to know before i knew? mr. bliss thought i was nutty for bringing the leftovers home but i paid for it and why should i leave it there for them to re-sell or recycle?

any way, if/when i get my staple gun, i can cover one or both leftover pieces and make a table top for the balcony or something similar.)

so back to this weekend.

one half of the closet -- or maybe that's 3/4s -- looked neat and the remainder looked crappy. and i couldn't find things when i needed them. bum-mer.

additional storage units seemed to be the answer.

walmart and target's websites didn't yield the prices i was looking for but i decided to go to target in person. although walmart usually has the cheapest prices, target sometimes has good sales on those things.

saturday was my lucky day because i found just what i was looking for and it was on sale. but i'd left home without measuring the remaining floor space in the closet so i had a hard time deciding which piece would fit.

*sigh*

eventually i settled on a smaller piece, knowing it would fit with space to spare.

home... anxious to begin transforming the closet, i wanted to assemble the unit right away. i opened the box, laid out all pieces and parts, then went in search of a screwdriver.

*screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech*

take the needle off the record.

there was no screwdriver to be found in nary a crack nor crevice.

*pffffffffffffffffffffffff* (me, blowing out hot hissy-fit air.)

mr. bliss had just given me the screwdriver a night or two before, when i did my "tighten up" rounds of all the door screws in here. but somehow it disappeared.

frustrated, i left the pieces in a pile on the floor next to mr. bliss's open tool box, hoping he would get the hint when he came in from work cuz i didn't plan to be here.

(turns out he didn't plan to be here either. he'd gotten paged in to work in the wee hours of saturday morning and didn't return home until well after dark.)

in the meantime, baby bliss and i carted our packs off to the library until closing. then we came home to drop off some things and call a friend who wanted to go doggie walking with us.

i packed some veggie burgers, sweet potato fries, baked beans, a bunch of condiments, and a box of tea to take around the corner to auntie's house, where we would be walking the dog.

my plan was to make iced tea and put the burgers on the grill while the girls fed and walked the dog.

good that i'm a "roll with it" kinda girl. cuz y'all know that nothing went as planned right?

murphy's law in action:

1. baby bliss's friend was scared of the dog and screamed shrilly every time the dog came near. which made the dog bark, which made the girl more scared. by the time she calmed down, we'd been there almost 30 minutes.
2. which led to me forgetting to put on the water for the tea.
3. auntie's grill was dirty and i didn't want to clean it.
4. the girls did not want baked beans or fries so i didn't cook either side dish because i didn't want to cart leftovers home.
5. it wasn't until after i put the water on that i discovered that although auntie has an ice dispenser on her fridge door, there was no ice being dispensed that day. and we didn't have enough time left for the tea to cool off in the fridge or freezer.
6. we were supposed to get a phone call from the girl's dad letting me know it was time to bring her back home so she could go to a farewell dinner with family. wouldn't y'all know it, my phone did not work at auntie's house. which resulted in a rudely-executed extraction mission by the girl's older sister.

as we were pulling out of the driveway, my cousin (who lives next door to auntie) came out to say hello. she and i chatted for a few minutes about family stuff. by then it was full dark.

my grandma says baby bliss and i like to "travel at night" and we sure do. instead of heading home, we headed over to grandma's to get her mail because she was up north visiting my momma.

we finally dragged our tails home, where i waited for mr. bliss to come home and reveal the location of the screwdriver.

220: news of the "varied" sort

hey y'all!

how was your (collective) weekend?

mine was busy. baby bliss and i semi-house/dog sat for a friend. i say "semi" cuz we didn't sleep over at her place.

thank God/Goddess/Universe for friends with pets. baby bliss has been begging for a pooch for too long now but a weekend of keeping up with somebody else's lil pooper was all it took to convince her that no four-legged critters will inhabit her immediate future.

hallelujah!

the entrepreneural (is that a word?) baby bliss was paid for her services but i'm willing to bet she won't want to work like that again any time soon.

the most valuable part of the lesson: cleaning up pee pee and poo poo comes with the job.

for today's language arts assignment, baby bliss will draft then finalize a short story about her experience.

we now move on to the news.

* * *

ladies (and gents too), if you have chaps working fast food, tell them to be careful!

a 20-year old young lady was arrested for "over-salting" a burger. yes, you're reading it right. and you can read the full story here: Well That Wasn't a Donut!

why this strikes me as unjust: not only cuz it's stupid but why wasn't the manager arrested too? my interpretation was that the manager was more concerned with store profits (why not add more meat to counter the extra salt?) than the customer's taste buds/health.

i smell an overly salty lawsuit coming.

* * *

if nudity offends thee, don't move to Oakland, CA where one man has a judge's okay to work naked. check out the full story: Shouldn't You Cover Your...

* * *

the final story is of particular interests to parents. think long and hard before you let your chaps ride out with your family, friends, or neighbors. some of them might have secrets that could lead to this: If It Ain't Paid for Ya Cain't Keep It

personally, i think the guys lied when they said they searched the SUV first...

170: an ordinary day

what was your sunday like? was it fun and exciting? chill and laid back? boring and sleep-inducing?

mine was... ordinary.

i wanted to go to church today but baby bliss and i overslept. not surprising since we were up late. she watched mission impossible 3 until the sandman dragged her away 3/4 of the way into the movie.

mr. bliss had gone to church, come home, and gone out again before i could crack my eyelids. he called to say he was out with my family and asked if i needed anything while he was out.

soon after he got back, baby bliss and i got dressed and we all went to the dollar store then sam's club. on the way home, the mermaid decided she needed a swim. she begged mr. bliss to cook dinner on the grill at the pool but he refused, saying dinner would be ready when we returned.

so baby bliss and i headed out to the pool. the sky was overcast but the temperature was still warm and a bit muggy. thankfully the pool was nearly empty. my auntie joined us later, for about an hour.

most of my time was spent watching them swim from my perch on the covered porch. (i also played a few games of pacman.) eventually the heat and mosquitoes forced me to the water's edge. i hiked up my skirt, plopped my patootie poolside, and dangled my legs in the cool water. it felt good but the smell of chlorine was almost overpowering. yuck!

soon baby bliss and i bid auntie farewell and we all left for our respective abodes.

dinner was still sizzling on the grill when we opened our front door. i helped hubby dish up the vittles (rice, grilled barbeque chicken, grilled salmon, corn on the cob, raw spinach) and we all sat down to a scrumptious meal.

i'm not sure how hubby managed to eat a big bowl of rainbow sherbet after chowing down like he did on dinner. i didn't have an inch of room to spare when i was done. mr. bliss ate full-sized portions of salmon and chicken. i started out with salmon and 1/4 of a chicken breast but only ate 3/4 of the salmon. i usually prefer salmon but the chicken tasted better this time. so i pinched some of baby bliss's chicken when she wasn't looking. (she doesn't eat salmon.)

during his sherbet sortie, mr. bliss announced that we would be taking a walk to help our food settle. *groan* i knew i needed to but i wasn't really feeling good. i had taken a bunch of vitamins/supplements with my dinner and it felt like they were fighting it out in my belly.

baby bliss didn't wanna go either but in the end, we all went. thankfully we saw mr. and mrs. neighbor (the ones who had the shindig July 7 weekend) coming outside just as we got to their door. they were heading out too so we all walked together. it was nice to have another adult to talk to. baby bliss had the neighbors' dog for company. :-)

back home, mr. bliss and baby bliss headed straight for their bedrooms. i talked mr. bliss into giving me a massage before he turned in. (ahhhhhhhhhhhhh...) i dozed off and was on the verge of the abyss of real sleep when baby bliss banged on the door, demanding my return.

seems she was happy playing with her dolls until she noticed i was missing.

i left mr. bliss sleeping and now baby bliss and i are watching our favorite shows (eastenders and as time goes by) on telly.

i'm hoping she goes to sleep soon. i've got some overdue business to tend to with mr. bliss.

137: saturday fun

the remainder of today was interesting.

ya gotta love my granny. she tried to trick me into doing doggie duty at my auntie's tonight.

earlier in the day she said she wanted to go home to press her hair and get ready for church in the morning. she said she didn't want to go to church from her daughter's house because that might make mr. bliss late. (he's picking her up for church.)

ummm, hello? i didn't sign up to house- or pup sit. i have guests coming in tomorrow and i needed to get home (after staying with her at auntie's from early yesterday afternoon) to make sure my quarters are presentable for their arrival. in addition, puppy sitting would require me to be responsible for auntie's house (keys, alarm, personal effects, the car her co-vacationers left in her driveway) and the dog (making sure he was fed, watered, and walked).

i've done it before and i didn't mind then. this time tho, granny put her honor on the line and i think she should keep her word.

needless to say, she had a 'tude when i took her home to get her church clothes (and probably her strayt-nen comb). i dropped her back at auntie's and she acted like she didn't wanna wave g'bye.

i sho hope she prays about her attitude when she gets to church tomorrow as well as why she thinks it's always okay to inconvenience me but never the rest of her kin.

most of them hit her up for money, food, etc. i've never done that. because i'm the one "with no job", i've usually been the one to take her to appointments and to run errands. not that i don't love my grandma. i do. but i get tired of being the go-to girl when it suits her and the outcast when that works better.

on a more pleasant note, our neighbors (who hail from a hometown near our own) had a weekend shindig at their house. their family is still visiting from the holiday and they all invited us in like we were part of the clan. my daughter played with our neighbor's niece, i watched the ladies play spades, then my hubby joined a bunch of them to play blackjack while i talked to a new friend. later we all threw down on some grub dished up by mrs. neighbor.

ribs, steak, hot dogs, bratwurst, corn on the cob, greens, baked beans, tater salad, homemade crab cakes, and all kinds of drinks... mr. neighbor manned the grill so i gotta give him his props too.

the downside was that my daughter got a bit sick and i had to leave too early to bring her home. i wanted to give my food time to digest and get to plate number two so i told mr. bliss we could take shifts with baby bliss. of course he said no but as soon as i got settled in to stay home, here he comes in the front door. by then it was too close to 10 p.m. and i decided to stay home.

mr. and mrs. neighbor are cool people but we haven't known them that long and i think it's rude for me to be knockin' at people's door after a certain hour.

maybe they'll have some food left over tomorrow evening. i bet i've got somethings in the freezer i can take over to add to the grill. :-)

it's nice to have good neighbors. i'm thankful.

.

78: mating calls

we had a reeeeeeeeeee-lee bad storm today. i thought it was a hurricane for real y'all.

the rain was coming down like the emptying of a holy keg, the wind was blowin' like a freight train haulin' butt outta detroit, and there was NO visibility AT ALL. it was horrible and very frightening because we were out driving in it.

we were taking the kids to one of those fun, all-you-can-eat places to celebrate the end of the school year. i had my double blinkers on but it got so bad that we had to pull over for a while to wait it out. then i realized i'd left our windows open at home.

as soon as it slacked up enough, i high tailed it back home to clean up the mess. but thankfully, there wasn't one. i was shocked. what with the way that rain was coming down and the way the wind was blowing, i just knew that everything close to a window would be ruined.

well y'all, God fooled me. there was just a little water on the window sills and one side of my daughter's curtains got damp. i was thankful.

i guess it was something about all that rain that brought the frogs.

when we got home, it was hotter than hot up in here. so we opened the curtains, the blinds, and the windows. ahhhh... blessed relief as the cool evening air began circulating through the cracks and crevices.

and then we realized there was NOISE. a cacophony of sound, not unlike the outcry we heard when janet's booby got flashed at the stupid bowl. i wasn't sure if it was geese--the neighborhood regulars--or if it was some other wild animal, caught in the act.

it finally dawned on us: it's the frogs!

we have several bodies of water round here, the closest being a few yards from our patio. hot summer nights in this town seem to bring symphonies of toad tenors croaking until the wee hours.

ah! i just noticed it's a lot quieter out. i only hear the crickets now.

64: a dog named Cedric

yesterday my daughter and i met a beautiful dog named Cedric. oops! i mean a handsome dog named Cedric. (he doesn't like the word "beautiful" applied to him.)

he was the most well-behaved dog i've ever met. almost made me wanna get a dog.

i fell in love with him and he fell in love with my daughter. now ain't that a caution?

.

58: good morning

originally posted Tue., May 01, 2007; 6:39 a.m. EDT

hey y'all.

it's a beautiful morning in my town. the sky is all muted pastels and lovely to look at. i know it's warm out already because it's not at all cold in here. the birds are chirping lovely serenades and my own chickadee is still asleep.

what more can a mama ask for?

i've been up for a while now.

when i opened the blinds a few minutes ago, i noticed that our neighbor(s) -- on the lower level in the building across the lawn -- is/are up too. he/she/they have their blinds open too, and their lights on. i saw what appeared to be a man standing at the stove.

i can't believe i can see so far back into that apartment. i'm guessing that means my neighbors on the upper floor in that building can see into our window as well, when conditions are just so.

i have lots to do today so i started early. around 4:30 a.m., i organized the remainder of my writings. i have so much work-related stuff that it now takes up part of the built-in bookcase as well as my file cabinets.

*shrug*

whaddya do?

any way, today i am thankful for many aspects of my life: the people who help me overcome the obstacles (y'all know who you are) and the people who are the obstacles (cuz even tho your intent is to monkey-wrench me, it's only moving me further along my path). i am thankful for the singing birds, this apartment with its soothing view, an in-house washer and dryer, my curly/nappy hair, and my big ole butt.

i am also thankful for continuing to live a life i enjoy immensely.

amen.