New Year with new promises

So here we are, another New Year's Eve and another chance for the proverbial "fresh start".  We'll see how this goes, how it all plays out, how long it takes me to break every last resolution I make.....we'll see.

Callin' the shots

Just have to get this day off my mind, move on, put it behind me....Ok, I can't!  Here's the thing, a fully grown woman is running around "tattling" on people (we're all fully grown and professional types) and creating a great deal of consternation among everyone.  At first this seemed funny, off-putting perhaps, but still funny to watch from the outskirts of this car wreck.  But as time rolls on and more drama unfurls, it has turned into a quick check behind your back to see who is lurking and a desire to remain as far away from the drama as possible.  This woman has taken brown nosing to a new level and has split people into a grouping of her team and the rest of us.  I'm going to the back and staying there.

Keeping it real

On the radio this afternoon I listened to a huge debate about whether or not plastic surgery was a good option for people trying to find a job in our troubled economy.  I am completely supportive of people doing whatever it is that makes them feel good about themselves.   What a disturbing trend (in my opinion) for people to think it's the reason they will or will not be hired.  I don't think anybody is ever truly "fooled" by even the best plastic surgeon. Okay, maybe men are easily fooled, but most women are very good at scrutinizing their fellow females.  Here in sunny Florida,  I've had more than a few of my friends bump up their boob size and plump up their lips.  C'mon, really? Ummm, who thinks this looks good?   "I'll take NOBODY for $800 Alex."

The Eyes Have It

It's getting harder and harder to go anywhere without my Stein Mart designer reading glasses.  At first I thought they were "a help" from time to time, but now I've crossed the line from "Where are those little reading glasses," to "Where in the hell are those glasses so I can see something?"  The progression from one extreme to the other has actually taken a couple of years, but all of a sudden I am absofreakinglutely blind without these things!  I now use them for the computer, to read, to shop, okay, it seems as though I use them for everything except while I'm sleeping.  That would be about right.

Christmas List - Check....wait, what?

I received revised Christmas lists from my two youngest sons and they go something like this:

14 year old - X-Box games, X-Box Live Subscription, Microsoft Points and a few more X-Box games

18 year old - A list of 62 books (preferably hardover and leatherbound if possible) 

When I asked if either one of them might be interested in an electronic reader; i.e. Nook, Kindle, etc.  the youngest exclaimed "YES!" while the oldest grunted in disgust, "Uh, no, absolutely not.  I want real books."  I was filled with pride and admiration.  My distant, morose teenage son was taking a stand and asking for 62 classic works of literature in hardcover form and it was an amazing moment of pride!

As a longtime library and bookstore haunter, it was a momentous shift in the universe.  I haven't done a lot of things right, but this was a moment when I knew I HAD!

Carry on, life goes on and all that other crap

They keep harping on the television, radio, etc that today is "Black Saturday", so cheers to my friends of color.....just kidding, it's another attempt to make people buy more crap they don't need.  I've had 3 yard sales and I still have enough "stuff" around my house to set up several households.  It's all a marketing ploy to fill up the empty holes people have in their souls.  I'll keep my quiet time, my reading, my sappy holiday movies and keep what little money I have (which is not much) and hope that this season will be more focused on time spent together with my family and friends.

The Day After

Soooooo, it's the day after Thanksgiving and I'm one of those who declines to take part in Black Friday. As I age I find I dislike huge crowds of pushy people...wait, I NEVER likes huge crowds of pushy people. Being a former shopaholic, it seems so unlike me to NOT want to go shopping....but I have no desire to be out there with the throngs of huddled masses willing to stomp on each other to save $50.00 on something we don't need. The truth is we don't really NEED anything. There are things I would like to have, but have found that I don't need them. Spending time with friends and family are important. I wish all those years ago when the money wasn't as tight as it is now I had made the yearly family trip a priority. Memories of shared places and time together are vastly more important than the latest and greatest gadget.

Thanksgiving and really meaning it

I read on Facebook and Twitter all week about people posting what they're thankful for and I appreciate the effort. Wouldn't it be nice if people really meant what they said and lived it for a change?