Old Friends

So here is me and my oldest friend Jamie. We are probably in about the third grade here. We were at my grandparents cottage in Michigan. Jamie and I had so much fun together. We always had a ton of sleepovers and were frequently in trouble for getting our name on the chalkboard with checkmarks after it.

I couldn't be more thrilled that I'm back in touch with my friend and hope to visit her and her family soon.

And yes, I know that the pics are upside down. Please refer to my first post describing how inept I am at this whole blogging thing. If anyone knows how to turn them right side up, please let me know.

Lesson Learned

I've learned several valuable lessons in my lifetime, although many of them are escaping me at this moment, but I have learned a new one in the past couple of weeks.

I have this flaw....I have sort of a temper. I'm also probably (okay, definitely) hard on people. I expect a lot of myself, and in turn a lot from others. For example, if I hold the door open for someone and they don't say thanks, that ticks me off. How can you be so rude?! If a checkout person doesn't say hi or thank me for my business, that doesn't make me very happy either.

So a couple of weeks back I joined a local workout club. I almost joined the same club in a neighboring city the previous day because it was close to my son's preschool, but then found out that I would only be able to visit clubs other than my "home club" twice a week. That didn't make much sense as there was a club in my city, so I decided to join that one and I could visit the club close to my son's school. Anyway, when I visited the club in the other city the employees couldn't have been nicer. I know, I know, that's how they are supposed to be, but it seemed quite genuine. They gave me a water and my son a bottle of orange juice and gave him some markers and paper to draw with while they showed me around. They even entertained him as he drew. Later that day I called the club in my city and learned all of the business I talked about above and decided I'd better join that one. I made an appointment to go there the next day.

So I arrive at the club in my city the next day at my scheduled time and was greeted by someone who had no idea who I was or why I was there, and she didn't seem too thrilled that I was there. She was grumpy and really kind of a bitch. I asked if I should come back another time which she declined. As she showed me the equipment, another new member came in and asked if she could tag along as she had forgotten how to use much of it. We were trying to figure it all out with this woman who mumbled as she told us the directions, and at one point she said (more to the other woman than me), "this isn't that hard!". It was then that the other member said, "I'm just going to leave" and walked toward the door. The employee convinced her to stay, but I was really uncomfortable. I was considering calling the manager, whom I had spoken to the previous day, to tell her about my experience. That's kind of my way, I can't let things go and really think people should know if something is out of whack, so I usually tell them. This has gotten me in plenty of trouble before, but that's a whole other post. For some reason, I chose to let it go this time.

The next time I came in, she was like a different person, and today, I saw her in the grocery store and she came up and said hi. I found out that the day she was so nasty she was recovering from an illness and didn't feel well. I could have complained about her, but where would that have gotten me? I would have felt awkward returning to the club, and I would have missed that she really is a decent person. I learned that sometimes you just have to give people a chance and the benefit of the doubt. Definitely some food for thought as I continue my life journey.

World's Worst Blogger

So yes, I think I am the world's worst blogger. I sometimes think of ideas for things I can write, but I never seem to actually write it. And pictures? Some pictures might be nice right? Isn't there someone I can delegate this to? I'll have to look into that.

Buffalo chicken dip makes a great breakfast!

I don't usually have such an unhealthy breakfast. That is usually the one meal of the day I can get it right. Sometimes some cereal and strawberries, other times a wheat bagel with peanut butter and a banana, maybe some yogurt. AFTER breakfast is when it all falls apart, but breakfast, I can usually do. And then this morning (LATE morning, 9:30ish), after only eating 1/2 of a banana that my child wouldn't eat, I opened the refrigerator and what did I see? Leftover buffalo chicken dip from Sunday night. Now, those of you who have never had this dip are really missing out. My husband and I make a meal of this dip at least once a week (I know, it's disgusting and we're no doubt clogging something up, but it tastes soooo good!). So, the dip and I had a perfectly lovely brunch together this morning.

We all have things we say we would never do. For me, getting to a store before they open to wait in line and buy something is one of those things. And at the top of the list of things I wouldn't buy while arriving at a store before they open would have to be any sort of video game system. I have to say I sort of have a thing against them. I envision my children glassy eyed, staring at the TV, getting carpal tunnel at age 10, and being extremely obese because they're sitting instead of running around playing. But when we bought a wii a week and a half ago (again, I was not thrilled about getting it), I soon because obsessed with getting a wii fit. So, when we heard that Toys R Us would have some Sunday morning, where did I find myself? You guessed it. And the funny thing about it? Once I was there and saw that I was first in line, I realized how competitive I am. I couldn't lose that place! I HAD to be first! Yes, I got one, and yes, I love it. Could I have arrived at the time they opened and still gotten one? Yes, but now I can cross that off the list of things I said I would never do.

congrats to me......

After many months of consideration about starting a blog and weighing all the pros and cons surrounding this decision, I have finally decided to go for it. My indecision stems from the following:

• don't I already spend enough time on the computer, especially with my recent facebook addiction?
• how on earth will I have time to update it?
• do I know how to do this? (a recent whirl with a book club blog where I actually managed to delete the entire space for the book of the month made me doubt my technological abilities)
• what will I write about? (nothing really that exciting happens around here)
• who will read it?

Then I had a conversation with my friend Jamie who encouraged me and told me it's a great way to vent and that she, if no one else, will read it (I'm holding you to this Jamie!). So, for my great audience of one, I bravely embark upon the creation of my blog.