BREATHE...

and Keep your mouth shut.

Two words of advice I gave myself on my first day of directing Keep on the Sunny Side.

Renovation Revelations

While I was pulling out carpet (and all those staples and little tacks they use to keep it down) today I had a personal revelation. I tend to create a mess so I can clean it up. Okay, so it’s not really a revelation. I’ve know this since 1986, but I conveniently forget that I know it and go along blithely messing things up so that I can be the one to fix the “problem”. Very codependent of me, don't you think?

Today was the perfect demonstration of how I make my surroundings reflect the way I feel. I’m a little adrift at the moment. Work is slow to non-existent and I’ve let the house get away from me. So, instead of cleaning up the messy house, I plunge into another project so that I have an excuse for the messy part. Very clever of me, huh? And, now that I am aware that I feel “messy” inside I have to take responsibility for it and do something about it.

Damnit!!!

Whoever said, “Ignorance is bliss,” is absolutely correct.

Out of the Mouths of Babes (or Morbid Humor)

4-year old: "Aunt Connie, I'm going to get you a new dog and she's going to be a Carmen Dog."
Me: "That's sweet, honey. Thank you."
4-year old: "You better not kill this one."

At the time, I tried to explain to her that I had to because she was sick and old and wouldn't get any better.

Later I laughed until I peed.

Try And vs. Try To

Pet peeve:

Hearing or reading, "I'll try AND do..." Instead of "I'll try TO do..."

If you thought you could accomplish something then why not just say, "I'll do it."
If you thought you may not be able to accomplish something but will give it a good try then say, "I'll try to do it. "

"I'll try and do it" is two different statements. It's like covering all the bases and not actually committing to whatever it is you're going to do. Are you going to do it? Are you going to try? Do you actually know what you are doing?

Are you a TRY AND or a TRY TO?

Grocery Store Observations

I went to the grocery store the other day and there was this woman, obviously harried, shopping with her husband and two kids. Normal, average and everyday, right? No. This woman was a harridan!!! She was yelling at the kids and yelling at her husband as if he was one of the kids. I don’t know about you, but I would be happy that my husband was willing to help with the shopping. This woman acted as if everything that was wrong in the world was his fault. I felt so sorry for both of them. For him because he was obviously trying and all he was getting was humiliated in public and for her because she had no idea how ugly she was behaving. The meddling me wanted to go up to her and tell her to lighten up. The shopping will get done and if she treated her husband and children with a little more respect then it wouldn’t be such a trial. Alas, I didn’t. But it does make me realize how idiotic and small people (even I) look when taking out internal frustrations on the ones we love. I vow to be more in tune to that and to not do it again.

During that same trip to the store I happened to get the cashier who was at the end of her shift and was tired and brain-fried. I purchased 18 items and came home with 8 bags. I really don’t like it when they put one or two items in a bag. It’s such a waste. I guess they think they are doing it to make the bags light. Or because they don’t want to think about it. But, hey, the apples are already in a bag. Do we need to bag the stuff that’s already bagged? Then there was the bag she wrapped around the salmon before starting to put it in its very own bag. Now this was a ½ lb piece of fish that was wrapped in plastic and then wrapped in a bag that she was going to put in a bag by itself!! Argh!!! All it takes is a little thought and you can group things together that will keep the bag standing (sort of) upright and still get more than two items in each bag. Like, instead of putting both the carton o f ½ & ½ and the milk in one bag, she could have given each its own bag and then filled in around it. I was hungry and was aware I was in a bad mood (the wretched mom/wife didn’t do anything to bolster my mood) so I didn’t comment about it. I think that I would have received a blank stare or maybe even tears. Next time there isn’t a nice young man to bag my groceries, I’m gonna do it myself. And why aren’t there any stores in Asheville that let you bag for yourself?

No dancing in the peanut butter aisle for me this time.

I Miss My Dog

It's been a while....
I fell into a little slump for a while there. I think that it was just sinking in that Carmen was gone and I had to deal with that. It sucks to lose a pet. (And in my grief my vocabulary sinks to the basest of levels. ) It sucks to lose any one or thing that is dear. Luckily, there are many pets around so I at least get in a good scratching every couple of days. I know that I will get another dog sometime, but I don't know when. Maybe a Standard Poodle or a Pomeranian. I haven't decided whether it's time for me to become the wacky aunt with the dogs in her purse. Hell, I have everything else in my purse, why not dogs?

Which reminds me...I need a new purse.