check out my fav childhood toys

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these are a few of my favorite childhood toys..
click on each toy to see full picture and comments below

Radio Days

What an honor it's been to play radio host with Tony Infantino at WARM 101.3.
He is my long lost sibling..such a generous guy and easy to have fun with.
Gonna be back on with him tomorrow at 6 AM..tune in!

'Meh': Apathetic expression enters dictionary - Yahoo! News

'Meh': Apathetic expression enters dictionary - Yahoo! News

FINALLY!
For months now I've asked every cool person i know what the hell "meh" means after reading it in a comment line on someone's blog.
Sounds like it's been around a while. I'm slow on the draw..but at least so are all of the cool people i know.
meh.

it's getting WARM around here

a mighty wind is blowing
and the temps are dropping
but tomorrow morning at 6 it's gonna be WARM.
tune in to hear me play the part of guest host on WARM 101.3 with Tony Infantino.

also friday at 6am...
fun fun fun.....

call to action

I just found out that the Sock Monkey is not a member of the National Toy Hall of Fame.
My friends, it is time to act.
Go to the Strong Museum of Play website www.strongmuseum.org and nominate this ambassador of good will to his rightful place in toy history.
That's what this democracy of ours is based on, the power of the vote.
Straps and i thank you for your support!

p.s If a box and a stick can make it into the Hall, nothing should be able stop our mighty Monkey!

chill

factoid:
i was born on election day in 1960.
this year election day falls a few days before my birthday and i have a big pre- b-day wish.
i am emotionally invested in the outcome of this race.
one side effect of this political intensity is that i completely lose my sense of humor and get all wound up from mid Oct. till the results come in.
after watching my friend squeeze the hell out of her Incredible Hulk doll while watching one of the debates, i realized that i too needed some kind of anti-stress implement.
i bought George (also known as "Straps")about 2 weeks ago and don't know how i lived all of these years without a sock monkey.
when the goin' gets rough, i rub his ears, and oddly, relief seems to come.
7 bucks at CVS in case you're interested.
cheaper than talk therapy.
no side effects like drug therapy.
old school charm.
highly recommended chill tool.

Political junkie

Politics are my sport.
Debates are my Super Bowl.
I get so cranked up for these things..even though I know pretty much what they are going to say ..and not say.
I watch and hope for a few knockdown punchlines, a few major gaffes here and there..
or best case scenario, a trainwreck.
I know that this is serious stuff, and i am passionate about my beliefs, but i get swept away in the drama of it all...
So it is with relish that i look forward to tomorrow night.
A few friends, a few snack items, nerfballs, and nerf guns to fire at the TV when the spirit moves us to do so.
Does it get any better than this?

Good Morning Rochester

If you ever saw the movie Stand By Me, maybe you remember the part about the Barf-a-rama. If you do, then you have a good visual of what my life has been like for the past 5 days.
Despite that, I was able to get up and get my butt down to the studio of WARM 101.3 to sit in for a while on the morning drive show with Tony and Kristie. Besides feeling like i was going to pass out, being nervous, and wondering what the hell might come out of my mouth since i seem to have a hard time controlling it, all went surprisingly well. lucky for me, everyone there was a professional , they were great people, and they of course did all the heavy lifting.
the studio was breathtaking...17th floor with windows looking over the sunny morning city. i have such a love of radio, and it was such an honor to be asked to sit in. more than ever i have respect for these people that get up at insane o'clock and are so energized and smooth. Tony asked me to jump back on when Kristie is out on maternity leave. this was one of those surreal days.

oBLOGation

I've learned a lesson.
never blog just because you haven't written in a while.
a friend of mine commented that he wished i would update my blog.
that night, tired and uninspired i banged out a half hearted entry.
the next morning at work, he said to me..
"you know how if you have a bugger hanging out of your nose, you'd want someone to tell you?
well, your last blog entry was really weak."

he was right. i knew it.
i was so happy to be on the receiving end of such honesty.
it's rare.

lesson learned.
if you have nothing to say, don't try to say it.
i just happily deleted the old entry.

yesterday i attended the funeral of a close friend's wife.
besides feeling the sense of loss and grief and finality, it really made me do a review of my own life. mostly i was confronted with all of the mistakes i have made and all of my shortcomings.
i wish i had a delete button for those things and cleaning up my life could be acheived as easily as editing a blog.
i am so grateful for the people in my life that love me unconditionally
and care enough to tell me when i've got a bugger hanging out of my nose.

garbage picker lottery/ curb enthusiasm

the other day while looking out my kids' bedroom window, i saw my neighbor carry out a hotshit bookshelf to the curb.

it looked like it was from pottery barn or crate and barrel or west elm.

all i knew was that i wanted that thing. ( i know, thou shall not covet thy neighbor's goods..but it doesn't say anything about covetting thy neighbor's trash).

before i could even make a beeline for it, some lucky son of a b pulled up, opened the back of his SUV, and picked up MY shelf.

dang.

a few hours later i was talking with a pal of mine that had stopped by about how i wanted to feng shui the heck out of my living room.

when i walked her out to her car, we spied a tan micro suede chair and matching ottoman on the curb.

"let's go" she said. "we're getting it".

"are you sure this doesn't break some law of garbage picking etiquette?" i asked.

"we're getting it !" this girl was fired up.

we went over and i stretched out on the thing. Nice. Real nice.

minutes later the chair was mine.

next the neighbors brought out two more bookshelves.

"i don't know..."..i looked at my galpal.

"we're getting them too!".

we dragged both shelves onto my lawn.

jackpot!

my living room got an instant make over just like they do on those decorating shows on cable..or at least i've been told since i don't actually have cable.

the only thing i'm going to be watching now is the curb..like a hawk..

who knows what other goodies may be headed my way.

i'm hoping that they'll upgrade their tv soon, so i can snatch it up and watch the Home and Garden Network from the comfort of my newly feng shuied living room.

my across the street neighbor has been leaving me updated voice mail messages about anything new that appears on the curb since she has a better vantage point. gotta love that.

p.s. the stuff looks much better in real life than in the photos..i can barely pull myself out of that room now.

tiki text

k,mj

]'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' 6,

in case you're wondering, bunnies do text.
we still can't figure out what she means.
better ask the vet when we get her fixed.

there were no moles to whack at the fair so we bought a rabbit instead.

smashing part two

back to the Monroe County Fair..
the second best thing about the fair
is playing Whack-a-mole.
there is something about the weight of the mallet on those adorable plastic mole heads..
it's exhilarating.
i know.
i have issues.
but unlike carpenter ants, i will never kill an actual mole.

i am aware that you can play Whack-a-mole at Seabreeze
but it's just not the same.
it lacks that all important sleazy carnie vibe.
plus the first time i ever whacked a mole was at the county fair
so there is that all important element of nostalgia.
i was swinging the mallet with one hand and holding my cheek with the other.
it was the day i had my one and only wisdom tooth pulled, as i mentioned in my last entry.
what i didn't mention was that i cannot pass up italian sausage with peppers and onions on a hard roll..even if i had to eat it on one side of my mouth..and even if i could barely open my mouth to begin with.

now i'm remembering earlier that same day sitting
in the dentist office scared out of my mind about the whole tooth extraction thing...
they gave me a happy pill to chill me out.

i was in the waiting room filling out info on the clipboard they handed me when the drugs kicked in.
where it asked for next of kin, i wrote Robert Redford..
i put down some other bogus info ..and was laughing my ass off.
a big thanks goes out to whoever it is that invented anti-anxiety meds.

right after the procedure, my mom took me to see my aunt susie, her sister ,who had a bit part in a Burt Reynolds movie. she played a hooker in a scene that took place in an old western saloon.
i kept waiting for her 15 seconds of fame.. but my painkiller was wearing off.
i sat there crying during a comedy..
but the movie was so horrible, i think i would've been crying anyways.

i had totally forgotten this chapter of my life.
those memories probably would've remained dormant in some dark corner of my brain never to surface again, if not for the love of whacking moles.

smashing

recently for health reasons that i won't bore you with
it has become necessary for me to give up some of the things
that i enjoy most on earth:
hot fudge sundaes,
chocolate,
frappachinos
pizza
pasta

it is bumming me out. big time.
one side effect of this new diet is
that it forces me to find pleasure in other ways.

so it is with great excitement that i
am counting down to one of my fav guilty pleasures :
the Monroe County Fair Demolition Derby..

i remember back in high school riding in my friend larry's demo car
illegally (no windshield) to the fairgrounds
for the big event.
i had never witnessed one before
and it did not disappoint despite the fact that i had a wisdom tooth pulled earlier that day
and was in pure agony after my meds wore off.
i loved the danger, the swagger of the drivers, the rowdy beer drinking fans.

it ain't summer without the demo. i can almost smell the fumes.........

to do

drive in movie
weed back patio before snowfall
urban photo safari
long long bike ride
get a god darn hammock
live music
camp out
figure out how to make beets edible
take bunny on a playdate with new neighbor's bunnies
stay up all night reading
install AC in bedroom before snowfall
sit on butt
play tennis play tennis play tennis
float
play in sprinkler
set up kiddie pool before snowfall
rest
relax
repeat

summer things never change

summer is here
no homework...
relaxed schedule....
freedom....

i'm watching my kids struggle a bit with the adjustment
from too much structure
to all out 4 wheel drive recess


takes me back to summers i spent as a kid
pre X-box, guitar hero ( i am a guitar zero..but have plans to make a big push)
pre netflix, blockbuster , ipod
pre yahoo google blogger...
what the hell did i do with all of that time?

i did a lot of what i like still like doing now..
hanging out in or on the water
although i now prefer non-chlorinated
hitting tennis balls
listening to music
typing away
losing myself in the lives of others on a page...

today i listened to some Beatles...Let it Be..Naked
i'm still typing away
and right now
it's time to break open my new can of tennis balls .
popping open that airtight can is easily
one of the best sounds on earth .
a nostalgic pop
that packs a powerful punch of
sweaty, joyful childhood memories.

watched Venus swing it today.
Wimbledon still has the power
to make me get my butt to the court..
as a kid in the 70's tennis was at it's peak.
you had to stand around and wait for a court to open up.
not once in a while, but every time you went to play.
the cult of personality was overwhelming:Connors, McEnroe, Martrina, Chrissy, Nastase, Borg, Billie Jean, Arthur Ashe.
somehow as luck would have it, Jimmy Connors played an exhibition in Rochester against Vitas Guerilitis..and i got to see and HEAR them live. Tennis is so much about sound..the lusty grunts, the sneakers squealing, the gorgeous plunk of a perfectly hit backhand .
and in the case of jimmy connors, the never ending stream of one liners hurled at the line judge, his opponent or himself when he blew a shot.

every winter i forget how much i love the game.
every summer
i remember.

top five

top five things on my mind:

1) where are all those carpenter ants in my kitchen coming from?
2) will the ant traps work?
3)why do i feel guilty about killing said ants?
4)is death by ant trap more humane than death by squashing?
5) if you see an ant walking out of a box of cereal, do you throw the whole box out?

quote of the day

"Fearlessness is the mother of invention."

Arianna Huffington

as one who has spent much of her life being plagued by fears and phobias,
i'm wondering:
can someone change their essential nature?
can someone find more courage and more heart without making a trip to see the wizard?
are we able to make fundamental changes to who we are, or just incremental?

i'm feeling restless today.
want to change everything
from the color of the walls of my house
to the color of my hair
want to live somewhere different

drive something different ( of course!)
see something different
do something different..
but i'll probably wind up mulching.

when i feel the need to change the externals,
it's probably a sign that the internals
are what need to change.
when the internal changes
everything else may stay the same,
but everything looks different.

i feel
summer coming..
it brings with it
a warm strong sensuous wind
that blows the dust off
the year that has been,

and brings electricity.

the juxtaposition of things

this morning after turning the computer on, i was greeted as usual by Yahoo homepage
telling me everything that i missed while catching 8 hours of shuteye.
the headline was: "Japanese woman caught living in man's closet". Apparently a 58 year old homeless woman sneaked into a man's house and lived undetected in his closet for a year. a year. he became suspicious after he noticed that his food was mysteriously disappearing.
on the same page i clicked on a story about brad and angelina's new digs in the south of France. since they're having twins i guess they needed a little more room and bought a 1,000 acre chateau on the French Riviera. Further investigation showed that not only does this new pad have it's own lake, moat, vineyard and forest, but 35 bedrooms as well!
i'm thinking that my whole family and several of my closest friends could sleep in those closets for a year and be pretty comfortable. getting past security may be an issue. a better idea may be to hang out in the closet at their New Orleans or California houses while they're hanging out in France. With two new babies and a new mansion to deal with they'll be way too preoccupied to even think about their stateside cribs!

this doesn't make cents

today i learned that it takes 7 cents to make a nickle.
the world is full of perplexing truths
and trivial realities....
and that is one reason why i find it endlessly fun to be alive.

my small challenge for the day was to try to fill up my gas tank without whining about it to my kids who were onboard at the time. i failed. sounding like a geiser i
couldn't hold back from telling them for the umpteenth time " i remember when gas was $1.00 a gallon".
meanwhile my husband read an article in Reader's Digest (the large print edition pictured in my last blog entry which is given to me by one of my 80 year old customers when he's done with it, and i enjoy it lots because i don't need to use my reading glasses, (ironic that the large print editon therefore makes me feel younger)...anyways Paul read an article about this guy that is obsessed with squeezing every last mile out of a gallon of gas. he gives out specific guidelines for doing just that which Paul has completely taken to heart. He is experimenting with our Toyota which i can no longer drive until his experiment is over. the guy in the article got 30mpg out of his wive's SUV.

my new pal, head of marketing at Chrysler emailed me to see if i had heard about the new jeep incentives..($2.99/gallon for 3 years..or 700 gallons /year)...
she also wanted to wish me luck and contact her if i get on deal or no deal so she can cheer for me. gotta love her..
speaking of cheering..go David Archuletta!

life's simple pleasures, just add guilt

seems like a lot of the stuff that brings me joy, these days also induces guilt.
summer of 1977..slammed on a bikini, grabbed a beach towel, slathered on the baby oil, cranked up the radio...bingo...heaven.
now the sun is a double edged sword, not enough means too little vitamin D, too much
means skin cancer..(come to think of it the baby oil in '77 probably already did irreversible damage).
chocolate, up until recently, a daily staple of my diet, and a great source of comfort to me, now is a no-no because it causes reflux!!!
and reading magazines, (i have always been a mag-hag), has become an un-green activity...trees are killed, landfills filled.
guess that leaves blogging...(am i wasting electricity?) green guilt abounds.
oh yeah, and did i mention the SUV i've fallen in love with?
15 miles per gallon..............
that's enough to take the joy right out of my joyride....
think it's time to read my mags on a blanket in the sun with a bag of chocolate
and some Prilosec while dreaming of my Jeep.

fun with failure

since my new goal is to embrace failure and to fail as much as possible,
if i succeed at something, will i fail to meet my failure goal?
and if i do, would that be a success or a failure?
i'm confused.

here is my inspirational quote for the day:

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."

Winston Churchill


it has been interesting to note that when talking to people about my attempt to get on Deal or No Deal...how many folks feel it necessary to impress upon me just how slim my odds of getting on the show are...like i don't realize that...like that should stop me? what's the worst thing that can happen...
i don't get on....
i'm growing quite tired of naysayers..
i continue to choose to live in the realm of possibility.

death and taxes

what a week.
i can't ever remember being this sick for this long.
i can't remember being this disappointed in a tax return since the late 80's.
i can barely handle either one individually
but concurrently?
i'm struggling.
the good part is that the taxes are done.
and i've been able to read quite a bit
when not sleeping.
and i'm on my third (and hopefully final)
draft of my deal or no deal application.
now be gone virus!
i've got stuff to do..

talk talk talk..time for action

when i told jessica that i had an idea for a book
she said:
"that's nice. but i'm really tired of you having all these great ideas
and never doing any of them".

it was one of the best whacks in the head i have ever received.

perhaps it was just to prove her (and myself) wrong that i actually wrote One House.

this is the year of action.
and with that in mind,
i am on to the next thing
that i have talked about ad nauseum..

today i will take advantage of the viral infection that has kept me in bed for a week
and i will complete my application for deal or no deal.

i have dreams..some of which involve cash that i don't have
and i have to be willing to find creative ways to finance those
dreams..

i am inspired by the book The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
a memoir about a mom that uses her ability to play with words and wins a staggering number of jingle contest prizes that keep her family afloat.

now that i've publicly stated my goal, i'm accountable.
gotta run.. i hear howie calling.

Chrysler calling

it's true.
the squeaky wheel (squeaky girl?) gets the grease.
in a very funny and surreal turn of events
peeps at Chrysler corp heard the car talk segment,
then contacted car talk to find me.
i got a really nice call and email from a woman named Eileen
that works in Chrysler Public Relations. she said they want to help me along the path of
owning patrick henry.
she put a woman from Jeep advertising (Kendra) in touch with me.
got a message from her on friday.
she too sounds very friendly and energetic and wants to talk to me about incentives.
what ever becomes of it is immaterial.
just love the fact that they took the effort to help someone get closer to fulfilling a fantasy.

Radio Therapy

i've been a radio junky forever.
started off in my bedroom as a kid calling WAXC
and requesting "Dancing in the Moonlight".

being a mail carrier has allowed me to take the addiction to new heights
since i can listen for 4 hours a day..and get paid at the same time.

my sister took me to meet our true radio heroine, Diane Rehm, several years ago.
we stood in line, waiting anxiously for her to sign our books and when we got up to her we stood there like a couple of idiots..stammering and sweating..we were in awe!

had an "in-studio" expeience as a guest on the Bob Lonsberry show that i'd mostly like to forget. i brought a motion-activated barking dog with me for a prop (since i was on there to talk of things postal) and somehow the son-of-a-bee started barking while Bill Low was delivering his newscast. i remember diving for it and ripping the batteries out while getting a "not-so-smart" look from the producer.

my best radio memories involve listening to Click and Clack on Car Talk
on saturday mornings. sometimes they made me laugh so hard that i would listen to the same show all over again when they replayed it on sunday.
this past saturday i lived out a radio fantasy by being CALLER # SIX on their show.
(insert client # nine joke here).

talking to them and hearing them talk back...was completely surreal...reminded me of the first time i saw the HOLLYWOOD sign in person after years and years of seeing images of it.
needless to say i was in a state of SHOCK and AWE..but they managed to calm me down
and of course crack me up.

you can hear it for yourself on cartalk.com. (that is, if you have real player or itunes downloaded on your computer).
the date of the show was 3/29/08.
i'm proud to say they titled the show "Give me Liberty or give me Xanax" in reference to my desperate call.
i'm still buzzing a bit.
think i may just need that Xanax!

jeeps and peeps

the jeep obsession continues, unabated.
thought perhaps the car crush would wane.
my sister-in-law cathy said she had a crush on the Honda CRV but it went away.
my other sister-in-law jen reports that she purchased her car crush quite a few years ago and they are still going strong.
what to do...
went to the dealer for a test drive.
(the word "dealer" seems appropriate considering i'm acting like a bit of an addict.)
for some reason when we got there, the Liberty seemed much bigger than it did at the auto show. too big.
so we decided to test drive it's little brother, the Patriot.
cute as hell, more affordable, much better gas mileage. makes more sense.
it drove nicely..
comfy!
pretty smooth...
i could see us buying one.
but...yet....
i went back into the showroom and sat in the Liberty just for kicks.
it speaks to me...
next up..
gonna check out another dealer and
take the Liberty out for a drive..
i'm afraid
that i'm gonna
fall deeper in lust.

happy easter peeps!

Counting jeeps

this is a cry for help.
last sunday i went to the auto show with my kids.
we went to satisfy jonah's Volvo addiction.
our plan was to sit in and drool over the Volvo c30
and the new volvo hardtop convertible.
that part went as planned.
what we didn't plan on was the three of us falling madly in love
with the same car.
we all fell instantly madly and passionately for the Jeep Liberty.
we read motor trend and consumer reports magazines.
we know all about jeeps less than stellar reputation for reliability.
oh yeah, and the roll overs and the bad bad very bad gas mileage.
but we fell for it anyway.
remember back in high school when you fell for the wrong person for all the wrong reasons but you didn't care?
that's us.
we know it's stupid.
we don't care.

the interior isn't remarkable but it's cool in an understated way.
the exterior is slightly sexier, especially if you purchase the chrome detail package..and why the hell wouldn't you for an extra 1,000 bucks and some change.
but here comes the real reason for buying the car.
it reeks of FUN.
driving to the dentist would be fun.
driving to the tax prep person: more fun.
why?
because of the retractable roof.
surely you've seen the commercial with the guy singing "rock me gently" along with
several woodland friends that he is joined by along the way.
until you've actually parked your butt in this jeep with the roof cranked open,
you won't get what all the lust is about.
once you do it, you will.

i have spent way too much time on the jeep website creating my own liberty, and
checking into financing.
i have spent way too much time pointing out all the libertys on the road to what ever sorry soul may happen to be driving with me.

my husband, ever the voice of reason, continues to point out all of the ways in which this would be an idiotic purchase.
he reminds me that cars are about getting from point A to point B as safely and inexpensively as possible.
and he is obviously right.
but unlike the three other members of this family his butt has not been parked on the seat of the divine jeep liberty.

i already have a name for the car that i should NOT buy.
his name is Patrick Henry.
give me liberty or give me death!

i am trying to visualize myself at the pump cursing myself put for being such a bone head.
likewise i picture myself writing a check for a car payment for 5 years..when i could be car payment free.
nothing seems to help.

as my friend said, you get into a relationship thinking you can change the other person..and you think the jeep will change!! but it won't.

so what is a love crazed, lust filled girl to do?
my kids assure me it is a must-buy car.
our lives would change. it's all about FUN!
fun is even in jeeps tag line.

i thought as a parent , i was supposed to influence my kids but in actuality, it is the other way around.

i've even talked to current jeep drivers, hoping they would regale me with tales of woe..bad gas mileage , constant repairs, and the like.
but no, they all speak of their silly jeep with love in their eyes..
it's worth it they tell me.
and then there's the guy whose wife is contemplating going to Jeep Camp this summer
where you meet with other cult members for off road activities and music.

I NEED HELP!
I'm suffering the effects of driving a suburban minivan for too long.

not knowing where else to turn, i just called the Click and Clack radio show on NPR
and left an extended and emotional message on their producers answering machine.
now all i can do is wait for their return call.
it's in God's hands now.

case closed

inspiration comes from the weirdest places.
for example my kids' neighborhood spy team.
i saw how much fun they had creating secret missions.
it gave them purpose, power and brought them closer to their pals.

i decided it was time to start a team of my own.
we are not spies, but we have cool silver briefcases.
since the group is called The Sisters of the Secret Silver Case Society
i can't divulge too much about it.
but we have a mission or two....
and our first meeting is tomorrow!

life is short.
grab it by the handle.

fighting mid-january winter blahs

every freezing, overcast, never ending rochester winter
makes me think of living somewhere more sane like virginia where my mom is
or arizona or california where other family members live.
i picture myself walking to my car without a jacket in february.
i picture myself going for a bike ride in march.
it's just a fantasy. and it only lasts for 3 or 4 months.
the rest of the year, i am perfectly happy to be an upstate new yorker.

i heard of someone a few years ago that had come down with a strong case of the winter blues
and decided to try to cure it in an ingenious way. his idea was to go out to hear live music for thirty days in a row.
the person did in fact do just that, and if my memory serves me, it worked.
how cool is that?
i've always been inspired by that story even though, with two young kids and a job that starts early in the morning i knew that cure would be close to impossible for me
to pull off.
so, i'm trying a compromise cure.
live music once a week.
there is a groovy bar not too many miles from my house that has an open jam on thursday nights.
so far i've ventured there twice.. even though the thought of going out in minus zero temps at 9 at on a work night seems like a nice idea..but maybe i should just get some rest..
i tell myself i'm just going to go for "a little while", but let's face it..once you're out and you hear that electric guitar start to wail and that skinny trombone guy start blowing..you're just gonna stay a little while longer.
yeah. i'm dragging on friday.
but it is such good medicine.
and those blahs?
they're fading.

my new squeeze..an examintation of my relationship with the bald guy with the white t-shirt and one earring

clean.
the word brings up a complex set of feelings for me.
i understand the concept..but have never quite embraced the practice.
if cleanliness is next to Godliness, i'm in a world of poop.
cleaning was something my grandmother embraced.
get out of her way..she was a machine!
she threw things out without a thought. if it was in her way, it was gone!

i've always seen cleaning as a punishment of sorts.
something cinderella had to do because she was the stepchild!

when that little poster came out in the 80's that said
" A clean desk is the sign of a sick mind" i was happy as a pig in..well... you know.
l felt understood..vindicated.
now i was sane and the neat freaks were the crazy ones.

i've matured now and realize nobody is right or wrong, sane or insane..
it's just what you can live with and how you choose to spend your time.

with each new year i vow to get rid of stuff and organize my life.
it's never happened.
this year it might.
i have more time.
and a different perspective..cleaning and getting rid of stuff will free me!

yesterday i went to the store for M&Ms and syrup and came home with many, many dollars worth of other stuff ..including Mr. Clean Magic Erasers. four boxes of them. they were on sale.
my sister-in-law jen told me about these things years ago..she swore by them.
she was right.
these suckers live up to their name. THEY ARE PURE MAGIC.
if i wasn't so proud i would include "before and after" pictures involving my bathtub,
but i just can't.
after years of trying to get rid of this crud in my tub, years of abrasives and all the elbow grease i could muster, including help from a battery powered scrubber, the only thing that cut through this crud was the Magic Eraser.
No elbow grease at all. Just a gentle back and forth motion, and years of junk started disappearing.
MAGIC.
It was so addicting that i began cleaning other stubborn surfaces with the same result. The hint of mold on the bathroom ceiling..gone. The soap scum on the tile..gone.
i had to hold myself back from putting the thing in my mouth and trying to polish the stained enamel on my teeth....so much easier and cheaper than white strips!
MAGIC is so rare in life!
Magic is FUN!
Mr. Clean, who used to scare the bejesus out of me as a kid, was now the object of my passionate
obsession.
After cleaning the bathroom and brushing my teeth the right way...a kernel of doubt crept in to this blissful love fest.
WHY does this stuff work so well?
It is so strong and powerful..it must be toxic. Was Mr. Clean not the lovable guy i was coming to think he was? Was he really a dangerous guy that i should avoid, no matter how much pleasure he brought me?

i went downstairs to find the packaging.
there were warnings about keeping out of the reach of children.
there were warnings about direct contact with skin.
What was missing was the list of INGREDIENTS!
My heart sank. that could not be good.
so now i'm left to do my homework.
i'm afraid i'll get on the Internet and find stories of
just how nasty these magic pads are.
and then i'll be faced with a sad choice. clean or green.
will i have to breakup with a man that has brought me so much satisfaction?
i can't bear to find out.

make stuff do stuff

not too long ago, on a dark sunday night,
there was a loud knock on my door.
by the time i got upstairs to answer it
nobody was there.
just this cool handmade pirate ship,
with old postcards for sails
floating in a sea of
blue crepe paper and glistening streamers
along with a blue dolphin helium balloon
weighted down by a book.
(you can click on the image for a closer look).

i knew who it was from.
but was completely shocked by the
time, energy,love, creativity,
and fun that went into
this caper.

it was a good lesson..
don't just do what's expected.
do what's unexpected..
and you can make someone
seriously, deliriously happy.

so far so good

i don't want to jinx it
but i like the way this year
is rolling so far.

the imagined contemplative new years eve by the fire
wasn't to be.
friends across the street
wooed us over to their
outdoor fire and hot dog roast
complete with tv on a stand! genius!
watching tv outdoors
was strangely satisfying.
it felt like we were renegades breaking some unwritten societal rule.
if you've never watched the festivities in Times Square while wearing snow pants,
i highly recommend it.
there was a

never ending
supply of goodies
including hunks of homemade fudge
cheese fondue to die for
potato skins
mini roast beef sandwiches
flowing wine and beer
followed
by champagne
party hats
horns
lots of
stories
laughter
and
confetti
everywhere

some people just know how to
do it up right.

it was the best ringing in
of a new year that i can remember.
thanks jerry and crew.