Dear Friday:

April 2015 is in the history books now. And so is my A to Z Challenge. I had fun doing it. I met some new friends. And now it is back to life, as we know it. Please join me

Dear Mother Nature: Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is my kind of weather. Sunny, blue skies and warm temperatures. Let's keep this up!

Dear Fast Food Restaurants: Whatever happened to the Fast in fast food. Seems to take so much longer in the lines now. And twice in this past month I have not gotten home with what I ordered. I let down my guard and didn't check before I drove all the way home. I started trusting you too much. And you caught me. Not once, but twice. Grrrrrrrr!!

Dear Grandchildren: Less than 3 weeks until the end of the school year. OMG! You know I will get a little crabby having you home so much. So I am going to make us a little list to see what we can accomplish this summer. I invite you to all think of some good things to put on the list. To go along with the chores we want to accomplish of course. Get with me soon....
(now I will see who reads my blog. hehehehe)

Dear Dust, Dirt, and Grime: Watch out! I am getting in the mood for a cleaning fest. You may run but you can't hide. I'm looking for you. And I am equipped with all the latest grimes chasers and dust busters. Ready, set, HIDE!!

So here we are in the month of May. Time for May flowers. Time for spring cleaning. And planting. And bringing a little sunshine into our lives. What do you like about the month of May??

Zippers Will Get Stuck

Life's Lessons: A to Z Blogging Challenge

Please if you have not yet entered the give-away go here and sign up!!




Today I am winding up the A to Z Blogging Challenge. I have shared with you some of the lessons I have learned in life. Like how marrying my best friend gave me more than 35 years of a good life with a great man. I reminded us that we should Practice What We Preach. Because the kiddos are watching. I told you why Umbrellas Should Be Handy. We talked about how Life Isn't Fair

 I want to wind it all up with Zippers Will Get Stuck. Yep, just when you think you are going to make it out the door on time. The zipper won't work. Or you are putting on your heavy coat and the zipper is stuck halfway up.

Like Murphy's Law. You know the one: Anything that can possibly go wrong, does!

Or like the saying Shit Happens! Because in everyone's life Shit does Happen! No matter how wonderful their Facebook status is. Shit is happening in their life too. They just don't talk about it. And all of those big bloggers who only write about the 'good life.' Yeah right is what I say.

I see the cup as half-empty! I know that if something can go wrong, it will. I know that Shit happens! And I know that Zippers get Stuck. We just have to learn how to deal with all of it. At age 64 I am still learning.

How about YOU? What are some of your life's lessons. Any zippers getting stuck over your way?

Yelling Can Be Good for the Soul

Life's Lessons: A to Z Challenge

If you haven't signed up for the give-away yet please go here.

I believe in yelling! There I said it. I am a yeller. I do lots of yelling to relieve stress. And I yell to get my point across. I yell to be heard when THEY aren't listening to me. I like to yell!

But the yelling that I have found as a Life Lesson is the yelling that relieves stress. When things are not going well in my life I have often found that stepping out into the backyard and screaming helps to relieve tension. I have been doing this for years. So far the police have never shown up. I try to do it with respect to my neighbors. Like not after dark. And sometimes it comes out like just a loud growling. But it does make me feel better.

When I was pregnant with my first son we had his name all picked out. Long before we knew he would be a boy. We didn't find the gender out back then. We found out when they entered the world whether we had a boy or a girl! Old-fashioned, I know. But it was the way it was. My mother suggested that I go out into the backyard and yell my son home. Try it out before I
 

named him. So I stepped out into the yard and yelled "Van Alan! Van Alan! You need to come in." Sounded stupid to me. So I changed what I was going to name him. Van Alan became his TWO middle names. Thank you mom for that good advice. We had a mother in our neighborhood, when I was a kid, that called her son home by yelling "Stewie! Stewie!" His name was Stewart. I guess her mom didn't give her this good advice.

How do you feel about yelling? Are you a yeller?

My Simple Woman's Daybook-April 28th Edition

For Today...

April 28, 2015. I usually post on Monday's but with the A to Z Challenge post and the Give-Away post, I decided to write today. But please go check out the other posts. 

Outside my window...

Today, outside my window, the sun is shining. It is only 50* but they are saying we will see 70* before the day is over. I am looking forward to that! The sky is the prettiest of blue. And the birds are telling me to come out and fill their feeders.

I am thinking...

I am thinking it is time to get out the hummingbird feeders and the jelly feeders for the Orioles.

I am thankful...

I am thankful for the state I live in. I am so saddened (and a bit pissed off too) by what is going on in Baltimore right now. I don't understand how hundreds of people, who are so opposed to violence of the cops, can go out and destroy their own community and injure people in protest. I just heard on the news there were 114 cars destroyed; 14 structures burned (including a nursing home!!); more injuries than they can count and 200 arrested. How is this helping make any kinds of change? This is just adding to the problems. Not solving anything.

I am wearing...

I am wearing THE uniform: yoga pants and tee shirt. No socks!

I am creating...

I am creating this post and my weekly menu. I am also getting my mantle and entry way ready for the month of May.

I am going...

I am going to take an allergy pill right now. Did you miss me? My eyes are all puffy and watery and my neck is achy. I hope it is just allergies.

I am wondering...

I am wondering why time is flying by so fast. It seems as if the kids just started school and now they only have 3 weeks until they are out for the summer. Why is it that the older we get the faster time flies by.

I am reading...

I am reading The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. I am a fan of hers. I know that many are not. But I like her books.

 

I am hoping...

I am hoping to get the grass mowed today. And get out the weed-eater too. I might just be feeling ambitious. It might last! It might not! We'll see.

I am learning...

I am learning that I just don't have as much ambition and drive as I used to have. I wonder if it is an age thing? Or maybe part of the grieving process. I just don't really get ambitious to get anything done. Do you ever feel that way. I thought once the dark days of winter ended I'd snap out of it. But not yet!

In my garden...

Right now my garden is full of weeds. I am trying to decide what I want to do. Yesterday I had the thought to just go out with packets of wild flower seeds and fill the beds with them.....what to do? what to do?

 

In my kitchen...

Monday...We had leftovers from the weekend
Tuesday...Spaghetti!
Wednesday...kids will eat at church
Thursday...Harley is cooking
Friday...Taco Soup
Saturday...Breakfast for supper
Sunday...Chicken and stuffing

 

A favorite quote for today...

This is something to ponder isn't it. What would you wake up with? I don't take the time to thank God enough. Do YOU?

 

 

 

 

 

A peek into one of my days...

Justin and some friends recently went hunting...for wild pigs. He was able to get two. He brought them home and had them processed into sausage, Italian sausage, chorizo, and brats. We cooked some of the Italian sausage and put in Spaghetti sauce. Yummy! And we boiled, then grilled, some brats this weekend. Delicious. I never thought I would say I enjoyed eating wild pigs. But I did. Thank you, son, for filling my freezer!!

 

One of my favorite things...

One of my favorite things is watching the world come back to life after winter. Seeing the trees spring into green. Although I do like the look of the trees with their skeletons in the winter. I love seeing the grass start to grow and green-up. I even love seeing the seed heads of the dandelions. The flowers bursting into color. I love spring. Don't you!

From the board room...

You can find this free printable at Debbie Doo's! I have a copy in a frame in my entry-way to honor my mom for Mother's Day. She is an angel now and I owe everything that I am to her!!



 

 

Post Script

Did you watch the Bruce Jenner Interview on 20/20 this past week? We were in the middle of watching the movie, Unbroken, so I missed it. But I went to ABC yesterday and watched it on the computer. Powerful! I think it doesn't matter what our views are on the subject of transgender I can't help but think how awful it would be to be living my life as someone I didn't want to be. I wish Bruce Jenner only the best as he tries to live the life he feels he should have had.
Here is the link if you are interested!

 

http://abc.go.com/shows/2020/listing/2015-04/24-bruce-jenner-the-interview


Have a good week my friends. Go over to The Simple Woman's Blog to find other daybook entries!

 

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______________________________

XXIV is a Good Time for Marriage

Life's Lessons: A to Z Challenge


The first time I was married I was only 18 years old. 18 years, 8 months, and 12 days to be exact. Too damn young! Why didn't my mom stop me. Oh she tried. And my brothers. But I was 18 years old and I knew what was best for me. Yeah, right! I didn't listen to anyone and I got married. To a sailor. Who was on board a ship for the entire time he was in the Navy. And out to sea almost all of that time as well.

Why did getting married so young mean so much to me. It was what girls I knew did. Most of the girls in my group got married when high school was over. I went to a business school after high school. But I also got married the first leave that happened after he completed his boot camp. The one that came about just before he shipped out to the Indian Ocean. It is true when they say: a teenager is not emotionally, financially, or any otherwise ready for marriage.

The Life's Lesson that I will pass on to you here is this. Wait at least until you are 25 (XXIV) for marriage. Or that is the age I would pick if I were as smart then as I am now. I would finish school. Live on my own. Wait until he had been out of the Navy. Not have a baby at age 20. My young husband finished his military career and came home to a wife of four years and a 2 year-old child he had seen once. And he had changed tremendously. Picked up some bad habits. Was a different person. And so was I. Short story is that after struggling for 9 years and 3 pregnancies later, we divorced. I became a single mother raising two young sons. And it was hard.

It may have been just as hard if I had gotten divorced later and the kids were older. But I just think the mind of a teenager is not developed enough to know what is good for them. I shudder when I think of Darian soon turning 18 and getting married. I know how young he is. I know how not ready he is for a long-term relationship. I know how much hard work goes into marriage.

Take my advice....XXIV is a much better age to get married.

Would you agree with this? What do you think is a good age to get married?

My First Product Review AND a Give-away!!

Recently my friend Wendy, from the blog A Day in the Life on the Farm, asked me and 11 other blogging friends to participate in a review and a give away, for one of our readers, in support of her daughter and son-in-law's little company called Petosky and Pine.

I am up for it! They sent us either a free bar of soap or a candle  (the scent of our choosing) along with a complimentary lip balm.
I anxiously awaited it's arrival. I've never participated in a product review and I am so excited.

 While I was waiting I perused (maybe stalked) their website Petosky and Pine. I also visited their Facebook page, which can be found here. I learned they are a bath and beauty company that uses the purest of ingredients with respect to the environment and make bath soaps, soy candles, and lip balms. Who doesn't like these things? I am hoping a lotion line will soon follow. I like to layer my bath products!

Finally my little package arrived. I was very taken with the aroma when I opened my mailbox. It smelled like heaven had arrived in a small package. I opened the package to discover my beautiful bar of soap, specially packaged in environmental safe packaging, along with the lip balm and a sweet, handwritten note from the owners! Impressive! 

The soap I chose was Lavender Spice. It was a beautiful bar of soap to hold and it smelled delicious. Lavender with a hint of cloves. The colors of lavender and brown, with streaks  of a silvery color, were very appealing. I couldn't wait to take a shower and try it out. I have used it several times now and I am very impressed. The smell in the shower makes me never want to leave. It lathers nicely. I can use it without problems with my loofah. There are luxurious suds. And oh the smell......you just have to smell it to believe it. I have some dry patchy areas on my arms and they are much less dry after several uses.  I received this bar free to review but I will be heading to their site to order more.


I also received a tube of lip balm. It was the Lavender scent as well. I wish it had been Spiced Lavender. These are made with almond and coconut oils and packed with vitamin E. A very nice feel on my lips. The only thing I DID NOT like was the taste of the lavender oil. I just didn't find that appealing. Others might. I am anxious, however, to try the lemongrass and the tangerine lip balm.

Petoskey and Pine will be giving away one beautiful gift box set to one of our lucky readers.

 

 

 

They will also give away, to two of our lucky readers, a beautiful bar of soap packaged on a wooden soap dish. Sadly they are only able to ship currently to the United States.
But if it is one of my out-of- States readers who wins they can ship it to me and I will ship to you! I promise! (cough, cough) No, really I will.


Use the Rafflecopter below to sign up for the give-aways! I'll keep my fingers crossed!!










a Rafflecopter giveaway Please sign up! I'll keep my fingers crossed!! You can go check out the other bloggers here:

Amy of Amy's Cooking Adventures

Camilla of Culinary Adventures with Camilla

Nichole of Cookaholic Wife

Sarah of The Pajama Chef

Paula of Smidgens, Snippets and Bits

Chrisite of A Kitchen Hoor's Adventures

Rebekah of Making Miracles

Traci of Burnt Apple

April of Angels Homestead

Sid of Sid's Sea Palm Cooking

Anshie of Spice Roots

Shilpi of Simply Veggies

Bari of Live Laugh Run Breathe

 

* I was given these products free of charge to try for the review. All of the comments are mine.

Lessons about Worrying!

 
When I was growing up, hanging in our house, was a small wooden plaque called The Irishman's Philosophy. I read it so many times that I knew it by heart. It made a lot of sense to me at the time. At the time, when I had nothing to worry about, anyway.

And then along came the adult years. You all know the ones I mean. When we have things to worry about. Like will there be enough money for all the bills and for the food we need? Will the kids stay healthy? What if they don't? What if one of them dies? What happens if I lose my job? Or my husband loses his job? Or if he cheats on me? Or gambles and loses all of our money? Or if I divorce him?  What happens if my baby dies? How will we afford to bury her? Will I want to have another baby? What happens if there just isn't enough money? What happens if I can't find another job that will allow me to raise my kids? What if I go to school? What if I flunk out? Or what happens if I don't get accepted into nursing school? What will people think? What happens if my kids fail? What happens when they get mixed up in drugs? Or have to go to jail? Or have messed up marriages of their own? What happens if they pick dangerous careers? Ones where criminals are always trying to beat them at their game? What happens if my son can't take care of his kids? Will I be able to? What happens when my husband gets sick? Why does he cough like that? Why has his color changed? Is he dying? Will I be able to make it on my own after he is gone? How will I be able to afford to live? What is going on with the grandson? Does he make good choices? What about the granddaughter? Does she have good friends? Will they be okay? What if they don't have enough to eat? What happens if the genetics of addiction wins out? Can you see how my mind goes on and on and on? Why do I worry? How do I stop?

From Pinterest

Do you see what I mean? It's about worrying. We all do it. I can't tell you how many times, late at night, when my teenage boys were late coming home, I planned their funerals. I know it sounds bad. But I did. I worried about them. I worry about them still and they are fully gown adults. I worry about the decisions they make. I worry about the chosen careers and the safety on the streets. I worry if they are happy. I worry if they are doing okay. I worry if they are worrying. I worry about EVERYTHING. And I am not good at giving advice about not worrying. So I won't. Because it is not a lesson that I have yet learned. I know how to worry. I just don't know how to stop.


How about you? Are you a worrier? Do you know how to stop? Is it just a part of life?

Come back later for a chance to win a nice prize when I give my very first, ever product review. I promise you it will be worth paying me a second visit!! Stay tuned

Eureka Street A Novel of Ireland Like No Other

Overview from Barnes and Noble

When your street address can either save your life or send it up the creek, there’s no telling what kind of daily challenges you’ll face in the era of the Northern Irish Troubles.

“All stories are love stories,” begins Eureka Street, Robert McLiam Wilson’s big-hearted and achingly funny novel. Set in Belfast during the Troubles, Eureka Street takes us into the lives and families of Chuckie Lurgan and Jake Jackson, a Protestant and a Catholic—unlikely pals and staunch allies in an uneasy time. When a new work of graffiti begins to show up throughout the city—“OTG”—the locals are stumped. The harder they try to decipher it, the more it reflects the passions and paranoias that govern and divide them.

Chuckie and Jake are as mystified as everyone else. In the meantime, they try to carve out lives for themselves in the battlefield they call home. Chuckie falls in love with an American who is living in Belfast to escape the violence in her own land; the best Jake can do is to get into a hilarious and remorseless war of insults with a beautiful but spitfire Republican whose Irish name, properly pronounced, sounds to him like someone choking.

The real love story in Eureka Street involves Belfast—the city’s soul and spirit, and its will to survive the worst it can do to itself.

I was more than a few chapters into this novel before I decided that I was going to like it. One of the first things I have to get out of the way here is that authors who write with so many words that I have never heard (and I have to keep stopping to look them up) tend to leave me wanting to put the book down and not pick it up again.

I'm glad I didn't do that with Eureka Streets. But I was tempted. I don't know if that is just 'his style' or if I just don't know that many words. But I persevered and in the end I liked the book.

Eureka Street takes place in Northern Ireland. Belfast, in fact. During the time they called 'The Troubles'. It is a time of political and sectarian feuding among paramilitary thugs. It takes place shortly before and shortly after the ceasefires by the IRA.

The book is centered around the lives of two friends: Jake and Chuckie who are Catholic and Protestant but seem to be united because neither of them are unable to form grown-up relationships.

Eureka Street is the name of the street Chuckie lives on. Poetry Street is where Jake lives. The first half of the book is spent reading about the lives of these two and their friends. The author uses humor well in the developing of his characters. Chuckie is a fat, thirty year old who has mostly wasted his life and still lives with his mother. He concocts a pretty ridiculous 'get rich' scheme that makes him wealthy. He falls in love with a beautiful American girl who leaves him and returns to America. He is heartbroken and goes after her.

Jake is a reformed thug who lives alone with his cat and seeks to find love. He is the narrator of the story that begins with:

All Stories are Love Stories!

 

Half-way through the book is a chapter that changes the story. There is a very graphic bomb scene and the lives of all the character changes.

 

The novel wraps up in ways that are to be expected. I found it a nice look into Ireland and some of their people's ways. I was forced to go to the Internet and learn a bit more about Ireland and their "Troubles".

 

 

Thank you to my friend Kwizgiver, not only for the recommendation, but for the Lend Me with our Nooks. 

Learning that Vacations are Necessary

Life Lessons: A to Z Challenge


It is not only fun to take vacations, they are necessary to our physical and mental health. It really is true "that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

Your brain needs to take a rest to reduce stress and  carelessness. It helps keep you from making poor decisions. It gives you time to think. And to ponder. Don't you love it when you have time to ponder? Sometimes only a few hours vacation can bring you some increase in your brains ability to function better. So take a small vacation when needed.

Big vacations, to me, are the best. And my Richard was great at planning big vacations. Sometimes he would forget to allow time in the plans for just relaxing. But that is why I was around. To remind him. To drag him out by the pool, to sit in a chair, with his feet up and a cold beer in hand and watch us swim.
He wasn't much for getting into the pool. But I loved having him at poolside. I could hang on the side and chat with him. While I basked in the sun he stayed under the umbrella. The sun and Richard never got along. His ginger-coloring prevented that!

When the boys were young we went to the family cabin in Colorado in the summers. This cabin did not have indoor plumbing. No running water. The cook stove was operated by wood. The water came from the streams. And the toilet was out back. Yuck. Not my idea of a vacation. But Richard and the boys loved these trips. So, every other year, we went to Colorado. And the next year we went where mama wanted to go. Now these were the good times. We traveled all over the United States. There were trips to Yellowstone, the Smokey Mountains, Florida, the Grand Canyon. All the touristy places! Those were some of Richard's favorites.

My favorite vacations included the beach

In our later years, after the boys had left home, we became cruisers. At first Richard didn't want to cruise. But once I convinced him then that was the only way to take a vacation. And we went on several. Some were just for 7 days and some were much longer. I could live on a cruise ship. And so could have Richard. Lots of good memories of cruises. When we cruised we usually went with other couples. That is why it was so much fun! We loved the cruises that required dressing for dinner. Tuxes, white dinner jackets, long gowns and jewels. Such an elegant way to dine.

Vacations are important. You have to rest the mind and the body. They can be cheap or they can be expensive. They can be far from home or they can be in the backyard. I am glad that I learned this lesson. And I had the best of teachers....thank you Richard!!

Learning that Into Each Life the Rain Must Fall/Umbrellas are Urgent

Life's Lessons: A to Z Blogging Challenge

The Rainy Day

by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 

The day is cold, and dark, and dreary; It rains, and the wind is never weary; The vine still clings to the mouldering wall, But at every gust the dead leaves fall, And the day is dark and dreary.

 My life is cold, and dark, and dreary; It rains, and the wind is never weary; My thoughts still cling to the mouldering Past, But the hopes of youth fall thick in the blast, And the days are dark and dreary.

 Be still, sad heart! and cease repining; Behind the clouds is the sun still shining; Thy fate is the common fate of all, Into each life some rain must fall,
Some days must be dark and dreary.

 

 

My favorite line in this poem is: "into each life some rain must fall." Isn't that the darn truth. Without rain the grass wouldn't be green, the flowers wouldn't bloom, the rivers and lakes and oceans would all dry up. So we have to have rain. As much as I don't like it..."into each life some rain must fall."

Artist Charles Twelvetrees
a great American Painter

Since we know that the rain must fall then we know that we must be prepared. I don't like getting wet. Do you? Not wet from rain. So I have to be prepared with an umbrella. I have umbrellas everywhere. In my car. In my purse. In the entryway. In the hall closet. One is always in my suitcase so when I pack to go away it is always there. I used to insist the kids have one in their backpacks but I don't anymore. They don't mind getting wet. So let them. But I am always prepared with an umbrella. One of those life's lessons I have learned and it is a habit. Don't leave home without your umbrella!!

And we always need to remember we have to put up with the rain if we want to see the rainbows. Dolly is such a wise, wise woman.

 



The Lesson of Tobacco is Addictive!!

Life's Lessons: A to Z Blogging Challenge




Way back in 1999 I decided that I was going to quit smoking. Actually, if I am telling the honest truth here, I didn't want to quit smoking. But Richard and I were going on a 32-day vacation with other people and I was the only one in the crowd who still smoked. I didn't want to be the only one leaving to go out in  the open-air to smoke! So, along with my best friend, we decided to quit.

First I chose my "quit" date. November 1, 1999. That is the day that we decided we would no longer smoke. Then I made a plan. I followed the plan no matter how hard it was. And it was hard!!

We had just bought a brand new car in July 1999 so the first step in my plan was not to smoke in this car. And I didn't allow anyone else to smoke in it!

The second step in my plan was to quit buying my cigarettes by the carton. Well, actually it was to get Richard to quit buying me my cigarettes by the carton. He had quit smoking
15 years prior to me but he still was the one who stopped at the Smoke Shack, on his way home from work, to buy my cigarettes. I never bought my own cigarettes. 

Next, I went to see my doctor. I told him my plan and I asked if he would prescribe Zyban and Nicotine patches for me. Of course he was more than happy to do that. Zyban is a drug especially formulated to help people quit smoking. It also comes with a full "Quit Smoking" plan and support group. Many people use Wellbutrin, which is the same drug but without the support. Zyban works by reducing the cravings and other withdrawal symptoms.

Continuing on with my preparations for the final date: I walked our backyard and picked up and 'field-stripped' every cigarette butt that I found. And believe me when I tell you that during some of those first days I wouldn't have had a problem going outside in search of an old cigarette butt. So I am glad I did this. I also started to make myself walk around the block every time I wanted to smoke a cigarette. I was determined to not gain the notorious 40 pounds after one quits smoking. This was one of the smartest things I could have done. Because (in the beginning) I did not gain any weight.


Finally, November 1, 1999 arrived. I had to work the night of October 31. After I arrived at the hospital and before I headed in for my last shift I smoked my 'last' cigarette.


Now the real hard work started. I am not going to tell you that I didn't backslide. Because I did! More than once. One night, on a night off work, while at home, I wanted a cigarette so bad that I literally thought I would die if I didn't get one. So, I grabbed a couple of dollars and headed down to our local Kwick Shop. It was the middle of the night. I asked the clerk for a pack of Salem Slim Lights and I slid my couple of bucks across the counter. The guy looked at me and said, "It's been awhile since you bought cigarettes, hasn't it?" I needed two more dollars. What????? When the heck did smoking get so expensive???? If you think that stopped me you would be wrong. I went home for more money and returned for the cigarettes. Sad, I know! But I really liked smoking. 

 One early morning, at work, when I had not smoked a single puff for almost a month , one of the day-shift nurses came on duty. The first thing I noticed about her was how she smelled like a dirty ashtray. It was that realization (and probably that alone)that has kept me from ever smoking again. I cannot believe that I used to smell like that. It's funny that when you are the one who is smoking you don't smell it!

It was a horrible, tortuous, long road to becoming a non-smoker. My oldest son once told me that quitting his drug habit was easier than quitting smoking. It is so sad that it is that addictive. I think those who have never smoked just don't have any idea.

I used my Zyban and Nicotine patches religiously. I can remember beginning to panic when I would get low on either of those. It was like smoking. But with both there is a step-down process that will wean you off the drugs.

During those months of quitting the thing that I missed the most was the 'hand to mouth' habit of smoking. So I 'smoked' tootsie rolls. The skinny ones that are shaped like a cigarette! And I cut straws into cigarette length and 'smoked' those. They became my crutch for the cigarette that I missed so much. I'm sure I looked stupid as heck. But I didn't care.

I have been free of cigarettes for more than 15 years now. I gained around 30 pounds from that. (I Gained more during my recent caregiving stint)! I haven't noticed that I have more money, but I know that I do. Especially with cigarettes now more than $6.00 a pack here. People told me that I would be able to breathe better. I don't!( But that might be because of all the fat I now have around my lungs) People told me I would be able to taste food better. I don't! But I do know that I SMELL BETTER. My house smells better. My clothes smell better. My grandkids smell better. For that alone I am thankful!. I'm still just as crazy! I just don't smoke.


Tell me....did you ever smoke? How hard was it for you to quit? Share with us, please.


  

Lessons on Shoes and Showers

Lessons on Life: A to Z Blogging Challenge

I have learned a lot of lessons in my lifetime. Some of them stick and some have not. Some I have learned the hard way. And some come much easier. But there has not been a lesson more important than the one I have learned about shoes!

I have horrible feet. I developed bunions early in my life. And I was born with an extra ankle bone. Weird, huh? (I had surgery on both the bunions and removal of the extra ankle bones about 25 years go). I wore lots of hand-me-down shoes in my lifetime. And when mom bought me a brand new pair of shoes, ones of my very own,I was expected to wear them for a year. Money was tight. We only got new shoes just before school started each year. So I often wore shoes that were too small for my feet. Hence, the development of bunions. And, in later years a hammertoe. Unsightly and very uncomfortable.

When I graduated from business school, after high school, I worked in a business office downtown. This was back in the early 1970's. Women wore dresses. Almost always. Never pants. So I wore dresses and heels to work everyday. Heels! I hated them. I am 5'10" tall and even the smallest heel made me taller than almost everyone. I hated it. But I hated more shoving my foot into those horrible pointed toe high heels. Some women wear them so well. Not me. I felt like I was clomping around like a horse.

Then I went to nursing school and nurses wear much more sensible shoes. I bought my first pair of Birkenstocks. Expensive but oh my the comfort of these shoes. Later on I started to wear Crocs. They were a lot like the Birkenstocks in style and comfort. But they were so much cheaper. And they washed up with soap and water and I never bought white polish again. But, sadly, the nursing home where I worked put them on the 'NO-NO' list and I had to stop wearing them.

Now, I live in my crocs. If I have to dress up and wear a different kind of shoe it is usually a loafer. I don't wear dresses anymore, so a loafer goes with slacks. And I will NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, EVER  wear another pair of heels. Never! Get it?



QVC

Now about the shower. I love to sing. I don't really have a singing voice. But I sing in the shower. So do both of my grandkids. I have music loaded on my phone. Connected to my PopRock speaker, via Bluetooth, the music blares, loudly, everyday in the bathroom at this house. I bought mine at QVC (click the link). They are simple to use and they are waterproof. Check them out. Maybe you need a PopRock!


What is your thought on shoes and singing in the shower. Are you a crooner? Do you wear heels or opt for comfort?