Tag Blogging

A bench (legacy / dedication) — How to be remembered…

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How do you want to be remembered? Lately, as I walked in different areas, I wanted to rest, so I sat on a bench. That is when I looked at the dedications on the benches more closely. Some are really amusing. I smiled at this one.

This made me think that bench dedications are cheaper than a tombstone and we can decide where we would want our name/dedication, right. It’s nice to walk, find a bench, relax and enjoy the scenery or the view around us.

At the cemetery, I came across a grandmother sitting with her two grandchildren on this long bench. It was PERFECT. They seemed like cemetery “regulars.” The kids were eating their snacks. We started chatting, it turns out she has a lot of relatives in the cemetery. The bench is not from her relative, but she often takes a rest there. She shared the history of the cemetery with me.

Here is another bench I saw. Isn’t it a bit strange with that slant. At first I thought maybe the ground had sunk a bit, but it seems to me this bench was meant to be slanted. Not sure. I enjoy looking at it though. Great idea to have a bench for relatives to sit and visit versus dashing off.

I want to investigate “how” I get my name on a bench. A bench by a beach would be preferred, but I see dedications on benches in the zoo too. There must be a bench out there “waiting” for my dedication, right? There is probably a character limit, so I will have to be “creative” with limited space. The one I shared with you today was funny. I won’t forget it (swimmer girl, wine, pringles…) — I am still smiling!

 

 

HELP – Jumping Spider ALERT

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Jumping SpidersThere is a FIRST time for everything. It’s summer, I’ve dealt with centipedes, ants and spiders… BUT NOT tiny little jumping spiders.

Last night, I saw something small and dark on the floor. I thought it was a fuzzle from my sock. When I went to pick it up, imagine my HORROR when it was a tiny spider that jumped. I yelped, as we do, when caught by surprise. Natural instinct had me going after the jumping spider, but he was so tiny and so quick – IMPOSSIBLE TO CATCH HIM.

I know, bug lovers out there are routing for him to LIVE. We are supposed to live in “harmony” with bugs that come into our house.

Now, I don’t know if this picture is the “exact spider” in my house, but he looks very similar. Looking at him up close is a bit scary, which if funny, because he must be terrified of me, the giant human.

Well… last night, he WON, he escaped.

BUT this morning, HE had such NERVE. He came up on my desk. I was innocently doing my work, when he JUMPED by my coffee!  I had resigned myself into “trying” to live in harmony with him last night, since I couldn’t catch him. However, coming on to my desk was a declaration of war.

So — I went after him AGAIN, but he was TOO quick. He jumped from my desk to the window sill, which is white, so I could see him. I went to “get him,” he jumped on the floor, which is dark, impossible to see him. I did smile, very clever tactic. Got away again.

Tell me folks, have you had jumping spiders in the house? What should I  do?

Mother’s Day – Quarantine, there is still time…

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00AF6AC0-2226-4DC8-A929-6FB0706AD71CYikes — Have you all remembered it is Mother’s Day this weekend?

Armed with my mask on, I headed to the grocery store HOPING to find something  small and cute. I came out victorious.

I smiled at the card, it’s vintage, but then my Mom is 80 years old. Those are the phones we used back then. Now that we are in quarantine, all we do is talk on the phone. It’s PERFECT!

So, no time to waste. Got to wrap this up and get it in the mail.

If you ALMOST FORGOT, this is your quick reminder.

LADIES — Happy Mother’s Day!

Good Friday during COVID-19 —> The Easter Bunny is “essential…”

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2ED43B58-B6AC-40A9-8804-90DD294CB7CF

For those of you who celebrate Easter, I wish you a safe and prayerful Good Friday.

If you believe in God, it’s an important time to pray for our World.

I apologize to this news source, as I do not have the proper writer/publication information to give credit to this article. Hopefully, the writer forgives me for sharing, so that parents with children know they can celebrate Easter, even in quarantine. I believe in America the message is the same.

HAPPY EASTER!

Quarantined? Try a good movie…

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As most of us are quarantined, we’re trying to find things to do. The news this morning was dismal for the next two weeks. Stay home or be prepared to get sick and maybe die.

So… if that is the case, and we MUST stay home, WHY NOT watch a good movie. Change our mood, lift our spirits up, start singing – ANYTHING but doom and gloom.

Sharing with you a few favorites, older movies, but still GREAT!

I’m sure you have some of your own — comedy, drama, horror (sorry, don’t watch those), adventure, documentaries, etc.

If you’ve watched something recently — SHARE IT!

Oh — Amazon Prime: Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan!  Edge of your seat!

You’ll FORGET the virus for a few hours – GUARANTEED!

Travel to distance places… PLAY the Memory Game.

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Memory GameThis weekend was a real test of emotions. Being quarantined for three weeks does that. One day happy, one day melancholy, one day energetic – EVERY day is different.

I needed to change this around, so I started looking through my closet. That put me in a grumpy mood. Going through a closet is B-O-R-I-N-G unless we find some “old gems,” we had forgotten about.

SURPRISE – Way on the back shelf was the Travel Memory Game!

What a great find. It brought back memories from when my daughters were young. We loved to play this game. So, then, I thought of Canasta. A few years ago, I went on a Nile Cruise with my family. Every day we played Canasta. As we didn’t have playing cards, we bought some Egyptian ones.

HEY — Where are those Egyptian playing cards??? Checkers… they’ve got to be here.

Oh and the mini series, “Horatio Hornblower.” LOVE that show! Gotta find that!

Suddenly, I was on a roll!

What have you found in YOUR closet?

Dating, not having luck… Send your daughter to Japan

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5B5B8AAF-17D2-4999-B095-4D1623605C6EOk, the title is misleading. I know, you’re probably thinking… “WHAT, send your daughter to Japan to find a boyfriend?” No, let me explain.

What I mean is…  when we are trying to find someone, we need special prayers. If it’s not working on our own, we need to dig a little deeper with our  prayers. So, why not go around the world, best way to reach God, right!

My daughter was in Japan recently. I mentioned to her, that if she was by one of the Shinto Shrines, I’d like her to buy a prayer plaque for me. As a Catholic, we go to church, we light candles and we pray to certain Saints for assistance. St. Anthony ALWAYS helps me find a lost item.

So, she brought back this prayer pouch, saying it was “specific” for finding a boyfriend.

Now, BEFORE I pray to this, I NEED to know what it says.

What if by accident she got me a prayer pouch for flying to the moon OR finding a cat… WHO knows?

Can anyone help?

Happy Lunar New Year 2020 – Year of the Rat

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I was at the Post Office this week mailing a package. I was almost done with my transaction when I asked for some stamps. GUESS WHAT — the Post Mistress brought out these stamps for Lunar New Year! She asked, “Would you like these?” Why, of course!

I believe the Year of the Rat starts off the 12 zodiac signs. If that is true, looking at the sheet of stamps, it appears the Post Office has their next 11 stamps set up for the next 11 years. We will see.

This illustration of the Rat is really beautiful. Personally, I think it looks more like a jaguar than a rat. However, as I keep looking at it, this rat clearly has a magical look.

I realize I am a little late, but better late than never!

Wishing you ALL a Happy Lunar New Year!

Are you a Mentos fan? Make a friend, share an “emoticon” Mentos

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492DE216-BC7D-426D-AC09-8FE61A3F4392Gee, I guess I haven’t had Mentos in a while. I got a pack and was eating them on the plane. Since the lights were low, I wasn’t paying attention and dropped one into my lap. Unfortunately, I had to turn my light on to find the darn thing. When I did, I looked at it TWICE wondering if that was indeed my Mentos. On a plane, who knows what you can find.

7D0FDB36-D606-46C2-98BB-785DD0AAADD7Sure enough, it was my Mentos, but it had a funny smiley face on it. I found that weird, so I took ALL the Mentos out of the package to assess the situation. Turns out they ALL had some sort of a smiley face or “emoticon” on them. Next, I looked at the outside of the packaging… aha, some “Say Hello” campaign going on.

So, while I didn’t share a Mentos sweet treat in person with someone, I am sharing this message with you, so you see what they look like. They are cute and funny.

It’s “almost” like sharing the real treat, right?!

Hello Police Officer… Uh, I can’t find my car!

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PoliceThis actually happened. I got off work early, so I was looking forward to a nice warm evening at home. NOT A CHANCE!

First off, the rush hour train was delayed 40 minutes. This never happens. It’s no fun waiting outside in cold weather for the train to arrive. My frustration was growing as I tried to stay warm.

Finally, the train arrived. People pushing and shoving to get on the late train. We were like sardines. I dislike trying to make myself as small as possible on a rush hour train.

I arrived at my destination, it was very dark. I walked to my car. It wasn’t there. I walked up and down the street again, no car. I park there every day. I was SO COLD. Panic set it–WHERE IS MY CAR!  Was it towed — not tonight, I thought!

As I plashed through puddles, I wondered who to call to find my car (police). A lady came up to me wanting to use my phone. How odd, pitch dark, freezing cold and she wants to use my phone. I was not in the mood to be a good samaritan. My phone only had 10% battery left. I had to call the police. I told her my battery was low, what did she need.

GET THIS — she could not find her car! What? I told her I could not find MY CAR either. Suddenly, we were kindred spirits on a mission. This was a weird night.

I called the police. They started asking their questions, i.e. Where did you park? Are you sure? By the fire hydrant? Did you leave 8 ft? What color/make of car, etc.  OK, let me call the towing company.

Good news! One car found, the lady who I met had had her car towed. Ok, in the scheme of things, NOT good news, but on a cold rainy night, good to have car found.

My car, not towed. My phone about to die, I told the police officer, I will re-walk the street looking for my car and call back.

Freezing cold, no phone battery left, I walk the street. My car is not there. I head home. I call the police and they ask me to file a lost car report. Before I do that, I told them I want to look for my car again. Officer said, if someone has stolen my car, bad things could be going on with my car, better to file a report. She offered to send a police officer to help me search.

At home, I charged my phone quickly. Took off wet coat and shoes. Found a dry coat/ shoes and headed outside again. Officer arrived, at first appeared unfriendly. Started with the questions again. I was tired.

Ok, I think, I know I lost my car, but is that such a big crime? In my defense, the last time I lost my car was in my early 20s and that was due to stupidity. I was young, late for a show, parked and didn’t pay attention to the name of the street. A police officer came and helped me drive around and found my car. So, I have been good for many many years — no lost car, until tonight! Memories were flooding back.

The policer offer told me to go back in the “warm house,” he would survey the street for my car and report back. 5 minutes later… GOOD NEWS – car found.

I’m happy and embarrassed to say this. The officer found my car. My car “was” where I thought it was, parked in front of a fire hydrant, but it was on the street BEFORE the street where I normally park. Obviously, I was half asleep this morning and didn’t quite make it to the SAME STREET I normally park on. THANK GOODNESS for police cars with flood lights! Officer was very nice and happy to have found my car.

So — what was I supposed to learn from this? THAT is what I thought. Why was I meant to go through this ordeal on a cold rainy night? I have to give this some thought.

FYI — last week, rushing, not thinking, I got a street cleaning ticket! This week, car lost.

Tomorrow — Maybe I need a pad of paper in the car with a calendar.  1) Check date for street cleaning and 2) Verify what street I am parking on.

It’s not even April Fool’s Day yet!

Welcome winter!