Wordless Wednesday - the car

Out and about, saw this car and couldn't resist taking a picture. It's fun. And the license plate says, PFTPTCH.

Wordless Wednesday

Martha Monday - inspiration journal

LINK UP TO MARTHA MONDAY

Are you creative?
Do you love to invent recipes, scrapbook,
photography, gardening, etc?
Do you love to just TRY and be inspired?
You don't have to BE Martha
all you need is the feeling to cultivate and share
JOIN US
every Monday right here
for
Martha Monday

I have been paroosing through the donna downey inspiration wednesday history posts, practicing with the techniques and materials that I learned in her classes.

A couple of weeks ago, I broke down and purchased an inspirational journal.

I was craving painting and using something messy.
Acrylic paint?
Yes please.
Crackle paste?
Oh yeah!

Donna is correct. In North Carolina, crackle paste takes 24-48 hours to dry. Here? Takes less than 2 hours, but I gave it 4 hours for all the good crackling.

Post, crackle paint, I did not like the green.
So I painted over it.
With pink.
And then added a thin ribbon attached to a thick jean ribbon.

And then stamped a quote (one of her stamps)
with orange stazon and green distressing pad onto a tag.

I like it better and it was fun.

Page 1; inspiration journal.



LINK UP!!
What has inspired you this week?

Grace in small things - edition seven

1. a starbucks gift card - yes, i am an addict. i love what they say in the movie, You've got mail -

The whole purpose of places like Starbucks is for people with no decision-making ability whatsoever to make six decisions just to buy one cup of coffee. Short, tall, light, dark, caf, decaf, low-fat, non-fat, etc. So people who don't know what the hell they're doing or who on earth they are can, for only $2.95, get not just a cup of coffee but an absolutely defining sense of self: Tall. Decaf. Cappuccino

sometimes I wish my order was a bit cooler, but it is simple and always the same, even in one hundred and hell degrees:

decaf, grande, mocha with whip

2. this particular post - Grace in small things - taking a moment each week to search through my life and pick out the things that make me happy. Things that have touched my heart of made my life just a schosh better this past 7 days. On those tough days, I can spend time thinking about this post. (or maybe the day after all the stress and anger is gone)

3. Knowing other forms of de-stressing. I recently picked up a pair of these. I miss swimming and I will do anything better and longer with music. Gotta love electronics and inventions. There are days all I can think about is getting in the pool to swim off laps of stress and anxiety. When a shower, a nice glass of wine or other such modes will simply not do.

4. Water bottles. One of the things I have become a bit obsessed about. I drink at least four to five times the amount of water when I carry one. A couple of months ago, someone so effortlessly threw out my smartwater bottle that I kept at work. (the nerve, i know) I have been on the endless quest for one that doesn't appear to need to be pitched when cleaning. I found it!! Waiting was so worth it. It has the most incredible drink top. A flip top. No need to twist, slide or other stupid water bottle top thingys. And I LOVE the designs. It is BPA free - whatever that really means. This is my exact design here!

5. alas, love has made the top 5 again. Saint - this week, it is knowing that I am officially in a stable, healthy relationship and what it feels like to have it be normal and quiet. It can be eerie at times, but mostly, once I get over the non-drama of it all. I love it. And I can picture my life in 10 years. Also peaceful. Tuesday, my oldest cat, has currently found her voice again. Usually a mute cat with not much to say, ever. Even when I am calling her frantically because I can't find her. I should have called her squeaker because that is how her voice comes out. Like she can't contain it anymore and it PEEPS! out in a quick, loud MEOW. Even that is too long. It's more of a MW! But oh so incredibly cute. And Izabel with her lion cut reminds me of the days when she was 5 weeks old and so adorable I with her baby fur. She is a maine coon, so she has three sets of fur; one wiry and hard, followed by full and thick, and lastly soft and down-like. Her lion cut has been growing in and it looks and feels just like that kitten I remember from so long ago. Love it!

the slumber

I was sleeping this morning. Really sleeping. You know, when I could wake up. I know what is going on around me, but I can't seem to wake my brain. Instead, I go back to into my wonderful slumber.

I can feel Saint moving beside me.

I think, I hope he can get up and entertain himself. I do not want to wake yet.

I fall back into sleep.

Awhile later, I feel his hand on my leg and then he holds my hand.

How sweet, I think. But fall back to sleep.

Next I know, I hear him sigh. Deeply.

Shit, I know what that means. I force myself to wake up.

I stretch. I foll around. I rub my eyes. I drink some of my water. I get up and use the restroom. I brush my teeth.

I come out and -

Saint is passed out in bed.

For a half a second, I want to kill him. Ass.

I wake up and he falls asleep.

Then I realize my fortune. Free time. Alone time.

But he's still an ass.

books, books and more books

I found "The Postmistress" by Sarah Blake at the used bookstore yesterday. Zoiks!! What a find! It's hardback which is a bit of a bummer, but it was on my running list of books I'd like to read so it's still a good find.



The thing is, I have to finish reading Waiter Rant by Steve Dublanica. As a person who works with people on a daily basis - all kinds of people, but mostly people completely self absorbed in their own worlds, this book has been incredibly funny. I have laughed through most of it and cringed in some of it. The couple of chapters about how waiters can defend themselves and get back at their customers is hilarious and a bit shocking. He has incredible quotes, insights into the mind that I find refreshing and as a fellow customer service person, he's a god! I couldn't give this book anything less than five stars!!



Here's his blog in case you wanted to read something about yourself, after you've been an ass to your waiter. Otherwise, don't forget to tip your waiter!

What are you reading?

Wordless Wednesday - retail cartoon

This cartoon hangs in my work, above our desks.
I look at it quite often.

But mostly, I look at it when I am having a bad day.

We had a guest in the other day that destroyed the dressing rooms. Literally, left the room a mess. Clothes strewn all over. Hangers askew.
Makes me wonder sometimes.
Do they do this at home?
Would they do this at their mother's house? mom don't answer - :)
And more questioning, when clothes are dirty, have a stain,do they think that it could be because they leave clothes
on the floor, step on them, kick them
and then leave?

After reading this cartoon, though, on those tough days, I realize it doesn't matter.
None of it.
They are clothes.
They are people.
Without either of them, I wouldn't have the job I love.

That, in and of itself, makes me speechless.

Wordless Wednesday

The bachelor, Jake and Vienna break-up

Wow, watching the bachelor interview with Jake and Vienna was literally the hardest thing I've had to deal with in the past couple of years.



I know exactly how both of them feel. It sounded so much like the marriage I was in.

It broke my heart.

I have never been a fan of Vienna. I don't know her, but being that she is on tv and in the news, I am allowed to have a opinion. I think she is young, naive and very needy.

That is the problem with this relationship. From the start, my mom and I knew they couldn't be right for each other simply because (we feel) Vienna needs someone who is constantly doting on her. Meanwhile, you have Jake, the pilot who makes his living being away from home. It just wasn't going to be a good mix.

Vienna gets to feeling bad, lonely, etc and her mind starts to wander into dangerous territory. Jake is tired after work, flying, and he just wants to kick back, but he's got to console Vienna. She gets upset because he doesn't want to console her and picks at him til he can't contain himself. A circular relationship.

The constant picking, nagging, bickering, anger, pointing fingers - OMG - listening to it - not so much the direct problems, but the way they communicate (or don't rather) - is exactly what my three years of marriage was like.

I wanted to cry for them, except I was too busy trying not to turn it off so I wouldn't have to listen, yet I wanted to see it. (like a train wreck)

I felt bad because you could see they truly did at one time care about each other.

But no one will really ever know why or what happened except the two of them.

I really feel bad for Chris though. I mean, to have to sit through that and mediate? Uhg!!