wee things

You know how much I like tiny things. Miniature everything! Dollhouse furnishings, tiny felted animals, even baby clothes. SO cute!! I love the whole fairy garden thing too. I started seeing them on Pinterest a couple years ago. I had no idea they were so popular right now. Wow! If you Google fairy gardens, you'll get almost 14 million results. Geez. I hate to be a follower, but I think I have to have a fairy garden. I can almost feel my husband cringing right now. Sorry honey :-)  I promise not to get too carried away.

found it!

Is there some little thing that you are constantly losing?
Some thing that you lose and buy and find? I know you know what I mean! I can't be the only one.
I know for sure that my fella does this as well. How else would you explain the 50 tape measures we have?! And we're both like that with reading glasses. We have our favorites but every time we misplace a pair, we buy a pair. I would guess that somewhere in the house, we have at least a 100 pair of reading glasses. Yeah, yeah, of course I'm exaggerating...
You know what else is like that, in our house? Fingernail clippers. They're always missing. When they're missing, the next time I go to the store, if I remember, I buy a pair. I guess I do that with some regularity because look what magically turned up the other day!!!!!!!

I'm going to try and remember not to buy anymore clippers.

pictures

It's estimated that 1.8 BILLION photographs are taken every day!! 
Right now, I have almost 1,000 pictures on my phone. There they are, on my phone. What am I going to do with them? I've already deleted 100's of them. Should I send them to Walgreen's and print them out? Do I actually want to keep them all? They are all stored in "the cloud" so if I lose my phone, I'll still have my pictures. I wonder how many pictures are stored in the cloud right now. Is there a shelf life for that data? Will they be in the cloud forever? That's a lot of data.

When I was a kid and all the way to adulthood, you had to take pictures with a camera that used film. My first camera was a Brownie;

I think my next camera was a 110 camera;

Remember those?

Next, I think my camera looked like this;

That style of camera, 35mm, took me all the way to about 2003, when I got my first digital camera. I have a 1/2 dozen SD memory cards with pictures on them, most of which I have never printed. Is anyone but me going to look at them?

I was thinking about all that last December. I made a couple of photo/scrapbooks for Mom for Christmas. It's actually kinda cool to look through a photo album. It made me want to look through all of my old ones. Honestly though, ALL of my photo albums put together, probably don't contain a 1,000 pictures. 

Anyway...looking through all my photo albums, there aren't a lot of pictures of the kids growing up. You had to take the picture, wait till you used all 24 (or more) take the film to the drugstore and wait a couple days to get them back and pay for them. As a teenager, I had to save to get my film developed! I bet I still have at least a few of those film canisters with undeveloped film in them. These days, parents document everyday of their kids lives! Teenagers take a zillion pictures, of themselves, everyday! But what happens to them?? I was wondering, will my grandchildren ever have paper pictures to show THEIR kids? Will their kids ever hold a picture in their hand, of their great grandparents? And maybe their kids will just Google whoever they want to see, because by then, everything will be digital. Isn't that weird??

Hopeful

Let's talk about migraines again. Migraines suck! My biggest trigger is weather. Whenever there's a big change, BAM! December and January were horrible for me. I had a migraine in January that lasted for FOUR days. I was this close to going to the emergency clinic! It was awful. 
After that, I decided to do some more research on holistic remedies. My Rx works well but it makes me feel weird. That can't be good, can it? Anyway, I've already tried several over the counter things. I've also changed my sleeping habits on the weekend. You know, instead of sleeping in, I get up around 7:30 or 8:00. I think that helped a little! Then I read something new...it said that if you take a vitamin B complex, it could reduce your migraines by up to 40%. Yeah, yeah, could and up to are suspicious. But what the hell, it can't hurt, right? Sooooo, it's been 3 weeks. I thought I was going to have a migraine a couple times, but I took some Tylenol and what do you know? It went away. Three weeks without a migraine. It's making me happy, real happy! I'm hopeful for sure.

Now for something completely different. Look at this funny ring;

Rawr means, I love you, in dinosaur. LOL. I had to have it - super cute :-)

THAT was fun!

My kid brother just came out to visit for a week. Besides just seeing his face, my favorite part was strolling down memory lane with someone who actually shares those memories with me. Oh you know, it's fun to do that with your spouse or a good friend, but unless they were there, it's not the same. He said he remembered a restaurant called Caves and Caverns. I didn't remember that one at all! But others I did - Victoria Station, Farrell's and Burger Chef-which became Hardees/Carl's Jr., Laughner's Cafeteria, Nora Theater, Ayr-Way, (which was sold to Target). Hooks drugstore and Standard grocery store. Flower City. Then there was our old Jr. High and Elementary school. The Ice Dome, and the old country club we use to go to, The Riviera Club. It still looks the same, mostly.

All our old neighborhoods. Riding our bikes for miles and miles and miles, on country roads that are busy highways now. It was pretty fun. 

My guy did some totally rad car stuff with him. World of Wheels, the Dallara Indy car Factory and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. The museum was neat because they had taken out a lot of the race cars to make room for a really cool display...in honor of Indiana's 200th birthday, they were displaying all the cars that had been made in Indiana! I learn new things all the time!

It was SO great to see him and take care of him :-)

things you should work on

First, do you listen to people when they speak? When you do, do you listen to respond or do you listen to understand? Isn't that an interesting way to put it? For the most part, I think I listen to understand. I could do better though. I'm going to work on that.

Second, is there anything that's beneath you? Is there something you wouldn't do because you feel you shouldn't have to or because you feel it's demeaning? Do you treat everyone with respect? I try to be nice to everyone. Even though I don't like people. I always say hi to the cleaning lady in our building, the old fella that brings our mail, and all the maintenance people. They work hard. And I'm always nice to restaurant servers. They work really hard. I'd like to think that even if I had a high paying, executive position somewhere, that I would still be nice to everyone. 

So, you know I brought that up for a reason, right? :-)

In my office, there's a water cooler. It has a hot water and a cold water spigot. It's awesome!
There are five men and 1 woman in our office, top executives. Plus myself and the other Admin.
How often would you think that I've had to replace the 40 pound water bottle on the cooler? Go ahead, take a wild guess. 98% of the time. No, I'm serious! I've actually watched a couple of those men walk into our break-room to put water in their glass, see that the jug is empty, and turn around and walk out. Oh no, I am not kidding. Sometimes I don't change it, just to see who will. We went all day once, before some 2nd level management guy came in and changed it. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. 1/2 of them don't even acknowledge me as they walk by. I would bet money that our top guy, after 2 years, doesn't know my last name. I don't know if it's because he's an elitist and acknowledging a peon is beneath him, or if it's because I don't have a penis. Frankly, if you can't change the empty water bottle, I think it's because YOU don't have a penis!!!!

your soundtrack

What's on the soundtrack of your life??
You know, the songs that absolutely bring back A memory or a whole time frame. The songs that just make you feel so good. I know there might be a lot of them but think about it...it will make you happy.

Stairway to Heaven                                                    
Kiss                  
Dream On                                                                   
I Honestly Love You
Long Haired Country Boy                                           
I Will Survive
Margaritaville                                                              
Lay Down Sally
Don't Mess Around with Jim                                       
I Am I Said
Afternoon Delight                                                        
I Think I Love You
Freebird                                                                      
The Time of My Life
Black Water                                                                 
Faith
Hot Stuff                                                                      
Turn The Page
Wild World                                                                   
Addicted To Love
Loco Motion                                                                
You're No Good                                     
Fallen                                                                         
Time In A Bottle  
American Woman                                                        
Sweet Dreams                                     
Candy Man                                                                  
American Pie         
White Wedding                                                            
Thriller
Hello                                                                            
Make It With You
Bohemian Rhapsody                                                   
Mama He's Crazy
Tie A Yellow Ribbon                                                    
Friends In Low Places
What's Love Got to Do With It                                     
My Maria
You've Got A Friend                                                    
Forever and Ever Amen
Where Were You                                                         
She's Always A Lady
Walk This Way                                                             
I Will Always Love You
Simply Irresistible

There are a few more, of course. These are just the ones that pop into my head. It makes me happy! I think I'll create my own playlist!! Yay for Fridays!!!

...in the news

This is great news!!

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/10-things-that-happen-to-your-body-when-you-take-a-nap/ss-AAlKwKQ?li=BBnb7Kz

It's Groundhog's Day. The little furball saw his shadow. That means 6 more weeks of winter. I hate to break it to you, but the first day of Spring is March 20th. Which is 7 1/2 weeks away. So 6 more weeks seems like a deal to me!

An anti-Trump movement is calling for a boycott of 33 retailers that sell Trump merchandise. I looked them up - most of them are on the list because they sell Ivanka Trump's clothing line. Forgive me, but I fail to see what Ivanka Trump has to do with the presidency. Why does the country want something to hate, so badly??

If you've ever wondered what's in the filling (between the layers of wafer) of a Kit Kat bar, here's your answer: It's not chocolate! It's actually recycled Kit Kats. Technicians pull any imperfect Kit Kats - with off center wafers or not enough shine, for example - and grind them into a paste.

Safety

Do you worry about your safety, or the safety of your loved ones? When do you worry?
I do some things that are definitely purposeful to be safe. For instance, I always have my keys in my hand way before I get to my car and I throw my purse in first thing. I never leave my purse in the shopping cart. I always lock my car when I get gas. And at night, I try to be aware of who is around me, if I'm alone. Those are all things I've been doing for 30 years though! Past that, I guess I don't think that much about it. I don't worry about a crazy person bursting into the theater while I'm watching a movie. I'm not always looking at people as they walk into a restaurant. I don't worry about terrorists when I'm flying somewhere. In general, I don't take extra precautions. Do you? Curiously however, I do worry about my fella driving across the country by himself. And I can say with confidence that I would NOT approve of my mom doing that either! No way! 

Today, I was cleaning out a folder in my email and it had a couple things in it that I wanted to mention here, then forgot. One of them was about the victims of the theater shooting in Aurora Colorado, a few years ago. Basically, it said that 4 of the survivors, who chose not to take a settlement, sued the theater for not keeping them safe. A judge ruled against them. I can't begin to comprehend the trauma et al. they faced. Not having ever been in any kind of situation like that, I can't say how I would feel. But I'm pretty sure I wouldn't blame an establishment for what some totally whacked out, nut job did! And isn't it a shame that their attorney led them to believe that they had a case. (That's a whole different topic though)

Really, you aren't "safe" anywhere. It doesn't matter if you're armed either. Does that stop you from going places though? Is it someone responsibility to make sure you're safe from other people? Would you even go to the movies if you had to be searched before you went in? How much of your freedom would you give up to be guaranteed you would be protected from other people?

Karma

kar·ma

ˈkärmə/

noun

1. (in Hinduism and Buddhism) the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.

   • informal

     destiny or fate, following as effect from cause.

   • Karma is the destiny you earn, through your actions and behavior.

Do you believe in karma? I believe that you get what you put into life. If you're a pessimistic, negative, selfish, toxic person, who does nothing but whine and blame others, who is never kind in thought or deed, well...your life is going to suck! Duh. Is that karma? Even you won the 5 billion dollar lottery, you would still be unhappy. You'd be rich, but you'd still be unhappy. Good things might happen to you, but you'd still be unhappy.

I was thinking about that today because an employee in my agency is retiring. She's worked here for 20+ years. She threw herself a retirement party. She provided all the food and decorations and invited everyone. To the best of my knowledge, there wasn't a "chip in" for a gift or anything. Isn't that sad. I guess she's wasn't a nice person to work with. But still, how sad that she had to throw herself a party. 

things people with short hair don't know about

Static electricity in the winter. OK, maybe your hair might fly up a little. But if you have long hair, it sticks on everything; the back of your chair, your back, your face, your coat.

One long hair in your underwear. Don't laugh. It's SO annoying! Especially that one in your butt crack. I hate that!

And if you have dogs/4 legged vacuum cleaners, they inevitably will eat one of your long hairs. Eventually, it has to come out. Usually on that last little poop, that's hanging off one of your long hairs. And while it is kinda funny watching them dance around, it's gross to have to help them get rid of that last little poop that's hanging from one of your long hairs.

And what about that one invisible hair stuck inside your sleeve? Geesh.

Oh! and I don't know if this happens to other long haired people, but if you pull your hair up or back or to the side, and leave it there all day, when you take it down all your little hair follicles scream in protest and your scalp literally hurts!

Nah, I'm not gonna cut it off but dang! Long hair is rough sometimes.

I've got a secret!

Was that a television show? I've got a secret? 
Well, that's not what I'm talking about...I actually DO have a secret. Top secret! Sworn to secrecy!! Noooooooo! I hate having a secret! Who am I going to tell?? I didn't mean that to be funny, I'm serious! Who can I tell?? I have to tell somebody! Whew. Thank heavens...I told my fella :-) I felt better immediately. 

Are you like that? Or can you honestly keep a secret all to yourself? I'm only a good secret keeper if I can tell someone. So I choose someone who doesn't really care about my secret. Someone with no interest in the people affected by the secret. Like, once I knew that a whole department was going to lose their jobs and I couldn't tell anyone. THAT sucked! I told my fella though. That it made it easier for me. Usually, it's my husband. Sometimes, it's Chuck's daughter - she's a good secret keeper because she's an HR professional. Her whole job is about secrets! I would suck at HR! Besides the fact that I don't like people, I couldn't keep all those secrets. My poor fella. He'd probably make me get a shrink!

But where are WE?

See this picture?

There's a big ice storm headed our way. Yay! Weather!! I suspect that all the grocery stores will be packed tonight, in anticipation. You know, because staying home for a day or 2 is SOOOO devastating!! Why does everyone in the Midwest want to make french toast when the weather is bad?
Milk, eggs and bread...always the first to go. 

But where is my home city??? The population of St. Louis is 318k. The population of Wichita is 386k. The population of OK City is 610k. The population of Indianapolis is 853k!!! Indiana is in that blue swatch. But there's no little dot for Indianapolis! Chicago isn't even in blue swatch but IT gets a little dot and name recognition! What the hell???

random things...

I love this story. It says that if you have a potty mouth, you are a more honest person than most!
Yay!!

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/wellness/people-who-swear-may-be-more-honest-than-those-with-a-less-colorful-vocabulary/ar-BBxRoIQ?li=BBnb7Kz

I LOVE this story. It's a bout a teen boy who wore a suit to meet his newborn neice, because first impressions matter. How awesome is this guy????

http://www.wthr.com/article/ohio-teen-wears-suit-to-meet-baby-niece-because-first-impressions-matter

And this story?? It tells me that my salt craving isn't just a random thing. It's in my genes!

http://www.msn.com/en-us/health/nutrition/craving-salt-your-genes-may-be-the-reason-study-suggests/ar-AAkfaSx?li=BBnb2gg

The most annoying word of 2016? For the 8th straight year, it's...........whatever.

And now that 2016 is over, you should check out the Washington Posts data base on police shootings for the year. I suspect that the results were surprising to a lot of people. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/national/police-shootings-2016/

It says that 963 people were shot and killed, by the police, in 2016. 465 of them were white, 233 of them were black. There were 22 unarmed white men killed by police and 17 unarmed black men. Interesting. I wonder why we aren't talking about the 963 people killed by police, as a total number, instead of by race? Don't you wonder? 

Happy New Year!

2017.
2017?!!?!?
Geez, already? So cliche I know, but where does it go?

Well, did you make any new year resolutions? I never do that. Oh, I guess I shouldn't say never, because in fact I did make a resolution this year. To put my shoes away. I'm the worst with my shoes. I just take them off wherever I am, when the mood strikes. Not necessarily a bad thing, except I leave them wherever I take them off. Kitchen, living room, at the computer table, under the dinning room table...you get the idea. Before I know it, shoes will be everywhere, except in the closet where they belong! I know my husband will really appreciate this resolution.

Also, as a team we resolved to get back on the healthy eating plan. We sorta fell of the wagon a few months ago and it shows. It's nice to do it as a team. It makes it seem like less of a chore and more like a lifestyle. You just can't eat like you did before 40 anymore. Oh sure, we'll splurge sometimes, but it's ok. Life changes all the time. This is just another change. I'm good with that.

Let's see, anything else? Hmmmm. It's been brought to my attention by a couple people, that I wasn't nearly as active on my blog in 2016 as I've been in past years. I wish I knew why. It's not because I was too busy or I didn't have anything to say or because I didn't do anything. I did A LOT last year. And a lot happened in my life last year. I'll have to think about that.

Anyway,
HAPPY NEW YEAR!