Sunday, March 17, 2013

Movin' on Out . . .


I've packed my bags and moved up to the East side.  Over at WordPress.  


Thanks for letting me hang out here for a few weeks, Google blogger.  It's been fun.

For those of you who have been reading my blogs, please come and visit at my new place.  I'd love to see you.


Saturday, March 16, 2013

Silly Stupid Saturday v3


Quick! Say this 3 times, fast!


You did it?  Really?  That means you are a winner and you can collect your prize at the nearest Irish gift shop or dollar store!  (Retail charges and taxes apply) 


Can't get your tongue untwisted enough to spit out the words?  Never fear, there's always a consolation prize and you have won it!


That's right, you get a pot o'greens...fertilized by Fluffy...and my condolences.  Better luck next time. (The pot o'greens will be available as soon as you get out to your potting shed and dig a clump of grass out of your front yard.)(Fluffy not included.)


Happy St. Patrick's!  May you always form your words correctly and may your blarney never get in the way of your shamrocks.


Wednesday, March 13, 2013


My Dating Life

(or Three Men, One Date, and a Silent Goodbye)

Dating is not for weenies! 
But it IS for serial daters, men with lots of strange stories, guys with logs of baggage, and the males who make me scratch my head and go “huh?."  The subtitle is a shout out to the one-time daters I have come across – the guys who act very interested, who share their life history and a really fun date with you, and then who unceremoniously dump you without a word.  What do you imagine they are thinking?  I wonder why, after one date, a person can’t say, “Sorry, I don’t feel you’re the person for me,” instead of silently retreating.  It makes absolutely no sense, especially when I consider myself an adult woman who is fully prepared to accept rejection (that's what I tell myself). Rejection can happen after one date or ten dates or after a longer relationship.  I made the decision (with some urging) almost two years ago to jump into internet dating with both feet.  No fear!  Since then, I've already been on both sides of rejection, serving it up and taking it on the chin, picking myself up and moving on.

Dating at Wal-Mart.
I have been single for a little over three years now, and I naively thought that dating would be easier than my experiences have been - on and off the internet dating site.  When I was going through a divorce and for a few months after the final decree, dating was one of the last things on my mind.  I believe I was still shell-shocked from a 30 year marriage that didn’t end well. When I finally realized that I was ready, I was not in a hurry to venture into internet dating.  Even with encouragement from a girlfriend, I let it go, sincerely thinking, “I’ll meet someone through work, at the gym, at the mall, or I’ll run into a cute guy with my shopping cart at Wal-Mart.”  In the end, the opportunities I thought would present themselves did not.

 Off to the internet dating world…
Thankfully, I have an awesome friend who has been internet dating for a few years.  (She’s also searching for her Prince.)  Without her, I would have badly fumbled around the website, perhaps making egregious errors in judgment and taking it all too personally.  Instead, I had a guiding hand in my friend, who taught me how to send messages, what to say, and how to make my way toward actually having a date.  I will be forever grateful that she saved me from "winking abuse" and the scammers who are extremely interested in meeting (as soon as they get home from business in Europe). 

Onto the dates…
I have dated a few guys the last year and a half, serial daters included.  I have met some very “interesting” people (like the guy who had his ex-wife living upstairs) and my dates have been as short as 45 minutes (a definite NO) to a relationship that lasted three months.  The three-month relationship ended when “Mr. I-Like-You-A lot” moved out of state after receiving an offer from his employer that he couldn’t refuse.  Good for him, not so good for me.  I will say that having known him has allowed me to set a bar for future dates.  He gave me the knowledge of what it felt like to be treated with respect and to be very comfortable with someone who shares interests. Perhaps that is the reason why I’ve been somewhat picky ever since.  My motto has been “Do not settle”, while my girlfriend keeps telling me, “You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your Prince.”   I’ve tried to keep an open mind, but I also listen to my gut when it says, “He’s not the one.”

Weirdness!
I’m only going to say a few words about certain potential daters.  “I am going to block you.  I do not look kindly upon your strange fantasy emails or pictures of your backside.  You need Dr. Phil to help you sort things out, not internet dating. “

Insecurities.
Yes, I do have them.  At times, I worry that I’m too old, that I’m not blonde, that I’m financially lacking, I'm not educated enough, that my sense of humor is off-putting, that my glasses are off-putting, etc.  These are times when I’m feeling vulnerable, when another date has gone awry, and I wonder if internet dating or dating itself is worth the energy and time.

The Road Ahead…
When my insecurities finally settle down, I come to the conclusion that it’s a matter of forging the road ahead, being myself, accepting nothing less than what feels right to me, and not giving up.  It may be a road of epic proportions - with ups and downs, frustrations and friendships, good times and bad.  It’s a road I choose to continue on, searching for the Prince, kissing the frogs, and trying to make good decisions while keeping an open mind about the entire dating scene.  I will never find a Mr. Right if I don't try.  He may be on the internet site, shopping at Wal-Mart, sweating over a weight machine at the gym, or sitting in a coffee shop, waiting for me to come in and order a cafe misto.  One never knows.  

Nope, dating is not for weenies.
This is an equal opportunity blog.  I realize there are men out there who can tell stories about their dating life.  One of my dates told me he ended a relationship with a woman because he wouldn’t change his status on Facebook to “in a relationship” after only two dates. I’ve also heard stories of dishonesty and stalking.  Yikes!

If you are currently dating, I wish you many blessings and much happiness in your search.  Hang in there and keep looking. 

Monday, March 11, 2013












As in one-half mile.  I swam one-half mile today.  Sixteen laps of the pool.

I continue to feel like a salmon flailing up-stream.

Except that I don't gasp for air as much as I did when I started swimming a week ago.

There's improvement.

My goal is a mile.

I'll let you know when I get there. 


Saturday, March 9, 2013

Silly Stupid Saturday,  v2


Today, I give you the recipe for a blog...

Start with a cat-a-day calendar.
  Make sure there is a new feline every day of the week.
    Add a strange sense of humor,
      A pinch of a wannabe writer/comedian
        Several cups of coffee,
          Way too much sugar,
             And a good friend who appreciates all of the above.

                    Mix it all together and...



Tuesday, March 5, 2013


Let's Make a Choice!


I choose Door #3, Monte! 

Choices in life are many and just like on the old TV game show Let’s Make a Deal, our choice can be either the blessing of a new car (Door #1) or the curse of a man on a donkey (Door #3).  Choices can be a blessing when an exact replica of the $150 designer shoe you’ve been wanting is at Payless for $30; a curse when it comes in five different colors and you don’t know which one will go with one of three outfits that you have to choose for your date night, and you want to make sure that everything matches the new glittery purse you bought after mulling over that choice for 30 minutes at Macy’s.  *sigh* 

It all starts when we’re infants and we make choices through body movements and eye contact.  At one year of age, our choices start to become more deliberate and less instinctual.  At two and three, we are “me” centered and we make choices based on a very limited point of view (I’m not a mom, but I tend to think that’s when parents become more focused on “offering” the choices of “no!” or “no!”).  One of my earliest memories of making a choice was when I was three or four years of age.  The doctor stopped by the house (when they used to make house calls) to see my brother and I chose to run upstairs and hide.  Nope, that awful doctor was not going to get his hands on me!  I absolutely believed that I made the absolutely correct choice at that time. Then, as a teenager, I remember making the “wise” choice of going to the local swimming hole after school, with my friends, and not telling my mom.  It was a fun afternoon…up until the consequence of that choice, when mom made it clear that the “wise” choice had moved into the category of “What were you thinking?”

As adults, we make personal choices every day – plain or flavored coffee, black or brown shoes, go to the gym or stay in bed, buy a new car or get the old one fixed – and we always hope they are good, positive choices that give us peace of mind.  I’ve made extremely good choices in life with friends, church community, eating habits, my job, my furry kids, my favorite pair of jeans, deciding to sleep in on a Saturday morning, to name a few. Unfortunately, reality pops in to replace hope and peace when our choices go awry, when we veer toward the “What were you thinking?” category.  I’ve made a few of the gone-awry choices in my life – choices that have impacted me emotionally and financially, choices that have affected me to the core of my being, choices that make me, at times, want to rue the day.  Bad choices can be a quick trip to self-doubt and self-resentment and laying on the couch feeling sorry for yourself.

And, so, at those times, I remember the words of Eleanor Roosevelt.

We all create the person we become by our choices as we go through life. In a real sense, by the time we are adults, we are the sum total of the choices we have made.”  

Eleanor was such a cool lady.  While I could let her words scare me (have my choices made me a messed-up adult?), I choose to look at what Eleanor said in a different light.  I choose to accept the person that I am because of the choices I have made, good or bad.  I choose to know that my bad choices have made me wiser, smarter, stronger, and a person with faith, while all of my good choices have given me a sense of peace, wonderful relationships, and some very cool shoes.   My lifelong choices will stand and I will continue to make more until I take my last breathe, when the sum total of who I am is complete.  As for right now?  My choice is to annoy enlighten and entertain all of my friends with annoying thought-provoking and laugh-out-loud blogs.  It’s my choice, good or bad.

Thought of the Day:  Have you made a choice in your life that has had a significant impact in your life?  If you could go back, would you choose differently?  If yes, how would it change your life?



Sunday, March 3, 2013

Sunday Swim!


Today I tried swimming laps, something I haven't attempted since I belonged to the Y many years ago.  I've been thinking about this for months, but the cold weather and my "chicken genes" always won over.  Until today.  My determination kicked in.

To make a possibly long story short, here's what I learned at the pool:

  • I looked like the lady in the picture at the end of each lap.
  • I was smart enough to wear goggles.
  • I was not smart enough to bring ear plugs.
  • Water gets in your ears without ear plugs.
  • When I backstroke, I list to the right.
  • I thought I was going to die after 5 lengths of the pool.
  • If I don't give up, I can swim 20 lengths of the pool.
  • Swimming laps requires hard work and lots of good breath.  (Kudos to those of you who make it a regular practice.)
  • I remembered to bring everything except a plastic bag for my wet suit.
  • Swimming makes me hungry.  Very hungry.
  • Swimming makes me tired.  Very tired.
  • I want to go back and do it again!

PS:  For those of you looking for a thought-provoking, somewhat serious blog, check back tommorrow.  I'm working on it.