These things really work! How do I know? I bought a pair this week and the first time I put them on, I lost five pounds (and threw my back out) trying to hoist them up over my bowl-full-of-jelly belly!

Of course, if I were still built like the woman in the drawing on the package, I wouldn't need a body shaper.....lol. I think they need a "before and after" drawing, don't you?

I Confess.....

I'm guilty. Might as well put me behind bars in the blogger's jailhouse.

I've been cheating on you. Mercilessly. (I even laughed about it.)

Can you find it in your heart to forgive me? I hope that you will.

Since I discovered that I can play scr*bble on-line and through Fac*book, I've been spending all my time doing that instead of searching for things to post here. I have a few games going simultaneously, and when they are not moving fast enough, I've discovered that I can play a solitaire version against the computer robot that FB calls Lex. Lex is VERY good at Scra*ble! He's a more than worthy opponent for me, since I am out of practice and don't remember all the obscure words with which champions win their games.

I'm such a nut about scr*bble that I used to play MYSELF when there was no one else around. Mr. kenju has never been much of a game player, so he hasn't helped further that addiction.

When my son was a baby, we had a neighbor who was just as addicted to the game as I was. She and I would scurry about at home in the early mornings, doing our chores and when were were finished, I'd go across the street with my son in his portable bed, and we'd play Scr*bble until lunchtime. She had 5 boys; 3 of whom were under school age, so that's why I always had to go to her house. Some days, we had lunch together and extended the games through the afternoon.

Those lazy days ceased for me when we had our second child and moved to NC just a few weeks afterward. Scr*bble became a fond memory from the past for years; until my son got old enough to play. After a while, he declined to play because, as he said, I was winning too many games. I know Vicki won't believe that now, but it's true.

If you like that game as much as I do, I invite you to play a round with me! See you on FB!

Update: I just discovered Pathwords. "Oh, NO", I said, because I'll NEVER get anything else done now!

Wedding Bouquets

DO click to embiggen! The detail is amazing.

Mel Day (my employer) made these bouquets back in the spring and I never got around to posting them. I love the colors; a mix of everything pastel except blue. Wouldn't a light blue iris or delphinium have looked great in these too?

The bridesmaid's bouquets had a little more color.

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About 7-8 years ago, a friend who owned her own wedding flower business here in NC got fed up, sold her inventory and moved away. She had only been in the business about 20 years, and I couldn't believe she could just sell everything and declare that she'd never do flowers again unless it was for very good friends or her church.

It took me 7-8 more years to get to that point. I am burned out. I thought it would never happen - but here I am - admitting it. The doing of my small wedding this weekend held no joy for me, and that's really sad. I simply don't want the responsibility any longer. At my age, it's too stressful. A florist has to thrive on that stress, and I no longer do. (There are other stresses in my life, and they are enough.)

Unless something changes that in the near future, I will be selling my inventory and cleaning out most (if not all) traces of my business life. That thought brings me some of the joy I have been lacking here of late. Saturday's wedding was the last on my calendar. I did a proposal for a wedding next June, but I don't expect to book that one. From here on out, I will work.....for others.

Time will tell if I'll need to amend this post with a new title.......Famous Last Words!

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We voted today!! It only took 20 minutes from the time we got in line. I am so glad we got it over with!

Mr. Kenju's Latest Nickname

Every now and then (and more often lately) mr. kenju gets all flustered and highly indignant about something and in order to prove his point, he draws himself up to his full height, takes a deep breath (to puff up his chest) and blows off steam just like Phineas T. Bluster used to do. So I call him Phineas. It just happened again, and I laughed so hard I diffused his momentary anger. What is it with men, anyway? God forbid you should question their opinions. I could often say of him..."Don't confuse me with the facts, Ma'am, my mind is already made up." He says it of me as well. I suppose it is yet another example of the Venus ~ Mars thing.

Washers, Soapy Water and Worms!

Back in the 40's, my mom had a wringer washer that looked something like this one. Monday was wash day and I looked forward to it in the summer when I was home, because after washing on the back porch all morning, mom would dump the soapy water into the back yard. About five minutes after the soapy water flooded the low spots, worms of all description would surface through the grass while gasping for air. I was sure I could hear them screaming......"Save me!"

I was not your typical, prissy girl, afraid to touch the wriggling, slimy worms. Oh no, I loved them. They were the "hot dogs" in the daily repasts (not just tea parties) I spread for my dolls. Of course, they had to be sliced in 2-3-4 pieces first. I used an old file borrowed from daddy's tool chest to slice parts from the whole. Would you believe that of me? LOL I made mud pies for my dolls and on the buffets I set up for them, in addition to the hotdogs, were green beans (from four o'clock plants, I think) and small black seed pods I called blackberries. Various other plant parts were used as well, and I can tell you that few dolls were ever fed as well as mine. I do wonder some times if my zeal for slicing the worms bordered on sadism. I took out my six year old frustrations on them, I assure you!

The back porch that was home to the washer was the site of many play periods for me. I could sit out there if it was raining, and get fresh air (important to my mom) while not getting wet. It had a well-scrubbed wooden floor which my dad had painted gray just after we moved into that house. I got into a lot of trouble one day when my mom found me pounding nails and tacks into that wood floor. Shortly after that, daddy went to the lumber yard and brought home a box of scrap wood for me to experiment with. Better that, and a box of my very own nails, than more damage to the floor.

Did you love boxes when you were little? Small boxes could be used to make houses and apartments for dolls. I used to take old match boxes and make boats. They would float down the curbside gutter in a rainstorm, and if they capsized, we'd holler "man overboard". Big boxes were fun pretend play houses. My dad brought home a refrigerator box once, and another time he got some washer boxes for me. I could cut windows in a big box; draw curtains on them and sit in it for hours; reading or pretending I had my very own home. I wanted so badly to sleep outside in them, but mom wouldn't let me.

What is it about boxes? What do psychiatrists say about people who like them, collect them, keep boxes nested inside other boxes and never throw them out? Huh? I have collected, in spite of myself: wooden cigar boxes, tin boxes, Shaker boxes, document boxes, recipe boxes, plastic boxes, cardboard boxes, papier mache boxes, plastic crates, plastic tubs, jewelery boxes, wooden crates, banker's boxes........(gasping for air myself....whew). WHY?



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He who postpones the hour of living is like the rustic who waits for the river to run out before he crosses.

Horace, poet and satirist (65-8 BCE)

Ms. Maxine, Plus a Confession

I'll admit to being in a sort of odd mood lately. Most of my clothes don't fit, and some of the ones that do are so old I should be ashamed to wear them out of the house. Whenever I look around the stores for clothes, I don't see much that is appealing, and if I like it, it doesn't look good on me or they lack my size. One of my mom's favorite sayings was "There goes mutton dressed like lamb." That's what she always said when she saw a woman who had on clothing befitting someone much younger. It drove home a point and nowadays I try very hard to dress with a youngish attitude - but not so trendy as to make a fool of myself. That's a fine line that's hard not to cross sometimes. Combine that with trying to minimize the negatives and maximize the positives - and you have a real dilemma. Sometimes, wearing all black is the easy way out. I still like black, but I'm tired of it. It's better than mauve crepe with a rose at the waist, though...

LOL!!

There's the added problem of funds, as there is seldom enough to make a shopping trip fun and not a worrisome chore. Maybe I worry too much. Plenty of people just pull out the credit cards and let the chips fall when the bill arrives. I don't want to do that anymore. So with me it's pay as you go or don't buy. Until today.

Today I got tired of caring whether I had a credit bill to pay next month or not. Today, I paid little attention to the cost of things (although everything was on sale, and some of it up to 70% off). I whipped out that credit card as if it were the most natural thing in the world and now I have something to wear to my high school reunion next month. I think. It may be too dressy, or too hot. I'm not sure I have shoes that go with it. Who knows? But at least it is new - not ten years old like most everything else in my closet.

Do you hate to shop? Do you have trouble finding stuff you like? Where do you shop most often?

8~8~8~8~8~8~8~8

By dint of visiting someone, I have to do the "8 Random Facts" meme. I guess I wouldn't have to, but someone said do it, so I am. I just wish I could remember who...LOL!

THE RULES:


1. Post these rules before you give the facts.

2. List eight (8) random facts about yourself.

3. At the end of your post, choose (tag) eight people and list their names (linking to them).

4. Leave them a comment on their blog letting them know they’ve been tagged!

I'm only doing the first two. If you want to do the meme, you are welcome to it!

Eight Random Facts About Me

1. As a young child with no siblings, I was lonely much of the time. Whenever there was another child around, I would bribe them to come home and play with me. The bribes were usually things like promising them my tricycle or a favorite doll. It made my mom so mad that she would meet kids at the door and say "What did she say you could keep?" ......or "No, I will not allow her to give that away!" Most of the time they stayed to play anyway, but sadly, a few did not. I still remember how badly that hurt.

2. All through high school, I wanted to become an architect, but I was scared of math and stopped taking any math classes after algebra in 8th grade. It was then virtually impossible to become an architect if you didn't have at least a small working knowledge of plane geometry. After being accepted to a good university school of architecture, they told me I'd have to take plane geometry in summer school, and then they'd admit me in the fall. I took the class for 2 weeks and quit, which sealed my fate. At the time I said I couldn't handle the heat on the third floor of an un-airconditioned school. Reflecting on it years later, I realize I was scared stiff to leave home and go away for four years. So, I ended up living at home for 5 more years - and I graduated from a university in my home town. This is one of my big regrets. I should have finished plane geometry. After all, I had a B in the class when I quit. I would have been a heckuva good architect.

3. My big desire since the days of ancient history classes is to climb the pyramids at Giza in Egypt. It will never happen; I am getting to old to be able to climb the height of those huge blocks of granite or whatever they are made of. Maybe in the next life....! I will have to be content with climbing to the top of a smaller pyramid in Mexico, at Chichen Itza, which we did in the 80's. Another desire is to walk the Great Wall in China (at least for a little way). That one is slightly more attainable, I think. Know what mr. kenju calls Chichen Itza? "Chicken Pizza" (it drives me crazy, and of course, that's why he does it!).

4. One of my very best friends died of colon cancer at age 77 back in the 90's. She had not had any colonoscopies since she retired (at age 68), because her insurance covered such a small amount of the total cost, and she was on a fixed income. She simply could not afford to pay the $1400 it would have cost her at the time. But that decision eventually cost her her life. I resolved then and there to always have a colonoscopy when it was time for one, no matter what my financial circumstances were. Colon cancer is the most curable type of cancer if it is caught early enough. All you need to do is have a colonoscopy at age 50 and have another when the doctor tells you it is needed, usually in 10 years, unless they find polyps, and then you may have to do them more often. Of course, the idea of having one (or getting ready for one) is distasteful and sometimes embarrassing. So what? Would you rather be embarrassed by that test - or find yourself dying of colon cancer because of not doing it? The choice is yours.

5. I like to play with paper dolls, and have since I was about five. I haven't done it much lately (LOL, except with my granddaughters) but today I picked up the latest page from Mary Engelbreit's Home Companion Magazine and started cutting them out. I'll show them to you later. I used to have a subscription to that magazine, and I faithfully kept all the paper dolls from each issue. I think I must have 40-60 of them. They are saved in a plastic box, until such time as I could cut them out. I think that time has come! They aren't doing us much good in a box, are they!?

6. Someone asked me last week....."How many blogs do you read everyday?" I laughed, since my blogroll shows 123 blogs in it. If I read every one of them every day, I'd do nothing else but read blogs! Bloglines came to my rescue. I set up an account with them and entered the blogs I wanted to subscribe to and now, when I click on there - all the blogs with new posts show up in bold print. It sure saves a lot of time! Now if I could just figure out why some blogs won't work through them. I think when you set up your settings, you have to click on something that says "allow rss feeds", or something like that. If you don't do that, then no one can subscribe to your blog through Bloglines at least, and perhaps no other feed service either. Check it now, huh?

7. Boy, this is getting hard. I have already told you so much on this and my former blog; there's not a whole lot left to tell. Regardless of the fact that my title is "Imagine What I'm Leaving out" - there ain't much that's missing!! How about this bit of exciting news? I have a file cabinet with household, insurance and bank information dating back to the 70's. It really needs to be cleaned out, and the majority of the contents should be shredded. But see, I can't do it without mr. kenju here at my side, because as sure as I start - he'll come up and say "What'd you throw that away for? We might need that someday if we're ever audited." It's a real dilemma, folks, and as Jeff Kay on the WVSR would say......"I can't have that!"

8. Almost done.....whew.......what small tidbit can I confess to this late in the game? I had my tonsils removed at age four. I can still remember the dreams I had during anesthesia. I was trapped in a net attached to the ceiling of the operating room; lying up there watching the surgeon operate on me. Now I would call that an OOBE - or out-of-body-experience, but then I had no idea what it was. I had another one while I was getting married. I was standing on the altar and I heard every word the priest said, but I was up in the balcony watching all the action. It was sort of fun and scary all at the same time. Have you ever had an OOBE? (being drunk at the time doesn't count!)