The Way I See Things

Writers Workshop: Do I drive him a little cRaZy?

 

This week's writing prompt over at Mama Kats really caught my attention.  It asked us to write about something you do that drives your significant other CRAZY.  I wish I could say that this was a TOUGH topic, but after being together for 19 years, you can bet that there a few habits I have that can get under my beloved’s skin! 

One of the biggest things that drives him CRAZY is probably my pile of magazines that I keep in our bedroom.  Sure, lots of people like to read before bed, and plenty of them keep a handful of magazines around - perhaps even on the bedside table.  I however, take my love of magazines to a whole new level. 

On average I receive at least 7 new magazines a week in the mail.  Yes, 7 -- and that is a conservative # -- plus I'm not including catalogs or newspapers.    (You might be thinking that this would be really expensive but don’t worry -  I NEVER pay full price.  In fact I never spend more than $5- $6 a year for any subscription and most I get for FREE . . . but I digress.)

Also I am a huge online shopper so I get some really great catalogs that I also want to look through, so the stack of stuff I have to read is HUGE!

If you're doing the math you can see that I have AT LEAST one magazine to read each day.  Honestly, who has time for that?  Inevitably these magazines (& things) begin to pile up . . . and up . . . and up! Usually when the pile becomes so high on my nightstand (6-8) that I can no longer see or reach my alarm clock, a 2nd pile begins on the floor.  There are times when the floor pile has gotten so huge that it’s sprouted yet another pile.

For those of you wondering, YES, I do have a magazine rack.  TWO actually, and as you might have guessed, they are both filled to the brim.  (Mostly with travel and photography magazines that just have too many great articles to EVER toss away.)  I also keep my favorite catalogs in the magazine rack (you know that ones that only come out once or twice a year!)

 Now having these piles of magazines (and catalogs) doesn’t bother me at all.  Are they attractive?  No, but I don’t mind.  I swear I really do read them all -- EVENTUALLY.  Mark however, says it drives him NUTS.  Why would 50-60 magazines bother him so much?  Heck if I know!  When I look through my magazines it makes me happy.  My creative juices are flowing with new ideas for the house, my crafts, my travel plans, my blog, etc.  Mark just sees clutter.  He knows that I read them too but just shakes his head when the piles start to limit access to our closet.    

Sorry hon, but this is just one thing I don't think will ever change, and quite frankly, this "situation" used to be much worse.  You see I ALSO love to read books  . . . but now I have a KINDLE!  Mark probably thinks it was the BEST GIFT he EVER gave me! 

 Do you do anything that drives your significant other CRAZY?

Ten Reasons to be Glad it's SPRING

 
This winter seemed especially long -- not just here in Connecticut, but for many other parts of the country as well.  So I'm pretty sure that this week's TEN ON TUESDAY is one that many of you can relate to!  Here are my TEN reasons to be glad it's SPRING!

1.  Longer days.  I love having that extra hour of sunshine at the end of the day, all the while knowing the sun will stick around more and more each day!

 

2.  Opening the window.  With the amount of snow I've had to deal with this winter, it's nice to just open the window and enjoy a nice breeze.

 

3.  Backyard Basketball.  My driveway is visible once again and the two dozen teenagers are ready to begin the 2nd season of their 3v3 league.  I can't believe I'm saying this but I really did miss them these last 9 months.

 

4.  Flowers.  They will be blooming soon and the air will be filled with their sweet fragrance. 

 

5.  The Blue Jays will return.  They are a familiar sight around my house for about 8 months a year.  They are quite the little songbirds and seem to love nesting in my oak trees.

 

6.  Warmer temperatures.  Need I say more?  I just want to put this winter coat to bed already! 

 

7.  Spring Break.  Even though my kids' vacation was shortened due to the crazy amount of snow we had, I am looking forward to the mini-vacation/daycation we have planned in NYC.  Hopefully the weather will be warm enough for a double-decker bus tour or just a pleasant walk around the city.

 

8.  Grilling.  The snow has finally melted and we can see our grill on the deck once again.  It's time to get some good juicy steaks and fire up that grill!  Love that smell!

   

9.  The beach.  I know you're probably thinking that the beach is more of a "summer thing" but I LOVE taking walks on the beach in the Spring.  It's relatively quiet there and a really nice place to stroll without any crowds.  (It doesn't hurt that I live 5 minutes from it either!)

   

10.  Shopping for Spring Clothes.  Granted if you live in a warm weather climate you might not find this a big deal but . . . I am really excited about wearing shorts and capris again.  And fun shoes.  And short sleeves.  And little dresses.  Yes, I am looking forward to moving the winter clothes to the back of the closet and welcoming the new spring fashions into my home! 

 

What about Spring makes you glad?

 

A nod to Carole Knits, once again for the weekly suggestion!

It's Spring Already? I'm STILL HERE!

 
Wow!  I am so sorry that I haven't posted in such a long time!  Time just seems to have flown by.  According to the calendar it's Spring.  Of course it snowed here this morning for a couple of hours so  . . . I wasn't feeling particularly "Springy" in my winter coat and boots today!  Still I wish you all a happy Spring!  I've been very busy with my scrapbooking, taking an online photography class, renovating my craft room, and planning a few upcoming trips -- some small and some huge!  I promise to write more about everything very soon.  For now I just wanted to drop a quick note in to say hello and remind everyone that I'm STILL HERE and will try to get back on track with regular blogging asap!

 

Happy Spring!

Ten on Tuesday: My Ten Favorite Smells

 

Once again its TEN ON TUESDAY and Carole over at Caroleknits.net has posed the question of the week:  What are your TEN FAVORITE SMELLS? 

It would be easy to list my ten favorite perfumes but I decided to skip that stuff entirely and go with my other favorite scents.  Here we go (and of course these are in no particular order!):

1.  APPLE PIE warm out of the oven.  The smell of the apples, cinammon and pie shell wafting through the air . . . yum!

 
 

2.  LAVENDER.  It is just such a soothing scent.  I love it in body lotion, bubble bath, candles, potpourri, or even a fresh bunch. 

 

3.  WARM CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.  These treats smell so good that I am ridiculously impatient when they're on the cooling rack.  I usually eat them while they're still warm!

 

4. FRESH BAKED BREAD.  What is it about the smell of warm bread that seems to mellow me out?  I don't know but I try to bake a loaf once a week.

 

5. CHRISTMAS TREE -- the REAL ones!  Artificial trees may be pretty and symetrical but none of them can hold a candle to the fresh pine smell of the real deal!

 

6. COFFEE!  Nothing says love quite like a fresh cup of coffee first thing in the morning!

 

7. CLEAN LAUNDRY from the dryer.  I HATE laundry but when it's one of those necessary evils.  I will admit that I love the smell of the laundry as I take it out of the dryer.  Bounce sheets, Snuggle sheets, or no sheet at all.  Warm, cozy, and smelling clean -- perfect!

 

8. MOVIE POPCORN -- that buttery treat smells so good and seems to make any movie more interesting!

 

9.  THE OCEAN.  There's nothing quite like the smell of the ocean, is there?

 

10.  NEW CAR SMELL.  I don't really know how else to describe it but we all know that smell, don't we?  It's so sad when it goes away never to return so I just enjoy it while it lasts!

 

So now its your turn.  What are your favorite smells??

The Lady in the Hallway with the Designer Bucket

Let me start by saying that VERTIGO sucks!  Last week was my first experiences with the "disorder" and it was just awful.  For those of you who don't know about vertigo, it is a feeling that you, or the room you are in, starts moving.  Spinning actually!  

I am not someone prone to getting sea-sick but I can tell you that vertigo felt like I had just stepped off the spinning tea cup ride at Disney.  It came on suddenly Tuesday night.  I was just sitting on the couch watching TV.  Then . . . WHOOSH!  Thankfully the spinning stopped after 10 minutes but then a light-headed feeling, nausea and upset stomach followed for an hour.  I chalked it up to food poisoning when I woke up Wednesday feeling fine! Sadly it would make a return appearance Friday night . . . 

Once again it came on suddenly and once again the spinning stopped after 5-10 minutes.  Unfortunately the "other stuff" didn't go away after an hour or two or . . . well, let's just say that I called my doctor who said "have someone take you to the ER - just in case."

With hubby out of town, I called my dear friend Heidi at midnight to take me (and D - who didn't want to stay home alone) to Bridgeport Hospital (closest one to the house).  Now, to be honest, I understand that ERs can be busy.  After all, I've taken my kids there once or twice.  But we don't live in a huge city like New York, and my previous trips to the ER were usually under two hours.  Not this time!

First of all I felt awful and since my friend was taking me in her car, I did the noble thing and brought my own bucket (hey if you're going to be sick, you can still be courteous, right?) Plus there is no worse feeling than having to find a trash can when you need one (assuming you're not near a bathroom!)

When I get to the ER I can barely stand.  Of course being a Friday night, the ER was busy and I'm told that there are currently no wheelchairs available. Really? Thankfully I am still ok to walk (especially with my son and friend to hold me up!) They eventually found one and rolled me into triage to check my vitals.  I was dying of thirst (I know that sounds extreme but I was REALLY thirsty!) but they said I couldn't have anything until the doctor saw me.  They did compliment me on bringing my own wastebasket though :)

After triage they thought it wise to have me lie down so they had me move to a guerney in the hallway.  Sadly lying down made me feel worse so they propped me up a little.   Now you'd think at this point, I'd get rolled into a room, right?  NOPE!  After all it was a Friday night in Bridgeport, CT.  My spinning was taking a backseat to the stabbings and shootings in the wee hours.  Thankfully I had my little posse in tow so I had someone to talk to.  It's hard to say how long I stayed on that gurney BUT I can tell you that I was being referred to as "The Lady in the Hallway" by hospital staff!

Every time someone passed me, they'd stop and say hello, then smile and comment about my bucket.  That's when it hit us that there was something unusual about the bucket.  You see this was no ordinary bucket.  Apparently it was a DESIGNER wastebasket.  Can't you tell? (Did the $1.49 price tag give it away?)

I can only imagine what the plain one looked like if this was the designer series!

Of course I eventually got to a room and just when I thought the doctor was on his way, a beeping sound went off meaning another trauma came in.  And so I waited. And waited some more.  They still refused me water -- two hours of me looking pathetic and feeling dehydrated didn't help.  Instead they offered me free TV to keep my mind off my thirst.  Seriously?  Does that work for anyone?  By the way, do you know how many channels they get in the ER? Seven!  Do you know what was on at 2:30am?  POKER -- on FOUR of the channels!!!!  

There was also an infomercial on the 5th and 6th channels and I can't remember what was on the 7th channel but it was not interesting at all!

By 3am Heidi was demanding ice chips for me and the nurse relented. (love ya girl!!!)

By 3:30am the doctor finally came to see me.  Of course this was SIX (6) hours after the spinning first occurred and I had started feeling better 30 minutes earlier so there wasn't much to diagnose.  The doctor was nice and I truly couldn't be mad since I wasn't shot, stabbed, or killed like some other folks in the ER that morning.  He said it was vertigo, most likely brought on by a virus, and gave me pills to take while I was there  and a couple for the road. (Sadly it might return.)

Here's what I've learned from this experience.  First, Vertigo is awful. If I'm going to spin, I'd rather be at an amusement park or on a boat so at least I'd understand why it was happening.  Second, if you have to go to the Emergency Room, pray it is not on a Friday or Saturday night.  Third, it never hurts to bring your own designer bucket!