Friday, June 30, 2006

A yarn about Family ties with no strings attached.

I was telling someone the other day that the most recent guests at the camp were my sisters, and nieces and nephews, and I told her some of the things that we did and the things that happened. Her response was "you all", I'm sorry let me start over, " Bless your hearts, YA'LL sound like such a close knit family"! And she went on to say how she thought it was just wonderful in this day and age to find families who want to be together and then she added "of course it helps when you live in the same community"!

It took a minute for that to sink in and then I realized that she had NOOOOO idea what our reality is, sooooo, I gave her the short version about “our community”. She was suitably impressed and went on her way, but that got me thinkin'...

Same community, heck, we're lucky to be able to claim the same world right now. Even though we all started out in Colorado, there are only extended family members left there, and at this point in time,

the parents are in Arizona along with a brother and 1400 foster kids
We’re here at the camp in AL.
one sibling is in Philly
one is in Florida,
one is in Germany,
and one is in the foreign country of Kentucky

… and yet, it was important enough to schedule and juggle and drive (sometimes at the same time) (scary, huh?) so that we could grab some precious moments together. Close knit? I think not!! Heck, we’re just hanging on by a thread, but I am EVER so thankful to have been Blessed with a family who tries to stay close in spite of the distances.

Don’tcha Ya’ll ever forget that you have standing reservations here at the CAMP!! The Front Porch is always open.

Friday, June 23, 2006

Address change?

Just wanted to let you know that I’m expecting a phone call any minute from the Navy Seals, the Army Green Beret’s or possibly even the Japanese Ninja’s. Whichever one of them calls first I’m sure will be requesting my assistance immediately, so my address could be changing very soon.

Why, you ask, would I be changing my address to correspond with any one of the above-mentioned elite forces? Well, besides the obvious, (tough, muscled, sexy, smart, and savvy men in uniforms thing)(sigh) I have just realized that these forces really don’t know what tough is all about. As soon as they get the news that I KNOW TOUGH, they will be begging me to train each and every one of said, tough, muscled, sexy, smart and savvy men in uniforms.

Here’s the scoop… I went to the Dentist on Wednesday morning to have a cavity filled. As I sat my trembling body down in the chair, I wondered just what tortures I would have to endure. The dental assistant came bopping in with a cheery GOOD MORNING, I answered with a squeaky (“oh please don’t hurt me”) Good Morning. And then the doctor came in, complete with mask and popping her gloves as she put them on. She said, “so how are we today?” I said (“we are nervous as hell”) “Fine thank you”. Doc said, “soooo, this doesn’t look too bad, it’s just a little cavity”.

And that’s when I opened my mouth and showed a strength and courage that only an elite few could hope to attain. It went something like this:

Me: so, does that mean that we can take care of this cavity without any shots?
Doc (with a sarcastic chuckle): Sure, no problem.
Me: Good!
Doc (with a confused look): Are you serious?
Me (a little hesitantly): Um, yeah, if you think it would be OK?
Doc: Ooh-K, I’ll just go really slowly. Now you be sure and let me know if you begin to feel any pain or discomfort
Me (to myself): Oh don’t you worry your pretty little head about that one
Me (to Doc with a tough attitude): OK, sure.

So I opened my mouth and she went to work drilling, eeeeeeun-eeeeeeun-eeeeeeeun and some little jackhammer type instrument, dutdutdutdut---dutdutdutdutdut, She’d stop every few seconds and give me that quizzical look, I’d nod my head and she’d go back to work. Eeeeeun-eeeeeeun-eeeeeun, duttduttduttdutt… By this time I knew that at any second she was expecting to hit the nerve that would sit me straight up and blow the top of my head off, and I was getting scared, but I was in it now, and I was acting tough, and surely, surely it would be over soon… surely!!

Finally, it was over!! She sat me up, looked at me and grinned and said, “ all done! Man, you’re one tough cookie!!” I simply shrugged my shoulders as if to say, yeah, no biggie, told her Thanks, and walked out with a swagger, hoping they couldn’t see the nervous trickle of sweat running down my back !!

So now, I’m officially the toughest girl in the world. And the phone should be ringing any minute now, so I’ve gotta go!! Can't wait to teach some "tough" to those tough, muscled, sexy, smart and savvy men in uniforms who need me!! (sigh)

Monday, June 19, 2006

SOLD!!! ...or maybe not!!

I work in sales.
I’m an insurance agent, so I’ve been to EVERY one of the “how to” seminars, the work groups, the motivational speeches, etc. I’ve been told what look for in a potential “sale” and I’ve been told NOT to judge a potential “sale” by their appearance. (the same person gave both pieces of advice which even at the time sounded very contradictory, but anyhow…). And my MOMMA taught me that everyone should be treated nicely, because “you just don’t know their circumstances, now do you?” After all, have you ever had a car salesman NOT tell you the story of the poor looking old man in overalls who came in to buy a car and pulled a wad of 100’s out of his front pocket? No, in SALES, it’s not smart to turn your back on a potential sale…

Saturday, June 17th 2006


The Counselor and I decided that we wanted to go shopping on Saturday. Specifically because I wanted a new pair of sunglasses. My old ones had been used for soccer practice on concrete one too many times. The problem is that I love my old glasses. I’ve had them for almost 10 yrs and I’ve babied them and they have been good to me. But we’ve got this trip planned to California in July, and frankly, I’m tired of trying to see between the pits and scratches. But I won't settle for anything less than what I had. So, we headed to the Decatur, AL. mall to the Sunglass Hut kiosk. We were both dressed pretty casually, in shorts and tennis shoes and t-shirts, after all, it was Saturday, and it was 90 degrees outside, so we didn’t feel the need to dress up. We approached the kiosk and were greeted by a lady who asked if we were having a good day. We were, so far. After exchanging pleasantries, she asked if she could help us. I answered that I was looking for a pair of sunglasses to replace my beloved Maui Jim’s and knew that SunGlass Hut sold Maui’s at one time, do they still? She said sure and pointed us towards the side with the Maui Jim display. Just as I asked to look at a pair, another person walked up to the kiosk and caught her attention. She greeted him as expected, but then… BUT THEN…

Sales note: if I had been behind the counter my thoughts would have gone something like this…

(to myself: Dang, I’m bored. Sure am glad I’m not having to work outside today. Nothing much going on. Need to be sure to pick up some toilet paper on my way home… wait a minute here comes a couple… not too old, but definitely not teeny boppers.This could be a sale!!) “Well Hello, how are you today? Good, I’m fine thank you!! How can I help you today?” "Maui Jim’s?, of course we have Maui’s, they’re top of the line you know? Well of course you’d know that, you obviously have excellent taste because you’re already wearing a pair.” (to myself: and she must be willing to pay waaaay too much for sunglasses, ‘cause she’s already got a pair. this ought to be eeezzy) “I know, isn’t it a tragedy to have something that you love wear out, it’s like tearing your favorite pair of blue jeans, Ha, ha, ha. Well, here are the Maui’s, which pair would you like to try?..."

Then as the other gentleman came to the counter, with his obviously broken glasses, I would have said…

“(to us)excuse me just a minute. (to him)Hello, sir, I’ll be right with you” and then I would have turned right back to “us” and made sure that “we” were getting to look at what “we” wanted and I would have done whatever I could to be sure that “we” had every opportunity to buy something.

Instead, She greeted him as expected, but then… BUT THEN…

She turned to him, without a word to us and before she even got any glasses out for us to look at, and started talking to him. She never even went so far as to say “I’ll be right back with you” After about 2 minutes (2 minutes is a long time in that situation, by the way,) Roger and I looked at each other and without saying another word to her, quietly walked away. I’m not sure she even noticed that we had left. I was totally disgusted. And disappointed, because I reeeeeally wanted a new pair of Maui Jim’s.

Sooo…

Sunday, June 18th 2006

After church and a Joe Muggs original Frappe, we went to the Parkway Place Mall in Huntsville, Al. Visited the Sunglass Hut kiosk there, met a delightful and oh so attentive young lady named Jessica and purchased a waaaay too expensive, but OH SO COOL new pair of Maui Jim sunglasses for me. AND we helped Miss Jessica sell another pair of expensive glasses to a nice gentleman who just needed some positive reinforcement as to how fine those glasses really made him look.


The moral of this story:

Don’t piss me off… I’ve got a BLOG!!!

Monday, June 12, 2006

I DID IT!!!

I re-created my entry, so now, even though I'm so tired that I'm drooling on my keyboard, I feel a bit better about my short term memory.

Night, Night!!

How to start?... No, really, HOW DO I START?...

First I want to send a great big thanks to "The Mommy" and "The Queen". And just as soon as I figure the whole "Hyperlinks thingy" out, I'll use it and then you've just GOTTA go read them. They're the "Blogging Best"!!

Speaking of "blogging", dontcha just love those "nerbs", (NERBS are words that should be nouns, but become verbs simply by adding "ing"). You know, like Wal*mart-ing.. Honestly, it's used in everyday language here in the South,...

... but I digress.

**warning: expect a LOT of digressing while reading this blog **

Anyway, I wanted to start my blog with something that would really catch the attention and would give you a true sense of who I am and what you'll be reading. Something like a clever little poem or something... something that goes a little like this:

Oh the things that I'll say,
Oh the fat that I'll chew,
now that I've caved in,
and become a blogger too...

And THAT, folks, would be just ONE of the reasons that I'm starting a blog and NOT going to work for Hallmark.

So I wanted to start on my blog at work today.

I know, I know, the millions of dollars spent each year paying employees that are spending their time on-line, rather than being good productive citizens, could be put to better use studying the mating rituals of the fruit fly, but, I'll have you know that I DID my work and am Totally capable of answering phones AND handling insurance problems and questions while at the same time working on my new Blog. However, I am obviously NOT capable of remembering my username or password. I'm sure the Blog gods, or the Powers that Be in my office got a real kick out of that one.
(note to self: WRITE IT DOWN SOMEWHERE and then REMEMBER WHERE YOU PUT IT)

So now I'm sitting here at 9:04 after having located said username and password, trying to start this blog. That's not a big deal except that now that I've gotten started, it's time to go to bed cause I gotta get up at 4:00 in the morning to help get Hubby off to work. ICK!! (about the wake up time, NOT the Hubby). So I'll work on it some more tomorrow.

Final note of the day: As you can tell, it would be futile to expect to ever come away from this blog with any epiphanies, weight loss secrets, or Long Lustrous Hair. More likely you can expect to find yourself signing off, feeling confused, maybe amused, and possibly even abused, but...

I'd love for you to visit again sometime soon anyway!!


Sweet dreams, Ya'll.

(another note to self: call "the mommy" tomorrow and find out how to use the hyperlink thingy and how to put cute stuffs on the homepage)

NOOOOOOO.....

... And it was such a GOOD first post....

*&^#$(*&%(*%#!!

I"ll try again tomorrow!!

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Hi, Hello & Howdy Ya'll

Welcome to MY world!!

Ya'll come on in now and have a seat!! Can I get you something to eat? What about some iced tea or a cup of coffee? Well OK, but if you change your minds, just be sure to let me know.

Anyway, I'm so glad you could make it, now sit back and make yourselves reeeel comfy. Give me just a minute and we'll get this party started!! Oooohh I just can't wait!! This is gonna be so much fun!! Back in a sec...

Friday, June 09, 2006

Gotcha!!!



Okay, big sis, I've done all the ground work, now you've just got to do the maintenance. Welcome to the world of Bloggity Blogging!!! Enjoy!
Love ya,
Susan