a a a

anticipation

abandonment

abduction

We had a momma duck chose a spot to feather her nest beside our garage next to the hydragea bush. She sat on the eggs for two weeks. Yesterday when I went out in the morning to go to work, I saw her in the backyard. She was preening and shaking out her feathers as she walked away. It looked exactly as if she was saying "Enough of of this. I'm moving on." Sure enough when I got home from work, her nest sat uncovered with two lone eggs in it. I waited to see what would happen. When I went out this morning, the eggs were gone. Some raccoon had a treat last night.

flawed

It's been awhile since I had Coffee with Julia. I got a job and we had to stop our Wednesday morning meetings at Panera. But I see her at Wegman's cooking and handing out samples in the meat department. She has also been promoted to assistant chef for the cooking classes. We got together today at 2 pm and talked for two hours at Panera. Coffee with Julia turned into Iced Tea With Julia. We had a lot to talk about for two hours. We decided to meet on my patio in two weeks for Sangria With Julia.

When we parted today she told me that she had missed me. She said that it is so nice to spend time with someone who is not perfect. I take that as a compliment. I've never enjoyed perfection either. Things and people are so much more interesting when they are a little flawed.

memorial day

Today is Memorial Day...a holiday. I do recognize it as a day to honor those whose gave their lives so I can live the life I live today. And I am grateful to them for doing so. I try to think if I could do the same. I don't think so. I honor and thank them. But today mostly is just another day to me. B and I never do anything like other people do to celebrate a holiday. No family or friends gather on our patio. We don't load up the camper or go to our cottage on the beach or in the mountains for a nice relaxing weekend. We don't own a camper or a cottage. We just continue on as normal. Friday the drapery rods that we ordered arrived. B is installing them today. I am ironing shirts and cleaning my bedroom while watching old movies that I've seen before. I am going to roast a chicken later. I awoke feeling nervous today and poured myself a glass of champagne at noon. Then another and another. Tomorrow the fitness club where I work is open til 2. So I'm going in for a few hours so I don't get behind in my work. It's not even sunny today to lift my spirits. As I write I see the sun peeking out though.

My most prominent memories of Memorial Day are from when I was young. Every holiday seemed like a special day set apart from the others. Sometimes the McWilliams family would come to visit Grandma Morris and Aunt Jerry. I'd play with Cindy and maybe Donna and lust after Keith. Debbie was young and got in the way. Larry...I think he was older and seldom came. We rode our bikes. I focused on their Chicago accent. The way they always wanted to go with. What do they mean....go with? Go with you? They still had a week or so of school to endure. I felt smug because I was out of school already. My mom would set up the grill and we would have burgers in the back yard on our picnic table. My dad would sit in a lawn chair in the backyard and look up when I yelled at him to Look at Me Look at Me hanging from my knees from the top bar of the swingset. I would put on my bathing suit and run through the sprinkler. We would make a trip out to the cemetery to place fake flowers on my grandparents graves. I would run around and sit on the tombstones and visit the unknown soldier statue. Marvel at the cedar tree. That's what I remember.

surprise box

I received a surprise box from my sister last week. She seems to know me better than I know myself. Every item in the box could have been selected by my own private shopper who knows my tastes well. And every item was. Lustreware bowl to add to my collection. A book about chocolate which I can't go one day without. A day without chocolate is worse than a day without sunshine. A cute embroidered hand towel....I also collect these.

Cute pair of sleeping shorts and a white lacy tank

Here is a little collection with a purplish color scheme. I own these shoes in a gold color and love them....so I love them in black also. One can never have too many pairs of black shoes. Colorful sweater...I've worn it already. See "my new little private office". Purple Pashmina and the sweetest paper clips I have ever seen.

Yellow color scheme.....embellished sweater, comfortable yellow suede shoes and a beautiful sheer sequined scarf

my new little private office

This is my new little private office. I used to sit out in the open at my old job. People walked past me a million times a day. No privacy whatsoever.

In my new little private office the door is kept closed and locked. That's okay with me. The better to get my work done. I only spend a half day in it anyway. When I step out of it I'm surrounded by people working out and cute little kids in the babysitting area. I get to listen to great music. If I forget my lunch I can buy a protein shake at the juice bar. I've been using the treadmills and ellipticals when I get done with my work. When I leave for the day I've been checking out the shopping in the area. There's a Goodwill and a Salvation Army close by. I've discovered a great little sewing shop....Marie's Sewing Center.




I've gone from being a public spectacle to isolation booth at work.

book quotes 1 & 2 on confidantes and secrets

When I lost my Smudgie last week, I posted on Facebook that he was my best friend, my confidante and my sleepin' buddy. And he really was. Smudgie knew all my deepest thoughts and darkest secrets. He was an expert at keeping secrets. Over the years I have jotted down quotes that I like from books. Posting that about Smudgie made me think of a couple quotes I had jotted down on the topics of confidantes and secrets.

The first is from The Mermaid Chair by Sue Monk Kidd....on confidantes

"I desperately needed confidantes. Because underneath I felt terrified. Because the weight of what I was carrying around was at least ten times heavier than I was and I had come to the end of my ability to hold it."

The second from a book I am reading now

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak....on secrets (Liesel is keeping a secret. She is hiding a Jew in her basement. As she sits in the mayor's library reading a book, the secret desperately wants to slip out of her mouth. She feels a need to share her secret. But she doesn't.)

"There's a Jew in my basement. As the book quivered in her lap, the secret sat in her mouth. It made itself comfortable. It crossed it's legs."

some enchanted evening

Bali Hai may call you

Any night, any day

I predict Bali Hai will be urging me to Come Away Come Away at 7 pm this evening. I'm hoping it will be some enchanted evening. To dress the part I think I'll wear my hula girl sweater and grass skirt.

shorter days and pants

I started a new job three weeks ago as the bookkeeper/office manager for a fitness club. It has some perks...free use of the gym and classes, shorter days (I'm part-time. Just work mornings) and shorter pants. Yeah!! Besides beings able to wear capris, I can also wear bermudas. I stopped at Kohl's the other day and bought four pairs. I swore I wouldn't take another job where I couldn't wear sandals, but it appears that I have. I can wear all my flats and I can wear sneakers. So I put together my first professional-looking work outfit based on shorts. Olive green shorts, a nice tee with velvet ribbon trim, pink earrings that my sister made for me and olive flats with bows.