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.

smudgie earns his wings

Smudge Schickling 2/18/97-4/25/12 The time has come the Walrus said to talk of many things. Of shoes and ships and sealing wax and whether cats have wings. This little angel cat got his wings today.

dilemma solved

I settled on gold. I decided the aqua would scream at me. And in the end although I thought dark red would be a good choice, I thought it might scream at me too if I didn't select just the right shade. I like soft colors and I think I can live with the gold for a long time.

If I decide to use the dark red quilt I won't have to worry about the reds clashing.

This is the view into the room from hall. We have an clay-colored accent wall in the hallway and I think the dark red would not have looked pleasing when viewed from the hallway.

This is the hallway outside of the guest bedroom. Maybe it's not too adventurous, but I'm happy with my choice.