One Part Inspiration...

My husband occasionally sends me out to get materials for a job he is working on. As far as I'm concerned this is a cruel and unusual punishment.  I break out in a sweat just thinking about it.   And yet, trooper that I am, I am willing to give it  the old college try.  Before I leave, I write down EXACTLY what he says he wants. Then on the drive to the big box "Do-It-Yourself" (ha ha good one! Obviously THEY've never seen me try to convert inches to meters or cut a straight line.) store,  I give myself a pep talk.  " This time, Marni, will be different.  How hard could it be to find 3- 16 foot pieces of 1.5 X 3  ?  I'm a grown woman.  I can figure this out.  Especially since I have the cutest measuring tape known to Woman ." I may have a willing spirit, but generally, I am a hopeless ruin within minutes of entering the store.  Everything looks the same. Electrical, plumbing, wood, handles, sinks, ...

This is my latest foray into the world of colour.  The brownish colour is the one my son chose for his room a few years ago when I was painting like a fiend to get us moved into The Pokeaway.  Once he picked the colour, the decision was made to go ahead and paint all the upstairs rooms the same - leaving the upstairs hallway and living room green. When my friends came to visit, I joked that we had dirt and grass as our colours. The problem was that my son ended up not liking the colour. I felt his pain, because I have that experience of committing to a particular colour by buying two cans of paint of the chosen hue, and then hating it as I put it on the walls, but having no money (or energy) to change it up, and then having be resigned to living with it.  My son felt it was oppressive, and it looked 'purple' (which in certain lights, I agreed was true) and so for a year and a half, we've been kicking around various ideas about a new colo...

 There are days when I head out for a walk, that I feel like I'm walking in a postcard.  The scenery is so spectacular.  The road along the dike goes for miles.  Each time I head out, there's a decision to be made. How far will I walk? Some days, I am very energetic - although I've never made it past the blue barn.  No matter which way I look, I am astounded by the gorgeous views. Mountains to the north.   The water follows the path all the way along.  Puppy always is a willing companion.  When we get past the bridge where the troll lives, I let him off the leash. He goes exploring and I keep walking. Every once in a while, he turns around to see where I am and bounds back to me.  I give him lots of recognition for making sure I'm ok and off he goes again.  The troll bridge Once I've turned around to go home, he comes with me, and before we have to pass the troll again, I put him on the leash so there's no trouble....

It had been a stressful morning.  I had an interview to go to, and I was running out of time.  I had been having little luck in preparation.  My best laid plans, for quickly pulling together some written material to take with me, went awry from the time I arrived at my desk.  I could not access the assessments on the computer because we had switched computers, and the information which my husband had transcribed to the external hard drive was inaccessible.  No matter which way I held my tongue, I was denied access. I resorted to 'Plan B' and went on the hunt for the hard copy of the same information.  I finally found it, but needed to delete given names on the assessment for confidentiality reasons.  This resulted in another mad dash around the house to find white-out.  It could not be found so I had to start cutting out small bits of white paper and taping them over the name so I could photo-copy it.  All the...

I am a modern history buff - especially when a central character is involved.  I am drawn to watching history unfold before my eyes.  When Oliver North was summoned to testify on televised hearings before a joint Congressional committee over the Iran-Contra scandal, I found myself glued to the proceedings. On the day OJ Simpson was found 'not guilty', I didn't go anywhere until I saw the results with my own eyes.  I have watched presidential proceedings, royal weddings, and state funerals. I am not sure why, but somehow the action of watching these events makes me feel a part of them. A few weeks ago, when Whitney Houston died, I couldn't stop tuning into the variety of coverage on the history of  her life. I wouldn't call myself a fan, but there was something that tugged at my heartstrings about her death.  I had seen her interviewed several times, where she spoke glowingly of being a Mom and how much she loved her dau...

Not far from where I live, is a "park and ride" where my mother-in-law and I meet once or twice a week to carpool and save a little gas.  On Monday when I returned to the van, and started it up, I knew immediately something was wrong.  It is just NOT RIGHT when a mini-van sounds like it's trying out for 'The Fast and the Furious #299".  It's a mini-van afterall.  The decibel level was so loud, and the reverberation was so strong, that I turned off the ignition right away. Ever the optimist I am (not), I decided to try again.  I turned the ignition key once more, hoping for better results.  Carbon monoxide poisoning would have been immediate if I had been in a garage.  Huge blue puffs of smoke billowed out from underneath the van.  I got out.  I went to the back of the van, and kneeled on the ground (in my work clothes).  The muffler was still there.  Now I was completel...