Politics

11/7/2012

Politics

Well it's finally over.  Maybe your guy won or maybe not.  Either way we are free momentarily from election season.  I don't discuss politics outside of my immediate family.  Likewise, I don't talk about religion or a woman's right to choose.  

I have sat through the debates - until I fell asleep, fast forwarded through countless hours of political ads and listened to the political rhetoric until I couldn't tell the difference between truth and fiction.  I've also watched the landscape become dotted with signs. Vote yes. Vote no.  Elect or reelect.  

You'll never see a sign in my yard - it's just not me.  Likewise, you will never see my car adorned with a bumper sticker of any kind and particularly nothing political.

So here's what I think should happen once an election is over.  Each candidate, winner or loser, should have a dedicated sign picker upper.  It's over and those signs stuck in the ground everywhere will now (if they ever did) help anybody.  So pick them up.  They do eventually disappear but not near fast enough for my liking.

I like my landscape clean and I hope it gets that way very soon.  I'm also looking hoping to see some new commercials that I can fast forward through!

You now know my political views - as far as signs go!

Happy Wednesday.

P

Gifts

11/6/2012

Gifts

I just bought a magazine that features many pages of suggestions of wonderful things to buy this season.  I, of course, was interested in getting new gift ideas and well we all know how attracted I am to glossy paper.  I fast forwarded through the articles and editorials to get to the "good" part.  I quickly discovered that there was very little on the multi-page spread that I could afford.  Here's some examples let's see what you think:  14 bars of soap (obviously not Dial or Ivory) for $238.00.  While the soaps were lovely but they would be literally money down the drain.  Four tubes of lipstick for $192.00 (clearly not a product you're going to find at a drugstore).  A jewelry box for $525.00 and pajamas for $160.00.  These products all look divine and I'm sure they are; but who exactly are they marketing to?  The average woman?  Heck no.  I just bought a new coat and it cost a lot less than $160.00 and my lipstick goes for about $4.00 a tube.  If I paid that much money for lipstick I'd want to stick them in a bank vault! As for the cost of the pajamas - you know that in some stores you could buy many pieces of clothing with that kind of money.  I have never wanted pajamas to be considered one of my major investments!

Even if I could afford to buy such high end products I still don't think I'd bother.  I can't imagine anybody in my immediate circle (and admittedly most of my family are guys) who would be thrilled with designer lipstick or exotic soaps.

While I enjoyed pouring over the pages and pages of glorious and over priced items it reminded me of being a child and looking with longing at the pages from the Sears Christmas catalog.   Remember?  We used to even circle what we were super interested in and sometimes that would be an entire page!

When it comes to shopping I'm a realist.  I have a lot of people to buy for (by choice in a lot of cases) and you have to rein in the budget a bit.  So to all my lady friends or relatives - I'm sorry but you're not getting any of the aforementioned products - at least as described above.

I am an on line shopper and I'm good at it (and I do hate to brag).  I hardly ever go to malls to find my gifts.  I can find better, cheaper and more unique items if I let my fingers do the typing.  One of my favorite sites is Etsy which is mostly handmade and/or vintage items.  You can get some amazing things from that site.  And, of course, my favorite go to place - Ebay.  Admittedly, if you buy on Ebay you BUY the item - you don't RETURN it.  But I have been disappointed with very few of my purchases in the last 10 years.

There is something about being in an overheated, over crowded shopping mall that begins to make me crazy(er).  People bump into you, cut in line, dressing rooms are full, inventory is low and salespeople non-existent.  Who needs all that?  All you need is your imagination, phone or computer and a credit card.  You can even shop in your pajamas any time night or day.  How great is that?

One of the few delights in buying gifts left to me is buying for Benjamin.  He's still at that ooh and aah stage over everything.  He is not yet jaded or expecting that one certain toy which is generally made of unobtainem.  I love that about little children.  They are so easy to please.  I try and buy vintage toys for Benjamin when I can.  Why?  Well, they're made better and most of them don't require batteries.  They run on imagination!

Benjamin and I have a small 2 foot Christmas tree that we keep up all year long.  During the summer it sits more in the corner and we don't turn the lights on.  During the year Benjamin decorates and redecorates the tree with everything from his Mardi Gras beads to his latest art project.  This weekend Jeff moved it back into the living room and in the evenings we turn the lights on.  There is something so wonderful and magical about Christmas lights.  So when Benjamin comes to visit next he'll be thrilled to see his tree back in the living room ready for the season and more (or less) decorations.

Enjoy your day.

P

Hot and Cold

11/5/2012

Hot and Cold

I've reached a certain age and maybe you have too, where my body temperature swings erratically from hot to cold.  I'm seldom just right.  I feel like someof those famous porridge bowls - too hot and too cold.  Yeah I know all about the technical reasons why women get like this but the medical reasons are just plain boring.  The reality is how annoying this condition actually is.  Trust me when I tell you that I don't suffer in silence - oh no, Jeff knows exactly how I feel at any given moment.  I have run the air conditioning when everybody else is huddled inside a blanket and likewise I have shivered through fairly mild evenings.

It is 40 degrees outside but the temperature in the bedroom is way less than that.  My window is wide open and I even have a window fan.  Jeff stays comfy underneath a blanket, comforter and the snuggling efforts of two dogs.  I, on the other hand, spend the entire night - feet in - feet out.  Blanket on, blanket off.  It is exhausting!  

At work I had a sweater hanging on the back of my chair for 12 years - never needed washing - never worn.  Just a reminder to myself that I MIGHT get cold.  All that changed about a year ago and some of it had to do the weight loss - fat is very insulating.  I have replaced my old sweater with a new one that is much thicker and have a desk heater at the ready.  In the other corner of my desk I also have a fan, so I'm pretty much covered either way.

I happen to believe that there is enough other stuff happening to our bodies as we age that we shouldn't have to contend with a wonky thermostat.  By running multiple cooling or heating devices in your cubicle through the year gives everybody a pretty good idea of what you're going through.  Even the men get it they just don't use the "M" word.  Menopause has not yet come out of the dark ages in terms of polite social conversation, unless it's just women all of a certain age!

So I'll travel to work this morning with a light jacket on which is more for appearances than anything else.  When I don't wear a jacket on a cool morning I get the funniest stares from folks as I walk across the parking lot.  In actuality, it's such a short distance from the car to the building why do I have to bother with a jacket?  Probably because I don't want to stick out like a sore thumb among those who are bundled up underneath coats and gloves.

Hard to say which one of my desk accessories I'll be using today.  Either way I'm good - fan is on the left and the heater's on the right.  Younger women tend to chuckle at us old broads but that's just because they're not here yet!

Have a great Monday.

P

Leafs and Benjamin

11/3/2012

Leafs and Benjamin

Today we are picking up leafs, which are not to be confused with leaves!  After the storm there are a zillion leafs in my yard and today was sucker picker upper day.  Jeff blew all the leafs into a pile which Benjamin destroyed time after time prolonging the chore!  Got such nice pictures of Benjamin playing in the leafs.  Once the leafs are in a pile and Benjamin is distracted, Jeff turns his blower into a vacuum hence the sucker picker upper part of the job.  My job?  When the bag is full I'm the empty the bag person, which is dirty and dusty.  So two large yard bags later the majority of the leafs are out of my yard and ready to be recycled next week.

When the three of us came inside, we all had rosy cheeks because it's cold and windy outside and the inside of the house is warm and snug.  So leaf picking up was our required outside chore for the weekend.  We will now resume our life as house sloths for the remainder of the weekend.  Perfect!

At one point Benjamin and I took a break and got on my porch swing and we started the process of learning to swing - legs out, legs back.  If that doesn't work you just ask Mom Mom to pump.  He was a little disappointed that my porch swing, designed for peaceful rocking, didn't go fast enough for him. We also threw balls back and forth and we tried to catch them in Pop Pop's cowboy hat.  I actually did once!  Most of the time they just rolled down the driveway and into the street but Benjamin was a willing chaser so I got off easy in the exercise department!

Time for lunch now.  I'm thinking grilled cheese and soup - yum.  I hope you're enjoying your Saturday like we are.

P

Ben Break

11/2/2012

Ben Break

Good news. Benjamin is coming to spend the weekend with Jeff and I and we love having him.  The downside for my readers is that taking care of Benjamin doesn't leave me much free time!  So, if on Saturday and Sunday mornings there's nothing new to read, don't despair.  I'm just taking time off from writing to be Benjamin's Mom-Mom for a few days.  I'll be back.

P

Family Business

11/2/2012

Family Business

Thinking of starting up a family business?  If so then think this through carefully for it doesn't always work out so well.  You need to weigh the pros and cons before making such a big decision. 

When we started our own family business 6 years ago we were a small scale mobile battery contractor.  We had a leaky old van, our oldest son was our driver and he brought with him a large amount of debt from a previous partner.

Life was pretty simple back then.  Kenny drove, Jeff did the books and I licked envelopes as well as other lofty office duties.  We managed to stay afloat, pay down the debt and worked hard.  Looking at the business today some would say we are successful.  Kenny is no longer a driver, the leaky van and the debt is long gone.  In its place?  We have 15 drivers (give or take one or two because employees in this industry aren't known for sticking around) and 11 or 12 vans (I've lost count).

We have a lot of business which is good and everyone gets paid which is also positive.  So what's the problem?  The problem in a family business is keeping the family and business lines from becoming fuzzy.  It's hard to know when talking with each other are we talking as parent to child, child to parent, or officer to officer.  Unfortunately, there is spill over between the two relationships which can cause friction at work and at home.  It takes a lot of work to be both a parent and an "employer" and not sour either relationship.

Being your own employer means you control your hours, pay and work.  Those are definite pluses.  Being your own employer also means that you are never really "away" and that when you do manage to get out of Dodge a truckload of paperwork and/or issues awaits your return.  Vacations are planned in and around pay dates, which is every two weeks.  It's kind of like being a farmer - you may be away - but the cows still have to be milked.  

I am proud of our success and we have all worked very hard to get here. When we started out we were trying to provide an income for our son.  This many years later we feel the pressure of having so many families looking to us to keep the business going and receive a regular paycheck.  

I know that our family business is not alone with some of these issues.  I watch Kitchen Nightmares regularly and most of the businesses that Gordon Ramsey try to help are family owned.  And they have issues similar to ours.  Who's the boss and where's the line?

You can have the American Dream of owning your own company but it's challenging, a lot of work and the buck stops with you, not somebody else further up the food chain.  You are the ultimate problem solver.

Some would say that I should revel in our success because so many little family owned businesses don't fare so well.  And we have been fortunate - but the bigger the company - the bigger the headaches.  Not to mention how many more envelopes there are to close!

This may all sound like sour grapes this morning and maybe it is.  I think I'm just tired and cranky today.  Thanks for listening.

Happy Friday.

P
 

Clothes

11/1/2012

Clothes

Men and women look at clothes in completely different ways.  A man looks into his closet and sees the essentials of life - shirts and pants - and he's good.  Most men don't need or want a lot of variety and that's why their clothes are relegated to the smallest closet.  A woman looks into her closet(s) and sees nothing to wear.  This is true even if the rod is buckling under the weight of the clothes.

One of the reasons for this is our need to keep multiple sizes in the closet at all times.  You have your super skinny clothes, the mid-sized range and the last group is unfortunately your "fat" clothes.  Fat clothes have different meanings for women - it can mean a size 6 for someone who wears a 2.  Or it could mean clothes that begin with a 2 (shudder).  Just in case you're wondering I will not be divulging the sizes in my closet but I can assure you that there are no single digit outfits hanging around.

Let's say you've lost weight, perhaps a lot of weight.  When you do you get rid of your "fat" clothes?  Or do you just hang on to them just in case?  CYA is very important at all times.  I believe there is a fear that someday you might grow back into those clothes and there's comfort in knowing that they're there. There's another theory which is that if you keep your fat clothes - you WILL grow back into them!

Then there are the sentimental clothes.  Most of them are ridiculously outdated but remain in the back of the closet anyway.  I have just such a dress.  It's mint green and I bought it in the early 70's.  Occasionally, I try it on for giggles and sometimes it fits and sometimes it doesn't.  I keep it because it's Jeff's favorite and one I've owned for going on 30 years.  Will it ever truly see the light of day again?  Probably not.  It will linger back there, collect dust and someday will end up in a donation box.

I've tried to whittle down my closets (yes I have more than one) but never actually succeed.  Out of all the clothes I own I generally wear pretty much the same things to work week after week.  If I was a reasonable person I would or should donate the things I've not worn for a year or more.  I just can't.  Can you?

I guess one of the reasons why I don't is because when I bought the item I liked it or maybe even loved it.  I liked the fabric, the color, the style or maybe just the size!  Anyway, there was something that appealed to me when I laid down cold hard cash (or more likely a cold but well loved credit card).  And yet many of these clothes hang forlornly week after week.  I think what happens is these items you never wear get pushed out of the mainstream of the closet and you just don't wander back that far.  Sometimes when I do explore the back recesses of the closet I'm truly amazed at whats back there - but don't tell Jeff I said that!

Live dangerously today - wear something from the back of the closet!  I, of course, won't be taking that advice because I have already put out my clothes for today as I do every day.  Jeff is asleep when I leave the house so I dress in the dark (mostly) and that's not the time to rummage around for something new to wear.  Whatever I might pull out of the back of the closet might not even fit (hopefully in a good way)!  Who knows.

P