(43-19) My Path

Sunday is typically errand day for me. I balance my check book, go to a super market or two and do whatever else needs to be done. As Nicky's 11 and capable of staying home alone for a while, he doesn't often accompany me on my Sunday errands anymore; but today he joined us and I had the pleasure of the company of all 3 of my kids. Since I had a captive audience, I took the opportunity to thank them for their patience and understanding about the time that I'm allotting to write my blog. I told the kids that it was important for me to write EVERY day this year and I apologized for having to put off some of the things that they wanted to do, so that I could write.  I told my kids that this was the year that I was going to pursue my dream and that I had a very positive feeling that things were going to change for the better for us.

We talked about KNOWING what it is that you're supposed to do for a career and I explained that I believed that writing was what I was MEANT TO DO even though I've done other things up till now.  I told them that I had written from the time that I was a very young girl and somehow or other I got sidetracked.  I remember being in 4th grade and having to write a story like "Why the zebra has stripes;" and I chose to write "Why people are prejudiced;"  (interesting choice for a 9 year old but what can I say, I guess I was always ahead of my time.)  I actually got called to the Principal's office about my essay, but it turned out that it was for praise and not punishment.  During 5th grade I did a lot of creative writing - I would make my own books and write stories for extra credit; just because I liked to.  I always did well In English class, but no teacher or guidance counselor ever encouraged me to become a writer.  When it came time for me to look into college's, one of the schools that I applied to was Bard College.  Bard appealed to me because at the time they didn't put a lot of emphasis on your SAT scores and neither had I.  Instead, they mandated that you had to have a special talent to get in; and so I said that mine was writing.  I suppose there must have been some truth to my claim because I did get accepted; but once I visited the campus, I didn't think it was the right place for me; so I chose to go to Long island University - Southampton to major in Pre-law.
No one was ever going to be a lawyer more than I was; until I wasn't - and during my Sophomore year of college I decided to change my major.  Since my favorite professor taught English and those were the classes that I enjoyed the most, I did consider becoming an English major; but ultimately I decided to take the easy way out and I became a Sociology major because all of my credits would transfer over and I would be able to graduate on time.  I've regretted that decision for many years; and if I could have a do-over; that is most definitely something that I would have changed; but alas I don't want to dwell in regret. I told my kids that not everyone takes the same path to get to their destination and although I may have taken a longer route; it's never to late to pursue your dreams. Maybe all of the experiences that I've had up until now will contribute to me being a different kind of writer than I would have been under other circumstances;
so I have to believe that everything happens for a reason. 
Till next time...

Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-18) We're All In This TOGETHER

Today was a day of EXTREMELY mixed emotions.  I laughed several times, when I wasn't on the verge of tears.  I had a knot in the pit of my stomache (which actually took residence about a week ago;) but then I felt the kindess of strangers and the comfort of familiarity and the knot would dissipate.  Vague, I know; which must seem unusual coming from the Queen of OVER EXPLAINING; but details at this time are actually unimportant. 

Today Michelle M and I had a garage sale.  It wasn't one of my FULL ON garage sales; but one that I was helping her with and OK, of course I couldn't resist the opportunity to sell a few of my things along the way.  It was an enlightening day because our conversations ran the gamut from the economy and foreclosure to child rearing, to Disneyland and Las Vegas to careers, friendships and relationships to my utter disgust and annoyance with the NOT REAL "Real Housewives of New Jersey;" and that was just the first half hour.  Nah, just kidding; those conversations took place over the course of 8 hours and I know for sure that we, (or at least I) could have sat and talked for at least 8 hours more.
Michelle and I were engrossed in our conversations in between sales and I have to say that I was touched and impressed by so many of the people that we encountered today.  There was something different in the air and it wasn't just the unusual humidity.  People were open today; people shared their stories with strangers and offered comfort and reassurance to each other and we all commiserated and it felt GOOD.  People exposed their private information for an opportunity to feel connected and it seemed that the housing epidemic was uniting people in a way that we haven't been before.  Now again, I know that I'm writing in a lot of generalities but this time it was truly the actions that were important and NOT all of the details.  It was a sign that people were reaching out to each other, people wanted to be sympathetic and empathetic because after all WE'RE ALL IN THIS TOGETHER.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING

(43-17) Sweet Treats

Last night Luis and Nicky wanted to have a guy's night out for dinner and they of course went to their mutual favorite, "ass burrito;" which left the girls and I to fend for ourselves.  In the interest of having something yummy AND cost effective; we went to Cracker Barrel. Now if anyone hasn't had the pleasure of eating at a Cracker Barrel, I'll just describe it as some Southern, down home goodness. The food is NOT gourmet by any stretch of the imagination, but it's comfort food that hits the spot. There are SEVERAL reasons that I enjoy Cracker Barrel: 1. They have THE CUTEST country store and I love to meander around and peruse their wares. 2. Complimentary biscuits and apple butter. 3. Anyone can order from their kids menu (in fact it says, kids of any age) 4. They make MAGNIFICENT Macaroni n cheese, SCRUMPTIOUS Sourdough croutons, HEAVENLY Hash brown casserole, and FABULOUS Fried apples; just to name a few.
Since my week had been stress-FULL, I thought some Cracker Barrel Mac n cheese might be good for what ailed me. I ordered the kid size portion, which believe it or not was JUST PLENTY and our bill came to a whopping $12.85; which truly could not be beat.
Once we were through with our meal, we looked around the country store and as I was paying our bill, I noticed a jar of Zotz; (one of my FAVORITE childhood candies.)  I asked the cashier for some watermelon Zotz and much to my delight they cost only 39 cents for 4.  What a score!!!  Now for those of you who have never heard of or tried Zotz; they are "where the fizz izz!"  Zotz are individually wrapped, flavored, hard candy with a powder candy in the middle; and when the powder gets wet, it fizzes.  I guess you could liken it to a hard candy with Alka Seltzer in the middle, only tastier.  Now I really can't tell you exactly why I liked Zotz so much, but after having one today; I can affirm that indeed I still do!!

When I was growing up in "The Condo," our ice cream man sold Zotz and I have a very vivid memory of being in second grade and trading my "boyfriend" to "slendiferous" Judy for HER Zotz. So when I got home from dinner last night, I wrote on Judy's Facebook wall and let her now that I had bought some Zotz and thought of her.  I suppose that Judy thought that I had gotten the better end of the deal all of those years ago, because she wrote back and wanted to know why I didn't buy her any. So Judy, expect a small package when you least expect it...

Since I've always been overweight, candy wasn't something that I ate a lot of; but surely there were candies that I liked. As a kid I would have wanted a piece of chocolate, or Zotz of course; and a Wacky Wafer or Bottle Cap wouldn't have been too bad either; but as I've gotten older, I've found that my candy interests have changed.  I'd rather have a piece of dark chocolate than milk chocolate and I seem to like my flavors mixed - sweet and sour, sweet and spicy or sweet and salty.

My latest fave craves are Pretzel M & M's; which I HIGHLY recommend if you haven't already tried them; and Hot Tamales.  What can I say; sometimes we can ALL just use a little extra sweetness in our day.
Till next time...
Queen of EVERYTHING