Lesson Learned

Is there something you've thought you would never do, but faced with possibly having to do it? I had one of those moments recently. I was mortified! 

I had taken off my wedding rings to put lotion on my hands. I carefully put them on the arm of the sofa*.  Well, time got away from me and I just forgot they were there. Bedtime rolled around and I walked away to run through the bedtime routine. After brushing my teeth I remembered that my rings were on the arm of the sofa. 

Or so I thought. They weren't there. I didn't think too much of it at first. I just thought I knocked them off onto the floor. They weren't anywhere around. I panicked! My mind automatically thinks that the Goober dog that resides in this house has found them and eaten them**. Oh Crap***!  I walked away to tell Hubby I might have to be sorting through some steaming piles of dog poo soon. With a puzzled look on his face he asks, "Why?" 

I told him what happened and he said, we're not going to be digging through poop to look for your rings.  Here I am faced with my wedding rings possibly in Goober's system and I am contemplating mashing up dog poop in the next few days to get my rings. I never thought I would have to do that. But, I was at that crossroads. Thinking that I will. 

I like my wedding rings. The new mounting that I got for my thirteenth wedding anniversary sure doesn't hurt either! In my head I could justify sorting through poop and disinfecting it many times over before going out and finding another. It wouldn't be the same and it's not in the budget at the moment. 

I went back to the living room and gave it another try. I stuck my hand through every nook and cranny of the couch and dug up all sorts of stuff. Including my wedding rings****. Relief quickly set in! 

I faced a decision that I wouldn't wish on anybody. And thank God I didn't have to go through with it*****!

Is there anything you would sort through dog poop for? 

*Yeah, right

**He's eaten and passed socks and underwear before, so why not?

***Literally!

****Not to self: never put rings on arm of couch. EVER. AGAIN. 

*****Yes, it's a material object. I'm not placing the value of it over anything, but poop can be washed away. I've seen some of the rings out there. I bet others might be doing the same thing! 

Turkey Lurkey

It's been two months since my last pedicure. I'm not complaining. I'm just giving you a timeline so you can understand that I was a little excited. My toenails were feeling a little naked and neglected. I had my iPhone ready to go with my favorite talk radio guy on WBAP. My talk radio app is ready to go because the place I go to, the people speak very little English*. I'm prepared to sit there in peace because what's the point of trying to carry on a very fragmented conversation?

I pile myself into the chair and get my earbuds ready. Then comes the question from the pedicurist, "How did you sleep last night?". I was a little taken aback. This is usually a question that my husband asks me. And only my husband. HUH? I'm not even sure that any of my closest girlfriends have ever asked me that.

He** goes on to say that he didn't sleep well. Do I apologize? Do I express some concern? He goes on to tell me that he hasn't slept well for days. At this point I pray that he's not going to fall asleep with those cuticle nippers in his hand and cause major blood flow. He asks me if I've ever had that problem. "Oh sure", I tell him. But, for none of the same reasons he has that problem.

How do you say to an Asian guy who understands very little English that the reasons I had trouble sleeping were (1) when I was 8 months pregnant. I couldn't roll over let alone get out of bed by myself and (2) Peri-Menopause. Giving birth helped my pregnancy sleep problems. Only for a couple of hours at a time though. Hormones fixed my lack of sleep during the on set of Peri-Menopause. He will have to endure neither of those.

Since I couldn't suggest either of those as solutions for him, all I could think to do was suggest that he eat turkey before bed. It has L-Triptophan in it that's a natural sleep aid. It's relaxing. I'm not sure why the word "turkey" was so hard to understand. He asked me if it was a medicine. I told him no, that all you had to do was go to the lunch meat section of the grocery store. He still didn't get it. Then I said, "Oscar Mayer". I'm still not sure he got it. Then thoughts of Googling Adam Sandler's Thanksgiving song popped in my head, but the thought quickly passed.

Then, my pedicure was over. I was a little relieved.


*I tried a SPA in the west part of the city that I live. Even they didn't speak English. Who speaks English anymore when it comes to manicurists/pedicurists?
**Yes, he. The person doing my pedicure was a man.

I ♥ Makeup

I have a problem. It's a relatively minor problem.in the grand scheme of things. Easily curable.  One of my favorite things to do when I have time AND money is to go to my favorite stores that carry makeup. They ONLY carry makeup. Sometimes, nothing beats getting a new lip gloss or eye shadow color. I've even bought them from my favorite home shopping channel. Sometimes you can't beat the Today's Special Value, ya know! But, it may be out of hand now.....

Hello! I only have TWO eyes. It's all pretty much in the same color scheme. It's like it draws me to it. What's even sadder is that I don't even wear makeup that often. I'm a stay at home mom who survives on t-shirts and jeans with some shorts thrown in for Spring and Summer. The makeup pretty much doesn't come out til around Friday and gets put back up around Sunday night. Some of the powders are fun to dip my lip balm in and I just put a little color on the lips and go. 

Lip gloss is my next favorite thing. Swipe some lip gloss and put on a little mascara and I could pass off as if I care a little about how I look. My lipsticks and lip glosses are also in the same color scheme. I don't venture into uncharted territory when it comes to my lip gloss. I know what looks good and stick with it.  Of course, there is the obligatory lip balm. I hate chapped lips. 

Blushes are the bane of my makeup world. I don't do them very well. I just stick with the same color variation  and hope it turns out okay. I don't have a spending problem when it comes to blush. 

Nail polish is also a sweet spot for me. I love the pinks and  reds all the way to the glittery blues and black. Yes. I said black. During the month of October, what's the harm in a little black nail polish? There's even a glittery green thrown in for fun. Even when my face doesn't have any makeup on, I at least know that my toe nails are the best dressed toe nails around. 

I am not particular to one brand. I take that back. I am partial to one brand, with a few others thrown in. Everything has a place to store it in. Some of the containers are about to overflow. This doesn't even include the finishing powders, acne soap, moisturizers, primers and highlighters. Not to mention the retinol creams, brushes and eye pencils. Concealers and potions all promising to do something that probably won't. 

So, here's to 2011 and derailing my trips to my favorite makeup stores. Here's to using up everything I have, or throwing it away. Whichever comes first.

That's Not My Name

I used to hate my name. Only for the fact that I could never find anything with my name on it. It was such a bummer to see all of those personalized kitschy things, but none of them had my way of spelling. As I got older I grew to love the spelling of my name. It's unique. It's fun. I'm not the only one, don't get me wrong. There are a lot more ladies out there that spell their name the same way.

At this point I really don't get upset when service repair people come to the house and start filling out the invoice with the wrong spelling of my name. I just think to myself, "Ah. I may never see them again. Who cares. It'll take longer to correct the mistake than to just get the guy outta here".

But when people that I've known for several years still misspell my name, it irks me, to almost no end. I know some people would say, "Get over it", but it just bothers me through and through. My name is spelled out in one of my e-mail addresses. I sign pretty much all of my emails that need it. If I can keep up with how your name is spelled with an "ie" at the end how hard is it to remember that mine has "ee"?

I know we all have a lot of things on our minds at all times, but it's a simple little gesture. Possibly even a gesture that you care. Even if you don't care, spell my name right. I deserve that much in my forty plus years.

P.S. When I say L-E-E-S-A, why do you hear, Lessa, Leisa, or just Lisa?????

The Things I Love and I Am Grateful For

 The first three are meant to be in this order:

1. The grace that God has showered over me in my life. That Christ died for me.
2.  My husband. He is my best friend. My rock. My love.
3. My kids. The fun and excitement they bring to life. The roller coaster it is bringing them to adulthood.

The rest are not meant to be in any specific order:

4. Staying up late and sleeping in the next morning
5. The smell of coffee. I make a great cup of coffee, so my husband tells me. I love the smell, don't get the      taste.
6. Olives
7. My gardenia bush. I've had it for 5 years and I haven't killed it yet. It blooms!
8. Being over the age of 40.
9. Christmas. The spirit of the season is overwhelming.
10. Air conditioning. I live in Texas, need I say more?
11. Dresses. They are graceful. They are feminine. They are sexy. They distinguish the female body from the male. Done right, it leave something to the imagination.
12. Ice cream. Ever had Blue Bell's White Chocolate Almond?
13. Hosting people in my home.
14. Cupcakes. If you haven't tried them from Sugar Queen Cakes at Willow Bend, run now!
15. Being able to stay at home and be there for my husband and kids.
16. Skeleton keys. They hold a past to my favorite pieces of furniture from my grandmother.
17. The smell of a freshly painted room
18. Rainy days and nights. As long as I'm able to enjoy them at home.
19. Most get togethers with my extended family. One of my cousins has three kids that are fun to be with. My aunts are fun also. They are just funny being themselves.
20. Lip gloss. I happen to think I have great lips. Why not accentuate that?
21. Facials. For me, it's the ultimate in pampering.
22. Shopping. It's fun. It's necessary.
23. Living in a free country.
24. Fellowship with friends.
25. Old jewelry from my great grandmother. She was grace and elegance until the day she died.
26. My experiences. It has brought me to where I am today.
27. A clean house.
28. Dogs. They are playful. They are cute. They have so much more personality that lame cats.
29. Pringles. Just salty, bad for you goodness.
30. Nitrous oxide. It's the only way to get me through a dental appointment.
31. Tex-Mex
32. Weekends. Woohoo! Family time.
33. The bond that my kids share. Here's to stories of how weird their parents were after my husband and I   are gone.
34. The State Fair of Texas. What a fun time! People watching, food eating, game playing fun.
35. Texting. Even if my husband is in a big time meeting, we can still talk.
36. Getting and giving cards by snail mail. It's so much more fun to open cards than bills!
37. The DVR. I can now record my favorite shows and not have to watch the commercials.
38. Easter. It brings the remembrance of Christs' resurrection. A season of hope.
39. Hair color. The thought of going through life with completely gray hair sort of frightens me at my young       age.
40. Chocolate. In any form, white, dark or milk it's greatness.
41. Flowers. Any but roses. Whether in my yard or in a vase, beautiful.