So I think I mentioned that we had a yard sale recently.  It was the first one ever for me to just have on my own.  I have participated in them before with the youth group, but I have never had one of my own.  It was so much work, because I just didn't know how to price stuff, and we had a bunch of stuff that was expensive, but we live in kind of an upscale neighborhood, so I thought we might get some "upscale" clientele, so we figured we would put some of the pricey pieces out there too and see what happened...

Anyway, in general, I find that I am horrible at sales.  Ironic since I am in the sales industry.  People start coming and looking over my stuff and I immediately feel self conscious and apologetic for some reason....  "Does this teapot have a lid"  "No" I said with apology in my voice....  Well, that is why I am selling it for $1.... why SHOULD I be apologizing for it?  If it had a lid, it would be worth $5....or maybe I wouldn't be selling it?  why apologize?  "This purse has a scratch in the leather" "yes, I am sorry"  Well, I used it for 5 years, and now I am selling it...so.....  "There are only 5 glasses here, do you have a 6th?"  "No, sorry"  "Do you have the cord for this?"  "Does this have a box" "Do you have a bag?"  "Does this curtain rod have screws?"  "Can I have ALL of the bags for $10?"  "This says $50, and I know it still has the price tags on it for $150, but will you take $10 for it?" "NO!"  "I can't decide if I like this bowl or if it is tacky"  "Can I have the silver serving pieces but not the bowl?"  "what does this do?"  "why would you want one of these"  "I can't believe you still have one of those"  "does this work?"  "what size are those?" 

Really, all in all, I would rather donate things and take the deduction, than to have to answer for all of the perceived shortcomings of my items....  I am just not cut out for this yard sale business...it was much too stressful for me!  I felt emotionally spent and I constantly felt like I was being judged, and sadly, I did not make enough money to overcome those feelings...  so...no more yard sales in my future...no sirree!

peace...

For your viewing pleasure, belated pictures from my adorable nephew, Tyler's 4th Birthday. 

Have I mentioned how much I adore this kid???????  He says "Aunt Pam" and I melt!

Presents!

Scooby Doo Home Made Ice Cream Cake

Ready, Set......

Blow 'em out!

Can't get much cuter than that!

peace!

Here is something interesting for you gardeners out there....  Have you ever heard of lasagna gardening?  What is it?  Here's your answer: 

Think of lasagna and the layers needed to make it. Now think of a compost pile and the layers of green and brown materials used to make it. Lasagna gardening uses the same principles — but directly in the garden right on top of the soil! This means there's no digging and no rototilling. And the best part is that it really improves the quality of the soil and encourages beneficial microbes, bacteria, fungi, and other life in the soil.

Lasagna gardening starts with a layer of brown corrugated cardboard or newspaper laid right on top of the soil. The additional layers are alternating "brown" and "green" materials. "Green" might consist of grass clippings, kitchen scraps (vegetables and fruits), manure etc. "Brown" includes autumn leaves, shredded newspaper, dried debris etc. These are piled and layered to the height of about two feet and then allowed to decompose and break down. By season's end your "lasagna" will be transformed into a rich, crumbly soil loaded with life.

________________________________________________________________________

I thought that was interesting....

In other news, my father was here this weekend...hmm, what to say about that.  Well let's see, first, this is the first time he has been here in 14 years, and before that, I had not seen him in 30 years, so suffice it to say that we have an interesting relationship.  The weekend was better than I expected, but it definitely confirmed in my mind that people will never live up to your childish hopes and dreams... but they will live down to our adult frustrations. I found myself split in two pieces--the child who had unresolved feelings and wanted her Dad to make up for not being around, and the cynical adult who had no, or low expectations.  Anyway, suffice it to say that one side was left empty and wanting more, and one side was not surprised.  But that's okay....  It was a good visit.

peace....

So here is a long overdue update.  Sorry, I just feel so boring these days.... 

This weekend was so beautiful!  Ron and I worked in the yard.  The first thing we did was spraypaint flower pots.  Ron is so smart--

he set up these sticks so that we could spray paint the whole pot at once and leave them to dry.  I called it my "Pot Garden" (Don't call the cops

Then, while we were in spray painting mode, we spray painted our Adirondack chairs.  I love the way they turned out!

And I went crazy with potting my plants.  I only took a couple of pics.  I will take more this weekend....

I already tested it out with a good book!  It is positively idyllic!

That's it for now!

peace....

<Ring, Ring>

Hello?

Me:  Yes, Do you provide Avian Veterenary services?

She:  What?

Me:  Do you have an Avian Vet on Staff?

She:  We take care of birds, is that what you mean?

Me:  Yes

She:  Okay, then, yes.

Me:  I would like to bring in my African Grey Parrot

She:  Could you spell that please?

Me:  Which part?

She:  All of it

Me:  A-F-R- etc.....

She:  Is that g-r-A-y or g-r-E-y? 

Me:  yes

She: yes?

Me:  either is fine..

She:  Can you spell parrot for me?

Me:  sigh.... p-a-r- are you SURE you guys handle birds?

She: oh, all the time...now what comes after "r"?

peace....

(sorry I have been gone so long...I have been really sick....finally starting to feel a little bit better)

This is all about things I saw this weekend...and sadly, I did not take pictures of most of them.....

Twins that had to be 70 if they were a day....they dressed alike, their hair was styled alike, they had the same jewelry, shoes, hair clips, glasses...everything.  It was crazy.

A downpour that created a flood around our car.  We were getting ready to go wade out to try to save it.  It was freakish.

An Eastern Shore delicacy called "fried dogs ears".  Doesnt sound appetizing, but...basically dough fried and rolled in powdered sugar and honey.... amazingly delicious!

A cookout at a funeral home.  That just makes me kinda sick.  I don't know why.  There is something about a funeral home that doesnt shout "wow, I'm hungry! let's eat!" to me!

We had pizza, and the server told us that their new sauce was "more robustier" than their old sauce!  Wow!  A new word for me!

Most importantly, and most excitingly, I saw this guy who had recently been to the "Greatest Show on Earth" :

Have I mentioned how much I adore him?

Hope the week is as interesting as the weekend!

peace.....

Big news on the Hollywood front!  MaryAnn aka, the good one, on Gilligan's Island, was pulled over for driving while intoxicated.....  While they were searching her car, they found marijuana (pot, weed) in her car.  She claimed that it must have been left there by a hitch hiker, but come on....  would MaryAnn...the good one...pick up a hitch hiker?  No way!  So that Joint (Dooby, Toke...MaryJane....) had to be hers....   So....  how many of you feel deceived now?

On another front...I have been watching the Gene Simmons show...you know...the guy from KISS?  I have fallen in love with the guy!  I am shocked, because before this he seemed so sleezy, but I have discovered that is just his persona!  He is a loyal family man who adores his kids and his Mom, and is a shrewd business man.  His mother calls him her Precious Son....  It is hard to put that image and the image of the crazy guy on stage with the makeup together...  He took a polygraph, as requested by his longtime gf that proved that he had been faithful for the entire 24 years that they had been together.  And he said that his reasoning for not getting married is that every day, he was making a choice to be with her...and he had for that whole period.  The part that killed me was when they turned the tables, she said that she would have an affair with George Clooney, given the opportunity, and if Gene Simmons was not a famous singer, she would not be with him.  When she said that, you could see Gene's face fall, but he quickly recovered, and made a funny comment and moved on.  I actually felt sorry for him. 

I was watching on TV a story about this dog who had been thrown off of an overpass into traffic on a freeway.  Apparently 911 operators were overwhelmed with calls, and drivers slowed and managed to form a safe area to allow the dog passageway to the side, and someone else stopped to help him.  He was a loved dog who had been lured from someone's yard with shredded beef and tossed off of the overpass by a stranger.  Not a neighbor....  Why?  Why?

I have also been watching Chimp Eden.  If you have not seen it, you should.  Amazing...those animals. 

Anyway...I know....random.   That's me...

peace...

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post.  I appreciate knowing how many of us are in the same boat.  I really felt like I was the only one.  I don't know if it is encouraging or depressing to know how many of us don't have anyone to talk to....  It has encouraged me to try to be a better listener.  I know that I have one friend who (whom?) I don't speak to frequently, and when we do talk, I listen to everything that is going on with her, and by the time it gets to me, we have to go, or I am tired, or I just say, "oh, nothing"....  and I am so closed.  I think it is hard for me to trust people....  that is all a part of sharing.  You have to be willing to trust.  But so many people have left me in my life.  Some on purpose...like my Father and some close friends who have moved away....  and some through death...which I can't do anything about...that it is just hard for me to open up.  I am never going to be one of those people with a hundred really close friends who know everything about me.  I may have one or two.  That is the problem...the one or two that I have opened up to have moved away or have gotten really sick, or something bad has happened...  So now I have to find another...which is hard for me.  It seems like every time I get close they leave...

We watched a movie last night called "Into the Wild", which is a true story about this 23 year old guy named Christopher McCandless, who, after he graduates with honors from Emory University, gives his grad school savings (24K) to charity (please use this to feed people), burns all of his ID and cash, and hitch hikes his way to Alaska after giving away all of his possessions, to live in the wilderness.  It shows how different people that he met along the way shaped him, and how he shaped them.  But what got to me the most, I think, were his reasons for running....  escaping, really, from his life...  He lived in a house where his parents were always angry and arguing with each other.  His Dad beat his Mom.  He found out that he and his sister were both born before his parents were married and actually while his Dad was married to another woman.  He wasn't as mad about that fact, he was mad about the fact that his parents had lied about it his whole life.  They didn't know that he knew the truth.  For his graduation from college, they wanted to give him a new car...he asked what was wrong with his old car....  it was kind of a "beater" car...that he had bought on his own.  Their way of making up for the anger in the house and assuaging their guilt was to buy the kids things.  He didn't want a new car...his worked perfectly well.  He wanted peace in his household...and truth.  The one thing they couldnt give him.  So he left on this trip.  And didn't tell them what he was doing or where he was going.  I won't tell you the rest. 

I will just say that there were parts of this that hit home for me.  No anger...my dad left when I was very young--3 as a matter of fact and I don't remember any anger.  But I did not find out until a few years ago that my father had a baby boy with another woman (who I knew about) 4 months after my brother was born.  This, I feel that I should have known.  This is another brother of mine, who now is unknown to us.  My father says he never knew him and doesnt even know his name.  Had I known years ago, maybe we could have tracked him down.  Everyone acts like it is no big deal....like that is just another little sentence in a paragraph.  That we should just receive this information and move on.  And yet, from the day that I heard that, my life has felt different, and I can't explain it.  And I am kind of...no....I am really angry that nobody ever thought it was important for me to know.  There...I said it.  And I said it on the internet.  Wow.  I actually feel a little better....just a little....

Second thing that kind of got me in the movie....The kid ran into an old man.....and stayed with him for a few days.  The man looked nothing like my grandfather...not at all.  Nor did he talk like him, or even do the same activities.  But there was a single hand gesture...not  a dirty one....just a gesture.... it brought him back so vividly... wow.

Anyway...it was a weird movie, but it was good.  Ron and I both enjoyed it.  It does not have a happy ending, I will just warn you.  But it is interesting.  It makes you think.  And it made both of us cry....for different reasons...you should rent it.  We are going to buy it.  We liked it and will watch it again.

peace...

Is it weird to feel lonely when you have people around?  I feel like I don't have any friends to talk to who will actually listen without assuming they know what I am going to say....  Ron and I have some friends that are friends to both of us, but I feel like I have to make an appointment to get a word in, and if I pause to take a breath, everyone changes the subject and I never get to finish the subject that I was speaking about.  It is weird.....And Ron is so sick of listening to people by the time he comes home from work, he doesnt want to listen either.... I see why people pay therapists now...just to have someone to listen to them..... Anyway....  guess I am just feeling sorry for myself... 

blech.

peace....

Just a couple of funny pics I thought I would share...

First...this is Barney, pretending that he is just casually napping on Ron's leg, and NOT begging for food...because he would NEVER beg for food...NEVER EVER.....  HA....

And this is Barney, after he unstuffed his stuffed football toy, then tore a few holes in it, played tug with Ron with it, and Ron put it over Barney's head.  Then he ran around with it on his head, acting like nothing was wrong (every other dog I have ever had, would have totally freaked out), he then calmly sat in Ron's arms and posed for this picture....  He is a wacko, I am telling you!

if only we could all be so carefree!

peace....