Happy Anniversary to Rob

Today is my 5th wedding anniversary. It makes me laugh when I remember what I said on our first date "I will never get married again." Strong emphasis on the word never. If I am truly honest, the marriages I have had are complete opposites. In the first one I had little say in anything that really mattered. I was told not asked. Towards the end of it things were good financially but only in that area. I was utterly miserable and so was he. My biggest regret in life was that I didn't end it much sooner. I do have my son and I could never regret that but I think he might have had a better life as well.

I remember our wedding so clearly. My childhood best friend was my maid of honor. I teared up before going in and she asked if I was sure. I said yes, these are tears of happiness because I am finally marrying someone who can make me happy. Happiness comes from within. In that respect, I don't expect someone else to make me happy. MY CHOICE of who I am spending my life with is what brings me happiness. I chose the right person. Someone who has and always will be there for me. In our short time together Rob and I have had a lot of sorrow and tears. That has only drawn us closer. I would have never made it through my heart surgery and recovery without his support. I have dreams of things I want to do for Rob. Those cannot be fulfilled right now because I have started a new career and money is tight. Tonight we will go to the wonderful restaurant where we had our reception. The food is excellent. We will celebrate that with all that we have been through, we still have each other. We are keenly aware of just how fragile life is.

Rob, you are the best man I have ever known (though I must admit my grandfather is right behind you.) There has never been a day, a minute, where I have questioned myself about us. I am so very grateful for you and I hope and pray we have many more healthy years together. You are truly a blessing and I will never take that for granted. I simply adore you.

Busy

The past few days I have been covering for a coworker who is on vacation. She had a lovely couple who wanted to put an offer in on a home. The homeowner feels he should get his asking price which is not in line with the neighborhood. It's unfortunate when you come across a homeowner like this. In the business we pull "comps". These are homes which have things very similar to the one we are trying to place a value on. When homes are in a development it makes doing this very easy. It's so disappointing for a buyer to have to deal with someone who is not realistic. When there are many homes on the market, pricing a home right is crucial for it to sell.

My cell phone, the razor has a non functioning keypad. I went to the AT&T (formerly Cingular) store today. They told me I had to deal with the manufacturer but it was under warranty. For me who is on the cell phone at least a dozen times a day, not to have it working, is a hardship.
I had some voice mails which showed up two days late in addition to the keypad problem. They promised to have one to me no later than Friday with me paying for the expedited shipping.
This is the last time I buy a cell phone because I love the color and the thinness of it. If I continue to have the problems with the delayed voice mails I will be switching companies. Tomorrow I have another long day. I have worked two of the longest days ever this week already. I am working Saturday and Monday on Labor Day. Being a realtor is NOT an easy job. There are some wonderful things about it but you have to be flexible with your time. When someone wants to act quickly you accomodate them.

OH what a beautiful morning.......oh what a beautiful day.....I've got a wonderful feeling........everything's coming my way!!

It has been a crazy past two weeks. I was sick but going downhill slowly and not realizing how sick I was until Saturday when I woke up feeling SOOOO much better. I feel really good today too...........
I had a situation at work which was very delicate. My former mentor is not well and I was floundering and not knowing how to handle it. I couldn't pester her with phone calls with what she was going through but I needed someone to bounce my ideas off.
Fortunately, a coworker saw the situation and stepped up to the plate and called her and explained that I would never be so unkind to complain but that I was being put in a difficult situation. Much to her credit she made contacts and saw that I have a new mentor now. I pray daily for my previous mentor that all will be well with her and I am grateful that during her difficult time she did something to help me. I will never forget that and hopefully sometime in the future I can repay her in some way. I am more grateful to my coworker than I could ever say.

The weather last week was so crummy. It suited me being sick I guess. All was dreary. This weekend was all about sunshine. I soaked it up. Every last drop! It was really hot Saturday and I had to work for a few hours in the afternoon. Yesterday it was a bit cooler and I worked again. I feel fortunate to work with people who are helpful, friendly and make my office a happy place to be. If you need help with anything you just ask and although they are "independent contractors" they will take the time.
My attitude is 100% improved over the past few weeks. When you don't feel well, don't sleep and can't put your hand on what's wrong it's hard to feel any direction.
I got recharged over the weekend. I have a full week at work and I look forward to it.
Two coworkers are on vacation and I may have to pitch in a bit there but I am looking forward to it.

As much as I like summer......I love Fall. It's on it's way and I can hardly wait. I already have a new Halloween decoration. A fabulous witch my sister-in-law bought for me. It's my favorite time of the year. All the holidays are fun without the issue of gifts. Just time to have fun and be thankful. Speaking of being thankful.......August 31st will be our 5th anniversary. It has gone by so very fast. So much to be thankful for in my life partner. He is always there for me. Even during the times I try to pull away, he gently refuses to let go. I think I'll keep him. :)

One final thought: I sure do miss the postings in Randomly Rambling. No one had the wit and humor of the beloved author of that blog. I need those laughs again.
Pretty please with sugar on top???

A Great Quote and Some Thoughts

"A great friend is one who gives you what you want to take and takes what you want to give." Mario Batali

I love a good quote. Saw this one on a card which I purchased for my best friend. I have had the same best friend since the age of ten. We have had our ups and downs over the years but she has always been there for me when the chips were down. She is very comfortably financially. Many people think that would cause big problems for us but it really hasn't. She lectures me for being so generous when I give her what I can afford to. She doesn't lavish money or gifts on me but treats me the same as she always did from the time we were children.

I love the internet. I really do. When I think of all I can accomplish on the computer I am amazed. I can find out the weather and even what my local pizza place is serving special for lunch today. I could even order it up in advance. What an amazing tool. What I do struggle with are email addresses. I have way too many (as one blogger can attest to when the other day she asked me just how many emails do you have?) When I began on AOL so many years ago, you could only have 7 letters in your email. I opened my account with Nelclaire which I am stuck with as a master. My family used that and continues to. My darling hubby, then boyfriend gave me a cute nickname and I used that as a second identity which I used for chat rooms and such. I later learned people from there took it and used it on Yahoo and other places. I still have it on AOL and won't give it up. No one emails that one but for sentimental reasons it stays. Nextly I made one up for a religious chat room I went to. I never imagined all the email that would start. Nice people and I still want to stay in touch so that one stays. Next I made a screen name using my actual name. This was going to be the ONLY one I would use. When I began the job hunt I quickly learned that my journal was being read by every company/job agency out there. I felt I had no privacy and tried to make up something else. Ended up deleting both. I now use my Verizon addy for my work email. I was forced by Blog Spot to make up a GMAIL account.
IF I tried to check all these emails all the time I would be crazed. I am trying to think of how I can get down to only ONE email for everything except business. I wonder if the screen name
I Have 2 Many Email Addys is taken. I am open to suggestions.

Appreciating Myself

Today was myself appreciation day. It was long overdue. For the past month or so I have been so bogged down with a cold and all the telltale signs, the cough and dark circles under my eyes.
Yesterday I went to work and had to cancel something I was going to do in the afternoon. I came home and took inventory of my thoughts. I have been pushing myself very hard for the past month. Yes, I needed a day of pampering and spoiling myself. Don't think I take this to any real extreme. I did it with a budget in mind. I started out by going to a new store here that just opened. They sent me a 25% coupon off. I was able to score two lovely tops for work at HALF price each! I also bought a nice quality tee shirt and a necklace that matches one of the "shells".
Got 25% off all of that and the necklace was marked down as well. OH yea I was on a roll and just feeling better about having something decent to wear to work. I had worn white and black nearly all summer. I then headed over to my favorite farm market near the house I lived in for twenty years. It's in the country. I got a huge canteloupe, three huge tomatoes, three large plums, six ears of corn and three green peppers all for under $10.00. The smells of the fresh produce were wonderful. I then hopped over to the factory outlets and bought my nephew a toy at the Disney outlet. I saved about $10.00 on that and found my mother-in-law a Tinkerbell mug for $1.99! Could this day get any better? YES! After that I headed over to my favorite pizza place who makes the world's best salad (IMHO). I came home and enjoyed that and just enjoyed viewing my bargain purchases. Had some of our fresh wonderful produce for dinner.
A fresh garden tomato makes a hamburger right off the grill taste extra good. The corn was so fresh. Came home and had a two hour phone call with someone I rarely get a chance to talk to. My husband is home and the weekend is here. Except for an hour and a half tomorrow we can enjoy each other's company and just kick back. My life hasn't changed in the past 24 hours, only my perception has. Today I stopped to enjoy a few things and recharge. We all need that once in awhile. At this point in my life when my body speaks, I listen.

Saluting a Heroine or two

Brooke Astor dead at 105

I have always thought of Brooke Astor as a heroine. Having enjoyed the museums of New York there are so many places that are the beneficiaries of her wealth. While some people who are wealthy only think of themselves her great life's work was sharing the wealth. I have the utmost repsect for this woman and I think most people in the New York area share that.

For the past few weeks I have been enjoying my 95 year old grandmother's company. This time we did notice memories that were confused at times. She has had such a clear mind for most of her life. She walks a bit unsteady on her feet at times. She has less gray in her hair than I do! It is about 90% brown still. She frets constantly that her hair doesn't look pretty because the beauty parlors in her day used curlers and a set. Now they all want to blow it out. This is a constant source of frustration for her. She still enjoys cooking but this year she had to supervise the planting of her garden instead of doing the work herself. She takes frequent naps but I can only say that if I lived to 95 I would be very happy to be in the wonderful condition she is. Yesterday she was telling me that she lays in bed every morning doing leg lifts. She has been a hard worker all her life and took care of her mother who lived to be 97. We cannot partake of any food without her first blessing it. She thanks God constantly for everything. She is very grateful for everything and thanks us profusely for the smallest things. She has never had much money but she wants to treat us constantly. In short I can sum it up: I have been very blessed to have been touched by this woman's life. I will miss her when she goes home today.

Contemplating many things

Yesterday I learned that someone I know has had a cancer relapse. This is such distressing news in many ways that I won't go into because they are keeping it very private right now and I need to respect that. It seems that my life is constantly touched by this horrible disease and I just wish I could go for a time where I didn't have to hear the word. That word evokes so many negative emotions for me, especially now, with the loss of someone so dear to me. I struggle daily with the emotions of grief and at times disbelief. I have to force myself to think of other things and distract my mind. This week for the first time I have been able to sleep. However, that is at least in part due to the fact that I have been sick. I have the head cold from hell. I wake up with a sore throat and the need to blow my nose a few times but then seem to go back to sleep probably because of exhaustion. I went to work yesterday to see a few new homes that were listed but quickly came home to lay down. Today I am trying to just hang out and rest. Already had two bowls of chicken soup which I swear make me feel better, at least temporarily.
My bed is calling me to come enjoy the soft cotton sheets and quilt. Quilts and down comforters are such great source of comfort to me, especially when I don't feel well. In the winter it is so cozy to crawl under my lightweight but very warm down comforter. In the warmer months I switch to a light weight hand made quilt which I love. I actually own several, some of which were made by my grandmother. Well time to rest.