projects

I have finally faced I am my happiest when I have a project to think on! Like today is my day off, I don't have a project going and I am antsy, unsettled, lackluster.

I love a problem and finding a solution.

PROJECT: I have lots of earrings. Had all sorts of aggravation trying to find the right pair in my early morning panic of dressing for work. So, spray painted this tray, stretched trims, stapled gunned them, hot glued antique buttons to cover the staples. Voila, earrings organized by color! The trims accommodate post, clip or hooks.


PROJECT: I have a necklace collection. Many of my clients bring me crosses when they travel. I had necklaces hung over the edges of two antique mirrors. Oi, what a battle each morning to find, then untangle one from the clutches of its neighboring neckies.

TT and I cut a piece of plywood into a rounded cross shape. Sanded edges, sprayed with texture and painted to match bedroom walls. Screwed gold round-topped screws into the holes I had pre-drilled. And TT magically affixed it to the wall. Voila #2! Mornings got so easy! I feel like I am at a boutique as I make my daily selection. Dug out some necklaces I hadn't worn in years, just because of the pain of trying to find them.


PROJECT: My back hurts (though it is much better, BTW), it is hot and we won't get a pool until December or January. One of my friends told me about WalMart's $297.00 wonder - an 18' X 4' above ground pool! We bought it Friday night. Since TT cannot be out in the sun for long, I had the bright idea to set it up by moonlight.
That was a bit of lunacy for sure. We began to fill it with water and it looked like a mountain stream as the water rushed to one side. I had only hoped the ground was level. We had to drain it, move it and Saturday get a front loader.
A lot of details later, it was up and running by Sunday after church.


PROJECT: Relax and have fun! Sunday afternoon, Dot and Boyfriend came over for the first swim. It looks pretty good for what it is, huh? Grilled food and lots of fun. They had a dinner engagement. Not to worry, friends A and B came for leftovers, swimming and fun. Did we! Seemed like a really good idea to take that tractor for a ride! Then a little target shooting (with a pellet/bee-bee gun, very harmless!) and let's end the night with kareyokee !



I love projects!

surprise

I was at work, just cutting hair, like usual. My fourth client into the day said, "What are you doing August 19?"

"I don't know, what am I doing August 19?"

"You and TT are coming to stay with me and my wife in Costa Rica."

And I had snapped at one of my clients a few days ago when she had asked if we had plans for a fun summer vacation, "Of course not, I am self-employed, no, I do not get paid vacations."

We have this offer, to vacation in a beautiful Costa Rica house (mansion), merely for the cost of our airfare. I said, "YES!" He said, "I am not used to people making decisions so quickly."

"So, do I have I D I O T stamped on my forehead????? Of course, we will be there!"

TT is working on his passport. Cool he knows now he can fly.

August 18 is our 22nd anniversery. What a celebration!

I knew I needed a new swimsuit. And I thought it was just because we are building a pool next spring.

Looks like I need to go shopping!

And I thought this was just another day. . .

Daddy

Father's Day. Doesn't that stir up a bunch of emotions?

Mine is gone, has been for thirteen years. He was really gone before that, as he died of a dementia type of disease. I stayed angry with him for years after his death, but was recently able to forgive him. Ah, he was a man, not a saint. Just as I am a fallen, flawed human female.

So what are my good memories? We used to go shopping in Ann Arbor, way before malls. The winters were so cold. He would hold my shivering hand in his warm one in the deep pocket of his overcoat. He said a true gentleman, saying a man should walk on the street side of his gal and should tip his hat to a lady. He loved presents. We delighted in buying surprises for Mother and my two sisters. He was an atheist, but loved Christmas. He was THE Santa of all Santas!

He loved to sing. He was in some church (??) choir for a while. We would sing Christmas carols all times of the year together. My favorite was Hark the Herald Angels Sing. His favorite hymn was Whispering Hope. Towards the very end, he and dot played that song on the piano together and sang. TT videod. Daddy's voice quivered, then he soon dissolved into tears. Dot was too young to notice, or if she did , she did not stop playing and singing. Soon, he gathered himself together and rallied for the next verse.

Dad was a genius with numbers, shining as a career accountant. He hated how each company he worked for would "fudge" the numbers. He was so honest. He always said, "If you steal only one pea at the grocer, you are still stealing, even if no one else knows, YOU know."

We lived in the country. Way out. Mother and Daddy bought a deep freezer. Okay, it was like a grocery store, about four units. It was about fifteen feet long. It was one of the few things he ever bought "on time". Mother always bragged that he was never late with a payment. His word was his life. He did not break commitments.

He had a love/hate relationship with shopping. That means, he was a quantity buyer. If he liked something, he bought en masse. He loved apple butter. He ordered it from this quirky health food company, Barths. We would have boxes of it shipped to us. So many that he saved the apple butter jars, screwed the lids to strips of plywood, hung them from the ceiling and in those hanging jars, he stored screws, nails, nuts, bolts and such. It was really an ingenious storage system.

Daddy had a soft spot for all creatures. We had dogs, horses and he loved to feed the birds. For that reason, he would not allow me to have a cat. "It's not right to feed the birds and have cats around, waiting to eat them." Duke and Duchess were brother and sister border collies. Duchess turned out very mean, so she went on to some other place. I don't know where that was. But Duke was the apple of our family's eye. We never had him in the house. But he was so loved, my mother made him a woolen covered cushion for his bed in the dog house Dad made for him on our porch to protect him from the fierce winters. He built Duke a huge pen, like 40' by 40'. He would never chain a dog. Duke would escape the pen, and sit on top of the wooden fence post at the end of our property. When he heard our car coming down the country, dirt road, he would race us home, jump back into his pen and look angelic, like he had been patiently awaiting our return!

Elmer was the next dog, another boarder collie. His tricks were he loved to jump into the tire swing and he would run around the yard with ten feet long branches in his mouth! Somehow, we lost all of our dogs tragically. Either they were hit by a vehical, or would disappear. Daddy melted into deep sorrow with each sad disappearance.

Daddy loved to whistle. He also loved to dance. He and Mother taught round dancing and square dancing. So much that he built a dance hall on their sixty-eight acre "farm" in Michigan. They hosted many happy events out in that hall.

They got into health foods in the fifties. I was a sight in the school lunch room. "I'll trade you my pumpkin seeds and carrot strips for your Hostess Twinky". You can imagine how many takers I had on that deal! But, Mother said I was the healthiest of her three daughters.

Daddy is where I get my entrepreneurial instincts. He raised monkeys. He was part owner in a trailer park. And yes, he got into more than one network marketing business. Ultimately, he struck gold. Literally. He invested in gold when it was $35 an ounce. He sold when it was $800 an ounce. He retired at 50. And that is why I have a little bit of a retirement and a nearly paid for home.

Though a health food fanatic, he loved McDonald's. We went at least once a week. I remember when they had posted on their sign they had sold their first one million burgers! He also loved ice cream. We never had it at home, but would go to Bill Knapp's restaurant and get apple pie a la mode.

Daddy was very tall and lanky. He had long arms and a kind smile and a very tender heart. He would wrap those long arms around me and say, "All I want is for you to be very happy."

I was a very inquisitive child. I can remember he always answered my endless questions, with a lot of patience, I might add. He made me feel like every question had merit.

He loved working with his hands, designing things. Something else I got from him. I loved being in his wood shop, trying to build things from his scraps. He explained the engineering of bridges and such to me. I loved those times.

He could pack a car for a trip like no one's business. We never seemed to travel light, but he managed to pack it all in. I love packing, too. Can't stand a half inch of wasted space.

Hmmm, it's good to think on these things. I have squandered too much time murmuring over his failures. Daddy's nurturing ways paved the way for me to have something he never had. Faith in the Father above Who cares for me, provides for me and loves me through all my own failings.

Daddy done good.

Idea

I am always thinking about a new way to make money.

One of my clients told me she thought I should become a STYLIST. You know, like Ophrah has, someone to tell what to wear, clothing, makeup and all. Am thinking about getting training in NY. (Hey, any excuse to go to the Big Apple!)

Anyway, I was trained in Color Analysis in the 80's. And, our clothes SPEAK. Like I was realizing what I was wearing to work was saying, "I don't want to be here, I would rather be off and having fun."

So, since she suggested being a Stylist, I have been dressing more professionally and all my clients have been saying how great I look and where am I going after work?!

So, it works! How we dress communicates our intents.

I have a great clientle. They are faithful and wonderfully appreciative of what I do with their hair. But, maybe I can develope a second income stream, organizing closets, doing color analysis and wardrobe assessments.

So, tell me, what do your clothing choices say about you? Talk to me!

quitter

When will I learn? I am forever trying to find the pot at the end of the rainbow in MLM's.

Amway, Melaluca, Alpine Air Purifiers, Mannatech, AmeriPlan and the latest, Arbonne.

Common denominators? Great, high quality products. Sound business plans.

The problem? I just hate going through life with an agenda to SELL to every living being. Instead of meeting new people and just enjoying discovering who they are and what are their interests, when in an MLM, my brain is constantly jockeying to get into position for the pitch. It nauseates me. I feel like a user.

The motivation? I don't have enough put back for retirement. (Good reason to sink money into the backyard in a pool, huh?) So, I am forever placing my hope in the next MLM boat.

It works for some people, very well. It never works for me. It just goes against my nature.

So, one more time, I have sunk a bunch of money into another MLM, only to realize I cannot do it. True, I will have a two year supply of the most fabby skin nourishment.

I hate disappointing my friend/sponsor. I hate breaking promises to me. I always swear, "Never again!!!" I have this entepreneural mind. I can sniff out business opportunity.

I am like a dog on a rabbit trail that has its teeth in the hind foot, then realizes he is really a vegan!!

So, where is my field of broccoli?