One Of The Perks

Oh My Goodness! So one of the perks of my new job assignment is that I get a company car - after today - not sure how much of a perk it is - but it keeps the mileage off Betsy Marie (and at 10 years old - 185,000 miles - she can use the break). I was warned about this by others that have driven company cars before - but I have never been cut off or tailgated as much as I was today! It certainly is an exercise in patience! My favorite was the guy that cut me off in the middle of an intersection so he could brake suddenly to get into the shopping center on the right - I need a drink! Would it be bad to park the car in front of BevMo?

Observations From The Back Seat

I was observing in-car lessons at work today, so I spent most of the day in the back seat of a car. And although I spent most of the time observing how the student was doing and the instructor interacting with the student - there were some other things outside the car that I observed - here are just a few...

First of all - there were these two Morman kids - not necessarily an odd sight - I see them around my neck of the woods all the time. I see them walking or riding their bikes - but today... I saw them... get into a car! I don't think I've ever seen that before! Fascinating... Times are a changing!

Second - I got to see Disneyland - twice! Once from the freeway during the day - but the second time was even more exciting - I know, I know - you're thinking crazy - but if you know me at all you know that I prefer Freak - as someone once told me - there is medication for crazy! Anywho... It was after 5pm so we were driving around at night and as we were traveling up Euclid, we passed Katella - so I had to look over and see if I could see Disneyland from there - and I could - actually it was California Adventure - but I'll take it - I could see the top of the Maliboomer and even better - the Ferris Wheel! Then as we continued up Euclid I could see the lights on the top of the Disneyland Hotel! Such excitement!

I noticed as we were driving around, though, that not many people had Christmas lights up - either that or they hadn't turned them on yet - I have to admit, though - I'm debating whether I'm going to get any lights up this year - we'll see.

But the best part of the trip - was during the evening drive when I looked over and there was Mr. Moon - all bright and shiny in all his fullness! Actually, according to my calendar - he isn't full until tomorrow night - be he was looking mighty sharp tonight - so if you do anything this week - get outside one night and enjoy the moon!

A Note Of Thanks...

A quick hit today... As we celebrate this day of Thanksgiving, I just want to say how thankful I am for all of my friends and family who have blessed me with their love and support, compassion and grace. But most of all, I want to thank God - for His love and support, compassion and grace. He is a very Big God, who through it all - the good and the bad - will always be right there with us - leading us on this journey. My love and blessings to you all! Happy Thanksgiving!

You Look Great, Love Ya

I stopped by to see my mom the other day and when I first got there, she wasn't in her room. So I started going through her drawers to pick out clothes to wash and I find a little card that says "You look great, love ya" on it. I flip it over and it is a business card for some guy that lives in Bel Air. I then notice a little photograph of some guy that was obviously taken years ago - so I start thinking - how cute - my mom has a boyfriend (this would be number two for those of you keeping track at home). I then find another card that says "I love you" on it.

So as I'm gathering her laundry, this man walks into her room - and my first reaction is why are you walking into my mother's room without knocking. Then I realize that she is right behind him - well, that's ok then. He tells me that he is protecting her from all the big guys in the complex - how cute is that. He asks who I am and my mom introduces me as her daughter, which he didn't seem to believe at first - he kept commenting on how tall I was! He then introduced himself - his name is Vince (the name on the business cards) and he asked if I ever watched the TV show Kojak - which was one of my mom's favorites - apparently, he was Det. Rizzo on that show. After a moment or two - he excused himself and as he left, gave my mom a little peck on her cheek. After he leaves I tell her that Vince seems very nice and in all the coyness of a teenage girl she says "yeah and I kinda' like him." God Bless my mom! She's dating a TV star!

My Mom Is Eligible

For today, just a bunch of random events I found amusing....

So a friend of mine is trying to teach her stepdaughters the value of sending Thank You notes. She and her husband supported me in the Memory Walk so I sent them Thank You notes. Since they have the girls on Wednesday night - I made sure to send the notes on Tuesday so they would get them in the mail on Wednesday when the girls were there. Of course I go to the mailbox yesterday to get my own mail and lo and behold - there isn't anything there - I usually at least get junk mail - but nothing - then I realize - Veteran's Day - it's a holiday - so they won't get the notes until Thursday - oops!

I had to make a doctor's appointment for my mom today - so I call the doctor's office and get the message that 'there are 2 calls ahead of you' - I listen to a bit of music and about a minute later I get the message that 'there are 3 calls ahead of you' - wait a minute - 3 calls! How do you cut in line on the phone?! Crazy! When I finally talk to someone, she asks what type of appointment it is - and I tell her that it is for a physical - she then tells me that she needs to check to see if my mom is eligible to have one - eligible? - didn't realize they would turn her down for it - especially since the doctor's nurse called me last week to set it up but I didn't have my calendar at the moment. As it turns out - my mom IS eligible (for more than just a physical - but that is a post for another day) - yippee for us!

Last but certainly not least - I called my dad today to find out if he had any resources for an artist to produce prints from their originals - he does own an art gallery after all. He told me that he didn't have any info for me but all I needed to do was open the yellow pages to look for it - yeah - the yellow pages - and all I could think was - yeah the yellow pages called Google, maybe! God Bless Him!

I Truly Mean It

Anyone that knows me, knows that there are two phrases that I tend to use quite a bit... God Bless Her (Him/Them) and Fascinating. And I don't use the phrases to be facetious or anything - I truly mean it when I say it. Today I went to the 40th birthday party of a dear friend of mine from college. Instead of presents, we were asked to bring a letter of how she had impacted our lives or what she meant to us. Well, last night, I decided to look through 20 years of old journals and include passages about her in the letter. As I was reading through the past - I found the following entry...

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May 24, 1989

“I’ve been down all week. And T – God Bless her – has been trying to cheer me up and stuff."

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All I can say is... Fascinating!

In What City?

So I was watching one of the morning shows this week and they were doing a retrospective segment on what the fads were back in 1983 compared to the fads in 2009. One of the comparisons they made was how much a movie ticket cost. According to the show - a movie ticket in 1983 cost $3.15 and a movie ticket in 2009 costs $7.18!!! And my thought was - in what city does a move ticket cost $7.18?! Last time I checked - a movie ticket was about $10 - I guess that's the price we pay for living in paradise!