Sunday, April 27, 2014

2 a.m. Sunday

I woke up about an hour ago, Sunday morning.
I went to bed limp as a rag doll 
5 p.m. Saturday evening.
I had been up since 5 a.m.  Saturday morning.

Saturday 6 a.m., headed over to help my friend Ann
"Annie"
with a garage sale.
A BIG ONE

She had been preparing for over a week.
She needs new flooring in her home,
and she also wanted to get some "order" to
her garage and storage shed.

Nothing special about that, but there is a special
back story I want to share.
This is the same Annie I asked
 you to pray for a while back.
Her husband Ron was ill and they were fighting 
a horrible battle with cancer.
They lost the battle a few weeks back,
Annie lost her husband,
and her life has changed forever.

I have watched my friend 
face these new challenges
with such bravery and grace 
and I am in awe of her strength.

She and her Mom Ruth,
forever more "Grandma Ruth" now,
worked themselves silly the past few days.
Annie made enough to make a huge dent in the project.
But there is more to the story.

I always send out alerts 
to local gals that a garage sale is
happening and the girls
turned up for the cause.
They came for the preview night Friday,
 bringing cupcakes and hugs,
opened their wallets and bought treasures.
They picked up unfinished quilts of the family,
and promised to finish them and send them photos.
They bought treasures from Annie
and will make them special in their own homes.
They tried on vintage glasses and hats 
and posed to make Annie laugh.

These other women have faced illness,
loss and tragedy in their own lives.
They've struggled and fought their own battles
and recognize a woman who needs
love and support.

I adore these women in my life.
Both my female "bosses" were there
and they are getting to know one another,
and lo and behold
the guy who owns the emporium
where our booth is, showed up by accident
and more hugs all around.

All these separate folks all intertwining
in work and friendship and love.

I looked up mid way through 
yesterday, I was fading fast,
and saw Annie bundled up in layers of 
her husband's clothes
borrowed from the racks, fighting the cold
and rain that lala land dumped on us yesterday,
and she was "merchandising" the tables, 
and shuffling in her fuzzy clogs and smiling.
Tired but always smiling.

I wake up this morning at 1 a.m.
and there is an email from Ann at midnight,
still up, still working I'm sure,
 thanking me for sharing my friends.
Annie, they are now your friends also.

Women brought together 
with shared experiences, friendship,
 and understanding of what it means to be 
a woman today, well, what it has always 
meant to be a woman.
The strengths we all have within us
to raise our families well, work hard,
love hard, be creative, nurturing.
We are by no means the weaker sex.
We "get it"

Oh yes, there are silly, selfish, even nasty
 gals out there,
always were, always will be,
but by and large I believe
in women.

I believe in these women for sure.
My friends.
Annie's friends.
Get some sleep Annie.






Friday, April 25, 2014

BROKECHELLA 2014 Recap


Ben and Anam 
are very active members of cARTel
Ben made video ( heylookamonster)
Why I never talk to him...lol
SOOOO busy 
but working busy

Give it a view and a Like if you do

20 days till the girl is home
Her bed is piled with surprises for new Apt.
I am having so much fun finding bargains and deals,
and I am scoring some major stuff.
Life is so damn good..
and just because I shared with a few gals already,
I thought I'd share this lovely pic of what part of me
 looks like after a day at one of my great jobs. ..and I mean
GREAT, as in LOVE doing it.
ready?
it's gross...






and those are not hairy legs,
 the dirt goes all the way up to my knees
(my nails are painted grey BTW
well of course they are!)
One gal said I looked like a cadaver

and on that happy note I leave you
to enjoy a great weekend.
I know I will.

Z



Wednesday, April 23, 2014

What The Hell Have You Been Doing?


Had a friend say to me
"What the hell have you been doing?
You haven't posted in two weeks."

well almost two weeks... 12 days

It's not that I have been uber busy, 
but I have been doing stuff.

I hate the glorification of busy 
some people practice these days.
"I'm sorry I didn't blog, tweet, instagram FB whatever,
 cause I am sooooooo busy"

Well maybe if you didn't do all that crap all day,
all the time, you might have time to do some other stuff.
DUH

I post when I have something to say, or rant about,
or maybe I'm excited about some one or some thing.
I don't think y'all need to hear my daily thoughts.
They might scare you, puzzle you or
tick you off politically anyway.

Like recently I am obsessed with household 
hints I've never heard before. Thank you Pinterest!
I love sharing them like I did today with Annie,
teaching her the right way to peel a banana. 
Yep.... doing it wrong most of you....
from the bottom ladies, no strings

I loved watching the Dave Clark Five and Hollies Specials
and Your Inner Fish. 
I relive and ponder stuff like that for days.
That then makes me relive
 my youth and travel down memory lane and then I veer off
into what was unplanned and sorrows and

STOP!!!!!

see you don't want to follow my daily thoughts
too often or too far. 
My brain and mouth often stop mid thought
 and careen into another realm.
see? scary crap


I am working several jobs, which I love, but
both are quite physical so this old gal is bushed 
when she comes home..and I rarely get anything else done.
Not even tv viewing of which I do very little anyway, 
except the aforementioned Specials.

That means on my days off I have to get everything else done. 
Never had a housecleaner, 
in fact I used to be one
when I first got married and we were dead broke.
I have a yard guy who comes 1 day in the Spring and Fall
 for major cleanup only.
So it's up to me to keep this house ship shape
and that takes effort and time.

Also been helping my pal Annie
 get ready for a big garage sale this weekend
and making stuff for my booth
and scrounging for stuff for darling daughter's 
apt soon to be in LA.
( fingers crossed - jobs needed)
( they freelance)

Also a couple gal pal lunches and visits.
so see? doing stuff....
just not posting
but I read you all
and love when you read me.

so the answer is:
Loving my Kids
Loving my Life
Loving my Jobs

and
peeling bananas 
correctly
like the monkeys do
not monkey see, monkey do

see monkey
do

60 years of doing it WRONG

now THAT IS really 

What the HELL?

Thursday, April 10, 2014

THEY DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Project Funded!
 A BIG HELL YEAH!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Rolling Papers And The Universe


Rolled papers all day yesterday
Taking these and others up to
Goat Feathers booth this week.

Today I think I'll paint some
word canvas, right after I go to market.
I've been out of staples for days.
No milk, juice, bread, eggs..zippo
Tried to figure out a dish made solely
from condiments, but....
I have an entire fridge door of condiments
and no bleeping food!

Anyone else hate market shopping?
I hate getting dressed to go 2 blocks.
If I look really bad,
sans makeup and wearing paint or food
 splattered clothes,
you can GUARANTEE I'll see
someone snotty I do not wish to see,
and word will spread that I really am unkempt 
unless at work..
At work, both jobs, I also get really dirty
 so 
perhaps I am unusually and frequently unkempt. 
Do I care?
Not a fig.

This week?
I'm plunging head first into painting 
my kitchen cabinets,
or should I say repainting?
I painted them about 15 years ago.
I have a week off from both jobs, so

I am going Grey!
I was thinking of grey but when I 
and met this lively, oh so friendly gal,
 and then spied a color 
Pittsburgh Grey..
"It's a sign"



I was hooked.
The universe was talking.

I stood there debating
and while listening to Josie give us directions and 
hints and ideas freely with none of that
other gobbeldy gook you get elsewhere in
other shops selling paint, I thought...

Even though it is NOT in my budget,
I am going to support this woman and 
her independent small business.
I gladly plunked down the cash
and I know I will be thrilled.

and THEN
quite by chance
and here is where the universe comes back in.
My First boss told me about Josie's shop
and that is why I stopped in.
I go to my other job the next day 
and tell Second Boss
about this great shop I went to,
 and about painting my cabinets.

Second Boss is doing an auction later that week,
 and meets a paint gal there and gives her 
her card as introduction.
The paint gal says she just met a Suzan 
who works at the auction place.
You guessed it!
Second Boss just met Josie!

When the universe speaks
Pay Attention.







Tuesday, April 1, 2014

You Guys Are Awesome

You made The Pink Sorrys catch up,
  tie and then hold a great position for hours,

but now they need an extra push to the finish.

So many of you, my dear friends, voted 
and I am ever so grateful.
If you have not had a chance 
to vote yet, please do so right here:
deadline 5 ET April 1st


One vote per person,
but your friends can vote if you let them know via 
your social media...Don't know what I'm talking about?
See previous post

THANK YOU!
Just thinking of all you
bloggie friends and local friends,
 who reached out to help,
well lump in the throat time.
awesome