Catching Up

Recently I have started pinning on Pinterest.  Why not, I have the time since I can't find a job that doesn't require door to door sales.  I get it, but I don't get it.  I am pinning photos and blogs with things that interest me so that I can spread the word to other people with the same interests.  At first it seemed unfresh, and regurgitative - and how in the world do I pin my own photos? 

Unfortunately for me, I have become addicted to pinning.  It is simple, it is fun to look around blogs and websites to find inspiring quotations, kitchen designs, artwork.  It is uplifting to see that others have repinned some of my 'fresh' pins.  It is encouraging to know that I share the same interests as others. And mostly it is motivating to view inspiring photographs taken by other pinners - makes me want to get my camera out and snap a shot of nature that no one has seen yet.

Oh, if only I could get paid to pin, that would be pintastic!

One chance

We only get one chance in life, to make something, to be somethng, to do something.  This chance is important.  This chance defines you.  This chance sets you on your life course.  No matter the chance, no matter the course that you set, or the distance that you take it, it is who you are.  It is what you are.  Is it right to let someone else decide what that chance should be?  Should you let someone else tell you who you are, how you are?  Part of taking that chance and building the course is discovering yourself and defining yourself for yourself, not for others who may want to define you differently.

Some philosophical thoughts

I guess it doesn't really matter what schedule you are on in life.  Whether you have children in your 40s or are a grandparent at 50.  Everyones course takes on a different role, with each of us playing a significant  part in this large play called life.

I am my own follower

Do most people follow themselves, or is it just me following me because no one else is following me?  So not so great at keeping up this online journal, but it's ok because no one reads it!  Ha!  I do have some twitter followers, but I never update anymore - honestly between twitter, facebook, work, support groups, family, who has time to update everyone on everything? 

But this blog is supposed to be my place to spew interesting life happenings about, well, life.  Nothing to report though except that I have noticed more and more that so many doctors don't know how to talk to patients.  Going through a medical issue with a family member now & I see the dr looking at his notes, checking his papers, but making eye contact with the patient?  Not so much.  Dr getting frustrated because the old guy who has memory issues & a hard time hearing and understanding directions, is not understanding directions that good ole doc is yelling at him.  Dr. gets frustrated even more & kind of waves hands up in the air & shoves patient off to the male nurse. Nurse has an easy time explaining what the patient needs to do, because he is not yelling at him, he is getting to his level, looking him in the eyes and talking to him.

Have so many doctors spent so much time in the books & on the computer that they have forgotten to practice healing?  Starting with the eyes people - eye contact.  It should be the first thing they learn and then repeated to them over & over again - maybe instead of sleeping to a white noise machine it could be a soft voice saying 'your patients are people, look them in the eyes.' 

I know not all docs are this way, I have had several that I found approachable & good at listening, but when it comes to hospitals, I have to say....hmmm....have not seen so much of the bedside mannor from them.  The nurses & aides, wow - they should really be the ones making the big bucks.  They do all of the work, caring and bed side mannering.

Enough of my rant about doctors and them not having people skills, maybe I expect too much.  No wonder why I am my only follower, all I do is complain!!

You know what's crazy?

I love to write and always have, but I usually find myseld thinking of great things to write when I am on the go - no place to write stuff down or verbalize to (like into a recording device - honestly I would probably not have it with me when needed anyway or I would lose it or forget to check it).  It feels like if I try to verbalize the thought, it will get distorted.  So I think there should be some kind of technology out there that can read thoughts.  Cool, would make my life easier, would make list writing easier.  But then again maybe that would cause more lazy brain & people would become stupid.  I am always amazed though that there has been such leaps in technology from when I was 20 to now, but we still have so far to go before we can catch up to living in space & scanning people for illnesses (Star Trek). 

Oatmeal & Brownies

We forget how simple things like, making brownies or oatmeal out of the box, can be so challenging to a child - even if they have tried it SO many times, they still struggle and need guidance. If all I teach my kids while they are little is to make these things, and make them well, then I have trained them for feeding themselves through college. Because let's face it, unless we went to culinary school, most of us lived on bagels, brownies & oatmeal in the dorms and apartments through the college years.


Actually, cooking oatmeal the right way is a science. My brother-in-law poors in barely enough water and cooks the hell out of it & considers it ready to serve. My husband does the same, then wonders why it tastes so gross. It takes more love than that to make it good. As a lover of oatmeal, I am really good at cooking it, instant or not, and don't mean to toot my own horn, but it's sodelicious when I cook it, the right way. Quick oats into the bowl, cover with water, microwave 1 1/2 minutes, make a well, add milk to thickness desired, 2 spoons sugar and mix. Perfect texture, consistancy and oh so good!

Cooking brownies as well - you can't just follow the box, you have to add some love! Chocolate chips or chocolate sauce! Caramel or butterscotch chips make it worth it. Wrap them individually while warm and you are a master of baking.

Now if I could only be as good at on the spot marketing.

That is as well a learned skill; how to talk to someone you haven't met, introduce the product & walk away having had a nice conversation, without feeling like you are selling something. Still learning!

Marketing Terror

Ok, so today I tried out my rusty marketing skills in Friendly's. I am a coordinator for an au pair agency and have been out of the marketing scene for a few months.


What was I thinking? As I was sitting there with my kids, who were actually behaving very well and gobbling up their ice cream (so there was no noise at my table), I couldn't help but overhear the mother sitting behind me discussing with her mother her childcare issues for her preschooler & infant. She was planning on driving one child to one babysitter for a day, then another place, blah blah blah, on and on they went. They were talking back & forth, fast & furious about the topic. This was a perfect opportunity for me to introduce the au pair program - right??

WRONG! I reached into my bag & pulled out a partially crumpled mini brochure, squeezed myself out of the booth nearly knocking my toddler out of the highchair, stepped over to the ladies behind me & fumbled something to the effect, "I couldn't help but overhear that you were trying to coordinate childcare, and I happen to work with an au pair agency. I have a brochure here....." you get the picture - and what I am writing sounds much better than what I actually said, believe me. Ugh! "I wasn't eavesdropping," I managed to squeeze into my blabbering. But of course I was! Not only am I a terrible on the spot marketer, but a lousy liar as well.

After sitting back down at my table, feeling like I had just stepped off of a bad airplane ride, my kids were rolling their eyes at me asking WHY I HAVE TO TALK ABOUT THE AU PAIR STUFF ALL OF THE TIME, and the table behind me fell silent. I could just about hear their eyes making remarks to eachother, one raising an eyebrow, the other smirking as if to say, "What was that all about?" Both afraid to say anything more about anything because the crazy lady behind them is EAVESDROPPING! A few very short moments later, they got their check and decided to go. Actually, it seemed like they bolted out the door and continuously looked back my way to make sure I wasn't following them. I felt like a stalker, with kids, eating ice cream.

Just to make matters worse for me today, as I left the retaurant with my now grumpy kids in tow, I bumped into a real estate agent I recognized. Asking him if he would like any brochures to hand out to clients in search of childcare, I was able to successfully hold a conversation about it. However that was short lived and I was once again able to ruin it.

"Is this your son?" I asked regarding the 6ish year old child with medium length hair and boy colored striped clothing on standing beside him. "Actually this is my neice..." Awkward silence. Need I say more?


I am closing up marketing hell for one day & having a much deserved cocktail