More small stuff that makes me happy.....

About 10 years ago, I started writing a daily journal of gratitude (also known as 5 good things about the day).

Here are some samplings of this week's entries:

-having coffee at the Waterfront Park and enjoying the beautiful morning
-talking to my nephew about a long ago Christmas memory
-talking to a greatniece on the phone and hearing her childlike voice tell me about Halloween
-smelling dinner cooking in the crockpot
-dropping off 2 cases of soups for the local food drive
-having a cup of hot coffee waiting on my desk EVERY morning even when my friend Mary isn't in   the office (she will ask someone else to handle that task for her)
- stopping at a neighbors house to pick up a Halloween goodie for Jeter
-finding a Christmas flag to fly outside the house for only $5
-turning on the heat for the first time this year and smelling that familiar scent as the dust burns off   the heater (ok I know my NY family and friends are thinking....really ...at 57 degrees???)
-working from home one day this week
-laughing with a friend over a really funny TV show
-making it back and forth on the daily commute safely
-going to a dinner where I didn't know a soul and not only surviving the evening  but actually having   a lovely time and looking forward to next months gathering
-a small surprise gift made me smile
-my team hitting goal before month end
-picking up firewood and fire starters so I can use the fireplace on the weekends
-Hallmark countdown to Christmas has started- Christmas movies 24/7 on 2 channels
-finding a store that makes bagels as good as in NY- (really good for an occasional treat)
-getting the needed part so I can listen to my IPOD on my commute (Jenn does get to veto my choices)

All in all a good week, when you take the "small stuff' into consideration.....

See you next week......

Embracing Where I Live......

I hear people talking about going to New York around the holidays.

They ask what it was like:
- to see the big balloons blown up the night before the parade (AWESOME !!)
- to go to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (if it's not freezing cold it is great to see it live)
- to attend the Radio City Christmas Spectacular (WOW!! The nativity alone is breathtaking.)
- see The Christmas Tree at Rockefeller Center (there are no words)
- go to Time Square on New Year's Eve (like most New Yorker's ....never been to it)
- see the Statue of Liberty (yes, I have been to the top and also enjoyed the view from the Staten            Island Ferry (which is the cheapest way to see it along with the NY skyline))
- to visit Ground Zero (sad, memorable and to me sacred land.....I went through the World Trade            Center twice a day for years as part of my daily commute)

There is so much more to "The Big Apple"!! Having lived there most of my life like many other, I just took it for granted.  Whether it be checking out the art deco of Grand Central Station, the beautiful view from the top of the Empire State Building, taking in a Broadway Show, buying a "dirty dog" from a street vendor or roasted chestnuts in the winter.

When I made the move to Columbia, SC......it was like moving to a foreign country.  The only times I had been in SC before was as we drove through on our way back from a family cross country camping trip (that would cover several blog entries (2 parents, 4 kids, a tent and sleeping bags in a station wagon for 2 months)) and when my brother graduated from Parris Island. Visiting and making a place your home are very different but I wanted to embrace my new location.

What did I do to immerse myself?
- I attended college football, basketball and baseball games ( I used to hate New Years Day Bowl          games...not anymore!)
-I attended the Christmas Tree Lighting at the State House (where my sister and I were amazed the   choral groups sang songs of a religious nature)
- I tried eating grits, collards, black eyed peas, boiled peanuts and okra ( I actually love them all and      in NY okra is found in the foreign food sections of the supermarket)
- I learned to say Sir and Ma'am (or is it Ma'm or Ma'm)
- Hey replaced Hi.... (I have been in South Caroline for 19 years now but my accent hasn't faded)
- I fly the Palmetto State flag outside my house (actually it is much prettier than the NY state flag          which no one flies outside their home...lol)

 Now that I live in the Lowcountry of SC, I am learning to embrace new things again:
- how great it feels to cross the bridge leaving Beaufort
- sunrises and sunsets (without city lights that might diffuse it)
- driving down an old unpaved road to buy fresh shrimp just a few feet away from the shrimper
- attending the Pat Conroy Literary Festival
- enjoying the view of the marsh as it continues to change throughout the day
- finally understanding what causes the distinct smell at low tide (we looked it up)
- taking pictures of historical ruins and also some locations made famous in movies

The Big Chill House...under renovation....

 The Prince of Tides (Tom's Mother's Home)

Ruins of the Sams Plantation

the roads home.....

also please note: Forrest Gump ran over this bridge although the sign was changed to "entering Mississippi"

As the saying goes.....there is a time to every season (yes, I know it's from The Bible- Ecc.3:1-8). My years in NY from childhood in the Bronx to being a Mom raising Jenn in Pearl River was as it was meant to be.  That was my time for PTA, Girl Scouts, Class Mom and all the things you go when your child is growing up.  The decision to leave NY was not an easy one but property taxes and thought of an affordable living away college experience weighed heavily into knowing it was time to move on.

Leaving Columbia was about me.  What did I want? Where did I want to live?  When I retire (although years off) where is the best fit? And of course, being in driving distance to the beach was a must.

I think I have found answers to all of those questions in my new residence in the Lowcoutry of South Carolina........a long way from the 5th floor walk-up in the Bronx where my journey began.

I am embracing this new life and embracing this new location.  I think that is one of the keys to happiness....embrace, embrace, embrace it all.....the sounds, the sights, the tastes, the smells, the traditions, the customs, the culture......embrace it all and you will know you are home.


See you next week......

So my elevator does not always go to the top floor.....

With the traveling I do Monday through Friday, routine is absolutely key to me getting everything done in order to not run late.

As soon as I walk through the door at night, I am in my kitchen.  I get my lunch ready for the next day, off to my bedroom to pull out my vitamins and pills that need to be taken in the morning, lay out clothes for the next day and take a shower right before bedtime in order to save precious minutes in the morning. Also, I make sure my work bag is in whichever car that will make the trip to Lexington the next day and my IPOD is charged for the ride.  I am just a tiny bit nicer if I have music for the ride.  I do not take coffee with me since that might mean a stop on the commute and every minute counts. Without my coffee....ugh....watch out!!

In the morning, the alarm goes off at 5AM.  I cannot even sit on the edge of the bed for a minute or two for fear of laying down and falling back to sleep.  I take out all the things I need from the cabinet under my sink.....hairspray, blow dryer, deodorant, moisturizer, makeup, toothbrush, toothpaste and vitamins.  Then it is back to my bedroom to moisturize and take morning pills and vitamins.  I cannot put on the news because it might slow me down. Now back to the bathroom to do my hair, brush my teeth and put on my makeup. By this time it is getting close to 6AM.  Bed made, everything back in order in the bathroom and head to the kitchen.  Most mornings Jenn's has already grabbed my lunch bag and put it in the car.  The goal is to be out of the driveway between 6:00 and 6:10.  The majority of  mornings we make it because of the routine we have adopted.

But just one small thing can happen which can cause you to miss a step.  Forget an earring, put your underwear on inside out.....I have even put a nightshirt on backwards....or a blouse on inside out....it happens......

I had a day like that this week and I promised my coworkers I would write about it today.....

One of the managers I work with stopped by my office.  We were talking about makeup.  She commented in how well my eye shadow lasts throughout the day. After she left my office, I looked in the mirror near my desk. Then I looked again.  Finally, I took off my eyeglasses and did a final check.

Yes, it was clear I had missed a step in my  morning routine.....

I lay out my makeup in the morning like a surgeon lays out their instruments.  I have a very specific order.  Jenn came in to talk to me during my makeup application process and my routine was broken.

What had I skipped or forgotten to do you ask?

I had only put eye shadow on one eye.  One eye !!! I had walked around all day looking like an idiot!!

It wasn't like I hadn't put it on both eyes....JUST ONE EYE.  I felt a need to only talk to people sideways so they wouldn't notice.  I told my work buddies who thought it was terribly funny.  I don't blame them for laughing I looked like an idiot.....I wasn't upset I just kept thinking how could I have missed one eye?? Then I remember talking to Jenn and obviously forgot where I left off.

You might think to yourself "skip the makeup and you won't have these kinds of issues"....not a chance I would go to work with no makeup.  I have only done that twice.......once because I had  a really, really bad cold and the other time I had 20 stitches in my face and there was no way of working around them.

In order for you to more fully understand the difference between no  makeup and makeup (yes, including hair done)....which would you prefer to look like all day?????

Why would I want to look like the picture below when with hair done and makeup applied I can look like this.....

OK I can't believe I am sharing this pic but here goes......no makeup or hair done.....

See the difference??????

OK so one other thing to share so you really get that I am not playing with a full deck.....just noticed this recently.......

the material for my dining room chair cushions.....

my underwear......

Really......same design????

I could sit on my dining room chair and blend in with the chair material (I know that would only happen if I was not wearing pants and just the undies which is not something I would normally do)???? Please note- I did not pick out the chair coverings and the undies were bought by me at a different time....

Well that is enough to leave you scratching your head and wondering how I have made it this far in life without serious therapy being suggested......

See you next week......

Thank you Reuben Miller.....

I never met Mr. Miller yet he has changed my life.  While I was asleep in our Bronx apartment one summer night, Reuben was in a car accident.  I am not sure how but my Dad ended up being his attorney. When the case was settled, my Dad took his fee and put it down on the only home he would ever own in Pearl River, NY.

I was a Sophomore in High School and hated my parents for making me leave my friends in the Bronx,  I was mad that I had to leave Preston High School (an all girls Catholic High School in the Bronx), I was angry that I had to be the "new kid" and go to a school where I didn't know a soul.....especially in 10th grade and in a town where it seemed like everyone had known each other since birth.

By Senior Year, I had a lot of friends and was sorry when it was time to leave PRHS.

The month before my graduation, we headed to Parris Island in the Low Country of South Carolina to see my older brother graduate from basic training with the USMC.  As we drove the 700 plus miles in our family station wagon, all I could think of was the long rural roads, old worn down houses and the people who spoke so darn slow.  Why on earth would anyone want to live there???

Well the course of events set in motion by Mr. Miller that summer night have followed me through all of these years.  Friends that moved away and later reminded me that there was life outside of NY.  Leave NY ...never...... I was born there and I would die there.......no so fast.....

The path I have traveled led me to Yonkers, NY......back to Pearl River, NY......on to Columbia, SC and now to of all places .....the Low Country of SC.....right outside of Beaufort. Not far from the beach which you all know is my hearts desire.  I have found a place with a WW meeting each week, a writers group, people that meet once a month to have dinner at each others house.....a place that gives me many of the social outlets I am looking for at this stage in my life. When you are in high school or college or have children friendships are easy to come by.  As you get older those easy ways of connecting with others fall by the wayside.  I am lucky to have moved to a place where unless you never leave your house there are a plethora of opportunities.  Also this pushes me out of my comfort zone which is a challenge but also good for me.

Some of the views I now enjoy.....

While I drink my coffee......

I was running some errands and stopped at the waters edge while Jenn snapped this picture........you know your shrimp is fresh when you see these docked at stands nearby.....

And as I drive home each night, I cross the bridge leading out of  Beaufort towards St. Helena Island...... in my head and heart I say ......"I am home".......

Thank you Reuben Miller...thank you so much!!!!

See you next week........