Girls are like......

Girls are like
apples on trees. The best
ones are at the top of the tree.
The boys don't want to reach for
the good ones because they are afraid
of falling and getting hurt. Instead, they
just get the rotten apples from the ground
that aren't as good, but easy. So the apples
at the top think something is wrong with
them, when in reality, they're amazing.
They just have to wait for the right
boy to come along, the one
who's brave enough
to climb
all the way
to the top
of the tree.
borrowed from megan

What Women Want

I came across this while 'Stumbling' one day ( if you've never 'stumbled' you are missing out - go to www.stumbleupon.com to get started !) and it made something inside me stand up and take notice. I'm not bra-burner or much of a radical in any way - but if I were - I would want this red dress too.

“What Do Women Want?”

by Kim Addonizio

I want a red dress.

I want it flimsy and cheap,

I want it too tight, I want to wear it

until someone tears it off me.

I want it sleeveless and backless,

this dress, so no one has to guess

what’s underneath. I want to walk down

the street past Thrifty’s and the hardware store

with all those keys glittering in the window,

past Mr. and Mrs. Wong selling day-old

donuts in their café, past the Guerra brothers

slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly,

hoisting the slick snouts over their shoulders.

I want to walk like I’m the only

woman on earth and I can have my pick.

I want that red dress bad.

I want it to confirm

your worst fears about me,

to show you how little I care about you

or anything except what

I want. When I find it, I’ll pull that garment

from its hanger like I’m choosing a body

to carry me into this world, through

the birth-cries and the love-cries too,

and I’ll wear it like bones, like skin,

it’ll be the goddamned

dress they bury me in.

Things that make you feel good. Think about them one at a time before going on to the next one.. Falling in love. Laughing so hard your face hurts. A hot shower. No lines at the supermarket A special glance. Getting mail Taking a drive on a pretty road. Hearing your favorite song on the radio. Lying in bed listening to the rain outside. Hot towels fresh out of the dryer. Finding the sweater you want is on sale for half price. Chocolate milkshake. (or vanilla!) (or strawberry) A long distance phone call. A bubble bath. Giggling. A good conversation. The beach Finding a 20 note in your coat from last winter. Laughing at yourself. Midnight phone calls that last for hours. Running through sprinklers. Laughing for absolutely no reason at all. Having someone tell you that you're beautiful. Laughing at an inside joke. Friends. Accidentally overhearing someone say something nice about you. Waking up and realizing you still have a few hours left to sleep... Your first kiss (either the very first or with a new partner). Making new friends or spending time with old ones. Playing with a new puppy. Having someone play with your hair. Sweet dreams. Hot chocolate. Road trips with friends. Swinging on swings. Wrapping presents under the Christmas tree while eating cookies and drinking your favorite tipple. Song lyrics printed inside your new CD so you can sing along without feeling stupid. Going to a really good concert. Making eye contact with a cute stranger Winning a really competitive game. Making chocolate chip cookies. Having your friends send you homemade cookies. Spending time with close friends. Seeing smiles and hearing laughter from your friends. Holding hands with someone you care about. Running into an old friend and realizing that some things (good or bad) never change. Riding the best roller coasters over and over. Watching the expression on someone's face as they open a much desired present from you. Watching the sunrise. Getting out of bed every morning and being grateful for another beautiful day. Friends are quiet angels who lift us to our feet when our wings have trouble remembering how to fly

Wait... Wait !

A super-quick note for now to let anyone know that this blog IS still functional and will be back in the swing of things very soon. *Please stand by*

Keeping up with the Joneses baby

I never have been a trend setter. I don't worry about the latest thing to do or see or drive or wear. I just dont care about impressing other people - I have a hard enough time impressing myself. However - now my actions reflect on my daughter and I suddenly feel the need to step it up a notch. The thing is I dont know how much more I can do ! I already drive a late model car, I am well educated with a good job as a professional, own a home... all of that. One thing makes me feel 'less than' - well.... several things actually.....quite a few several things...... pounds ! Oh - dont forget those nagging little things called years too. Yea - sigh - not only am I about 35 pounds different from these ladies with babies - but I've got about 10 years on them too. sigh again. The pounds I can work on - but the years - I'm stuck with them. So - be sure to consider this, girls, when you're thinking you've got lots of time to have that family.

I do have 1 comfort though - I have a VERY beautiful little girl - and I am not just saying this - and I do get a secret glee out of thinking that they are all saying to themselves that I must have something going for me - even if it is only my genes !

Non-smoking room

Seriously - I didn't think anyone smoked anywhere anymore. In Canada - or at least in Nova Scotia - the tolerance for smoking has dropped to an all time low. No longer can you enjoy a coffee and a smoke ( a delicious favourite of many an imbiber of both vices) or a beer and a smoke or even a smoke and a catch-up chat with a friend.... not inside a public building nor even outside one ! Now there is a move afoot to penalize those poor frozen chain-smoking-on-their-break souls if they flick their butt or drop and stomp it. Someone wants to deputize Butt police !

As you can tell probably, I have a small measure of sympathy for these tortured souls, having smoked myself for 20 odd years. If it had not been for the desire to finally quit, coupled with the absurd and still escalating cost of a pack of cigarettes topped off with a $500 bet from my younger brother that I would never last the 6 months to my birthday - I would still be smoking today. I liked smoking - I liked pretty much everything about it . I loved that first smoke of the morning and that last one before arriving at work. I loved the coffee smoke and the catching up smoke. I loved the instant camaraderie between smokers that I presume is even more entrenched today. Its something non-smokers will never understand.

Which brings me to my in-laws. They have never smoked - I don't think it ever even crossed their mind. I suppose living in the English Dales with all that greenery and open spaces and lack of tobacco advetrtising contributes to that. My 43 year old husband (their son of course) has never smoked anything either. Suffice it to say they are not a fan. So - imagine the chaos when we arrived en masse to check into a hotel and discover that we've been assigned Smoking rooms ! Oh - the humanity ! Despite repeated pleas we were assured that there were no other rooms but we could have our pick of several . So off we go to sniff the various rooms and finally( after also complaining about the 'perfumery' smell in one of them and the slowness of the elevator ) settle on two. I kept quiet the whole time - very unlike me. I think I was secretly hoping that someone would smoke in my general vicinity - as death defying a thrill as I am likely to expose myself to these days. I got my wish !

New Year - New Me ?

Another day - another dollar. Another year... another...what ? Back surgery ? Car accident ? Financial crisis ? Baby ? Who knows. I don't. I think, though, this year I am going to drive this bus that is ME.

If you've read this far - don't give up on me just yet. I am just having a bad day - you know - mid January blahs, fierce windchill outside and a ants-in-her-pants 3 year old inside. Add to that a recent house reno that has us still crab stepping around debris.

I have decided that I am going to write this blog for me - and whoever else happens to wander across it. I think it will be my little secret.... well - now its 'our' little secret. I am not going to tell anyone I know - so I won't feel the need to censor myself in any way.

Feel free to chime in anytime.